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Raritan Formation

The Raritan Formation is a Cretaceous (Turonian) sedimentary geologic formation of the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

Overview

The formation was first described in 1888 by G. H. Cook, who measured sections in the vicinity of Raritan Bay in New Jersey. It was extended into Maryland by William Bullock Clark in 1893.

The formation is described in the USGS publication Tolchester folio, Maryland (1917) as follows:

The formation consists of diverse materials similar to those composing the Patapsco formation, except that, in general, the clays are not so highly colored. White and buff sands; stratified light chocolate-colored sandy clays, in places containing leaf impressions; light-colored argillaceous sands and sandy clays (Fuller's earth); and white, yellow, drab, bluish-drab, and variegated clays all occur in deposits of this age. The variegated clays are well exposed in the steep bluff at Worton Point (see photo below). The delicate pinkish tints which they present at many places have given rise to the local name "peach-blossom clays."

Fossils

Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, although none have yet been referred to a specific genus. A tyrannosauroid similar to Appalachiosaurus is known from the formation.

Many plant fossils have been recovered from the Raritan. The formation hosts the New Jersey Amber deposits.

See also

References