On our way to a family wedding in South Carolina, my wife and I left Columbia this morning and drove eastward across the Glaciated Plain of Missouri. After crossing the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers in St. Louis, we angled southeastward across Illinois, eventually fording the Wabash River (a major tributary of the Ohio) before climbing across the Shawnee Hills of southern Indiana (capped with Pennsylvanian sandstone).
After crossing the Ohio River at Louisville, we drove eastward through the Bluegrass Region of northern Kentucky (underlaid with Ordovician Limestone), crossing the Kentucky River near Frankfort and again south of Lexington; the Kentucky flows northward to joint the Ohio. At Berea, we climbed onto the Appalachian Plateau (a layer cake of Carboniferous sediments) and crossed the Cumberland River (another tributary of the Ohio) in southern Kentucky. Entering Tennessee, we climbed across the Allegheny Front, the high, western edge of the Appalachian Plateau, and then dropped into the Ridge and Valley Province, crossing the Clinch River (a major tributary of the Tennessee) before reaching Knoxville.
We'll spend the night in Knoxville before continuing our journey to the Coast. Tomorrow we cross the Eastern Divide.
After crossing the Ohio River at Louisville, we drove eastward through the Bluegrass Region of northern Kentucky (underlaid with Ordovician Limestone), crossing the Kentucky River near Frankfort and again south of Lexington; the Kentucky flows northward to joint the Ohio. At Berea, we climbed onto the Appalachian Plateau (a layer cake of Carboniferous sediments) and crossed the Cumberland River (another tributary of the Ohio) in southern Kentucky. Entering Tennessee, we climbed across the Allegheny Front, the high, western edge of the Appalachian Plateau, and then dropped into the Ridge and Valley Province, crossing the Clinch River (a major tributary of the Tennessee) before reaching Knoxville.
We'll spend the night in Knoxville before continuing our journey to the Coast. Tomorrow we cross the Eastern Divide.
