First State GeologyCurrent information about Delaware‘s geology, hydrology, and mineral resources

Published twice yearly by the Delaware Geological SurveyUniversity of Delaware

Vol. 21, No. 2 • Summer 2003

Dr. Robert R. Jordan,Director And StateGeologist, Retires

Dr. Robert R. Jordan has retired after34 years as state geologist and director ofthe Delaware Geological Survey (DGS).His distinguished career with the DGSspanned 45 years. During his tenure asstate geologist he served under eightDelaware governors. He is currently aprofessor in the Department of Geology atthe University of Delaware.

Dr. Jordan’s work has contributed sig-nificantly to the understanding of the geol-ogy, hydrology, mineral resources, andgeologic hazards of Delaware. Under hisleadership, the DGS has established a rep-utation for providing objective scientificgeologic and hydrologic information,advice, and service to the citizens ofDelaware, its businesses, and its govern-mental agencies. He played a key role inthe development of state legislation andregulations related to such topics as waterresources, state boundaries, oil and gas,subaqueous lands, solid waste disposal,mineral extraction, beach preservation, andprofessional licensing of geologists. Thefruits of these labors have literally touchedhundreds of thousands of Delawareans byincreasing the understanding of the impor-tance of geology and hydrology in oureveryday lives. This work has also helpedensure a sound scientific basis for econom-ic development, management of waterresources, wise land-use decisions, envi-ronmental protection, and support ofGovernor Ruth Ann Minner’s LivableDelaware initiative.

Dr. Jordan has authored or coauthoredmore than 100 publications, primarily deal-ing with stratigraphy, sedimentary petrolo-gy, the Atlantic Coastal Plain, applied geol-ogy, and the role of geology in public poli-cy. Dr. Jordan has also been active in lead-ership for many years in numerous scien-tific and professional organizations. He isa member of eleven societies, has heldelected and appointed offices in severalorganizations, and has received manyawards, most recently the President’sAward of the Division of EnvironmentalGeology from the American Association ofPetroleum Geologists in 2001. He hasserved on more than thirty boards, com-missions, and committees for local, state,and federal agencies, and national scientif-ic and professional organizations.

Dr. Jordan and Dr. Johan J. Groot, whopreceded Dr. Jordan as state geologist,were instrumental in establishing theDepartment of Geology at the University.During his career he taught at least 21 dif-ferent geology courses, supervised numer-ous graduate students, and impacted thelives of those he taught.

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Delaware GeneralAssembly Honors Dr.Robert R. Jordan

On Thursday, February 7, 2003, theDelaware General Assembly honoredretired Director of the DelawareGeological Survey and State Geologist,Robert R. Jordan, for 45 years of service tothe citizens of the State of Delaware.

Dr. Jordan was presented with tributesfrom the Senate and House ofRepresentatives at a meeting of the JointFinance Committee of the GeneralAssembly co-chaired by Senator Nancy W.Cook and Representative Joseph G.DiPinto. “In the minds of mostDelawareans, both in and out of govern-ment,” reads the tribute by the Senate, “thename ‘Robert Jordan’ is synonymous with‘Delaware Geology.’” The tribute by theHouse of Representatives to Dr. Jordannoted “as State Geologist under eightDelaware governors, he has played animportant role in geology and hydrologyawareness in Delaware.”

Dr. Robert R. Jordan and DGS Interim Director John H. Talley with theJoint Finance Committee of the Delaware General Assembly.Front, from left to right: JFC Co-Chair Rep. Joseph G. DiPinto, DGS Interim Director John H. Talley, Dr. Robert R. Jordan, JFC Co-Chair Nancy W. Cook.Middle: Rep. David H. Ennis, Sen. James T. Vaughn, Sen. Catherine A. Cloutier, ControllerGeneral Russel T. Larson, Sen. Margaret Rose Henry.Back: Sen. Charles L. Copeland, Rep. William I. Houghton, Rep. Gerald A. Buckworth, Sen.George H. Bunting, Jr., and Rep. Dennis P. Williams.

