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Blue Ridge Mountains
Range
none Blue Ridge Mountains, Shining Rock Wilderness Area
Blue Ridge Mountains, Shining Rock Wilderness Area
Country United States
States Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, South Carolina
Part of Appalachian Mountains
Highest point Mount Mitchell
 - elevation 6,684 ft (2,037 m)
 - coordinates 35°45′53″N 82°15′55″W / 35.76472, -82.26528
Geology granite, gneiss, limestone
Orogeny Grenville orogeny
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains

The Blue Ridge, or Blue Ridge Mountains, is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern South Carolina ( is a state in the southern region ( Deep South) of the United States of America. The Appalachian Mountains ( often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. A foot (plural feet or foot; symbol or abbreviation ft or sometimes &prime – the prime symbol) is a non-SI unit The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International Granite (ˈɡrænɪt is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, Felsic, igneous rock. Gneiss (ˈnaɪs is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from preexisting formations that were originally Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 The Grenville orogeny was an episode of mountain-building ( Orogeny) associated with the assembly of the ancient Supercontinent Rodinia. The physiographic regions of the world are a means of defining the Earth's landforms into distinct regions based upon Nevin Fenneman 's classic three-tiered approach of divisions The Appalachian Mountains ( often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. The province consists of the Northern and Southern physiographic sections, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. [1] They are a mountain chain in the eastern United States, part of the Appalachian Mountains, forming their eastern front from Georgia to Pennsylvania. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Appalachian Mountains ( often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. The State of Georgia ( is a state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Valley, bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province. The Great Valley, also called the Great Appalachian Valley or Great Valley Region, is one of the major landform features of eastern North America. The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of The mountains are well known for their bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the hydrocarbons released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color. [2]

Within the Blue Ridge province, there are two National Parks: the Shenandoah in the northern section and the Great Smoky Mountains in the southern section. Shenandoah National Park encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge also contains the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile long scenic highway that connects the two parks and is located along the ridge crestlines along the Appalachian Trail. [3]

Contents

Geography

The Blue Ridge Mountains as seen from Blowing Rock, North Carolina.
The Blue Ridge Mountains as seen from Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Blowing Rock is a town in North Carolina, situated in both Caldwell and Watauga counties
See also: List of mountains of the Blue Ridge

Although the term "Blue Ridge" is sometimes applied exclusively to the eastern edge or front range of the Appalachian Mountains, the geological definition of the Blue Ridge province extends westward to the Ridge and Valley area, encompassing the Great Smoky Mountains, the Great Balsams, the Roans, the Brushy Mountains (a "spur" of the Blue Ridge) and other mountain ranges. The following is a List of mountains constituting the Blue Ridge, a mountain range stretching from Pennsylvania to Georgia in the USA The Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians, also called the Ridge and Valley Province or the Valley and Ridge Appalachians, are a physiographic province of The Great Smoky Mountains are a major Mountain range in the southern part of the Appalachian Mountains, the second ridge line forming a north-south running mountain Roan Mountain is the highpoint of the Roan-Unaka Range of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, located in the Southeastern United States The Brushy Mountains are a mountain range located in northwestern North Carolina. A mountain range is a chain of Mountains bordered by highlands or separated from other mountains by passes or valleys

The Blue Ridge extends as far north into Pennsylvania as South Mountain. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern South Mountain is a long Mountain Ridge in Maryland and Pennsylvania which comprises a northern extension of the Blue Ridge Mountains While South Mountain dwindles to mere hills between Gettysburg and Harrisburg, the band of ancient rocks that forms the core of the Blue Ridge continues northeast through the New Jersey and Hudson River highlands, eventually reaching The Berkshires of Massachusetts and the Green Mountains of Vermont. Gettysburg is a borough 38 miles (68 km south by southwest of Harrisburg in Adams County, Pennsylvania, USA, of which it is the Harrisburg is the Capital of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk, the Great Mohegan by the Iroquois, or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami Please note that this article on the Berkshires is about a geologic and cultural region in the United States for other uses see Berkshire (disambiguation The Commonwealth of Massachusetts ( is a state located in the New England region of the northeastern United States. The Green Mountains are a Mountain range in the US state of Vermont. Vermont ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America.

The Blue Ridge contains the highest mountains in eastern North America. About 125 peaks exceed 5,000 feet in elevation. [4] The highest peak in the Blue Ridge (and in the entire Appalachian chain) is Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet (2,037 m). North Carolina ( is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States There are 39 peaks in North Carolina and Tennessee higher than 6,000 feet (1,830 m); by comparison, only New Hampshire's Mt. Washington rises above 6,000 feet in the northern portion of the Appalachian chain. New Hampshire ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at.

