EEPS 9 9 Appalachian Highlands Folded sincline Narrow parallel curving bands of steeply inclined old rock Highly deformed in most places Mix of igneous metamorphic and sedimentary rocks Topographically high Precambrian and early Paleozoic geology 1 Collisional mountain building at 1 1 billion years ago created a huge mountain range Part of this event made large volumes of granite that forms the root of the mountain and the rocks of the future Blue Ridge Sub province 2 Rifting at about 600 Million years ago broke this mountain range apart Early Paleozoic Passive Margin 3 Following rifting a passive margin developed on the edge of north America Only a short time later these rocks would later become folded to become the Valley and ridge sub province during collision Nore that advancing volcano and deep ocean basin these become the piedmont sub province Beginning in the early to middle Paleozoic volcanic island chains encroached on the passive margin folding and faulting them into the Valley and Ridge Sub province we see today and subduction related granitic plutonism The collision accreted the volcanic islands and squeezed up deep sea sediments both of which comprise the Piedmont Also faulting brought up slices of the old Precambrian granite from great depths which we now see as the Blue Ridge Sub province Raising of the mountains from this collision provided a source of sediments that accumulated on the west side of the mountains which became the Appalachian Plateau Sub province Geologic structures in Appalachian Highlands National Parks formed by collisional tectonics collision during the paleozoic generates the different subdivisions of seen in national parks in the Appalachian Highlands Province Piedmont Blue Ridge Valley and Ridge Plateau Hanging wall goes up reverse fault Hanging wall goes down normal fault Piedmont deformed and metamorphosed deep sea mud and volcanic rocks Ouachita Highlands Remobilized silica rich sea floor rocks Location where the chert has started to dissolve via erosion and it the silica and oxygen become part of the water makes quarts