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GEOLOGICAL FEATURES 

 We are often preoccupied with the biological features of a natural 

 area, particularly when the relief is low, bedrock is far below the 

 surface, and the landscape is dominated by a dense vegetational cover. 

 But geological features, however subtle, can be extremely important in 

 connecting the present to the past and giving some idea of the evolution 

 of a landscape as well as of the organisms which presently occupy it. 

 There are three geological features which have been considered in this 

 natural area evaluation. 



Geomorphological . Landforms give important clues to the nature of 

 forces which have shaped the Bay landscape. Evidence for successive 

 lowering and raising of the sea level correlated with glacial and 

 interglacial periods in the last 100,000 years can be seen in various 

 terrace scarps marking former shorelines. 



Structural . Erosional sections through sedimentary strata give insight 

 into the conditions under which various materials were deposited and when. 

 Outcrops and faultlines are other indications of past environments and 

 resoltuion of physical forces. 



Paleonto logical . Fossils, mostly of Miocene age (25,000,000 years before 

 present), are abundant in many exposed Bay front areas; Calvert Cliffs 

 is probably the best know example. Again, the nature of the material 

 (snail shells, shark teeth, whale bones), and its age, give a clear look 

 into past environments, part of a continuum of environments leading to the 

 present. More than any other geological feature, fossils bring home to 

 the general public the meaning of geological time as opposed to historical 

 time and allow appreciation of the present as only an ephemeral point on 



