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Appalachian Plateau

 
Appalachian Plateau

 
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Appalachian Plateau
 
 
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The Appalachian Plateau is the western part of the Appalachian mountains
Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains or , often called the Appalachians, are a vast mountain range in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians....
, stretching from New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 to Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
 and Alabama
Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
. The plateau is a second level United States physiographic region
United States physiographic region

There are eight distinct physiographic divisions within the continental United States. Each is composed of smaller physiographic areas called provinces and sections respectively....
.

From the east the escarpment
Escarpment

In geomorphology, an escarpment is a transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves a sharp, steep elevation differential, characterized by a cliff or steep slope....
 that forms the edge of the plateau has the appearance of a mountain range. However, technically it is an eroded plain of sedimentary rock not mountains.






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Appalachian Map
The Appalachian Plateau is the western part of the Appalachian mountains
Appalachian Mountains

The Appalachian Mountains or , often called the Appalachians, are a vast mountain range in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians....
, stretching from New York
New York

The State of New York is a U.S. state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States and is the nation's List of U.S....
 to Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a U.S. state in the United States and was one of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against United Kingdom rule in the American Revolution....
 and Alabama
Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
. The plateau is a second level United States physiographic region
United States physiographic region

There are eight distinct physiographic divisions within the continental United States. Each is composed of smaller physiographic areas called provinces and sections respectively....
.

From the east the escarpment
Escarpment

In geomorphology, an escarpment is a transition zone between different physiogeographic provinces that involves a sharp, steep elevation differential, characterized by a cliff or steep slope....
 that forms the edge of the plateau has the appearance of a mountain range. However, technically it is an eroded plain of sedimentary rock not mountains. A large portion of the plateau is a coalfield
Coalfield

A coalfield is an area of certain uniform characteristics where coal is mined. The criteria for determining the approximate boundary of a coalfield are geographical and cultural, in addition to geological....
 formed during the Pennsylvanian Period. The surface of the plateau slopes gently to the northwest and merges imperceptibly into the Interior Plains
Interior Plains

The Interior Plains is a vast physiographic region that spreads across the Laurentia of North America. This area was originally formed when cratons collided and welded together 1.9–1.8 billion years ago in the Trans-Hudson orogeny during the Paleoproterozoic....
.

The main physiographic sections (generally ordered from the northeast to the southwest) of the plateau are named the Mohawk section, the Catskill
Catskill Mountains

The Catskill Mountains , a natural area in New York northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, New York, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief....
 section, the southern New York section, the Allegheny Plateau
Allegheny Plateau

The Allegheny Plateau is a large dissected plateau area in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia, and eastern Ohio....
 section, the Kanawha section, the Cumberland Plateau
Cumberland Plateau

The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and western West Virginia, part of Tennessee, and a small portion of northern Alabama and northwest Georgia ....
 section, and the Cumberland Mountains
Cumberland Mountains

The Cumberland Mountains are a mountain range in the southeastern section of the Appalachian Mountains. They are located in western Virginia, eastern edges of Kentucky, and eastern middle Tennessee, including the Crab Orchard Mountains....
 section.

See also

  • Geology of the Appalachians
    Geology of the Appalachians

    The geology of the Appalachians dates back to more than 480 million years ago. A look at rocks exposed in today's Appalachian Mountains reveals elongate belts of folded and thrust faulted marine sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks and slivers of ophiolite - strong evidence that these rocks were deformed during plate tectonics....