John H. Talley NamedInterim Director and StateGeologist

John H. Talley, associate director of theDelaware Geological Survey at theUniversity of Delaware for the last 11years, has been named interim director ofthe Survey and state geologist until a per-manent appointment is made, University ofDelaware Provost Dan Rich has announced.“John Talley has worked with Dr. Jordanfor nearly three decades, and he will do anoutstanding job in providing continuity ofleadership for the important work of theDelaware Geological Survey,” Rich said.

A 1969 graduate of UD in geology,Talley earned his master’s degree in geolo-gy at Franklin and Marshall College. Afterserving as an engineering geologist with asoil and foundation consulting firm, hejoined the Delaware Geological Survey as aproject geologist in 1972. He became asso-ciate scientist in 1974, scientist/hydrogeol-ogist in 1980, senior scientist/hydrogeolo-gist in 1986, associate director for hydrolo-gy and geophysics in 1992, and associatedirector in 1996.

Talley is the author or coauthor of morethan 50 publications and reports pertainingprimarily to the applied geology, hydrologyand geologic hazards in the AtlanticCoastal Plain and Piedmont. He has servedon dozens of boards, committees, and taskforces for state, federal, county, and munic-ipal agencies, the university, and profes-sional organizations. He has served as botha member and chairperson of the DelawareBoard of Professional Geologists. Alicensed professional geologist in Delawareand Pennsylvania, he is also a certified pro-fessional geologist of the AmericanInstitute of Professional Geologists, whichhe currently serves as chairman of theNational Affairs Committee and vice presi-dent of the Capitol Section.

Fun Facts on First StateFossilsBy P. P. McLaughlin, Jr.

The Delaware Geological Survey is inthe process of creating a series of webpages on Delaware fossils designed withstudents and hobbyists in mind. The firstof these projects to be completed is ournew “Cretaceous Fossils of Delaware” website, available at www.udel.edu/dgs underPaleontology.

The Cretaceous Period is the last periodin the Mesozoic Era, a time in earth historycommonly called “The Age of the

Reptiles.” This period lasted from approxi-mately 144 to 65 million years ago. Duringthe Early Cretaceous, Delaware was prima-rily an area of rivers, swamps, and dryland. During the Late Cretaceous, the seacovered most of Delaware, and depositsthat accumulated contain the remains ofmarine life.

This web site provides a look at theseinteresting fossil remains. Each group offossils is briefly described and supplement-ed by pictures and drawings of some of themore common Cretaceous species illustrat-ed in previous DGS reports. It also pro-vides a checklist of Delaware Cretaceousfossils as well as maps of collecting sitesand the geology of the area.

DGS Senior Scientist Pete McLaughlindesigned the web site, and UD studentinterns Andrea Wedo and Mark Neimeistercreated the pages. Neimeister has alsonearly completed a web site describing theremarkable 18-million-year-old fossils fromthe Pollack Farm site near Cheswold,Delaware. The Pollack Farm fossils repre-sent one of the richest finds of fossils fromthe Miocene Epoch in eastern NorthAmerica, a time when rhinos roamed apalm-studded Delaware landscape andmanatees swam in the seas.

Whether you are interested in collect-ing, or just want to learn about Delaware’sfossils, we hope our web visitors find thesenew web pages both interesting and educa-tional.

Subsurface MappingProvides New Insightsinto Ground-WaterResources of the PotomacFormation By R.N. Benson and P.P. McLaughlin, Jr.

