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WVGES: Physiographic Provinces and Bedrock Geology — regional Greenbrier deposition at about 330 million years ago

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Mississippian - About 330 million years ago · Countywide

Ancient seas leave limestone beneath the future county

Long before Preston County existed, a shallow tropical sea spread across the region. Sediment accumulating in this marine setting became the limestone-rich Greenbrier Formation. These ancient layers remain part of the county’s deeper bedrock, exposed only in places where folding lifted the rocks and rivers later cut deep valleys. They connect the landscape of today with a time when this area lay beneath the sea.

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    WVGES: Physiographic Provinces and Bedrock Geology — regional Greenbrier deposition at about 330 million years ago

    Visit source ↗ (wvgs.wvnet.edu)
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Pleistocene to present - About 2.6 million years ago to the present · Countywide

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: Verified to source

  • Additional source

    WVGES: Physiographic Provinces and Bedrock Geology — regional Greenbrier deposition at about 330 million years ago

    Visit source ↗ (wvgs.wvnet.edu)
Read full entry and research notes →