Geology of Georgia (U.S. state)

Information about Geology of Georgia (U.S. state)

Enlarge picture
Geologic regions in Georgia


The Geology of Georgia consists of four distinct geologic regions, beginning in the northwest corner of the state and moving through the state to the southeast: the Ridge and Valley, the Blue Ridge, the Piedmont, and the Coastal Plain. [1]

Valley and Ridge

Enlarge picture
White lines outline the Valley and Ridge in the Appalachians.
The Valley and Ridge geologic region only passes through the extreme northwest corner of Georgia. During the middle Ordovician Period (about 440-480 million years ago), the tectonic plate carrying this area collided with another plate, leading to the creation of a new subduction zone and the beginning of the Appalachians[2] As a result of this and later orogenies, alternating beds of hard and soft Paleozoic sedimentary rocks were folded, looking much like the wrinkles one would find in a kicked floor rug.[3] In Georgia, the Valley and Ridge includes limestone, sandstone, shale and other sedimentary rocks, which have yielded construction-grade limestone, barite, ochre and small amounts of coal.[1] The extent of the Valley and Ridge is bound by the Carters Dam Fault in the east and the Emerson Fault in the south.[4]

Blue Ridge

The Blue Ridge geologic region forms the North Georgia mountains. In this region, the highest points in Georgia are found, including Brasstown Bald. The Blue Ridge consists of metamorphic rocks, either metamorphosed equivalents of sedimentary rocks or igneous rocks, and the region includes the metavolcanic rocks of the Georgia Gold Belt.[1] The region also includes igneous intrusions of granite and diabase.[4] From the discovery of gold in the Georgia Gold Belt in 1828, enough gold was mined in the area to cause a branch mint of the United States Mint to be located in Dahlonega, Georgia. Marble and talc are other resources produced in the Blue Ridge in Georgia.[1]

Piedmont

The Piedmont geologic region is composed of igneous and metamorphic rocks resulting from ancient (300 to 600 million year old) sediments that were subjected to high temperatures and pressures and re-exposed about 250 to 300 million years ago.[5] Rocks typical of the region include schist, amphibolite, gneiss, migmatite, and granite.[1] This region is more hilly than mountainous and is marked by lower elevations than the Blue Ridge. Nevertheless, the Piedmont is home to prominent features like Stone Mountain[1] and the Brevard Fault zone, an ancient fault zone that last moved about 185 million years ago.[6]

Coastal Plain

Enlarge picture
The Coastal Plain of the U.S.
The Coastal Plain in Georgia is part of a geologic region that extends from New Jersey to Texas and consists of sedimentary rocks deposited in the Late Cretaceous to Holocene periods.[7] It is divided from the Piedmont by the Fall Line, which passes through Georgia from Augusta, Georgia in the east, then southwestward to Macon, Georgia, then to Columbus, Georgia and finally westward to Montgomery, Alabama. The rocks in this region are from the Late Cretaceous to Holocene periods, with some marine and terrestrial fossils and rare fragments of dinosaurs.[4] The main mineral resource of the Coastal Plain in Georgia is kaolin.[1]

References

Enlarge picture
Geologic Map of Georgia
1. ^ The Geology of Georgia, University of Georgia Department of Geology (accessed October 25, 2006)
2. ^ Geologic Provinces of the United States: Appalachian Highlands Province, a USGS publication (accessed October 25, 2006)
3. ^ A Tapestry of Time and Terrain: Appalachian Valley and Ridge, a USGS mapping project (accessed October 25, 2006)
4. ^ Georgia Geology by Chuck Cochran (accessed October 25, 2006)
5. ^ Georgia Piedmont, a USGS document (accessed October 25, 2006)
6. ^ Brevard Fault Zone by Chuck Cochran (accessed October 25, 2006)
7. ^ A Tapestry of Time and Terrain: The Coastal Plain, a USGS mapping project (accessed October 25, 2006)

