It's fascinating to see how geological formations from 100 million years ago can hold effect on the politics of today.

Reddit user MartyVanB highlighted the linkage between the two when he posted an image juxtaposing a visualization of Alabama during the Cretaceous Period (145.5 – 66 million years ago) with a map of how the state voted during the 2016 election:







You can see from the right that there is a Democratic blue belt running through the state of Alabama and that the belt perfectly matches the green strip in the left, a region which MartyVanB explains marks the ancient coastline during the Cretaceous Period.

The alignment between the two is no mere accident, as the ancient coastline, thanks to plentiful deposits from marine life, later become rich farmland for the cotton agriculture industry in the 19th century. The region, known as the Black Belt because of the dark black topsoil of its lands, also has a high percentage of African-Americans living there because of its cotton plantation history and within that region, the black voters have traditionally supported the Democratic party.

So while the two juxtaposed images may initially seem to bear little connection to each other, the story it tells is actually one where geology, history and politics are inextricably connected to each other.

[Via Reddit]​