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GEOLOGIC CONTRASTS ACROSS THE CENTRAL PIEDMONT SUTURE IN NORTH – CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
SUMMARY
Our work in the Hyco Lake area has led to the recognition
of a distinct contrast in lithologies, metamorphism and
deformation style across the CPS, similar to differences historically
associated with this boundary elsewhere in the
southern Appalachians. These differences are expressed as
low grade metaigneous rocks with steep foliations and
upright folds in the Carolina zone juxtaposed against high
grade gneisses and schists with gently dipping foliations and
recumbent folds within the Piedmont zone. This transition is
overprinted by the HSZ which records a post ca. 335 Ma
dextral transtensional motion.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank S. Samson and G. Wortman for providing isotopic
data. Field work was supported by grant no. EAR-
9219979 from the National Science Foundation to J.P. Hibbard,
and a grant from the North Carolina Geological Survey
and the Geological Society of America to G.S. Shell. We also
thank Allen Dennis for his invitation to contribute to this
volume and for providing a forum to summarize our preliminary
results and interpretations.
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