Ordovician Period

505 to 438 mya

Windy Hills Gneiss

Thinly interlayered, fine- to medium-grained hornblende-plagioclase amphibolite, biotite gneiss, and felsic gneiss, possibly metavolcanic. Felsic gneisses contain quartz and plagioclase with or without microcline with minor pyroxene and/or hornblende and/or biotite. Metamorphic grade in this unit decreases from granulite facies in the northeast to amphibolite facies toward the southwest. Correlated with the Big Elk Member of the James Run Formation in Cecil County, Maryland.

Faulkland Gneiss

Predominantly fine- to coarse-grained amphibolites and quartz amphibolites with minor felsic rocks, probably metavolcanic. Major minerals are amphibole and plagioclase with or without pyroxene and/or quartz. Amphibole may be hornblende, cummingtonite, gedrite, and/or anthophyllite. Halos of plagioclase and quartz around porphyroblasts of magnetite, orthopyroxene, and garnet are common features.

Christianstead Gneiss

Coarse-grained, foliated granodioritic gneiss. Major minerals are biotite, microcline, plagioclase, and quartz. Includes thin layers of fine-grained foliated amphibolite plus large pegmatites.

Barley Mill Gneiss

Coarse-grained, foliated tonalite gneiss. Major minerals are biotite, hornblende, plagioclase, and quartz. Includes mafic enclaves or layers composed of subequal amounts of hornblende and plagioclase. Also includes a coarse-grained granitic lithology composed of biotite, microcline, plagioclase, and quartz.

Montchanin Metagabbro

Coarse-grained gabbroic and metagabbroic rocks, variably metamorphosed and deformed. Primary igneous minerals include olivine, clinopyroxene, orthopyroxene, and plagioclase.

Mill Creek Metagabbro

Coarse-grained gabbroic and metagabbroic rocks, variably metamorphosed and deformed. Primary minerals are hornblende and plagioclase.

Rockford Park Gneiss

Fine-grained mafic and fine- to medium-grained felsic gneisses interlayered on the decimeter scale. Layers are laterally continuous, but mafic layers commonly show boudinage. Felsic layers are composed of quartz and plagioclase with 10 modal percent pyroxene. Mafic layers contain subequal amounts of plagioclase, pyroxene, and hornblende. Penetrative deformation and granulite facies metamorphism have obscured igneous fabrics and contact relationships.

Brandywine Blue Gneiss

Medium to coarse grained granulites and gneisses composed of plagioclase, quartz, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, brown-green hornblende, magnetite, and ilmenite. Mafic minerals vary from 5-30 modal percent. A lineation due to a preferred orientation of quartz and mafic minerals is obvious on weathered surfaces. Unit contains thin, discontinuous fine-grained mafic layers.