Unique Lodging in the Smokies. Discover Things to Do in the Smoky Mountains. Attention: Weather and road conditions can vary greatly in different elevations. Click here or visit twitter. Discover Cataloochee Valley Nestled in Haywood County, Cataloochee Valley was once a populous settlement and mountain community and is perhaps now best known for elk, which were reintroduced in the valley in after disappearing from North Carolina in the late s as a result of over-hunting and loss of habitat.
Roosevelt dedicated the park. The smoke is actually produced by the vegetation in the area! The mountains are home to 19 species of firefly, but specifically it is home to the photinus carolinus, the only breed of firefly that is able to synchronize its bioluminescence. The fireflies usually sync together during their mating period in the summer. Due to increased interest, a lottery had to be established allowing a limited number of people to attend the event each year.
So keep your eye on the National Park website starting in April if you want a chance at seeing this extraordinary event. Did you know these facts about the Smoky Mountains? You can explore the Smokies during your stay at Chalet Village and maybe find some more new fascinating facts to share. The new rugged highlands, the ancient ancestors of the Smokies, were subjected to intense erosion from ice, wind, and water.
As mountain valleys were carved, tremendous quantities of eroded sediment were transported toward the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico by rivers and streams. Some of these sediments formed our Gulf of Mexico beaches.
As the mountains were worn down, the layers of rock most resistant to erosion were left to form the highest peaks in the Smokies, such as the hard metasandstone on top of Clingmans Dome. Most of the beautiful waterfalls in the park were formed where downcutting streams encountered ledges of very resistant metasandstone that erodes more slowly than the adjacent slate or metasiltstone.
Today, geologists estimate that the mountains are being eroded about two inches every thousand years. Plate Tectonics The earth's outer crust is composed of huge, continental-size plates, driven by heat from below, that continually shift position.
These moving plates grind past one another, collide into one another, and sometimes override one another. Also, where plate margins are separating or spreading apart, molten rock forces its way to the surface, solidifies and forms new crust.
Plate movement is just a few inches a year, but throughout geologic time, this movement and the resulting plate interactions have caused devastating earthquakes, spectacular volcanoes, and the uplift of high mountain chains.
The great thickness, variety, and distribution of rocks in Great Smoky Mountains National Park tell a fascinating story of continental-size plate tectonics spanning more than a billion years of earth history. The Rocks Metamorphosed sedimentary rocks are the dominant rock types in the park, but some igneous rocks also occur. Sedimentary rocks form through a cycle of erosion and deposition mostly in water. The eroded materials include cobbles, pebbles, sand, silt, and clay, or the accumulations of shells from ancient sea animals.
Igneous rocks solidify from melted rock or lava. Rocks become metamorphosed when they are subjected to heat and pressure, usually related to mountain building. Metamorphosed sandstone, siltstone, and shale, are most common in the park. However, metamorphosed limestone and dolomite are found in the Anakeesta Formation and unmetamorphosed limestone and dolomite are found on the floor of Cades Cove, below the Great Smoky fault. Siltstone metamorphosed at high temperatures and pressures forms schist, that is found in the eastern part of the park.
Metamorphosed granite and granitic gneiss are the oldest rocks in the park and they occur near Bryson City, Ela, and Cherokee, North Carolina.
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