North and south of Virginia, the Fall Line had less of an impact on colonial settlement. The ice sheet made the Hudson River navigable for 150 miles north, allowing access for easy travel into the Mohawk River Valley.
Full Answer
What is the fall line in Virginia?
The western edge of the Fall Line can be marked as the spot where the gradient of a river gets steeper, as the channel from the Blue Ridge begins to cut through the bedrock at a faster rate. In Richmond, the zone is seven miles wide.
What is the fall line on a geologic map?
Source: US Geological Survey, Virginia Geologic Map Data The edge of the Piedmont/Coastal Plain, where various rivers cross from hard bedrock to soft sediments, is marked by a zone of rapids and waterfalls called the Fall Line where Virginia rivers drop 50-100' in elevation.
How did the fall line affect the Tidewater region?
As a result, the English disrupted and displaced the Algonquian-speaking tribes that lived in Tidewater long before seizing the lands of Native Americans that spoke Siouan or Iroquoian languages. North and south of Virginia, the Fall Line had less of an impact on colonial settlement.
What is the significance of the fall line in Georgia history?
Augusta, Georgia, of golf tournament fame, is another colonial settlement created along the fall line, the furthest boats could get up the Savannah River. These places provided town founders with the hydropower to develop industry, and the navigable shipping access for trade and supply.
How did fall lines influence human settlement?
The slope of fall zones on rivers played a role in settlement patterns. For example, the fall line represents the inland limit of navigation on many rivers. As such, many fall line cities grew around transferring people and goods between land-based and water-based transportation at this point.
Why is the fall line important in Virginia?
The English discovered the zone of rapids and waterfalls known today as the Fall Line. The waterfalls and rapids of the Fall Line blocked the English ships from sailing further west into the North American continent. Dreams of a Northwest Passage, permitting ships to sail through Virginia to China, did not come true.
Why were settlements built at the fall line?
This line was important to early European explorers because it marked the limits of river travel for ships. Many cities developed along this fall line, including Trenton, New Jersey; Richmond, Virginia; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
What is a fall line in Virginia?
The Fall Line defined by geology is in a different location that the boundary between freshwater and saltwater in Virginia's rivers. A tidal freshwater zone exists at the estuarine head-of-tide, downstream from both where rivers flow into Coastal Plain sediments and from where rivers reach sea level.
What is the fall line Why was it important for transportation?
Economic History. Rivers of the Coastal Plain were a major means of commercial transportation during the 1700s and early 1800s. Cities founded along the fall line, called “fall line cities,” are located at the places where these rivers crossed the fall line, marking the upstream limit of travel.
Why did cities form along the fall line in Virginia?
The Fall Line cities developed initially due to the transportation barrier. They grew into manufacturing as well as transportation centers because the topographic change at the Fall Line created waterpower, providing mechanical energy for powering equipment.
What is the fall line quizlet?
The fall line marks the drop-off between the piedmont and the Coastal Plain. The land of the piedmont is higher than the land of the Coastal Plain. When rivers flow from the mountains, they go down through the piedmont and drop off at the Coastal Plain.
What is the fall line in Virginia for kids?
The Fall Line is where the hard rock core of the piedmont and Appalachians meets the soft sediment of the coastal plain.
What is an example of a fall line?
In the eastern United States, a fall line exists between the Appalachian piedmont and the Atlantic coastal plain; waterfalls or rapids occur on all the principal rivers (e.g., the Delaware, Schuylkill, Patapsco, Potomac, James, and Savannah rivers), and the cities of Trenton, N.J.; Philadelphia, Pa.; Baltimore, Md.; ...
What was the fall line Colonial America?
Some of America's earliest communities (Philadelphia, Alexandria, and Richmond) had access to the ocean, but they were also on the “Fall Line,” a geographic feature, caused by erosion. This line stretches from Maryland all the way to Georgia, running north and south between the river tidelands and inland elevations.
What two regions of Virginia does the fall line separate?
The Coastal Plain (Tidewater) and Piedmont regions are separated by a natural border known as the Fall Line.
Why are cities located in the fall line?
Such a line also marks the head of navigation, or the inland limit that ships can reach from a river's mouth; because navigation is interrupted both upstream and downstream, important cities often occur along the fall line.
What was the fall line Colonial America?
Some of America's earliest communities (Philadelphia, Alexandria, and Richmond) had access to the ocean, but they were also on the “Fall Line,” a geographic feature, caused by erosion. This line stretches from Maryland all the way to Georgia, running north and south between the river tidelands and inland elevations.
What is the fall line in Virginia for kids?
The Fall Line is where the hard rock core of the piedmont and Appalachians meets the soft sediment of the coastal plain.
What is Virginia's forestry industry?
Virginia’s forestry industry taps both the hardwood resources from the uplands and pine from the lower-lying areas. Hardwood boards are the primary product of the state’s sawmills. Pine is the principal pulpwood. Since the 1970s the government has implemented reforestation programs to counter the risk of overharvesting—particularly of pine resources.
What is Virginia's economy?
