5. PIEDMONT REGION. 67 



5. The Piedmont Region. 



(Figures 21-24.) 



Between the Blue Ridge and the fall-h'ne, all the way 

 from Pennsylvania to Alabama, is a belt of foot-hills av- 

 eraging about 100 miles wide, known as the Piedmont 

 region. In Alabama it covers about 5,000 square miles. 



References. — Earle, Harper 4, Reed (7-44), Smith 1 

 (26-36, 43-57, 76-116), Smith 6 (24-27, 87-94), Smith 7 

 (184-190, 348-367), Smith 9 (66-70), Tuomey 2 (43-78). 



Geology and soils. — The rocks of the Piedmont region 

 in Alabama are presumably mostly pre-Cambrian 

 (Archaean) , metamorphic or crystalline, obscurely or not 

 at all stratified, and devoid of fossils, but containing a 

 great variety of minerals. Lithologically they are near- 

 ly all granitic, gneissic, or schistose, but there are also a 

 few small belts of limestone, perhaps belonging to a 

 later formation. The principal soil varieties are residual 

 red clay, gray loam and shaly soil (the red predominat- 

 ing) on the uplands, some of them mixed v/ith rock frag- 

 ments of various sizes, and alluvial and colluvial soils in 

 the valleys. They are mostly well supplied with all the 

 essential mineral ingredients, except that they are a lit- 

 tle deficient in lime. The richest upland soils seem to 

 be in Chambers County. 



Topography and hydrography. — The topography is 

 maturely dissected, and all referable to normal erosion 

 processes, there being no ponds or subterranean drainage 

 such as characterize limestone regions. Away from the 

 immediate vicinity of the Blue Ridge all the hills in any 

 neighborhood usually rise to about the same level. The 

 ridges are as a rule a little broader and more rounded 

 than the valleys. 



Springs are common, but all small. Branches and 

 creeks are well developed, there being few points in the 

 whole region more than half a mile from running water. 

 The rivers all rise within the region, or on the slopes of 

 the Blue Ridge, except the Coosa, which instead of con- 

 tinuing out to the end of its valley region and then direct- 

 ly across the coastal plain, like most other Alabama riv- 



