Evolution of the Appalachian Mountains

Stretching approximately 2,000 miles from the southern states above Florida up into parts of Newfoundland, the Appalachian Mountains are culturally, ecologically, and geologically rich. Although they’re named after the Native American Apalachee people, the geologic history of the Appalachians goes even further back. The hills were growing and changing long before the first hunter-gatherer groups inhabited the area 16,000 years ago. These mountains are part of an even larger belt as far as northernmost Norway and Greenland and have undergone numerous tectonic events. In this talk we will explore the tectonic making of the Appalachian Mountains, from their origins over a billion years ago to their modern post Ice Age setting.
Jerry Burgess joined the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences as the Director of the Environmental Science and Studies Program. He received his doctorate at Hopkins and MS in Geology at the University of Maryland. His research is highly interdisciplinary, ranging from geology to exploring serpentine ecology community dynamics. Current research interests center around using petrologic and geochemical tools to investigate igneous and metamorphic rock histories, with a focus on petrogenesis and the growth and evolution of the Appalachians.

[@hertzer2000]

We need an animation showing every orogeny, accretion and rifting event to fully see it all. Maybe. Thanks for so much insight!

[@Geologynut37]

Learning about the Geology of the US East Coast and the Appalachian Mountains is my passion! I cannot stop learning about it. I am so interested in plate tectonics. More specifically, the Wilson Cycle and how it shaped the Appalachian Mountains. I am fascinated how this same cycle of oceans closing, orogenic events, and subsequent rifting occurs over billions of years. I am very interested in the details of how convergent plate boundaries transition to rifting. And how a pristine ocean like the Atlantic, possibly forms subduction zones in the future to complete the Wilson cycle. I am also interested in why this cycle seems to repeat over and over again with the same land masses (generally speaking).

[@martinmorgan7808]

Great presentation. thx

[@MarylandNature]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@johnwatson3948]

Minor question - I heard somewhere that Long Island Sound started as a river valley outlet from the ancestral Appalachians, if anyone has more on this.