Sequential Development of the Gassaway Structure in Braxton County, West Virginia Seismic analysis and subsurface well data reveal the presence of a dome shaped structure in the Appalachian Plateau Province of West Virginia. This structure is referred to as the Gassaway dome and is underlain by a basement fault zone. The dome experienced an initial period of rapid growth during the Middle and Upper Devonian time. Structural relief across the dome is greatest at the Devonian Oriskany sandstone level and is absent below Upper Silurian rocks. Mechanical thickening of Upper Silurian and Lower Devonian strata forms the core of the dome.
Seismic data reveal thinning of Middle Devonian and younger strata across the dome.
This thinning is believed to be associated with syndepositional growth of the structure rather than to mechanical thinning during emplacement of the dome. Structure maps suggest that the Gassaway dome may be part of a WNW trending cross-strike structural discontinuity. The dome is interpreted to have formed in response to transpressional strike-slip motion along a northwest trending basement fault system. The complex reactivation history associated with the structures in this region provides new perspectives on frontier exploration within the basin. Fractal Analysis of Topography and Subsurface Structure in the Appalachian Plateau of West Virginia Ashley has extracted profiles from Digital Elevation Model data covering much of the West Virginia.