Question
The Blue Ridge Mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southernmost portion in Georgia, then ending northward in Pennsylvania. To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Appalachian Valley, bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian range. The Blue Ridge is an assembly of several stacked thrust sheets, each with distinctive rock types. A thrust sheet in the continental crust is a large slice of rock that has been pushed up and over other rocks along a thrust fault. Thrust faults form in response to compression during mountain building, and once formed, they provide the break along which thrust sheets move.
Consider the information in the passage above. If this is accurate, what type of rocks should dominate the Blue Ridge area to confirm this scenario?
Responses
A metamorphicmetamorphic
B sedimentarysedimentary
C igneous extrusiveigneous extrusive
D extrusive graniteextrusive granite
Consider the information in the passage above. If this is accurate, what type of rocks should dominate the Blue Ridge area to confirm this scenario?
Responses
A metamorphicmetamorphic
B sedimentarysedimentary
C igneous extrusiveigneous extrusive
D extrusive graniteextrusive granite
Answers
GPT-4o mini
A. metamorphic
The Blue Ridge Mountain range is characterized by its complex geology, including the presence of thrust sheets that have been formed under conditions of compression and mountain building. This process typically results in the metamorphism of existing rocks, leading to the dominance of metamorphic rocks in such regions. Therefore, the rocks that should dominate the Blue Ridge area, as per the described geological scenario, are metamorphic rocks.
The Blue Ridge Mountain range is characterized by its complex geology, including the presence of thrust sheets that have been formed under conditions of compression and mountain building. This process typically results in the metamorphism of existing rocks, leading to the dominance of metamorphic rocks in such regions. Therefore, the rocks that should dominate the Blue Ridge area, as per the described geological scenario, are metamorphic rocks.