1.
North Carolina
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North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the U. S. states. The state is divided into 100 counties, the most populous municipality is Charlotte, which is the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City. The state has a range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell. The climate of the plains is strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. More than 300 miles from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a highland climate. North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, the United States Census Bureau places North Carolina in the South Atlantic division of the southern region. So many ships have been lost off Cape Hatteras that the area is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the most famous of these is the Queen Annes Revenge, which went aground in Beaufort Inlet in 1718. The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, the Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the states most populous region, containing the six largest cities in the state by population. It consists of rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. The Piedmont ranges from about 300 feet in elevation in the east to about 1,500 feet in the west, the western section of the state is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Among the subranges of the Appalachians located in the state are the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, the Black Mountains are the highest in the eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet, the highest point east of the Mississippi River. North Carolina has 17 major river basins, the five basins west of the Blue Ridge Mountains flow to the Gulf of Mexico, while the remainder flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 17 basins,11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the states border – the Cape Fear, the Neuse, the White Oak, and the Tar-Pamlico basin. Elevation above sea level is most responsible for temperature change across the state, the climate is also influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream, especially in the coastal plain. These influences tend to cause warmer winter temperatures along the coast, the coastal plain averages around 1 inch of snow or ice annually, and in many years, there may be no snow or ice at all. North Carolina experiences severe weather in summer and winter, with summer bringing threat of hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rain
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Elisha Mitchell
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Elisha Mitchell was an American educator, geologist and Presbyterian minister. His geological studies led to the identification of North Carolinas Mount Mitchell as the highest peak east of the Mississippi River, Elisha Mitchell was born August 19,1793, in Washington, Connecticut. He was graduated from Yale University in 1813, where he studied under chemist Benjamin Silliman, Mitchell began his career as a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1818, teaching math and natural philosophy. In 1825, he began teaching geology – the field with which he would be associated for the rest of his life. In 1835, he first measured the height of this mountain, through subsequent measurements in 1838 and 1844, Mitchell proved it was higher than New Hampshires Mount Washington, establishing the peak as the highest above sea level in the Eastern US. He was originally buried in Asheville, but was reinterred in a tomb on the mountain in 1858, in 1881–82 the U. S. Geological Survey upheld Mitchells measurements and officially named his peak Mt. Mitchell. At 6,684 feet high, Mt. Mitchell is the highest point east of the Mississippi River, the Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society, published by the North Carolina Academy of Science, was founded in his honor in 1883. On August 18,1888, University of North Carolina Alumni erected an obelisk memorializing him at his grave site atop Mt. Mitchell, on January 1st,1915, high winds destroyed the monument. It was replaced 13 years later by the cairn and plaque currently marking his tomb. Memoir, With the Tributes of Respect to His Memory, Chapel Hill, NC, University of Chapel Hill. Inventory of the Elisha Mitchell Papers, 1816–1905, on the Character and Origin of the Low Country of North Carolina. The American Journal of Science and Arts, Elisha Mitchell at Find a Grave
4.
Spruce Pine, North Carolina
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Spruce Pine is a town in Mitchell County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,175 at the 2010 census, Spruce Pine was founded in 1907 when the Clinchfield Railroad made its way up the North Toe River from Erwin, Tennessee. The town was centered around a tavern operated by Isaac English, located on an old roadway that ran from Cranberry, North Carolina down to Marion. The Old English Inn still stands at its location near the center of town. North Carolina Governor Cameron Morrison deployed National Guard troops to Spruce Pine so that the workers could return and complete the road. The railroad, combined with a rapidly expanding mining industry made Spruce Pine the largest town in the Toe River Valley, as it became the hub of commerce and culture for the area. Spruce Pine was the home of The Feldspar Company and Spruce Pine Mica, the town also boasts the moniker of The Mineral City of the World In 1998, the medium-security mens state prison Mountain View Correctional Institution opened in Spruce Pine. On August 4,2007, the area of Spruce Pine was threatened when an arsonist set fire to several buildings downtown. Federal arson officials are investigating the fires, and an arrest has been made in connection with the incident. The Downtown Spruce Pine Historic District and Gunter Building are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Spruce Pine is located at 35°54′49″N 82°04′12″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 3.9 square miles. The town limits are approximately 3 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway and located 50 miles northeast of Asheville, NC and 40 miles southwest of Boone, NC. As of the census of 2000, there were 2,030 people,888 households, the population density was 522.0 people per square mile. There were 968 housing units at a density of 248.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 96. 35% White,0. 39% African American,0. 54% Native American,0. 05% Asian,2. 27% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 3. 79% of the population. 32. 1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16. 8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.89. Social networks of Waynesville, Franklin, and Spruce Pine, the median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 88.1 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males
5.
