Paleotectonic significance of the quartzite of the Sauratown Mountains window, North Carolina

Abstract

Research Article| October 01, 1989 Paleotectonic significance of the quartzite of the Sauratown Mountains window, North Carolina Dan Walker; Dan Walker 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1410 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Steven G. Driese; Steven G. Driese 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1410 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Robert D. Hatcher, Jr. Robert D. Hatcher, Jr. 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-14102Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Dan Walker 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1410 Steven G. Driese 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1410 Robert D. Hatcher, Jr. 1Department of Geological Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-14102Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (1989) 17 (10): 913–917. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<0913:PSOTQO>2.3.CO;2 Article history First Online: 02 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 Dan Walker, Steven G. Driese, Robert D. Hatcher; Paleotectonic significance of the quartzite of the Sauratown Mountains window, North Carolina. Geology 1989;; 17 (10): 913–917. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1989)017<0913:PSOTQO>2.3.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 SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Recent mapping within the metamorphic core of the southern Appalachians has led to the identification of several internal basement massifs interpreted to be windows that expose parautochthonous basement beneath the main thrust sheet. One such internal massif is exposed within the Inner Piedmont of North Carolina by the Sauratown Mountain window and is overlain by a cover sequence of arkose, schist, and quartzite. Detailed examination of the primary cross-stratification types preserved within the quartzite at Pilot Mountain indicates that deposition took place in several marine environments ranging from foreshore to inner shelf. Deposits of similar origin within the Early Cambrian North American passive-margin sediments appear to thin west to east, from 80 m at the Chilhowee Group type locality at Chilhowee Mountain (300 km west-southwest of Pilot Mountain) to 40 m within the Unaka belt (150 km west of Pilot Mountain). The quartzite at Pilot Mountain is more than 45 m thick and therefore does not appear to represent a distal part of this passive-margin sequence. Alternatively, two paleotectonic interpretations seem plausible: (1) quartzites of the Sauratown Mountains window, North Carolina, represent Late Proterozoic (Tallulah Falls-Ashe Formation equivalent) deposition along a sea-floor high associated with the rifted basement terrane during the rift phase prior to the opening of Iapetus; or (2) quartzites of the Sauratown Mountains window, North Carolina, represent latest Proterozoic to Early Cambrian (Chilhowee Group time equivalent) deposition on an isolated, rifted continental fragment during the drift phase of the North American-Iapetus margin evolution. 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.