32, and 33 indicate that they are probably of similar age. Glauconitic 

 sand in core 9 and calcareous sandstone in core 38, though barren of 

 fossil remains, are lithologically similar and probably related to the 

 fossiliferous material. 



The sparse evidence indicates that the two Paleocene deposits are 

 part of a sediment and rock deposit overlying unit I at cores 9 and 14 

 and extending into the area of unit II where the material, at least 

 locally, is lithified and seems to be part of the acoustically impene- 

 trable layer encountered in that area. 



Rocks of middle Paleocene age occur extensively in the subsurface of 

 eastern North Carolina and extend southwestward as far as New Topsail 

 Inlet (Brown, Miller, and Swain, 1972) . The predominant lithology in 

 this area is sand with varying amounts of silt and clay and localized 

 deposits of sandy glauconitic limestone, shale, and dolomite. Brown, 

 Miller, and Swain also found that high percentages of glauconite (10 to 

 90 percent) were characteristic of the middle strata in the Atlantic 

 Coastal Plain Province. 



Brown (1958) proposed the name Beaufort Formation for Paleocene-age 

 deposits (known only at that time from well data) in the North Carolina ■ 

 Coastal Plain. Subsequently, outcrops were discovered in Lenoir and 

 Craven Counties, North Carolina. Recently, Harris and Baum (1977) 

 described microfauna from the outcrop locales and determined an average 

 rubidium- strontium age from included glauconite of 56.8 million years. 

 The foraminiferal fauna indicated a correlation with zone P4 of Berggren 

 (1972) . Lithology and fauna suggest a possible relationship between the 

 outcropping Paleocene deposits described by Harris and Baum (1977) and 

 the glauconitic sand and calcareous sandstone deposits found in cores 9, 

 14, 32, 33, and 38 in Long Bay. The Paleocene deposits associated with 

 unit I, however, appear to be of earlier age, probably correlating with 

 zone PI. Their location seaward of the Cretaceous deposits in the trun- 

 cated, prograding deposit beds of unit I suggests that they may not occur 

 in the emerged coastal plain area. 



d. Eocene Calcareous Sediments . Sediments of probable Eocene age 

 occur in ICONS cores 3, 19, 21, and 31 and in a core obtained from U.S. 

 Army Engineer District, Wilmington (identified as W07) . All are from 

 the Long Bay area. Lithologically, these sediments do not fit into any 

 of the types previously described. They consist of poorly sorted cal- 

 careous silt, sand, and granule-size particles with the identifiable 

 material almost entirely composed of bryzoa and foraminifera. Because 

 of a high calcium carbonate content (>90 percent) and white to light- 

 gray color, these sediments resemble type G sediment. A major difference 

 is their lack of barnacle plates, a principle constituent of type G 

 sediment. 



The base of the Eocene strata and any internal features cannot be 

 discerned on available seismic reflection profiles because the area of 

 occurrence lies within reflection unit II where no signal penetration 



56 



