Vagabonds & Sojourners Tramping Geology The Appalachian Mountains Session 3

The Southern Appalachian Mountains: North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama

Remember from previous sessions:

But first, Geology in the News

Extraction begun of lithium, magnesium, & copper from very hot brines used to generate electricity in the Salton Sea of southern California

Lithium and magnesium are important industrial raw materials in short

supply in the USA

The Canadian-USA oil pipeline

Bringing oil from the Canadian tar sands to mid-America

Unhappy “campers” in the exploration for Marcellus shale gas in Pennsylvania

Unhappy “campers” in the exploration for Marcellus shale gas in Pennsylvania

A new book you may or may not want to read

The Quest: what’s in the future and our options

Let’s try serious conservation of our energy resources

From Patricia Windsor

From Patricia Windsor

Government bureaucracy is delaying the creation of a large number of new, high pay jobs by delaying permits to drill in the USA offshore,

New York state, etc.What’s not mentioned is the need now to begin the recruiting and training of 1,000’s of new geologists and engineers to handle the phenomenal growth of the oil and gas industry in the next 40 years

Remember from previous sessions:

Appalachian Mountains

Pre-Clovis artifact sites15,000 years ago

Possible Area of Human Habitation 15,000 Years Ago

Also from previous sessions:

1. mountains are created when rocky crustal plates collide and when they shear past one another

2. mountain building creates a variety of newmetamorphic and igneous rocks

3. the Appalachian Mountains were modified by a continental glacier about 12,000 years ago

4. the Appalachian Mountains have exposed rocks at the surface that have shaped the history of eastern North America

Rocks of the Appalachian Provinces

Blu

e R

idge

Mou

ntai

ns

Gre

at V

alle

y

Valley & Ridge Piedm

ont

Coa

stal

Pla

in

Con

tinen

tal S

helf

Rocks in the Geologic Provinces of the Appalachians

Let’s find these provinces in North Carolina

A. J. Eardley, 1962,Structure Geology of North America

Allegheny Plateau

SandstonesShalesLimestones

ShalesSlateLimestonesMarble

SchistGneiss Granite

Gneiss

Blue Ridge mountains

300 milli

on year old m

etamorphic rocks

Geologic Provinces of North Carolina

Coastal P

lain

1 to 65 m

illion year o

ld sand & clay

Offshore

Contin

ental Shelf

Recent sand &

clay

Piedmont hills

300 m

illion year o

ld

metamorphic & ig

neous rocks

The Piedmont geologic province Igneous & metamorphic rocks

Where do we find igneous basalt rocks?

Triassic age red sandstones & shales and black lava basalt

Great Smoky Mountains 600 million year old sandstones & shales

Low lands: Valleys of red sandstones & shales Ridges & domes of black lava rock (basalt)

North Carolina

“Red sandstones & Black lava basalt rocks” Triassic Age

How old is Triassic?

Geologic Time: Last 570 Million Years

TriassicPeriod

570

,000

,000

yea

rs

Back to the red and black rocks of eastern North America

Appalachians formed

Geologic Map of the USA

Rocks at the surface below soil and vegetation

Can you find North Carolina?

North Carolina

“Red & Black Rocks” Triassic Age

Geological Map: Northeast USA

Triassic best seen in New Jersey, so let’s look there

Geologic Map of New Jersey

Triassic age rocks

Ridges of black basalt rocks

Let’s look at the basalt ridges

Hudson River

NY

NJ

Cliff face of Triassic age

black igneous Basalt rock

The Triassic Palisades in NJ Opposite New York City

Very old metamorphic rocks

Triassic age red shale

Triassic age basalt

Triassic age red shale& sandstone

Hudson River

NY NJ

View seen on Google Earth

Now that we know all about rocks, let’s begin our traverse of the Appalachians in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina

Geologic Cross Section: Hudson River Valley at NYC

New York City

Fold

ed V

alle

y & R

idge

Offshore

Contin

ental S

helf

Great Valley

Blue Ridge Mountains

Great Smoky Mountains

Piedmont “hills”

Coastal Plain

Geological Provinces of the Appalachians

Focus on western North Carolina

Blue Ridge mountains 300 million year old metamorphic rocks

Geologic Provinces of North Carolina

Coastal P

lain

1 to 65 m

illion year o

ld sand & clay

Offshore

Contin

ental Shelf

Recent sand &

clay

The Piedmont geologic province Igneous & metamorphic rocks

Focus on the Great Smoky & Blue Ridge mountains

Triassic age red sandstones & shales and black lava Basalt

Great Smoky Mountains 600 million year old sandstones & shales

West-East Geologic Cross Section North Carolina

From P. B. King, 1959, The Evolution of North America

Tenn NC

Let’s see how the Great Smoky Mountains fit into the regional topography

Tennessee River

Hammond Citation World Atlas, 1962

Great Smoky Mountains

Rivers & the Great Smoky Mountains

How might rivers have affected the arrival of First Nation Peoples?

