Yesterday I did a little recon of the Fall Zone. What is the Fall Zone? On a map it’s a line; however, that’s not entirely accurate as it’s more of a band. Essentially, it’s the boundary between two distinct regions of bedrock, called physiographic provinces. At the transition of the two rock types, there is a low rise in the landscape and any rivers that cross the Fall Zone generally contain rapids, riffles, whitewater, and waterfalls.
The Fall Zone from New Jersey to Texas – from CSRA, 2010
The Fall Zone is a pretty big deal. The whole zone stretches from southern New Jersey to Texas. In the Southern Atlantic States, the Fall Zone marks the boundary between the metamorphic rocks of the Piedmont Province and the sedimentary rocks of the Coastal Plain. The Piedmont rocks are more resistant to weathering and erosion compared to the softer Coastal Plain rocks, hence the waterfalls and rapids in the rivers that cross the Fall Zone.
View facing west along US-70 toward Nuese River near Selma, NC – photo by J. Sents
The significance of the Fall Zone goes back to Colonial American time. The early waves of . . . → Read More: Fall Zone Recon
