70 THE PLIOCENE AND PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS OF MARYLAND 



may trace the cliff line separating him from the Lafayette terrace as it 

 rises and runs off to the south until it is hidden from view by forest 

 growth. At Charlotte Hall and along the road running from Newmarket 

 west over into Charles county, the surfaces of the Lafayette and Sunder- 

 land terraces approach very much nearer together. At this place the 

 Lafayette surface lies at an elevation of about 200 feet while the Sunder- 

 land rests about 20 feet below it at 180 feet. The descent from one to 

 the other is here marked by a low cliff which does not exceed 20 feet in 

 altitude, but while this topographic feature is less prominent than that 

 at Congress Heights, it nevertheless partakes of the same character. Near 



LAFAYETTE FORMATION 



SUNDERLAND FORMATION 



Fig. 4. — Diagram showing Coastal Plain type of Lafayette-Sunderland scarp. 



Charlotte Hall there are a number of outliers of the Lafayette terrace 

 which are separated from the Sunderland terrace beneath by scarps of a 

 similar character to the one just described, although one or two of them 

 blend with the surface beneath without a well pronounced scarp-line. 

 It seems probable that the Sunderland surface was at one time con- 

 tinuous and embraced all of its outliers. If such was the case, it will be 

 possible to establish the present attitude of the terrace. In the vicinity of 

 Elkton and on Elk Neck, the surface of the Sunderland terrace lies at 

 an elevation of about 180 feet where it abuts against higher land and 

 slopes down toward the surrounding waters to about 90 feet. In the 



