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Mineral Resources > Online Spatial Data > Geology > by state > North Carolina Geology

Geologic units in Henderson county, North Carolina

[Additional scientific data in this geographic area]

Ashe Metamorphic Suite and Tallulah Falls Formation; Metagraywacke (Late Proterozoic) at surface, covers 2 % of this area

Metagraywacke - foliated to massive, locally conglomeratic; interlayered and gradational with mica schist, muscovite-biotite gneiss, and rare graphitic schist.

Lithology: metasedimentary rock; mica schist; biotite gneiss

Rocks of Brevard Fault Zone (Uncertain, possibly Permian or Devonian) at surface, covers 3 % of this area

Rocks of Brevard Fault Zone - "fish scale" schist and phyllonite, graphitic; interlayered with feldspathic metasandstone, marble lenses.

Lithology: schist; phyllonite; metasedimentary rock; marble

Garnet-Mica Schist (Cambrian/Late Proterozoic) at surface, covers 12 % of this area

Garnet-Mica Schist - interlayered with amphibolite.

Lithology: mica schist; amphibolite

Quartz Diorite to Granodiorite (Devonian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Quartz Diorite to Granodiorite (390 my) - contains biotite, muscovite, and xenocrysts. Includes Whiteside Mountain, Stone Mountain, Mount Airy, Spruce Pine, and other smaller plutons.

Lithology: quartz diorite; granodiorite

Caesars Head Granite Gneiss (Devonian/Silurian) at surface, covers 6 % of this area

Caesars Head Granite Gneiss (409 my) - equigranular to porphyritic, massive to well foliated; contains biotite and muscovite.

Lithology: granitic gneiss

Migmatitic Granitic Gneiss (Ordovician/Cambrian) at surface, covers 0.5 % of this area

Migmatitic Granitic Gneiss - foliated to massive, granitic to quartz dioritic; biotite gneiss and amphibolite common.

Lithology: granitic gneiss; biotite gneiss; amphibolite

Garnetiferous mica schist (Cambrian or Neoproterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Garnetiferous mica schist: aluminous muscovite-biotite schist, locally having subordinate amphibolite layers

Lithology: mica schist; amphibolite

Megacrystic biotite gneiss (Cambrian or Neoproterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Megacrystic biotite gneiss: variably layered biotite-quartz-feldspar gneiss having porphyroclasts and/or porphyroblasts of plagioclase and locally of quartz and potassium feldspar

Lithology: biotite gneiss

Granite Gneiss (Silurian/Ordovician) at surface, covers 11 % of this area

Granite Gneiss (438 my) - poorly foliated; interlayered with biotite augen gneiss.

Lithology: granitic gneiss; augen gneiss

Amphibolite and Biotite Gneiss (Cambrian/Late Proterozoic) at surface, covers 0.9 % of this area

Amphibolite and Biotite Gneiss - interlayered; minor layers and lenses of hornblende gneiss, metagabbro, mica schist, and granitic rock.

Lithology: amphibolite; biotite gneiss; mafic gneiss; mica schist; granite; metamorphic rock

Porphyroblastic Gneiss (Cambrian/Late Proterozoic) at surface, covers 6 % of this area

Porphyroblastic Gneiss - massive to foliated, granodioritic, migmatitic.

Lithology: gneiss

Ashe Metamorphic Suite and Tallulah Falls Formation; Muscovite-biotite gneiss (Late Proterozoic) at surface, covers 14 % of this area

Muscovite-biotite gneiss - locally sulfidic; interlayered and gradational with mica schist, minor amphibolite, and hornblende gneiss.

Lithology: gneiss; mica schist; amphibolite

Caesars Head Granite (Ordovician to Silurian) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Caesars Head Granite: well foliated, banded to non-banded biotite granitoid gneiss or gneissic granitoid; cuts Seneca thrust fault

Lithology: granitic gneiss

Henderson Gneiss (Cambrian) at surface, covers 44 % of this area

Henderson Gneiss (524 my) - monzonitic to granodioritic; inequigranular.

Lithology: gneiss

Migmatitic granitoid gneiss (Ordovician) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Migmatitic granitoid gneiss: variably foliated, variably migmatitic, and granitic to quartz dioritic in composition

Lithology: granitic gneiss

Biotite Gneiss and Schist (Cambrian/Late Proterozoic) at surface, covers < 0.1 % of this area

Biotite Gneiss and Schist - inequigranular, locally abundant potassic feldspar and garnet; interlayered and gradational with calc-silicate rock, sillimanite-mica schist, mica schist, and amphibolite. Contains small masses of granitic rock.

Lithology: biotite gneiss; mica schist; amphibolite; calc-silicate rock; granite