Dunes Of The Banks EarthCache
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The Outer Banks is a string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina. They begin in the southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the coast of the United States and continue 200 miles southward and cover approximately half of the northern North Carolina coastline. The islands that make up the Outer Banks are (from north to south) Bodie Island, Roanoke Island, Hatteras Island and Okracoke Island. The barrier islands that make up the Outer Banks separate 3 sounds (Currituck Sound, Albemarle Sound and Pamlico Sound) from the Atlantic Ocean.
Barrier islands serve two main functions. They protect the coastlines from severe storm damage and they harbor several habitats that are refuges for wildlife. Unlike many other barrier islands found around the globe, the Outer Banks are not anchored to an offshore coral reef. As a result of this, the Outer Banks often suffer significant beach erosion during major storms. Geographical factors also make the Outer Banks particularly susceptible to damage during storms. The Outer Banks’ location, jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean, makes it the most hurricane-prone area north of Florida for both land falling storms and storms that brush the coast offshore.
One of the components of a barrier island that helps to lessen storms’ impact on the islands is sand dunes. Sand dunes are mounds of sand behind the beaches, that have dune grass growing on them. This dune grass is an integral part of the structure of the dune itself. Dune grasses have a root system that can go as deep as 40 feet in search of water. As a result of this search for water, the dune grasses’ root systems form an interlocking structural web throughout the sand dune. This web of roots helps to hold the sand dune together, and allows the dune to better weather storms.
However, even this natural defense against the destructive forces of weather is sometimes not enough. While exploring the Outer Banks, if you keep a careful eye, you can see much evidence of natural destruction of the sand dunes. In most of these areas, you will also see where dunes have been repaired or rebuilt in an effort to maintain the integrity of the entire island chain. Sand dunes are repaired or re-built in one of three ways.
1. Installation of dune fences.
2. Bulldozing sand piles.
3. Placement of drift wood and other natural material.
When dune fences or natural materials are placed on the ocean side of a damaged sand dune they begin to collect sand. Over time the collection of trapped sand will get larger and larger and the dune grasses will eventually spread into the rebuilt section of the dune and stabilize it. It is just simply an act of helping nature help itself.
The posted coordinates will take you to an area on a public beach where sand dunes were damaged. One of the three methods of repairing or re-building sand dunes has been used here to restore the integrity of the sand dunes.
To get credit for the cache, please complete the following.
1. e-mail me which method of repairing or re-building the sand dunes has been used here.
2. Estimate the width of this sand dune and e-mail me the answer and tell me how you arrived at that answer. DO NOT WALK ON THE DUNE. USE THE PUBLIC BOARDWALK. YOU CAN GET YOUR ANSWER WITHOUT WALKING ON THE DUNES.
3. Post a picture of yourself or your gps on the beach in front of this section of the sand dunes, with the concrete pier with the windmills in the background.
Congratulations to jimbat and Batgirl30 on the FTF!
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