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plain through the central and southern Atlantic states; and on the north-west, the Allegheny and Cumberland plateaus declining toward the Great Lakes and the interior plains. A remarkable feature of the belt is the See also:

LONGITUDINAL

longitudinal See also:

CHAIN (through the O. Fr. citable, chcene, &c., from Lat. catena)

chain of broad valleys—the Great Appalachian Valley—which, in the southerly sections divides the See also:

mountain system into two subequal portions, but in the northernmost lies west of all the ranges possessing typical Appalachian features, and separates them from the Adirondack See also:

GROUP

group. The mountain system has no See also:

AXIS (Lat. for " axle ")

axis of dominating altitudes, but in every portion the summits rise to rather See also:

UNIFORM

uniform heights, and, especially in the central section, the various ridges and intermontane valleys have the same trend as the system itself. None of the summits reaches the region of perpetual See also:

SNOW (in O. Eng. sndw; a common Indo-European word; cf. in Teutonic languages, Ger. Schnee, Du. sneeuw; in Slavonic snieg', Lith. snegas; Gr. vi4a, Lat. nix, nivis, whence the Romanic forms, Ital. neve, Fr. neige, &c.; Ir. and Gael. sneachd; the original

snow. Mountains of the See also:

Long Range in Newfoundland reach heights of nearly 2000 ft. In the Shickshocks the higher summits rise to about 4000 ft. See also:

ELEVATION

elevation. In Maine four peaks exceed 3000 ft., including Katandin (5200 ft.), See also:

MOUNT, WILLIAM SIDNEY (1807-1868)

Mount See also:

Washington, in the White Mountains (6293 ft.), See also:

Adams (5805), See also:

Jefferson (5725), See also:

Clay (5554), See also:

Monroe (539o), See also:

Madison (5380), See also:

LAFAYETTE

Lafayette (5269); and a number of summits rise above 4000 ft. In the Green Mountains the highest point, See also:

Mansfield, is 4364 ft.; See also:

Lincoln (4078), Killington (4241), See also:

CAMEL (from the Arabic Djemal or the Heb. Gamal)

Camel Hump (4088); and a number of other heights exceed 3000 ft. The Catskills are not properly included in the system.

The Blue Ridge, rising in southern See also:

Pennsylvania and there known as South Mountain, attains in that See also:

state elevations of about 2000 ft.; southward to the See also:

POTOMAC

Potomac its altitudes diminish, but 30 M. beyond again reach 2000 ft. In the Virginia Blue Ridge the following are the highest peaks See also:

east of New river: Mount See also:

WEATHER (O. Eng. weder; the word is common to Teutonic languages; cf. Du. weder, Dan. veir, Icel. ve8r, and Ger. Wetter and Gewitter, storm; the root is wa- to blow, from which is derived " wind ")

Weather (about 185o ft.), See also:

Mary's See also:

Rock (3523), Peeaks of See also:

Otter (4001 and 3875), Stony See also:

Man (4031), See also:

HAWKS, FRANCIS LISTER (1798-1866)

Hawks See also:

BILL

Bill (4066). In Pennsylvania the summits of the Valley Ridges rise generally to about 2000 ft., and in See also:

MARYLAND

Maryland See also:

EAGLE (Fr. aigle, from the Lat. aquila)

Eagle Rock and Dans Rock are conspicuous points reaching 3162 ft. and 2882 ft. above the See also:

sea. On the same See also:

side of the Great Valley, south of the Potomac, are the See also:

PINNACLE (from Lat. pinnaculum, a little feather, pinna; the Gr. rrspirylov, diminutive of irsipuE, wing, is also used in this sense)

Pinnacle (3007 ft.) and Pidgeon Roost (3400 ft.). In the southern section of the Blue Ridge are Grandfather Mountain (5964 ft.), with three other summits above 5000, and a dozen more above 4000. The Unaka Ranges (including the See also:

Black and Smoky Mountains) have eighteen peaks higher than 5000 ft., and eight surpassing 6000 ft. In the Black Mountains, See also:

Mitchell (the culminating point of the whole system) attains an See also:

ALTITUDE (Lat. altitudo, from altus, high)

altitude of 6711 ft., See also:

BALSAM (from Gr. f &X raµov, through Lat. balsamum, contracted by popular use to O. Fr. basme, mod. Fr. bdme; Eng. balm)

