Brightseat Formation

The Brightseat Formation is an exposure of marine sedimentary rock beds of Upper Cretaceous/Lower Paleocene age (65 MY to 55.5 MY), in Landover, Maryland. The exposure is located at Brightseat Road between Sheriff and Landover Roads. The site is currently owned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. It was given its name by R.R. Bennett and G.G. Collins in 1952.[1]

According to the Maryland Geologic Survey, the exposure consists of "Gray to greenish-gray, micaceous, argillaceous, sparsely glauconitic, fine- to coarse-grained sand, locally indurated calcareous beds; phosphatic pebbles; thickness 0 to 20 feet."[2]

  1. ^ Bennett, R.R., and Collins, G.G., 1952, Brightseat Formation, a new name for sediments of Paleocene age in Maryland: Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, v. 42, no. 4, p. 114–116.
  2. ^ Maryland Geological Survey - Coastal Plain Rocks and Sediments 1968