Table of Contents
Acknowledgments x
Introduction 1
Geology Determines Landscape 2
Plate Tectonics 3
Georgia's Five Landscape Provinces 6
Sedimentation 10
Geologic Timescale 12
A Word about Collecting 14
Sea Islands 15
Longshore Drift and Tides 15
Beaches 17
Marshes 20
Ancient and Modern Shorelines 21
Road Guides of the Sea Islands 21
US 80: Savannah-Tybee Island 21
North Beach Area 25
South Beach Area 25
Wassaw Island and Sapelo Island 27
Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary 31
St. Simons Island and Its Neighbors 31
Jekyll Island 37
Cumberland Island National Seashore 42
Coastal Plain 47
Sedimentary Formations 47
Physiographic Districts 52
Fall Line Hills 52
Fort Valley Plateau 53
Vidalia Upland 54
Tifton Upland and Valdosta Limesink Districts 55
Dougherty Plain 55
Bacon Terraces 56
Barrier Island Sequence District 57
Okefenokee Basin 57
Landforms 60
Pleistocene Sand Dune Fields 60
The Mysterious Carolina Bays 60
Orangeburg Escarpment 62
Pelham Escarpment 62
It Came from Outer Space 63
Fossils 64
Sharks and Other Fish 66
Marine Reptiles 66
Dinosaurs and other Reptiles 67
Pleistocene-Age Vertebrates 68
Kaolin Deposits 69
Heavy Mineral Sand 73
Road Guides of the Coastal Plain 74
US 27: Columbus-Florida State Line 74
Providence Canyon State Outdoor Recreation Area 76
Lumpkin to Florida State Line 78
1-75: Macon-Florida State Line 80
Georgia 49: Byron-Americus 84
Andersonville and Bauxite 86
Georgia 24: Milledgeville-Waynesboro 89
Kaolin Mines 89
Kaolin Processing Facility 91
Tennille Lime Sinks 91
Hidden Basins 92
Sandersville to Waynesboro 94
Shell Bluff 96
I-16: Macon-Savannah 96
US 341: Fall Line-Brunswick 100
Oaky Woods Wildlife Management Area 103
Perry to McRae 103
Little Ocmulgee State Park 105
McRae to Hazlehurst 105
Broxton Rocks Preserve 106
Hazlehurst to Jesup 107
Griffin Ridge Wildlife Management Area 108
Jesup to Brunswick 108
US 1: South Carolina State Line-Florida State Line 108
Ohoopee Dunes Natural Area 110
Swainsboro to Waycross 110
Okefenokee Swamp Park 111
Trail Ridge 112
US 82: Alabama State Line-Brunswick 113
Albany and the Flint River 113
Radium Springs 115
Albany to Brunswick 116
I-95: South Carolina State Line-Florida State Line 117
Valley and Ridge and Appalachian Plateau 121
The Landscape in Relation to Anticlines and Synclines 122
Sedimentary Rocks and Ancient Geography 126
Fossils 128
Fossils of Cambrian Age 128
Fossils of Ordovician Age 128
Fossils of Mississippian Age 130
Fossils of Pennsylvanian Age 130
Road Guides of the Valley and Ridge and Appalachian Plateau 133
I-24 and 1-59: Tennessee State Line-Alabama State Line 133
I-75: Tennessee State Line-Cartersville (US 411) 137
Ringgold Gap 137
Tunnel Hill to Dalton 141
Rocky Face Mountain at Dug Gap 142
Resaca to Cartersville 143
Cartersville Mining District 145
Ladds Quarry and Etowah Mounds 148
GA 136: Alabama State Line-Carters Dam 149
Cloudland Canyon State Park 150
Lookout Mountain to Carters Dam 153
GA 157: Tennessee State Line-Cloudland 159
Rock City Gardens 159
Along Lookout Mountain 161
US 27: Tennessee State Line-Cedartown 164
