Designation of a composite-stratotype section for the lower Paleocene (Danian) Brightseat Formation in Prince George’s County, Maryland, U.S.A.

Stratigraphy
By: , and 

Links

Abstract

The lower Paleocene (Danian) Brightseat Formation consists of fine-grained, dark-gray, micaceous sand and silty clay, with glauconite and abundant, but generally poorly preserved, fossils. The Brightseat Formation represents deposition of lower, but not lowermost, Paleocene sediments that were deposited on the middle to outer shelf of what is now the Atlantic Coastal Plain. A basal disconformity separates the Brightseat from the underlying Upper Cretaceous Severn Formation, and it is disconformably overlain by the middle to upper Paleocene Aquia Formation. The type locality of the Brightseat Formation, previously exposed approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) west-southwest of the former village of Brightseat in Prince George’s County, Maryland, just outside ofWashington, D.C., has been destroyed by urban development, prompting the establishment of a composite-stratotype section from nearby outcrops approximately a half mile to the south-southwest of the original location. The outcrop at Cabin Branch is hereby designated as the principal reference section for the Brightseat Formation and the “Cabin Creek” outcrop (an informally designated tributary of Cabin Branch) is designated as a supplementary reference section that illustrates the boundary of the Brightseat with the overlying Aquia Formation. Paleontological analyses, grain-size analyses, and petrographic techniques are used to document this new stratotype section and to correlate and contrast it with underlying and overlying sediments. This composite-stratotype section is designated using the guidelines outlined in Article 8, remarks (d) and (e) of the North American Code of Stratigraphic Nomenclature.

Study Area

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Designation of a composite-stratotype section for the lower Paleocene (Danian) Brightseat Formation in Prince George’s County, Maryland, U.S.A.
Series title Stratigraphy
DOI 10.29041/strat.20.4.01
Volume 20
Issue 4
Year Published 2023
Language English
Publisher Micropaleontology Press
Contributing office(s) Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Description 22 p.
First page 237
Last page 258
Country United States
State Maryland
County Prince Georges County
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details