DIFFERENTIATION OF THE STRATIGRAPHY AND STRUCTURE OF THE WALDEN CREEK GROUP IN THE OVERTURNED LIMB OF THE DUCKTOWN ANTICLINE AND POSSIBLE CORRELATION WITH THE NANTAHALA/BRASSTOWN FORMATIONS AND THE GREAT SMOKY GROUP IN THE CANEY CREEK 7.5' QUADRANGLE, TENNESSEE

The western Blue Ridge in southeast Tennessee is a metamorphic allochthon containing the Laurentian margin rift and drift facies sequences that occur nonconformably above Grenville (1.1Ga) crystalline basement. This allochthon was metamorphosed and later thrust northwestward during the late Paleozoic Alleghenian orogeny above the adjacent Cambrian-Carboniferous sedimentary rocks of the foreland fold and thrust belt to the west. Previous work on tectonostratigraphic relationships in the Caney Creek Quadrangle was largely on a regional scale. Detailed geologic mapping of this area is employed to help address several problems regarding the tectonostratigraphic history of the southeastern Laurentian continental margin. The Walden Creek Group was previously included with the Late Proterozoic rift facies sequence of the Ocoee Supergroup. Detailed mapping and paleontological evidence suggest that the Walden Creek Group may be much younger. In the Caney Creek Quadrangle, the overturned limb of the Ducktown Anticline contains Precambrian Great Smokey Group rift facies sequences unconformably overlain by the Lower Cambrian Nantahala/Brasstown Formations. Down-section, but stratigraphically above these units, are the Wilhite and Sandsuck Formations of the Walden Creek Group. These units are dominantly laminated gray/green slates that contain sporadic carbonate layers. The Citico Creek Member of the Sandsuck Formation is composed of well-indurated sandstones and conglomerates that form prominent ridges. The Walden Creek Group is present in both the hanging walls and footwalls of the Alaculsa Valley/Miller's Cove and Sylco Creek/Maggie's Mill thrust faults. The stratigraphic relationships with adjacent units, combined with fossil evidence found in carbonate layers of the Wilhite Formation, suggest a Paleozoic age for the Walden Creek Group.