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Clingmans Dome was officially renamed Kuwohi. |
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| length_mi = 2,050
| geology =
| age = [[Mesoproterozoic]] era ([[Stenian]] period)
| orogeny = [[Grenville orogeny|Grenvillle]], [[Taconic orogeny|Taconic]], [[Acadian orogeny|Acadian]], [[Alleghenian orogeny|Alleghanian]]
| map_image = Map of Appalachian Highlands and Appalachian Lowlands.png
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}}
The '''Appalachian Mountains''',{{efn|''Appalachian'' is pronounced variably as {{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-Appalachian.ogg|ˌ|æ|p|ə|ˈ|l|eɪ|ʃ|(|i|)|ə|n}} {{respell|AP|ə|LAY|sh(ee|)ən}}, {{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|p|ə|ˈ|l|eɪ|tʃ|(|i|)|ə|n}} {{respell|AP|ə|LAY|ch(ee|)ən}}, {{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|p|ə|ˈ|l|æ|ʃ|(|i|)|ə|n}} {{respell|AP|ə|LASH|(ee|)ən}} or {{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|p|ə|ˈ|l|æ|tʃ|(|i|)|ə|n}} {{respell|AP|ə|LATCH|(ee|)ən}};<ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref> {{lang-fr|Appalaches}}, {{IPA
The Appalachian range runs from the [[Newfoundland (island)|Island of Newfoundland]] in Canada, {{convert|2050|mi|km|abbr=on}} southwestward to [[Central Alabama]] in the United States;{{efn|measured from Montgomery, Alabama which is at the southwestern end of the Coosa Valley, to Belle Island, Newfoundland and Labrador which is the northeastern-most extent of Newfoundland }} south of Newfoundland, it crosses the 96-square mile archipelago of [[Saint Pierre and Miquelon]], an [[overseas collectivity]] of [[France]], meaning it is technically in three countries.{{efn|name=TriNational}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Saint Pierre and Miquelon |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/saint-pierre-and-miquelon/ |access-date=August 15, 2023 |website=World Factbook |quote=the islands are actually part of the northern Appalachians along with Newfoundland}}</ref> The highest peak of the mountain range is [[Mount Mitchell (North Carolina)|Mount Mitchell]] in [[North Carolina]] at {{convert|6684|ft|m|0}}, which is also the highest point in the United States east of the [[Mississippi River]].
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==Geography==
[[File:Appalachian Mountains of North America.jpg|thumb|Appalachian Mountains broken down by physiographic division, provinces, and sections]]
Perhaps partly because the range runs through large portions of both the United States and Canada, and partly because the range was formed over numerous geologic time periods, one of which is sometimes termed [[Alleghanian orogeny|the Appalachian orogeny]], writing communities struggle to agree on an encyclopedic definition of the mountain range. However, each of the governments has an agency that informs the public about the major [[landform]]s that make up the countries, the [[United States Geological Survey]] (USGS) and the [[Geological Survey of Canada]] (GSC). The landforms are referred to as [[Physiographic region|physiographic regions.]] The regions create precise boundaries from which maps can be drawn. The Appalachian Highlands is the name of one of the eight [[Physiographic regions of the United States|physiographic regions of the contiguous 48 United States.]]<ref name="USGS-Water" />
The Appalachian Uplands is the name of one of seven physiographic regions of Canada.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Atlas of Canada - Physiographic Regions
|url=https://atlas.gc.ca/phys/en/index.html
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The [[Blue Ridge Mountains]], rising in southern Pennsylvania and there known as [[South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania)|South Mountain]], attain elevations of about {{convert|2000|ft|m|-2|abbr=on}} in Pennsylvania. South Mountain achieves its highest point just below the [[Mason-Dixon]] line in [[Maryland]] at [[Quirauk Mountain]] {{convert|2145|ft|abbr=on}} and then diminishes in height southward to the [[Potomac River]]. Once in [[Virginia]], the Blue Ridge again reaches {{convert|2000|ft|m|-2|abbr=on}} and higher. In the Virginia Blue Ridge, the following are some of the highest peaks north of the [[Roanoke River]]: Stony Man {{convert|4031|ft|abbr=on}}, [[Hawksbill Mountain]] {{convert|4066|ft|abbr=on}}, [[Apple Orchard Mountain]] {{convert|4225|ft|abbr=on}} and [[Peaks of Otter]] {{convert|4001|and|3875|ft|abbr=on}}. South of the Roanoke River, along the Blue Ridge, are Virginia's highest peaks including [[Whitetop Mountain]] {{convert|5520|ft|abbr=on}} and [[Mount Rogers (Virginia)|Mount Rogers]] {{convert|5729|ft|abbr=on}}, the highest point in the Commonwealth.