North Carolina's 11th congressional district
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North Carolinas 11th congressional district encompasses most of Western North Carolina. Starting in the 113th Congress, it is represented by Mark Meadows and he replaced Democrat Heath Shuler, who retired in 2013. Shuler had won the seat in the 2006 midterm elections, defeating 8-term Republican Representative Charles H. Taylor, the 11th District was traditionally one of the most competitive congressional districts in North Carolina. This was largely because of the volatile politics. It was historically anchored by Asheville, which was heavily Democratic, however, many of the citys suburbs are among the most conservative areas of North Carolina. The rest of the district was split between Democratic-leaning counties in the south and Republican-leaning counties in the north, consequently, congressional races in this district have historically been very close and hard-fought. In 2011 the Republican-dominated legislature redrew the district, shifting most of Asheville to the 10th district, to make up for the loss in population, the 11th absorbed some strongly Republican territory in the Foothills which had previously been in the 10th. On paper, the 11th was one of the strongest Republican districts in the South, in February 2012 Shuler announced he would not seek a fourth term. Meadows won the seat in 2012, the Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts, Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present Heath Shulers House of Representatives website Political Graveyard List of Representatives
6.
Prohibition
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The earliest records of prohibition of alcohol date to the Xia Dynasty in China. Yu the Great, the first ruler of the Xia Dynasty and it was legalized again after his death, during the reign of his son Qi. Another record was in the Code of Hammurabi specifically banning the selling of beer for money, in the early twentieth century, much of the impetus for the prohibition movement in the Nordic countries and North America came from moralistic convictions of pietistic Protestants. Rum-running became widespread and organized crime control of the distribution of alcohol. Distilleries and breweries in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean flourished as their products were consumed by visiting Americans or illegally exported to the United States. Chicago became notorious as a haven for prohibition dodgers during the known as the Roaring Twenties. Prohibition generally came to an end in the late 1920s or early 1930s in most of North America and Europe, in some countries where the dominant religion forbids the use of alcohol, the production, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited or restricted today. For example, in Saudi Arabia and Libya alcohol is banned, Sale of alcohol is banned in Afghanistan. In Bangladesh, alcohol is prohibited due to its proscription in the Islamic faith. However, the purchase and consumption is allowed in the country, the Garo tribe consume a type of rice beer, and Christians in this country drink and purchase wine for their holy communion. In Brunei, alcohol consumption and sale is banned in public, in India alcohol is a state subject and individual states can legislate prohibition, but currently most states do not have prohibition. Prohibition is in force in the states of Gujarat, Bihar and Nagaland, parts of Manipur, the state of Kerala has placed some limitations on sale of alcohol. All other States and union territories of India permit the sale of alcohol, election days and certain national holidays such as Gandhi Jayanti are meant to be dry days when liquor sale is not permitted. The state of Andhra Pradesh had imposed Prohibition under the Chief Ministership of N. T. Rama Rao, Prohibition was also observed from 1996 to 1998 in Haryana. Some Indian states observe dry days on major religious festivals/occasions depending on the popularity of the festival in that region, since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the sale and consumption of alcohol is banned in Iran. Alcohol is banned for people who use small shops and convenience stores, the consumption, importation and brewing of, and trafficking in liquor is strictly against the law. Alcohol is banned for Muslims in Malaysia due to its Islamic faith, the Maldives ban the import of alcohol, x-raying all baggage on arrival. Alcoholic beverages are available only to tourists on resort islands
7.
