Abstract Trace fossils are the preserved tracks, trails, burrows, and borings formed by a wide variety of organisms. Such fossils are known to be formed at least to some extent in virtually all types of ancient marine depositional environments. Numerous studies, particularly in the past decade, have made effective use of trace fossils in the Interpretation of depositional environments. Surprisingly, however, few studies of Atlantic Coastal Plain formations have made use of trace fossils. From North Carolina I know of only two such studies, by Curran and Frey (1977) and by Belt et al. (1983), in Pleistocene strata exposed at the Lee Creek mine near Aurora. Certainly there is no dearth of trace fossils in Atlantic Coastal Plain formations; they can be found in many units, in both outcrop and quarry exposures. Detailed studies of trace fossil assemblages can yield useful information to aid with the interpretation of depositional environments, the determination of sedimentation rates, and the relationships between Formational and facies boundaries. The purpose of this report is to bring to the attention of the field trip participants the occurrence of trace fossils in some of the units to be visited during the trip. The trace fossils described herein were discovered during several days of reconnaissance field work conducted in August, 1985. These trace fossils have not been interpreted in detail, and the full extent of the trace fossil assemblages present in these units is not yet known.

Abstract The Martin Marietta Aggregates Ideal Cement quarry at Castle Hayne is located approximately 2 miles west of the intersection of U. S. 117 and State Road 1002 on the north side of State Road 1002, in the Castle Hayne 7.5-minute quadrangle. The quarry exposes the Rocky Point Member of the Peedee Formation, and Sequences 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the Castle Hayne Limestone.

Abstract The Eocene Castle Hayne Limestone crops out on the southeastern part of the North Carolina Coastal Plain. The major concentration of surface exposures, where the formation is covered only with surficial Pliocene to Pleistocene sediments, is found along a 16-32 km wide zone that extends from Brunswick and New Hanover counties northeastward through the east central part of Pender County, western Onslow County (west of Jacksonville), western Jones County, western Craven County (west of New Bern) and into the southeastern corner of Pitt County (Fig. 1). The Castle Hayne Limestone dips seaward and goes deeper into the subsurface east of this outcrop belt, and is covered with Oligocene to Recent sediments, only to crop out again on the Continental Shelf (Dubuisson, 1982). Outliers of the Castle Hayne Limestone, west of the major outcrop belt, are clustered in Duplin and Wayne counties, but also occur in Lenoir and Sampson counties (Fig. 1). Additional strata of Eocene age are found in the subsurface from the Neuse River northward. The exact stratigraphic relationship of these northern strata to the Castle Hayne Limestone has yet to be resolved. Strata of definite Eocene age in North Carolina were first recognized by Lyell (1845) when he visited an exposed section of carbonate sediment near Wilmington, in New Hanover County. Over the past 140 years more than 60 exposures of the Castle Hayne Limestone, including large quarries, small agricultural lime pits, exposures made during highway and bridge construction and canal dredging, and such natural outcrops as stream

ABSTRACT Exposed Eocene through lower Miocene rocks of the North Carolina Coastal Plain are assigned to ten depositional sequences representing Coastal Onlap Supercycles TA3, TA4 and TB1 (Lutetian - Aquitanian Stages). Five depositional sequences and four megafossil zones are recognized in Eocene rocks assigned to Castle Hayne Limestone and New Bern Formation. The oldest depositional sequence, Sequence 0 has not yielded age-diagnostic fossils. Sequence 1, characterized by the Protoscutella mississippiensis Assemblage Zone, is correlated with the lower Lisbon Formation and equivalents in the Gulf Coastal Plain (middle Lutetian). Sequence 2 contains the P . conradi Assemblage Zone, and is correlated with the upper Lisbon Formation and equivalents in the Gulf Coast (upper Lutetian to lower Bartonian). The lowermost part of Sequence 3 contains the P . plana Assemblage Zone, and is correlated with the Gosport Sand in the Gulf Coast (Bartonian). The remainder of Sequence 3 and Sequence 4 is characterized by the Periarchus lyelli Assemblage Zone. Upper Sequence 3 is correlated with the Moodys Branch Formation, the North Twistwood Creek Clay and the Cocoa Sand in the Gulf Coast (upper Bartonian(?), lower Priabonian). Sequence 4 includes the New Bern Formation and the uppermost part of the Castle Hayne Limestone in North Carolina, and is correlated with the Pachuta Marl and, possibly, the Shubuta Marl in the Gulf Coast (upper Priabonian). Based on megafossil and calcareous nannofossil evidence, the Protoscutella plana - Periarchus lyelli zonal boundary is equivalent to the Claibornian-Jacksonian Stage boundary in the Gulf Coastal Plain. Five depositional sequences and two megafossil zones are recognized for Oligocene and lower Miocene rocks. Sequence 5, characterized by the Lophobalanus kellumi Assemblage Zone, is correlated with lower Vicksburgian strata of the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain (Rupelian). Sequences 6 through 9, characterized by the L . baumi Assemblage Zone, are correlated with Chickasawhayan and Tampan strata of the Gulf Coast (Chattian - lower Aquitanian).

Abstract The Lee Creek Mine of Texasgulf, Inc. is a major phosphate-mining operation located in the central North Carolina Coastal Plain. Early mining investigations indicated that 1) the phosphate ore could be economically recovered only by dry strip-mining methods, and 2) that artesian ground waters in the formation (Castle Hayne Limestone) underlying the ore would have to be controlled. This paper relates the application of ground-water hydrology in depressurizing the Castle Hayne aquifer to facilitate dry strip mining at depths of 130 feet below mean sea level. The information presented here was excerpted from Hird (1971).