Balsam See also:

CONE (Gr. Kwvos)

Cone, 6645, Black See also:

BROTHERS, RICHARD (1757-1824)

Brothers, 669o, and 662o, and Hallback, 6403. In the Smoky Mountains we have Cling-man's See also:

PEAK, THE

Peak (6611), See also:

Guyot (6636), See also:

Alexander (6447), Leconte (6612), See also:

Curtis (6588), with several others above 6000 and many higher than 5000. In spite of the existence of the Great Appalachian Valley, the See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master streams are transverse to the axis of the system. The See also:

main See also:

WATERSHED

watershed follows a tortuous course which crosses t1he mountainous belt just north of New river in Virginia; south of this the See also:

rivers See also:

head in the Blue Ridge, See also:

CROSS

cross the higher Unakas, receive important tributaries from the Great Valley, and traversing the Cumberland Plateau in spreading See also:

GORGES, SIR FERDINANDO (c. 1566-1647)

gorges, See also:

ESCAPE (in mid. Eng. eschape or escape, from the O. Fr. eschapper, modern echapper, and escaper, low Lat. escapium, from ex, out of, and cappa, cape, cloak; cf. for the sense development the Gr. iichueoOat, literally to put off one's clothes, hence to sli

escape by way of the Cumberland and See also:

TENNESSEE

Tennessee rivers to the See also:

OHIO

Ohio and See also:

MISSISSIPPI

Mississippi, and thus to the Gulf of See also:

Mexico; in the central section the rivers, rising in or beyond the Valley Ridges, flow through great gorges (See also:

WATER

water gaps) to the Great Valley, and by south-easterly courses across the Blue Ridge to tidal estuaries penetrating the coastal plain; in the northern section the water-parting lies on the inland side of the mountainous belt, the main lines of drainage See also:

RUNNING

running from north to south. See also:

GEOLOGY (from Gr. yp7, the earth, and Abyor, science)

Geology.—The rocks of the Appalachian belt fall naturally into two divisions; See also:

ancient (pre-See also:

CAMBRIAN

Cambrian) crystallines, including See also:

MARBLES

marbles, See also:

SCHISTS (Gr. vxq'ecv, to split)

schists, gneisses, granites and other massive igneous rocks, and a great See also:

SUCCESSION (Lat. successio, from succedere, to follow after)

succession of Paleozoic sediments. The crystallines are confined to the portion of the belt east of the Great Valley where Paleozoic rocks are always highly metamorphosed and occur for the most See also:

PART

part in limited patches, excepting in New England and Canada, where they assume greater areal importance, and are besides very generally intruded by granites.

The Paleozoic sediments, ranging in See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age from Cambrian to See also:

PERMIAN

Permian, occupy the Great Valley, the Valley Ridges and the plateaus still farther west. They are rarely metamorphosed to the point of recrystallization, though locally shales are altered to roofing slates, sandstones are indurated, limestones slightly marblized, and coals, originally bituminous, are changed to See also:

ANTHRACITE (Gr. avOpaE, coal)

anthracite in northern Pennsylvania, and to See also:

GRAPHITE

graphite in Rhode See also:

ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

Island. Igneous intrusions consist only of unimportant dikes of See also:

TRAP (0. Eng. treppe or traepee, properly a step, as that or which an animal places its foot and is caught, cf. Ger. Treppe flight of stairs)

trap. The most striking and uniformly characteristic geologic feature of the mountains is their See also:

INTERNAL

internal structure, consisting of innumerable parallel, long and narrow folds, always closely appressed in the eastern part of any cross-section (See also:

PIEDMONT (Ital. Piemonte; Low Lat. Pedemons and Pedemontium)

Piedmont Plateau to Great Valley), less so along a central zone (Great Valley and Valley Ridges), and increasingly open on the west (Allegheny and Cumberland Plateaus). Asymmetry of the folds is a marked characteristic in the zones of closer folding, the anticlines having long gently inclined easterly limbs, and See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short, steep and even .overturned limbs upon the west. The effect of such folds is often exaggerated by thrusts, and faulting of this sort is prominent in the southern section, where the existence of over-thrusts measured by several See also:

