TABLE 3: Surficial Sediments of the Cape Elizabeth Area*

Type of Deposit	Characteristics
Swamp and tidal marsh	Peat and organic muck; some interstratified silt, clay, and sand.
Beach and dune	Fine, well-sorted sand of coastal beaches, and windblown sand of associated dunes adjacent to beaches.
Marine	Dark blue-gray silt, clay, and fine sand, occasionally with marine fossils. The Presumpscot Formation of Bloom (1959, Late Pleistocene changes of sea level in southwestern Maine: Maine Geological Survey, 143 p.). Deposited in marine waters during deglaciation, when the terminus of the retreating ice sheet stood in the sea.
Glacial outwash	Stratified deposits of sand and gravel deposited by meltwater from retreating ice sheet.
Till	Unsorted and unstratified mixture of clay, silt, sand, pebbles, cobbles, and boulders. Forms a variable thickness cover over bedrock.
* Adopted from Prescott, Glenn C., Jr., 1976, Ground water favorability and surficial geology of the Portland area, Maine: U.S. Geological Survey, map HA-561.

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Last updated on January 16, 2008

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