University of New Hampshire University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository New England Intercollegiate Geological NEIGC Trips Excursion Collection 1-1-1987 Cretaceous Intrusions and Rift Features in the Champlain Valley of Vermont McHone, J. Gregory Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.unh.edu/neigc_trips Recommended Citation McHone, J. Gregory, "Cretaceous Intrusions and Rift Features in the Champlain Valley of Vermont" (1987). NEIGC Trips. 418. https://scholars.unh.edu/neigc_trips/418 This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the New England Intercollegiate Geological Excursion Collection at University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NEIGC Trips by an authorized administrator of University of New Hampshire Scholars' Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. B - 5 CRETACEOUS INTRUSIONS AND RIFT FEATURES IN THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY OF VERMONT J. Gregory Mcflone Department of Geological Sciences University of Kentucky Lexington, KY 40506-0059 INTRODUCTION On this field trip we will examine sites near Burlington, Vermont where alkalic dikes and fractures are exposed that could be related to Cretaceous rifting. The setting of these and many similar features is the structural (as opposed to sedimentary) basin of the Lake Champlain Valley, which invites comparison with younger and better-studied continental rifts, such as the Rio Grande Rift of eastern New Mexico or the Gregory Rift of eastern Africa. The validity of such an interpretation depends upon careful study of the tectonic history of the Valley, especially the timing of faulting and its relation to magmatism. The Lake Champlain Valley between Vermont and New York is from 20 to 50 km wide and 140 km long between the northern Taconic Mountains and the Canadian border.