Everything about The Cumberland Plateau totally explained
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. The terms "
Allegheny Plateau" and the "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the dissected plateau lands lying west of the main
Appalachian Mountains. The terms stem from historical usage rather than geological difference, so there's no strict dividing line between the two. Two major rivers share the names of the plateaus, with the
Allegheny River rising in the Allegheny Plateau and the
Cumberland River rising in the Cumberland Plateau.
Geography
The Cumberland Plateau is a deeply
dissected plateau, with
topographic relief commonly of about four hundred feet (120 meters), and frequent
sandstone outcroppings and bluffs. Many
coal seams are present in the area, and the Cumberland Plateau has for many years been heavily
mined.
At Kentucky's
Pottsville Escarpment, which is the transition from the Cumberland Plateau to the
Bluegrass in the north and the
Pennyrile in the south, there are many spectacular
cliffs,
gorges,
rockhouses,
natural bridges, and
waterfalls. In Tennessee, the Cumberland Plateau's western border is the
Highland Rim east of the
Nashville Basin, and its eastern edge is marked by
Walden Ridge, which continues south into Alabama as
Sand Mountain. Walden Ridge and Sand Mountain are separated from the main portion of the Cumberland Plateau by the
Sequatchie Valley, which extends into central Alabama under other names.
In
Kentucky, the height of the plateau's hills increases from northwest to southeast, with the westernmost areas of the plateau having a relief of around 200 feet and an appearance similar to the
knobs region, whereas areas near
Black Mountain have a relief exceeding 2,500 feet.
Geology and physiography
The Cumberland Plateau is a
physiographic section of the larger
Appalachian Plateau province, which in turn is part of the larger
Appalachian physiographic division.
The Cumberland Plateau is contiguous with the Allegheny Plateau on the northern side, the only real difference being local naming. The
sedimentary rocks that compose both plateaus are of
Mississippian and
Pennsylvanian geological age, composed of near shore sediments washed westward from the old
Appalachian Mountains. Some
rock layers were laid down in shallow coastal waters, some, including
bituminous coal seams were laid onshore in swampy environments. These are interlaced with delta formations of cross-bedded sandstones and occasionally conglomerate. There are numerous
discontinuities in the beds, where they were raised high enough to be eroded, then lowered to have more sediments added on top.
Natural history
The plateau contains some of the largest stretches of contiguous forest in the eastern United States. Regionally, forests are intermediate between oak and hickory forest types with pines occurring on dry, upland sites and mesophytic species occurring in protected coves.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cumberland Plateau'.
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