9418203 Wintsch Terrane assembly and metamorphism are common events in most orogenic belts, and the well studied New England orogen is no exception. However, there is a fundamental difference in the tectono-metamorphic histories of western and eastern New England. In the west, terranes were assembled prior to, or during loading and metamorphism as metamorphic isograds are not displaced by terrane boundaries. In southeastern New England, on the other hand, the terranes were metamorphosed prior to assembly and evidence is mounting that find assembly occurred in the Alleghanian. The broarder significance of the difference is not clear, partly because of a large data gap in eastern New England. This project involves thermochronlogic study of eastern lithotectonic terranes in this data gap to determine if significant post-Metamorphic faulting occurred during the assembly of terranes in all of eastern New England, and what factors are responsible for the resulting pattern. Results will help unravel the timing of metamorphism and terrane juxtaposition for New England, which should be of interest in other, less well known, orogens.
