ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF COMPRESSIONAL (P-WAVE) AND SHEAR (SH-WAVE) REFLECTION SEISMIC AND GEOLOGIC DATA OVER THE BANE DOME, GILES COUNTY, VIRGINIA (EARTHQUAKES)

Approximately 37 km of predominantly 24-fold P-wave Vibroseis data and 16 km of 24-fold SH-wave Vibroseis data were acquired in the southern portion of the folded Appalachians near the Bane Dome in Giles County, Virginia. Data processing techniques included the application of newly developed methods for crossdip removal as well as the determination of statics solutions in the case of time variant shifts within the data traces. Minimum-phase filter deconvolution was also applied for the removal of reverberating energy and multiples recorded on the SH-wave lines. V(,p)/V(,s) ratios were used to aid in the determination of lithologies in the absence of bore-hole data.; Interpreted thickening of the Lower Cambrian to Upper Precambrian sequence beneath the Bane Dome appears to represent Eocambrian rifting. Faults generated at that time may now be reactivated by the present stress regime, causing earthquake activity in this area. Interpretation of the seismic data supports a duplex structure proposed for the Paleozoic rocks of the Bane Dome Complex within the Narrows thrust sheet of southwestern Virginia.