The Amature Paleontolgist"s Guide to
Fossils in and around Maryland
Maryland's Coastal Plain Province
The Coastal Plain Province is composed of unconsolidated sediments including gravel, sand, silt, and clay, which overlaps the rocks of the eastern Piedmont along an irregular line of contact known as the Fall Zone. Eastward, this wedge of sediments thickens to more than 8,000 feet at the Atlantic coast line. Beyond this line is the Continental Shelf, the submerged continuation of the Coastal Plain, which extends eastward for at least another 75 miles where the sediments attain a maximum thickness of about 40,000 feet.
If you look at the geologic map below, you should notice three bands of sediments (Cretaceous, Teriary and Quaternary) which run southwest to the northeast. The further north and west one goes, the older the sediments become. The youngest sediments cover Maryland's lower Eastern Shore. These bands appear because the sediments are not completely horizontal,but are tiltled eastward at a slight angle.
Because the formations are sedimentary, the Coastal Plain is rich in fossils. Miocene and Eocene fossils can be found in the Terriary formations in southern Maryland as well on the Eastern Shore. Cretaceous fossils can be found in Kent and Cecil counties.
