Ground-water geology along the northwest foot of the Blue Ridge between Arnold Valley and Elkton, Virginia The area discussed in this report lies along the northwest flank of the Blue Ridge in Rockbridge, Augusta, and Rockingham counties, Virginia. It spans the boundary between the Blue Ridge and the Great Valley physiographic provinces. The southeastern (Blue Ridge) portion of the area is mountainous and underlain by Precambrian crystalline and lower Cambrian elastic rocks. It is a major water catchment area for the eastern edge of the Shenandoah Valley and is chiefly a National Forest preserve. Cambriancarbonate rocks and fine-grained elastics underlie the relatively level areas between the mountains and the major subsequent streams near their base. A thick unconsolidated mantle which slopes gently away from the mountains conceals bedrock over much of the area. Major well fields have been developed on level alluvial floodplains and terraces adjacent to the rivers. Some produce several million gallons of water each day from bedrock aquifers at depth of from 50 to over 700 feet. The average temperature within the area is about 55°F. Average annual precipitation is approximately 41 inches and is greatest in the mountains. About six inches becomes ground-water recharge. Artificial withdrawal by wells would increase the rate of recharge. Evapotranspiration frequently exceeds total precipitation during the summer and early autumn. Most streams which drain the Blue Ridge are perennial near the headwaters and intermittent northwest of the mountains. They may be influent to bedrock aquifers within or near the base of the mountains and near the confluence with subsequent streams where the clay mantle is deeply eroded, but are effluent in the intervening reaches. The perennial streams are dominantly effluent. The major rivers are sub•sequent and effluent. They receive surface drainage and overflow of ground-water reservoirs from the Blue Ridge and from dominantly carbonate terranes to the west and northwest. Streamflow of the major streams represents approximately one third of the average annual areal precipitation. The stratigraphic sequence within the area from older to younger is designated as fellows: Precambrian crystalline rocks; Precambrian-Lower Cambrian Catoctin Greenstone and Swift Run Formations; LowerCambrian elastics; Lower Cambrian Tomstown (Shady) Delomite; Lower Cambrian Waynesboro (Rome) Formation; Middle Cambrian Elbrook Formation; and the Upper Cambrian Conococheague Limestone. The Precambrian igneous and metamorphic rocks, and the lower portion of the Lower Cambrian elastics are normally relatively poor aquifers. Minor production is obtained from fractured zones at locations within the mountains. The Antietam formation, the upper portion of the Lower Cambrianelastics, is a major potential aquifer. One well in Buena Vista produces over 600 gpm of water of low mineralization. Similar sites abound along the base of the Blue Ridge. The Tomstown Dolomite is a major aquifer at Waynesboro where the DuPont well field produces over 11,000,000 gpd. The producing characteristics of the Tomstown formation near the mountains at locations remote from the major rivers, where it is commonly concealed by a thick impermeable mantle of clay, are virtually unknown. Thick beds of limestone and dolomite in the Waynesboro Formationare prolific aquifers at Glasgow and near Elkton. Argillaceous portions of the formation are commonly aquicludes although secondary permeability may be developed by fracturing. Several wells produce over 1000 gpm from aquifers in the Elbrookand Conococheague formations near Grottoes and south of Elkton. With some exceptions, the water produced from these formations is harder than that produced from older formations to the east. A mantle of Cenozoic gravel and clay up to 400 feet thick overlies the bedrock over wide areas. The lower portion consists primarily of silty clay which is largely residual. Near the base of the mountains where it is thickest. it consists largely of leached colluvial material derived from the adjacent formations. It is characteristically an aquiclude which inhibits direct downward percolation of water to the underlying bedrock. Water encountered in the bedrock below it is commonly under mild artesian head. The upper portion of the mantle consists dominantly of alluvial and colluvial gravel with a sandy clay matrix and discontinuous beds of sand or