Ironshire Formation

GM20 Geologic Map of the Millsboro and Whaleysville Quadrangles, Delaware

The geological history of the surficial units of the Millsboro Quadrangle and
Delaware portion of the Whaleysville Quadrangle was the result of deposition of the
Beaverdam Formation during the late Pliocene and its subsequent modification by
erosion and deposition related to sea-level fluctuations during the Pleistocene and late
Pleistocene upland swamp and bog deposition. The geology at the land surface was then
further modified by periglacial activity that produced dune deposits and Carolina Bays in

GM19 Geologic Map of the Frankford and Selbyville Quadrangles, Delaware

The geological history of the surficial units of the Frankford and Delaware
portion of the Selbyville Quadrangles was the result of deposition of the Beaverdam
Formation during the late Pliocene and its subsequent modification by erosion and
deposition related to sea-level fluctuations during the Pleistocene. The geology at the
land surface was then further modified by periglacial activity that produced dune deposits
in the map area. Surficial geologic mapping was conducted using field maps at a scale of

Ironshire Formation

The Ironshire Formation was described by Owens and Denny (1979) as consisting of a lower loose, pale-yellow to white, well-sorted, medium sand characterized by long, low-angle inclined beds with laminae of black minerals. The upper portion of the units was described as consisting of light-colored, trough cross-stratified, well-sorted sand with pebbles and a few Callianassa borings. They described the Ironshire Formation near Rehoboth in a stratigraphic section which is now considered to be a part of the Lynch Heights Formation.

RI76 Stratigraphy, Correlation, and Depositional Environments of the Middle to Late Pleistocene Interglacial Deposits of Southern Delaware

Rising and highstands of sea level during the middle to late Pleistocene deposited swamp to nearshore sediments along the margins of an ancestral Delaware Bay, Atlantic coastline, and tributaries to an ancestral Chesapeake Bay. These deposits are divided into three lithostratigraphic groups: the Delaware Bay Group, the Assawoman Bay Group (named herein), and the Nanticoke River Group (named herein). The Delaware Bay Group, mapped along the margins of Delaware Bay, is subdivided into the Lynch Heights Formation and the Scotts Corners Formation.