Coarse-grained K-feldspar granite of Mesoproterozoic age (~1.05 Ga) exposed in the Blue Ridge province Nelson County, Virginia. photo by C. M. Bailey
K-feldspar Granite, Blue Ridge
August 5, 2016 by ·
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The Cumberland Gap
Cumberland Gap, elevation 506 m (1,660′), in the far southwestern corner of Virginia is a wind gap near the geographic triple point* between Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The gap has long been an important crossing point through the Appalachian Mountains, and lies at the western edge of the Valley & Ridge province with the Appalachian Plateau province […]
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Virginia is for Lavas- The Catoctin Formation
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 […]