Zahner Conservation Lecture Series at Highlands Nature Center
The Blue Wall: What we know–and don’t know–about southern Appalachia’s enigmatic weather-making landform
Featured Speaker
Philip S. Prince, Ph.D., Project Geologist, Appalachian Landslide Consultants, PLLC, Virginia Tech Department of Geosciences
Highlands owes its natural beauty to its location atop the Blue Ridge Escarpment, the steep, 1,500-3,000 foot topographic step defining the southeastern edge of Appalachian Mountain topography from northeastern Georgia to Roanoke, Virginia. Along its entire length, the Escarpment separates river systems, controls weather, and presents a significant obstacle to entry into the mountains from Piedmont cities like Greenville and Charlotte. Despite its massive geographic extent and ecological and societal significance in southern Appalachia, surprisingly little is known about the origins of the Escarpment and which chapter of Appalachian Mountain development its existence represents. Notable as the only major Appalachian landform that is not a direct result of bedrock outcrop patterns, geologists have long sought to understand why the Escarpment is even here in the first place. This talk will discuss both the Escarpment’s well-known functions as a river divide and weather-maker and the questions surrounding its formation, history, and overall relationship to the rest of the modern-day southern Appalachian Mountains.
Sponsored by Suzanne & Don Duggan, Ruthie & Franko Oliver, Margaret Waters, Adele & Nick Scielzo, and Florence & Tom Holmes
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