MILES, NELSON APPLETON (1839— )

miles has been established. What may be termed the ancestral Appalachian system was formed during the See also:

POST

post-carboniferous revolution, though certain of its elements had been previously outlined, and perhaps at different See also:

DATES

dates. Folding of the rocks resulted from the operation of great compressive forces acting tangentially to the figure of the See also:

earth. Extensive and deep-seated crumpling was necessarily accompanied by See also:

VERTICAL (from Lat. vertex, highest point)

vertical uplift throughout the zone affected, but once at least since their See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth the mountains have been worn down to a See also:

LOWLAND

lowland, and the mountains of to-See also:

day are the combined product of subsequent uplift of a different sort, and See also:

DISSECTION (from Lat. dissecare, to cut apart)

dissection by erosion. Produced by long-continued subaerial decay and erosion, in later Cretaceous times this lowland extended from the Atlantic Ocean well toward the interior of North America; since then the whole See also:

CONTINENT (from Lat. continere, "to hold together "; hence " connected," " continuous ")

continent has been generally elevated, and by successive steps the Appalachian belt has been raised to See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form a wide but relatively See also:

low See also:

arch. The crosswise courses of the greater rivers result from the rivers being older than the mountains, which indeed have been produced by circumdenudation. The master streams of the See also:

PRESENT

present have inherited their channels from the drainage systems of the Cretaceous lowland, and though raised athwart the courses of the lowland See also:

TRUNK (Fr. tronc, Lat. truncus, cut off, maimed)

trunk streams the great arch was See also:

DEVELOPED

developed so slowly that these channels could be maintained through pari passu deepening.

Former tributaries have given See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place to others developed with reference to the See also:

DISTRIBUTION (Lat. distribuere, to deal out)

distribution of more or less easily eroded strata, the present longitudinal valleys being determined by the out-See also:

CROP (a word common. in various forms, such as Germ. Kropf, to many Teutonic languages for a swelling, excrescence, round head or top of anything; it appears also in Romanic languages derived from Teutonic, in Fr. as troupe, whence the English " crupper "

crop of soft shales or soluble limestones, and the parallel ridges upheld by hard sandstones or schists. See also:

PARALLELISM, PSYCHOPHYSICAL

Parallelism of mountain ridges and intervening valleys is thus attributable to the folding of the rocks, but the origin of the interior structure of the mountains is to be kept distinct from the origin of the mountains as features of See also:

topography. See also:

FLORA

Flora and See also:

FAUNA

Fauna.—Much of the region is covered with See also:

FOREST

forest yielding quantities of valuable See also:

TIMBER

timber, especially in Canada and northern New England. The most valuable trees for See also:

LUMBER

lumber are spruce, white See also:

PINE (Lat. Pinus, Gr. srlrur)

pine, See also:

HEMLOCK (in O. Eng. hemlic or hymlice; no cognate is found in any other language, and the origin is unknown)

hemlock, See also:

CEDAR (Lat. cedrus, Gr. iapos)

cedar, white See also:

birch, ash, mapleand basswood; all excepting pine and hemlock and See also:

poplar in addition are ground into See also:

wood pulp for the manufacture of See also:

paper. In the central and southern parts of the belt See also:

OAK (O. Eng., (lc)

oak and See also:

HICKORY

hickory constitute valuable hard See also:

woods, and certain varieties of the former furnish quantities of tan bark. The See also:

TULIP (Tulipa)

tulip See also:

tree produces a See also:

GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good clear lumber known as white wood or poplar, and is also a source of pulp. In the south both white and yellow pine abounds. Many flowering and See also:

FRUIT (through the French from the Lat. fructus; frui, to enjoy)

fruit-bearing shrubs of the See also:

heath See also:

FAMILY

family add to the beauty of the mountainous districts, See also:

RHODODENDRON

rhododendron and kalmia often forming impenetrable thickets. Bears, mountain lions (pumas), See also:

WILD, JONATHAN (c. 1682-1725)

wild See also:

CATS, JACOB (1577-1660)

cats (See also:

LYNX (Lat. Lynx, Gr. airy, probably connected with X hovewv, to see)

lynx) and wolves haunt the more remote fastnesses of the mountains; foxes abound; See also:

deer are found in many districts and See also:

MOOSE

moose in the north. See also:

INFLUENCE (Late Lat. influentia, from influere, to flow in)

