Figure 12. General stratigraphy of 

 the east coast (Richards 1967, 

 reprinted by permission) 



Pre-Cambrian and Paleozoic rocks of the Piedmont. Cretaceous sediments dip 

 seaward beneath younger Tertiary age sediments and apparently underlie the 

 entire coastal plain. Beneath the coastal plain in this study area are deeply 

 buried crystalline rocks of the Piedmont. Major structural features are evi- 

 dent in these basement rocks underlying the Coastal Plain (Richards 1967). 

 Cape Fear Arch is responsible for bringing basement rocks to within 365 m of 

 the surface near Wilmington, NC. South of the Arch, basement rock dips down 

 to the Beaufort Basin. These structural features influence thickness and 

 depth of younger sediments. Cretaceous sediments have appeared in shallow 

 vibracores on the nearshore shelf in the vicinity of Cape Fear (Meisburger 

 1979) . Evidence is presented from a variety of sources (Richards 1967) to 

 suggest that parts of the Carolina coastal plain are underlain by Triassic 

 Basin rocks. 



22. Topography of the Middle and Lower Coastal Plain is dominated by 

 marine "terraces," as they were first named by Cooke (1936). These terraces 

 were named chiefly on the basis of topography. Their origin is related to 



26 



