A Resource for Information on the Commonwealth's Geology
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 […]
Finding bedrock outcrop in the Piedmont of Southside Virginia can be challenging. Much of the terrain is covered by soil and saprolite, and geologists interested in this region must search high and low for outcrop. The image above illustrates a ‘good’ natural outcrop in the Piedmont, likely the result of a relatively resistant rock that […]
When large quantities of magma intrude and solidify in the Earth’s crust they form bodies of intrusive igneous rock known as plutons. The featured image nicely illustrates the edge (geologic contact) of a granitic pluton in the Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia. The granite is part of the 706 ± 4 million year old […]
