Source: https://sites.google.com/site/georgiaregions/piedmontmap-custom-size-214-257.jpg
One of the places we went in the Piedmont is Elberton, Georgia. On our way to Elberton, we passed Stone Mountain. The world's largest exposed piece of granite. Elberton is the Granite Capital of the World. Geologists think that the granite deposit is 35 miles long, 6 miles wide, and 2-3 miles deep. It was first found in 1889. Everything in Elberton seems to be made of Granite. EVERYTHING!
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Mountain
Granite is an igneous rock. It is fine grained and blue and gray in color. It is formed when magma below the Earth's surface cools and hardens.
Source: http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/science-medicine/granite
A well known mineral in Georgia is Kaolin. This can also be found in Elberton. Kaolin is a mineral to sedimentary rocks. It is mostly white with tints of red, brown and blue. It is weathered from igneous and metamorphic rocks. Sediments were laid down from an ancient ocean that once covered all of Georgia.
Source: http://catalog.wlimg.com/1/51253/other-images/58604.jpg
Source: http://www.sandersville.net/KaolinCapitaloftheWorld.cfm
A metomorphic rock found in the piedmont is gneiss. It is a metomorphic rock of granite. I saw it on my way to Elberton. It forms in convergent plate boundaries. This is where plates move towards each other and collides. Its darker than most rocks, it has different color stripes with crystals.
Sources:
Granite Capital of the World, Georgia Public Broadcasting, http://www.gpb.org/georgiastories/stories/granite_capital_of_the_world, 2015
