Late Cenozoic stages and molluscan zones of the U.S. Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain

Abstract

Pliocene to Holocene deposits of the U.S.Atlantic Coastal Plain from Maryland to Georgia are divided into four stages and four substages using molluscan biostratigraphic data. These divisions are the Wiltonian and Burwellian Stages (early Pliocene), Gouldian and Windyan Substages of the Colerainian Stage (late Pliocene to early Pleistocene), and Myrtlean and Yongesian Substages of the Longian Stage (late Pleistocene to Holocene). These stages may be recognized from Florida to as far north as Massachusetts and will facilitate correlation with other regions.