"B” is for Blue Ridge

“B” is for Blue Ridge. The Blue Ridge in South Carolina forms the smallest of the geological provinces. There are commonly two understandings of the Blue Ridge. The first is the geologic Blue Ridge (found only in Oconee County). The second is the geographic Blue Ridge, which includes both the Blue Ridge Mountains and inner Piedmont mountains such as Sassafras, Pinnacle, and Table Rock. This area, located in Oconee, Pickens, and Greenville counties, includes some of the most scenic highlands and mountains in the state. The rocks of the Blue Ridge in South Carolina including gneisses, schists, and amphibolites were formed from heat and pressure applied to the original sediments of the Precambrian continental shelf rocks. The Brevard Fault (found from Virginia to Alabama) is the geologic boundary between the Blue Ridge and the inner Piedmont belt.