NOTES - PROVINCES OF VIRGINIA
What Make Each Province Different?
• Physiography: the landforms change and the countryside
has a different appearance
• Rock Type: Rocks can be igneous, sedimentary and/or
metamorphic
• Rock Structure: Rocks can be flat or mountainous with
folds and/or faults
• Geologic Ages: Some rocks are older than others
Province
Physiography
Rock Type
and Age
-Sedimentary
-Youngest
Structure
Resources
- Layered by
sediments eroded
from Appalachian
Mtns
Many oceanic fossils
Coastal Plain
Flat & often
marshy
Piedmont
Rolling hills
Metamorphic
You live here!
Slate, gold
Blue Ridge
Mountains
(3000ft)
-Igneous
-Metamorphic
-Oldest
Folded & faulted
mountains
Scenic views draw in
tourists
Valley &
Ridge
Folded
Mountains
Sedimentary
Sandstone caps the
ridges and limestone
forms the valleys
Karst topography
(caves)
Appalachian
Plateau
Flat rock
layers
Sedimentary
Deeply cut and
eroded by rivers
Coal, Petroleum
Fall Line: (boundary between Coastal Plain & Piedmont) where
rivers form waterfalls as they move from the tough rocks of the
Piedmont to softer, more easily eroded rocks of the coastal
plain