Geologic Settings
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga is located within the
fold-and-thrust belt of the southern Appalachians. Carbonate and
siliciclastic sedimentary rocks of the Valley and Ridge Province underlie
the campus, and sandstones outcrop atop the Cumberland Plateaus, about 15
kilometers west of the campus. Metamorphic rocks of the Blue Ridge and the
Piedmont provinces and igneous rocks east of the mid-province of the Blue
Ridge are within half an hour to two hours trip from the main campus.
Excellent exposures of folds and faults (brittle and ductile) are likewise
located within 100 killometers of the campus.