Influence on II istory.—For a See also:

CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century the Appalachians were a barrier to the westward expansion of the See also:

ENGLISH

English colonies; the continuity of the system, the bewildering multiplicity of its succeeding ridges, the tortuous courses and roughness of its transverse passes, a heavy forest and dense undergrowth all conspired to hold the settlers on the seaward-sloping plateaus and coastal plains. Only by way of the Hudson and See also:

MOHAWK

Mohawk valleys, and See also:

ROUND (O. Fr. rond, Lat. rotundus, the Fr. is the source also of Du. rond; Ger., Swed., Dan. and Nor. rond)

round about the southern termination of the system were there easy routes to the interior of the See also:

COUNTRY (from the Mid. Eng. contre or contrie, and O. Fr. cuntree; Late Lat. contrata, showing the derivation from contra, opposite, over against, thus the tract of land which fronts the sight, cf. Ger. Gegend, neighbourhood)

country, and these were long closed by hostile See also:

ABORIGINES

aborigines and jealous See also:

French or See also:

SPANISH

Spanish colonists. In eastern Pennsylvania the Great Valley was accessible by See also:

REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason of a broad gateway between the end of South Mountain and the Highlands, and here in the See also:

Lebanon Valley settled See also:

German Moravians, whose descendants even now retain the See also:

PECULIAR

peculiar See also:

PATOIS

patois known as " Pennsylvania Dutch." These were See also:

LATE

late comers to the New See also:

WORLD

World forced to the frontier to find unclaimed lands.

With their followers of both German and Scotch-Irish origin, they worked their way southward and soon occupied all of the Virginia Valley and the upper reaches of the Great Valley tributaries of the Tennessee. By 1755 the obstacle to westward expansion had been thus reduced by See also:

HALF

half; outposts of the English colonists had penetrated the Allegheny and Cumberland plateaus, threatening French See also:

MONOPOLY (Gr. govomeXla or govoircaXwv, exclusive sale, from govds, alone, and irwXeiv, to sell)

monopoly in the transmontane region, and a conflict became inevitable. Making See also:

COMMON

common cause against the French to,letermine the See also:

CONTROL (Fr. contrdle, older form contre rolle, from Med. Lat. contra-rotulus, a counter roll or copy of a document used to check the original; there is no instance in English of the use of " control " in this, its literal, meaning)

control of the Ohio valley, the unsuspected strength of the colonists was revealed, and the successful ending of the French and See also:

INDIAN

Indian See also:

War extended England's territory to the Mississippi. To this strength the geographic See also:

ISOLATION

isolation enforced by the Appalachian mountains had been a See also:

PRIME, PRIMER AND PRIMING

prime contributor. The confinement of the colonies between an ocean and a mountain See also:

wall led to the fullest occupation of the coastal border of the continent, which was possible under existing conditions of See also:

agriculture, conducing to a community of purpose, a See also:

POLITICAL

political and commercial solidarity, which would not otherwise have been developed. As See also:

early as 1700 it was possible to ride from See also:

Portland, Maine, to southern Virginia; sleeping each See also:

NIGHT

night at some considerable See also:

VILLAGE

village. In contrast to this See also:

COMPLETE

complete See also:

INDUSTRIAL

industrial occupation, the French territory was held by a small and very scattered See also:

POPULATION (Lat. populus, people; populare, to populate)

population, its extent and openness adding materially to the difficulties of a disputed See also:

TENURE (Fr. tenure, from Lat. tenere, to hold)

tenure. Bearing the brunt of this contest as they did, the colonies were undergoing preparation for the subsequent struggle with the See also:

home See also:

government. Unsupported by See also:

SHIPPING

shipping, the See also:

AMERICAN

American armies fought toward the sea with the mountains at their back protecting them against See also:

INDIANS, NORTH AMERICAN

Indians leagued with the See also:

BRITISH

British. The few settlements beyond the Great Valley were See also:

FREE

free for self-See also:

defence because debarred from general participation in the conflict by reason of their position. See the See also:

SEPARATE

separate articles on the states, and also the following references:—Topographic maps and Geologic Folios of the United States See also:

GEOLOGICAL

Geological Survey; See also:

Bailey See also:

Willis, " The Northern Appalachians," and C. W.

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