EAST TENNESSEE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
April 2008 Meeting

Monday, April 14, 2008
6:00 - 7:30 pm

Pellissippi State Technical Community College
10915 Hardin Valley Road, Knoxville
J.L. Goins Administration Building, Cafeteria Annex

APRIL PRESENTATION

Pre-trip Presentation of the
Virginia Creeper Trail
Damascus, Virginia

Tony Tingle
Shaw Environmental, Inc.
Knoxville, Tennessee

Abstract

The Virginia Creeper Trail (VCT) is a former railroad bed that is now a multiple use trail that runs between Abingdon and Whitetop Mountain, VA and passes through the town of Damascus, VA along the way. Rail travel ceased in 1977 and after that time the rail bed was converted to recreational use. The 17 mile section of the VCT that will be traversed on the upcoming ETGS field trip begins high above Damascus near the North Carolina border on Whitetop Mountain. The trip will be run from bicycles, and honest, it is all downhill back to Damascus. Fortunately for geologists, this section of the VCT crosses several geologic boundaries and offers outcrops of the Mount Rodgers Formation, Konnarock Formation, as well as Late Cambrian sedimentary rocks of the Chilhowee Group (Unicoi, Hampton, and Erwin Formations). This pre-trip presentation will introduce the geologic setting and stratigraphy that will be included in the stops on the ride down.