A Resource for Information on the Commonwealth's Geology
Aerial view (to the southeast) towards the mouth of the Rappahannock River. Photo by C. M. Bailey
The Rappahannock River forms a broad estuary as it flows to towards the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia’s Coastal Plain province. To the south the Piankatank River is also visible. The Rappahannock and Piankatank rivers are tidal estuaries.
Yorktown became a famous locale in 1781 after the surrender of the British troops which effectively ended the Revolutionary War. British forces in and around Yorktown dug a number of defensive earthworks that were sieged by American and French troops over a three-week period prior to the surrender on October 19th, 1781. In the early 21st […]
Many of the highest peaks in Shenandoah National Park (including Hawksbill, Stony Man, and Hightop Mountain, just to name a few) are underlain by distinctive bluish-green rocks that were once ancient lava flows (Virginia is for Lavas!), and are part of a geologic unit known as the Catoctin Formation. From the presidential retreat at Camp David to Jefferson’s […]