Appalachian Plateau

The Appalachian Mountains are a range that run from Nova Scotia in Canada to Alabama in the United States.

[2] A large portion of the plateau is a coalfield, which was formed approximately 320 million years ago during the Pennsylvanian Age.

This portion of the plateau is marked with evidence of a glaciated past including bogs, lakes, and small hills of sand and gravel.

The result is a rugged landscape, unlike many other plateaus, that includes many narrow stream valleys surrounded by steep ridges.

Each section is classified under the Appalachian Plateau province because of its similarities in geologic makeup, topography, and wildlife.

On top of the basement is a thick layer, approximately 20,000 feet, of a mixture of Cambrian, Ordovician, and Middle Silurian rock.

The Plateau fold belt consists of structurally complex Paleozoic strata which were thrust faulted over the younger evaporates.

[7] Archaeologists have evidence that Native Americans in the United States lived in the Appalachian region more than 12,000 years ago; however, it is hard to say exactly when the occupants first inhabited the land.

Much like many historic Native American tribes, the early Appalachian inhabitants survived as nomads, following their food on a seasonal basis.

The climate and habitat more closely resembled a tundra, with lower temperatures, numerous conifer trees, and large mammals, such as mammoths and saber-toothed tigers.

They continued to invent new weapons and made advancements in agriculture until the Europeans arrived in North America.

In 1749, Jacob Martin and Steven Sewell were the first Europeans known to settle the Appalachian Plateau, specifically in what is now Pocahontas County, West Virginia.

[8] From 1861 to 1865, the Appalachian Plateau suffered from the American Civil War, but in comparison to many other parts of the country, little damage was done.

However, back in 1890, the destruction of the Appalachian region's forest was at full-scale with the invention of the railroad, saw-mills, and clear-cutting of trees.

In 1964, the Wilderness Act expanded protections for millions of acres of federal land, such as the Shining Rock and Linville Gorge.

The 1975 Eastern Wilderness Act created expanded protected areas in North Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee.

To the north are many conifers, such as red spruce and balsam fir which can be seen growing at the northernmost latitudes of the Appalachian region.

Flowers such as rhododendron, azalea and mountain laurel can be found in southern regions while up north trees will bear serviceberry, redbud, sourwood, and many others.

Throughout all of the Appalachian Plateau region there is an abundance of fox, raccoon, wild boar, black bears, white-tailed deer, and beaver.

Researchers also found there to be over 200 species of game and songbirds including wild turkey, heron, geese, hawks, ducks and many more.