The Tidewater Region ofNorth Carolina

The Tidewater Region

• Essential Question:– What are the major features of the Tidewater

Region?

The Tidewater Region

• Important words:– Sound– Barrier islands– Inlet– Gulf Stream– Wetland– Estuary– Pocosin– Savanna

The Tidewater Region

The Tidewater Region

• Narrow strip of North Carolina (NC) along the Atlantic Ocean

• 30-50 miles wide• Tides affect the region’s water• sounds: inland bodies of salt/fresh water mix

Barrier Islands

• Islands form the beach of the Tidewater• Part of a chain of sand pits sticking up out of

the ocean near the shore• Most less than two miles across, barely above

sea level, and ever changing due to surf and wind

• The Outer Banks are the most famous barrier islands

Barrier Island

• At Cape Hatteras islands are widest; Jockey’s Ridge is tallest point (114’)

• Inlets: low places in the sand; allows water from the ocean into the sound

• “Graveyard of the Atlantic”: nickname for waters near • Cape Hatteras – dangerous due to storms caused by

warm Gulf Stream colliding with cold Labrador Current• Cape Fear: true break in the island chain; Cape Fear

River flows directly into the Atlantic

The Sounds• Each sound fed by fresh water rivers• Oldest towns in NC near the sounds• Great location for trade along river

routes and ocean• Fishing is an important industry• Sediment (soil, clay, gravel) is

deposited by the rivers in the sounds – makes them too shallow for large ships

• estuaries: salt water wetlands; these marshes are home to shellfish and shrimp

Largest Sounds

Currituck

Albemarle

Pamlico

Core

Bogue

Swamps and Lakes

• pocosins: wetland type; Indian name means “swamp on a hill”– trees: laurel, bay, scrub oak– Alligator and Big Pocosin are the largest

• savanna: wetland type– tall grasses mix with various pines

• example: Green Swamp (home of Venus Fly Trap)

• Most natural lakes in NC are in the Tidewater• Lake Mattamuskeet is largest (only 6’ deep)• Least populated area of the state