Newark Supergroup

The Newark Supergroup, also known as the Newark Group, is an assemblage of Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic sedimentary rocks which outcrop intermittently along the United States East Coast. They were deposited in a series of Triassic basins approximately 190 million years ago[2][1] as North America separated from Africa. The exposures extend from Nova Scotia to North Carolina. Related basins are also found underwater in the Bay of Fundy. The group is named for the city of Newark, New Jersey.

Newark Supergroup
Stratigraphic range: Triassic - Jurassic
Exposed basins of the Newark Supergroup
TypeSupergroup
Sub-unitsChatham Group, Dan River Group, Chesterfield Group, Tuckahoe Group, Doswell Formation, Culpeper Group, Gettysburg Formation, Hammer Creek Formation, New Oxford Formation, Stockton Formation, Lockatong Formation, Brunswick Group, Portland Formation, East Berlin Formation, Shuttle Meadow Formation, New Haven Formation, Mount Toby Formation, Turners Falls Formation, Sugarloaf Formation, Fundy Group[1]
Location
RegionEast Coast, The Maritime Provinces
Country United States,  Canada
ExtentNova Scotia, New Brunswick, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina
Type section
Named forNewark, New Jersey

Characteristics

The Newark Supergroup consists largely of poorly sorted nonmarine sediments; typical rocks are breccia, conglomerate, arkose sandstone, siltstone, and shale.[3][4] Most of the strata are red beds that feature ripple marks, mud cracks, and even rain drop prints; dinosaur footprints are common, though actual body fossils are very rare.[4] Some of the strata are detailed to the level of varves, with indications of Milankovitch cycles.[5] In preserved lake sediments, Semionotus fossils are especially common.[5]

The Newark sediments are extremely thick (up to 6 kilometers); they were deposited in a series of half-grabens that were themselves faulted into block mountains.[6] The beds dip to the east, while the faults dip westward.[6] The beds are intruded by numerous dikes and sills, indicative of considerable igneous activity; a superb example is the New Jersey Palisades sill.[6]

Depositional environment

The Newark Supergroup's lithologies and structure are the classic hallmarks of a rift valley; the fault-blocking illustrates the crustal extension forces in play during the breakup of Pangea during the late Triassic Period.[3] The Appalachian Mountains had already been nearly eroded flat by the end of the period; the uplift and faulting that was the first part of the rifting provided new sources of sediment for the vast thicknesses deposited in the Newark Supergroup; the igneous intrusions are similarly diagnostic of a rift valley.[3][6] Coarse sediments were deposited near the eastern mountain front, while progressively finer ones were deposited farther west.[7]

Evidence suggests the climate at the time was subtropical and rainy, though divided between wet and dry months.[7] A few organic-rich deposits suggest patchy or intermittent swamps and lakes.[8]

Accumulation of Newark sediments within the rift basins continued from the late Triassic into the early Jurassic.[1][3]

Late Triassic Balls Bluff siltstone of the Bull Run Formation in Manassas, Virginia
Late Triassic New Oxford Conglomerate in York County, Pennsylvania
Late Triassic Gettysburg Formation in York County, Pennsylvania
Early Jurassic Preakness Basalt, New Jersey
Feltville Formation in New Jersey
Early Jurassic Hook Mountain Basalt in New Jersey
Late Triassic Blomidon Formation, Nova Scotia
Skull diagram of Carnufex carolinensis, a basal crocodylomorph from the Pekin Formation of North Carolina
Tanytrachelos ahynis, a tanystropheid reptile from the Cow Branch Formation on the Virginia-North Carolina border
Early Jurassic Eubrontes footprints from the East Berlin Formation at Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, Connecticut

Basins and formations

The separate basins and sub-basins of the Newark Supergroup have historically been given their own geological formations by local paleontologists. However, a study by Weems, Tanner, and Lucas (2016) proposed that the formations of the Newark Supergroup should be defined on a regional scale due to their geological uniformity over eastern North America. From youngest to oldest, the regional formations proposed by this study are:[9]

Basin-specific formations are given below:

Deep River/Sanford/Durham Basin (North Carolina)
  • Sanford Formation (equivalent to the Passaic Formation)
  • Cumnock Formation (Cumnock Member of the Lockatong Formation)
  • Pekin Formation (equivalent to the Stockton Formation)

Danville/Dan River Basin (North Carolina, Virginia)
  • Stoneville Formation (equivalent to the Passaic Formation)
  • Cow Branch Formation (equivalent to the Lockatong Formation)
  • Dry Fork Formation (Dry Fork Member of the Stockton Formation)
  • Walnut Cove Formation (Walnut Cove Member of the Stockton Formation)
  • Pine Hall Formation (Pine Hall Member of the Stockton Formation)

Richmond Basin (Virginia)
  • Otterdale sandstone (equivalent to the Stockton Formation)
  • "Vinita Beds" (Vinita Member of the Doswell Formation)
  • "Coal Measures" (equivalent to the Vinita Member of the Doswell Formation)
  • "Barren Beds" (equivalent to the Stagg Creek Member of the Doswell Formation)

Taylorsville Basin (Virginia)
  • Leedstown Formation (equivalent to the Passaic Formation)
  • Port Royal Formation (equivalent to the Lockatong Formation)
  • Newfound Formation (equivalent to the Stockton Formation)
  • Falling Creek Formation (equivalent to the Vinita Member of the Doswell Formation)
  • South Anna Formation (equivalent to the Stagg Creek Member of the Doswell Formation)

