Appalachian Mountains

"Appalachians" redirects here. For other uses, see Appalachian.

Appalachian Mountains
Appalachians
The Appalachian Mountains in the background with Penns Valley in Centre County, Pennsylvania in the foreground in October 2021
Highest point
PeakMount Mitchell in Yancey County, North Carolina, U.S.
Elevation6,684 ft (2,037 m)
Dimensions
Length2,050 mi (3,300 km)
Geography
Appalachian Mountains, including U.S. and Canadian portions
Countries
[1]
Province/ State
Geology
OrogeniesGrenvillle, Taconic, Acadian, Alleghanian
Rock age(s)Mesoproterozoic era (Stenian period)[4]–Paleozoic era (Permian period); 1.2 billion years ago to 300 million years ago

The Appalachian Mountains,[b] often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain. The general definition used is one followed by the United States Geological Survey and the Geological Survey of Canada to describe the respective countries' physiographic regions. The U.S. uses the term Appalachian Highlands and Canada uses the term Appalachian Uplands; the Appalachian Mountains are not synonymous with the Appalachian Plateau, which is one of the provinces of the Appalachian Highlands.

The Appalachian range runs from the Island of Newfoundland in Canada, 2,050 mi (3,300 km) southwestward to Central Alabama in the United States;[c] south of Newfoundland, it crosses the 96-square-mile (248.6 km2) archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, an overseas collectivity of France, meaning it is technically in three countries.[a][6] The highest peak of the mountain range is Mount Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet (2,037 m), which is also the highest point in the United States east of the Mississippi River.

The range is older than the other major mountain range in North America, the Rocky Mountains of the west. Some of the outcrops in the Appalachians contain rocks formed during the Precambrian era. The geologic processes that led to the formation of the Appalachian Mountains started 1.1 billion years ago. The first mountain range in the region was created when the continents of Laurentia and Amazonia collided, creating a supercontinent called Rodinia. The collision of these continents caused the rocks to be folded and faulted, creating the first mountains in the region.[4][7] Many of the rocks and minerals that were formed during that event can currently be seen at the surface of the present Appalachian range.[8] Around 480 million years ago, geologic processes began that led to three distinct orogenic eras that created much of the surface structure seen in today's Appalachians. [d] During this period, mountains once reached elevations similar to those of the Alps and the Rockies before natural erosion occurred over the last 240 million years leading to what is present today.[9]

The Appalachian Mountains are a barrier to east–west travel, as they form a series of alternating ridgelines and valleys oriented in opposition to most highways and railroads running east–west. This barrier was extremely important in shaping the expansion of the United States in the colonial era.[10]

The range is the home of a very popular recreational feature, the Appalachian Trail. This is a 2,175-mile (3,500 km) hiking trail that runs all the way from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, passing over or past a large part of the Appalachian range. The International Appalachian Trail is an extension of this hiking trail into the Canadian portion of the Appalachian range in New Brunswick and Quebec.


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  1. ^ "Saint Pierre and Miquelon". World Factbook. Retrieved August 15, 2023. the islands are actually part of the northern Appalachians along with Newfoundland
  2. ^ "International Appalachian Trail- Newfoundland". Iatnl.ca. Archived from the original on June 4, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
  3. ^ Cees R. van Staal, Mineral Deposits of Canada: Regional Metallogeny: Pre-Carboniferous tectonic evolution and metallogeny of the Canadian Appalachians Archived March 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Geological Survey of Canada website
  4. ^ a b Thomas, William A.; Hatcher, Jr., Robert D. (2021). "Southern-Central Appalachians-Ouachitas Orogen". Encyclopedia of Geology. 4 – via Elsevier Science Direct. The foundations of the Appalachian-Ouachita orogen were laid when the assembly of supercontinent Rodinia was completed. The collisional events were accompanied by high-grade metamorphism and magmatism during the Grenville orogeny in the time span of 1300–950 Ma.
  5. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
  6. ^ "Saint Pierre and Miquelon". World Factbook. Retrieved August 15, 2023. the islands are actually part of the northern Appalachians along with Newfoundland
  7. ^ Clark, Sandra H. B. (1996). Birth of the Mountains: The Geologic Story of the Southern Appalachian Mountains (PDF). United States Geologic Survey. p. 4. The rocks at the core of the Appalachian Mountains formed more than a billion years ago. At that time, all of the continents were joined together in a single supercontinent surrounded by a single ocean. Remnants of the supercontinent make up much of the North American core and are composed of minerals that are more than a billion years old.
  8. ^ Clark, Sandra H. B. (1996). Birth of the Mountains: The Geologic Story of the Southern Appalachian Mountains (PDF). United States Geologic Survey. p. 4. We can see fragments of the billion-year-old supercontinent ... at the surface in many places in the Appalachian Mountains.
  9. ^ "Geology of the Great Smoky Mountains". usgs. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  10. ^ Brown, Daniel. "Cumberland Gap: A new beginning". National Park Service. To the English settlers of North America the Appalachian Mountains formed an almost impenetrable geographic barrier.