Document Type
Thesis
Abstract
The Goochland Terrane is a block of Proterozoic crust in the Piedmont Province of Central Virginia, west of Richmond. The core of the terrane consists of the ~1.05 Ga State Farm gneiss, which is structurally overlain by the Sabot amphibolite, and the Maidens gneiss. Sometime in the past, two previously recognized younger granites known as the Flat Rock and Fine Creek Mills granites intruded the State Farm gneiss. These plutons have apparently been assumed to be similar to the Petersburg Granite, and thus Paleozoic in age. In fact, they are shown as Paleozoic on the previously published maps of Farrar (1984) and Aleinikoff et al. (1996). However, more recent work (Owens and Tucker, 2000) has shown that these granites are actually Neoproterozoic and that they are more areally extensive than previously thought. Specifically, Owens and Tucker (2000) determined an age of 629 +4/-5 Ma for the Fine Creek Mills granite. These new results lead to new questions regarding the origin of these granites and answers to these questions may help resolve the ongoing debate about the origin of the Goochland Terrane.
Date Awarded
2001
Department
Geology
Advisor 1
Brent E. Owens
Recommended Citation
Teepe, Adam K., "Areal Extent, Mineralogy, and Geochemistry of Neoproterozoic Granites in the State Farm Gneiss, Goochland Terrane, Virginia" (2001). Geology Senior Theses. William & Mary. Paper 88.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/geologyseniors/88