of sandy or silty clay. It lies unconformably over residual clay and bedrock and is probably of Pleistocene age. It grades into talus near the foot of the mountains. The Cenozoic mantle yields only small amounts of water of variable quality to domestic wells although several large springs issue from it. The structural geology of the area is complex. Interpretation is complicated by facies changes and poor exposure. Fractures produced by deformation of the brittle rocks provide permeability. The main effect of the structure is its effect on the distribution of potential aquifers. The occurrence of ground water within the area is probably influenced more by topography, distribution of the unconsolidated mantle, and lithologic characteristics of the bedrock than by structure. Calcium and magnesium bicarbonate is the principal chemical constituents of ground water produced from major wells and springs within the area. Water from the carbonate aquifers is commonly moderately hard (61-120 ppm as CaC03). Nearly all of the hardness is temporary(carbonate) and is approximately equivalent to the alkalinity. Concentrations of deleterious substances are low. Water from the elastic rocks is characterized of low mineralization and pH. It is corrosive to ferrous metals. The temperature of well waters varies from 12° to 15°c. (54° - 59°F.)with few exceptions. Quality of ground water can commonly be correlated with the geologic formation from which it is produced. The concentration of total dissolved solids in waters from the bedrock aquifers tends to increase with decreasing age of the aquifer and with distance from the mountains. Water from limestone is commonly more highly mineralized than that from dolomite. Waters from. the same formation tends to be more highly mineralized west of the major rivers than they are to the east. Mineralization of most of the waters studied is derived from the dissolution of the carbonate aquifers and is controlled by equilibrium relations between dolomite, calcite, and dissolved carbon dioxide. The degree of saturation of waters with respect to solid calcite and dolomite can be determined semiquantitatively by comparison of the equilibrium pH computed from water analyses with the measured pH. Waters from typical dolomite reservoirs are supersaturated with respect to dolomite. The ratio of the concentration of calcium to the concentration of magnesium of most samples reflects the composition of the reservoir rock. Most samples contain more calcium than magnesium. Relationships between the calcium-magnesium ratio, the total mineralization, and the degree of saturation of water samples with respect to the solid carbonates are useful to relate the geology of the area to its hydrology. The quality of river water fluctuates widely with meteorologic variations, but that of ground-water produced from bedrock in adjacent wells east of the river remains relatively constant. Recharge to the wells at depth is evidently sufficient to prevent downward percolation of appreciable quantities of surface flow into the good bores although pumping levels are commonly below river level. The quality of the water suggests that recharge is dominantly from the east. Dolomite aquifers underlying floodplain and terrace deposits east of the major rivers are most favorable for the industrial development of ground-water resources. Prospective areas are outlined. Wells located in minor stream valleys near the boundary between the Blue Ridge and the Valley also offers prospects of production from Antietam or Tomstownaquifers. Test-drilling is warranted. Drilling of test wells should be the first step of industrial site investigation. The location of wells should be based upon a detailed local surface geological investigation. / Doctor of Philosophy

