Evidence for Cenozoic uplift of the Appalachian Mountains in the southeastern United States
- Geological Survey, Atlanta, GA (United States)
- ARCO Oil and Gas Co., Plano, TX (United States)
The present height and shape of the (physiographic) Appalachian Mountains were traditionally attributed to Paleozoic and early Mesozoic tectonism and the resistance of the Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks to erosion. New evidence indicates that Cenozoic uplift is responsible for at least part of the present height of land as well as for the configuration of the inner margin of the Coastal Plain at the southern terminus of the mountains. Stratigraphic correlations from regional mapping and palynological analysis of Cretaceous non-marine and restricted marine strata in the southeastern Coastal Plain suggest that Cenozoic uplift has influence both the present height of the landmass and the outcrop pattern of the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain. In addition, Cenozoic uplift has raised Cretaceous marine deposits to 300 m (1,000 ft) above present sea level in south-central Tennessee, and subsequent erosion has modified the Coastal Plain section to expose the oldest strata at the point of maximum uplift in central Alabama. The magnitude of uplift appears to be greatest along the northeast-trending axis of the mountain chain, and it decreases with distance from the mountains. This uplift is thought to result from the compressive intraplate tectonism that produced numerous reverse faults on the Atlantic continental margin during the Cretaceous and Cenozoic. Most of the Cretaceous and early Cenozoic strata that once covered the Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks at the southern terminus of the Appalachians have been removed by late Cenozoic erosion, but remnants of the eroded Cenozoic beds are preserved at elevations up to +640 m (+2,100 ft) in numerous fault-bounded sediment traps as far inland as Chattanooga, Tenn. Palynological correlation of these inland deposits with geologic formations in the present Coastal Plain suggests the intriguing possibility that the Coastal Plain strata once may have extended hundreds of kilometers (miles) inland from their present inner margin.
- OSTI ID:
- 6078090
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9304188-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 25:4; Conference: 42. annual Geological Society of America (GSA) Southeastern Section meeting, Tallahassee, FL (United States), 1-2 Apr 1993; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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