Blue Ridge Mountains

Extending from Pennsylvania to Georgia in the eastern United States, the Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains. Known and named for their distinctive blue hue, the Blue Ridge Mountains are a major natural attraction in the United States. The mountain range is home to the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is often informally referred to as "America's Favorite Drive." Part of the Appalachian Trail, a scenic hiking-only trail that extends approximately 2,200 miles (3,540 kilometers) from Maine to Georgia, also runs through the Blue Ridge Mountains.

A volatile hydrocarbon compound known as isoprene is what gives the mountains their colorful appearance. Large quantities of isoprene are released by the temperate forests that line the mountain range. Isoprene reacts with other molecules when released into the atmosphere, creating a blanket of haze that appears blue when viewed from a distance.

Brief History

The Blue Ridge Mountains are one of the planet's oldest mountain chains. They are more than one billion years old, and the only mountains known to be older are the peaks of the Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa. As a point of comparison, the Blue Ridge Mountains are far more ancient than both the Rocky Mountains of western North America and the Himalayas of Asia. At the time of their original formation, the Blue Ridge Mountains contained some of the tallest peaks in the world.

One of the key events that led to the formation of the Blue Ridge Mountains was a prehistoric collision between the North American and African continental landmasses that occurred as the result of a natural activity known as plate tectonics. Plate tectonics is the modern incarnation of the continental drift theory, which was first proposed in the early twentieth century. It explains the incremental movements of the continental plates on Earth's surface that work over very long periods to create Earth's physical features.

Members of the Cherokee Native American tribe historically referred to the Blue Ridge Mountains as Sakohnagas, a name that also refers to the mountains' unique blue appearance. The Cherokee people are thought to have arrived in the mountains sometime during the fourteenth century, after which they established an agrarian society that also included the hunting and trapping of wild game. European pioneers arrived in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the middle decades of the eighteenth century, with people of German and Irish descent being the first to settle in the area. They were later joined by English settlers, who migrated into the mountains from eastern Virginia. At the time, the Blue Ridge Mountains were considered a remote frontier region of the thirteen original colonies.

As a young man, future founding father George Washington conducted a survey of the Blue Ridge Mountains on behalf of the colonies' British governors. The mountains were the site of the only fort constructed to resist Native American hostilities during the French and Indian War (1754–1763) and became the North American theater of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) between France and Great Britain. The Blue Ridge Mountains also hosted military fortifications during the American Civil War (1861–1865), some of which still stand today in the western part of Loudoun County, Virginia.

Overview

Geologists divide the Blue Ridge Mountains into two main zones: a northern section and a southern section, which are separated by the gap of the Roanoke River. Beginning as a narrow strip of highlands in Pennsylvania, the Blue Ridge Mountains expand in width as they extend south, reaching a maximum breadth of approximately 70 miles (112 kilometers) in North Carolina. Over the ages of geologic time, erosion has dramatically changed the face of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Once home to some of the loftiest peaks on Earth, the Blue Ridge Mountains' highest point in modern times is the summit of North Carolina's Mount Mitchell, which reaches a maximum elevation of 6,684 feet (2,037 meters).

The Blue Ridge Mountains contain numerous valuable resources, including deposits of gold, copper, marble, and talc. They are also home to what scientists consider one of the world's most diverse ecosystems of temperate plants, including more than 130 tree species and about 1,600 plant species. During the autumn, the mountains' tree population is well known for bursting into brilliant displays of color. The Blue Ridge Mountains are widely considered to host some of the most beautiful fall foliage in the United States. Peak foliage season typically begins in the middle of October and lasts until early November. The fauna of the Blue Ridge Mountains includes wild populations of black bears, boars, deer, grouse, turkeys, and many different species of songbirds in addition to thousands of different invertebrates, small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.

The Blue Ridge Mountains extend through the US states of Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. Tourism is one of the primary economic activities in the mountain range, with the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Appalachian Trail combining to draw large numbers of visitors from around the world each year. The Blue Ridge Parkway was built in 1935 and was created as a public works project to help stimulate the crippled American economy during the era of the Great Depression (1929–1939). The parkway runs from Shenandoah National Park in Virginia to Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Tennessee, following a winding 469-mile (755-kilometer) course through the scenic mountain peaks. Forty-seven National Heritage Areas and 382 scenic overlooks are located along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The Appalachian Trail is the longest hiking trail in the world. First conceived in the early 1920s, the Appalachian Trail was under construction by the 1930s and was completed in 1937. It traverses fourteen US states and attracts an estimated three million visitors each year. Sections of the Appalachian Trail roughly follow parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the 1,175-mile (1,891-kilometer) Mountains-to-Sea Trail runs through North Carolina's portion of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Bibliography

Blouin, Nicole, and Johnny Molloy. A Guide to the Natural Wonders of the Blue Ridge Mountains: Waterfalls of the Blue Ridge. Menasha Ridge Press, 2014.

"Blue Ridge Mountains History." Virginia's Blue Ridge, www.visitroanokeva.com/region/blue-ridge-mountains/history/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.

"Blue Ridge Parkway." National Park Service, www.nps.gov/blri/index.htm. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.

"Geographic Regions of Georgia." Georgia Info, georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/topics/geography/article/geographic-regions-of-Georgia. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.

"History of the Blue Ridge." Friends of the Blue Ridge Mountains, friendsofblueridge.org/our-mountains/mountains-history/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.

Morrison, Janet. The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Arcadia Publishing, 2014.

Quine, Katie. "Why Are the Blue Ridge Mountains Blue?" Our State, 2 Nov. 2015, www.ourstate.com/why-are-the-blue-ridge-mountains-blue/. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.

Seabrook, Charles. "Blue Ridge Mountains." New Georgia Encyclopedia, 29 July 2016, www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/geography-environment/blue-ridge-mountains. Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.