Geography

1. Geography

3. First… • Where is Winston-Salem? • Well…that’s a little tougher and it depends… • Correct Answers: • Earth, USA, East Coast, NC, Forsyth County, 36° 6′ 9.95″ N, 80° 15′ 37.77″ W…the answers could be limitless • Depends on scale

4. North Carolina’s Location • Absolute Location: 33-37 Degrees North latitude; 75-85 Degrees West longitude • Relative Location: North Carolina is in the Southeast United States. It is bordered to the north by Virginia, to the west by Tennessee, to the south by South Carolina, and Georgia to the southwest. The Atlantic Ocean makes up North Carolina’s eastern border.

5. NC’s Geographic Regions • What is a geographic region? • An area of land with similar features

8. 1. The Tidewater Region • Low-lying lands nearest to the coast • Barrier Islands • Long chain of islands along the coast of NC • Long ridges of sand, only tops of sand islands reach the surface • Most are less than 2 miles across • The most famous of these islands are called the Outer Banks

11. Vocabulary • Barrier Islands are separated from the mainland by five main sounds • Sound – shallow bodies of brackish water (salty and fresh) Largest • Albermarle Sound to the north • Pamlico Sound in the central portion of the state

13. Inlets • The sand along the barrier islands is lower in some places. These are called inlets. • These areas allow the seawater to flow in and out with the tide. • Inlets are not always permanent

16. Estuary • The point where the tide meets the mouth of a river • Causes the sounds to be brackish (fresh + salt water) • Rich in shellfish, fish, and many species of bird • Flooded most of the year as a marshland

17. Jockey’s Ridge – highest point on Eastern Seaboard, 114’ above sea level

18. The Great Dismal Swamp (national wildlife refuge)

19. 2. The Coastal Plain

20. Key Characteristics • Higher in elevation, but flat • Richest farmland in state • 1/3 of the state in area • Large amount of farmland • Most rural area of the state • Rivers flow southeasterly, into sounds or Atlantic

22. Tobacco Towns

23. Human Features • First part of the state settled by Europeans • Tobacco, rice, lumber were major exports • Wealthiest region of the state until the end of the Civil War • Cotton, peanuts, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, tobacco and soy beans, chicken, turkey, and hog farms = major exports today • Military Bases: Ft. Bragg, Camp Lejeune, Pope AFB, Cherry Point Marine Air Station

24. 3. The Piedmont • “At the foot of the Mountain”

25. Characteristics • Red clay soil! • Wide spread agriculture and timbering caused erosion • Topsoil was gone by the 1800s and left the red subsoil • Area stretches from VA to SC

26. Erosion Control

27. Why did erosion occur? • The piedmont’s red clay erodes so easily because the region is so hilly. • Coastal plain is lower in elevation, Blue Ridge is higher

28. Fall Line • Separates the Piedmont from the Coastal Plain • Area where piedmont land drops to the lower land of the Coastal Plain • This is the area where rivers flowing out of the piedmont actually go down their last hill • Characterized by a small waterfall or rocks

30. Rivers of the Piedmont • Yadkin Pee Dee • Catawba Flow to Charleston, SC, not through the fall line What were the affects of these rivers flowing to SC instead of the Coastal Plain?

31. Human Features • First region of the state to industrialize • Rivers that were too shallow and rocky for transportation were used for power • Textiles, furniture, and tobacco factories dominated the region • Most urbanized area of the state today • Triangle = Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill • Triad = HPC, W-S, G’boro • Metrolina = Charlotte Area

32. Current Issues • Decline in manufacturing, textiles, and tobacco in the 1990s • Region turned to new areas • Charlotte = Banking • Winston-Salem = Medical Industry • Triangle = Medical and Research • Research Park, Raleigh

33. 4. The Mountains

34. Characteristics • Blue Ridge Mountains, eastern boundary of the Appalachian Mountains • Name comes from the mist that evaporates off the slopes, gives the region a aqua blue color

35. The Appalachian Mountains • Extend from New York to Alabama • 43 points in NC over 6000 feet • Mt. Mitchell = Highest 6685’ (highest east of Mississippi River)

36. The Black and Great Smoky Mountains

37. Chimney Rock and Lake Lure

38. Human Features • Most sparsely populated region of NC • Small isolated farms on “bottom land” near rivers and streams • Apples, livestock and Christmas trees are major exports, along with minerals, lumber and forest products (paper pulp) • Tourism is the region’s major industry • Hiking, mountain biking, rafting, kayaking, fishing

39. NC Rivers and Climate

40. Rivers of NC • Rivers can be two things: • An asset for trade, communication, and transportation; stimulating a state’s economic growth • An impediment to economic growth and communication

41. Rivers that are important to a community have… • Presence of a port city for trade and commerce • Canals

42. Roanoke River • Rapids made transportation difficult • Canals were constructed to allow navigation

43. The Roanoke River Canal • 1819-1823 • Connected Blue Ridge Mtns. to Norfolk • Well preserved • Not in use • Why?

44. The Cape Fear River

45. The Cape Fear River • Flows through Fayetteville to Wilmington • Greensboro is located in the river’s basin • Completely contained in the state of NC • Largest in state • Main source of transportation in state during colonial period

46. NC Climate • NC is located in a Warm Temperate Zone • Temperatures change based on region and elevation • Coastal Plain = lows in mid-forties in January to low-nineties in August • Mountains = lows around thirty in January to the low-eighties in August • Piedmont = somewhere in between