48 E. W. Bevvy — Late Lower Cretaceous. 



Akt. V. — The Late Lower Cretaceous at Federal 

 Hill, Maryland; by Edwakd W. Beery. 



Federal Hill, situated on the peninsula between North 

 West Branch and Middle Branch of Patapsco River 

 which is terminated by historic Fort McHenry, is an 

 erosion remnant of Cretaceous rising about 90 feet above 

 tide and famous in local paleobotanical annals for the 

 large flora contained in its sandy clays. These fossil 

 plants were fully described 1 in 1911 from materials col- 

 lected during the opening and grading of streets more 

 than a generation ago. The surface of Federal Hill Park 

 has been in turf for many years so that no opportunities 

 for additional collecting have been afforded. 



Some years ago in the construction of the Key Highway 

 a small cutting was made at the eastern end of the Park 

 exposing a few feet of fossiliferous deposits. This 

 proved to be of considerable interest from the light which 

 it shed on the conditions of deposition. The horizon can 

 be located from the following old section: 2 



Patapsco formation. Feet 



Argillaceous sand with silicined wood 6 



Carbonaceous clay with siderite 1 



Sandy clay with ferruginous streaks and crusts 34 



Bluish clay with logs of lignite 7 



Dark blue laminated clay 3 



Gray sandy clay with plants 2 



Argillaceous sand 2 



1 inch ferruginous band. 



Patuxent formation. 



White sand and clay with reworked clay balls in 



places 85 



All but about 15 feet below tide. 



The horizon from which the recent collection of plants 

 was made is just above the Patuxent contact in the old 

 section quoted above. The indicated environment is a 

 sandy flood plain with a characteristic poor soil flora. 

 There apparently was not enough humus to furnish a 

 true soil since neither the clay laminae nor the sands are 

 carbonaceous. The prevailing plant growth was a small 



1 Berrv, E. W., Maryland Geological Survey, Lower Cretaceous, Baltimore, 

 1911. 



2 Idem., p. 75. 