Mathematics
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Mathematics is the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. There is a range of views among mathematicians and philosophers as to the exact scope, Mathematicians seek out patterns and use them to formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proof, when mathematical structures are good models of real phenomena, then mathematical reasoning can provide insight or predictions about nature. Through the use of abstraction and logic, mathematics developed from counting, calculation, measurement, practical mathematics has been a human activity from as far back as written records exist. The research required to solve mathematical problems can take years or even centuries of sustained inquiry, rigorous arguments first appeared in Greek mathematics, most notably in Euclids Elements. Galileo Galilei said, The universe cannot be read until we have learned the language and it is written in mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which means it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word. Without these, one is wandering about in a dark labyrinth, carl Friedrich Gauss referred to mathematics as the Queen of the Sciences. Benjamin Peirce called mathematics the science that draws necessary conclusions, David Hilbert said of mathematics, We are not speaking here of arbitrariness in any sense. Mathematics is not like a game whose tasks are determined by arbitrarily stipulated rules, rather, it is a conceptual system possessing internal necessity that can only be so and by no means otherwise. Albert Einstein stated that as far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, Mathematics is essential in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine, finance and the social sciences. Applied mathematics has led to entirely new mathematical disciplines, such as statistics, Mathematicians also engage in pure mathematics, or mathematics for its own sake, without having any application in mind. There is no clear line separating pure and applied mathematics, the history of mathematics can be seen as an ever-increasing series of abstractions. The earliest uses of mathematics were in trading, land measurement, painting and weaving patterns, in Babylonian mathematics elementary arithmetic first appears in the archaeological record. Numeracy pre-dated writing and numeral systems have many and diverse. Between 600 and 300 BC the Ancient Greeks began a study of mathematics in its own right with Greek mathematics. Mathematics has since been extended, and there has been a fruitful interaction between mathematics and science, to the benefit of both. Mathematical discoveries continue to be made today, the overwhelming majority of works in this ocean contain new mathematical theorems and their proofs. The word máthēma is derived from μανθάνω, while the modern Greek equivalent is μαθαίνω, in Greece, the word for mathematics came to have the narrower and more technical meaning mathematical study even in Classical times
8.
Chemistry
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Chemistry is a branch of physical science that studies the composition, structure, properties and change of matter. Chemistry is sometimes called the science because it bridges other natural sciences, including physics. For the differences between chemistry and physics see comparison of chemistry and physics, the history of chemistry can be traced to alchemy, which had been practiced for several millennia in various parts of the world. The word chemistry comes from alchemy, which referred to a set of practices that encompassed elements of chemistry, metallurgy, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, mysticism. An alchemist was called a chemist in popular speech, and later the suffix -ry was added to this to describe the art of the chemist as chemistry, the modern word alchemy in turn is derived from the Arabic word al-kīmīā. In origin, the term is borrowed from the Greek χημία or χημεία and this may have Egyptian origins since al-kīmīā is derived from the Greek χημία, which is in turn derived from the word Chemi or Kimi, which is the ancient name of Egypt in Egyptian. Alternately, al-kīmīā may derive from χημεία, meaning cast together, in retrospect, the definition of chemistry has changed over time, as new discoveries and theories add to the functionality of the science. The term chymistry, in the view of noted scientist Robert Boyle in 1661, in 1837, Jean-Baptiste Dumas considered the word chemistry to refer to the science concerned with the laws and effects of molecular forces. More recently, in 1998, Professor Raymond Chang broadened the definition of chemistry to mean the study of matter, early civilizations, such as the Egyptians Babylonians, Indians amassed practical knowledge concerning the arts of metallurgy, pottery and dyes, but didnt develop a systematic theory. Greek atomism dates back to 440 BC, arising in works by such as Democritus and Epicurus. In 50 BC, the Roman philosopher Lucretius expanded upon the theory in his book De rerum natura, unlike modern concepts of science, Greek atomism was purely philosophical in nature, with little concern for empirical observations and no concern for chemical experiments. Work, particularly the development of distillation, continued in the early Byzantine period with the most famous practitioner being the 4th century Greek-Egyptian Zosimos of Panopolis. He formulated Boyles law, rejected the four elements and proposed a mechanistic alternative of atoms. Before his work, though, many important discoveries had been made, the Scottish chemist Joseph Black and the Dutchman J. B. English scientist John Dalton proposed the theory of atoms, that all substances are composed of indivisible atoms of matter. Davy discovered nine new elements including the alkali metals by extracting them from their oxides with electric current, british William Prout first proposed ordering all the elements by their atomic weight as all atoms had a weight that was an exact multiple of the atomic weight of hydrogen. The inert gases, later called the noble gases were discovered by William Ramsay in collaboration with Lord Rayleigh at the end of the century, thereby filling in the basic structure of the table. Organic chemistry was developed by Justus von Liebig and others, following Friedrich Wöhlers synthesis of urea which proved that organisms were, in theory
9.
