CompuServe Messages

Hello Ed >> This is similar to a question I always had about the inverted topography of the Ridge & Valley province of the Appalachians. The evidence in many cases is that the axes of the anticlines have eroded into valleys, and the axes of the synclines have been preserved as parallel ridges. We would think, "How could the highest points be eroded below the level of the surrounding topography?" But then on reflection, we'd realize that the whole of this topography had been uplifted, and that erosion is fastest at the highest and narrowest and most exposed points. << This is a question I asked about earlier in another thread. I have not seen mountains with true anticlines and synclines. It would surprise me to see what you describe with the top of the fold worn down blow the level of the sides. Why would the tops of folds wear faster than the synclines? When I have looked close these were broken sections that split apart and both fell away from the center…If it happened like this row after row then that would be unlikely. >>Over time, the trend of the whole erosional process is to flatten,<< Where is flattening going on it looks stable to becoming less flat. >> and so the most visible differences in topography must be a result of the different rates of erosion of the variously tilted and folded strata. In an old, stable area, this is very much the case. Only in a new, active area are the catastrophic features still prevalent.<< It all looks catastrophic to me but I have seen so very little of the world. Where is this place you mention, Ridge & Valley province of the Appalachians? Kamron PS I was looking at the massive sedimentary build ups at the larger rivers all seam to have these canyons in them and they run down into the 3,000 to 4,000 meters sometimes to 5,000 meters.