Book Summary: Breathtaking photographs and original essays illuminate this tribute to the natural wonders of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The 469 miles of the Parkway run through some of the most magnificent landscapes in the United States, connecting the Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and these photographs capture the unique beauty of the region. Accompanying the images are heartfelt writings of regional poets and essayists who celebrate their abiding love for the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Tugaloo terrane in the eastern Blue Ridge, located in the high-grade southern Appalachian crystalline core,contains small internal basement massifs, the Neoproterozoic Tallulah Falls Formation, and Paleozoic granitoid plutons. Detailed geologic mapping in the Lake Toxaway and eastern Big Ridge quadrangles was done to better understand the regional tectonic history. Whole-rock geochemistry was used to determine similarities between the augen phase of the 1.15 Ga Toxaway Gneiss and the 1.15 Ga Wiley Gneiss of northeastern Georgia. The study found that all eastern Blue Ridge orthogneisses are similar and probably share a source. The previously identified Whiteside, Looking Glass, and Pink Beds plutons, and the newly identified Horseshoe Rock and Round Mountain plutons were also characterized. All plutons are low-K, catazonal granodiorites and trondhjemites that plot as volcanic arc or syncollisional granites on tectonic discrimination diagrams. The Looking Glass, Pink Beds, and Round Mountain plutons were dated using U-Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronology, and their ages are 333 + 16 Ma, 371.3 + 4.2 Ma, and 342.5 + 2.4 Ma, respectively. Zircon saturation temperature estimates for these plutons, and a Whitney and Stormer two-feldspar estimate for the Round Mountain pluton, indicate that they intruded at 700-800° C. Whole-rock geochemistry was used to constrain the origin of amphibolites and hornblende gneisses around the Toxaway dome. One sample was a metabasalt with MORB composition, like other eastern Blue Ridge samples. Two other samples have a metasedimentary protolith . Migmatitic aureoles found in the amphibolite facies rocks around the Whiteside, Looking Glass, and Horseshoe Rock plutons are syn-intrusional and represent a zone of contact metasomatism. The new pluton ages constrain the regional deformation history. At least 6 deformations are recognized in the eastern Blue Ridge. Dominant regional foliation is traditionally attributed to the second event (~466 Ma). However, foliations measured within all plutons are identical to foliations measured in the surrounding rock, indicating that foliations had to form after the youngest pluton intruded (~333 Ma), and that Alleghanian deformation was dominant in this region. These observations do not explain cross-cutting relationships observed around older plutons and raise new questions about southern Appalachian tectonics.

The Blue Ridge Province of western North Carolina contains a wide variety of metamorphosed igneous and sedimentary rocks that record the tectonic effects of Precambrian and Paleozoic orogenic cycles. Tectonic interpretations of the events that led to the present configuration are varied and often conflicting. This investigation examines metamorphosed mafic rocks that are widely interpreted to have formed during the closure of ocean basins. Metabasites, and specifically eclogites, have a tendency to mark tectonic sutures and frequently preserve pressure (P), temperature (T), and age data (t) that can be gleaned from mineral equilibria and U-Pb isotopic compositions. As such, the examination of the metabasites is considered the key to understanding the orogenic history of the southern Blue Ridge where these metabasites occur. Chapter 2 is an investigation of the retrograde reactions related to the decompression of sodic pyroxenes that react to form diopside-plagioclase-hornblende-quartz symplectites as stability fields are overstepped during isothermal decompression. In Chapter 3 metabasites from the central and eastern Blue Ridge are re-examined and P-T pathways of these lithologies are determined. The argument is made that the Taconic orogeny of the Blue Ridge is the result of a continent-continent collision event that culminated in a mega-mélange that coincides with the Cullowhee terrane and the eastern Blue Ridge mélange of western North Carolina. Chapter 4 contains the results of a geochronological investigation of the Precambrian basement complex of the eastern Great Smoky Mountains. Chapter 5 is a whole rock geochemical study of the same basement complex. In Chapter 6, a potential lithologic correlation between the southern Blue Ridge basement and the Arequipa- Antofalla block of Peru is discussed. The geologic history of western South America from the Mesoproterozoic through Cambrian is summarized, a potential isotope-based lithologic correlation is proposed, and the early tectonic history of the central Blue Ridge is discussed. Chapter 7 contains brief summaries of Chapters 1-6.

