Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Trace Element Analysis Of Rutile And Zr-In-Rutile Thermometry For Southern Appalachian Pelitic Schists, Kathryn A. Eccles

Honors Program Projects

Over the past decade, geochronology studies in the southern Appalachians have focused on zircon, monazite, and mica ages to confirm the occurrence of a major Taconic event (~460‐450 Ma) affecting the Western and Central Blue Ridge, followed by a younger NeoAcadian (~360‐345 Ma) event affecting the Eastern Blue Ridge and Piedmont. Peak conditions of granulite facies metamorphism are estimated at ~850°C (garnet‐biotite) and 7‐9 kbar (GASP) for sillimanite schists at Winding Stair Gap (WSG), but thermobarometric studies of metasedimentary rocks in the region are limited and consequently Pressure‐Temperature‐time‐Deformation (P‐T‐t‐D) paths are poorly understood. Many details of the orogenic processes in …