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Carolina Slate Belt

Ecoregion in Piedmont in GA, SC, NC, VA

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The Carolina Slate Belt (45c) is an irregular plain with low rounded ridges and shallow ravines. It is characteristically underlain by deeply weathered, fine-grained metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of the Carolina Slate Belt that have been intruded by igneous rock. Within the Piedmont (45), only the sedimentary rocks of the Triassic Basins are finer-grained and less metamorphosed. Aaron Slate, phyllite, metasiltstone, metatuff, felsic volcanic rocks, and Virgilina Greenstone underlie The Carolina Slate Belt ecoregion in Virginia. These rocks are somewhat less resistant to erosion than those of the adjoining Northern Outer Piedmont (45f) and physiography reflects these differences; Ecoregion 45c has lower crestal elevations, greater valley widths, and more favorable sites for reservoirs than adjoining ecoregions (Hunt, 1967, p. 257). Clay-rich weathering products (i.e. saprolite) have developed on bedrock but are typically thinner than in neighboring parts of the Piedmont. As a result, bedrock is close enough to the surface to impede both valley incision and erosion (Trimble, 1974). Local relief is 50 to 250 feet (15-76 m) and elevations range from 350 to 625 feet (107-191 m). The soils of the Carolina Slate Belt (45c) were derived from residuum and have a high silt content. They are primarily fine, kaolinitic, thermic, typic Hapludults of the Georgeville-Herndon association.

— EPA

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