Geology and Hydrocarbon Potential of the Eastern Overthrust: Knoxville, Tennessee to Washington, D.C., July 20-23, 1989

Description

About The ProductPublished by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Field Trip Guidebooks Series. The Appalachian basin is a broad synclinorium that extends from New York generally southwestward about 1500 kilometers to Alabama (Figure 1). At the western edge of the basin, Paleozoic strata dip gently eastward from the crest of the Cincinnati arch, first beneath the Appalachian Plateaus and then into and beneath the Appalachian fold-and-thrust belt. In general, the eastern part of the basin lies concealed beneath crystalline thrust sheets of the Blue Ridge and Piedmont. The basin is filled mostly with Paleozoic carbonate and siliciclastic rock. Late Precambrian sedimentary strata and volcanic rocks are minor constituents. In general, most of the siliciclastic sediments of the basin were derived from sources to the north and east, especially from tectonic highlands raised by the Taconic, Acadian, and Alleghanian orogenies. As a result, shales, sandstones, and red beds dominate much of the Paleozoic sequence of eastern Pennsylvania, whereas marine carbonate rocks dominate equivalent strata in the Plateau regions of Tennessee, Georgia, and northern Alabama. Content: