Field trip to overview the Geology of the proposed
Butt Mountain Deep Underground Science and
Engineering Laboratory
Virginia Tech Campus to Kimballton Limestone Mine
November 14, 2004
W.S. Henika
Virginia Tech Geosciences
The Kimballton Mine is located in the Allegheny
Mountains of southwestern Virginia, near the western
edge of the Appalachian Valley and Ridge Physiographic
Province.
Valley and Ridge Topography Reveals Some
300 Million Years of Geological History.
BUTT
MOUNTAIN
BUTT
MOUNTAIN
IS LOCATED
ON THE
NARROWS
OVETHRUST
SHEET
Regional Tectonic Map
The Valley and Ridge overthrust structure reflects intense compression
along the proto- Atlantic Continental margin during the Alleghenian
collision event between North America and Africa. The collision created
the Pangean super continent some 300 million years ago. Our present
mountains are much younger, having formed by erosion in the post
Cretaceous era.
The break up
of Pangea
began in the
Triassic
Period about
245 million
years ago and
by the
Jurassic
Period
continental
rifts forming
the Atlantic
and Gulf of
Mexico Ocean
basins were
well
established.
The modern
Appalachian
Mountains are
forming by
gentle uplift,
rejuvenation
and
entrenchment
of rivers along
the eastern
flanks of the
Atlantic Basin.
Differences in
the scale
between the
ancestral
Appalachian
structures and
the current
structure of the
eastern North
American Plate
is strikingly
portrayed in this
view of the
Atlantic Ocean
Floor.
Butt Mountain is on a passive
Continental margin.
BUTT
MOUNTAIN
Regional Cross Section
Allegheny Plateau
Valley and Ridge
BUTT
MTN
Butt Mountain is a large synclinal mountain near the western edge of the
Valley and Ridge. This region is characterized by linear ridges held up by
tilted strata of resistant sandstone with limestone and shale in fault line
valleys. Access to outcropping sedimentary strata allows excellent
surface structural control based on contrasting stratigraphy.This will
also prove to be an asset in designing and exploring laboratory sites in
the subsurface.
Regional Stratigraphic Column From
Cooper, 1961
Stop 8
Stops 2&9
Stop 7
Stop 1
Stops4&9a
Stop 5
Geology for the Butt
Mountain Area,
Giles County, Virginia
showing section lines
DIGITAL GEOLOGIC MAP OF
THE RADFORD 30X60 MINUTE
QUADRANGLE, VIRGINIA AND
WEST VIRGINIA
Geology by Mervin J. Bartholomew, Arthur
P. Schultz, Sharon E. Lewis, Robert C.
McDowell, and William S. Henika
2000
Stereographic Projections of Poles to Bedding
Statistical studies of field data by Professor Rick
Law. Stereographically derived fold axes (B) help to
provide geometrical constraints on the geological model of
both the Bane and the Butt Mountain fold structures.
Geology for the Butt
Mountain Area,
Giles County, Virginia
showing section lines
DIGITAL GEOLOGIC MAP OF
THE RADFORD 30X60 MINUTE
QUADRANGLE, VIRGINIA AND
WEST VIRGINIA
Geology by Mervin J. Bartholomew, Arthur
P. Schultz, Sharon E. Lewis, Robert C.
McDowell, and William S. Henika
2000
This detailed geologic cross section was based on
regional seismic subsurface and detailed geologic
field data. The cross section follows a model
commissioned by the Appalachian Basin Industrial
Associates and published by Nicholas Woodward
and David Gray in 1985. The model has been used
to locate exploratory seismic profiles and
exploration wells for the VT DUSEL Project.
3-d surface model by Jason Shelton, VT College of Engineering
BUTT MOUNTAIN
DUSEL SITE
3-d model by Jason Shelton, VT College of Engineering
Based on cross sections by W.S. Henika
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Stop 1- Cloyd Conglomerate on Brush Mtn
Stop 1- Cloyd Conglomerate on Brush Mtn
Burr stones quarried
from Cloyd
Conglomerate in
open pits along on
Brush Mountain
were shipped all
over the world.
Millstone production
began in the 1750s
and continued until
the 1950s!
Stop 1- Cloyd Conglomerate on Brush Mtn
The conglomerate exposed on Brush Mountain in the road base
along U.S. Route 460 is an extremely tough silica cemented
quartzite. The Cloydy crops out nearly1000 feet below
anthracite coal beds mined in the Valley Anthracite Field
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Stop 2- Silurian Quartzite on Gap Mtn
Tuscarora Fm
Stop 2-Base of Silurian on Gap Mtn
The Ordovician-Silurian sandstone and shale section
is a major seismic reflector on Appalachian seismic profiles.
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Stop 3 - Lower Martinsburg Fm
Interbeds of Reedsville sh and Trenton Ls in the Lower
Martinsburg have been recognized as a major decollement.
Stop 3b – Lower Martinsburg Fm
Weathered sh and ls saprolite overturned along the
Saltville fault zone.
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Stop 4 - Middle Ordovician Limestone
Stop 4 – Middle Ordovician Limestone
Massive carbonate clastics are part of a transgressive
sequence that flooded the exposed Knox carbonate shelf
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Covered Bridge over Sinking Creek along
Mtn Lake Road between stops 4 and 5.
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Stop 6-Mountain Lake
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Stop 7- shale and limestone beds in upper Martinsburg
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Stop 8-Millboro Shale on Butt Mountain
A major petroleum source bed and detachment zone
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Stop9- Butt Mountain Lookout
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Chemical Limestone Corporation is mining the Middle
Ordovician Five Oaks Limestone at the Kimballton mine
Butt Mountain Seismic Line 1 was shot
along this Forest Service logging road
Butt Mountain Seismic Lines
Line 2
Line 1
BUTT MOUNTAIN
H
DUSEL SITE
3-d model by Jason Shelton
VT College of Engineering
Butt Mtn Seismic Line 1
Interpreted by Adam
Schumaker-VT Geosciences
DUSEL Fieldtrip Stop Location Map
Anticlinal Rollover on Thrust Exposed Along SR 630
About One Mile South of Kimballton
Calcite Vein Along Thrust at Same Locality As Above
Bentonitic Shale Parting in Massive Limestone at Same
Locality As Above
Moderate
Seismic
Activity
has been
localized
in the
basement
rocks
several
kilometers
below the
site.
Virginia Seismic Activity
http://www.geol.vt.edu/outreach/vtso/
Differences in
the scale
between the
ancestral
Appalachian
structures and
the current
structure of the
eastern North
American Plate
is strikingly
portrayed in this
view of the
Atlantic Ocean
Floor.
Butt Mountain is on a passive
Continental margin.
BUTT
MOUNTAIN