Fall Line Cities

The Fall Line marks the cities on the east coast where the upland region of the Piedmont meets the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

Piedmont Region (Shaded)

James River, Virginia, Piedmont

Coastal Plain Example

A few Georgia cities took root where the hard rocks of the Piedmont meet the Coastal Plain.   The Fall Line Cities found in Georgia are Columbus (Chattahoochee River), Macon (Ocmulgee), and Milledgeville (Oconee).  However, the line extends west into Alabama and north to New Jersey.

Piedmont area

Some more examples of fall line cities that have also become major American cities are:

• Trenton, New Jersey
• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Wilmington, New Jersey
• Baltimore, Maryland
• Georgetown, Washington, D.C.
• Fredericksburg, Virginia
• Richmond, Virginia
• Petersburg, Virginia
• Roanoke, North Carolina
• Rocky Mount, North Carolina
• Fayetteville, North Carolina
• Columbia, South Carolina
• Augusta, Georgia
• Montgomery, Alabama
• Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Fall cities from North to South

Soil and the Gardens

Munsell Soil Color Chart-  In order to determine the Value and Chroma of your soil sample, just place the soil underneath the given holes provided in the booklet and read the value number, then the Chroma number as shown below.

Munsell's Soil Color Chart Book

How to Read Munsell's Soil Color Chart by Value and Chroma

Soil Texture Diagram-  This flow chart can help you determine what type of soil you have.  The chart asks you yes or no questions about the feel and other characteristics about the soil.  For example, if the soil stains the fingers, you go onto the questions "Is it difficult to rolls the soil into a ball?" and so on.

Soil Texture Flow Chart

Macon Roots is an organizations recently established to promote a sustainable food system in the area (Macon and Middle Georgia).  Their mission is to "promote a diverse, sustainable, and local food system for Middle Georgia."

The Community Gardens in Macon use raised beds to protect their beautifully growing plants from potential metal poisons that m ay have seeped into the soil before a garden was grown there.  Lead can get into soil from many sources including: gasoline, lead dust in the air, flaking paint, leaded plumbing (lead in water), lead based paints in houses, and dust from the pets and the floor.  Therefore, garden soils should be tested for contamination.  If the plants that have been removed for digestion, then they should be tested and washed in case of external lead on produce leaves.

Garden from Community Gardens in Macon (MaconRoots.org)

Deep Sea, Deep Secrets

Cover of the movie: Deep Sea, Deep Secrets

This movie is very informative about how far engineering has come and how many amazing creatures are in the deepest, darkest parts of the world.  This documentary is the most interesting to me out of all of the others that we have seen so far during this course.  The amazing technology and the incredible animals of nature that have been discovered are very intriguing.

The Alvin, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Alvin was compared to NASA's space program and shuttle as synonymous to the danger and technology used. The Alvin is the Ocean Explorer that can plunge to a maximum depth of 14,764 feet. This submersible explorer of the ocean can withstand the crushing pressure for 72 hours and then the crew must return to the surface to share their samples and findings obtained at the deepest parts of the ocean.