Tennessee River

Hammond Citation World Atlas, 1962

Great Smoky Mountains

How might rivers channeled the arrival of First Nation Peoples?

Remember the glacier 15,000 years ago

Possible track of early human migration during glacial time

Mountains might have provided a refuge away from glacial melt water

Let’s see what’s interesting in theGreat Smoky Mountain province

Visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park wait for darkness, when fireflies emerge. For two weeks each June, thousands of them blink in synchrony

Let’s see what else is interesting in the Great Smoky Mountain province

Great S

moky Mountains-600 m

illion year o

ld\

meta-sandsto

nes & shales

Blue Ridge Mountains- m

etamorphic & igneous ro

cks

Valley & Ridge-Sandstones, li

mestones, & shales

What’s special in the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina?

Road Map: Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee

Great Smoky Mts.National Park

North Carolina

Gatlinburg, Tenn.

Ancestral home of the Eastern Cherokee Indians

The Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina

Up close

Great Smoky Mts. National Park

Cherokee

Gatlinburg

600 millio

n year old ro

cks of the Great S

moky Mountains

270

mill

ion y

ear o

ld

Met

amorp

hic &

igneo

us ro

cks

of the

Blue

ridge

Mounta

ins

North Carolina

Rock ages on the geologic time chart

Age of rocksGreat Smoky Mts

Age of Blue Ridge Mts

Appalachian geosynclinal sedimentary rocks convertedinto metamorphic & igneous rocks of the Blue Ridge Mountains

What natural resources** are found in the Great Smoky & Blue Ridge mountains?

**Resource that Native Americans &

Colonial Americans might need.

Natural Resources of North Carolina

Focus on western North Carolina: Natural resources and rock types

Ashville

Geologic Map: Western North Carolina

Natural Resources of North CarolinaFocus on western North Carolina

Metamorphic industrial materials of no value until late in the industrial age

Copper could have been used by early humans

Widely scattered re

sources in th

e metamorp

hic

& ig

neous rocks of th

e Piedmont Pro

vince

Great S

moky M

ountain

s rocks

Blue Ridge Mountains ro

cks

What counties have these resources?

Note the concentration of mineralization near the Smoky-Blue Ridge contact

Counties in western North Carolina with commercial resources

What are some of the well known places in western North Carolina?

Ashville

Spruce PineMineral District

Focus on the Blue Ridge Mountains

The Blue Ridge Mountain boundary with the Piedmont Province

Blue

Ridge M

ounta

ins

Piedmont province

Ashville, the big city of the Blue Ridge Mountains

Ashville

Ashville and the Blue Ridge Parkway

Blue Ridge P

arkway

North Carolina

Ashville, North Carolina

Blue Ridge Mountains

Ashville to Black Rock to Spruce Pine

Black Mountain & Montreat

Black Mountain

Spruce Pine

Montreat

Black Mountain & Montreat, NC

Blue Ridge Mountains

Blue Ridge Parkway to Spruce Pine, Mitchell Co, NC: center of the Spruce Pine Mineral District

Spruce Pine

Up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Spruce Pine

Up the Blue Ridge Parkway to Little Switzerland

Blue Ridge Parkway

Little Switzerland to Spruce Pine, NC

Spruce Pine

Blue Ridge Parkway

Quarry

Spruce Pine & Pegmatites quarries

What is a pegmatite?

Spruce Pine & nearby quarries

Pegmatites are important because they often contain rare earth minerals and gemstones, such as aquamarine, tourmaline, topaz, fluorite, and apatite. They are also mined for feldspar and mica used in industrial products.

A pegmatite is a very coarse-grained granite usually in veins or irregular rock masses in schists and gneisses

Sandi in Spruce Pine, age 2

Feldspar - Feldspar was first mined in North Carolina in 1911 in the Spruce Pine district, the main feldspar-producing district in North America. Original mining was from pegmatite bodies but current mining is from alaskite,a very coarse-grained, light-colored, feldspar-quartz-muscovite rock. By-product mica and silica are also recovered. Most of the production is from mines in Mitchell County, The main uses of feldspar are in whiteware, tile, and glass fiber insulation. Feldspar is used both in the body of the ware and the glaze of ceramics

Mica - Mica mining began on a large scale in western North Carolina about 1868. The area has become the most important producer of mica in the U.S. Sheet mica was the principal product for many years, but other materials have eliminated many of the uses for sheet mica. Consequently, North Carolina has not produced significant amounts of sheet mica since about 1962. Scrap mica is still produced in large quantities. Primary sources are the alaskite and pegmatites rocks that produce feldspar.North Carolina annually leads the nation in the production of scrap mica, producing about 60 percent of the total. Primary production is from Mitchell County in the Spruce Pine district,

http://www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/Mineral%20resources/mineralresources.html

Some old, abandoned pegmatite mines

Today, Panning for gem stones: Little Switzerland, North Carolina

Piedmont geologic pro

vince:

metamorp

hic & ig

neous rocksAshville

Black Mountain

Montreat

Spruce Pine

Blue Ridge M

ountains Province

metamorp

hic & ig

neous rocks

Why are so many pegmatites found here?

