Exploring the Geology of the Carolinas: A Field Guide to Favorite Places from Chimney Rock to Charleston »

Kevin G. Stewart is associate professor of geological sciences at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Mary-Russell Roberson is a freelance writer living in Durham, North Carolina.

This book pairs a brief geological history of the N.C./S.C. region with 31 field trips to easily accessible, often familiar sites in both states where readers can observe firsthand the evidence of geologic change found in rocks, river basins, mountains, waterfalls, and coastal land formations. Geologist Stewart and science writer Roberson begin by explaining techniques geologists use to "read" rocks, the science of plate tectonics, and the formation of the Carolinas. The field trips that follow are arranged geographically by region, from the Blue Ridge to the Piedmont to the Coastal Plain.

Preface     ix
Acknowledgments     xi
How to Use this Book     xiii
The Changing Face of the Carolinas over Geologic Time     1
How to Read Rocks     6
Adding to the Body of Geologic Knowledge     18
Geologic Time     27
The Geologic History of the Carolinas     31
Field Trips: Map of the field-trip locations     46
The Blue Ridge
Chimney Rock Park: Stretched, Folded, Cracked, and Faulted     49
DuPont State Forest: Waterfalls Galore     56
Whiteside Mountain: A Geologic Puzzle     62
Grandfather Mountain: From Valley to Peak in 750 Million Years     68
Linville Falls: Falls, Faults, and Geologic Windows     75
Mount Mitchell State Park: Which Peak Is the Tallest and Why     81
Stone Mountain State Park: A Beautiful Bare Mountain     90
Woodall Shoals: Beautiful Rocks That Have Been Through a Lot     97
Caesars Head and Table Rock State Parks: The View from the Blue Ridge Escarpment     102
The Piedmont
South Mountains State Park: Stuck between a Continent and a Hard Place     113
Crowders Mountain State Park: A Mountain of Quartz and Blue Daggers     121
Reed Gold Mine: The Glory Days of Gold     127
Pilot Mountain State Park: Beach Sands in a Mountain     135
Morrow Mountain State Park: A Beautiful Quarry     143
Occoneechee Mountain State Natural Area: A Mine with a View     151
The Museum of Life and Science and Penny's Bend: Diabase Sills in the Durham Triassic Basin     156
Landsford Canal State Park: Transportation and Geology     164
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences: Gems and Meteorites     170
Raven Rock State Park: Everything's Happening at the Fall Zone     178
Medoc Mountain State Park: Granite and Grapes     185
Forty Acre Rock: The Battle between Rock and the Forces of Erosion     190
The Coastal Plain
The Roanoke River: From the Mountains to the Sea     199
Sugarloaf Mountain in Sand Hills State Forest: Sand and Longleaf     208
Cliffs of the Neuse State Park: Under the Sea     215
Santee State Park: Mule-Eating Sinkholes     220
Jones Lake State Park: The Mystery of the Carolina Bays     224
Flanner Beach: The Rise and Fall of Sea Level     232
Jockey's Ridge State Park: A Mountain of Sand     238
Oregon Inlet: The Fickle Nature of Barrier Islands and Inlets     247
Carolina Beach State Park: Sugarloaf, Shells, and Sinkholes     254
Colonial Dorchester State Historic Site: The Charleston Earthquake of 1886     260
Glossary     267
Additional Resources     281
Index     285