Chief summits in the southern section of the Blue Ridge are located along two main crests, the Western or Unaka Front along the [[Tennessee]]-[[North Carolina]] border and the Eastern Front in North Carolina, or one of several "cross ridges" between the two main crests. Major subranges of the Eastern Front include the [[Black Mountains (North Carolina)|Black Mountains]], [[Great Craggy Mountains]], and [[Great Balsam Mountains]], and its chief summits include [[Grandfather Mountain]] {{convert|5964|ft|m|abbr=on}} near the Tennessee-North Carolina border, [[Mount Mitchell]] {{convert|6684|ft|m|abbr=on}} in the Blacks, and [[Black Balsam Knob]] {{convert|6214|ft|m|abbr=on}} and [[Cold Mountain (North Carolina)|Cold Mountain]] {{convert|6030|ft|m|abbr=on}} in the Great Balsams. The Western Blue Ridge Front is subdivided into the [[Unaka Range]], the [[Bald Mountains]], the [[Great Smoky Mountains]], and the [[Unicoi Mountains]], and its major peaks include [[Roan Mountain (Roan Highlands)|Roan Mountain]] {{convert|6285|ft|m|abbr=on}} in the Unakas, Big Bald {{convert|5516|ft|m|abbr=on}} and [[Max Patch]] {{convert|4616|ft|m|abbr=on}} in the Bald Mountains, [[
{| class="wikitable sortable"
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| South Carolina ||USA|| Blue Ridge|| [[Sassafras Mountain]] ||align="right" | 3,553 || align="right" | 1,083 || 35.0632° N 82.3062° W
|-
| Tennessee || USA|| Blue Ridge || [[
|-
| Vermont || USA || Green Mountains || [[Mount Mansfield]] || align="right" | 4,395 || align="right" | 1,340 || 44.5439° N 72.8143° W
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After the Grenville orogeny, the direction of the continental drift reversed, and the single supercontinent Rodinia began to break up. The mountains formed during the Grenvillian era underwent erosion due to weathering, glaciation, and other natural processes, resulting in the leveling of the landscape. The eroded sediments from these mountains contributed to the formation of sedimentary basins and valleys. For example, in what is now the southern United States, the Ococee Basin was formed. Seawater filled the basin. Rivers from the surrounding countryside carried clay, silt, sand, and gravel to the basin, much as rivers today carry sediment from the midcontinent region to the Gulf of Mexico. The sediment spread out in layers on the basin floor. The basin continued to subside, and over a long period of time, probably millions of years, a great thickness of sediment accumulated.<ref name="auto"/> Eventually, the tectonic forces pulling the two continents apart became so strong that an ocean formed off the eastern coast of the Laurentian margin. This was called the [[Iapetus Ocean]] and was the precursor of the modern Atlantic Ocean. The rocks of the Valley and Ridge province formed over millions of years, in the Iapetus. Shells and other hard parts of ancient marine plants and animals accumulated to form limey deposits that later became limestone. This is the same process by which limestone forms in modern oceans. The weathering of limestone, now exposed at the land surface, produces the lime-rich soils that are so prevalent in the fertile farmland of the Valley and Ridge province.<ref name="auto"/>
During this continental break-up, around 600 million to 560 million years ago, volcanic activity was present along the tectonic margins. There is evidence of this activity in today's Blue Ridge Mountains. [[Mount Rogers]], [[Whitetop Mountain]], and [[Pine_Mountain_(Appalachian_Mountains)|Pine Mountain]] are all the result of volcanic activity that occurred around this time.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rankin |first=James W. |title=The volcanogenic Mount Rogers Formation and the overlying glaciogenic Konnarock Formation: Two late Proterozoic units in southwestern Virginia |publisher=USGS |year=1993 |doi=10.3133/b2029}}</ref> Evidence of subsurface activity, dikes and sills intruding into the overlying rock, is present in the Blue Ridge as well. For instance, mafic rocks have been found along the Fries Fault in the central Blue Ridge area of Montgomery County, VA.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kaygi |first=Patti Boyd |title=The Fries Fault near Riner, Virginia: an example of a polydeformed, ductile deformation zone |publisher=VT Works |year=1994}}</ref>
===Taconic Orogeny===
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===Flora===
{{Further|Appalachian–Blue Ridge forests|Appalachian bogs|Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests|Appalachian temperate rainforest|New England/Acadian forests|List of plants endemic to the Appalachian Mountains}}
[[File:Mount Mitchell-27527.jpg|thumb|View from [[Mount Mitchell]], [[North Carolina]] at {{convert|6684|ft|m|abbr=on}}, the highest peak east of the [[Mississippi River]]]]
[[File:Rockytop and Patterson Ridges (13083210443).jpg|thumb|[[Shenandoah National Park]] in [[Virginia]]]]
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