Pegmatites

Valley & Ridge Province

GreatSmokyMtsProvince

Blur RidgeMountainsProvince

Piedmont Province

Granites

Cross Section: Tenn-North Carolina

But why concentrated in and around Mitchell Co?

Natural Resources of North Carolina

Widely scattered re

sources in th

e metamorp

hic

& ig

neous rocks of th

e Piedmont Pro

vince

Great S

moky M

ountain

s rocks

Blue Ridge Mountains ro

cks

Note the concentration of mineralization near the Smoky-Blue Ridge contactWhy here?

Sierra Nevada Mountains: Melted Paleozoic Sediments

Sierra Nevada ProvinceBasin & RangeProvince

Great BasinProvince

Apply the Sierra Nevada model to the Blue Ridge Mountains

Granite

Sierra Nevada Mountains Analog Analog Applied to Appalachia

Piedmont Province

Valley & Ridge Province

Atlantic OceanBlue Ridge Province

Great SmokyGreat Valley provinces

Spruce PinePegmatites

But why only here near Spruce Pine?

Today’s surface of theBlue Ridge Mountains

Metamorphic Rocks Metamorphic Rocks

Granite furnace

Spruce PinePegmatites

What natural resources are west of North Carolina in Tennessee?

Spruce Pine Mineral District; top of a granite column?

Valley &

Ridge P

rovince

Great Smoky Mountains Province

Knoxville Area: Favorable naturalresources for early civilizations: major river, iron, & coal

Great S

moky Pro

vince

Blue Ridge P

rovince

Appalachians in Georgia

Is there farming in the Tennessee River flood plain east of Knoxville?

Tennessee River East of Knoxville

Tennessee River

Tennessee River Flood Plain

possible area of early

Native Americ

an farm

ing

What Native Americans lived here in the area of Knoxville?

Native American Tribal Areas

http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&rlz=1R2GPEA_en&source=hp&q=native+american+tribes&rlz=1R2GPEA_en&aq=3&aqi=g5&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=c924775ad1dac27b&biw=1242&bih=638

Up close here

Knoxville Spruce Pine

Georgia

Back to the regional geologic map and then to Georgia

Native American Tribal Lands: SE USA

Valley &

Ridge P

rovince

Great Smoky Mountains Province

Knoxville Area: Favorable naturalresources for early civilizations: major river, iron, & coal

Great S

moky Pro

vince

Blue Ridge P

rovince

Piedmont Pro

vince

Appalachians in Georgia

GeorgiaNote: Iron but no nearby coal

What’s going on here in Alabama?

GeorgiaAlabama

Piedmont metamorphic & igneous ro

cksBlue Ridge

Valley & RidgeMajor iron & coal at Birmingham

Birmingham is on a river. Does it have a flood plain?

Birmingham

No river flood plains

Conclusion: Native Americans living in the Birmingham area had access to iron & coal but no extensive flood plain farm land.

What Native American tribal nation lived in the Birmingham area?.

Knoxville Spruce Pine

Georgia

Native American Tribal Lands: SE USA

Birmingham

Alabama

Back to the regional geologic map

North Carolina

Georgia

Coastal Plain: “young” sandstones & shales

Piedmont: old metamorphic & igneous rocks

Alabama

Valley & Ridge: sandstones & shales

Great Smoky M

ountains

old meta- s

andstones & shales

Blue Ridge M

ountains:

old metamorp

hic & ig

neous rocks

Cumbe

rland

Pla

teau

: san

dsto

nes

& sha

les

Review: Southern Appalachia Mountains

And next week: Virginia to New England

North Carolina

Georgia

Coastal Plain: “young” sandstones & shales

Piedmont: old metamorphic & igneous rocks

Alabama

Valley & Ridge: sandstones & shales

Great Smoky M

ountains

old meta- s

andstones & shales

Blue Ridge M

ountains:

old metamorp

hic & ig

neous rocks

Cum

berla

nd P

late

au: s

ands

tone

s &

sha

les

What natural resources will we find up here in Virginia?

Virginia

Great Valley

First, what natural resources are found in theValley & Ridge and Cumberland Plateau provinces?

Virginia to New England

First, what natural resources are found in theValley & Ridge and Cumberland Plateau provinces?

