Editing Virginia (section)

===Geology and terrain===
{{Main|Geology of Virginia}}
[[File:Great Falls in purple.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|[[Great Falls (Potomac River)|Great Falls]] is on the [[Atlantic Seaboard Fall Line|fall line]] of the [[Potomac River]], and its rocks date to the late [[Precambrian]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://epod.usra.edu/blog/2007/10/great-falls-national-park-on-the-potomac-river.html |title= Great Falls National Park on the Potomac River |website= Earth Science Picture of the Day |first= David |last= Noll |date= October 29, 2007 |access-date= May 28, 2021}}</ref>|alt=Rapids in a wide, rocky river under blue sky with clouds colored purple by the sunset.]]
The [[Chesapeake Bay]] separates the contiguous portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginia's [[Eastern Shore of Virginia|Eastern Shore]]. The bay was formed from the [[Ria|drowned river valley]] of the ancient [[Susquehanna River]].<ref name=bay>{{cite web |url= https://www.nps.gov/chba/learn/geological-formation.htm |title= Geological Formation | publisher= National Park Service |date= August 8, 2018 |access-date= July 13, 2021}}</ref> Many of [[List of rivers of Virginia|Virginia's rivers]] flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the [[Potomac River|Potomac]], [[Rappahannock River|Rappahannock]], [[York River (Virginia)|York]], and [[James River|James]], which create three peninsulas in the bay, traditionally referred to as "necks" named [[Northern Neck]], [[Middle Peninsula]], and the [[Virginia Peninsula]] from north to south.{{sfn|Burnham|Burnham|2018|pp=1}} [[Sea level rise]] has eroded the land on Virginia's islands, which include [[Tangier, Virginia|Tangier Island]] in the bay and [[Chincoteague, Virginia|Chincoteague]], one of [[Virginia Barrier Islands|23 barrier islands]] on the Atlantic coast.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.newyorker.com/news/dispatch/tangier-the-sinking-island-in-the-chesapeake |title= Tangier, the Sinking Island in the Chesapeake |magazine= The New Yorker |first= Carolyn |last= Kormann |date= June 8, 2018 |access-date= May 22, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://roadtrippers.com/magazine/virginia-barrier-islands/ |title= Shifting sands: Virginia's barrier islands are constantly on the move |first= Amy Brecount |last= White |magazine= Roadtrippers |date= April 16, 2020 |access-date= May 22, 2020}}</ref>

The [[Tidewater (geographic term)|Tidewater]] is a [[Atlantic coastal plain|coastal plain]] between the Atlantic coast and the [[Atlantic Seaboard fall line|fall line]]. It includes the Eastern Shore and major [[estuary|estuaries]] of Chesapeake Bay. The Piedmont is a series of [[sedimentary rock|sedimentary]] and [[igneous rock]]-based [[foothills]] east of the mountains.{{sfn|Pazzaglia|2006|pp=135–138}} The region, known for its heavy clay soil, includes the [[Southwest Mountains]] around [[Charlottesville, Virginia|Charlottesville]].<ref name=agriculture>{{cite web| url=http://www.deq.state.va.us/vanaturally/guide/agriculture.html| title=Virginia's Agricultural Resources| website=Natural Resource Education Guide| publisher=Virginia Department of Environmental Quality| date=January 21, 2008| access-date=February 8, 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020193915/http://www.deq.state.va.us/vanaturally/guide/agriculture.html| archive-date=October 20, 2008| url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Blue Ridge Mountains]] are a [[physiographic regions of the world|physiographic province]] of the [[Appalachian Mountains]] with the highest points in the Commonwealth, the tallest being [[Mount Rogers (Virginia)|Mount Rogers]] at {{convert|5729|ft|m}}.<ref name=mtrogers>{{harvnb|Burnham|Burnham|2018|pp=277}}</ref> The [[Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians|Ridge-and-Valley region]] is west of the mountains, [[carbonate rock]] based, and includes the [[Massanutten Mountain]] ridge and the [[Great Appalachian Valley]], which is called the [[Shenandoah Valley]] in Virginia, named after the [[Shenandoah River|river of the same name]] that flows through it.<ref name=regions>{{cite web|url=http://geology.blogs.wm.edu/valley-ridge/ |title=Physiographic Regions of Virginia |website=The Geology of Virginia |publisher=[[College of William and Mary]] |date=July 2015 |access-date=June 5, 2020}}</ref> The [[Cumberland Plateau]] and [[Cumberland Mountains]] are in the southwest corner of Virginia, south of the [[Allegheny Plateau]]. In this region, rivers flow northwest into the [[Ohio River]] basin.{{sfn|Palmer|1998|pp=49–51}}

