Transcript Geographic Provinces of South Carolina

Watersheds and Geographic
Provinces of South Carolina
River Systems of South Carolina
Precipitation that falls in South
Carolina is drained by a system of
streams and rivers leading to the
Atlantic. The land area that is
drained by one system of streams and
rivers is called a watershed or river
basin. These are the 4 river basins of
SC:


Pee Dee River Basin – drains 25% of South
Carolina at the rate of 10.5 billion gallons per
day.
Santee River Basin – drains 34% of South
Carolina at the rate of 7.5 billion gallons per
day.


ACE Basin (Ashley-Cooper, CombaheeCoosawhatchie, and Edisto ) – drains 26% of
South Carolina at the rate of 5 billion gallons
per day.
Savannah River Basin – drains 15% of South
Carolina at the rate of 8 billion gallons per day.
SOUTH CAROLINA GEOGRAPHIC PROVINCES
South Carolina can be divided into five
geographic provinces, also called landform
regions, based on a number of criteria
including relief, rock types, and geologic
history.





Blue Ridge (or Foothills of the Appalachians)
Piedmont
Sandhills
Coastal Plain (or Upper Coastal Plain)
Coastal Zone (or Lower Coastal Plain)
SC Provinces

These regions run in bands parallel to the
Atlantic Ocean

Elevation decreases steadily from over 3000 ft
in the Blue Ridge to sea level

Rivers flow NW to SE
Blue Ridge Mountains

Less than 2% of SC
lies in the Blue Ridge.

The Blue Ridge is the
eastern most mountain
range of the
Appalachians.

The Appalachians were formed more than 350
million years ago making it the oldest mountain
chain in North America.
Blue Ridge or
Appalachians?
Read only:
The Changing Face of the Appalachians



Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) is a dominant
conifer of the Appalachians but is in severe decline
because of the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid. This tiny
insect, accidently introduced for Southern Japan,
drains nutrients from the tree and kills it within 3-6
years.
Hemlocks are the redwood of the south reaching 150
ft with a 6 ft diameter. They provide critical habitat
for many native species.
Efforts are being made to control the insect.
Branch with woolly adelgid infestation
American Chestnut:
The vegetation of the
Blue Ridge was once
classified as an oak –
chestnut forest, but
early in the 20th
century, a fungus (the
chestnut blight) killed
all of the American
chestnuts drastically
altering the species
composition of the
Appalachians.
Piedmont


The Piedmont (from the French meaning “foot of the
mountain”) consists of a 100 mile wide belt between
the Blue Ridge and the Sandhills. This region is
characterized by gently rolling hills with many
stream-cut valleys.
An outstanding feature of this province is the
monadnock. This is a residual rock feature that is
more resistant than the surrounding rocks and as a
result is not eroded away at the same rate. Table
Mountain is a well know monadnock.

The vegetation in the Piedmont region has
been more disturbed by humans than any other
region. This region is now covered in loblolly
pine which was introduced into the Piedmont
as a cash lumber crop.

This pine species now dominates much of the
Piedmont.
Read only:

About 100 million years ago, the ocean level
was located near the fall line. The sands in the
in this region are from an ancient beach.

Columbia would have been an ocean front city.
Sandhills
This province is a belt of infertile sandy soil five to
fifteen miles wide. Streams drop rapidly at the fall
line as they pass from the hard rock of the piedmont
to the loose soft sands of the Sandhills.
Read Only
Many cities (Columbia, Atlanta, Raleigh, Richmond,
Washington DC, Philadelphia) were built along the
fall line for two reasons. Rivers were un-navigable
past the fall line and the falls or rapids created by the
change in rock structure were used as a hydrologic
power source.

The sandy soils quickly drain any rainfall that
falls in the area leaving desert-like conditions.
Coastal Plain

The coastal plain is the largest landform region
in South Carolina. It covers about 2/3 of the
state and is nearly flat and featureless.
Elevations begin at ~300 ft near the Sandhills
and decrease to sea level at the coastal zone.
The major habitats are vast flood plains, river
swamps, and elliptical depressions called
Carolina bays.
Read Only: Carolina Bays

These bays are large, shallow, elliptical
depressions that have long axes all aligned in
the same direction – NW to SE

These features are found from Maryland to
Florida and number close to ½ million

There are a few theories on how these bays
were formed: the meteorite theory, the tidal
eddy theory, and the artesian spring theory.
Coastal Zone

The coastal zone extends seaward of Hwy 17.

This geographic province includes a small
portion of the mainland, tidal marshes, sea
islands, barrier islands, and the Atlantic
continental shelf offshore to the 3-mile
jurisdictional boundary.

49% of South Carolina’s beachfront (88 miles)
was developed as of 1988.