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Does Altonian Drift Exist in Pennsylvania and New Jersey?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John C. Ridge
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155 USA
Duane D. Braun
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, Bloomsburg University, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania 17815 USA
Edward B. Evenson
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18015 USA

Abstract

From New Jersey to southwestern New York, Altonian colluvium and fluvial gravel have been recognized beneath Woodfordian drift, but the existence of Altonian till near or beyond the Woodfordian border has not been demonstrated. Reworking of weathered materials by Woodfordian ice has produced some drift with an “Altonian” appearance. Soil criteria, applied without regard for parent material differences, have been incorrectly used to infer an Altonian age for Illinoian deposits that have a redbed provenance. The currently mapped distribution of Altonian till and the occurrence of undisturbed Illinoian deposits within areas of inferred Altonian ice cover are incompatible with the behavior of ice sheets.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
University of Washington

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