I never thought much about how some of these massive gorges were created so river capture is fascinating. I wonder if that also applies to the New River Gorge in W. Virginia? I recently discovered the New River, which runs along Highway 16 N of US 40 here in NC (and near me) is 350 miles long and is the oldest river in NC, the oldest river in the Western Hemisphere and, at 300 million years, is the second oldest river in the world. The Nile is the oldest. I wonder how they date rivers? I assume from the sediment in the bed of the river? Would you happen to know the answer to that? I should research it I guess!
Ooooh! Good question! I'm headed to the New River this summer to bike the greenway with girlfriends, so that will be a perfect occasion to research that question. I know the Little Tennessee river near where I grew up is considered to be an old river, and one way they know is because of its width -- wider, slower rivers are older, possibly because they've had time to carve away their surrounding banks? It's definitely something I will check into. I also love the irony that the second oldest river in the world is called "New".
I never thought much about how some of these massive gorges were created so river capture is fascinating. I wonder if that also applies to the New River Gorge in W. Virginia? I recently discovered the New River, which runs along Highway 16 N of US 40 here in NC (and near me) is 350 miles long and is the oldest river in NC, the oldest river in the Western Hemisphere and, at 300 million years, is the second oldest river in the world. The Nile is the oldest. I wonder how they date rivers? I assume from the sediment in the bed of the river? Would you happen to know the answer to that? I should research it I guess!
Ooooh! Good question! I'm headed to the New River this summer to bike the greenway with girlfriends, so that will be a perfect occasion to research that question. I know the Little Tennessee river near where I grew up is considered to be an old river, and one way they know is because of its width -- wider, slower rivers are older, possibly because they've had time to carve away their surrounding banks? It's definitely something I will check into. I also love the irony that the second oldest river in the world is called "New".
I ❤️that Elf Cup Fungus and all hail the likeable lichen!