Earth Science SOL Review Sheet #10: Virginia Provinces
Essential Knowledge and Skills
 The five physiographic provinces are Coastal
Plain, Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, and
Appalachian Plateau.
 The Coastal Plain is a flat area underlain by
young, unconsolidated sediments. These layers of
sediment were produced by erosion of the
Appalachian Mountains and then deposited on the
Coastal Plain.
 The Piedmont is an area of rolling hills underlain
by mostly ancient igneous and metamorphic rocks.
The igneous rocks are the roots of volcanoes
formed during an ancient episode of subduction
that occurred before the formation of the
Appalachian Mountains.
 The Blue Ridge is a high ridge separating the
Piedmont from the Valley and Ridge Province. The
billion-year old igneous and metamorphic rocks of
the Blue Ridge are the oldest in the state. Some
metamorphism of these rocks occurred during the
formation of the Appalachian Mountains.
 The Valley and Ridge province is an area with
long parallel ridges and valleys underlain by
ancient folded and faulted sedimentary rocks. The
folding and faulting of the sedimentary rocks
occurred during a collision between Africa and
North America. The collision, which occurred in the
late Paleozoic era, produced the Appalachian
Mountains.
 The Appalachian Plateau as an area with rugged,
irregular topography and underlain by ancient, flatlying sedimentary rocks. The area is actually a
series of plateaus separated by faults. Most of
Virginia’s coal resources are found in the Plateau
Province.
 Label a map and recognize the major features of
the physiographic provinces of Virginia.
Important Words You Need to Know:
Appalachian Plateau – Virginia province which
lies to the northwest of the Valley and Ridge;
source of coal (Virginia’s most valuable mineral
resource)
Blue Ridge – mountains of folded and faulted
igneous rock formed when Africa and North
America collided
Coal – a sedimentary or sometimes metamorphic
rock formed by the compaction of ancient plants
and animals over a period of millions of years; a
fossil fuel found in the Appalachian Plateau
Coastal Plain – the youngest province in Virginia;
the land from the fall line eastward to the Atlantic
Ocean; a landform that is broad, flat area along a
coastline; also called a lowland
Fall line – the boundary between the Coastal
Plain and the Piedmont; an abrupt change in
elevation causes rapids and small waterfalls to be
common
fold – bend in rock with an anticline (up-fold) and
syncline (down-fold)
Piedmont – the largest physiographic province in
Virginia; bounded on the east by the fall zone and
on the west by the mountains of the Blue Ridge;
rolling hills of igneous and some sedimentary rock
Valley & Ridge – long parallel ridges and valleys
to the west of the Blue Ridge mountains which are
part of the major landform feature of North
America; the Great Valley which stretches from
New York to Alabama, a region of Karst
topography
Now You Try It!
Practice Questions: Circle the
correct answer!
Use this map of Virginia as a reference for
several of the following questions:
1. The fall line is located between which two
provinces?
A provinces U and T
B provinces T and S
C provinces S and R
D provinces R and Q
2. Letter S points to which province?
A Valley and Ridge
B Blue Ridge
C Piedmont
D Appalachian Plateau
3. Which of the following Virginia provinces
has the most karst topography?
A province U
B province T
C province S
D province R
4. Letter R points to which province?
A Valley and Ridge
B Blue Ridge
C Piedmont
D Coastal Plain
5. Letter T points to which province?
A Valley and Ridge
B Blue Ridge
C Piedmont
D Appalachian Plateau
6. This is famous building is called the
Rotunda. It is located on the grounds of the
University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
Charlottesville is located in an area that has
many low rolling hills. In which province is it
located?
8. Which province are you most likely to find
a fossil fuel, nonrenewable resource?
A Valley and Ridge
B Blue Ridge
C Piedmont
D Appalachian Plateau
9. What is the fossil fuel mentioned above?
A Coal
B Uranium
C Oil
D Limestone
10. This is a picture of the end of Massanutten
Mountain. It is one of several long, narrow
mountains that have river valleys (like the
Shenandoah River) between them. In which
province is it located?
A
B
C
D
A
B
C
D
Valley and Ridge
Blue Ridge
Piedmont
Appalachian Plateau
7. Luray Caverns, Endless Caverns, Skyline
Caverns, Grand Caverns, Shenandoah
Caverns and several more, are located in
which province?
A Valley and Ridge
B Blue Ridge
C Piedmont
D Appalachian Plateau
Valley and Ridge
Blue Ridge
Piedmont
Appalachian Plateau
11. Imagine that you were on a trip driving
from Hampton to West Virginia. The first
time you felt your ears pop, you were MOST
LIKELY in which province?
A Valley and Ridge
B Blue Ridge
C Piedmont
D Coastal Plain
12. On the same trip mentioned above, you
noticed that the road was very flat with
hardly any hills or mountains. You were
MOST LIKELY in which province?
A Valley and Ridge
B Blue Ridge
C Piedmont
D Coastal Plain