One for the Ages

At the end of Gimghoul Road, in Chapel Hill, one can experience a view 200 million years in the making. From this vantage point, called Piney Prospect (earlier Point Prospect), one can view a Triassic sea, the primary geologic formation underlying land east of Chapel Hill. To the west rises Chapel Hill’s main elevation, formed by the fault between the Triassic basin and a complex of volcanic and sedimentary material that has been strongly intruded by granite, upon which most of the town is built. Travel around UNC’s main campus these days, and more often than not the sound of jackhammers mingles with ringing from the Belltower as construction crews break through granite formations before laying the foundation of new buildings for the expanding campus [1].

Source: A backward glance: facts of life in Chapel Hill. c.1994. Chapel Hill, NC: The Commission. 22.