Named as a member of Mount Rogers Formation in Mount Rogers volcanic center. Named for Buzzard Rock, a shoulder of Whitetop Mountain, southwest corner of Whitetop Mountain 7.5-min quad, southwestern VA. Previously called unit C by Rankin (1967) and Rankin and others (1974). Consists of low-silica rhyolite with grayish-purple or maroon, aphanitic groundmass and 5 to 20 percent phenocrysts of perthitic alkali feldspar and plagioclase in subequal amounts. Reddish perthite and greenish-white plagioclase give rock a distinctive appearance. Observations of flow layering indicate lava flows; layering is not obvious at Buzzard Rock but may be seen in roadcuts between elevation of 4760 and 4880 ft on Grayson Highlands State Park Rd on west side of Haw Orchard Mountain. On southwest side of Haw Orchard Mountain, Buzzard Rock is about 300 m thick and consists of at least two flows separated by maroon arkose. In thrust slice above Trout Dale fault, Buzzard Rock Member is about 350 m thick on east side of Elk Ridge. Discontinuous beneath Whitetop Rhyolite Member (new); locally in contact with Middle Proterozoic Cranberry Gneiss. Interfingers with both greenstone and tuffaceous rocks along southern slopes of Mount Rogers and Haw Orchard Mountain. Age is Late Proterozoic. Report includes geologic map.

Source: GNU records (USGS DDS-6; Reston GNULEX).