Syntectonic sediment loading and fold-thrust belt structural architecture: An example from the central Appalachians (USA)

Abstract

Fluid inclusion microthermometry of synkinematic veins is used to estimate the maximum syntectonic load that was deposited on the wedge top in the central Appalachians (northeastern United States) during the Alleghanian orogeny. The restored loads indicate two major depocenters during the Alleghanian orogeny: one above Broadtop synclinorium, with as much as 7 km of Pennsylvanian–Permian load probably sourced by the erosion of rocks uplifted by the growing Blue Ridge massif and emplacement of the North Mountain thrust sheet; the other above the Anthracite belt, with as much as 16 km of syntectonic load likely sourced by the erosion of rocks uplifted by the growing Reading Prong massif. The loads were generally <3 km in the intervening Juniata culmination. In areas of high load, the structural architecture of the basin is that of widely spaced thrusts (~17–22 km) with large leading-edge anticlines in the Cambrian–Ordovician lithotectonic unit, while in areas of low load, thrusts are more closely spaced (~15 km) and deformed into an imbricate stack. The relationship between observed syntectonic loads, thrust spacing, and structural style reflect modeled relationships.