[[Virginia seismic zones|Virginia's seismic zones]] have not had a history of regular [[earthquake]] activity. Earthquakes are rarely above 4.5 in [[Richter magnitude scale|magnitude]]. The Commonwealth's largest earthquake in at least a century, at a magnitude of 5.8, [[2011 Virginia earthquake|struck central Virginia on August 23, 2011]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-20110823-2011-08-23-dp-nws-earthquake-regional-20110823-story.html |title= Virginia earthquake largest recorded in commonwealth |first= Peter |last= Frost |newspaper= The Daily Press |date= August 23, 2011 |access-date= May 22, 2020}}</ref> 35{{nbsp}}million years ago, a [[bolide]] impacted what is now eastern Virginia. The resulting [[Chesapeake Bay impact crater]] may explain what [[earthquake]]s and [[subsidence]] the region does experience.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/11/1113_chesapeakcrater.html|title=Chesapeake Bay Crater Offers Clues to Ancient Cataclysm|first=Hillary|last=Mayell|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|date=November 13, 2001|access-date=March 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190052/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/11/1113_chesapeakcrater.html|archive-date=March 3, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> A meteor impact is also theorized as the source of [[Lake Drummond]], the largest of the two natural [[List of lakes of Virginia|lakes in the state]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-20090408-2009-04-08-0904070065-story.html |title= Lake Drummond's Name and Origin Still a Mystery to Some |first= Scott |last= Harper |newspaper= The Virginian-Pilot Daily Press |date= April 8, 2009 |access-date= May 27, 2021}}</ref>

The Commonwealth's carbonate rock is filled with more than 4,000 [[limestone cave]]s, ten of which are open for tourism, including the popular [[Luray Caverns]] and [[Skyline Caverns]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/10/12/6-spectacular-caves-youll-want-explore-shenandoah/|title=6 Spectacular Caves You'll Want to Explore in the Shenandoah |first= Dale |last= Leatherman |date= October 12, 2017 |magazine= Washingtonian Magazine |access-date= June 5, 2020}}</ref> Virginia's iconic [[Natural Bridge (Virginia)|Natural Bridge]] is the remaining roof of a collapsed limestone cave.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Kelly |first1= James C. |last2= Rasmussen |first2= William Meade Stith |title= The Virginia Landscape: A Cultural History |year= 2000 |access-date= May 12, 2021 |isbn= 978-1-57427-110-2 |publisher= Howell Press |location= Charlottesville |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7pBOAAAAYAAJ |pages= 12}}</ref> [[Coal mining in the United States|Coal mining]] takes place in the three mountainous regions.<ref name=mining>{{cite web|url=http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commercedocs/COAL.pdf|title=Coal|publisher=Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy|date=July 31, 2008|access-date=February 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150103143221/http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/commercedocs/COAL.pdf|archive-date=January 3, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> More than 72{{nbsp}}million tons of other non-fuel resources, such as [[slate]], [[kyanite]], sand, or gravel, were mined in Virginia {{As of|2020|alt=in 2020}}.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.dmme.virginia.gov/dmm/PDF/DATA/Production.xls |title= Comparison of Annually Reported Tonnage Data |publisher= Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy |date= April 7, 2021 |access-date= May 12, 2021 |format= XLS |archive-date= July 5, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140705140805/http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/DMM/PDF/DATA/Production.xls |url-status= dead}}</ref> The largest known deposits of [[uranium]] in the U.S. are under [[Coles Hill uranium deposit|Coles Hill, Virginia]]. Despite [[Virginia Uranium, Inc. v. Warren|a challenge that reached the U.S. Supreme Court twice]], the state has banned its mining since 1982 due to environmental and public health concerns.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.virginiamercury.com/blog-va/uranium-ban-upheld-as-supreme-court-of-va-declines-to-reopen-lower-court-ruling/ |title= Uranium mining ban upheld as Supreme Court of Va. declines to reopen lower court ruling |newspaper= The Virginia Mercury |first= Sarah |last= Vogelsong |date= September 30, 2021 |access-date= January 14, 2022}}</ref>