Geology
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Geology is an earth science concerned with the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Geology can also refer generally to the study of the features of any terrestrial planet. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth by providing the evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life. Geology also plays a role in engineering and is a major academic discipline. The majority of data comes from research on solid Earth materials. These typically fall into one of two categories, rock and unconsolidated material, the majority of research in geology is associated with the study of rock, as rock provides the primary record of the majority of the geologic history of the Earth. There are three types of rock, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. The rock cycle is an important concept in geology which illustrates the relationships between three types of rock, and magma. When a rock crystallizes from melt, it is an igneous rock, the sedimentary rock can then be subsequently turned into a metamorphic rock due to heat and pressure and is then weathered, eroded, deposited, and lithified, ultimately becoming a sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock may also be re-eroded and redeposited, and metamorphic rock may also undergo additional metamorphism, all three types of rocks may be re-melted, when this happens, a new magma is formed, from which an igneous rock may once again crystallize. Geologists also study unlithified material which typically comes from more recent deposits and these materials are superficial deposits which lie above the bedrock. Because of this, the study of material is often known as Quaternary geology. This includes the study of sediment and soils, including studies in geomorphology, sedimentology and this theory is supported by several types of observations, including seafloor spreading, and the global distribution of mountain terrain and seismicity. This coupling between rigid plates moving on the surface of the Earth and the mantle is called plate tectonics. The development of plate tectonics provided a basis for many observations of the solid Earth. Long linear regions of geologic features could be explained as plate boundaries, mid-ocean ridges, high regions on the seafloor where hydrothermal vents and volcanoes exist, were explained as divergent boundaries, where two plates move apart. Arcs of volcanoes and earthquakes were explained as convergent boundaries, where one plate subducts under another, transform boundaries, such as the San Andreas Fault system, resulted in widespread powerful earthquakes. Plate tectonics also provided a mechanism for Alfred Wegeners theory of continental drift and they also provided a driving force for crustal deformation, and a new setting for the observations of structural geology
10.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also known as UNC, or simply Carolina, is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. It is one of the 17 campuses of the University of North Carolina system, the first public institution of higher education in North Carolina, the school opened its doors to students on February 12,1795. The university offers degrees in over 70 courses of study through fourteen colleges, in 1952, North Carolina opened its own hospital, UNC Health Care, for research and treatment, and has since specialized in cancer care. The schools students, alumni, and sports teams are known as Tar Heels, the campus covers 729 acres of Chapel Hills downtown area, encompassing the Morehead Planetarium and the many stores and shops located on Franklin Street. Students can participate in over 550 officially recognized student organizations, the student-run newspaper The Daily Tar Heel has won national awards for collegiate media, while the student radio station WXYC provided the worlds first internet radio broadcast. North Carolina is one of the members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Competing athletically as the Tar Heels, North Carolina has achieved success in sports, most notably in mens basketball, womens soccer. As a result, Womans College was renamed the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, in 1955, UNC Chapel Hill officially desegregated its undergraduate divisions. During World War II, UNC Chapel Hill was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission, during the 1960s, the campus was the location of significant political protest. Prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, protests about local racial segregation which began quietly in Franklin Street restaurants led to mass demonstrations, the climate of civil unrest prompted the 1963 Speaker Ban Law prohibiting speeches by communists on state campuses in North Carolina. The law was criticized by university Chancellor William Brantley Aycock and university President William Friday. A group of UNC Chapel Hill students, led by Student Body President Paul Dickson, filed a lawsuit in U. S. federal court, and on February 20,1968, the Speaker Ban Law was struck down. From the late 1990s and onward, UNC Chapel Hill expanded rapidly with a 15% increase in student population to more than 28,000 by 2007. Professor Oliver Smithies was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2007 for his work in genetics, additionally, Aziz Sancar was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2015 for his work in understanding the molecular repair mechanisms of DNA. The current chancellor is Carol Folt, the first woman to hold the post, UNC Chapel Hills 729-acre campus is dominated by two central quads, Polk Place and McCorkle Place. Adjacent to Polk Place is a sunken brick courtyard known as the Pit where students will gather, the Morehead–Patterson Bell Tower, located in the heart of campus, tolls the quarter-hour. In 1999, UNC Chapel Hill was one of sixteen recipients of the American Society of Landscape Architects Medallion Awards and was identified as one of 50 college or university works of art by T. A, gaines in his book The Campus as a Work of Art. The universitys campus is divided into three regions, usually referred to as north campus, middle campus, and south campus
11.
