The Flanner Beach Formation (Middle Pleistocene) in Eastern North Carolina

Abstract

The Flanner Beach Formation was deposited along the Atlantic Coast of east-central North Carolina during a high stand of world sea-level about 200,000 years B.P. This major barrier-lagoon sequence can be divided into three members in its type area along the lower reaches of the Neuse River: I) Smith Gut Member (new unit), deposited in early transgressive open-bay settings: 2) Arapahoe Sand Member (newly formalized unit), deposited in a barrier- island complex as the rate of sea-level rise decreased: and 3l Beard Creek Merrher (newly formalized unit), composed of sediments that accumulated in a spatial-temporal mosaic of bay and lagoonal environments. The barrier-sand lithosome is continued to the south of the Neuse valley as the Newport Sand Member (newly formalized unit).

Time-equivalent deposits cropping out in the Pamlico River valley, 40 km north of the Flanner Beach type area, also are divisible into three units of member rank: 1) Hills Point Member (new unit), deposited in isolated lagoonal or: river-estuary settings; succeeded vertically by 2) Mauls Point Member (new unit), deposited in more open lagoonal areas; and 3) a poorly exposed, unnamed member resembling the Beard Creek Member.