Collaborative Research: An Early Cambrian Tectonothermal Event in the Smith River Allochthon of SW Virginia: Implications for Southern Appalachian Tectonics

圈定古造山带中不同起源和不同历史的地壳元素是进行有意义的构造分析的先决条件。在南阿巴拉契亚造山带这一典型的碰撞系统中，很难令人信服地将单位分配给劳伦蒂亚或相反的大陆质量冈瓦那。缺乏明确的证据阻碍了人们对这条在主要构造概念的发展中发挥了作用的众所周知的带的充分理解。这个项目将调查这样一种假设，即山前地带的史密斯河异种生物，以前被认为是劳伦特周期或过渡期的亲缘生物，实际上是外来的(冈瓦那)起源。这些结果在当地具有相当重要的意义，而且由于阿巴拉契亚山脉为解释其他古代构造带提供了一个有影响力的模式，因此具有广泛的意义。

Delineation of crustal elements of different origins and histories found in ancient orogenic belts is a prerequisite to meaningful tectonic analysis. In the S. Appalachian orogen, a classic collisional system, it has proven difficult to convincingly assign units to Laurentia or to the opposing continental mass, Gondwana. Lack of clear-cut evidence has stymied full understanding of the otherwise well-known belt that has been instrumental in the development of major tectonic concepts. This project will investigate the hypothesis that the Smith River Allochthon in the Piedmont Zone, previously thought to be of peri-Laurentian or transitional affinity is, in fact, of exotic (Gondwana) origin. Results are of considerable local importance, and because the Appalachians provide an influential model for interpretation of other ancient tectonic belts, has broad significance.