It�s a little-known fact, but Mississippi has a volcano. True, it�s buried under 2,600 feet of sediment, but it was red hot and active roughly 79 to 69 million years ago, and evidence of its bulging remains are visible in the Jackson area. Mississippi emerged along the edge of a massive tear that formed as tectonics tried to rip the continent asunder. The full rift was never realized, but like a crack in a foundation, everything built on top of it has been affected. The failed rift became a linear basin, stretching from Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico, and for millions upon millions of years the sea rose and fell in this embayment, leaving behind tens of thousands of feet of sediment. The Mighty Mississippi River, one of state�s youngest and most dynamic features, follows the rift�s contours today. In Roadside Geology of Mississippi geoscientists Stan Galicki and Darrel Schmitz unearth the state�s deeply buried stories in 63 road logs that traverse the entire state, from the Gulf Coast to the state�s highest point (807 feet!) in the northeast corner. A healthy dose of full-color illustrations and photos complements the authors� illuminating geologic tales. With Roadside Geology of Mississippi in hand, you�ll understand the underpinnings of the Magnolia State as never before.

Tennessee, extending 500 diagonal miles between Bristol and Memphis, cuts across numerous rock types, from the deformed gneiss of the Blue Ridge along the North Carolina border to the young sediments exposed in the Chickasaw Bluffs that rise 100 feet above the Mississippi River floodplain. The state�s more than 1 billion years of geologic history includes continental collisions that built enormous mountains and rifting forces that almost split the ancient continent apart. The geologic processes are still at work in Tennessee, with sinkholes claiming land in areas of limestone, rivers eroding sediment and shifting channels, and some of North America�s largest earthquakes occurring every 500 years on the ancient rift faults near Reelfoot Lake. Learn about unusual meteor impact sites on the Highland Rim of Middle Tennessee, the world-famous fossils in the Coon Creek Formation, and the source of saltpeter used for gunpowder in the Civil War. An extensive section on Great Smoky Mountains National Park includes guides to nine roads, some extending in to North Carolina. With Roadside Geology of Tennessee as your guide, explore the geologic significance of many of the stat�s natural and historic sties such as Cumberland Gap National Historic Park, Harpeth River State Park, Dunbar Cave State Natural Area, and Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park.

The first comprehensive treatment of the state's fascinating geological history

After Hurricane Katrina, the fanlike pile of sand, mud, and silt that formed near a breached levee was unique in the urban environment of New Orleans. Over the 7,500-year history of the modern Mississippi River delta, however, it was just another splay deposit. Author Darwin Spearing explains the geologic forces behind the formation of the delta, shedding light on the human struggle to control the powerful river that breaches its own levees and switches its own deltas. With sections on wetland loss and land subsidence, Roadside Geology of Louisiana is a must-read for understanding the vulnerability of the Mississippi River delta to floods and hurricanes. First published in 1995, Roadside Geology of Louisiana is back in print by popular demand, with several updated sections. The introduction presents an overview of Loiusiana's geological history, and 57 road guides discuss the landforms visible from a car window, including sand ridges, natural levees, oxbow lakes, and the Five Islands salt domes.

Author Charlie Spencer shows you around the state from the flat, glaciated plains in the north to the knobs of rhyolite in the St. Francois Mountains in the south, and from the earthquake-formed sand boils on the Mississippi floodplain in the southeast to the layers of coal, shale, sandstone, and limestone on the Springfield Plateau and Osage Plains in the west.

Ride along with geologists Pamela Gore and Bill Witherspoon on this extraordinary tour of the Peach State�s varied terrain. In 35 detailed and densely illustrated road guides, the Roadside Geology of Georgia examines Georgia�s fascinating geology and reveals the stories that lie beneath the surface. You�ll be amazed at Georgia�s geological diversity, from its shifting barrier islands along the coast to the sandstone ridges in its northwest corner. At the Cumberland Island National Seashore you�ll find the ruins of Dungeness, the once-magnificent Carnegie estate built of local mineral resources, and encounter wild horses grazing among windswept dunes. In Atlanta, the white whaleback of granite called Stone Mountain will impress you with its protruding �cat�s paw� minerals and stony layers that are sloughing off like the layers of an onion. In the Blue Ridge Mountains you can witness Amicalola Falls, one of the highest cascading waterfalls east of the Mississippi River, and Tallulah Gorge, one the deepest gorges in the eastern United States. And in the iconic Okefenokee Swamp of south Georgia, you�ll wade through the gator-filled blackwater of one of the largest wetlands in North America. With its engaging prose and 250-plus color photos, maps, and figures, Roadside Geology of Georgia takes you beyond the rocks to unearth the billion-year history of the Empire State of the South.

Have you ever wondered how the Mississippi River was formed? Or why shark teeth have been found in the Iron Range of the Upper Midwest? Towering mountain ranges, explosive volcanoes, expansive glaciers, and long-extinct forms of both land and sea life were an important part of Minnesota's ancient history. Today the evidence of this remarkable heritage is revealed in the state's rocky outcroppings, stony soils, and thousands of lakes.