skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Geologic investigations associated with Appalachian Ultradeep Core Hole (ADCOH) site study

Conference · · Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States)
OSTI ID:5200987

Geologic investigations related to the ADCOH site study are concentrated in several areas: (1) detailed geologic mapping of approximately 400 mi/sup 2/ of new area to add to the 3000 mi/sup 2/ of existing detailed geologic mapping, (2) description and interpretation of cores from four shallow boreholes ranging in depth from 500 ft to 1400 ft, and (3) structural interpretation of surface and reflection seismic data. The eastern Blue Ridge Mountains (BR) and inner Piedmont (IP) consist of an assemblage of late Precambrian rift-related sedimentary and mafic volcanic rocks. These were metamorphosed during the early Paleozoic and intruded by plutons of different ages. The Chauga belt (CB) consists of an assemblage of late Precambrian to early Paleozoic(.) greenschist-facies clastic, carbonate, and volcanic rocks separating the two higher grade terranes of the BR and IP. The Brevard fault zone (BZ) is localized along the western edge of the CB. The BZ is a complexly reactivated zone of faulting exhibiting an episodic movement history that may span much of the Paleozoic. One of its last movement episodes brought slices of platform carbonate (Knox.) from beneath the Blue Ridge-inner Piedmont thrust sheet to the surface along a brittle fault. Lithologic units of the BR (including the 1.1-Ga Wiley gneiss basement), CB, and IP were encountered in the four shallow drill holes. The basement-cover contact was crossed numerous times in the lower third of the BR hole, indicating isoclinal folding of this boundary. It is uncertain whether the basement-cover contact is a folded fault or an unconformity. New geologic mapping has revealed a major late shear zone near this basement-cover contact on the southeastern flank of the Tallulah Falls dome.

Research Organization:
Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia
OSTI ID:
5200987
Report Number(s):
CONF-860624-
Journal Information:
Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol., Bull.; (United States), Vol. 70:5; Conference: American Association of Petroleum Geologists annual meeting, Atlanta, GA, USA, 15 Jun 1986
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English