The Birth of a River

The Birth of a River (HMNFX)

Location: Fort Belvoir, VA 22060 Fairfax County
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Country: United States of America
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N 38° 40.708', W 77° 7.767'

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Inscription
Nearly 12,000 years ago, the Potomac River was formed as a result of the final glacial episode of the Pleistocene Epoch. At that time, the Potomac River was little more than a tributary of the Susquehanna River. A variety of large animals known as megafauna roamed the riverbanks. These animals included the sabertooth tiger, wooly mammoth, and giant ground sloth. Early Native Americans known as Paleo Indians, relied on megafauna as a valuable resource for their survival.

As glaciers receded, melt waters formed the Chesapeake Bay, flooding the Susquehanna River and widening the Potomac River. Today, the Potomac is approximately 383 miles from its headwaters to the Bay and travels through four states: Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland, as well as the District of Columbia.

Five geological formations are exposed in Virginia: the Appalachian Plateau, the Ridge and Valley Region, the Blue Ridge, and the Piedmont Valley, and the Coastal Plain. The Potomac River passes through all of these formations as it journeys from the headwaters to the Chesapeake Bay.
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HM NumberHMNFX
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Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Monday, September 29th, 2014 at 4:48pm PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)18S E 314766 N 4283248
Decimal Degrees38.67846667, -77.12945000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 38° 40.708', W 77° 7.767'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds38° 40' 42.48" N, 77° 7' 46.02" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)703
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 10243-10299 Forney Loop, Fort Belvoir VA 22060, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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