Events that took place in the region over millions of years caused what we see today in Red River Gorge:
1) ancestral Appalachian mountains are slowly ground down by erosive forces and sandy material is carried west by rivers and sediment is deposited in marine and then river delta environments.
2) the sand is buried and transforms into Corbin sandstone starting about 340 million years ago.
3) the region is uplifted.
4) the modern Red River and its tributaries erode through the ancient deposits creating the gorge
Together the three phases of the geological history (bedrock formation, diagenesis, geomorphology) have created the unique and interesting landscape, so aptly recognized as a ‘National Geological Area.’”
Are they arches or bridges?
The Natural Bridge of Natural Bridge State Resort Park is an arch; Whittleton Arch is a bridge, and Henson’s and Moonshiner’s Arches are neither.
Double Arch is a lighthouse type arch, formed when two cavities on opposite sides of a rock eventually connect through a cliff.
If you are confused, you are not alone.
Geologists have generally chosen the words “arch” and “bridge” to refer to landforms made by different processes, rather than to the actual shape of the structures.
Geologists define “natural bridges” as structures eroded into existing rock by running streams, and traditionally “natural arches” were structures weathered into exposed rock without streams.
Recent weathering processes have exhumed rocks that have broken along joints into sheer cliffs and sometimes majestic arches, and large amphitheaters.