Re[2]: [at-l] Earthquake in Georgia

[Jim Bullard" <jbullar1@xxxxxxxxxxxx (Jim Bullard)]

I suspect you'd have to go to California to see recent up-thrusts and even
they aren't huge in the geologic sense. If they were, there wouldn't be much
left of California, at least in terms of the human infrastructure. One of
the things that we forget is that geologic time is very different from the
scale of human lifetime. I.E. The Adirondacks are getting taller right now
but we're only talking (if I remember correctly) about 1 centimeter per
decade. Now exactly a noticeable difference. There was an earthquake up here
that cracked some foundations and mangled a stretch of road
http://mae.ce.uiuc.edu/Archive/story/eqne02.htm but you don't see damage
walking in the woods. It seems that the damage from earthquakes is notable
mostly from damage to man made structures. Major visible damage to the
natural environment is more likely to result from storms. One of my favorite
waterfalls at the height of Avalanche Pass was obliterated in a landslide
after Hurricane Floyd. The heavy rains caused the thin soil to turn to slush
that slid down the mountainside and buried the floor of the Pass in 20-30
feet of debris. Before the slide the Pass had a beautiful grove of Yellow
Birch. After the slide the Pass looked like a war zone. Actually, it still
does several years later. It will take a long time for that area to grow
over and look "natural" again. The pre-slide waterfall can be seen at
http://www.jimbullard.org/Landscape.htm. A post-slide view of the Pass is at
http://www.jimbullard.org/avpass.jpg.

----- Original Message -----
From: "William Neal" <nealb@midlandstech.com>
To: "'Bob C.'" <ellen@clinic.net>; "AT-L List (E-mail)"
<at-l@mailman.backcountry.net>
Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2003 8:28 AM
Subject: RE: Re[2]: [at-l] Earthquake in Georgia


> I should have made myself clearer.  What I was refering to (and could not
> think of a better way to ask) was a place where you can see a major of
> violent earthquake's results.  Sometimes one side of a split is much
higher
> than the other side.
>
> Alsok, the Appalachians are the oldest chain of mountains in the world.
And
> they extended from around Alabama to Norway.  Today they are wore down to
> the point that some places are, more or less, flat, and some places are
> under the ocean.  Once they towered up to 50,000 to 60,000 feet.
>
> WOW!  Imagine hiking the AT if they were still that tall!  Of course there
> were times, it felt like they were that tall.
>
> William, The "Don't tell me it's only a foothill, it's the *E.D.* Mt.
> Everest." Turtle
> -- ED Expletive Deleted.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob C. [mailto:ellen@clinic.net]
> Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 3:16 PM
> To: William Neal
> Cc: 'Steve Landis'; AT-L List (E-mail)
> Subject: Re[2]: [at-l] Earthquake in Georgia
>
>
> >"...does anyone know if there are any MAJOR uplifts along the AT?"
>
> I understand the entire Appalachian system is the result of continents
> colliding
> creating the mountains, and separating again. In fact the International
> Appalachian Trail has been extended into Laborador, thus requiring a boat
> trip
> from Nova Scotia. Research indicates the same chain of mountains once
> continued
> into Scotland -- and maybe further. When the theory of colliding
continents
> first gains support 50+ years ago, some of the evidence was the similarity
> between the rocks along the northeastern Coast of Maine and rock
formations
> in
> north Africa.
>
>  Some of the basic research was by an amateur geologist who never went to
>  college, but ended up teaching at the University of Maine for years.
>
>  Weary
>
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