Culpeper Basin (Virginia, Maryland)
  • Waterfall Formation (equivalent to the East Berlin Formation)
  • Sander Basalt (equivalent to the Deerfield Basalt Member of the Holyoke Formation)
  • Turkey Run Formation (Turkey Run Member of the Holyoke Formation)
  • Hickory Grove Basalt (Hickory Grove Member of the Holyoke Formation)
  • Midland Formation (equivalent to the Shuttle Meadow Formation)
  • Mount Zion Church Basalt (equivalent to the Talcott Formation)
  • Catharpin Creek Formation (Catharpin Creek Member of the Passaic Formation)
  • Bull Run Formation (Groveton/Leesburg, Balls Bluff Members of the Passaic Formation)
  • Manassas Formation (Manassas, Rapidan/Reston/Tuscarora Creek Members of the Passaic Formation)

Gettysburg Basin (Maryland, Pennsylvania)
  • Bendersville Formation (equivalent to the Shuttle Meadow Formation)
  • Aspers Basalt (equivalent to the Talcott Formation)
  • Gettysburg Formation (Fairfield, Heidlersburg, Plum Rum, and Hammer Creek Members of the Passaic and Lockatong Formations)
  • New Oxford Formation (equivalent to the Stockton Formation)
  • Irishtown Beds (Irishtown Member of the Doswell Formation)

Newark Basin (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York)

Hartford Basin (Connecticut, Massachusetts)

Pomperaug Basin (Connecticut)
  • South Brook Basalt (equivalent to the Hampden Formation)
  • White Oaks Formation (equivalent to the East Berlin Formation)
  • Orenaug Basalt (equivalent to the Holyoke Formation)
  • Cass Formation (equivalent to the Shuttle Meadow Formation)
  • East Hill Basalt (equivalent to the Talcott Formation)
  • South Britain Arkose (equivalent to the Sugarloaf Member of the Passaic Formation)

Deerfield Basin (Massachusetts)
  • Mount Toby Formation
  • Turners Falls Sandstone (equivalent to the East Berlin Formation)
  • Deerfield Basalt (Deerfield Basalt Member of the Holyoke Formation)
  • Fall River Beds (equivalent to the Shuttle Meadow Formation)
  • Sugarloaf Arkose (Sugarloaf Member of the Passaic Formation)

Fundy Basin (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia)

Minor basins

Minor basins crop out in South Carolina (Crowburg, Wadesboro Basins), North Carolina (Wadesboro, Ellerbe, Davie County Basins), Virginia (Scottsburg, Randolph, Roanoke Creek, Briery Creek, Farmville, Flat Branch, Deep Run, Scottsville, Barboursville Basins), Connecticut (Cherry Brook Outlier), Massachusetts (Northfield and Middleton Basin), and Nova Scotia (Chedabucto Basin).

Age

Until the late 1970s, the entire Newark Supergroup was assumed to be Triassic in age. However, studies of fossil pollen have now shown that the sediments actually range from the Ladinian to the Lower Jurassic.[13] The Supergroup was deposited over the course of 50 million years.[2]

See also

Notes
  1. Luttrell, Gwendolyn W. (1989). "Stratigraphic nomenclature of the Newark Supergroup of eastern North America" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin. 1572: 1–136. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
  2. Traverse, Alfred (1988). Paleopalynology. Unwin Hyman. ISBN 0045610010. OCLC 17674795.
  3. Monroe & Wicander (1997), p. 602
  4. Schuchert & Dunbar (1947), p. 108
  5. Benton (1996), pp. 88–89
  6. Monroe & Wicander (1997), p. 605
  7. Schuchert & Dunbar (1947), p. 109
  8. Schuchert & Dunbar (1947), pp. 108–109
  9. Weems, Robert E.; Tanner, Lawrence H.; Lucas, Spencer G. (2016). "Synthesis and revision of the lithostratigraphic groups and formations in the Upper Permian?–Lower Jurassic Newark Supergroup of eastern North America". Stratigraphy. 13 (2).
  10. Kent, Dennis V.; Olsen, Paul E.; Muttoni, Giovanni (2017-03-01). "Astrochronostratigraphic polarity time scale (APTS) for the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic from continental sediments and correlation with standard marine stages". Earth-Science Reviews. 166: 153–180. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.12.014. ISSN 0012-8252.
  11. Sues, Hans-Dieter; Olsen, Paul E. (2015). "Stratigraphic and temporal context and faunal diversity of Permian-Jurassic continental tetrapod assemblages from the Fundy rift basin, eastern Canada". Atlantic Geology. 51: 139–205. doi:10.4138/atlgeol.2015.006.
  12. Nadon, G. C.; Middleton, G. V. (1985-08-01). "The stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Fundy Group (Triassic) of the St. Martins area, New Brunswick". Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 22 (8): 1183–1203. doi:10.1139/e85-121. ISSN 0008-4077.
  13. Cornet, Bruce (1977). Palynostratigraphy and age of the Newark supergroup : a thesis in geology. OCLC 81476152.

Bibliography
  • Benton, Michael J. (1996). The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Dinosaurs. London: Penguin Books.
  • Monroe, James; Wicander, Reed (1997). The Changing Earth: Exploring Geology and Evolution (2nd ed.). Belmont: West Publishing Company.
  • Schuchert, Carl; Dunbar, Carl (1947). Outlines of Historical Geology (4th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
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