In southeastern Virginia one to two discontinuous boulder layers occur at the base of the Pleistocene Norfolk Formation. The sediments, heavy minerals and microfossils within the boulder layers in addition to boulder lithologies, dimensions and orientations were studied to determine the origin of these layers. These data indicate the boulder layers were separated into two similar yet distinct layers.
The ancestral James River with sea-level 100 meters lower than today probably had the capacity to entrain 70-80 percent of the clasts in the boulder layers, but probably not the capacity to entrain the larger cobbles and boulders in the boulder layers. Winter river-ice rafting might provide a possible means of transporting the larger and angular clasts from the Blue Ridge and Piedmont Provinces to the boulder layers in southeastern Virginia. Reproduced
","abstract_html":"<p>In southeastern Virginia one to two discontinuous boulder layers occur at the base of the Pleistocene Norfolk Formation. The sediments, heavy minerals and microfossils within the boulder layers in addition to boulder lithologies, dimensions and orientations were studied to determine the origin of these layers. These data indicate the boulder layers were separated into two similar yet distinct layers.</p> <p>The ancestral James River with sea-level 100 meters lower than today probably had the capacity to entrain 70-80 percent of the clasts in the boulder layers, but probably not the capacity to entrain the larger cobbles and boulders in the boulder layers. Winter river-ice rafting might provide a possible means of transporting the larger and angular clasts from the Blue Ridge and Piedmont Provinces to the boulder layers in southeastern Virginia. Reproduced</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["McDaniel, Robert C."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Ocean & Earth Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Dennis A. Darby","Randall Spencer","Richard Whittecar"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1985,"date_issued":"1985-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1985-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:35:08Z","subjects":["Boulder layers","Coastal plain","Virginia","Geology"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
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"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_etds/101"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In southeastern Virginia one to two discontinuous boulder layers occur at the base of the Pleistocene Norfolk Formation. The sediments, heavy minerals and microfossils within the boulder layers in addition to boulder lithologies, dimensions and orientations were studied to determine the origin of these layers. These data indicate the boulder layers were separated into two similar yet distinct layers.
The ancestral James River with sea-level 100 meters lower than today probably had the capacity to entrain 70-80 percent of the clasts in the boulder layers, but probably not the capacity to entrain the larger cobbles and boulders in the boulder layers. Winter river-ice rafting might provide a possible means of transporting the larger and angular clasts from the Blue Ridge and Piedmont Provinces to the boulder layers in southeastern Virginia. Reproduced
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Sedimentologic and Stratigraphic Significance of Boulder Layers in the Outer Coastal Plain of Southeastern Virginia"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Dennis A. Darby","Randall Spencer","Richard Whittecar"],"dc:creator":["McDaniel, Robert C."],"dc:date.available":["2019-09-13T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In southeastern Virginia one to two discontinuous boulder layers occur at the base of the Pleistocene Norfolk Formation. The sediments, heavy minerals and microfossils within the boulder layers in addition to boulder lithologies, dimensions and orientations were studied to determine the origin of these layers. These data indicate the boulder layers were separated into two similar yet distinct layers.
The ancestral James River with sea-level 100 meters lower than today probably had the capacity to entrain 70-80 percent of the clasts in the boulder layers, but probably not the capacity to entrain the larger cobbles and boulders in the boulder layers. Winter river-ice rafting might provide a possible means of transporting the larger and angular clasts from the Blue Ridge and Piedmont Provinces to the boulder layers in southeastern Virginia. Reproduced
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/oeas_etds/101"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
"],"dc:subject":["Boulder layers","Coastal plain","Virginia","Geology"],"dc:title":["Sedimentologic and Stratigraphic Significance of Boulder Layers in the Outer Coastal Plain of Southeastern Virginia"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Ocean & Earth Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:35:08Z"}