The Palynology of the Upper Cretaceous Raritan Formation in Western Staten Island, New York (Part 2 of 2)


Raphael Ketani, CPG-09003, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Long Island City, New York


Abstract


This study is primarily based on infor- mation obtained during hydrogeological investigations of the strata under the Fresh Kills Landfill and the adacent Brookfield Avenue Landfill in Staten Island, New York. The intent of this study was to create detailed descriptions of the sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Upper Cretaceous strata. Sediment cores were recovered to bedrock with the lithology and other sedimentologic features described for each soil core. The formations represent distributary channel sands, levees, crevasse splay sediments, marshes and upland swamps within floodplains, interdistributary bay deposits, the proximal marine environ- ment and prodeltaic silts and clays. Pollen also was analyzed in order to correlate the strata within the study area. The maority of the pollen repre- sented palynozones II, IIA, IIB and IIC, which is characteristic of the Lower Cretaceous Patapsco Formation. Pollen from palynozones III and IV was present only in a small number of samples found throughout the strata. These results suggest that the sediments under the study area are older than the Lloyd Sand and the Raritan Clay; however, the sedimentology and stratigraphic relationships of the beds and the infor- mation from the sediment cores, con- sidered with the cross sections and the descriptions of the two formations have allowed the author to interpret that the Lloyd Sand and the Raritan Clay are present. This allows for the correlation of the formations under the study area with the Raritan Formation in eastern New Jersey, and Brooklyn, Queens, and


Long Island, New York. Introduction


This paper (parts 1 and 2) is a synthesis of the author’s professional


 Figure 1. Study area Fresh Kills Landfill and Brookfield Avenue landfill


work as an engineering geologist with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. This work included monitoring the installation of approximately 500 soil borings and 300 groundwater monitoring wells in the Fresh Kills Landfill, Staten Island, New York. The work included examining soil cores obtained beneath the Brookfield Avenue Landfill, which abuts the Fresh Kills Landfill to the east (Figure 1). The hydrogeologic investigations at each landfill were undertaken to understand the movement of groundwater and leach- ate and the potential for offsite migra- tion.


Previous Investigations


Much of the data presented in this paper came from the Site Investigation Report Brookfield Avenue Landfill (Wehran 1983a), the Hydrologeologic Investigation Fresh Kills Landfill Solid Waste Disposal Operations Plan (Wehran 1983b), the, Hydrogeological


Evaluation Old Muldoon Area Fresh Kills Landfill Report (Wehran 1988), the Site Investigation Plan for the Arthur Kill Ash/Residue Disposal Site Report (Wehran EnviroTech, 1990), the Fresh Kills Leachate Mitigation System Proect Final Hydrogeological Report (International Technology Corporation et al. [IT Corp.], 1993), and the Brookfield Avenue Landfill Remediation Proect Final Remediation Investigation Report (Camp Dresser and McKee, 1998).


Methods Of Study


Soil cores from borings installed with- in the footprint and along the perimeter of each landfill (Figure 2) were examined by the author. Additionally for this study, the author also reviewed and used information from boring logs contained in the Wehran reports (1983a, 1983b and 1988), the IT Corp. hydrogeological inves- tigation report (1993) and the Brookfield Avenue hydrogeological investigation report (Camp Dresser and McKee, 1998). Daniel C. Walsh also examined the D, B and BR series of logs.


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