At the end of this section, you will be able to describe:

• how modern-day Virginia was assembled from different rocks over the last 1 billion years
• why some sections of Virginia are flat and other areas are mountainous
• why coal deposits are located where they are in Virginia
• how caves form, and why waterfalls/caves are rare east of the Blue Ridge
• the differences between the "physiographic provinces" of Virginia (including the Continental Shelf)
• how the Fall Line and the Blue Ridge affected settlement and development of cities
• why development of beachfront homes on barrier islands is unusually risky

In a few months, you'll forget if Viginia Tech beat the University of Virginia in football (ugh, again...) or how the last NASCAR race of the regular season in Richmond affected the rankings for the Chase - but years from now, you should remember why there are mountains in the west, how barrier islands move, and why a "Fall Line" shaped where I-95 runs today.