As part of our continuing investigationof the ground-water resources of the

Potomac Formation in New Castle County,DGS Senior Scientist Richard Benson hasrecently completed a series of maps of sub-surface geology that yield new insights intothe distribution of water-bearing aquifersands of the area. The Potomac Formationwas deposited between approximately 125and 95 million years ago by a complex ofrivers and flood plains in a coastal plainsetting. The area was affected by a tropicalto subtropical climate, apparently with con-trasting dry seasons and wet seasons. Theseconditions left a series of sedimentarydeposits dominated by muddy flood plainsediments and ancient soils, but with anumber of sandy intervals laid down byriver currents. The sand intervals areimportant sources of ground water todaybut are discontinuous and variable in theirability to transmit water. Ongoing studies atthe DGS are examining the connectionsbetween these aquifer sands in three dimen-sions to better understand the undergroundpathways for ground-water flow.

The Potomac Formation is the largestsource of ground water in New CastleCounty, supplying approximately 24 mil-lion gallons of water per day for public,domestic, industrial, and agricultural use.Understanding this resource is a criticalissue in government planning, as outlinedin Governor Minner’s recent report, “2020On Tap: Ensuring Delaware’s Fresh WaterSupply.” A DGS project team is assistingthe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in usingour new findings to effectively address crit-ical geological issues in the ground-watermodeling project the Corps is currentlyconducting for the Delaware Department ofNatural Resources and EnvironmentalControl. We have recently established anew approach to correlation of aquifer unitsin the Potomac Formation, as described inthe Winter 2002 issue of First StateGeology. Three layers recognized withinthe Potomac Formation, designated A, B,and C, have been defined by the DGS andare used as ground-water model layers in

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the Corps of Engineer’s study. The distri-bution of potential aquifer sands withineach of the three layers indicates that theupper (A) and lower (C) layers have higherpercentages of aquifer-quality sand bodiesthan the muddier middle (B) layer. Thecross section between New Castle andDelaware City shown here illustrates thegreater degree of connection between thesand bodies within layers A and C thanbetween those in layer B, and thus betterground-water flow within these intervals.

On the basis of the correlation of theselayers around northern and central NewCastle County and neighboring areas ofNew Jersey and Maryland, Benson has pro-duced new, more accurate maps of thedepth to each of these layers, from whichtheir thickness and distribution can bedetermined. The maps will be the basis forconstruction of the geologic model to beused by the Corps of Engineers in theirground-water modeling study. In addition,cross sections and maps made during thisproject will be combined with others toproduce a geologic map of Delaware, aDGS STATEMAP project undertaken aspart of the National Cooperative GeologicMapping Program, a cooperative effort ofthe Association of American StateGeologists and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Geologic Map of Lewesand Cape HenlopenQuadranglesBy K.W. Ramsey

A new geologic map of the Lewes andCape Henlopen quadrangles has been com-pleted by Kelvin W. Ramsey. The mapcovers the area from just west of Lewes,north of Rehoboth, and all of CapeHenlopen, and shows the geologic unitsfound at the land surface, and the distribu-tion of offshore bottom sediments. Theseunits include coastal and bay bottom sedi-ments deposited when sea level was higherthan present (Lynch Heights and ScottsCorners formations) as well as the recentdune, marsh, and spit deposits of CapeHenlopen. The map also shows historicalshorelines of Cape Henlopen that documentits growth northward during the last 100years.

Geologic maps have applications withinthe state’s economy and are used for, butnot limited to, land use planning, identify-ing and managing surface and ground-water resources, resource exploration (sandand gravel), engineering applications, haz-ard identification, emergency planning,response, and recovery, and environmental

protection. Geologic Map No. 12 will soon be

available as a down-loadable file from theDGS website at www.udel.edu/dgs underPublications. Printed copies may beobtained by calling the DGS at (302) 831-2833 or via email atdelgeosurvey@udel.edu. Partial support ofthe mapping research was provided by agrant from the STATEMAP component ofthe National Cooperative GeologicMapping Program.

Delaware GIS 2003ConferenceBy W. S. Schenck

“A Vision for Tomorrow” was thetheme for this year’s Delaware GIS confer-ence held April 29th at the University ofDelaware. Governor Ruth Ann Minnerdelivered opening remarks and presentedJudith A. Purcell, of Benjamin BannekerElementary School in Milford, theDelaware Geographic Data Committee2003 GIS in Education Award. GovernorMinner then officially released newlyacquired 1:2,400-scale digital orthophotog-raphy for the state. These orthopho-tographs will soon be available via theInternet through the Delaware DataMILand DNREC’s Internet Mapping Serviceswebsite.

