Christopher P. Garrity

The Geology of Burnsville Cove, Bath and Highland Counties, Virginia

Burnsville Cove is a karst region in Bath and Highland Counties of Virginia. A new geologic map of the area reveals various units of limestone, sandstone, and siliciclastic mudstone (shale) of Silurian through Devonian age, as well as structural features such as northeast-trending anticlines and synclines, minor thrust faults, and prominent joints. Quaternary features include erosional (strath) terraces and accumulations of mud, sand, and gravel. The caves of Burnsville Cove are located within predominantly carbonate strata above the Silurian Williamsport Sandstone and below the Devonian Oriskany Sandstone. Most of the caves are located within the Silurian Tonoloway Limestone, rather than the Silurian-Devonian Keyser Limestone as reported previously.