See also

 •  • [ e]
State of Georgia
Atlanta (capital)
Geology | History | Governors | People | Music | Politics | Geography | Demographics | Economy | Sports
Regions Atlantic Coastal Plain | Blue Ridge | Colonial Coast | Cumberland Plateau | The Golden Isles | Historic South | Inland Empire | Metro Atlanta | Middle Georgia | North Georgia Mountains | Piedmont | Ridge and Valley | Sea Islands | Southern Rivers | Tennessee Valley | Wiregrass Region
Largest cities Albany | Atlanta | Athens-Clarke County | Augusta | Columbus | Johns Creek | Macon | Marietta | Roswell | Sandy Springs | Savannah | Warner Robins
Counties Appling | Atkinson | Bacon | Baker | Baldwin | Banks | Barrow | Bartow | Ben Hill | Berrien | Bibb | Bleckley | Brantley | Brooks | Bryan | Bulloch | Burke | Butts | Calhoun | Camden | Candler | Carroll | Catoosa | Charlton | Chatham | Chattahoochee | Chattooga | Cherokee | Clarke | Clay | Clayton | Clinch | Cobb | Coffee | Colquitt | Columbia | Cook | Coweta | Crawford | Crisp | Dade | Dawson | Decatur | DeKalb | Dodge | Dooly | Dougherty | Douglas | Early | Echols | Effingham | Elbert | Emanuel | Evans | Fannin | Fayette | Floyd | Forsyth | Franklin | Fulton | Gilmer | Glascock | Glynn | Gordon | Grady | Greene | Gwinnett | Habersham | Hall | Hancock | Haralson | Harris | Hart | Heard | Henry | Houston | Irwin | Jackson | Jasper | Jeff Davis | Jefferson | Jenkins | Johnson | Jones | Lamar | Lanier | Laurens | Lee | Liberty | Lincoln | Long | Lowndes | Lumpkin | Macon | Madison | Marion | McDuffie | McIntosh | Meriwether | Miller | Mitchell | Monroe | Montgomery | Morgan | Murray | Muscogee | Newton | Oconee | Oglethorpe | Paulding | Peach | Pickens | Pierce | Pike | Polk | Pulaski | Putnam | Quitman | Rabun | Randolph | Richmond | Rockdale | Schley | Screven | Seminole | Spalding | Stephens | Stewart | Sumter | Talbot | Taliaferro | Tattnall | Taylor | Telfair | Terrell | Thomas | Tift | Toombs | Towns | Treutlen | Troup | Turner | Twiggs | Union | Upson | Walker | Walton | Ware | Warren | Washington | Wayne | Webster | Wheeler | White | Whitfield | Wilcox | Wilkes | Wilkinson | Worth | Campbell | Milton
State of Georgia

Flag of Georgia Seal of Georgia
Nickname(s): Peach State, Empire State of the South
Motto(s): Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation

Official language(s) English

Capital Atlanta

..... Click the link for more information.
Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a belt within the Appalachian Mountains extending from northern New Jersey westward into Pennsylvania and southward into Maryland, West Virginia,
..... Click the link for more information.
Blue Ridge Mountains



Country | United States
States | Georgia,North Carolina,Tennessee,Virginia,Maryland,Pennsylvania

Part of Appalachian Mountains
..... Click the link for more information.
Piedmont plateau region (shaded)]]

Piedmont is the plateau region of the eastern United States which lies between the Atlantic Coastal Plain, from which it is divided by the fall line, and the eastern mountain ranges, the Appalachian Mountains.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Atlantic Coastal Plain is the flat stretch of land that borders the Atlantic Ocean (including the Gulf of Mexico). It is approximately 2,200 miles long, stretching from Newark, through the southeast United States and through Mexico, ending with the Yucatán Peninsula.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Ordovician period is the second of the six (seven in North America) periods[1] of the Paleozoic era, and covers the time roughly between 490 to 440 million years ago. It follows the Cambrian period and is followed by the Silurian period.
..... Click the link for more information.
Plate tectonics (from Greek τέκτων, tektōn "builder" or "mason") is a theory of geology that has been developed to explain the observed evidence for large scale motions of the Earth's lithosphere.
..... Click the link for more information.
subduction zone is an area on Earth where two tectonic plates meet and move towards one another, with one sliding underneath the other and moving down into the mantle, at rates typically measured in centimeters per year.
..... Click the link for more information.
The Appalachian Mountains

