Geology of the Petersburg batholith, eastern Piedmont, Virginia
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Published:January 01, 2017
Abstract
The 295-300 Ma Petersburg batholith in east-central Virginia forms one of the largest and northernmost of the Alleghanian plutonic complexes in the southern Appalachian Piedmont. The batholith is primarily composed of granite including massive and foliated (both magmatic and solid-state fabrics) varieties. The plutonic complex intruded medium-grade metamorphosed volcanic/plutonic rocks of the Roanoke Rapids terrane. The western edge of the batholith experienced right lateral transpressional deformation associated with movement on the Hylas fault zone during the Alleghanian orogeny; this was followed by normal faulting and exhumation during the development of the Triassic Richmond basin. Much of the batholith was buried by a thin veneer of primarily Cenozoic siliciclastic sediments at the western edge of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Granite rocks of the Petersburg batholith have long been quarried for both dimension and crushed stone. The purpose of this trip is to discuss the age, origin, and tectonic significance of the Petersburg batholith.
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Contents
From the Blue Ridge to the Beach: Geological Field Excursions across Virginia

This volume includes seven field guides that explore the diverse geology of Virginia from its Appalachian highlands to the Atlantic shore. The guides cover an array of topics ranging from cave and karst development in the Valley and Ridge to the exceptional fossil localities at the Carmel Church Quarry and the cliffs near Stratford Hall to Precambrian rocks in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Three guides focus on the Paleozoic to Proterozoic tectonic history of the Blue Ridge and Piedmont provinces, two guides discuss the stratigraphy and fossil assemblages preserved in Cenozoic deposits on the Atlantic Coastal Plain, one guide examines Paleozoic stratigraphy and cave formation in western Virginia, and the final guide explores the relationship between the geology of the Fall Zone and the Civil War during the Petersburg Campaign in 1864–1865.
GeoRef
- Alleghany Orogeny
- Appalachians
- areal geology
- batholiths
- Carboniferous
- construction materials
- crushed stone
- deformation
- dimension stone
- faults
- foliation
- granites
- igneous rocks
- intrusions
- magmatism
- metamorphism
- mineral resources
- North America
- Paleozoic
- Pennsylvanian
- Piedmont
- plutonic rocks
- tectonics
- terranes
- United States
- Upper Pennsylvanian
- Virginia
- Peterburg Batholith