Geology of North Mountain in eastern West Virginia
- Univ. of Toledo, OH (United States). Dept. of Geology
- West Virginia Geological Survey, Morgantown, WV (United States)
- Wright State Univ., Dayton, OH (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences
The North Mountain fault is one of the largest overthrusts in the folded Appalachian mountain belt and serves as the boundary between the detached Massanutten-Blue Ridge overthrust sheet (i.e. Great Valley and Blue Ridge) and Valley and Ridge fold structures in eastern West Virginia, northwestern Virginia, west-central maryland and south-central Pennsylvania. Past work has shown the sedimentary rock section on North Mountain and immediately west of the North Mountain fault to consist of an overturned sequence of Upper Ordovician to Middle Devonian strata, with a break thrust on the west side of North Mountain, placing Silurian formations against Devonian strata. Recent 1:24,000 scale mapping by the West Virginia Geological Survey has delineated this break thrust and its continuity from Maryland, through West Virginia and into Frederick County, Virginia. This previously unnamed structure, designated Back Creek fault, formed as a footwall splay from the North Mountain fault complex. The structure of North Mountain is a horse, bounded by the North Mountain fault complex in the Great Valley to the east and Back Creek fault on the west side of North Mountain. The overturned stratigraphic sequence on North Mountain reverses dip on the western flank of the mountain just east of Back Creek in Berkeley County, West Virginia, creating Back Creek syncline. This structure is a classic fault propagation fold, formed by the emplacement of North Mountain fault and extending from Maryland into Frederick County, Virginia.
- OSTI ID:
- 6886552
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9404221-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 26:4; Conference: 43. annual meeting of the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America, Blacksburg, VA (United States), 7-8 Apr 1994; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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