Pleistocene Sea Levels, Southeastern Virginia

Abstract

Detailed study of post-Miocene stratigraphy in southeastern Virginia reveals at least 13 formations which show six Pliocene (?) and Pleistocene cycles of emergence and submergence, with maximum submergent sea levels near +45, +45, +20, +25, +15, and 0 feet, respectively. The newly established stratigraphic framework disproves earlier interpretations of "terrace-stratigraphy" and sea level chronologies.

A cool eastern Pacific Ocean at the close of the Last Interglacial complex

“…Abbreviations of 80,000-yr-old localities from the Atlantic coast of North America: NL, New Light, Virginia; W, Womack, Virginia; TA, Toy Avenue, Virginia; M, Moyock, North Carolina; ScI, Scanawah Island, South Carolina; SI, Skidaway Island, Georgia; SK, Sand Key, Florida. Age data from Oaks et al (1974), Mixon et al (1982), Szabo (1985), Wehmiller et al (2004), Ludwig et al (1996), and Toscano and Lundberg (1999); fossil data from Cronin et al (1981), Spencer and Campbell (1987), Hulbert and Pratt (1998) and Toscano and Lundberg (1999).…”

“…Fossil localities with 85,000-70,000 yr BP ages on corals occur in emergent marine deposits in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia (Oaks et al, 1974;Mixon et al, 1982;Szabo, 1985;Wehmiller et al, 2004). Molluscan faunas from the Womack, New Light and Toy Avenue localities (around Virginia Beach, Virginia), dated to 80,000 yr BP, all contain large numbers of extralimital southern or southward-ranging species, lack any extralimital northern species, and have few or no northwardranging species (Spencer and Campbell, 1987).…”

Ostracode biostratigraphy of the Yorktown Formation (upper Miocene and lower Pliocene) of Virginia and North Carolina

“…8), from an unconsolidated to indurated 3-foot-thick unit of dark-red iron-stained clayey sand containing sparse unstained clayey sand beds. The ironstained unit occurs stratigraphically below the marine Norfolk Formation (Pleistocene) (as used by Oaks and Coch, 1963;Oaks, 1964) and contains hematite nodules, indurated mudballs, much comminuted shell, whole specimens of the bivalve Corbicula densata (Conrad, 1843), and 37 species of Ostracoda. Underlying this unit are exposed at least 10 feet of blue clayey sand packed with broken and whole mollusks (sample 30, placed in the Orionina vaughani Zone).…”

“…Sand Bridge Formation (of Oaks and Coch, 1963;Oaks, 1964): 4. Sand, crossbedded; clay and peat interbeds__--_-4.0 Norfolk Formation (of Oaks and Coch, 1963;Oaks, 1964) Pleistocene: Sand and gravel.…”

Titanium mineral resources in heavy-mineral sands in the Atlantic coastal plain of the southeastern United States

“…8) include those for the Yulee (Pirkle and others, 1984); Altama (Pirkle and others, 1989); Cabin Bluff (Pirkle and others, 1991;Neiheisel, 1962); Cumberland Island (Smith and others, 1967); and Folkston and Amelia Island (Pirkle and others, 1993). Mining of HMS deposits also occurred near the modern eastern coastline of Florida to the south of the Jacksonville district (250 to 325 km to the south) near Melbourne (mined from 1939to 1955), Winter Beach (1954to 1965), and Vero Beach (1943to 1963 Elsner, 1997;Staatz and others, 1980). In May 2015, Southern Ionics Inc. completed construction of its mineral sands processing plant near Offerman in Charlton County, Georgia, and began to process heavy-mineral concentrates from its Mission mine, which is also in Charlton County.…”