Merguerian, Charles, 1981c, Tectonic History of
New York City area (abs.): Empire State
Geogram, Albany, NY, v. 17, p. 28.
An examination of
bedrock in the New York City area indicates the presence of lithologies that
are not a part of the Cambro-Ordovician Inwood-Manhattan Miogeoclinal
Succession. In particular, bedrock in
northwestern Manhattan and, locally, in Central Park, appears to be lithically
similar to rocks I’ve mapped as the Waramaug Formation in western Connecticut
and rocks mapped as the Manhattan B-C by Leo Hall in southeastern New
York. Detailed mapping and sampling is
in progress in an attempt to recognize older (Taconic?) mylonitic fabrics that
will help delineate the boundaries of possible allochthonous rocks. The serpentinites in the subsurface of
western Manhattan and eastern New Jersey and exposures on Staten Island are
suggestive of ophiolitic scraps. It
will be interesting to see whether there is a geographical association between
these serpentinites and heretofore unrecognized faults bounding the
allochthonous rocks. The presence
status of my work is preliminary on the whole with scattered detailed bedrock
mapping completed thus far.
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