The Cumberland Plateau is the southern part of the Appalachian Plateau. The Appalachian Plateau is the western part of the Appalachian mountains, stretching from New York to Georgia and Alabama. It includes much of eastern Kentucky and western West Virginia, part of Tennessee, and a small portion of northern Alabama. The Commonwealth of Kentucky ( is a state located in the East Central United States of America. West Virginia ( is a state in the Appalachian Upland South, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Tennessee ( is a state located in the Southern United States. Alabama (formally the State of Alabama;) is a State located in the southern region of the United States of America. The terms "Allegheny Plateau" and the "Cumberland Plateau" both refer to the dissected plateau lands lying west of the main Appalachian Mountains. The Allegheny Plateau is a large Dissected plateau area in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia The Appalachian Mountains ( often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. The terms stem from historical usage rather than geological difference, so there is 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. The Allegheny River is a principal Tributary of the Ohio River and is located in the Eastern United States. The Cumberland River is an important waterway in the Southern United States.

Geography

Map showing the Cumberland Plateau as defined by Bailey's ecoregions.

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. A dissected plateau is a Plateau area that has been uplifted then severely eroded so that the relief is sharp Topography ( topo-, "place" and graphia, "writing" is the study of Earth 's Surface features or those of Planets Sandstone is a Sedimentary rock composed mainly of Sand -size Mineral or rock grains. Outcrop is a geological term referring to the appearance of Bedrock or Superficial deposits exposed at the surface of the Earth Many coal seams are present in the area, and the Cumberland Plateau has for many years been heavily mined. Mining is the extraction of valuable Minerals or other geological materials from the earth usually (but not always from an Ore body

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. The Pottsville Escarpment is a resistant Sandstone belt of cliffs and steep sided narrow crested valleys in eastern Kentucky, USA. The Bluegrass Region is a region of the United States, mostly in northern Kentucky, containing a majority of the state's population The Pennyroyal Plateau, or as it is more commonly called in Kentucky, the Pennyrile, is a large area of the state that features rolling hills Caves and In Geography and Geology, a cliff is a significant vertical or near vertical rock exposure For the song see CANYONMID. For the band see Canyon (band. A canyon (rarely cañon) or gorge "Natural Bridges" redirects here for the US National Monument see Natural Bridges National Monument. A waterfall is usually a geological formation resulting from water often in the form of a Stream, flowing over an Erosion -resistant rock 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. The Highland Rim is a geographic term for the area in Tennessee surrounding the Central Basin. The Nashville Basin is a term often used to describe the area surrounding Nashville Tennessee. Walden Ridge (or Walden's Ridge is a Mountain Ridge and Escarpment located in Tennessee, in the United States. Sand Mountain is a large Plateau in Northeastern Alabama and Northwestern Georgia which is a part of the southern tip of the Appalachian mountain chain 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. Sequatchie Valley is a relatively long and narrow valley in the U

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. The Commonwealth of Kentucky ( is a state located in the East Central United States of America. The Knobs region is in the United States of America in Kentucky. Black Mountain is the tallest mountain in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, USA, with a summit elevation of 4145 feet (1263 meters

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 physiographic regions of the world are a means of defining the Earth's landforms into distinct regions based upon Nevin Fenneman 's classic three-tiered approach of divisions The Appalachian Plateau is the western part of the Appalachian mountains, stretching from New York to Georgia and Alabama. The Appalachian Mountains ( often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. ^[1]

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. Sedimentary rock is one of the three main rock types (the others being igneous and Metamorphic rock) The Pennsylvanian is a subperiod of the Carboniferous period lasting from roughly   to  Ma (million years ago Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit The Appalachian Mountains ( often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. Some rock layers were laid down in shallow coastal waters, some, including bituminous coal seams were laid onshore in swampy environments. In Geology, rock is a naturally occurring aggregate of Minerals and/or Mineraloids The Earth's outer solid layer the ‘ Lithosphere Bituminous coal is a relatively soft Coal containing a tarlike substance called Bitumen. 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.

See also

• Geology of the Appalachians

Further reading

• Caudill, Harry M., Night Comes to the Cumberlands (1963). The geology of the Appalachians dates back to more than 480 million years ago Harry M Caudill (b Whitesburg, Kentucky, May 3, 1922; died November 29, 1990) was an American author historian ISBN 0-316-13212-8

References

External links

• The Kentucky Highlands Project
• Physiographic Regions of Tennessee
• Peakbagger Cumberland Plateau
• The Columbia Gazetteer of North America, Cumberland Plateau