Five Geological Regions of Georgia
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Five Geological Regions of Georgia
Five Geological Regions of Georgia
The history of Georgia’s geology can be traced back at least one billion years. Georgia’s geology was impacted by the formation and erosion of mountain ranges, intense climate changes, flooding by the sea on numerous occasions, and volcanic eruptions.
The state can be divided into five regions based on their characteristic landforms, types and ages of rocks, and geologic structures. The five regions are the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, Appalachian Plateau, and the Coastal Plains. All of these geologic regions extend into the surrounding states, but Georgia is the only state south of Virginia that has all of these regions.
The oldest rocks in Georgia are found in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge regions, which run northeast to southwest through the center of the state. The rocks range in age from 1 to 1.3 billion years, dating them back to the Proterozoic Era. The two regions are composed mainly of metamorphic rocks and igneous rocks. Extremely high temperatures and pressures deep below the earth’s surface formed metamorphic rocks. The cooling and crystallization of molten magma formed igneous rocks. These regions also show signs of having been contorted, bent, and twisted by tremendous compressional forces within the earth’s crust numerous times. The Piedmont region has large faults that support these events, the main one being the Brevard Fault zone. The Piedmont region is also the largest region out of the five. The Blue Ridge contains the highest and largest group of mountains in the state. The Brasstown Bald is the highest out of all the mountains.
The Cartersville fault separates the Piedmont region from the Valley and Ridge region. The Cartersville fault marks the place where Piedmont metamorphic rocks were shoved westward over sedimentary rock layers of the Valley and Ridge. This action was most likely due to the collision of...
Five Geological Regions of Georgia
The history of Georgia’s geology can be traced back at least one billion years. Georgia’s geology was impacted by the formation and erosion of mountain ranges, intense climate changes, flooding by the sea on numerous occasions, and volcanic eruptions.
The state can be divided into five regions based on their characteristic landforms, types and ages of rocks, and geologic structures. The five regions are the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, Appalachian Plateau, and the Coastal Plains. All of these geologic regions extend into the surrounding states, but Georgia is the only state south of Virginia that has all of these regions.
The oldest rocks in Georgia are found in the Piedmont and Blue Ridge regions, which run northeast to southwest through the center of the state. The rocks range in age from 1 to 1.3 billion years, dating them back to the Proterozoic Era. The two regions are composed mainly of metamorphic rocks and igneous rocks. Extremely high temperatures and pressures deep below the earth’s surface formed metamorphic rocks. The cooling and crystallization of molten magma formed igneous rocks. These regions also show signs of having been contorted, bent, and twisted by tremendous compressional forces within the earth’s crust numerous times. The Piedmont region has large faults that support these events, the main one being the Brevard Fault zone. The Piedmont region is also the largest region out of the five. The Blue Ridge contains the highest and largest group of mountains in the state. The Brasstown Bald is the highest out of all the mountains.
The Cartersville fault separates the Piedmont region from the Valley and Ridge region. The Cartersville fault marks the place where Piedmont metamorphic rocks were shoved westward over sedimentary rock layers of the Valley and Ridge. This action was most likely due to the collision of...