The Slate Belt

Found in the Appalachian Region, the Juniata Formation extends from central-southern Pennsylvania to Tennessee (Davies 2010). Though the thickness of the Juniata Formation is far from constant across its lateral extent, it is approximately 2000 feet thick in northern Pennsylvannia and thins towards the southwest (Crowder 1980). Named for the Juniata River running through southern Pennsylvania, this formation consists of sediments from the Taconic Orogeny in the late Ordovician period (Crowder 1980). Figure one displays the characteristic layers of alternating red sandstones and shales, which are divided into three distinct units (Darton

The Lynne deposit lies within the early Proterozoic Penokean fold belt of the southern province of the Precambrian Shield. The fold belt is divided into two major terranes in Wisconsin (Sims 1989). The first is the northern Penokean terrane, which contains major oxide facies iron formations and granitic intrusions (DeMatties 1989). The second major terrane, separated from the Penokean terrane by the Niagara fault zone, is the Wisconsin magmatic terrane, characterized by a volcanic island arc-basin assemblage (Sims 1989). This southern terrane lacks major oxide facies iron formations, but contains abundant tonalite-granite intrusions (DeMatties 1989). The Wisconsin magmatic terrane is further subdivided into the northern Pembine-Wausau terrane and the southern Marshfield terrane, which are separated by the Eau Pleine shear zone, a north-dipping subduction zone (Sims 1989).

The Oak Ridges Moraine is landform located in south central Ontario, Canada. It expands from Caledon and Rice lake river. Furthermore, it covers about 1,900 kilometers in Geographic area and is the most important landforms in Ontario. The Oak Ridges Moraine is made out of 4 wedge shaped structures running east to west ( Uxbridge, Pontypool, Rice Lake, and the Albion Hill wedges ). The wedges are separated from east to west and was formed by sedimentation, the Rice Lake wedge is separated from the other three moraines and is south of Rice Lake. The moraine is made out of major geophysical structures that shape the Oak Ridge Moraine. The western portion of the moraine is by the Niagara Escarpment, the escarpment channels give a way for a

The Mesozoic tectonic history of the North American Cordilleran region is very complex and involves:

Burns, Shirley Stewart. Bringing Down the Mountains: The Impact of Mountaintop Removal Surface Coal Mining on Southern West Virginia Communities, 1970-2004. Morgantown: West Virginia University Press, 2007. Print.

One of the major things noticeable from the cross section is that quite a few of the rock layers are over turned, where the older rock layers are above the newer rock layers. This is seen in the contact between the Quartz Monzonite of Papoose Flat and the Campito Formation which is also a disconformity. Next there is some fault zones separating the Camptio, Poleta, and Harkless formations. We then see some more overturned layers with the contacts between Saline Spring Valley Formation (lower and upper members) above the Mule Spring Formation along with some inferred folding. With a normal fault separating the inferred folding event, we see where the overturning occurs. In between the Cambrian layers we see Tertiary Basalt nonconformities also being folded, thus with that we know that the folding event was more recent than the formation of the Basalt. Next there is a large Basalt field with a spot of the Harkless formation. Again we see over tuning as the Basalt field ends there are the Devonian and Mississippian rock Layers on top of the basalt. Separating these overturned layers from the Harkless Formation and the Saline valley Formation (upper member), which are not overturned, is a thrust fault. From this information, there was a major stress event sometime after the Tertiary period causing the rock layers to fold and overturn. And from this stress event and from the folding, normal and thrust faults are formed. Finally we see that there were alluvial and landslide deposits from the Quaternary after the folding, faulting, and over

In the following space, explain the role of fossils in developing the Geologic column. Your explanation must be between 200 and 300 words.

The Earth's crust has been undergoing complex chemical, physical, and biological reactions over more than 4 billion years now. In this relentless tardiness of geologic instance, the convection of the Earth's mantle gave form to the planet (Cronon, 1993). The Middle Atlantic region of North American was shaped by the tectonic plate movements and climatic changes shaping the ancient oceans into lands. Water streams gave form to hills and deep valleys and rainwater broke big rocks into fine soil. It is interesting to note that while all this was taking place, Maryland's mountains were comparable to the size of the Himalayas (Flannery, 2001). Their rock gradually created the mountain that we see in Maryland in the present day. Eventually, Maryland's rock layer turned into fertile soils, mineral deposits, and composite water elements.

Analyses from 7,300 years ago at the Hawken site in northeast Wyoming do not match with the hypothesis of a dry Altithermal, though this may be limited to the site from which the data was collected, and not representative of the entire High Plains area (Lovvorn, Frison, and Teiszen 2001).

