Manhattan schist, London clay, Sydney sandstone, Melbourne bluestone.
What other rocks/soils have become famous because major cities sit on them?
I only recently found out about Manhattan schist, it’s the rock under parts of Manhattan that is strong enough to support high skyscrapers. It formed during the formation of Pangea. When Pangea was formed a nearly straight mountain range 15 km high was pushed up along the collision boundary. The mountain range stretched from Nova Scotia in the north, down the eastern seaboard of the USA and through Mexico, which is roughly the same line that opened up between North America and Africa when Pangea split. This range is known as the Central Pangean Mountains.
The schist was at the bottom of the Mountain range, formed under moderate temperatures but extremely high pressures. That a 15 km high mountain range is now worn down to sea level is testament to the power of erosion.
The following map shows the Central Pangean Mountains.
and it’s shown across the middle of the left side of this view of Pangea (North America at top, Africa and South America joined together below)
