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winds its way among piedmont hills in central Virginia . Most of the hills in the piedmont region are smaller than these.]] Piedmont is the plateau region of the eastern , Metrolina , and the Research Triangle , all of which contribute to a geographical phoenomenon known as the Piedmont Crescent . The surface relief of the Piedmont is characterized by relatively low, rolling hills with heights above Sea Level between 200 feet (50 m) and 800 feet to 1000 feet (250 m to 300 m). Its Geology is complex, with numerous rock formations of different materials and ages intermingled with one another. Essentially, the Piedmont is the remnant of several ancient Mountain Chains that have since been eroded away. Geologists have identified at least five separate events which have led to Sediment deposition, including the Grenville Orogeny (the collision of continents when the Supercontinent Rodinia was formed) and the Appalachian Orogeny during the formation of Pangaea . The last major event in the history of the Piedmont was the break-up of Pangaea, when North America and Africa began to separate. Large Basins formed from the Rift ing and were subsequently filled by the sediments shed from the surrounding higher ground. The series of Mesozoic basins is almost entirely located within the Piedmont region. In the Southeast, the Piedmont is marked by red, iron-stained clay--weathered from the granitic bedrock beneath and uncovered by generations of poor farming practices. The Cecil Soil Series is representative. The name "Piedmont" derives from the . MUSIC The Piedmont region is closely associated with the Blues style that originated there in the late 19th century. Most Piedmont blues musicians came from Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia. During the Great Migration , Black Americans migrated to the Piedmont. With the Appalachian Mountains to the west, those who may otherwise have spread into rural areas instead stayed in cities and were thus exposed to a broader mixture of music than those in, for example, the rural Mississippi delta. Thus, Piedmont Blues was influenced by white forms such as ragtime, country, and popular songs, forms that had comparatively less bearing on blues in other regions. Piedmont is also characteristic of a style of dance known as the Cakewalk or the Slow Drag, which originated based on the local culture and community. FURTHER READING
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