17
be found in the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site near Manteo. This colony failed,
partly because they had the misfortune of setting up shop during one of the worst
extended droughts in North American recent history. We know this based on analyzing tree rings. The rings record, in their width, periods of drought versus abundant
rainfall; drought produces a dense narrow ring due to poor growing conditions,
while good growing conditions produce a thick ring. When John White returned to
the colony after 3 years, all that was found was a carving on a fence post that said
“Croatoan”, the name of a local Native tribe and nearby island (now Hatteras
Island). However, the English presence continued, although in the tidewater region
of Virginia at the Jamestown colony. The White map also survived and provides a
historical document from over 400 years ago, to which we can compare the modern
coast and see changes to the barrier islands (Fig. 2.1). Of course, there are other
ways we can understand changes in the past besides historical documents. This is
where coastal geology comes into play.
Roughly 425 years after White and Harriot visited the coastal part of what
became North Carolina, a plain white truck with a roof-rack loaded with aluminum
pipes and an odd tripod rattles down Highway 12 on the Outer Banks barrier islands
of North Carolina. The air shimmers with heat above the pavement and the adjacent
sand dunes. One could easily fry an egg on the pavement (not that you would want
to; it would just be too sandy to eat). Sand is everywhere. Patches of American
Beach Grass, Sea Oats, and Sand Spur, with red, brown and yellow Sea Oxeye
Daisy, dot the tan sandy landscape. Looking west over the sand flats, marsh plants,
Juncus (Black Needle Rush – aptly named for its extremely sharp points) and
Spartina (Salt Marsh Grass), provide a green border at the edge of the water of the
Pamlico Sound, reflecting the blue of a nearly cloudless sky. Pamlico Sound extends
like a vast inland sea to the west, roughly 70 miles (112 km) long from north to
south, and 20–30 miles (32–48 km) wide. It’s not surprising that early explorers
believed Pamlico Sound to be the Pacific Ocean. Looking east, dunes covered with
sea oats rise above the tan colored beach bordering the white foam of breaking
waves and the vast expanse of the North Atlantic Ocean. Rising in the distance to
the east is a line of towering thunderheads, perched over the warm waters of the
Gulf Stream, a vast oceanic “river” carrying Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico waters
northward and across the ocean to warm western Europe (palm trees grow in southwest England, at the same latitude as Labrador, Canada). This is the same current
that the Spanish galleons would ride, and sailors would navigate back to Europe in
colonial times, as well as today. It is a major artery of the ocean, transporting as
much water as 500 Amazon rivers.
Boots on the Ground
The van slows and pulls tentatively off the road and onto the loose sand shoulder,
being careful to keep two wheels on the pavement; we learn from experience! Boots
hit the ground and a student climbs to the roof. She begins unstrapping and passing
2 Buried Secrets of the North Carolina Coast, USA
be found in the Fort Raleigh National Historic Site near Manteo. This colony failed,
partly because they had the misfortune of setting up shop during one of the worst
extended droughts in North American recent history. We know this based on analyzing tree rings. The rings record, in their width, periods of drought versus abundant
rainfall; drought produces a dense narrow ring due to poor growing conditions,
while good growing conditions produce a thick ring. When John White returned to
the colony after 3 years, all that was found was a carving on a fence post that said
“Croatoan”, the name of a local Native tribe and nearby island (now Hatteras
Island). However, the English presence continued, although in the tidewater region
of Virginia at the Jamestown colony. The White map also survived and provides a
historical document from over 400 years ago, to which we can compare the modern
coast and see changes to the barrier islands (Fig. 2.1). Of course, there are other
ways we can understand changes in the past besides historical documents. This is
where coastal geology comes into play.
Roughly 425 years after White and Harriot visited the coastal part of what
became North Carolina, a plain white truck with a roof-rack loaded with aluminum
pipes and an odd tripod rattles down Highway 12 on the Outer Banks barrier islands
of North Carolina. The air shimmers with heat above the pavement and the adjacent
sand dunes. One could easily fry an egg on the pavement (not that you would want
to; it would just be too sandy to eat). Sand is everywhere. Patches of American
Beach Grass, Sea Oats, and Sand Spur, with red, brown and yellow Sea Oxeye
Daisy, dot the tan sandy landscape. Looking west over the sand flats, marsh plants,
Juncus (Black Needle Rush – aptly named for its extremely sharp points) and
Spartina (Salt Marsh Grass), provide a green border at the edge of the water of the
Pamlico Sound, reflecting the blue of a nearly cloudless sky. Pamlico Sound extends
like a vast inland sea to the west, roughly 70 miles (112 km) long from north to
south, and 20–30 miles (32–48 km) wide. It’s not surprising that early explorers
believed Pamlico Sound to be the Pacific Ocean. Looking east, dunes covered with
sea oats rise above the tan colored beach bordering the white foam of breaking
waves and the vast expanse of the North Atlantic Ocean. Rising in the distance to
the east is a line of towering thunderheads, perched over the warm waters of the
Gulf Stream, a vast oceanic “river” carrying Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico waters
northward and across the ocean to warm western Europe (palm trees grow in southwest England, at the same latitude as Labrador, Canada). This is the same current
that the Spanish galleons would ride, and sailors would navigate back to Europe in
colonial times, as well as today. It is a major artery of the ocean, transporting as
much water as 500 Amazon rivers.
Boots on the Ground
The van slows and pulls tentatively off the road and onto the loose sand shoulder,
being careful to keep two wheels on the pavement; we learn from experience! Boots
hit the ground and a student climbs to the roof. She begins unstrapping and passing
2 Buried Secrets of the North Carolina Coast, USA