Stratigraphy, Structure, and Tectonics: an East-To-West Transect of the Blue Ridge and Valley and Ridge Provinces of Northern Virginia and West Virginia
FLD016-05 2nd pgs page 103 The Geological Society of America Field Guide 16 2010 Stratigraphy, structure, and tectonics: An east-to-west transect of the Blue Ridge and Valley and Ridge provinces of northern Virginia and West Virginia Lynn S. Fichter Steven J. Whitmeyer Department of Geology and Environmental Science, James Madison University, 800 S. Main Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22807, USA Christopher M. Bailey Department of Geology, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia, USA William Burton U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 22092, USA ABSTRACT This fi eld guide covers a two-day east-to-west transect of the Blue Ridge and Valley and Ridge provinces of northwestern Virginia and eastern West Virginia, in the context of an integrated approach to teaching stratigraphy, structural analysis, and regional tectonics. Holistic, systems-based approaches to these topics incorpo- rate both deductive (stratigraphic, structural, and tectonic theoretical models) and inductive (fi eld observations and data collection) perspectives. Discussions of these pedagogic approaches are integral to this fi eld trip. Day 1 of the fi eld trip focuses on Mesoproterozoic granitoid basement (associated with the Grenville orogeny) and overlying Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian cover rocks (Iapetan rifting) of the greater Blue Ridge province. These units collectively form a basement-cored anticlinorium that was thrust over Paleozoic strata of the Val- ley and Ridge province during Alleghanian contractional tectonics. Day 2 traverses a foreland thrust belt that consists of Cambrian to Ordovician carbonates (Iapetan divergent continental margin), Middle to Upper Ordovician immature clastics (asso- ciated with the Taconic orogeny), Silurian to Lower Devonian quartz arenites and car- bonates (inter-orogenic tectonic calm), and Upper Devonian to Lower Mississippian clastic rocks (associated with the Acadian orogeny).
[Show full text]