The Pleistocene of North America / and its vertebrated animals from the states east of the Mississippi River and from the Canadian provinces east of longitude 95°

by Oliver Perry Hay

NORTH CAROLINA.

(Map [39].)

Our knowledge of the Pleistocene geology of North Carolina is at present confined almost wholly to the Coastal Plain of the State. The most recent general discussions of the geology of this region are found in volume III of the North Carolina Geological and Economic Survey, 1912. The authors who contributed to this volume are William Bullock Clark, Benjamin L. Miller, L. W. Stephenson, B. L. Johnson, and Horatio N. Parker. L. W. Stephenson has furnished an article on the Cretaceous deposits, and in his numerous geological sections he has referred to the Pleistocene materials there found. Benjamin L. Miller wrote on the Tertiary formations and likewise noted the Pleistocene materials found in his sections. The most important part of the volume for the student of the Pleistocene is Stephenson’s article on “The Quaternary Formations,” which occupies pages 266 to 290. Clark, Miller, and Stephenson united in a chapter on the “Geological History of the Coastal Plain of North Carolina.” Clark, besides, deals with the “Correlation of the Coastal Plain Formations.” In addition to numerous plates and text-figures, a colored map shows the area covered by the surficial formations of the Coastal Plain and another the distribution of the formations exclusive of the surficial. Finally, Miller and Stephenson presented a bibliography which includes 150 titles, occupying pages 44 to 73.

According to Clark and Stephenson, the Pleistocene of North Carolina comprises five formations; the oldest is the Coharie, farthest removed from the coast and lying back against the so-called Lafayette, itself supposed, with some doubt, to belong to the Pliocene. Toward the coast there come in, in succession of position and time, the Sunderland, the Wicomico, the Chowan, and the Pamlico. These formations are described as forming more or less well-defined terraces having higher and higher elevations as they are followed back from the coast. The Pamlico nowhere exceeds 25 feet above sea-level. The Chowan varies in elevation from about 25 feet to about 50 feet. The Wicomico formation slopes from about 50 feet up to about 90 or 100 feet. The Wicomico may attain elevations of from 140 to 150 feet at the western border. The Coharie varies from about 160 feet along its eastern border to as much as 235 feet along its western border. From its western border each formation sends up the rivers prolongations into or across the next formation toward the west.

Each terrace may present along its coastward border an escarpment of varying elevation and obviousness. The Coharie and Sunderland formations are regarded by the authors named as being correlated with the Sunderland of Virginia and Maryland, although the Coharie may be really Pliocene. The Wicomico is equivalent to that called by the same name in the States farther north, while the Chowan and the Pamlico together are correlated with the Talbot of Virginia and Maryland.

The area occupied by the Pamlico is extremely narrow or absent along the southernmost third of the coast of the State. At longitude 77° the boundary between it and the Chowan turns and runs north, very slightly to the east, striking the northern boundary of the State at about 76° 15′. Just south of Albemarle Sound its width east and west is nearly equal to that of all the other Pleistocene formations at that latitude, taken together.

Clark, Miller, and Stephenson (op. cit., p. 300) accept the theory of McGee that during Lafayette times, probably in the late Pliocene, the Coastal Plain was depressed some 500 feet below its present level and covered by the sea. Into this sea were poured, by the rivers coming down from the higher lands to the west, the clay, sand, and gravel, sometimes boulders, which make up the so-called Lafayette. Somewhat later the region was uplifted enough to expose the Lafayette deposits and they suffered erosion. When the Coharie formation began to be laid down the sea-level must have been about 160 feet higher than at present; it continued to rise until it reached an elevation of about 200 feet. A subsidence and a succeeding elevation occurred, during which the Sunderland terrace was produced. In like manner the succeeding deposits and terraces are supposed, by the geologists named, to have been formed—the Wicomico, the Chowan, and the Pamlico.

