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James Patrick Owens

Publications and source records attributed to James Patrick Owens.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1982

Uranium-series dating of mollusks and corals, and age of Pleistocene deposits, Chesapeake Bay area, Virginia and Maryland

Geologic mapping in conjunction with uranium-series dating of fossil mollusks and corals suggests that the low-lying ( < 17 m in altitude) terrace deposits in the central and southern Chesapeake Bay area include two main depositional sequences, each of which represents a high stand of the sea in late Pleistocene time. The older depositional sequence includes the Accomack and Omar beds of the Delmarva area, the fossiliferous deposits along the lower Rappahannock River, and the Norfolk Formation deposits west of the Suffolk scarp. These beds have yielded a single reliable coral age estimate of 184,000?20,000 years B.P., suggesting an early late Pleistocene age. The younger sequence, including the type beds of the Norfolk Formation and equivalent strata east of the Suffolk scarp, has yielded several coral ages ranging from about 62,000 to 86,000 years B.P. (including ages from our samples and previously reported age estimates); thus, it is clearly late Pleistocene in age. Groupings of ages obtained from our quahog analyses also suggest two transgressive sequences; however, the estimated quahog ages are consistently younger than ages based on coral samples from the same and equivalent stratigraphic units. Stratigraphic, paleoclimatic, and geomorphic data suggest that the estimated uranium-series age of 71,000?7,000 years B.P. for the type beds of the Norfolk, obtained by averaging our coral dates, may be too young by as much as several tens of thousands of years. A postulated equivalency of the type Norfolk beds, upper Pleistocene deposits near Charleston, S.C. (apparent uranium-series age = 95,000?5,000 years), and deposits in the Caribbean area thought to represent the highest sea stand during the last interglacial period (apparent age, 125,000?10,000 years) implies diagenetic modification of coralline material possibly in part because of regional differences in depositional and postdepositional environments.

Professional Paper↗
USGS1979

Upper Cenozoic deposits of the central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware

The surface and shallow subsurface sediments of the lower Delmarva Peninsula include beds ranging in age from Miocene to Holocene. The oldest beds appear to be typical shelf deposits of the Chesapeake Group (Calvert-Choptank age). These marine units are overlain by deltaic deposits, which range from fluviatile facies in the north (Pensauken Formation) to marginal marine and marine beds in the south ('Yorktown(?) and Cohansey(?)' Formations as used by Rasmussen and Slaughter in 1955). This large deltaic mass underlies most of the Delmarva Peninsula. Fossil age determinations supplemented by some radiometric dates indicate the delta to be largely late Miocene in age. The nonmarine facies of the delta, the Pensauken Formation, previously was considered to be Pleistocene in age. The late Miocene delta and possibly the Yorktown Formation (lower to middle Pliocene) are overlain by a feldspathic sand, the Beaverdam, which is at least in part marginal marine. Microflora recovered from this formation include species no longer indigenous to the Delmarva region ('exotics'). On the basis of existing information, microfloral assemblages containing 'exotics' are pre-Pleistocene in age. The Beaverdam therefore is pre-Pleistocene in age, probably late Pliocene. A highly dissected and weathered unit, the Walston Silt, caps the uplands of the central Delmarva Peninsula, where it overlies the Beaverdam. The Walston has a microflora containing 'exotics' and therefore is considered to be the youngest Tertiary unit (uppermost Pliocene) in this area. Sediments forming a barrier-back-barrier sequence fringe most of the southern Maryland-Delaware part of the Delmarva Peninsula and are found at altitudes of as much as 15 m (50 ft) above sea level. This sequence, the Omar Formation, is Sangamon in age and has been dated radiometrically as 60,000 to about 100,000 years old. The microflora in these beds contains no 'exotics,' and the assemblage suggests a warm-temperate environment. The Omar represents the highest stand of the Quaternary seas in the Delmarva region. The Ironshire and Kent Island Formations overlie or cut into the Omar Formation and are probably late Sangamon and middle Wisconsin, respectively, in age. Near Ocean City, the Ironshire forms a seaward-facing scarp with a toe nearly 4.5 m (15 ft) above sea level. A warm-temperate microfloral assemblage from the fluviatile-estuarine facies of the Ironshire Formation in the Delaware Bay region suggests that the formation is interglacial, probably late Sangamon in age. The Ironshire and Omar Formations are overlain unconformably by the Sinepuxent Formation. The top of this marine unit is slightly above present sea level and has been dated by radiocarbon as about 30,000 years old or middle Wisconsin. The microflora from this formation is a cold to cool-temperate assemblage (high proportion of spruce pollen). The outer fringes of the Delmarva Peninsula are being overlapped by deposits of a Holocene marine transgression.

Professional Paper↗
USGS1979

Sand dunes on the central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware

Inconspicuous ancient sand dunes are present in parts of the central Delmarva Peninsula, Maryland and Delaware. Many dunes are roughly V-shaped, built by northwest winds, especially on the east sides of some of the large rivers. On the uplands, the form and spacing of the dunes are variable. A surficial blanket composed mainly of medium and fine-grained sand-the Parsonsburg Sand-forms both the ancient dunes and the broad plains between the dunes. The sand that forms the dunes is massive and intensely burrowed in the upper part; traces of horizontal or slightly inclined bedding appear near the base. Quartz is the dominant mineral constituent of the sand. Microline is abundant in the very fine to fine sand fraction. The heavy-mineral assemblages (high zircon, tourmaline, rutile) are more mature than in most of the possible source rocks. The most abundant minerals in the clay-sized fraction are dioctahedral vermiculite, kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite, and gibbsite. The first four minerals are common in deposits of late Wisconsin and Holocene age. The gibbsite may be detrital, coming from weathered rocks of Tertiary age. The soil profile in the dune sand is weakly to moderately developed. At or near the base of the Parsonsburg Sand are peaty beds that range in age from about 30,000 to about 13,000 radiocarbon years B.P. Microfloral assemblages in the peaty beds suggest that the dunes on the uplands formed in a spruce parkland during the late Wisconsin glacial maximum. The river dunes may also be of late Wisconsin age, but could be Holocene.

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