Virginia has developed a well-balanced economy far beyond its original agricultural base, and since the 1960s the state’s annual economic productivity usually has been slightly higher than that of the United States as a whole. Farming now accounts for just a tiny fraction of the total yearly value of the state’s goods and services, and manufacturing, while a leading sector in the mid-20th century, has been surpassed by the services sector. The high-technology sector has expanded considerably since the late 20th century, especially in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., although Hampton Roads and the city of Richmond also have become areas of concentration. The federal government has remained a dominant economic presence in Virginia. Indeed, the many military institutions within the state’s boundaries (as well as headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency) and Virginia’s proximity to Washington, D.C., have supported economic growth. Virginia ranks among the top states in per capita distribution of federal funds and has one of the highest per capita incomes in the Southern region.
What are the fisheries in Virginia?
Products from the bay include flounder, bass, and a number of other edible finfish, as well as oysters, hard and soft clams, and blue crabs. Large amounts of schooling menhaden are caught in large nets and processed for their oil and for protein-rich fish meal. Considerable quantities of sea clams and scallops are harvested in the Atlantic, and large ocean fish, such as swordfish and tuna, are caught on baited hooks strung out on lines that are suspended relatively close to the ocean’s surface. Aquaculture, focusing primarily on hard clams and oysters, has grown notably since the turn of the 21st century. Virginia and Maryland both have passed antipollution laws aimed to conserve Chesapeake Bay as a safe environment for fishing as well as general recreation.
What are the main minerals in Virginia?
The main commercial minerals mined in Virginia include coal from the southwest and stone, clay, sand, and gravel from many areas. Nearly half the state’s power is drawn from coal, while nuclear generators provide about one-third of Virginia’s energy. Petroleum and natural gas each account for just a small portion of the state’s power production.
What are the main agricultural products of Virginia?
Poultry, cattle and dairy products, grains and feeds, and vegetables are the state’s principal agricultural products. Rockingham county in the Shenandoah Valley is home to one of the country’s major turkey-raising operations. Although not among the primary products, Virginia’s apples and peaches are famous, especially those from the orchards around Winchester and in other areas of the northwestern region.
Where are Virginia apples and peaches grown?
Although not among the primary products, Virginia’s apples and peaches are famous, especially those from the orchards around Winchester and in other areas of the northwestern region. Virginia’s forestry industry taps both the hardwood resources from the uplands and pine from the lower-lying areas.
Is the federal government a dominant force in Virginia?
The federal government has remained a dominant economic presence in Virginia. Indeed, the many military institutions within the state’s boundaries (as well as headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency) and Virginia’s proximity to Washington, D.C., have supported economic growth.
What is the fall line in Virginia?
the Fall Line zone (black line) separates the Coastal Plain of eastern Virginia (yellow) from the hard bedrock of the Piedmont. Source: US Geological Survey, Virginia Geologic Map Data. The edge of the Piedmont/Coastal Plain, where various rivers cross from hard bedrock to soft sediments, is marked by a zone of rapids and waterfalls called ...
What is the fall line?
The Fall Line, which has been part of Virginia's landscape since the formation of the Atlantic Ocean 200 million years ago, is a geologic feature that has had great impact on the cultural geography of Virginia.
What formed the bedrock of today's Piedmont?
They became the hard crystalline rock now located between I-95/I-85 and the Blue Ridge. The collision formed the bedrock of today's Piedmont, the largest physiographic province in Virginia today.
What is the last eastern exposure on the surface of the Piedmont bedrock?
The last eastern exposure on the surface of the Piedmont bedrock is zone of waterfalls and rapids known as the Fall Line. When Gov. Alexander Spotswood led an expedition west across the Piedmont and across the Blue Ridge to the Shenandoah River in 1716, his party discovered that the sandy soils common near Williamsburg were rare west of the Fall Line.
Where is the bedrock of Piedmont?
Rapids occur throughout the Piedmont physiographic province, from the Blue Ridge east to the Fall Line.
What is the coastal plain?
Today's Coastal Plain includes sediments washed off the ancient Appalachians over the last 150 million years, plus deposits from the Atlantic Ocean when it covered the land up to (and occasionally beyond) the current location of I-95/I-85. the Fall Line separates the Coastal Plain (darker green...) and the Piedmont.
When was the Piedmont formed?
The bedrock directly to the west of the Fall Line, the Piedmont physiographic province, was created between 250-450 million years ago in the tectonic collisions that formed Pangea.
What is the fall line?
The Fall Line is where the hard rock core of the piedmont and Appalachians meets the soft sediment of the coastal plain.
How does geology affect human settlement?
The Fall Line is just one example of how geology influences human settlement and economic patterns. Other ways include bedrock control on topography, (such as valleys and ridges), availability of groundwater or surface water, ease or difficulty of access (flat land is easier to build roads across unless it’s marshy), and location of mineral resources .
What did the geologic setting provide for the founders of the town?
In short, the geologic setting provided the foundation for economic and social success.
Is geology a strong influence on human settlement?
Since I’m originally a geologist I get particular satisfaction knowing that geology exerts such a strong influence on human settlement. With your students, and some hints below, explore some other examples, subtle and not so subtle.