Stretching from the Catskills of New York to northern Alabama, the Appalachian Plateau is a broad uplift of horizontal, late Paleozoic sediments. The Plateau rose in concert with the southern Appalachian Mountains as North America and Africa collided; this occured during the assembly of Pangea, some 250 million years ago.
Today, the Plateau covers southwestern New York, western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, most of West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, central Tennessee and northeastern Alabama. Its component rock layers date from 350 to 250 million years ago (Mississippian, Pennsylvanian and Permian); the Pennsylvanian strata dominate across most of this province and harbor thick seams of coal. Numerous streams, dendritic in pattern, have carved the Plateau into a maze of ridges and valleys. Wild turkey, ruffed grouse, beaver and white-tailed deer typify the resident wildlife; black bear inhabit some portions of the Plateau.
In New York and northern Ohio, glaciation has obscured its northern and western margin but, from central Ohio southward, the western edge of the Plateau rises 500 feet or more above the Central Lowlands of the Midwest. In some areas, especially near Berea, Kentucky, a chain of knobs runs along the western edge, erosional remnants from the Plateau's original western boundary. Often called the Cumberland Plateau in southern Kentucky and Tennessee, the Appalachian Plateau gives way to the Ridge and Valley Province of the Appalachian Mountains on its east side. This boundary is especially conspicuous in Pennsylvania, where the "Allegheny Front" of the Plateau looms as a high wall to the west of the mountain ridges.
Today, the Plateau covers southwestern New York, western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, most of West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, central Tennessee and northeastern Alabama. Its component rock layers date from 350 to 250 million years ago (Mississippian, Pennsylvanian and Permian); the Pennsylvanian strata dominate across most of this province and harbor thick seams of coal. Numerous streams, dendritic in pattern, have carved the Plateau into a maze of ridges and valleys. Wild turkey, ruffed grouse, beaver and white-tailed deer typify the resident wildlife; black bear inhabit some portions of the Plateau.
In New York and northern Ohio, glaciation has obscured its northern and western margin but, from central Ohio southward, the western edge of the Plateau rises 500 feet or more above the Central Lowlands of the Midwest. In some areas, especially near Berea, Kentucky, a chain of knobs runs along the western edge, erosional remnants from the Plateau's original western boundary. Often called the Cumberland Plateau in southern Kentucky and Tennessee, the Appalachian Plateau gives way to the Ridge and Valley Province of the Appalachian Mountains on its east side. This boundary is especially conspicuous in Pennsylvania, where the "Allegheny Front" of the Plateau looms as a high wall to the west of the mountain ridges.