University of Delaware President DavidP. Roselle welcomed everyone to theUniversity, and Jack Dangermond, CEO,Earth Systems Resource Institute (ESRI),delivered the opening keynote address. Mr.Dangermond praised Delaware’s efforts forassembling the state’s Spatial DataFramework Layers and serving themthrough the DataMIL map service.

This year’s conference was the biggest,most successful Delaware GIS conferencethus far. We had great participation fromK-12 schools through our “What DoesGeography Mean to Me” poster contest.Over 100 posters were submitted, and con-

ference attendees voted for first, second,and third place winners. First place win-ners received a geographic game for theirclassroom, and all the winners received acertificate.

Mineral and BookCollections: Legacy ofRoland E. BoundsBy C. T. Smith

Roland Bounds, former senior researchtechnician with the Delaware GeologicalSurvey, was a nationally known andrespected collector of minerals and sciencefictions books. We would like to celebratethe preservation of the work that Rolandtruly enjoyed.

Prior to Roland’s unexpected passing,he had been in contact with the curator ofthe Delaware Museum of Natural History.The museum was interested in furtherdeveloping a mineral showcase as one ofits display collections. Roland left a notestating that he would like his personal min-eral collection displayed and enjoyed byvisitors to the museum. His collection isnow on display at the museum. For infor-mation on hours of display, please visit themuseum’s web site at www.delmnh.org.

A noted rare book dealer worked withRoland’s estate, and his entire science fic-tion collection (nearly 15,000 items) wasacquired by the Special CollectionsDepartment of the University of Delawarelibrary. The spectacular collection had pre-viously been featured in the library’s 1991exhibition, “Delaware Collects.” Rolandwas particularly proud of his holdings ofscarce vintage paperbacks and pulp maga-zines from the 1940s through the 1960s.The library is currently engaged in process-ing and cataloging the collection.

PublicationsRecent DGS PublicationsGeologic Maps

No. 12, Geologic map of the Lewes andCape Henlopen quadrangles, Delaware:Kelvin W. Ramsey, 1:24,000.

Hydrologic MapsNo. 11, Ground-water recharge poten-

tial, Kent County, Delaware: A. ScottAndres, 1:100,000.

No. 12, Ground-water recharge poten-tial, Sussex County, Delaware: A. ScottAndres, 1:100,000.

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First Place, K-3: Taylesha Steward, Third GradeTeacher: Brandi Townsend of BrittinghamElementary

Other Publications byDGS Staff

Kenneth G. Miller, Peter P.McLaughlin, Jr., James V. Browning,Richard N. Benson, Peter J. Sugarman,Kelvin W. Ramsey, J. Hernandez, StefanieJ. Baxter, M. D. Feigenson, D. H.Monteverde, B. S. Cramer, J. Uptegrove,M. E. Katz, Thomas E. McKenna, ScottA. Strohmeier, S. J. Pekar, G. Cobbs II, G.Cobbs III, M.-P. Aubry, S. Curtin, Chapter3: Bethany Beach Site Report, inProceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program,Initial Reports, Volume 174AX supplement,p. 1-84.

Kenneth G. Miller, James V. Browning,P. J. Sugarman, Peter P. McLaughlin, Jr.,M. A. Kominz, R. K. Olsson, J. D. Wright,B. S. Cramer, S. J. Pekar, and W. VanSickel, 174AX leg summary: sequences,sea level, tectonics, and aquifer resources:Coastal Plain drilling, in Proceedings of theOcean Drilling Program, Initial Reports,Volume 174AX, p. 1-38.

Peter P. McLaughlin, Jr., Field tripreport: 2002 AASP/TMS/NAMS Post-Conference Field Trip, “The Cretaceous ofthe Isle of Wight,” September 13-15, 2002,AASP Newsletter, v. 35, no. 4, p. 5-6.

