The Burnsville fault: Evidence for the timing and kinematics of southern Appalachian Acadian dextral transform tectonics

Abstract

Research Article| November 01, 2003 The Burnsville fault: Evidence for the timing and kinematics of southern Appalachian Acadian dextral transform tectonics Charles H. Trupe; Charles H. Trupe 1Department of Geology and Geography, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia 30460-8149, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Kevin G. Stewart; Kevin G. Stewart 2Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Mark G. Adams; Mark G. Adams 3Department of Geology, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina 28608, USA, and UNIMIN Corporation, Harris Mining Company Road, Spruce Pine, North Carolina 28777, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Cheryl L. Waters; Cheryl L. Waters 4Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Brent V. Miller; Brent V. Miller 4Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Lauren K. Hewitt Lauren K. Hewitt 4Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Charles H. Trupe 1Department of Geology and Geography, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia 30460-8149, USA Kevin G. Stewart 2Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA Mark G. Adams 3Department of Geology, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina 28608, USA, and UNIMIN Corporation, Harris Mining Company Road, Spruce Pine, North Carolina 28777, USA Cheryl L. Waters 4Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA Brent V. Miller 4Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA Lauren K. Hewitt 4Department of Geological Sciences, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599, USA Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 12 Sep 2002 Revision Received: 15 Feb 2003 Accepted: 17 Apr 2003 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2003) 115 (11): 1365–1376. https://doi.org/10.1130/B25256.1 Article history Received: 12 Sep 2002 Revision Received: 15 Feb 2003 Accepted: 17 Apr 2003 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Charles H. Trupe, Kevin G. Stewart, Mark G. Adams, Cheryl L. Waters, Brent V. Miller, Lauren K. Hewitt; The Burnsville fault: Evidence for the timing and kinematics of southern Appalachian Acadian dextral transform tectonics. GSA Bulletin 2003;; 115 (11): 1365–1376. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B25256.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract There has been a conspicuous absence of documented Acadian structures in the Blue Ridge province of the southern Appalachians even though a growing body of evidence suggests that the middle Paleozoic Acadian orogeny affected the rocks of this region. New mapping along with structural, petrologic, and geochronologic data from western North Carolina show that the contact between the metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks of the Ashe Metamorphic Suite and the Grenville basement rocks of the western Blue Ridge corresponds to a Devonian high-grade, dextral strike-slip fault zone, the Burnsville fault. Timing of motion on the Burnsville fault is constrained by field relationships, metamorphic fabrics and assemblages, and radiometric ages. A U-Pb zircon crystallization age for a pegmatite sheared by the Burnsville fault shows that the last movement on the fault must be younger than 377 Ma. Previously published 40Ar/39Ar cooling ages show that the Burnsville fault must be older than ca. 360 Ma. We have mapped the Burnsville fault for ∼100 km in northwestern North Carolina. The Gossan Lead fault of northwesternmost North Carolina and southwestern Virginia is the likely continuation of the Burnsville fault to the northeast. Southwest of Asheville, North Carolina, the Burnsville fault may connect to the Devonian Dahlonega shear zone, or may be cut by post-Devonian thrust faults associated with the Alleghanian orogeny. Diachroneity of Acadian clastic wedges, the presence of Silurian-Devonian pull-apart basins, the presence of Devonian high-grade, dextral shearing in the Inner Piedmont, and recent plate reconstructions for the middle Paleozoic, support the interpretation that the late phase of the Acadian orogeny in the southern Appalachians was primarily a dextral transpressional event. The Burnsville fault and the Inner Piedmont formed the boundaries of a dextral transform margin that may have extended the length of the Appalachian orogen. This interpretation requires that models for the Paleozoic tectonics of the Appalachians incorporate major pre-Alleghanian dextral displacement. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.