MARYLAND GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 17 1 



lar, yet the formation, as a whole does not appear to dip in any one 

 direction, bnt to lie in the same horizontal position in which it was 

 laid down, although elevated as a whole 100 feet or more above its 

 original position. No fossils have been discovered in the Sunderland 

 formation in Cecil county. 



The Wicomico Formation. 



The next younger formation is the Wicomico. This formation re- 

 ceived its name from the Wicomico River in Charles and St. Mary's 

 counties, Maryland. It is a series of clays, loam, sands and gravels, 

 which were deposited by the Atlantic Ocean in the form of a terrace 

 and off-shore deposit when Cecil county stood at a lower level than it 

 occupies to-day. This deposit was formed at a comparatively re- 

 cent date, and therefore has not suffered from erosion to the extent 

 of the previously described Sunderland. It is the most widespread 

 and conspicuous formation of Cecil county. It occupies the entire 

 surface of the Eastern Shore above 35 or 40 feet, and is developed 

 as a terrace usually a mile or more in width, extending around the 

 borders of Elk Neck and Northeast River just outside of the margin 

 of the Sunderland terrace. Its limits therefore are between 90 to 

 100 feet and 30 to 40 feet. Although it has suffered much less 

 from erosion than has the Sunderland formation, still the rivers have 

 opened up deep valleys within it and some of the shorter streams with 

 quick return to the Bay have succeeded in carrying it partially away. 

 This latter fact is demonstrated on Elk Neck just west of the Black 

 Hill, in the region of Bull Mountain and also on the same peninsula 

 in the vicinity of Northeast. 



At numerous points in the vicinity of the head of Chesapeake Bay, 

 huge boulders have been found, not only imbedded in the body of the 

 deposit, but lying scattered about on its surface. These, as McGee 

 has shown, are thickest in the vicinity of the shore-line of Chesapeake 

 Bay, and diminish gradually in abundance in all directions. A typi- 

 cal section of the Wicomico formation may be seen at Turkey Point 

 at the southern extremity of Elk Neck. Plate XY, Eig. 2. 



