Structure and Stratigraphy of the Wills Valley Anticline and Chandler Mountain Syncline, Appalachian Thrust Belt of Alabama, USA

The focus of this study is the southern Appalachian thrust belt in Alabama located between the Black Warrior Basin and the Appalachian Piedmont. The general stratigraphy of the area is located in the Appalachian Plateau and the Valley and Ridge province. The present study area, the Hyatt Gap and the Steele, AL 7.5" quadrangles, includes the plunge-out parts of the Blount Mountain syncline and the Big Wills Valley anticline, and other anticlines and synclines. During the field studies, twelve different formations have been identified and bedding strike and dip, as well as fracture readings have been taken from the overall field area; detailed geologic mapping has been conducted on a 1:24,000 scale in these quadrangles. The structural evolution of the Paleozoic strata in the area is described using the field observations, the construction of five cross-section profiles, and stereographic analyses of fold orientations. These studies reveal that there are three different regional fracture orientations. These are mostly a dominant northwest fracture set, perpendicular to the regional folds' axial planes; a northeast fracture set, parallel to the axial planes, and a third set consisting of bedding-parallel fractures.