Similarities between the thick-skinned Blue Ridge anticlinorium and the thin-skinned Powell Valley anticline

Abstract

Research Article| June 01, 1979 Similarities between the thick-skinned Blue Ridge anticlinorium and the thin-skinned Powell Valley anticline LEONARD D. HARRIS LEONARD D. HARRIS 1 U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 22092 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information LEONARD D. HARRIS 1 U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 22092 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (1979) 90 (6): 525–539. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1979)90<525:SBTTBR>2.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation LEONARD D. HARRIS; Similarities between the thick-skinned Blue Ridge anticlinorium and the thin-skinned Powell Valley anticline. GSA Bulletin 1979;; 90 (6): 525–539. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1979)90<525:SBTTBR>2.0.CO;2 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 The Blue Ridge anticlinorium in northern Virginia is a part of an integrated deformational system spanning the area from the Piedmont to the Appalachian Plateaus. Deformation intensity within the system decreases from east to west. Differences of opinion have emerged concerning the central Appalachians as to whether the basement rocks exposed in the core of the Blue Ridge anticlinorium are rooted or are allochthonous. Available surface and subsurface stratigraphic and structural data suggest that the anticlinorium may be a rootless thick-skinned analogue to the rootless thin-skinned Powell Valley anticline in the Valley and Ridge. Both structures were produced during the Alleghenian orogeny by similar deformational processes. The form of the Powell Valley anticline is attributed to duplication of about 4,575 m (15,000 ft) of sedimentary rock during approximately 16 km (10 mi) of northwest movement above a subhorizontal décollement. Similarly, the form of the Blue Ridge anticlinorium is attributed to duplication of about 9,150 m (30,000 ft) of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rock during a minimum of 59 km (37 mi) of northwest movement above an eastward continuation of a subhorizontal décollement within Cambrian sedimentary rocks beneath the Valley and Ridge. Thus, in northern Virginia there is a mixing of structural styles: the thick-skinned rootless Blue Ridge anticlinorium sits above a thin-skinned detachment. This relationship implies that thin- and thick-skinned styles are simply end members of a complex deformational process that includes a transition zone, where characteristics of both styles commingle. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.