Appalachians in North Carolina


Countries | United States,Canada
Regions |
..... Click the link for more information.
Orogeny (Greek for "mountain generating") is the process of mountain building, and may be studied as a tectonic structural event, as a geographical event and a chronological event, in that orogenic events cause distinctive structural phenomena and related tectonic activity,
..... Click the link for more information.
The Paleozoic Era (from the Greek palaio, "old" and zoion, "animals", meaning "ancient life") is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon.
..... Click the link for more information.
Sedimentary rock is one of the three main rock groups (the others being igneous and metamorphic rock). Rock formed from sediments covers 75-80% of the Earth's land area, and includes common types such as chalk, limestone, dolomite, sandstone, conglomerate and shale.
..... Click the link for more information.
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite (calcium carbonate: CaCO3). Limestone often contains variable amounts of silica in the form of chert or flint, as well as varying amounts of clay, silt and sand as disseminations, nodules, or layers
..... Click the link for more information.
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-size mineral or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust.
..... Click the link for more information.
Shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. It is characterized by thin laminae[1] breaking with an irregular curving fracture, often splintery and usually parallel to the often-indistinguishable bedding plane.
..... Click the link for more information.
Barite (BaSO4) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate. It is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of barium. Baryte is the British spelling, and the mineral is also called heavy spar.
..... Click the link for more information.
Ochre or Ocher (pronounced /'əʊ.kə(r)/, from the Greek ὠχρός, yellow) is a color, usually described as golden-yellow or light yellow brown.
..... Click the link for more information.
Coal (IPA: /ˈkəʊl/) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation.
..... Click the link for more information.
Georgia Mountains Region or North Georgia mountains is an area that starts in the northeast corner of Georgia, United States, and spreads in a westerly direction. The mountains in this region are in the Blue Ridge mountain chain that ends in Georgia.
..... Click the link for more information.
Brasstown Bald is the highest point in the state of Georgia, USA, with a summit elevation of 4,784 feet (1,458 m) above mean sea level. It is known to the native Cherokee people as Enotah.
..... Click the link for more information.
Metamorphic rock is the result of the transformation of a pre-existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat (greater than 150 degrees Celsius) and extreme pressure causing profound
..... Click the link for more information.
Sedimentary rock is one of the three main rock groups (the others being igneous and metamorphic rock). Rock formed from sediments covers 75-80% of the Earth's land area, and includes common types such as chalk, limestone, dolomite, sandstone, conglomerate and shale.
..... Click the link for more information.
Igneous rocks (etymology from latin ignis, fire) are rocks formed by solidification of cooled magma (molten rock), with or without crystallization, either below the surface as intrusive (plutonic) rocks or on the surface as extrusive (volcanic) rocks.
..... Click the link for more information.
In geology, metavolcanic rock is a type of metamorphic rock. Such a rock was first produced by a volcano, either as lava or tephra. Then, the rock was buried underneath subsequent rock and was subjected to high pressures and temperatures, causing the rock to recrystallize.
..... Click the link for more information.
Georgia Gold Belt, which extends from eastern Alabama to Rabun County, Georgia. The biggest concentration of gold was found in White, Lumpkin, and northern Cherokee counties in Georgia. The gold in the Georgia Gold Belt was close to 24 karat (100%) purity.
..... Click the link for more information.
intrusion is a body of igneous rock that has crystallized from a molten magma below the surface of the Earth. Bodies of magma that solidify underground before they reach the surface of the earth are called plutons, named for Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld.
..... Click the link for more information.
Granite (IPA: /ˈɡrænɪt/) is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granites are usually medium to coarsely crystalline, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the
..... Click the link for more information.
Diabase (IPA: /ˈdʌɪəbeɪs/) is a mafic, holocrystalline, igneous rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase is also called dolerite in many older British references.
..... Click the link for more information.
18th century - 19th century - 20th century
1790s  1800s  1810s  - 1820s -  1830s  1840s  1850s
1825 1826 1827 - 1828 - 1829 1830 1831

:
Subjects:     Archaeology - Architecture -
..... Click the link for more information.
A branch mint is a satellite operation of (usually) a national mint.

United States

The original and main Mint of the United States Mint, has been located in Philadelphia (P), since 1793. Its current facility, Philadelphia's fourth, opened in 1969. U.S.
..... Click the link for more information.

This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia.org - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of the wikipedia encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.