Geology of the West Half of the Cove Creek Gap Quadrangle and Adjacent Areas, Western North Carolina: Insights Into Eastern Great Smoky Mountains Tectonometamorphism
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University of Kentucky UKnowledge Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences Earth and Environmental Sciences 2014 GEOLOGY OF THE WEST HALF OF THE COVE CREEK GAP QUADRANGLE AND ADJACENT AREAS, WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: INSIGHTS INTO EASTERN GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS TECTONOMETAMORPHISM Daniel F. Spaulding University of Kentucky, [email protected] Right click to open a feedback form in a new tab to let us know how this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Spaulding, Daniel F., "GEOLOGY OF THE WEST HALF OF THE COVE CREEK GAP QUADRANGLE AND ADJACENT AREAS, WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: INSIGHTS INTO EASTERN GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS TECTONOMETAMORPHISM" (2014). Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences. 23. https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ees_etds/23 This Master's Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Earth and Environmental Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STUDENT AGREEMENT: I represent that my thesis or dissertation and abstract are my original work. Proper attribution has been given to all outside sources. I understand that I am solely responsible for obtaining any needed copyright permissions. I have obtained needed written permission statement(s) from the owner(s) of each third-party copyrighted matter to be included in my work, allowing electronic distribution (if such use is not permitted by the fair use doctrine) which will be submitted to UKnowledge as Additional File. I hereby grant to The University of Kentucky and its agents the irrevocable, non-exclusive, and royalty-free license to archive and make accessible my work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I agree that the document mentioned above may be made available immediately for worldwide access unless an embargo applies. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of my work. I understand that I am free to register the copyright to my work. REVIEW, APPROVAL AND ACCEPTANCE The document mentioned above has been reviewed and accepted by the student’s advisor, on behalf of the advisory committee, and by the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), on behalf of the program; we verify that this is the final, approved version of the student’s thesis including all changes required by the advisory committee. The undersigned agree to abide by the statements above. Daniel F. Spaulding, Student Dr. David P. Moecher, Major Professor Dr. Edward W. Woolery, Director of Graduate Studies GEOLOGY OF THE WEST HALF OF THE COVE CREEK GAP QUADRANGLE AND ADJACENT AREAS, WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: INSIGHTS INTO EASTERN GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS TECTONOMETAMORPHISM THESIS A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Kentucky By Daniel Foley Ross Spaulding Lexington, Kentucky Director: Dr. David P. Moecher, Professor of Geology Lexington, Kentucky 2014 Copyright © Daniel Foley Ross Spaulding, 2014 ABSTRACT OF THESIS GEOLOGY OF THE WEST HALF OF THE COVE CREEK GAP QUADRANGLE AND ADJACENT AREAS, WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: INSIGHTS INTO EASTERN GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS TECTONOMETAMORPHISM Three outstanding problems related to the tectonic evolution of the Western Blue Ridge in the eastern Great Smoky Mtns. (GSM) include: (1) the nature of the Greenbrier Fault, previously interpreted as a younger over older pre-Taconic thrust fault with ~24 km of displacement between the Snowbird and Great Smoky Groups; (2) the relationship of regional metamorphism, expressed by the growth of porphyroblastic index minerals, to folding and foliation development in pelitic metasediments; (3) the relation of deformation to regional Taconian metamorphism. These problems were addressed in previous studies that did not have detailed mapping and petrography as a context. By using 1:24000 bedrock mapping in the eastern GSM in the area of the Greenbrier Fault and where regional metamorphic isograds are telescoped as a context, it can be concluded that: (1) the Greenbrier Fault exhibits an unconstrainable amount of post-metamorphic slip along the contact of the Great Smoky and Snowbird Groups and is not a major tectonic feature within the western Blue Ridge; (2) there is no direct spatial/coeval relationship between porphyroblast growth and foliation formation/matrix deformation that is consistent throughout the study area; (3) further work and mapping outside of the study area (S and SE) is needed when considering the relation of deformation to regional Taconian metamorphism, because of the non-pelitic nature of the Great Smoky and Snowbird Groups. KEYWORDS: Great Smoky Mountains, Greenbrier Fault, Snowbird Group, Great Smoky Group, Cove Creek Gap Daniel Foley Ross Spaulding June 9, 2014 GEOLOGY OF THE WEST HALF OF THE COVE CREEK GAP QUADRANGLE AND ADJACENT AREAS, WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA: INSIGHTS INTO EASTERN GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS TECTONOMETAMORPHISM By Daniel Foley Ross Spaulding David P. Moecher Director of Thesis Edward W. Woolery Director of Graduate Studies June 9, 2014 Date ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank my Thesis Advisor, Dr. David P. Moecher, who provided me the opportunity to work in an amazing field area and on a challenging but gratifying project. I will be forever grateful for this. I would also like to thank my Thesis Committee members, Dr. Sean Bemis and Dr. Kent Ratajeski, for serving on my committee, and the various other UK EES faculty members for their teachings throughout my undergraduate and graduate career. Without the proper funding this project would have not been successful. I would like to thank the USGS EDMAP program for funding the mapping of the West half of the Cove Creek Gap 7.5’ quadrangle, the Ferm and Brown-McFarlan funds of the UK Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences for helping cover field expenses, and GSA for providing me with funding to travel to the 2013 annual meeting to present the work described here. In addition, I would like to thank my lab mates, for keeping a stress free and always entertaining work environment, my various climbing partners who have provided a much needed outlet, and John McGee, Amanda Meddaugh, Haley and Rebel for keeping me sane in NC. Lastly I would like to thank my loving family, Hank and Sally Spaulding and Skyler Fugate for their undying support and care! Without all of you this would not have been possible! iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract of Thesis ................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv Table of Figures ................................................................................................................ vii Table of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................... x Chapter I. Introduction ........................................................................................................ 1 A. Geologic Setting ......................................................................................................... 3 B. Purpose of Study ......................................................................................................... 4 Chapter II. Previous Work ................................................................................................ 12 A. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 12 B. Large Scale (1:62,500-1:100,000) Geologic Mapping of the Eastern Great Smoky Mountains ...................................................................................................................... 12 1. Hadley and Goldsmith (1963) ................................................................................... 12 2. King et al. (1968) ...................................................................................................... 14 3. Southworth et. al. (2005, 2012) ................................................................................. 14 C. Smaller Scale (1:24,000) Geologic Bedrock Mapping Adjacent to Study Area ...... 15 1. Hanna and Bradley (2009) ........................................................................................ 15 Chapter III. Decriptions of Map units ............................................................................... 16 A. Middle Proterozoic Leucogranite (Yl) ..................................................................... 16 B. Late Proterozoic Snowbird Group ............................................................................ 17 1. Wading Branch Formation (Zswb) ........................................................................... 17 1a. Wading Branch Meta-grussite (Zswbg) .................................................................. 18 1b. Wading Branch Graywacke (Zswb) ........................................................................ 19 1c. Wading Branch Phylite (Zswbp) ............................................................................