Transgressions and regressions in stratigraphic view: Facies of Holocene sediments of the Tuckerton Marshes, New Jersey (2nd edition)

Abstract

The Tuckerton salt marshes of the central New Jersey coast are the current depositional surface overlying Holocene marginal marine deposits that were investigated by hand coring and augering to depths as great as 10.6 m. An erosional surface on Sangamon marine topography underlies Holocene marsh, lagoon, and tidal delta sediments. Holocene facies geometry indicates a transgression followed by an episode of marine erosion and a depositional regression. Facies are mapped in terms of grain size, macro-fauna, Foraminifera, plant remains, and sedimentary structures. Some of the more interesting results of this investigation are: 1) typical depositional regression sequences occur even where late-Holocene sea-level rise continued along this coast, 2) coherent facies assemblages representing deeper/more saline conditions form the interior of a transgressive-regressive wedge in the landward part of the study area, 3) transgressional sequences are sporadically preserved in seaward parts due to superposed high-energy environments, producing an asymmetric transgression- regression distribution there, and 4) tidal-channel migration can form volumetrically dominant sand bodies in the sequence.