Staff NotesPresentations

A. Scott Andres, “Surface WaterLoadings and Ground-Water/Surface-WaterInteractions in the Inland Bays Watershed,”Delaware Inland Bays Estuary Program,Scientific and Technical AdvisoryCommittee meeting, January 24.

Todd A. Keyser, “What a GeologistDoes,” first and second grade classes, Mill

Road School, May 30. Thomas E. McKenna, “Geologists,

Rocks, and Minerals,” West Park PlaceElementary School, Newark, March 27.

Peter P. McLaughlin, Jr., “Life ofDelaware’s Ancient Land and Seas,” and“The Hidden Geology of Southern NewCastle County and Delaware’s Ground-Water Resources,” teacher developmentworkshop, Gunning Bedford MiddleSchool, February 14.

Peter P. McLaughlin, Jr., presented apaper entitled “The Application ofSequence Stratigraphy to Aquifer GeologyProblems in the Middle Atlantic CoastalPlain, United States: Leveraging PetroleumGeoscience Learnings to Public-NeedsIssues,” at the annual academia-industrycollaboration conference of the PetroleumGroup of the Geological Society, April 15-16. The paper was coauthored by Peter J.Sugarman of the New Jersey GeologicalSurvey, Richard N. Benson and ThomasE. Mckenna, and Kenneth G. Miller andJames V. Browning of Rutgers University.Peter P. McLaughlin, Jr., also chaired theafternoon session on April 15.

William S. Schenck led a field trip forinstructors of the Brandywine ValleyAssociation from Brandywine Creek StatePark to “The Rocks” at Fort Christina Parkin Wilmington; “Rocks and Minerals,”Shields Elementary School, Lewes, January23; demonstrated Delaware DataMIL for acongressional briefing at the UniversityConsortium on Geographic InformationSystems, Washington, D.C., February 12.

John H. Talley, “Water SupplyDevelopment Northern New Castle County,Meeting the Water Needs of 2020,” DoverCapital City Rotary Club, April 17;“Delaware Environmental ObservationSystem (DEOS),” David R. Legates, Daniel

J. Leathers, Tracy L. DeLiberty, and GeoffE. Quelch, University of Delaware, andJohn H. Talley, Delaware GIS 2003, April 29.

Lillian T. Wang, “Delaware InlandBays Shoreline Extraction Using Landsat 7Satellite Imagery,” Delaware GIS 2003,April 29.

Service and AwardsCongratulations to Kelvin W. Ramsey

for 15 years of service, to Thomas E.McKenna for 5 years of service at theDelaware Geological Survey, and to LillianT. Wang for promotion to GISSpecialist/Cartographer.

A. Scott Andres, Shue-Medill MiddleSchool science fair judge, Newark,February 6.

Robert R. Jordan received proclama-tions from the Delaware General Assembly,and resolutions of appreciation from theOuter Continental Shelf Policy Committeeof the U. S. Minerals Management Serviceand the Delaware River Master AdvisoryCommittee.

Peter P. McLaughlin, Jr., was electedpresident of the North AmericanMicropaleontological Section of the Societyfor Sedimentary Geology. The section pro-motes application, research, and educationin the study of microfossils through spon-sorship of conferences, organization oftechnical sessions at national scientificmeetings, dissemination of news by the sec-tion’s newsletter and website, and supportof student research through grants andscholarships.

William S. Schenck was appointed tothe Delaware Board of ProfessionalGeologists by Governor Ruth Ann Minnerand serves as president of the board.

Delaware Geological SurveyUniversity of DelawareNewark, DE 19716-7501

First State Geology is published by the DelawareGeological Survey, a State agency established by anAct of the Delaware General Assembly in 1951 andorganized as a unit of the University of Delaware.

John H. TalleyInterim Director and State GeologistStefanie BaxterEditor, First State Geology

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