Nittany Valley
Encyclopedia
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
anticlinal
Anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. The term is not to be confused with antiform, which is a purely descriptive term for any fold that is convex up. Therefore if age relationships In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is...
valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
in the central portion of Centre County
Centre County, Pennsylvania
Centre County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the population was 153,990....
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is separated from the Bald Eagle Valley
Bald Eagle Valley
The Bald Eagle Valley of central Pennsylvania, United States is the low lying area draining into the Bald Eagle Creek between the Allegheny Front and the Bald Eagle Mountain ridge, south of the West Branch Susquehanna River, in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians...
by Bald Eagle Mountain
Bald Eagle Mountain
Bald Eagle Mountain, once known locally as Muncy Mountain, is a stratigraphic ridge in central Pennsylvania, United States, running east of the Allegheny Front and northwest of Mount Nittany. It lies along the southeast side of Bald Eagle Creek, and south of the West Branch Susquehanna River, and...
and from Penns Valley by Mount Nittany
Mount Nittany
Mount Nittany is the common name for Nittany Mountain, a prominent geographic feature in Centre County, Pennsylvania. The mountain is actually part of a complex of ridges that separates Nittany Valley from Penns Valley, with the enclosed Sugar Valley between them...
. The valley is closed to the north by a high plateau that joins these two mountain ridges, but is open to the south at the southern terminus of Mount Nittany. The valley drains to the Bald Eagle Creek
Bald Eagle Creek (West Branch Susquehanna River)
Bald Eagle Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River mostly in Centre County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It runs through the Bald Eagle Valley at the foot of the Bald Eagle Mountain ridge to Lock Haven....
through water gap
Water gap
A water gap is an opening or notch which flowing water has carved through a mountain range. Water gaps often offer a practical route for road and rail transport to cross mountain ridges.- Geology :...
s in Bald Eagle Mountain formed by Spring Creek, and Fishing Creek
Fishing Creek (Bald Eagle Creek)
Fishing Creek is a tributary of Bald Eagle Creek in Clinton County, Pennsylvania, in the United States.Fishing Creek passes through a water gap in Bald Eagle Mountain at Mill Hall, and joins Bald Eagle Creek near the borough of Flemington.-References:...
, along with smaller streams running through Curtain Gap and Howard Gap. The Northwest side of the valley between the Bald Eagle Mountain ridge and the lower Sand Ridge is also known as the "Little Nittany Valley".
The valley has a mixture of farmland, woodlots, and a number of working and abandoned quarries. Bellefonte
Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
Bellefonte is a borough in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It lies about twelve miles northeast of State College and is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, the county seat of Centre County, is the largest municipality completely within the valley. The Pennsylvania State Correctional Institution - Rockview
State Correctional Institution - Rockview
The State Correctional Institution at Rockview, commonly referred to as Rockview, is a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections prison located in Benner Township, Pennsylvania, away from Bellefonte....
, the Nittany Mall
Nittany Mall
Nittany Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in State College, Pennsylvania. The mall is noteworthy because it is the only enclosed shopping mall in the State College region.-Anchors:*J.C. Penney*Sears*Bon-Ton...
, the Pennsylvania Transportation Institute
Pennsylvania Transportation Institute
The Pennsylvania Transportation Institute , founded in 1968, is a research unit of Penn State University's College of Engineering.Located in a research complex on the Penn State’s University Park Campus, PTI has several full-scale field facilities and a number of experimental laboratories,...
and University Park Airport
University Park Airport
University Park Airport is a public airport located in Benner Township, Centre County, Pennsylvania. The airport serves the towns of State College and Bellefonte, and the surrounding area. The airport is owned by The Pennsylvania State University, but the terminal building and parking areas are...
are large facilities located in the valley. State College, Pennsylvania
State College, Pennsylvania
State College is the largest borough in Centre County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Centre County. As of the 2010 census, the borough population was 42,034, and roughly double...
and the Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
main University Park
University Park, Pennsylvania
University Park, Pennsylvania is an unincorporated community in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the location of the flagship campus of the Pennsylvania State University....
campus lie at the southern end of the Nittany and Penn's Valleys, and this area is also known as "Happy Valley".
