Valley Region of the Appalachian Mountains Essay -- Karst Region Virgi

Valley Region of the Appalachian Mountains and Subsequent Karst Regions in the State of VirginiaThis map which appears on page 402 of Process Geomorphology (1995), indite by DaleF. Ritter, Craig R. Kochel, and Jerry R. Miller, serves as the basis of my report on theformation of the Appalachian Mountains and its subsequent karst regions in along theAtlantic side of the United States particularly in the state of Virginia. The shaded areasrepresent generalized karst regions throughout the United States.The state of Virginia is divided into five major physiological regions based onsimilar landscapes and relatively nonmoving climates, each region being as diverse as the next.From the east to west they are respectively named, the Tidewater which stretches fromthe Atlantic Ocean to the fall line, the Piedmont which lies east of the lively RidgeMountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains which exclusively extends to the easternAppalachian Mountains, and finally the Ridge and Valley region of the AppalachianMountain chain. In this paper I will pay particular attention to the formation of theAppalachian Mountains and the subsequent karst regions in the western part of the state.Ordovician mountainbuilding events in eastern northeasterlyAmerica are collectively termedTactonic Orogeny (Stanley,318). In short, there were threesuch orogenic events that helpedform the current-dayAppalachian Mountains. This was the first of three orogenic episodes occurred whenLaurentia, the North American craton, part of the Continental crust, collided with theIapetus which is composed of oceanic crust. The resulting impact caused mountains torise up in the east. Over thousands of years, through the process of physical and chemi... ...Ridgeand Valley Province of the Virginian landscape.Hartley, 2003Works CitedHartley, Ralph. Memorial sidereal day Cave. 2003. Montgomery, Carla W. Environmental Geology 6th Edition. Northern Illinois University.McGraw Hill. New York. 2003.Patterson, J.H. North Ame rica 9th Edition. Oxford University Press. .New York, 1994Skyline Caverns. Virginia, USA.Regions of Virginia. 2005.Ritter, F. Dale, Kochel, R. Craig, Miller R. Jerry. Process Geomorphology 3rd Edition.Wm. C. Brown Publishers. Boston. 1995.Stanley, Steven M. Earth System muniment 2nd Edition. John Hopkins University. W.H.Freeman & Co. New York, 2005Topographic Map of Virginia. National Geographic Data Center.