2/27/20 Coastal Plain Geology of NJ Dinner Meeting

DINNER MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT

Coastal Plain Geology of NJ
Thursday, February 27, 2020
At the Clarion Hotel in Somerset, New Jersey
 
Presented by 
Pete Sugarman, New Jersey Geological & Water Survey

ABSTRACT
The hydrogeologic framework of the New Jersey Coastal Plain (NJCP) developed by Zapecza (1989) using electric and gamma-ray logs from approximately 1,000 wells identified 9 aquifers and 6 confining beds.  This framework has been widely used for over 30 years by regulatory agencies in New Jersey.  Subsequent integration of geologic mapping using sequence stratigraphy, biostratigraphy, and facies models based on data collected from outcrop, continuous coreholes, and geophysical logs has led to a refinement of some of the major hydrogeologic units, including the Cretaceous Potomac-Raritan-Magothy (PRM) aquifer system, and the Miocene Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system.  The PRM aquifer system was reinterpreted using pollen biostratigraphy and fluvial-deltaic facies models to predict continuity of aquifer sands and confining units in a nonmarine to marginal marine setting.  Examples from Fort Mott, Medford, and Sandy Hook illustrate the variation of thickness and extent of sand bodies within this aquifer over large distances within the NJCP.  The Atlantic City 800-foot sand aquifer and Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer system were refined using diatom biostratigraphy, Sr-isotopes, and shelf and delta facies models.  Examples from Cape May and Atlantic County will be highlighted to illustrate the lateral continuity of the sands and confining beds within this aquifers, and how it affects recharge and salt-water intrusion.

BIOGRAPHY
Peter Sugarman is a research scientist at the New Jersey Geological and Water Survey.  His work has focused onsequence stratigraphy and geological mapping of the New Jersey Coastal Plain. He was the lead geologist, along with James Owens of the US Geological Survey, in completing the coastal plain portion of the 1998 New Jersey State geologic map and has also coauthored numerous bedrock geological quadrangle maps in the New Jersey Coastal Plain. Dr. Sugarman also served as co-chief scientist on 10 deep coreholes in New Jersey that were part of the onshore section of Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Leg 174AX.  His current work is focused on the integration of sequences and aquifers to produce an updated hydrostratigraphic framework of the New Jersey Coastal Plain.  Dr. Sugarman is also an Adjunct Professor of Geology at Rutgers University since 1994 where he currently teaches Environmental Geology.