User:LarryMorseDCOhio/WMA
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The Wills Mountain Anticline is a geological structure that extends from south-central Pennsylvania[1] through Maryland[citation needed] and West Virginia[citation needed] into Virginia.[citation needed] In this anticline, various geological strata (kinds of rock) are folded into an arch several miles (kilometers) wide. The Wills Mountain Anticline is one of the many large and small synclines and anticlines in the folded and faulted Appalachian Ridge and Valley region of eastern North America. The Anticline's consistent topography through an approximately ###### by #### - mile four-state region provides a unifying theme for the landscapes and land uses within this roughly (#### sq mi )) area.
The central crest of the anticline is generally represented by various quartzite-capped mountain ridges separated by water gaps, including ***. The steep, erosion-resistant quartzite outer limbs of the anticline often form prominent outcrops, such as Seneca Rocks in West Virginia. Between the anticline's central ridges and the outer quartzite limbs, softer, more easily eroded limestones and shales underlie various valleys and lower hills, including such places as the Germany Valley and the Smoke Hole in West Virginia. The limestone areas include a number of sizeable caves or caverns, such as the Smoke Hole Caverns and the Hellhole in West Virginia.
Several geological features of the Wills Mountain Anticline support ecological habitats unusual in the Appalachians, including quartzite ledges and cliffs, limestone outcrops, and caves. Various distinctive kinds of plants, invertebrate animals, and bats occur in some of these places.
The landscapes along the Wills Mountain Anticline are generally little-developed forests and farmland, often scenic and important to regional tourism, especially in eastern West Virginia. Few roads or railroads cross the anticline, usually in the water gaps, with U.S. 33's steep crossing of North Fork Mountain in West Virginia a dramatic exception.