Willis Mountain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Willis Mountain | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Highest point | |
| Elevation | 353 m (1,158 ft) |
| Prominence | 350 m (1,150 ft) |
| Coordinates | 37°28.3439′N 78°27.4920′W / 37.4723983°N 78.4582000°W |
| Geography | |
| Location | Buckingham County, Virginia |
Willis Mountain is a monadnock rising from the rolling hills of the Piedmont province of Buckingham County, Virginia, a little east of the geographic center of the state.[1] Willis Mountain is located about 6 mi (9.7 km) southeast of Buckingham, Virginia, and 18 mi (29 km) northwest of Farmville, Prince Edward County. In a general north-south direction, U. S. Highway 15 borders the western side of the mountain.[2]
Willis Mountain consists of a narrow ridge that is about 2 mi (3.2 km) long, with steep rocky slopes. Near its center, it is broken into two segments by a low saddle. Southward of the saddle, this ridge rises to an elongated knob known locally as Round Mountain with an altitude of 1,150 ft (350 m). Northward of the saddle, this ridge rises to an altitude of 1,159 ft (353 m), which is about 500 ft (150 m) above the adjacent valley floor. Second-growth timber, mostly hardwood and some pine, cover the sides of Willis Mountain. A fire lookout tower occupies the highest point of Willis Mountain.[2]
Willis Mountain is well known as the site of a large deposit of kyanite quartzite that has been actively mined for kyanite for decades. This deposit is the largest of five large kyanite deposits that occur within a 7 mi (11 km) wide belt known as the Willis Mountain kyanite-quartzite belt.[2]
The landscape of Buckingham County surrounding Willis Mountain is typical of the Piedmont Plateau within Virginia. The landscape consists of gently rolling broad, flat-topped ridges separated by narrow valleys. A low relief network of streams within these valleys allow for rapid drainage. A deep mantle of highly weathered bedrock, called saprolite underlies the surface, except where the larger streams have carved deep valleys. Except monadocks like, Willis Mountain, the ridge crests are consistently uniform in elevation, ranging from 450 ft (140 m) high in the eastern portion of the area to 550–600 ft (170–180 m) high in the eastern portion of the area. Willis Mountain rises above the level of thesr surrounding ridges as a solitary monadnock to an elevation of 1,159 ft (353 m).[1][2]
Willis Mountain rises above the surrounding countryside because the massive deposits of kyanite quartzite underlying it are highly resistant to weathering in the regional climate. Unlike the metamorphic bedrock underlying the surrounding countryside, the kyanite quartzite lacks the thick cover of saprolite. Instead, the kyanite quartzite characteristically is well exposed as ledges, where it is thinly foliated with low dips, to forming bold crags and cliffs of Willis Mountain. These weathered ledges, crags, and cliffs are rough and jagged because the grains of quartz are more easily eroded than the large crystals of kyanite. The ledges, crags, and cliffs exhibit deeply etched pits and furrows because of differential weathering along foliation, joints, and linear rock structures. The weathering of pyrite within the kyanite quartzite has heavily stained and impregnated the exposed bedrock with limonite.[3]
