Appalachian Valley Region and later karst regions in the State of VirginiaThis map which appears on page 402 of Process Geomorphology (1995), authored by DaleF. Ritter, Craig R. Kochel, and Jerry R. Miller, serves as the basis for my report on the formation of the Appalachian Mountains and its later karst regions along the Atlantic coast of the United States, particularly in the state of Virginia. Shaded areas represent widespread karst regions across the United States. The state of Virginia is divided into five major physiological regions based on similar landscapes and relatively static climates, with each region as diverse as the next. From east to west they are respectively named, the Tidal water which extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the fall line, the Piedmont which lies to the east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the mountains Blue Ridge which extend exclusively to the eastern Appalachians, and finally the region of ridges and valleys of the Appalachian chain. In this article, I will pay particular attention to the formation of the Appalachian Mountains and the resulting karst regions in the western part of the state. “Ordovician mountain-building events in eastern North America are collectively called Tactonic Orogeny (Stanley, 318). » In short, three such orogenic events contributed to the formation of today's Appalachians. This was the first of three orogenic episodes that occurred when Laurentia, the North American craton, part of the continental crust, collided with Iapetus which is composed of oceanic crust. The resulting impact caused the mountains to the east to be uplifted. Over thousands of years, through the physical and chemical process...... middle of paper...... Ridgeand Valley Province of the Virginian Landscape. Hartley, 2003 Works Cited Hartley, Ralph. Memorial Day Grotto. 2003.Montgomery, Carla W. Environmental Geology 6th Edition. Northern Illinois University. McGraw Hill. New York. 2003.Patterson, JH North America, 9th edition. Oxford University Press. .New York, 1994Skyline Caverns. Virginia, United States.<int.stsci.edu/~jmaiz/caves/caves.html>Regions of Virginia. 2005. Ritter, F. Dale, Kochel, R. Craig, Miller R. Jerry. Process geomorphology 3rd edition.Wm. C. Brown Publishers. Boston. 1995. Stanley, Steven M. History of the Earth System, 2nd edition. Johns Hopkins University. WHFreeman & Co. New York, 2005Topographic map of Virginia. National Geographic Data Center.