‘CRADLE-OF-FORESTRY-IN-AMERICA FAULT’, AN NEWLY DISCOVERED NORTHEAST-SOUTHWEST TRENDING DEXTERAL FAULT IN THE EASTERN BLUE RIDGE, TRANSLYVANIA COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

Amphibolite grade rock of the Ash Metamorphic Suite and the Granitoid gneiss of the Looking Glass Pluton 8 km northwest of the Brevard Zone near Brevard, NC are cut by a fault zone that is sub parallel to the Brevard Zone. The zone of significant deformation varies in width from 0.4 km to 0.5 km and has thus far been mapped for a distance of 14 km across the Shining Rock and Pisgah Forest Quadrangles. Rocks within the zone are best characterized as a mélange where clasts ranging in size from pebble to block and of a wide variety of lithology are enclosed in nearly vertically foliated chlorite schist. Weaker deformation expressed by mineral stretch lineation and a fault parallel spaced cleavage continues into the adjacent country rock for a short distance.

Kinematic indicators within the zone indicate dextral, west side to the northeast transport. Lateral transport along the fault may be considerable as the structural fabric of the Ash Metamorphic Suite on either side is totally different. To the southeast the rock is dominated by somewhat horizontal mica foliation and a less dominate but nearly parallel compositional banding. Northwest of the fault a composition banding dominates, a weak mica foliation parallels the banding, and both are vertical to steeply dipping and tightly folded with fold axes trending northwest. The fault truncates the ~380 Ma intrusive rock of the Looking Glass and Pink Beds Plutons. Clasts of both occur within the melenge and both have a weak to moderate mineral stretch lineation where they are adjacent to the fault.