Chickamauga Battlefield 166
Chickamauga to Gore 168
Chattanooga Shale 168
Gore to Cedartown 170
Cave Spring 171
Slate Quarry near Cedartown 172
Blue Ridge-Piedmont 175
Premetamorphic Character of the Blue Ridge-Piedmont Rocks 175
Metamorphism 176
Igneous Intrusions 179
Weathering 179
The Patchwork of Terranes Assembled in Paleozoic Time 181
Earthquakes Due to Human Activity 185
Pull-Apart Activity during the Mesozoic Era 188
The Dahlonega Gold Belt: A Terrane Discovered by Prospectors 190
Road Guides of the Blue Ridge-Piedmont 191
I-20: Alabama State Line-Austell 191
Pine Mountain Gold Museum 193
Villa Rica to Lithia Springs 193
I-75: Cartersville (US 411)-Kennesaw 195
Cooper's Furnace Day Use Area and Allatoona Dam 197
Lake Allatoona and Red Top Mountain State Park 199
Allatoona Lake to Kennesaw 200
GA 5 (I-575 and GA 515 in part): Tennessee State Line-Kennesaw 201
Blue Ridge to Jasper 203
Marble Mining District 204
Ball Ground to Kennesaw 208
GA 52: Chatsworth-Lula 209
Fort Mountain State Park 212
Fort Mountain to Amicalola Falls 213
Amicalola Falls State Park 214
Amicalola Falls to Lula 216
US 19: North Carolina State Line-Cumming 217
Brasstown Bald 217
Blairsville to Dahlonega 219
Dahlonega 220
Dahlonega to Cumming 221
GA 17 (GA 385 and Alt GA 17 in part): Hiawassee-Toccoa 223
Smithgall Woods State Park 223
Unicoi State Park and Anna Ruby Falls 223
Helen to Toccoa 225
US 23/US 441 (becoming I-985/US 23): North Carolina State Line-Lake Lanier 227
Black Rock Mountain State Park 229
Clayton to Tallulah Falls 229
Tallulah Gorge State Park 231
Tallulah Falls to I-85 233
Lake Lanier and Buford Dam 233
I-85: South Carolina State Line-1-985 (near Atlanta) 235
Hurricane Shoals Park 235
Nodoroc 235
Earthquakes at Dacula 236
US 78: Snellville-Thomson 236
Athens 236
Athens to Washington 238
Graves Mountain 238
Lincolnton Metadacite 239
Washington to Thomson 240
GA 72: Athens-South Carolina State Line 241
Watson Mill Bridge State Park 241
Elberton 243
Georgia Guidestones 245
Elberton to the South Carolina State Line 246
I-185: LaGrange-Columbus 247
GA 85: Atlanta-Columbus 249
The Cove 249
Warm Springs and Little White House Historic Site 253
F. D. Roosevelt State Park 256
Sprewell Bluff State Outdoor Recreation Area 257
Manchester to Columbus 259
Flat Rock Park 260
The Fall Line and Rocky Shoals at Columbus 260
I-75: Atlanta-Macon 262
Indian Springs State Park 264
Barnesville and Thomaston Area 264
High Falls State Park 264
Forsyth to Macon 267
I-20: Atlanta-Augusta 267
Appling Granite at Heggies Rock 272
Augusta 274
US 441/GA 24: Madison-Milledgeville 276
Rock Eagle 276
Milledgeville 277
Around Atlanta 278
Parks of Geologic Interest 281
Stone Mountain Park 281
Panola Mountain State Park 286
Davidson-Arabia Nature Preserve 286
Boat Rock Preserve 289
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park 290
Sweetwater Creek State Park 290
Quarries and Road Cuts 291
Gneiss and Schist 292
Quartzite 295
Amphibolite 295
Soapstone Ridge 296
Mylonite 297
Appendix: Museums and Exhibits 299
Glossary 305
References 319
Index 329
