Unraveling the Geologic History of Mid-Coastal Maine: The Edgecomb Gneiss, Poster 37

Determining the timing of deposition, deformation, and metamorphism in rock units found in the Appalachians is often hard to constrain. Because of this, studies of cross-cutting intrusive plutonic rocks can be extremely... [ view full abstract ]

Determining the timing of deposition, deformation, and metamorphism in rock units found in the Appalachians is often hard to constrain. Because of this, studies of cross-cutting intrusive plutonic rocks can be extremely useful. One opportunity for using an igneous intrusion to constrain the relative and absolute timing of tectonic events in the Northern Appalachians is the Edgecomb Gneiss, an unstudied deformed and metamorphosed igneous intrusion in Mid Coastal Maine. Ultimately, this research is a comprehensive field, structural, and petrologic study of the Edgecomb Gneiss, aiming to achieve three goals. First, field studies will help to establish a relative chronology of deformational events in the area. Second, U-Pb age dating will supply absolute age ranges to constrain these deformational events. Third, geochemical analysis will lend insight into the tectonic environment of magma formation. Results from this study will contribute to the larger body of work decoding how the Acadian Orogeny affected the geology of mid-coastal Maine.