Appalachian Geology: Surprising Implications

As a sixth grader in 1962 I looked at a map on the wall and told the teacher that the continents all fit together nicely, and she assured me I was wrong. Plate tectonics couldn't come quick enough for this inquisitive young man.

I’m a geologist who did a masters thesis mapping the Valley and Ridge geology in Hampshirite and Hardy counties, WVA. I appreciate your efforts to clearly explain the geologic history to lay people. From the comments, looks like your work is much appreciated. Good refresher for me, too.

Great video about an area that is sadly ignored. I am a rock hound and live in Maryland. There are so many deposits of all kinds jumbled around me. Fantastic metamorphic schist, a mica mine and even red sandstones with iron and dinosaur tracks. This area was the source of Colonial iron ore and granite too! We are still classed as a moderate earthquake zone due to remaining stresses.

Between you and Nick Zentner, I am finding a sincere love for geology. I love this stuff. Nick has taught me so much about the Pacific Northwest. And now you're teaching me about our east coast. Now I wish I could find something to teach me about Missouri Geology.

This is what I would have imagined a Bob Ross demonstration would have been like had he been a geologist.

Thanks Myron. As a Merrylander who got his historical geology training in the region, I appreciate your covering this. Like you say, though the Rockies are far more spectacular, the Appalachians have their own charm (maybe that's why Baltimore is called "Charm City" ;) especially in terms of it's long history and series of orogenies. As is said, Maryland is "American in Miniature," not only in terms of geography, but also geology. From Precambrian to Pleistocene Terraces, the only thing we're missing at the surface is the Jurassic Period and the Oligocene Epoch. For about a year now I've been dating a lady who grew up in Huntsville AL, which is located in the N.E. part of the state. Naturally I checked out the geology there, and I was rather surprised to find geologic formations that were identical to ones here. For instance, the Pennsylvanian Pottsville Formation runs from Pennsylvania, through western Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, and Alabama. "It is a major ridge-former in the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians." When you mention “deep underground,” understanding that was an early major insight for me. The faults and folds here are very complicated. I was fortunate in the fact that Dr. Beem, the person I took honors geology with for 4-years, liked to do field work, which was an incredible help in my being able to put the puzzle together in my mind. And it’s not just the Valley & Ridge that are interesting. Running here through Frederick Countie’s Triassic sediments, is the Newark Supergroup. It starts in Newfoundland and runs through to South Carolina, and also has areas of Jurassic sediments. It represents an early Rift Zone that failed, as Pangea began to pull apart. In N.E. Frederick county are found Grallators, that are thought to be made by the the early dinosaur, Coelophysis. Precise identification is difficult, because the animal(s) appeared to have been running. Another point of interest in Frederick County, the western side has two ridges that contain greenstone Metabasalts, remnants of volcanism occurring towards the east during the Paleozoic Era. One last thing, about 20 miles west of Baltimore is the town of Granite, named so for obvious reasons. The rocks there are thought to be the remains of the core of an ancient volcano :)

This was awesome. The Appalachians are my home mountains, I’m glad to understand them more. It’s so nice to spend time with someone who is also just thrilled by the story of the earth.

A good way to visualize a foreland basin is to pile books, one at a time, onto a sofa cushion. As the pile of books get taller, the 'basins' adjacent to the books gets deeper. Small mountains ranges - a small pile of books - will create shallow basins on either side of it, and an immense pile of books will create very deep basins. The depth and extent of the basin can be used as a proxy for the length and height of the mountain range that created it.

You have us mesmerized, we wish we were 50 years younger and were studying to be geologists. You are an inspiration. Allan and Carmon

I can not even begin to tell you how much I appreciate this video! I watched it three times this morning. I’ve lived in the PA Appalachian mountains all my life and was always fascinated by the different formations, but never was able to put a visual on the how truly big they actually were. As a little kid, my babysitters husband gave me fossils he would find and told me “my” mountains were once the biggest in the world! I grew up on the north face of a fold, not far from the Susquehanna. To get to Harrisburg, we would travel down 322 along the river where I could see these beautiful layers exposed. Thank you, Mr. Cook! You’ve got a friend in Pennsylvania!

The 11-papers analogy is a very effective way of showing how thin the crust is and easily penetrated from below👍

I really enjoyed this, Myron! I live in PA, have traveled the east coast extensively and have seen lots of roadway cutouts which looked exactly like the one pictured at 0:10 in this video. Now I know what I’m looking at and have a whole new appreciation for the sheer beauty of this geology. Thanks!

The example of sheets of paper and the exercise ball really drove home the thinnest of the crust to me for the first time. Also your use of drone cameras in your videos is outstanding. Thank you

My 8th grade earth science teacher introduced us to “The Theory of Continental Shift” back in 1973. The term “plate tectonics” wasn’t known to me until some years later. At the time, it wasn’t considered mainstream science, but within about 5-10 years, it was accepted as scientific fact. Once we put cameras down at the bottom of the Atlantic Rift and actually saw new crust being created, thus pushing the continents apart, it was pretty much proven.

Fantastic presentation. I can now look out my back yard at the foothills and valleys and understand how they were formed. Driving around here in East Tennessee and western North Carolina I can also understand these huge rock folds that dominate the mountains. Been waiting for this and you delivered it brilliantly. 😊

I'm from Eastern PA and I love looking at the rocks when I'm out driving. I live right on the Blue Mountain and the next ridge over is pure sand; it's so interesting to think that that ridge is made up of a smooshed ocean floor and mine was from somewhere to the east, more or less. Thanks for the great video.

Myron, Thanks for the time and effort you put into making this. Your explanations are flawless.

You're like if my dad liked rocks instead of planes.

Myron, it's simple. I love you - your joy-infused teaching is incomparable. Where were you in my grade-school??? I'd likely be sitting here in a glorious pile of rocks rather than the horticultural spread I enjoy. You are a 'national treasure', even if I'm Canadian. Bless your work.💐

What a coincidence you posted this video! I just got back from mapping the Valley and Ridge province for a project as well as writing a paper on the orogenies that had occurred in creation of the Appalachian mountains all semester! I was able to see physically all the incredible folds and deformation of rock.