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Restoring the Blue Ridge: Cross Section Construction and Restoration, Central Virginia
Dawson, Grace
Dawson, Grace
Abstract
The Blue Ridge province of central Virginia is characterized by a highly deformed series of units, including a Mesoproterozoic granitic basement followed by a Neoproterozoic to Upper Cambrian cover sequence. The rocks of the Blue Ridge were deformed and translated westward over a series of thrust faults during the Alleghanian orogeny in the mid to late Paleozoic. As a result, Blue Ridge rocks overlie sedimentary units of the Great Valley. This deformation is expressed along three major thrust faults in central Virginia: The North Mountain fault, the Staunton-Pulaski fault, and the Blue Ridge fault. All faults connect to a larger detachment at depth. The total displacement in this thrust system exceeds 60 km. The Blue Ridge fault, a low angle thrust fault, bounds the Blue Ridge province to the west. It surfaces at the western base of the Blue Ridge Mountains and places basement and cover rocks of the Blue Ridge on top of late Cambrian to Ordovician carbonate units of the Great Valley. The fault is responsible for approximately 10% of total displacement in the thrust system and a significant amount of throw ( ~6 km). The Blue Ridge fault formed during late-phase Alleghanian deformation as an out-of sequence thrust fault that cut through preexisting folds formed during pre- to main phase Alleghanian deformation.
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2011-01-01
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Geology