1. ALABAMA GEOLOGY

2. North American can be divided into 8 distinct physiographic regions based on landscape features, which are mostly controlled by the geology of the regions.

3. Physiographic Hierarchy
Physiographic Regions are the largest landscape divisions recognized on a continent.  They are based on rock type and age, geologic structure and history and generally parallel major geologic units.   They can be thought of as the landscape divisions that can be seen from space: plains, mountain ranges, etc. 
Physiographic Provinces are components of Physiographic Regions and represent an area within a region whose pattern of relief features or landforms differs significantly from that of adjacent provinces.
Physiographic Sections are components of Physiographic Provinces based on geographic distribution.  
physiographic districts are components of Physiographic Sections based on local landforms

4. Physiographic Sections in Alabama
There are five sections in Alabama: three belongs to the Appalachian Highlands region; one to the Inland Plains and one to the Coastal Plain regions. 
Region: Atlantic Plain
Province: Coastal Plain 
Section: East Gulf Coastal Plain
Region: Appalachian Highlands
Province: Piedmont 
Section: Piedmont Upland
Province: Valley and Ridge
Section: Tennessee
Province: Appalachian Plateaus 
Section: Cumberland Plateau
Region: Interior Plains
Province: Interior Low Plateaus
Section: Highland Rim

5. Physiographic sections of Alabama.

6. Piedmont Districts
Northern Piedmont Upland
Southern Piedmont Upland

7. Piedmont Upland Section Deep soil horizon and saprolite,

8. Valley and Ridge “Tennessee Section”
Image of the Valley and Ridge showing zigzag ridges in bottom right.  Birmingham is top left.

9. Cumberland Plateau

10. Highland Rim Section

11. East Gulf Coastal Plain

12. ALABAMA’S GEOLOGIC HISTORY

15. Cambrian (505-542 mya) Early Cambrian Late Cambrian
No sedimentary rocks: Suggests land above Sea Level
Late Cambrian
Progressive rise in sea level
Alabama lay beneath warm shallow ocean
Rock Formations: Dolomite
Chilhowee, Shady, Knox Group, Copper Ridge

16. Ordovician (438-505 mya) Taconomic Orogeny
Alabama lay to the south or orogenic activity
Volcanic Eruptions
Covered millions of square miles, 1 to 2 meters thick
Alabama covered in shallow marine.
Rocks
limestone: Chickamauga, Knox Group
Bentonite clay: from volcanic eruption

18. Silurian (396-438 mya) Red Mountain Formation – Most Important
Iron Ore
Shale, Siltstone, Sandstone, Limestone, Hematite
Shallow seas still covered area

19. Devonian (350-396 mya) Marine Deposits Frog mountain sandstone
Chattanooga Shale

20. Mississippian (320-350 mya) Marine Deposits
Rocks responsible for cave formation
Rocks
Fort Payne Chert
Tuscumbia Limestone
Pride Mountain Formation
Hartselle Sandstone
Bangor Limestone

22. Pennsylvanian (286-320 mya) Coal Age Tropical Forests
Assemblage of Pangea
Birth of Southern Appalachians
“Alleghany Orogeny”
Rocks
Pennington, Parkwood, Pottsville Formations

23. Coal Cyclothem

25. Unconformity (286 – 144 mya missing)
Missing Formations
Permian, Triassic, Jurasic
Possible Cause
Alabama experiencing period of uplift, which lacked sedimentary deposits.

26. Cretacious (65-144 mya) Pangea Break-up Gulf of Mexico Forming
Warm Global Climate
Known for Chalk Deposits – Selma Chalk
Emile Landfill
3 sets of rocks
Tuscaloosa Group: Freshwater Deposits
Eutaw Formation: Marine sands and muds
Selma Chalk: Chalk & Marls
Cocoliths & Foraminifera
Wetumpka Impact

27. Emile Alabama

28. Emile Alabama

30. Paleogene/Neogene (65-Present)
Alabama Coastal Plains

31. ALABAMA’S POINTS OF INTEREST

32. Alabama State Parks

44. Wetumpka Impact Crater

45. Wetumpka Impact Crater

46. Wetumpka Impact Crater

47. Wetumpka Impact Crater
Location: East of Wetumpka
When: Cretaceous, 83 MYA
Size: Five mile wide crater created by object 1000 feet in diameter.
Evidence: 1) Sharply bent rocks pointing toward the center of the impact and 2) Shocked quartz
History
1891: State Geologist Eugene Allen Smith described area as structurally disturbed.
1972: Geological Survey of Alabama Geologist Tony Neathery noted a catastrophe had occurred, but source unknown.
1998: 2 well drilled by a research team from Auburn and Found shocked quartz.
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48. ALABAMA CAVES

49. Alabama Caves Desoto Caverns Manitou Cave Rickwood Caverns
Russell Cave
Sequoyah Caverns
Cathedral Caverns

50. AL/MS BARRIER ISLANDS

51. AL/MS Barrier Islands

53. Dauphin Island

54. Dauphin Island

55. Land-Loss Trends

56. Mobile Bay

57. Evolution of Mobile Bay

58. THE END