The Carolina Terrane, also called the Carolina Superterrane or Carolinia, is an exotic terrane running ~370 mi approximately North-South from central Georgia to central Virginia in the United States. It constitutes a major part of the eastern Piedmont Province. The terrane likely formed as a subduction-related volcanic island arc off the coast of South America (then Gondwana) during the Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian (625–550 MYA). Plate tectonics moved it across the Iapetus Ocean until it docked with Laurentia (now the east coast of North America). The date of the docking is unknown, but could have occurred during the Taconic, Acadian, or Alleghanian Orogenies. The terrane comprises Neoproterozoic to Early Cambrian meta-sedimentary and meta-igneous rocks, intruded by later Paleozoic plutons. The protoliths of the meta-igneous rocks include mafic, intermediate, and felsic volcanics and plutons. These rocks underwent at least four metamorphic/deformation events, and so their original textures and mineralogies have been significantly altered. As with related peri-Gondwanan terranes (e.g., Avalonia and Gander), the Carolina Terrane played a major role in the tectonic evolution of the east coast of North America during the Paleozoic. It represents the largest exotic terrane in the Appalachians, and underlies an enormous area of the southeastern United States.

Origin and Evolution

The Carolina Terrane's history begins in the Neoproterozoic, as the Rodinia supercontinent was breaking apart:

Relationships to Nearby Terranes

The Carolina Terrane is part of the larger Carolina Zone, which includes several related terranes: the Charlotte Terrane, Falls Lake Terrane, Crabtree Terrane, Raleigh Terrane, Spring Hope Terrane, Roanoke Rapids Terrane, Uchee Terrane, Savannah River Terrane, Augusta Terrane, Milledgeville Terrane, Triplet Terrane, and Dreher Shoals Terrane. In addition to the related terranes of the Carolina Zone, the Carolina Terrane is adjacent to several possibly-unrelated terranes, including: