1. The Talladega Slate Belt
By Steven Stokes, Daniel Rollins, Matthew Sahawneh, Krystal Russell, and Ashley Stewart

2. Where We’re Going Cheaha State Park
Located in northern Clay and southwestern Cleburne counties
May 20-25

3. Location: North-Eastern Alabama Near the town of Sylacauga, Alabama

5. Talladega Slate Belt Composed primarily of low-grade metamorphic rocks
Bounded to the Northwest by a foreland fold and thrust fault system known as the Talladega fault or the Columbiana fault
To the southeast is marked by high grade metamorphism caused by both the Hollins Line fault and the Goodwater-Enitachopco fault system.

6. Talladega Slate Belt Alleghanian thrust sheet
Metamorphosed to lower green schist facies during the Acadian orogeny and thrust above the foreland fold and thrust belt.
Believed to be associated with main pulse of Early to Middle Devonian Acadian orogeny.

7. Sequences Composed of 4 lithologic groups Hillabee Greenstone
Sylacauga Marble
Talladega
Kahatchee Mountain

8. Hillabee Greenstone 2.6 kilometers thick Ordovician Age 457m.y.
Greenstones and Greenschists
What is a greenstone?
Bulk of sequence
Albite, Actinolite, Epidote, Zoisite, Clinozoisite, and Chlorite
Tabular and extrusive

9. Sylacauga Marble Jumbo Dolomite at base Dolomite and Calcite marbles
Nature of Dolomite
Nature and use of marble

10. Sylacauga Marble Below Lay Dam Formation of Talladega Group
Unconformity between the two
Diamictites
What is diamictite?
Lack of fossils make age correlation difficult
Cambrian to Ordovician

11. Talladega Group Clastic Divided into several formations
Lay Dam Formation
Cheaha Quartzite Member
Erin Slate Member
Butting Ram Sandstone
Jemison Chert

12. Lay Dam Formation Overlies Sylacauga Oldest
Silurian to Lower Devonian.
Greenish-gray, slightly calcareous sericite phyllites and slates
Sandstone bodies small, grade into phyllites
Rapid deposition.

13. Cheaha Quartzite Member
Metasandstone in Lay Dam Formation
Sandy phyllites and coarse grained quartzites
Fines upward
Devonian
Primary Structures
Horizontally bedded, graded intervals
Low angle pebbles structures
Channel fill deposits
Tabular and trough bedding

14. Erin Slate Member Also member of Lay Dam Formation
Thick highly carbonaceous phyllites or slate
Less mature than Cheaha Quartzite member
Lagoon depositional environment

15. Butting Ram Sandstone Thin green chloritic, arkosic metasandstone
Subrounded to rounded quartz sand
Feldspathic
Tidal channel deposits
Very discontinuous
Points of elevated crests

16. Jemison Chert Interval
Above Butting Ram Sandstone
Interbedded white, paper thin quartzites
Intercalated with black graphitic phyllites of Erin Slate
White to pale light gray, very dense, very fined quartzite
Complexly folded
Intense deformation
Lower Devonian

17. Kahatchee Mountain Group
Named Mountain Group because it can be found in the mountains northwest of Syllacuaga.
Width is highly variable.
Carboniferous in age. (Spores found that indicate carboniferous in metamorphic frontblock of sequence)

18. Formations within the Kahatchee Mountain Group
Waxahatchee Slate
Brewer Phyllite
Wash Creek Slate
Sawyer Limestone
*Chilton Fault

19. Deformational Phase 1 – D1
F1 folds are invariably tight to isoclinal
Interlimb angle is 20 to 0 degrees
They are assymetric with stort limbs are 20% shorter than long limbs
It has S1 foliations

20. Deformational Phase 2 and 3
F2 folds can be only seen in thin section
F3 folds are small folds 1mm to 1cm
F3 they distort both the compositional layers
F3 crenulation fold axial plane with S1-S2 surface

21. Deformational Phase 4 – D4
F4 folds can be seen on regional map
F4 folds cut through the F1 folds
F4 axial plane strikes northwest to southeast
A major faulting event

22. Questions?