Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations
Roan Mountain Highlands · By Dirk Frankenberg and Jennifer Godwin-Wyer
Plutonic gabbro
Figure 6. A second type of rock found in the Roan Highlands, gabbro, is visible in the foreground. (Photograph by Dirk Frankenberg. More about the photograph)
Figure 6 shows the other major rock type at the crest of Roan Mountain. The dark rock in the foreground is the Bakersville gabbro described in the Introduction. It formed as a molten intrusion into the gneiss about 750 million years ago, and was carried upward with the gneiss during the formation of the Appalachians. Its exposure here shows that its erosion rate must have been similar to that of the gneiss since they both occur at the same elevation now. The light colored rocks scattered across the gabbro are eroded pieces of the gneiss.
In the background of Figure 6 you can see the easternmost crest of the Roan Highlands and the grassy bald growing on the saddle between the two peaks. You can also see the southern flank of the highlands with northern hardwoods at the lower elevations and a mix of hardwoods and spruce/fir forest closer to the crest.
