156 THE COASTxVL PLAIN FORMATIONS OF CECIL COUNTY 



into each other both horizontally and vertically. The Raritan for- 

 mation in Cecil county is, however, on the whole, a sandy terrane, 

 in this respect resembling the Patuxent formation. Its upper and 

 lower portions are important water-bearing horizons. 



The strike of the Raritan formation is from northeast to southwest, 

 and the dip is about 30 feet per mile to the southeast. The thick- 

 ness of the formation has been estimated as 180 feet at the mouth 

 of the Sassafras river, and is 60 feet at the west end of the Chesa- 

 peake and Delaware Canal. Two of the most instructive sections of 

 the Potomac group are found in Cecil county; one is in the famous 

 cliffs at lower White Banks, and the other is at Maulden Mountain. 



Section at Lower White Banks. 



Formations. Feet. 



Lafayette. Loam and gravel 0-6 



Raritan. White sandy clay (" fullers earth ") 25 



Buff and brown cross-bedded sand, brightly iron tinted in its mid- 

 dle and lower portions, containing pebbles of white clay, indu- 

 rated below 20 



Light drab clay 2 



Fine, drab plastic clay, laminated above, obscurely stratified below, 



rich in leaf impressions 2 



Light drab and buff, laminated clays, with fine white sand 2 



Light colored sand, locally indurated. . . , 10-15 



Patapsco. Variegated and drab clays mostly obscured by talus 20 



Section at Maulden Mountain. 

 Formations. Feet. 



Lafayette. Loam and gravel & 



Matawan Massive micaceous glauconitic sand, more or less indurated near 



top 30 



Loose, light colored sand, with less glauconite, oxidized at the sur- 

 face, containing brown flecks 6 



Sharp white and yellow sand, indurated at base 3 



Yellow, red and ash-colored clay 2 



Loose, light colored sand, with glauconite containing brown flecks, 



micaceous and more argillaceous toward the base * 15 



Lens of loose carbonaceous sandy loam bearing pyrite, gravel at 



base, 6 



Raritan. Lens of stratified, iron-stained, at times pebbly, clay, occasionally 



lignitic, indurated at base 3-10 



Light buff and brown cross-bedded sand 25 



Ledge of ferruginous sandstone 2-9 



Light buff and brown cross-bedded sand, brightly iron tinted in 

 the middle and lower portions and containing white clay pebbles 



and pellets, indurated at base 15 



Patapsco. Massive variegated and drab lignitic plastic clays, the latter at 



times containing iron carbonate, mostly obscured by talus. ... 20 



