NC Geological History

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Earth Formed 4.6 billion years ago The landmass under North Carolina began to form about 1,700 million years ago, and has been in constant change ever since. Science Daily

NC Geological History Continents broke apart, merged, then drifted apart again. As landmasses came together, the Appalachian mountains (and other mountain ranges on the earth) were formed — and wind and water immediately began to wear them down by erosion.erosion

NC Geological History After North Carolina found its present place on the eastern coast of North America The global climate warmed and cooled many times, melting and re-freezing the polar ice caps and causing the seas to rise and fell, covering and uncovering the Coastal Plain.

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NC Geological History The first humans arrived in North Carolina just 10,000 years ago — and continued the process of environmental change through hunting, agriculture, and eventually development.

North Carolina's oldest rocks are the metamorphic rocks of the Blue Ridge belt in the west, cut off abruptly at the Brevard Fault Zone. They are strongly altered by several episodes of folding and disruption. This region yields some industrial minerals.

Coastal Flat area underlain by young, unconsolidated sediments produced by erosion of the “Appalachian Mountains and deposited here In the Coastal Plain in the east, younger sediments are found (Tertiary, 65 to 2 million years and Quaternary, less than 2 m.y.). The Coastal Plain is home to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of the mysterious oval basins called Carolina bays. In the southeast, there is a large area of older sedimentary rocks of Cretaceous age (140 to 65 m.y.). All of these are little disturbed. This region is mined for sand and phosphate minerals.

Piedmont Area of rolling hills underlain by mostly ancient igneous and metamorphic rock and igneous rocks are the roots of the volcanoes formed during an ancient episode of subduction that occurred before the formation of the “Appalachian Mountains Between the Blue Ridge and Coastal Plain is a complex set of mostly metamorphosed, mostly Paleozoic rocks (550 to 200 m.y.) called the Piedmont. Granite, gneiss, schist and slate are the typical rocks here. North Carolina's famous gem mines and gold district, America's first, are in the Piedmont. Exactly in the middle is a former rift valley of Triassic age (200 to 180 m.y.), marked on the diagram above, filled with mudstone and conglomerate. Similar Triassic basins exist in states to the north, all of them made during the initial opening of the Atlantic Ocean.

Blue Ridge High ridge separating the Piedmont from the Valley and Ridge Province billion-year old igneous and metamorphic rocks are the oldest in NC

Valley and Ridge Area with long parallel ridges and valleys underlain by ancient folded and faulted sedimentary rocks Folding and faulting of the rocks occurred during the collision between “Africa and North “America Collision occurred during the late Paleozoic Era and produced the “Appalachian Mountains

Appalachian Mountains The rocks at the core of the Appalachian Mountains formed more than a billion years ago. At that time, all of the continents were joined together in a single supercontinent surrounded by a single ocean. We can see fragments of the billion-year old supercontinent at the surface in many places in the Appalachian Mountains.

The Appalachians first formed roughly 480 million years ago during the Ordovician Period and once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rocky Mountains before they were erodedOrdovician PeriodAlpsRocky Mountains North American and North African, crashing into each other forming the Appalachian Mountains. In times the two tectonic plates separated as the Atlantic Ocean widened.

By the end of the Mesozoic era, the Appalachians had been eroded to an almost flat plain.Mesozoic It was not until the region was uplifted during the Cenozoic Era that the distinctive present topography formed

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Fall Zone Sand Hills formed due to erosion carrying sediment to the "Coastal Plains." Eventually, heavy clay sinks downward causing sands that form dunes due to the wind. Most likely when the Fall Zone formed. Due to heavier rocks becoming more soft 1.8 Mya: Pleistocene

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Barrier Islands Formed by sand deposits by currants and rising seas The Coastal Plain of NC was underwater, but the ocean began to recede later in the Cretaceous Era eventually allowing the Outer-Coastal Plain to appear and be above sea level 65.5 Mya: Palocene Also, due to the glaciers receding a ridge was left above sea level, which was the Barrier Islands 1.8 Mya: Pleistocene

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River Basins Land drained by rivers Most rivers and river basins were most likely formed during this era due to glaciers fully receding inland. 5.3 Mya Pilocene

NC Fossils Fossilized remains of animal and plant life have been discovered at numerous locations in North Carolina Primarily in the sedimentary rock formations of the eastern coastal plains -NC major rock and mineral resources: limestone (concrete), coal (energy), gravel and crushed stone (road construction)