Geochemistry of volcanic rocks of the Carolina and Augusta terranes in central South Carolina: An exotic rifted volcanic arc?

This chapter presents new whole-rock, major- and trace-element geochemical data from the Carolina and Augusta terranes in South Carolina. Geochemical data from the Persimmon Fork and Richtex Formations strongly confirm the interpretation of previous workers that the Carolina terrane is a remnant of a subduction-related volcanic arc. These data further suggest that the arc developed either on top of an older arc or on a thinned section of continental crust. Geochronological data from the southern Appalachians indicate that the subduction-related arc in the Carolina terrane developed simultaneously with the initial opening of Iapetus, the Proto-Atlantic Ocean. Therefore, the arc could not have formed in the Iapetus Ocean basin, and must be exotic relative to cratonic North America.