Pleistocene to present - About 2.6 million years ago to the present
Rivers and streams continue shaping Preston’s landscape
Long after the region’s rock layers formed and folded, rivers and streams have continued to erode them. The Cheat River, Preston County’s largest river, has carved a deep canyon and exposed soluble rocks, including limestone of the Greenbrier Formation. Groundwater has developed caves in these rocks, and sediments deposited within the caves preserve evidence that helps geologists reconstruct the river’s downward cutting. This period represents one chapter in an ongoing process, rather than a precise starting date for the canyon. The landscape visible today is one stage in a continuing history of change.
Research status
This entry has been checked against its named source.
The timeline wording accurately reflects the source listed below. This status does not necessarily mean the event has been independently corroborated against additional records.
Sources and further reading
Where this entry comes from
Springer, Kite, and Schmidt (1997), Cave sedimentation, genesis, and erosional history in the Cheat River Canyon, West Virginia — GSA Bulletin 109, 524–532; university record and abstract
Geological descriptions reviewed by Dr. Joe Lebold, West Virginia University.
Research notes
What the evidence establishes
The Pleistocene began about 2.6 million years ago; this epoch boundary is not an established origin date for the canyon. The local cave study examines a shorter interval within that history.
The study’s average incision estimate of 56.0–63.2 millimeters per thousand years is a long-term, study-area estimate. It does not imply steady annual erosion and should not be extrapolated to calculate the entire canyon’s age.
Modern place names locate the evidence; they do not imply that present-day communities or county boundaries existed at the time.
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