Appalachian Mountains on EARTH Magazine

Travels in Geology: The geological riches of Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula

Thu, 16 Nov 2017 14:13:35 -0500

A quintessential view of the Gaspé Peninsula in eastern Quebec. Credit: ©iStockphoto.com/krblokhin.

The geological and paleontological riches of Quebec’s Gaspé Peninsula have been known since 1844, when it was first explored by Sir William Edmond Logan, who is often called the father of Canadian geology. Since then, it has become a location of interest for both amateur and professional geologists looking to explore pristine rock formations and an abundance of fossils.

Tectonic rejuvenation in North America's ancient mountains

Tue, 13 Sep 2016 14:21:44 -0400

New Hampshire's Mount Washington, snowcapped in winter, is a part of the White Mountains in the northeastern United States. Credit: Library of Congress.

The mountains of eastern North America, like the Appalachians, Adirondacks and White Mountains, are old: They grew as the pieces of the supercontinent Pangea collided and assembled more than 300 million years ago. It’s been long thought that, after forming — and subsequently undergoing additional uplift and deformation due to rifting during the opening of the Atlantic Ocean — the mountains fell dormant between about 160 million and 200 million years ago. But new work is adding to a growing body of evidence suggesting the ranges were tectonically active well after that.

A real rift in the midcontinent

Mon, 28 Jul 2014 18:44:06 -0400

Analogs for the various life stages of the Midcontinent Rift can be seen today. The early rift looked like today's East African Rift, with major plates pulling apart, separated by microplates. At middle age, it was similar to the West Central African Rift, where faulting during the opening of the South Atlantic during the Mesozoic created four microplates. Looking at the progression could help geologists understand how the Midcontinent Rift evolved, says co-author Seth Stein, a geophysicist at Northwestern University. Credit: Kathleen Cantner, AGI.

But now, Carol Stein of the University of Illinois at Chicago and her colleagues have offered a new possibility. Stein and colleagues suggest the Midcontinent Rift was related to the breakup of a supercontinent and to the early stages of a young ocean basin opening — similar to what is happening today in East Africa’s Great Rift Valley — that preceded the Atlantic. The findings could have implications for how geologists view early plate tectonics, and cast new light on the New Madrid Fault Zone, formed 500 million years later and home to earthquake-producing faults in Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee that seriously rocked the region in 1811 and 1812.

Travels in Geology: Thrills and spills at West Virginia's New River Gorge

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

West Virginia's New River Gorge. The New River Gorge Bridge attracts daredevil jumpers who dive off the span with parachutes, splashing down in the river below. Mary Caperton Morton

The New River Gorge. The New River is one of the oldest rivers in the world, perhaps second only to the Nile. The two rivers have something else in common - they are two of the only rivers in the world to flow north. Mary Caperton Morton

Welcome to Fayetteville. Mary Caperton Morton

A coal seam in the New River Gorge. Mary Caperton Morton

Rafters on the whitewater rapids of the New River. Mary Caperton Morton

Climbing the New River Gorge Mary Caperton Morton

The ruins of Kaymoor, a mining town built in 1899 and once home to 1,500 workers and their families. Mary Caperton Morton

When Budget Traveler magazine named Fayetteville, W.Va., one of the “Coolest Small Towns in the USA”, it credited not just the town’s young atmosphere and unique shops, but also the local geology, which is nothing short of spectacular.