
Appalachian zones in the US - USGS
The 'Appalachian Plateau' is the western part of the
Appalachian mountains, stretching from
New York to
Alabama. The plateau is a second level
United States physiographic region.
From the east the
escarpment that forms the edge of the plateau has the appearance of a mountain range.
[1] However, technically it is an eroded plain of
sedimentary rock not mountains.
[2] A large portion of the plateau is a
coalfield formed during the
Pennsylvanian Period.
[3] The surface of the plateau slopes gently to the northwest and merges imperceptibly into the
Interior Plains.
The main physiographic sections (generally ordered from the northeast to the southwest) of the plateau are named the Mohawk section, the
Catskill section, the southern New York section, the
Allegheny Plateau section, the Kanawha section, the
Cumberland Plateau section, and the
Cumberland Mountains section.
[4]
See also
★
Geology of the Appalachians
References
1. High School Geography, , Charles Redway, Dryer, American Book Company, 1911, found online at [1]
2. Hiking Kentucky, , Brook, Elliott, Human Kinetics, 1998, ISBN 0-88011-812-1 found online at [2]
3. To Save the Land and People: A History of Opposition to Surface Coal Mining in Appalachia, , Chad, Montrie, University of North Carolina Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8078-2765-7 found online at [3]
4. Physiographic Regions