DIFFERENTIATION OF THE STRATIGRAPHY AND STRUCTURE OF THE WALDEN CREEK GROUP ON THE OVERTURNED LIMB OF THE DUCKTOWN ANTICLINORIUM AND DETERMINATION OF STRATIGRAPHIC RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE NANTAHALA/BRASSTOWN FORMATIONS AND THE GREAT SMOKY GROUP

The Walden Creek Group has historically been included as the upper member of the Ocoee Supergroup, which includes the Great Smoky and Snowbird Groups. These units represent basin-fill sediments related to the Neoproterozoic rifting of the Iapetus Ocean. Recent paleontological evidence found in the Wilhite Formation suggests that the Walden Creek Group is Silurian or younger. The Paleozoic evolution of the southern Laurentian margin was poorly constrained by early workers. The presence of Silurian fossils in the Blue Ridge is a major discovery in the tectonic evolution of the Appalachian orogen. A revision of the regional geology, as well as the impact of the Taconic and Acadian Orogenies, is an important task for current researchers. Through detailed geologic mapping, we are attempting to expand and revise the database of Western Blue Ridge geology in the southern Appalachians.