Tombolos-+Background+Information

General Information
The Cherokee people referred to North Georgia as "The Land of a Thousand Waterfalls." The fact that we have so many right here at our doorstep is a fact little known to many people that live here because of the secluded areas in which most North Georgia's waterfalls lie. A couple of the most remarkable of these lie on High Shoals Creek (1). High Shoals Creek is located in Towns County, Georgia just five minutes from the border of North Carolina which happens to be part of Blue Ridge Region of Georgia (2). It is protected wilderness as it falls into Chattahoochee National Forest. The trail leading into it is very steep and somewhat difficult due to the fact it descends 2,280 ft. over 1.3 miles. After reaching the bottom of the descent the trail follows along High Shoals Creek. In the short hike along the creek at the bottom there are five waterfalls in succession. The combined drop of the five waterfalls is over 300 feet. We will be following this trail all the way down and look at two of the waterfalls, Blue Hole and High Shoals, as well as any other unique rock formations we notice along the way.



Geology
High Shoals Creek lies in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the foothills of the Appalachias. The rock of this region is predominately comprised of low to high grade **metamorphic** rocks. Many of these rocks appear to be the metamorphosed equivalents of Proterozoic and/or Paleozoic **sedimentary** rock. Others are metamorphosed igneous rocks (4). The most likely types of rocks that will be found in this area gneiss, schist, shale, quartzite, granite, and diabase. The most probable origin of the rocks in the region is lapetus (Atlantic ancestor) ocean basin crust and sediment; remnants of island arcs or microcontinents. We will be focusing our trip on determining exactly what kinds of rocks and soil are present along the creek and most importantly what types of rocks are present in the falls as a way of proving their formation.



**Landforms**

The primary landforms that we will be focusing on in our trip will be High Shoals Creek, and the several waterfalls found on it. High Shoals Creek is **braided stream** that depends on rainfall for its water. As stated earlier waterfalls are a predominant physical feature of the Appalachian Plataea of North Georgia. Webster's Merriam Dictionary defines a waterfall as "a perpendicular or very steep descent of water of a stream" (3). Waterfalls can be formed in many different ways, including: tectonic uplift along continental margins or local **faults** //, // glacial erosion of a valley side, deposition of rock on the bed of a stream, or most commonly by the differential erosion of rocks of varying strengths (5). As listed above the majority of waterfalls result from water flowing over layers of rock composed of different degrees of hardness.

Both of our destinations of High Shoals Falls and Blue Hole Falls are categorized as a "destructive waterfalls". Most of the North Georgia falls are of a destructive nature, meaning that over time they will recede upstream as the watercourse erodes and levels. Furthermore, it is categorized as a **caprock** **waterfall**. The New Georgia Encyclopedia reads that "a caprock fall occurs when a stream meets resistant rock (usually limestone) that lies atop softer rock (usually sandstone and shale). Large amphitheaters are formed when the softer; underlying rock erodes, leaving the harder caprock in place" (2). Another important feature we will investigate is the large plunge pool at the bottom of Blue Hole Falls. Plunge pools are created by large amounts of sediment coming falling the height of the waterfall over the life of the waterfall.




 * 1) “Waterfalls”. __The New Georgia Encyclopedia__. 13 Aug. 2008. Georgia Humanities Council. **
 * 4 Oct.2009. < ****[] ** **>. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">2) "Geographic Regions of Georgia: Overview". __The New Georgia Encyclopedia__.18 July 2003.Georgia Humanities Council. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">29 Nov. 2009. < [|http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-948] >. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">3) "Waterfall." __Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary__. 2009. Merriam-Webster Online. **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">14 Oct. 2009. < [] >. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">4) Railsback, Bruce. "The Geology of Georgia". __University of Georgia - Department of Geology__. University of Georgia - Department of Geology. ** **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">29. Nov.2009. < [] >. **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-weight: normal;">5) Goudie, Andrew . __Encyclopedia of Geomorphology__. 2 vols. London: Routledge, 2003. **

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