Structural Patterns in the Southern Appalachians: Evidence for a Gravity Slide Mechanism for Alleghanian Deformation

Research Article| September 01, 1975 Structural Patterns in the Southern Appalachians: Evidence for a Gravity Slide Mechanism for Alleghanian Deformation ROBERT C. MILICI ROBERT C. MILICI 1Tennessee Division of Geology, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information ROBERT C. MILICI 1Tennessee Division of Geology, Knoxville, Tennessee 37919 Publisher: Geological Society of America First Online: 01 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (1975) 86 (9): 1316–1320. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1975)86<1316:SPITSA>2.0.CO;2 Article history First Online: 01 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 ROBERT C. MILICI; Structural Patterns in the Southern Appalachians: Evidence for a Gravity Slide Mechanism for Alleghanian Deformation. GSA Bulletin 1975;; 86 (9): 1316–1320. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1975)86<1316:SPITSA>2.0.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 SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Age relations of major Southern Appalachian structural blocks, as determined at their intersections, indicate that the older faults of the Alleghanian deformation are to the west and the younger ones are to the east toward the supposed direction of the deforming forces. This break-back pattern of deformation is also a characteristic of faulting within each of the blocks. From this it is concluded that the final deformation of the Southern Appalachians did not result from a push from the east, but rather took place when the Alleghanian thrust sheet moved westward above décollement as a gravity slide, crumpled at the toe, and then was faulted in sequence from west to east.The gravity sliding can be related to vertical uplift of an infrastructural Inner Piedmont mobile thermal core. 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.