Surface Geology of Coastal Southeast Texas

Abstract

The formations at the surface in coastal southeast Texas are the Beaumont, Recent, and Recent terrace deposits. The Hockley scarp, one of the most striking physiographic features of the region, is a flexure scarp partly buried by alluvial deposits. The area in front of the Hockley scarp in southeast Texas is largely a deltaic plain composed of the coalescent deltas of late Pleistocene Trinity and Brazos rivers. The sands of the area of the Lake Charles loams and sands, currently mapped as Lissie, are continuous with the sands of the distributary ridges and are contemporaneous with the surface Beaumont clay, and that part of the Lissie at the surface seaward of the Hockley scarp is younger than that lying landward of the scarp and is a sandy phase of the Beaumont An uplift of 20-30 feet is indicated in Orange County and in Cameron and Calcasieu parishes. A veneer of Recent sediments covers the seaward edge of the Beaumont clay. Two, possibly three, post-Pleistocene terraces are present in the valleys of the major streams. The soils of the early Recent terrace show the introduction of material from the Permian Red-beds.