One objection already offered (p. [346]) to this theory to account for the deposits belonging to the Lafayette and the formations of the Pleistocene is that, instead of beds of sea-shells, remains of marine fishes, porpoises, and whales, there are found scattered here and there over this region the bones and teeth of elephants, mastodons, horses, and other land animals. In maintaining this objection it is not necessary to assume that the lower parts of the Pleistocene area have never been submerged.

The writer has caused to be prepared a map showing the geographical distribution of the five formations referred (in the work cited) to the Pleistocene. It is based on the maps found in that volume. It shows also the localities where fossil vertebrates have been discovered, and where marine fossils and land plants have been secured (map [39]).

One difficulty met with in our study of the distribution of the finds of extinct vertebrates in North Carolina, as elsewhere, arises from carelessness in recording and preserving proper data. In several cases here to be considered, no more is known than that a fossil has been found in a certain county. Happily, more is known in many other cases.

Examination shows that no fossil vertebrates are known to have been found in North Carolina within the area of the Coharie formation, but that mastodons have been met with in the areas of all four of the other formations as laid down in Stephenson’s map, plate XIII of the work cited above. Horse remains, too, seem to have occurred within all the areas last noted. This does not mean necessarily that these remains were buried in the corresponding formations. A mastodon may have lived long after the Sunderland was laid down and his remains have become buried in some isolated deposit, say of Pamlico times; or, the remains may be found within the area of Pamlico, but really buried in underlying Chowan. Each case must be decided on the evidence bearing on it.

Mention is made on page [155] of the finding of a tooth of Elephas columbi about 9 miles below Wilmington. Whether this was buried in Pamlico deposits close along Cape Fear River, in Chowan deposits which prevail there, or beneath these, in Wicomico, it is impossible to say. A short distance below this place was found a tooth of Mammut americanum.

On page [190] is given an account of the discovery of a tooth of Equus leidyi in what was supposed to be Miocene marl in the vicinity of Elizabethtown, on Cape Fear River, in Bladen County. Miller (op. cit., p. 248) states that the Pleistocene about Elizabethtown rests usually directly on the Cretaceous, but that south of the town are found some patches of Miocene marls. The region about this town is mostly occupied by the Sunderland formation, but the Wicomico extends up the river far above the place. It is, however, mapped as lying mostly on the north side of the river. It seems pretty certain that the horse-tooth occurred in the Sunderland, probably at its base.

Mastodon remains, as stated on page [115], have been found in Pender County, but where is not known. Along the coast is a narrow strip of Pamlico. The southeastern half of the county is occupied by the Chowan, the northwestern by the Wicomico.

Mastodon teeth have been found in Duplin County, but there is no record as to exact locality, depth, or matrix. The southeastern two-thirds of the county is covered by deposits of the Wicomico, the northwestern third by Sunderland. The mastodon probably belongs to one or the other of these. The Pleistocene deposits are, however, underlain by Tertiary rocks, and possibly the mastodon came from these and belongs to a different genus.

On page [116] will be found an account of remains of a mastodon, probably Mammut americanum, which was found near Jacksonville, in Onslow County. Three of the supposed Pleistocene formations are found near Jacksonville. The Pamlico comes up the New River quite to the town. Immediately at the town is (following Stephenson’s map) the Chowan. The southeastern border of the Wicomico comes down nearly to the town. In which of the three areas the teeth were discovered we do not know. A case is here furnished which illustrates the need of most accurate observation and record of locality, depth, and character of materials.

As stated on page [116], teeth and tusks of Mammut americanum have been obtained at Maysville, Jones County. The writer does not know exactly the place where the remains were discovered. The region about Maysville is occupied by the Chowan formation, but the Pamlico sends an extension up White Oak River as far as Maysville.

