Turtle Branch Formation

Qtb
#B19ECC
Geologic Time Period
middle Pleistocene

Coastal Plain - Primarily Surficial Unit

The following description was published in GM15 Geologic Map of the Georgetown Quadrangle, Delaware, Ramsey, K.W., 2010:

Fining-upward sequence of a thin (less than 1 ft thick), gravelly sand, to an interlaminated, medium to coarse sand with heavy mineral laminae, to a well-sorted fine to medium, fluffy sand that makes up the bulk of the unit. Near the present stream valleys, 1 to 5-ft thick beds of light-grayish-brown to brown, organic-rich, clayey silt are common. Along the margins of the unit where it is adjacent to the Beaverdam Formation, the unit commonly consists of pale-yellow to yellowish-brown, fine to very fine silty sand. The unit is less than 5 ft thick over much of its mapped area but can range up to 20 ft thick near the present stream valleys. The well-sorted sands of the Turtle Branch Formation are differentiated from those of the dune deposits by their slightly coarser texture, better developed soil profile, and common presence of heavy mineral laminae. Interpreted to be a sand-dominated fluvial to tidal and shoreline deposit associated with a high stand of sea level during the middle Pleistocene.



The following description was published in GM14 Geologic Map of Kent County, Delaware, Ramsey, K.W., 2007:

One to five feet of gray coarse sand and pebbles overlain by one to ten feet of tan to gray clayey silt to silty clay that is in turn overlain by three to five feet of fine to medium sand. Laterally, finer beds are less common away from Marshyhope Creek and the deposit is dominated by fine to medium sand with scattered beds of coarse to very coarse sand with pebbles. Sands are quartzose with some feldspar and laminae of opaque heavy minerals. Underlies a terrace with elevations ranging from 35 to 50 feet and is interpreted to be fluvial to estuarine in origin. Found in the Marshyhope Creek drainage basin in Kent County and more extensively along the Nanticoke drainage basin in Sussex County. Thickness ranges up to 20 feet closer to the valley of the Marshyhope and thins away from the river.