Poricy Park is a nature preserve and park in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey. It is known for its Cretaceous period fossil shell beds along the Poricy Brook streambed, open to the public for limited collecting. The park also contains a Nature Center and the Murray Farmhouse and Barn, a New Jersey Historic Site.

History

Poricy Park began in 1969 as local residents protested a proposed sewer project which would have impacted Poricy Brook. They formed a non-profit organization which in partnership with Middletown Township, the Nature Conservancy and New Jersey Green Acres began buying land between 1970 and 1973. The town designated the land as a nature preserve and leased the land to the Conservancy to manage. In 2004, the organization was officially renamed the Poricy Park Conservancy.

Geology

The Poricy Brook cuts through a number of geological layers which are rising due to

glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound a ...

. The highest layer is the rust colored sand of the Red Bank Formation. Several layers below that is the

glauconitic Glauconite is an iron potassium phyllosilicate ( mica group) mineral of characteristic green color which is very friable and has very low weathering resistance. It crystallizes with a monoclinic geometry. Its name is derived from the Greek () m ...

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, clays, and silt. When hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. Marl makes up the lower part o ...

of the

Navesink Formation The Navesink Formation is a 66 to 70 mya greensand glauconitic marl and sand geological formation in New Jersey. It is known for its Cretaceous period fossil shell beds and dinosaur bones. Description The Navesink Formation, named after Navesin ...

. Both of these geologic formations are from the Late Cretaceous period of the

Mesozoic Era The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising ...

. The shell beds are 72 million years old and were probably an offshore marine shelf based on the fossil record. They range from to thick in the area.

Fossils

The Nature Center has a display of fossils found in the area. They also rent screens and trowels for use while looking for fossils. The fossils in the exposed Navesink Formation are in the stream bed and are easily accessible from the parking lot along Middletown-Lincroft Road. There is a display sign with pictures of the fossils likely to be found. The Conservancy asks that visitors collect from the stream bed only and not to dig into the banks which only hastens erosion. They also ask that visitors collect conservatively and that anything unusual be given to the Nature Center. Common fossils include Pyncnodonte mutabilis, Pyncnodonte convexa, Exogyra cancellata, Exogyra costata, Ostrea mesenterica, Agerostrea, Belemnitella americana and Shark tooth, shark teeth. These are mostly extinct version of oysters and clams.

Wildlife

Wildlife in Poricy park include rabbit, skunk, snake, bat, opossum, groundhog, white-tailed deer, American eel, multiple species of bird including owls, hawks, and Turkey Vultures as well as red fox (one seen 5/9/10 with pups). Murray pond supports frogs and turtles. Recently someone introduced Koi to that same small pond.

References

External links

Poricy Park ConservancyMiddletown Parks
{{Nature centers in New Jersey Middletown Township, New Jersey Parks in Monmouth County, New Jersey Geology of New Jersey Cretaceous paleontological sites of North America Nature centers in New Jersey Houses in Monmouth County, New Jersey Museums in Monmouth County, New Jersey Historic house museums in New Jersey Fossil parks in the United States Paleontology in New Jersey