Remains of both Mammut and Elephas have been reported from Carteret County. In 1828 (see p. [117]) Elisha Mitchell stated that remains of the elephant and mastodon had been met with in digging the Clubfoot and Harlow Canal. This canal passed from Neuse River to Newport River. In 1876 (Senate Ex. Doc. No. 35, 44th Congr., p. 17) S. T. Abert transcribed, from an earlier report made by Professor Olmstead, a geological section taken in this canal. The excavation went to a depth of 16 feet. The uppermost of the four layers consisted of the peaty mold usually found in the swamp. The next layer was made up of a yellowish-brown potter’s clay. The third layer consisted of sand and was full of sea-shells and fossil remains of “mammoths” (mastodons) and elephants. The shells belonged to species now found near Cape Lookout, principally conch, scallop, and clam. The layer below this was blue clay. In the case here presented there can hardly be a doubt that the stratum containing the shells and the bones belonged to a Pleistocene formation older than that assigned to the Pamlico.

On page [145] is described a tooth of Elephas primigenius, dredged up in Core Creek, forming part of the Inland Waterway in Carteret County. The conclusion seems unavoidable that this boreal animal had been driven to this southern latitude during one of the glacial stages, and one naturally thinks of the latest one, the Wisconsin; but it may have been at a much earlier time. A mastodon jaw has been secured in the same canal.

Doubtless the locality in North Carolina, the most important to the student of Pleistocene vertebrate palæontology, is that reported long ago on the northern shore of Neuse River, 16 miles below Newbern. As stated on page [117], in a mention of the mastodon bones discovered, H. B. Croom seems first to publish a statement concerning the animal remains found there. Some of his identifications were certainly wrong. According to Harlan (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XLIII, 1842, p. 143), there were secured remains of elephant, mastodon, hog, elk, deer, horse, seal, cetaceans, a tortoise, snake, fish, shark, and skate. As in another case, Harlan may have mistaken worn teeth of Bison for teeth of the hog (Sus). For our purpose the most important animals of the list are the elephant, the mastodon, and the horse. According to Croom, the animal remains were found in a marl pit. He was informed by the owner that in an upper layer there were found teeth of sharks and fragments of bones of marine fishes, mingled with sea-shells. In a deeper layer, 20 to 25 feet below the surface, there occurred the remains of land animals, together with sea-shells of great variety. Croom thought that some teeth belong to the hyena, and Foster reported the hippopotamus; but in both cases the identifications were wrong.

Conrad (Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. XXVIII, 1835, pp. 107–110; Proc. Nat. Inst. Prom. Sci., vol I, pp. 191–192) reported that the bones of animals found here were water-worn, black, and silicified. He concluded that they had been brought down the Neuse River and mingled with sea-shells. The fossiliferous stratum did not rise anywhere more than 10 feet above the river. In the first publication quoted, Conrad published a list of 66 mollusks in this stratum, of which 7 were not yet known as living species and 2 others are noted as new. According to this list, less than 90 per cent are recent. He referred the deposits to his newer Pliocene. In the second publication cited he concluded that the stratum belonged to the post-Pliocene. Stephenson (op. cit., p. 289) refers to the investigations made at this locality. It is not improbable that the deposit which furnished these fossils belongs to the earliest Pleistocene stage, the Nebraskan. The same may be said about the coquina rock mentioned by Stephenson which occurs at Old Fort Fisher, in New Hanover County (op. cit., p. 289, plate XXVIII).

On page 115 the writer refers to a lower jaw of a mastodon found by the geologist W. C. Kerr, near Goldsboro, and described by Joseph Leidy. The jaw was reported to have been found in gravel overlying Miocene marl. The writer believes that the mastodon belonged to the species Mammut progenium. Goldsboro, on Neuse River, is near the western border of the Sunderland formation, but the Wicomico is prolonged up the river far above Goldsboro. According to Stephenson and Johnson (op. cit., p. 475), Miocene sands and clays are found over a portion of the northern part of the county (Wayne). The geological age of this mastodon depends more on the age of the gravels in which it was found than on the age of the terrace, although the writer is willing to concede an early Pleistocene stage for the terrace.

A mastodon tooth has been found (see p. [117]) somewhere in Wilson County. The county is covered mostly by Pleistocene of Sunderland age, but a small part of the western end is occupied by the Coharie; while, according to Stephenson’s map, both the Chowan and the Wicomico follow up Contentnea Creek into Wilson County. The geological age of the mastodon is doubtful.

