So, the Champlain Thrust is a low angle fault where older rocks have been pushed up and over younger rocks. In this case, rocks of the Cambrian Period (542 to 500 million years ago) have been pushed up and onto rocks of the later, younger, Ordovician Period (460-440 million years ago). Rocks accumulate on the Earth’s surface in a predictable order, not unlike assembling a layer cake: placing the oldest layer on the plate and subsequent layers on top, and coating it all with frosting. So do rock layers accumulate on the Earth’s surface: younger layers sit on older layers. At Lone Rock Point in Burlington you can see where the Champlain Thrust has pushed older layers up onto the younger layers, reversing the order.
Geologists and University of Vermont Department of Geology faculty and students visit Lone Rock Point in Burlington because of the quality of the exposure of the rock layers and the features in the rocks that were produced from fault movement. No need to worry about this fault moving any time soon! The Champlain Thrust was active at the time the Green Mountains were elevated, nearly 450 million years ago.
Champlain Thrust was once the name of the, now retired, University of Vermont, Department of Geology newsletter.
See images and explanations of Lone Rock Point Champlain Thrust at Governor's Institutes of Vermont (GIV), and GIV Lake Champlain Thrust Fault: Geologic History, plus the Earth Science Picture of the Day. You can also always "Explore Vermont Geology"!