Geology: The Science of the Earth's Crust

by William J. Miller

We can, perhaps, best convey to the reader some of the main facts and principles regarding folded mountains by considering certain observations which may be readily made in a short trip across a folded range of not too complex kind—for example, across the Appalachian range along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, west of Washington, or the Pennsylvania Railroad, west of Philadelphia. It would be most evident that the mountains consist of strata, that is sedimentary rocks, such as sandstone, shale and limestone, which were deposited under water. A few measurements would reveal the fact that thousands of feet in thickness of strata are represented. Careful measurements by geologists have, in fact, shown that the strata were originally piled up layer upon layer to a thickness of 25,000 to 30,000 feet. The fact that they are strata of such great thickness proves that sediments must there have accumulated under water for some millions of years at least. Closer examination of a few good exposures (i.e., outcrops) would further reveal the presence of fossil shells and impressions of marine organisms, thus definitely leading us to conclude that the strata were accumulated under sea water, which, of course, means that the present site of the mountain range was once sea floor.

Examination of the rock materials also establishes the fact that the strata are such as were deposited in relatively shallow sea water—that is to say, none are at all of the sort which are now forming under really deep ocean water. Most of the strata represent original sands (and even gravels) and muds which could have accumulated only relatively near shore, that is within about 100 miles, which harmonizes with a statement made in a preceding chapter to the effect that very little land-derived sediment is at present depositing more than 100 miles out from shore. The coarse materials (sands and gravels) could not, of course, be carried many miles out, while many of the strata are covered with ripple marks, thus positively proving their shallow-water origin. We conclude, therefore, that the Appalachian strata are of marine, shallow-water origin. But we have already stated that these strata are at least 25,000 feet thick. How, then, do we reconcile these two seemingly paradoxical statements? All that is necessary is to realize that the floor of the shallow sea, in which the sediments eroded from adjacent land were being deposited, slowly, though more or less irregularly, subsided or sank during the long ages (millions of years) of their accumulation. It would carry us too far afield to really attempt an explanation of this remarkable type of geologic phenomenon, and it must suffice to suggest that, starting with the earth’s crust in equilibrium, the very weight of accumulating strata would tend to destroy that equilibrium and so cause subsidence.

In our trip across the mountains it would be strikingly evident that the strata are no longer in their original horizontal position, as they were piled up layer upon layer, but that they have been notably disturbed and thrown into folds ([Plate 7]), large and small, some masses of the strata having been bent upward (anticlines) and others downward (synclines). Such folded structures could have been developed only by a great force of lateral compression in the earth’s crust within the zone of flowage. Under compression the strata were mashed together, notably bent into curves (folds), and more or less upraised. It would also be readily observed that the main axes of the folds extend essentially parallel to the main trend of the mountain range, thus proving that the force of compression was exerted at right angles to the trend of the range.

Fig. 24.—Diagrammatic sections illustrating the development of a typical folded mountain range. Upper figure: A, the old land eroded to furnish sediments deposited under the adjacent sea at C. Middle figure: strata (C) folded as they would appear if unaffected by erosion, and a down-warp (B) between A and C. Lower figure: condition after profound erosion, and filling of B with sediment. (Drawn by the author.)

Using a biological analogy, a brief history of a typical folded mountain range may be stated as follows: First, there is the prenatal or embryonic stage when the materials of the range are gathering, that is when the sediments are piling up layer upon layer relatively near shore on a sinking sea bottom. Next comes the birth of the range when, due to the great lateral compressive force, the strata are thrown into folds and forced to appear above sea level, the range thus literally being born out of the sea. During the next, or youthful stage, the range grows (with increasing altitudes) because of continued application of the compressive force. Even during the youthful growing stage weathering and erosion attack the range and tend to reduce it. Then comes the stage of maturity, when the upbuilding (compressive) force and the tearing down (erosive) force about counterbalance each other. At this time the range has reached its maximum height and ruggedness of relief, with ridges and valleys higher and deeper than at any other time. The old-age stage sets in when the upbuilding power wanes or actually ceases, and erosion dominates or reigns supreme. Slowly but surely, unless there be a renewal by an upbuilding power, the range is cut down until little or nothing of it remains well above sea level, or, in other words, until a peneplain is developed. This last stage may truly be called the death of the range. Usually, however, some local portions of the disappearing range, which are more resistant or more favorably situated against erosion, are left standing to at least moderate heights above the general level of the plain of erosion.

The above normal order of events may be disturbed at any stage, especially after maturity, by renewed uplift when the streams are revived in activity and increased ruggedness results. Even after the whole range as a relief feature has been planed away, the site of the range may be uplifted and a new cycle of erosion started.

By the use of two well-known examples we shall not only illustrate the above principles of mountain history, but also show that no less than a few million years must be allowed for the growth and decay of a great folded range. During the last (Permian) period of the Paleozoic era the Appalachian strata began to buckle and the yielding to pressure continued till well into the succeeding (Triassic) period. The climax was reached about the close of the Permian. Then, throughout the Mesozoic era, erosion reduced the central Appalachians to a great plain (peneplain) near sea level, after which, about the beginning of the present (Cenozoic era), the site of the former range was distinctly upraised (without folding of the rocks), causing the revived streams to begin their work of carving out the present ridges and valleys, this work still being in progress.

In the case of the Sierra Nevadas, the strata were folded into a lofty mountain range relatively late in the Mesozoic era and, by the middle of the Cenozoic era, the old-age stage of erosion was well advanced when the range was not more than a few thousand feet high. Then (in the middle of the Cenozoic era) uplift, accompanied by faulting on a large scale, but not by folding, took place, and the range was notably rejuvenated to about its present height. All the remarkably deep canyons of the Sierras have been carved out since the rejuvenation.