At Greenville, Pitt County, have been found remains of Equus complicatus, perhaps also of another species of horse (see p. [191]). While supposed to have been found in Miocene marls, the tooth belonged without doubt to the Pleistocene. Pitt County is occupied by four Pleistocene formations, Pamlico, Chowan, Wicomico, and Sunderland. The probability is that the horse-teeth were found in an early Pleistocene deposit.

As indicated on page [117], remains of Mammut americanum have been found in Pitt County, possibly at Greenville.

As noted on page [117], a tooth of Mammut americanum has been found at or near Tarboro. Nothing more is known about its origin. At this place are found deposits belonging to the Chowan, Wicomico, and Sunderland formations; it is impossible to say from which the tooth was derived.

Emmons (Geol. Surv. North Carolina, 1852, p. 56) reported finding mastodon bones in marl-pits on the farm of Mr. Knight, on the banks of Tar River, in Nash County, 3 miles west of Rocky Mount. The same Pleistocene deposits occur here as at Tarboro. The bones were supposed to have been buried in Miocene marl, and this may have been true. If so, they belonged to some other species of mastodon than Mammut americanum.

On page [191] is given an account of the discovery of teeth of Equus leidyi which were washed up on the beach at Plymouth. This town is on Roanoke River, several miles from Albemarle Sound, and on the border between the Pamlico and the Chowan formations. Our determination of the geological age of the teeth must be based on other evidence than that furnished by the discoverers.

Elsewhere in this work is given an account of finding a part of a skull of a walrus at Kitty Hawk. It was probably during the Wisconsin glacial stage that this animal lived along the coast as far south as Charleston.

As to the geological age of the Pamlico formation, the geologists who have contributed to the report of 1912, the volume cited, hold that it belongs to late Pleistocene. The writer believes that the formation was laid down at a much earlier time. The mastodon jaw and the tooth of Elephas primigenius found in the Inland Waterway Canal may have been buried there during the prevalence of the Wisconsin ice epoch; but, on the other hand, this may have happened during an older Pleistocene stage.

It will be observed that the Pamlico becomes very narrow along the southern third of the coast of North Carolina. In South Carolina it may be represented by one of the older Pleistocene deposits recorded by Sloan; in part possibly by the Wando clays or the Sea island sands. In the author’s view, it is pretty certain that the Pleistocene molluscan fauna which had been found in the Clubfoot and Harlow Canal and at the locality below Newbern corresponds to the Wadmalaw in the vicinity of Charleston. It seems to appear at the southeastern corner of the State, at Southport, and again in the northeastern corner in Dismal Swamp. According to Shaler (10th Ann. Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv., pt. I, 1890, p. 315), a collection of mollusks made near the northern border of the swamp was submitted to Dr. W. H. Dall. There were 29 forms, of which 24 are yet existing, 5 extinct. There were, therefore, 17 per cent of extinct forms. Dall regarded the deposits as belonging to the Pliocene; the writer believes that they may be referred to the Nebraskan stage of the Pleistocene.

From a study of mollusks collected later in the Dismal Swamp Canal, Woolman (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1898, pp. 414–428) concluded that they belonged to a time not earlier than late Pliocene and possibly as late as the Pleistocene. Darton (U. S. Geol. Surv., Folio 80) referred the deposits to the Pliocene. Stephenson (op. cit., p. 290) states that recent investigations have led to the conclusion that the beds should be referred to the Pleistocene. The parties in such a dispute may compromise by referring the beds to the Nebraskan stage. It seems probable that the Chowan formation belongs to a stage a little later than these mollusk-bearing beds and represents a strip of old coast marsh, inhabited by elephants, mastodons, horses, and various other animals.

In discussing the causes which led to the production of Cape Hatteras, Professor Shaler (Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., vol XIV, 1872, p. 117) remarked that the hard shelly limestone which comes to the surface just above high-tide level along the shore of the mainland from Newbern to the mouth of the Roanoke River looks much like the shell-bed found near Charleston, South Carolina.