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.
Where did the English settle in Virginia?
The English immigrants to Virginia initially settled east of the Fall Line. They cleared the forest and started plantations in the flat Coastal Plain, close to the Chesapeake Bay and with easy access by ship to Europe and the islands in the Caribbean.
How did the geography of Virginia affect the location of cities?
The natural geologic barrier to shipping delayed European settlement of the Piedmont and shaped the location of major Virginia's cities, including Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Richmond, and Petersburg.
Why did many early Virginia cities develop along the fall line?
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 east of the fall line?
The eastern edge of the Fall Line is where rivers reach sea level. 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.
Why did settlers settle on the fall line?
The rapid change in elevation of the water and resulting energy release make the fall line a good location for water mills, grist mills, and sawmills. Seeking a head of navigation with a ready supply of water power, people have long made settlements where rivers cross a fall line.
What creates the fall line along the east coast?
The fall line marks the geologic boundary of hard metamorphosed terrain—the product of the Taconic orogeny—and the sandy, relatively flat alluvial plain of the upper continental shelf, formed of unconsolidated Cretaceous and Cenozoic sediments.
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.
How did the fall line get its name?
Rivers that flow across the fall line create waterfalls or rapids, which give the “fall line” its name.
Why were many towns built on 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 the fall line and why is it important?
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.
Why did many cities emerge along the fall line in the southern United States?
Towns grew at the fall line because cargo on boats had to be portaged around the waterfalls which also served as an important early source of water power. Mills built to harness this resource encouraged the growth of towns.
What is the fall line and how does it affect human activity?
What is the fall line, and how does it affect human activity? The fall line marks the place where the higher land of the Piedmont drops to lower Atlantic Coastal Plain. This is where eastern ricers break into rapids and waterfalls, preventing ships from moving further inward.
What cities are located on 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.
Why does Interstate 95 follow the fall line?
Weather follows I-95 because I-95 follows a change in elevation which accompanies a change in temperature.
What are the 4 fall line cities in Georgia?
Several of those sites became cities — Columbus, Macon, Milledgeville, Augusta. Some of them also became industrial centers because the falling water provided abundant hydropower for factories.
What is the fall line in skiing?
A fall line refers to the line down a mountain or hill which is most directly downhill; that is, the direction a ball or other body would accelerate if it were free to move on the slope under gravity.
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.
Where is the Great Population Mass corridor?
This corridor is often classified as an extension of the great population mass, or megalopolis, arcing across the northeastern United States from Boston to Washington, D .C. Other metropolitan areas include the urban environs of Roanoke and Lynchburg, as well as those around the smaller cities of Danville, Bristol, and Charlottesville.
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 eastern edge of the fall line?
The eastern edge of the Fall Line is where rivers reach sea level. 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 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.
Which company gave the Virginia Company of London the right to establish settlements in North America?
Charters gave the Virginia Company of London the right to establish settlements in North America. What did it it give the colonists themselves?
What are the major rives of Virginia?
The four major rives of Virginia are the Potomac, the James, the York and the
What did the House of Burgess give the settlers?
The House of Burgess gave settlers the opportunity to control their goverment by
Why were fall line cities successful?
In addition to their importance as transportation hubs, fall line cities were successful because of the presence of water resources.
What is the fall line?
The fall line is a geological boundary, about twenty miles wide , running northeast across Georgia from Columbus to Augusta. It is a gently sloping region that rapidly loses elevation from the north to the south, thereby creating a series of waterfalls. During the Mesozoic Era (251-65.5 million years ago), the fall line was the shoreline of the Atlantic Ocean; today it separates Upper Coastal Plain sedimentary rocks to the south from Piedmont crystalline rocks to the north. The fall line’s geology is also notable for its impact on early transportation in Georgia and consequently on the state’s commercial and urban development
What were the major transportation routes in the 1700s?
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. The city of Columbus, for example, was established where the Chattahoochee River crosses the fall line; Macon, Milledgeville, and Augusta are similarly located at the crossings of the Ocmulgee, Oconee, and Savannah rivers, respectively. These cities became important transportation hubs because traders could only travel upstream until they reached the waterfalls of the fall line. At that point they were forced to disembark and reload their cargo on the other side of the falls in order to continue their journeys. Columbus served as the upstream head of navigation for the Chattahoochee, as did Augusta for the Savannah River and Macon for the Ocmulgee River. After the first steamship arrived in 1828, Columbus became a gateway city for cotton. Above the fall line, flatboats and barges moved goods around the state. Below the fall line, steamships had unimpeded access to move goods, mostly cotton, into the Gulf of Mexico.
What are the geological features of the fall line?
To the north of the fall line, clay soils and narrower stream valleys are the rule. One significant consequence of these differences is that the fall line separates distinctive plant and animal communities. Wiregrass – longleaf pine forests, swamp forests, and tidal marshes form the main landscape features south of the fall line. North of the fall line, deciduous hardwood forests, including oaks and hickories, are native to the Piedmont and mountain regions, as are plant communities on granite outcrops. The soil to the south of the fall line, in the Upper Coastal Plain, is better suited to peanut and vegetable cultivation. Agricultural production to the north, in the Piedmont, centered on cotton cultivation in the past but today focuses on such animal products as poultry (including eggs) and beef.
Why is the fall line called the gnat line?
For example, the fall line is sometimes called the “gnat line,” because the sandy soil on the southern side is better suited for the gnat’s life cycle , making these insects more common in the southern half of the state.
What is Columbus fall line?
Columbus Fall Line. 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.
How many species of egrets are there in the Okefenokee Swamp?
The Okefenokee Swamp alone is home to 232 bird species. Mammal species vary widely among the regions as well.