North Carolina

Southern Appalachians

Cumberland Plateau &Valley & Ridge provinces

Coal Deposits: Eastern USA

Cumberland Plateau &Valley & Ridge provinces

Coal Deposits: USA

Yellow=ligniteGrays=bituminousRed=anthasite

http://www.eia.gov/oil_gas/rpd/shale_gas.pdf

Why are there some of the world’s largest coal, oil and gas deposits in the western margin of the Appalachian Mountains?

Cumberland Plateau &Valley & Ridge provinces

After Eardley, 1962

App

alac

hian

Geo

sync

line

20,

000

plus

feet

thic

k be

fore

mou

ntai

n bu

ildin

g

Origin of Coal, Oil, & Gas Deposits in Appalachia

Paleo-geologic map by Eardley shows thickness of rocks 310 million years old

LandCoastal tropical swamps & marshes rich in plant debris = coal sources

Ocean

Mou

ntai

ns

Deep water, organic plankton rich shales = oil & gas sources

A modern example of future sources of coal, oil, and gas

Modern Example of Future Coal, Oil, & Coal Deposits**

Marsh & swamp tropical muds = future coal

Deep water organic rich muds = future oil & gas source rocks

These areas must be located in the Tropics in order to be good source rocks

New subject: Stream Capture Do you remember this slide?

GeorgiaAlabama

New subject: Stream Capture Notice the two rivers

Whenever you find a right angle in the main course of a river; suspect a Stream Capture

Appalachia is “full” of right angle rivers!

Let’s see what’s going on

Hammond Citation World Atlas, 1962

Rivers of Eastern & Central USA

Notice the Tennessee-Mississippi rivers

Tennessee River today

Hammond Citation World Atlas, 1962

Rivers of the Southern Appalachians

Mobile River today

Headwaters of theMobile River before capture by the Tennessee River

Main channel of theMobile River before it was “beheaded” by the Tennessee River

Austin to Alamogordo, NM

PecosRiver

Rio GrandeRiver

Note the “dog leg” in the Rio Grande at Big Bend Nat. Pk.Upper Rio Grande captured by the Pecos River River Capture

Rivers

River Capture

Head-ward erosion

What natural resources are essential forthe development of early civilizations?

Let’s look at the world’s early civilizations?

Natural Resources & Early Civilizations Historically what was required?

1. Northern Temperate Zone 2. Shielded from melting continental glacier

by mountain range(s)3. Major river flood plain suitable for farming4. Access to ores of copper, tin, &/or arsenic

Bronze AgeLarge scale farming & metal tools and weapons

5. Iron and coal6. Iron, coal, and oil7. Iron, coal, oil, and uranium

Iron Ages

A quick review

Eastern Hemisphere:Eurasia-

1. elongated west-east 2. located in Northern Temperate Zone

Northern Temperate Zone

A quick review

Eastern Hemisphere: Eurasia: 1. elongated west-east 2. located in Northern Temperate Zone Africa: 1. elongated north-south 2. located in the tropical climate zone

A quick reviewIndia and Africa collide with Eurasia forming west-east mountains

extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific oceans

A quick review

African rift valleys formHuman species appears

Humans migrate into Eurasia “channeled” by the collision mountains

A quick review

African rift valleys formHuman species appears

Humans migrate into Eurasia “channeled” by the collision mountains

Most recent continental glacier creates hostile climate for humans living north of collision mountains

A quick review

African rift valleys formHuman species appears

Most recent continental glacier creates hostile climate for humans living north of collision mountains

Humans migrate into Eurasia “channeled” by the collision mountains

Most favorable latitude for early human civilizations

A quick review

African rift valleys formHuman species appears

Most recent continental glacier creates hostile climate for humans living north of collision mountains

Most favorable latitude for early human civilizations

China: most favored geological province for early civilizations

Humans migrate into Eurasia “channeled” by the collision mountains

African rift valleys formHuman species appears

Mountain Trend, aka remnant of Tethys Seaway: 1. erosion exposes natural resource ores; Cu, Sn, & Fe and Coal 2. provides 10,000 mile long west-east avenues of commerce3. greatest concentration of iron and coal at each end of trend

Most favorable latitude for early human civilizations

4. intermediate concentrations of Iron and Coal

Most favorable latitude for early human civilizations

Erosion & deposition create six major river flood plains in the most favorable latitude for early human civilizations

YellowYangtze

GangesIndus

TigrisEuphrates

Nile

The geological province of China has most favorable natural resources for developing and maintaining major early civilizations.

YellowYangtze

GangesIndus

TigrisEuphrates

Nile

Natural Resources;1. Metallic ores2. Major river flood plains3. Mountain shield

So let’s look in North America for a major river, ores of copper and tin as well as iron, coal, & oil