The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 miles (750 km) along crests of the Southern Appalachians and links two national parks: Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty Shenandoah National Park encompasses part of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the U Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains In many places along the parkway, there are metamorphic rocks (gneiss) with folded bands of light-and dark-colored minerals, which sometimes look like the folds and swirls in a marble cake. Metamorphic rock is the result of the transformation of an existing rock type the protolith, in a process called Metamorphism, which means "change Gneiss (ˈnaɪs is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from preexisting formations that were originally

Geology

Most of the rocks that form the Blue Ridge Mountains are ancient granitic charnockites, metamorphosed volcanic formations, and sedimentary limestones. Granite (ˈɡrænɪt is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, Felsic, igneous rock. (1 Charnockite (ˈtʃɑrnəkaɪt is applied to any orthopyroxene-bearing granite composed mainly of Quartz, Perthite or antiperthite and Orthopyroxene Recent studies completed by Richard Tollo, a professor and geologist at the George Washington University, provide greater insight into the petrologic and geochronologic history of the Blue Ridge basement suites. The George Washington University ( GW or GWU) is a private coeducational university located in Washington D Modern studies have found that the basement geology of the Blue Ridge is made of compositionally unique gneisses and granitoids, including orthopyroxene-bearing charnockites. Gneiss (ˈnaɪs is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from preexisting formations that were originally Granite (ˈɡrænɪt is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, Felsic, igneous rock. Analyses of zircon minerals in the granites completed by John Aleinikoff at the U.S. Geological Survey have provided more detailed emplacement ages. Zircon is a Mineral belonging to the group of nesosilicates. Its chemical name is Zirconium silicate and its corresponding chemical formula is The United States Geological Survey ( USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government.

Many of the features found in the Blue Ridge and documented by Tollo and others have confirmed that the rocks exhibit many similar features in other North American Grenville-age terranes. The Grenville orogeny was an episode of mountain-building ( Orogeny) associated with the assembly of the ancient Supercontinent Rodinia. A terrane in Geology is a fragment of crustal material formed on or broken off from one Tectonic plate and accreted — " sutured " The lack of a calc-alkaline affinity and zircon ages less than 1,200 Ma suggest that Blue Ridge are unique from the Adirondacks, Green Mountains, and possibly the New York-New Jersey Highlands. Annum is one form of the Latin noun meaning Year, not a form normally used for derivatives in modern languages the accusative singular The Adirondack Mountains are a Mountain range located in the northeastern part of New York, that runs through Clinton, Essex, Franklin The Green Mountains are a Mountain range in the US state of Vermont. The New York - New Jersey Highlands is a Geological formation composed primarily of Precambrian Igneous and Metamorphic rock running from the The petrologic and geochronologic data suggest that the Blue Ridge basement is a composite orogenic crust that was emplaced during several episodes from a crustal magma source. In Geology, petrology (from Greek πέτρα petra, rock and λόγος logos, knowledge is the study of rocks and the conditions on which In the Natural sciences under the umbrella of Natural history, Geochronology is the Science of determining the absolute age of rocks, Fossils Field relationships further illustrate that rocks emplaced prior to 1,078-1,064 Ma preserve deformational features. Those emplaced post-1,064 Ma generally have a massive texture and missed the main episode of Mesoproterozoic compression. [5]

History

The English who settled Virginia in the early 1600s recorded that the native Powhatan name for the Blue Ridge was Quirank. The Commonwealth of Virginia ( is an American state The Powhatan (also spelled Powatan and Powhaten) or Powhatan Renape (literally the "Powhatan Human Beings" is the name of a

At the foot of the Blue Ridge, various tribes including the Siouan Manahoacs, the Iroquois, and the Shawnee hunted and fished. The Siouan (aka Siouan proper, Western Siouan) languages are a Native American Language family of North America, and the The Manahoac, also recorded as Mahock, were a small group of Siouan American Indians. The Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the "League of Peace and Power" the "Five Nations" the "Six Nations" or the "People of the Longhouse The Shawnee, or Shaawanwaki, Shaawanooki and Shaawanowi lenaweeki, are a people native to North America. As more settlers moved into Virginia, their economic and at times martial competition pushed the native inhabitants west. [6]


Flora and fauna


See also

References

  1. ^ Physiographic divisions of the conterminous U. S.. The Appalachian-Blue Ridge Forests is a Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests Ecoregion of the Eastern United States delineated by the World Wide Fund In the central and southern Appalachian Mountains of Eastern North America, a cove is a small valley between two ridge lines that is closed at one or both ends U. S. Geological Survey. Retrieved on 2007-12-06. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev
  2. ^ Blue Ridge Parkway, Frequently Asked Questions. National Park Service (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II
  3. ^ Leighty, Dr. Robert D. (2001). Blue Ridge Physiographic Province. Contract Report. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD) Information Sciences Office. Retrieved on 2007-12-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II
  4. ^ Medina, M. A. ; J. C. Reid, and R. H. Carpenter (2004). Physiography of North Carolina. North Carolina Geological Survey, Division of Land Resources. Retrieved on 2007-12-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II
  5. ^ Tollo, Richard P. ; Aleinkoff, John N. & Borduas, Elizabeth A. (2004), “Petrology and Geochronology of Grenville-Age Magmatism, Blue Ridge Province, Northern Virginia”, Northeastern Section (39th Annual) and Southeastern Section (53rd Annual) Joint Meeting, Geological Society of America, <http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004NE/finalprogram/abstract_69016.htm> 
  6. ^ History of Rappahannock County. Rappahannock County Administration (2005). Retrieved on 2007-12-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II
  7. ^ Stonewall Jackson's Way. Poetry and Music of the War Between the States. Retrieved on 2007-12-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II
  8. ^ Trivia for Way Out West (1937). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved on 2007-12-29. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1170 - Thomas Becket: Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II

9. *Olson, Ted (1998). Blue Ridge Folklife, University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 1-57806-023-0.

External links

The Blue Ridge Mountains as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway near Mount Mitchell.
The Blue Ridge Mountains as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway near Mount Mitchell. Wikitravel is a Web -based project "to create a free, complete up-to-date and reliable worldwide travel guide. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway and All-American Road in the United States, noted for its scenic beauty
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