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Introduction
North Carolina is a state in the southeastern part of the U.S (Mapquest) with a vast geological diversity ranging from the mountainous area of the Blue Ridge, the Deep River Basin to the Coastal Plain (Schissler). This geological diversity has made the state unique with most of its economic activity including tourism (Riggs et al 1) and mining (Reid and Taylor) revolving around the diverse natural endowments. This paper examines the effect of these geological features on the lives of the residents.
The geological diversity
North Carolina has a wide variety of geological features. The Blue Ridge area has beautiful features and broad biodiversity which is wider than that of the whole of Europe (Clark 4). The ridge was formed by a collision of the ancestral continental plates of North America and western Africa (Clark 6). Rocks of the Blue Ridge show evidence of the geological changes from the Greenville orogeny to the Paleozoic Alleghanian Orogeny (Stewart, Adams, and Trupe 1). Scholars have suggested that the biodiversity could have been caused by isolation by physical barriers during the Pleistocene glaciation (Soltis et al) but a phylogeographic study by Soltis et al shows that the diversity is too complex to have resulted from this isolation. The area has other geological features such as the Ocoee Basin and Volcanoes.
The Deep River Basin is another geological feature consisting of the Durham sub-basin, the Wadesboro sub-basin, and the Sanford sub-basin (Reid and Taylor), all of which have Triassic strata composed of three formations, Cumnock, Sanford, and Pekin.
The Coastal Basin of North Carolina has a broad geological Diversity with many rivers, swamps, estuaries, rocks, inlets, and beaches (Riggs et al 5).
Economic Activity and Social Life
The Blue Ridge area has the oldest recorded history of North Carolina. The Cherokees, an indigenous tribe, had long depended on the biodiversity of this area for medical purposes (Vick). Today, the economic activity in this area includes mining and tourism. There is also Gold which was discovered in 1829, which, unfortunately, led to the forcing out of the Cherokees to pave way for mining (Clark 15). The Copper Basin in the Ocoee Basin has copper, zinc, iron, and sulfur which are being exploited (Clark 6).
The Cumnock formation in the Deep River basin has organic black shale which contains coal and natural gas. Coal mining began in 1930. The Great Depression of the 1930s led many land-owning families to sell their mining rights to pay taxes (Reid and Taylor).
The Coastal basin’s geological features attract tourism and leisure activities for the locals. The river basins have good agricultural land. This region has the fastest population growth in North Carolina (Riggs et al 1).
Conservation
The coastal basin has experienced the greatest conservation problem of all regions in the state owing to the influx of human settlements and economic activity, the growing population, and a highly dynamic ecosystem. The area has also been experiencing the problem of a rising sea level which has put at risk the various economic activities and urban settlements along the coast (Riggs et al 5).
Conclusion
Residents of North Carolina have for long depended on the geological endowment of their state for most of their economic activity from the earliest settlements to date. These economic activities have made life relatively easier for the residents. The state is, however, facing environmental problems which call for better resource management.
Works Cited
Clark, Sandra H.B. “Birth of the Mountains.” United States Geological Survey (2001): 4-15. Web.
Mapquest. “Map of North Carolina.” MapQuest.com. 2012. Web.
Reid, Jeffrey C. and Taylor, Kenneth B. “Shale Gas Potential in Triassic Strata of the Deep River Basin, Lee and Chatham Counties, North Carolina with Pipeline and Infrastructure Data.” North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources. North Carolina Geological Survey. 2009. Web.
Riggs, S. R., Culver, S. J., Ames, D. V., Mallison, D. J., Corbett, D. R. and Walsh, J. P. “North Carolina’s Coast in Crisis: A Vision for the Future.” East Carolina University. (2008): 5. Web.
Schissler, George. “Geologic Events of the Carolinas and Beyond.” The Community Network of Western North Carolina. n.d. Web.
Soltis, Douglas E.; Morris, Ashley B.; McLachlan, Jason S.; Manos, Paul S.; Soltis, Pamela S. “Comparative phylogeography of unglaciated eastern North America.” Molecular Ecology 15.14 (2006): 4261-4293. Wiley Online Library. Web.
Stewart, Kevin G., Mark G. Adams and Charles H. Trupe. “Paleozoic Structure, Metamorphosis and Tectonics of the Blue Ridge of Western North Carolina.” Carolina Geological Society. (1997): 1. Web.
Vick, R. Alfred. “Cherokee adaptation to the landscape of the west and overcoming the loss of culturally cignificant plants.” The American Indian Quarterly 35.3(2011): 394. Literature Resource Center. Web.
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