Black Mountains (North Carolina)
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The Black Mountains are a mountain range in western North Carolina, in the southeastern United States. They are part of the Blue Ridge Province of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, the Blacks are the highest mountains in the Eastern United States. The Eastern Continental Divide, which runs along the eastern Blue Ridge crest, the Black Mountains are home to Mount Mitchell State Park, which protects the ranges highest summit and adjacent summits in the north-central section of the range. Much of the range is protected by the Pisgah National Forest. The Blue Ridge Parkway passes along the southern section, and is connected to the summit of Mount Mitchell by North Carolina Highway 128. The Black Mountains are mostly located in Yancey County, although the southern and western extremes are part of Buncombe County. The Black Mountains form a J-shaped semicircle that opens to the northwest, the Blacks rise southward from the Little Crabtree Creek Valley in the north to the steep 6, 327-foot summit of Celo Knob. A few miles south of Celo, the crest drops to 5,700 feet at Deep Gap before rising again to the summit of Potato Hill in the north-central section of the range. South of Mount Mitchell, the crest drops to just under 6,000 feet at Stepps Gap before rising again to 6,520 feet at the summit of Mount Gibbes, the crest then turns northward across Point Misery and Big Butt before descending to the Cane River Valley. The northern section of the Black Mountains are drained by the Cane River to the west, a few of the streams in the southeastern section of the range are part of the Catawba River watershed, and are thus east of the Eastern Continental Divide. While the crest of the Black Mountain range is just 15 miles long, the Black Mountains rise prominently above the surrounding lower terrain. This is particularly noticeable from the eastern side, which rises over 4500 feet above the Catawba River Valley and Interstate 40. The Black Mountains consist primarily of Precambrian gneiss and schists formed over a billion years ago from primordial sea sediments, weathering and minor geologic events in subsequent periods carved out the mountains. During the last Ice Age, approximately 20, 000-16,000 years ago, glaciers did not advance into Southern Appalachia, a tree-less tundra likely existed in the Black Mountains and surrounding mountains in elevations above 3,500 feet. Spruce-fir forests dominated the lower elevations during this period, while hardwoods fled to warmer refuges in the coastal plains, today, the spruce-fir forest atop the Black Mountains is one of ten or so spruce-fir islands remaining in the mountains of Southern Appalachia. The forests of the Black Mountains are typically divided into three based on altitude, the spruce-fir forest, the northern hardwoods, and the Appalachian hardwoods. The southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest is dominated by red spruce and Fraser fir, the northern hardwoods, which consist primarily of beech, yellow birch, and buckeye, thrive between 4,500 feet and 5,500 feet. The more diverse Appalachian hardwoods, which include yellow poplar and various species of hickory, oak, pine forests, consisting chiefly of Table Mountain pine, pitch pine, and Virginia pine, are found on the drier south-facing slopes
12.
Mount Mitchell
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Mount Mitchell is the highest peak of the Appalachian Mountains and the highest peak in mainland eastern North America. It is located near Burnsville in Yancey County, North Carolina, in the Black Mountain subrange of the Appalachians and it is protected by Mount Mitchell State Park and surrounded by the Pisgah National Forest. Mount Mitchells elevation is 6,684 feet above sea level, the peak is the highest mountain in the United States east of the Mississippi River, and the highest in all of eastern North America south of the Arctic Cordillera. The nearest higher peaks are in the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mitchell fell to his death at nearby Mitchell Falls in 1857, having returned to verify his earlier measurements. A4. 6-mile road connects the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway to a lot where a steep paved 980-foot trail leads through a conifer forest to the summit. The 40-foot stone observation tower on the summit was torn down in late 2006, a new observation deck was constructed and opened to visitors in January 2009. Also on the summit is the tomb of Dr. Mitchell, Mount Mitchell was formed during the Precambrian when marine deposits were metamorphosed into gneiss and schist. These metasedimentary rocks were uplifted during the Alleghenian orogeny. The mountains summit is coated in a stand of Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forest. Most of the mature Fraser firs, however, were killed off by the non-native Balsam woolly adelgid in the half of the 20th century. The high elevations also expose plant life to levels of pollution, including acid precipitation in the form of rain, snow. These acids damage the red spruce trees in part by releasing natural metals from the soil like aluminum, to what extent this pollution harms the high-altitude ecosystem is debatable. While the mountain is still lush and green in the summer. Repairing the damage is an issue, as the pollutants are often carried in from long distances. Sources can be local or hundreds of miles or kilometers away, wildflowers are abundant all summer long. Young fir and spruce trees do well in the subalpine climate, the second highest point in eastern North America, Mount Craig at 6,647 feet, is roughly a mile to the north of Mount Mitchell. S. The monthly daily average ranges from 25.2 °F in January to 59.1 °F in July. The coldest temperature recorded in the state occurred there on January 21,1985 when it fell to −34 °F
Mitchell County, North Carolina
