Geology of the Ridge and Valley Province, northwestern New Jersey and eastern Pennsylvania

The rocks seen in this segment of the field trip range in age from Middle Ordovician to Middle Devonian and constitute a deep basin-continental-shallow shelf succession. Within this succession, three lithotectonic units, or sequences of rock that were deformed semi-independently of each other, have somewhat different structural characteristics. Both the Alleghenian and Taconic orogenies have left their imprint on the rocks. Wind and water gaps are structurally controlled, thus placing doubt upon the hypothesis of regional superposition. Wisconsinan deposits and erosion effects are common. We will examine these geologic features as well as some of the economic deposits in the area.

Figure 1 is an index map of the field-trip area, showing the trip route and quadrangle coverage. Figure 2 is a generalized geologic map,