University Chronicle

Issue date: 4/13/09 Section: News

Geology students and instructors explored the Smoky Mountains over Spring Break, stopping for a rest during a hike up to Chimney Tops, elevation 4750 ft.

A group of 14 geology students, along with professors Jeff Bauer and Kurt Shoemaker, took a trip to the Smoky Mountains during Spring Break. The expedition was both an adventure and a learning experience as these scientists made nature their classroom.

Three students from Dr. Kurt Shoemaker's Structural Geology class who went on the trip shared the highlights.

"Scientifically we got a first-hand look at what had happened to form the Appalachian Mountains, what forces," Reece Brown said.

"The best phase of the trip was at Chimney Top on Sunday," Jason Tackett said. "It was a very steep climb. We had some pretty good scenic views of the mountains around us."

Shoemaker explained that the trail up to Chimney Top is a two-mile hike, beginning at 3,400 feet in elevation and going up to 4,750 feet.

"The ranger said you (Shoemaker) were sadistic for thinking about taking us up there," Audrey Hogge said.

According to Shoemaker, a chimney top is an un-vegetated rock pinnacle that you can see from a lot of places in the park. The Smokies are called the Smokies because they tend to get extremely heavy mists. That can look like smoke that tends to collect around the chimney tops so they look like chimneys.

"We went down through Lexington (Ky.) and through a town called Corbin (Ky.), and from there we went on to the Cumberland Gap," Shoemaker said, outlining the route of the trip. "That takes you into a folded mountain range. There is a good exposure of the Paleozoic rocks."

The Paleozoic Era was about 5 million years ago.

"The only problem is that the highway department decided to cover it with mesh to control rock fall, and you can't see much of it anymore. That was a little disappointing there on day one," Shoemaker said.

From there the group traveled into the Blueridge Mountains, which contain some of the highest peaks in the southern Appalachians. Shoemaker explained how the ridges formed along a detachment fault.

"Basically you have a layer of the crust that breaks along a planar surface and shoves inland during mountain-building. There are some places where that over-thrust sheet is thin and you can actually see the underlying rock." Shoemaker said.

Continued...

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