Transportation
The Keystone Shortway, now Interstate 80Interstate 80
Interstate 80 is the second-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, following Interstate 90. It is a transcontinental artery running from downtown San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey in the New York City Metropolitan Area...
, runs diagonally across the Nittany Valley on a west to east line, from Curtin Gap east of Milesburg, Pennsylvania
Milesburg, Pennsylvania
Milesburg is a borough in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,187 at the 2000 census...
, to a natural gap in Mount Nittany and then via a deep rock cut
Rock blasting
Rock blasting is the controlled use of explosives to excavate, break down or remove rock. It is practised most often in mining, quarrying and civil engineering such as dam or road construction...
along the Long Run stream. The Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad
Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad
The Nittany and Bald Eagle Railroad is a short line railroad that operates of track in Blair, Centre, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania in the United States. It is part of the North Shore Railroad System....
short line spur that enters the valley from Milesburg
Milesburg, Pennsylvania
Milesburg is a borough in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,187 at the 2000 census...
, then runs along Spring Creek to Bellefonte, splits, with a track going northeast to Pleasant Gap
Pleasant Gap, Pennsylvania
Pleasant Gap is a census-designated place in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and another going southwest to Lemont
Lemont, Pennsylvania
Lemont is a census-designated place in Centre County, Pennsylvania, United States and is the location of the only remaining granary in Pennsylvania. It is part of the State College, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and State College. The spur to Bellefonte follows Pennsylvania Route 144 and the line from Lemont to Pleasant Gap follows Pennsylvania Route 26
Pennsylvania Route 26
Pennsylvania Route 26 is a highway in the south-central area of Pennsylvania. Its northern terminus is at Pennsylvania Route 150 northwest of Howard, Pennsylvania; its southern terminus is at the Maryland state line near Barnes Gap in Union Township...
. Route 26 is the primary north to south route through the valley, and the Interstate 99
Interstate 99
Interstate 99 is an intrastate Interstate Highway located in central Pennsylvania in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at exit 146 of the Pennsylvania Turnpike north of Bedford, where the road continues south as U.S. Route 220 . The northern terminus is at...
extension will also run along its new alignment to I 80.
Geology of Nittany Valley
Nittany Valley is in the western part of the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian MountainsAppalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
. During the Appalachian orogeny, the sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
layers folded
Fold (geology)
The term fold is used in geology when one or a stack of originally flat and planar surfaces, such as sedimentary strata, are bent or curved as a result of permanent deformation. Synsedimentary folds are those due to slumping of sedimentary material before it is lithified. Folds in rocks vary in...
up into the Nittany Arch
Nittany Arch
The Nittany Arch or Nittany anticline is an anticline geologic formation in the western part of the Ridge-and-Valley physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains of Central Pennsylvania, United States...
anticline
Anticline
In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is convex up and has its oldest beds at its core. The term is not to be confused with antiform, which is a purely descriptive term for any fold that is convex up. Therefore if age relationships In structural geology, an anticline is a fold that is...
. The arch was an ancient Himalayan scale mountain that towered above what is now the valley. The oldest rock layers from deep within the eroded
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
mountain are now exposed on Sand Ridge in the middle of the valley. Younger rocks from the outer layers of the arch are exposed on the West side of the Bald Eagle ridge in the Bald Eagle Valley
Bald Eagle Valley
The Bald Eagle Valley of central Pennsylvania, United States is the low lying area draining into the Bald Eagle Creek between the Allegheny Front and the Bald Eagle Mountain ridge, south of the West Branch Susquehanna River, in the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians...
, with the youngest across that valley at the foot of the Allegheny Front
Allegheny Front
The Allegheny Front is the major southeast- or east-facing escarpment in the Allegheny Mountains in southern Pennsylvania, western Maryland, and eastern West Virginia, USA. The Allegheny Front delineates the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians to its east from the Appalachian Plateau to its west...
. The Nittany Valley, formed in the area where the mountain once stood, is an example of inverse topography.
See also: Geology of Mount Nittany and Geology of Bald Eagle Mountain