15
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. J. Culver (ed.), Troubled Waters, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52383-1_2
Chapter 2
Buried Secrets of the North Carolina
Coast, USA
David J. Mallinson
Abstract The Outer Banks Barrier Islands of North Carolina, USA are beautiful
and dynamic coastal features with a long and complicated human history and geological story. The hard work of numerous university faculty, agency scientists and
students have uncovered the geological secrets of this region. Using geophysical
devices that reveal the underpinnings of the islands and estuaries, and collecting
sediments and fossils to understand changes to the environments, we can see how
the islands and estuaries responded to climate conditions and storm patterns in the
past. Those past responses are informing us of what might be expected in the future
given projected climate and sea-level changes. This is the story of the work that has
been done to reveal the secrets of this coast.
Keywords Outer Banks · North Carolina · Barrier islands · Inlets · Coastal
geology · Lost Colony · Sea level · Climate change
Where History and Geology Meet
In 1585 A.D., the crew of an English ship first glimpsed the sparkling emerald
waters, white breaking waves and endless beaches and dunes of the North Carolina
coast, looking to establish an English settlement and a new life in the New World.
This was the plan of Sir Walter Raleigh, a bold nobleman with close ties to Queen
Elizabeth, who wanted a foothold on North America to ensure a British claim on the
continent, and to have points from which to capture gold coming up the coast from
the south in Spanish galleons. The captain and crew carefully navigated the ship
through the Outer Banks barrier islands to the estuaries behind via an inlet, Roanoke
D. J. Mallinson (*)
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
e-mail: mallinsond@ecu.edu
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to
Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
S. J. Culver (ed.), Troubled Waters, Springer Climate,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-52383-1_2
Chapter 2
Buried Secrets of the North Carolina
Coast, USA
David J. Mallinson
Abstract The Outer Banks Barrier Islands of North Carolina, USA are beautiful
and dynamic coastal features with a long and complicated human history and geological story. The hard work of numerous university faculty, agency scientists and
students have uncovered the geological secrets of this region. Using geophysical
devices that reveal the underpinnings of the islands and estuaries, and collecting
sediments and fossils to understand changes to the environments, we can see how
the islands and estuaries responded to climate conditions and storm patterns in the
past. Those past responses are informing us of what might be expected in the future
given projected climate and sea-level changes. This is the story of the work that has
been done to reveal the secrets of this coast.
Keywords Outer Banks · North Carolina · Barrier islands · Inlets · Coastal
geology · Lost Colony · Sea level · Climate change
Where History and Geology Meet
In 1585 A.D., the crew of an English ship first glimpsed the sparkling emerald
waters, white breaking waves and endless beaches and dunes of the North Carolina
coast, looking to establish an English settlement and a new life in the New World.
This was the plan of Sir Walter Raleigh, a bold nobleman with close ties to Queen
Elizabeth, who wanted a foothold on North America to ensure a British claim on the
continent, and to have points from which to capture gold coming up the coast from
the south in Spanish galleons. The captain and crew carefully navigated the ship
through the Outer Banks barrier islands to the estuaries behind via an inlet, Roanoke
D. J. Mallinson (*)
Department of Geological Sciences, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA
e-mail: mallinsond@ecu.edu