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It is beyond amazement that the 2 oldest rivers in the world flow through North Carolina. The oldest, of course, being the Finke River in Australia, 2nd is the New River, 320 miles long, which flows alongside highway 16 south of West Jefferson on it's way from W. V. so I was excited to read today that we have the 3rd oldest river also! I was not aware the French Broad was the 3rd oldest. This is truly fabulous to know.

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I know - fascinating, right?! Comes from living near/in such ancient mountains as the Smokies. Barbara, I looked back at my notes after publishing and realized it was a question you posted in a much earlier issue that made me wonder about the age of the New River, so thank you for that!

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I was hitting 'like' and it wouldn't register so I am writing LIKE! LOL Have a great day

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Absolutely fascinating! I feel very much like your river: old and slow moving! This is a great essay.

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Thanks so much, Michael! It was fun to write -- I always love to discover something amazing about a subject that I was recently taking for granted...

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Fascinating stuff Heather. I love the way you've explained what could be quite a technical and complex subject in such simple terms. I'm off to read up more about my local rivers. Thanks.

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340 million years old. Wow! I wonder if it moved around a bit during all that upheaval...I wonder thinking about flood plains and such. Speculating maybe 10s of miles in places...I wonder if traces of river bed can be found on what are now mountainsides today.

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One characteristic of old rivers like the French Broad is lots of flood plains from so many years of shifting locations, so I would imagine it has moved a good bit. As for how far, that's a good question -- could it move 5 or 10 miles over time? The recent flood is just one of many times the river has overflowed its banks -- but with human obstacles in the way (parking lots, restaurants, River Districts) it may be harder to see the river move. I'm sure a geologist could look in the mountains and find echoes of the old riverbed nearby.

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I agree, a geologist could find the clues. I recall after the Peek's Creek debris flow in Franklin the geologists started drilling down a bit and found the area had experienced three previous debris flows. Anyway, I love thinking about landscape scale tracking.

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