A Natural Resource Management Guide for the County of Morris A ...

o
z
o
P
a
le
Late
570 - 900
Proterozoic
Middle
900 - 1600
Proterozoic
During the Silurian, with tilting of the continental landmass, the Highlands ridges uplifted further, and the
rivers shifted their direction north and westward. Erosional debris, also washing westward, gathered in the
valleys and compacted into new shales, sandstones, siltstones, and conglomerates. In Morris County, the
eroding Highlands ridges formed the sedimentary rock belts of the Musconetcong valley and of the wide valley
that runs northeast from Long Valley in Washington Township to the Oak Ridge Reservoir in Jefferson
Township, as well as Picatinny Valley in Rockaway Township. Parallel to these valleys are ridges also
derived from sedimentary rock, folded up out of the valley floor, e.g., Green Pond, Brown, and Copperas
Mountains, and part of Bowling Green Mountain (refer to the Landform
A
map in Chapter 2).
E
R
EPOCH
TIME
Holocene
present-0.016
The Mesozoic Era
Pleistocene 0.016 - 1.0
Newark Basin and Basalt Ridges of the Piedmont
During the Late Triassic, the rift in the Atlantic Ocean floor began to
spread again, pushing North America westward. This process continues
today. Parallel to this spreading rift, along the edge of the North
American land mass, a series of inland basins formed as the Highlands
was raised once more. The eastern part of Morris County lies within one
of these northeast trending rift basins. Known as the Newark Basin, the
western edge is formed by the Highlands escarpment, along which runs
the Border or Ramapo Fault, extending from Mahwah through Boonton
and Morristown to Gladstone. These features separate the Highlands
from the Piedmont province.
o
z
o
n
C
e
ic
o
z
o
s
M
e
1.0 - 5.3
Pliocene
5.3 - 23.7
Miocene
23.7 - 36.6
Oligocene
36.6 - 57.8
Eocene
57.8 - 66.4
Paleocene
66.4 - 144
Cretaceous
144 - 208
Jurassic
ic
Continuing into the early Jurassic period, sediments washed from both
the Highlands slopes and the eastern upland area of the Manhattan
Prong, and were deposited along rivers and in lakes within the Newark
Basin, atop the Proterozoic rock. Mud, clays, silts, and gravel were
deposited in broad alluvial fans on the basin floor. There they settled,
compacted, hardened, and became the characteristic sedimentary
reddish-brown sandstones, conglomerates, siltstones, and shales of the
Brunswick Group.
ic
208 - 245
Triassic
245 -286
Permian
286 - 320
Pennsylvanian
320 - 360
Mississippian
360 - 408
Devonian
408 - 438
Silurian
"Three major (volcanic) eruptions spread lava across the Newark Basin.
The lava solidified into the igneous basalt units of the Brunswick Group.
Each basalt layer was covered by additional sediment coming off the
Highlands. The continual rifting and tectonic activity resulted in the
tilting of the basin to the northwest. The softer sedimentary units . . .
eroded away, leaving behind the more resistant igneous rocks. These
now underlie the ridges called the Watchung Mountains." 1
n
ia
r
m
b
a
c
P
r
e
Cambrian 505 - 570
Ordovician 438 - 505
1
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A Natural Resource Management Guide
for the County of Morris 13