Much of the diversity of Putney’s soils can be attributed to the movements of the Laurentide ice sheet that, 20,000 years ago, covered the region in several thousand feet of ice. As the glaciers proceeded south, they reconfigured the land’s surface layer by scraping away the existing soil. As the world’s climate warmed, the ice retreated, redepositing glacial till across the landscape. Topography played an integral role in the distribution of soil following glaciation. In the hills, this unsorted till, a collection of boulders, cobbles, gravel, sands, silt, and clay, began the slow process of pedogenisis (soil formation) as plants and animals brought life to this barren world. In the valleys, material was sorted by the water from the melting ice as it flowed down from the hills (Stewart 55). Below, in figure 1, the areas of unsorted till are represented in orange while areas of sorted sediment such as gravel, sand, outwashes,

The Koffler Scientific Reserve at Joker’s Hill is located at the western end of Oak Ridges Moraine (ORM), hence they share common geological features. Therefore, just as in the rest of the ORM, the parent material or bedrock of Joker’s Hill is Ordovician shale and limestone (Johnson et al., 1992). 570 million years ago, what is now southern Ontario was under warm shallow seas (Rock Ontario, 1994, p.49). Between 401-417 million years ago, the sea started to recede and left sand, clay and silt deposits in the region. With time, the materials left behind were compressed into sedimentary rocks. After the retreat of the sea, coral reefs eventually became the coral rocks and the marine species eventually became carbonated rocks--both types of which contain calcium. After long term erosion, the calcium and carbonate rocks became the main composition of the limestone (Goreau, 2006). During the Pleistocene, about 2 million years ago, the Wisconsin glacier advanced across southern Ontario, depositing glacial sediments directly

It consists of the state’s most unique landscapes – strangely long, tapered and almost parallel ridges and valleys, all mingling over water gap formations. The province extends from the center towards New Jersey (north-eastward) and into Maryland (south-westward). The province’s ridges and valleys are made up of Sedimentary rocks from the Paleozoic Era. Metamorphosed Proterozoic volcanic rock (~575 million years old) is also found in some ridges of the South Mountain sector of the province. The sediments were originally deposited in a horizontal manner, but then these rocks were subjected to a high amount of heat and pressure during the Alleghanian orogeny, which resulted in them being folded and angular. The erosion of sediments over the years have formed a very distinct landform – valleys have been formed over areas of shale and limestone (softer rocks) and ridges have been formed in the areas of sandstone (harder rock). This Province is divided into 7 sectors: South Mountain, Great Valley, Blue Mountain, Anthracite Upland, Anthracite Valley, Susquehanna Lowland and Appalachian

In order to best describe the cultural landscape of Stafford County and Fredericksburg city, one must analyze the historical conditions that shaped the modern landscape, which will provide insight into present-day demographics as well as future projections. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, settlements in Virginia rapidly spread westward from the Tidewater Region. Navigable rivers provided the means of movement, as settlers sailed into the Piedmont. While large plantations were initially established in a dispersed and decentralized pattern, several towns of small size began to prosper as sites of tobacco shipment inspection. The exploration of the Rappahannock River dates to 1608, when Captain John Smith visited the falls and encountered indigenous Native

Thomas Dublin and Walter Licht. 2005. The Face of Decline: The Pennsylvania Anthracite Region in the Twentieth Century. Cornell University Press.

The discovery of anthracite coal in Pennsylvania in the late 1700s led to the development of a robust coal industry in the eastern part of Pennsylvania that grew rapidly and contributed greatly to the history and the economy of Pennsylvania. The book The Face of Decline written by Thomas Dublin, Walter Licht, provides a well written historical and personal account of the discovery, growth, and finally the collapse of the anthracite coal industry in Pennsylvania in a chronological format. Half way through the book one starts to notice some changes in the authors format to cause and effect. The change occurs in order to discuss the cause and resulting effect of events in the region and the solutions. The story is one of great growth and opportunity in the early years which are highlighted by the documented economic growth experienced and supported through testimony within the eastern Pennsylvania coal region. After a period of economic prosperity and community growth from 1900 through 1940 challenges began to erode and occur that created problems for the community and the economy that the coal industry provided. Finally the region’s economy suffered horrendous losses as described by interviews of local residents and families who lived and experienced the rise of the region’s economy. Many of the scars are still evident by the blight and decaying scenes one would experience by traveling through the region’s communities that once fueled the American economy with the energy