Terrane discrimination in polycyclic continental basement rocks is challenging due to high-grade metamorphism and intense deformation. Based on early USGS mapping the Blue Ridge basement in the Dellwood quadrangle of the eastern Great Smoky Mountains was proposed to consist of augen orthogneisses of Laurentian (Grenvillian) affinity interfolded with migmatitic hornblende and biotite paragneisses (“Carolina Gneiss”) and amphibolites of uncertain affinity. However, detailed study reveals that the hornblende gneiss of Hadley and Goldsmith (1963) is a heterogeneous map unit consisting of (1)metaplutonic rocks; (2) variably foliated and folded felsic orthogneisses; (3) strongly migmatitic, folded Hbl+Bt-bearing gneisses; (4) foliated and lineated garnet amphibolites Field relations, petrology, and geochemistry demonstrate that felsic orthogneisses are related to metaplutonic rocks via (post-Taconian) progressive deformation and reconstitution. Whole rock XRF geochemistry reveals likely protoliths of Hbl gneiss and Bt gneiss are geochemically similar and have common sources. U-Pb zircon geochronology and field relationships suggest felsic orthogneisses (1050 Ma,1150-1190 Ma, 1250-1300 Ma) are components of the Mesoproterozoic Grenville basement, and not part of a metamorphosed Neoproterozoic syn-rift Laurentian margin cover sequence. A previously unknown age mode for Mesoproterozoic plutonism in the southern Appalachians was discovered (~1250-1300 Ma) suggesting the presence of a component exotic to pre-Grenvillian Laurentia (Amazonia?).

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1993. / Six maps included in back pocket. Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 115-116). Also available via the Internet.

Existing models of the hydrogeology in the Blue Ridge Province in the eastern United States generally assume a simplified two-layered system consisting of shallow unconsolidated and relatively homogeneous and porous regolith with a water-table aquifer that slowly supplies water downward to the underlying variably fractured crystalline bedrock. In these models, interconnected fractures in the crystalline bedrock act as conduits for predominantly downward vertical and limited horizontal flow. Fracture density is depthà limited and correlated with proximity to topographic lineaments. Current models consider the porous regolith as the primary water storage reservoir for the entire aquifer system. In this research, detailed hydrogeologic studies in the Blue Ridge Province in Floyd County, Virginia reveal a substantially different framework for groundwater flow. Recent acquisition of two-dimensional surface resistivity profiles collected using a variety of array techniques combined with borehole geophysical logs revealed new insights into this geologically complex province. Dipole-dipole arrays were particularly important in gathering high resolution resistivity profiles that document horizontal and vertical resistivity variation reflecting changes in subsurface geology and anomalous low resistivity areas in crystalline bedrock associated with fault zones. The shallow regolith contains unsaturated areas and also localized sand and clay prone facies with water table and confined aquifer conditions residing locally. Hydraulic heads between the shallow aquifer and the deeper fractured bedrock aquifer can vary by 20 m vertically. Within the crystalline bedrock are anomalous lower resistivity intervals associated with ancient fault shear zones. Brecciated rock adjacent to the shear zones, and the shear zones themselves, can be hydraulically conductive and serve as pathways for groundwater movement. Aquifer testing of the regolith-bedrock fracture system occurred over a 6-day period and produced rapid and relatively uniform drawdowns in surrounding wells completed in the fractured bedrock aquifers. The shallow aquifers experienced minimal drawdowns from the aquifer test indicating low vertical hydraulic conductivity and limited communication between the shallow and deeper bedrock aquifers. Water chemistry and chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) age dating analyses indicated significant differences between water samples from the shallow and deep aquifers. A new conceptual model for Blue Ridge aquifers is proposed based on these research findings. / Ph. D.

