Transcript Absolute Location

Warm-up
• Describe 2 regions of NC
– Make sure you tell me where they are located
and why you consider them important.
• List five NC Counties
• What is the capital of the state of NC?
• Where is Winston-Salem?
NC Geography
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
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.
NC’s Geographic Regions
• What is a geographic region?
– An area of land with similar features
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
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
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
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
Jockey’s Ridge – highest point on Eastern
Seaboard, 114’ above sea level
The Great Dismal Swamp
(national wildlife refuge)
2. The Coastal Plain
Key Characteristics
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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
Tobacco Towns
The Sandhills
• Poorest soil in state
• Two uses for the Sandhills
– Golf Courses (Pinehurst)
– Military Bases (Ft. Bragg)
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
3. The Piedmont
• “At the foot of the Mountain”
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
Erosion Control: Kudzu
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
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
Rivers of the Piedmont
• Yadkin Pee Dee
• Catawba
Flow to Charleston, SC, not through the fall
line
What were the effects of these rivers flowing
to SC instead of the Coastal Plain?
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
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
4. The Mountains
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
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)
The Black and Great Smoky
Mountains
Chimney Rock and Lake Lure
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
NC Rivers and Climate
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
Rivers that are important to a
community have…
• Presence of a port city for trade and
commerce
• Canals
Roanoke River
• Rapids made transportation difficult
• Canals were constructed to allow
navigation
The Roanoke River Canal
• 1819-1823
• Connected Blue
Ridge Mtns. to
Norfolk
• Well preserved
• Not in use
• Why?
The Cape Fear River
The Cape Fear River
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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
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