Green Mountains
2 messages in this thread
Hi, I'd like to get some information on the geology of the Green Mountains in
Vermont. Could you direct me to an appropriate source?
Thanks, Pruitt
The State of Vermont publishes a lot of inexpensive geological reports, but the
best single source I've seen is "Roadside Geology of Vermont and New
Hampshire." — one of the "Roadside Geology" series
If you're just looking for a brief summary, the Green Mountains are to some
extent a Northern extension of the Appalachians. Unlike the Appalachians which
folded when North America collided with Eurafrica in the late Paleozoic, the
Green Mountains formed as a series of thrust blocks stacked atop each other.
The Westernmost thrust blocks are exposed more or less along the line of Lake
Champlain and several thrust slices can be traced North to South in the hills
to the West of the Green Mountains. The main body of the Green Mountains is
composed of metamorphized Cambrian and Ordovician sediments. The area east of
the main range of the Green Mountains is mostly younger Silurian, Devonian,
Carboniferious sediments —
also metamorphised with some granite domes lined up north to south down the
Eastern side of Vermont. The remains of an island arc that got caught between
Europe and North America can be found East of the Conneticut River in New
Hampshire.
All the rocks in Vermont are somewhat metamophized, with the least alteration
along the Eastern and Western borders and the maximum being found in the"Talc
Belt" along VT100 thru the center of the state.
If you can let me know more about what you are interested in, I'll try to come
up with specific references.