Streams are integrative systems spanning multiple spatial and temporal scales. Stream researchers, land-use managers, and policy decision makers must consider the downstream displacement of streams when approaching questions about stream ecosystems. The study of how anthropogenic land-use influences streams demands an ecosystem perspective, and this dissertation is an example of applying large scale analyses of stream reach responses, and linking the activity of humans in the landscape to stream structure and function. I investigate whether rural development and agriculture land-cover types influence abiotic and biotic stream responses. I establish a method for considering land-cover as an independent variable at multiple scales throughout a streams' watershed using hydraulic modeling. The travel time required for water to drain from the watershed to a stream reach provided a continuous index to delimit watershed sub portions along a spatial continuum. Within travel time zones (TTZs), I consider land-use at increasingly larger scales relative to a stream reach within which biotic responses are typically measured. By partitioning land-cover in TTZs, I was able to determine the spatial scale at which land-cover was most likely to influence in-stream responses. I quantified a suite of physical and biotic responses typical to the aquatic ecology literature, and found that streams did not respond much to rural development. Rural development influenced suspended and depositional sediments, and likely altered watershed hydrology though I was unable to find significant evidence supporting a hydrologic effect. Subtle differences in assemblages suggest that differences in sediment dynamics influenced macroinvertebrates and fish. Using the Land Cover Cascade (LCC) design, I link the influence of land-cover to biotic responses through a suite of multivariate models, focusing on sediment dynamics in an attempt to capture the subtle influence of hydrology and sediment dynamics. My dissertation provides future researchers with improved methods for considering land-cover as an independent variable, as well as introduces multivariate models that link land-cover to sediment dynamics and biota. My dissertation will assist future research projects in identifying specific mechanisms associated with stream responses to disturbance. / Ph. D.

Recent models of groundwater flow in the Blue Ridge Province suggest multiple aquifers and flow paths may be responsible for springs and seeps appearing throughout the region. Deep confined aquifers and shallow variably confined aquifers may contribute water to spring outlets, resulting in vastly different water quality and suitability for potable water supplies and stock watering. A new Low Flow Recording System (LoFRS) was developed to measure the discharge of these springs that are so ubiquitous throughout the Blue Ridge Province. Analysis of spring discharge, combined with electrical resistivity surveying, aquifer tests, and water chemistry data reveal mixed shallow and deep aquifer sources for some springs, while other springs and artesian wells are sourced only in the deep aquifer. The technique is suitable for rapid characterization of flow paths leading to spring outlets. Rapid characterization is important for evaluation of potential water quality problems arising from contamination of shallow and deep aquifers, and for evaluation of water resource susceptibility to drought. The spring discharge technique is also suitable for use in other locations where fractured rock and crystalline rock aquifers are common. / Master of Science

Physical and geophysical data collected at the Fractured Rock Research Site in Floyd County, Virginia indicate that recharge rates to the subsurface are controlled by a small scale thrust fault associated with regional thrust faulting within the Blue Ridge Province. Recharge rates appear to be correlated to spatial variation in the hydraulic conductivity of the regolith, which has been influenced by weathering rates and the metamorphic and structural history of the underlying parent material. Previous studies conducted at the Fractured Rock Research Site suggest that recharge potential can be separated into two regions: one over a vertically oriented shear zone associated with the small scale thrust fault, and the other overlying a thrust fault hanging wall. The angle of dip of the thrust fault shear zone and the fracturing within the crystalline rock adjacent to the fault plane appear to serve as geologic controls that preferentially direct infiltrated meteoric water to a deeper confined aquifer. The structural competence of the granulite gneiss thrust fault hanging wall appears to act as a barrier to deeper groundwater recharge, causing the formation of a shallow semi-confined aquifer within the overlying regolith. In-situ analysis of matric potential and moisture content shows two distinctly different recharge processes that are spatially correlated with the structure of the shallow subsurface (regolith overlying the vertically oriented shear zone and regolith overlying the thrust fault hanging wall), and have been shown to have strong temporal correlations with the dynamics of the underlying saturated conditions. Recharge flux estimates within the regolith overlying the thrust fault hanging wall are uncharacteristically high, and appear to be offset within the monitored region by the upward hydraulic gradient associated with the potentiometric surface of the underlying semi-confined aquifer. Because of the influence exerted by the upward hydraulic gradient on matric potential within the unsaturated regolith overlying the semi-confined aquifer, accurate recharge estimates could not be obtained from the matric potential data recorded by the tensiometers along this portion of the transect. Recharge flux within the regolith overlying the vertically oriented shear zone is strongly controlled by the orientation and aerial extent of the thrust fault shear zone, and highlights the importance of accurate delineation of recharge areas in crystalline rock aquifer systems. / Master of Science