LEVEL III AND IV ECOREGIONS OF DELAWARE, MARYLAND, PENNSYLVANIA, VIRGINIA, AND WEST VIRGINIA by Alan J. Woods1 James M. Omernik2 Douglas D. Brown July, 1999 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory 200 SW 35th Street Corvallis, Oregon 97333 1Dynamac Corporation U.S. EPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory 200 SW 35th Street Corvallis, Oregon 97333 2U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory 200 SW 35th Street Corvallis, Oregon 97333 TABLE OF CONTENTS BACKGROUND ..................................................................................................................................................... 1 METHODS ..................................................................................................................................................... 2 REGIONAL DESCRIPTIONS ................................................................................................................................... 3 45. Piedmont ................................................................................................................................................... 3 45c. Carolina Slate Belt .................................................................................................................... 4 45e. Northern Inner Piedmont ........................................................................................................... 4 45f. Northern Outer Piedmont .......................................................................................................... 5 45g. Triassic Uplands ......................................................................................................................... 6 58. Northeastern Highlands ............................................................................................................................ 7 58h. Reading Prong ............................................................................................................................ 7 60. Northern Appalachian Plateau and Uplands ............................................................................................. 7 60a. Glaciated Low Plateau ................................................................................................................ 7 60b. Northeastern Uplands ................................................................................................................. 8 61. Erie/Ontario Hills and Lake Plain ............................................................................................................. 9 61b. Mosquito Creek-Pymatuning Lowlands ..................................................................................... 9 61c. Low Lime Till Plain ................................................................................................................. 10 62. North Central Appalachians .................................................................................................................... 11 62a. Pocono High Plateau ................................................................................................................ 11 62b. Low Poconos ............................................................................................................................ 12 62c. Glaciated Allegheny High Plateau ........................................................................................... 13 62d. Unglaciated Allegheny High Plateau ....................................................................................... 13 62e. Low Catskills ............................................................................................................................ 14 63. Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain ................................................................................................................. 15 63a. Delaware River Terraces and Uplands ..................................................................................... 15 63b. Chesapeake-Albemarle Silty Lowlands and Tidal Marshes ..................................................... 16 63c. Dismal Swamp ......................................................................................................................... 17 63d. Barrier Islands-Coastal Marshes ............................................................................................... 17 63e. Mid-Atlantic Flatwoods ........................................................................................................... 18 63f. Delmarva Uplands .................................................................................................................... 18 64. Northern Piedmont Ecoregion ................................................................................................................ 19 64a. Triassic Lowlands ..................................................................................................................... 20 64b. Diabase and Conglomerate Uplands ........................................................................................ 20 64c. Piedmont Uplands .................................................................................................................... 21 64d. Piedmont Limestone/Dolomite Lowlands ................................................................................ 22 65. Southeastern Plains ................................................................................................................................ 23 65m. Rolling Coastal Plain ................................................................................................................ 23 65n. Chesapeake Rolling Coastal Plain ............................................................................................ 24 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS (continued) 66. Blue Ridge Mountains ............................................................................................................................ 24 66a. Northern Igneous Ridges .......................................................................................................... 25 66b. Northern Sedimentary and Metasedimentary Ridges ............................................................... 25 66c. Interior Plateau ......................................................................................................................... 25 66d. Southern Igneous Ridges and Mountains ................................................................................. 26 66e. Southern Sedimentary Ridges .................................................................................................. 26 66f. Limestone Valleys and Coves (66f) ......................................................................................... 26 67. Ridge and Valley .................................................................................................................................... 27 67a. Northern Limestone/Dolomite Valleys .................................................................................... 28 67b. Northern Shale Valleys ............................................................................................................ 28 67c. Northern Sandstone Ridges ...................................................................................................... 28 67d. Northern Dissected Ridges ....................................................................................................... 29 67e. Anthracite ................................................................................................................................. 29 67f. Southern Limestone/Dolomite Valleys and Low Rolling Hills ................................................ 30 67g. Southern Shale Valleys ............................................................................................................ 30 67h. Southern Sandstone Ridges ...................................................................................................... 30 67i. Southern Dissected Ridges ....................................................................................................... 31 69. Central Appalachians .............................................................................................................................. 31 69a. Forested Hills and Mountains ................................................................................................... 31 69b. Uplands and Valleys of Mixed Land Use ................................................................................. 32 69c. Greenbrier Karst ....................................................................................................................... 33 69d. Cumberland Mountains ............................................................................................................ 34 70. Western Allegheny Plateau ..................................................................................................................... 34 70a. Permian Hills ............................................................................................................................ 34 70b. Monongahela Transition Zone ................................................................................................. 35 70c. Pittsburgh Low Plateau ............................................................................................................ 35 83. Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands ...........................................................................................