The Sandhills or Carolina Sandhills is a 10-35 mi wide

physiographic region Physiographic regions are a means of defining Earth's landforms into independently distinct, mutually exclusive areas, independent of political boundaries. It is based upon the classic three-tiered approach by Nevin M. Fenneman in 1916, that separ ...

within the U.S.

Atlantic Coastal Plain The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

province, along the updip (inland) margin of this province in the states of

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The extent of the Carolina Sandhills is shown in maps of the

ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...

s of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia.

Geology

The unconsolidated sand of the Carolina Sandhills is mapped as the

Quaternary The Quaternary ( ) is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS), as well as the current and most recent of the twelve periods of the ...

Pinehurst Formation, and is interpreted as eolian (wind-blown) sand sheets and dunes that were mobilized episodically from approximately 75,000 to 6,000 years ago. Most of the published luminescence ages from the sand are coincident with the last

glaciation A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate be ...

, a time when the southeastern United States was characterized by colder air temperatures, stronger winds, and less vegetation. The Carolina Sandhills region also contains

outcrop An outcrop or rocky outcrop is a visible exposure of bedrock or ancient superficial deposits on the surface of the Earth and other terrestrial planets. Features Outcrops do not cover the majority of the Earth's land surface because in most p ...

s of

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

-age (~100 million years old) strata of sand, sandstone, and clay that are interpreted as fluvial (river) deposits. These Cretaceous strata are thought to be the source of the sand of the Pinehurst Formation. In South Carolina and North Carolina, these Cretaceous strata are mapped as the Middendorf Formation. A notable hill of these Cretaceous strata is

Sugarloaf Mountain Sugarloaf Mountain (, ) is a peak situated in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on a peninsula at the mouth of Guanabara Bay. Rising above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf suga ...

in the Sand Hills State Forest in Chesterfield County, South Carolina.

Soils

The soils of the Carolina Sandhills are very sandy. According to soil surveys of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, many soils of the Carolina Sandhills are mapped as the Alpin sand or Candor sand.

Vegetation

The Carolina Sandhills region is characterized by

xeric Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (Ancient Greek 'dry') shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this habita ...

sand community vegetation dominated by

pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...

trees, which caused it to formerly be known as Carolina and Georgia's Piney Woods. Much of the Carolina Sandhills is known for an ecosystem of

longleaf pine The longleaf pine (''Pinus palustris'') is a pine species native to the Southeastern United States, found along the coastal plain from East Texas to southern Virginia, extending into northern and central Florida. In this area it is also known as ...

(''Pinus palustris'') and

wiregrass Wiregrass is a common name for several plants Wiregrass may refer to: * Poaceae grasses ** ''Aristida'' (three-awns), especially ''Aristida stricta'' (Pineland Three-awn), '' Aristida junciformis'' and ''Aristida purpurea'' (Purple Three-awn), of ...

(''Aristida stricta''). This ecosystem is maintained by frequent low-intensity fires that facilitate the reproduction of the trees, wiregrass, and associated plants. This ecosystem once formed one of the more extensive ecosystems in North America, and longleaf pine was once the dominant tree that covered ~60% of the

and Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain. Today, however, only about 1% of this region supports longleaf pine.

Wildlife

More than 30 plant and animal species associated with the longleaf pine ecosystem are listed as threatened or endangered, and many of these species require interactions with the longleaf pine and with frequent low-intensity fires. The most famous endangered species of the Carolina Sandhills is probably the

red-cockaded woodpecker The red-cockaded woodpecker (''Leuconotopicus borealis'') is a woodpecker endemic to the southeastern United States. It is a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Description The red-cockaded woodpecker is small- to mi ...

(''Picoides borealis''), which prefers to excavate nesting and roosting cavities in living trees of longleaf pine that are 80–120 years old. Another rare species that can be found is the

Pine Barrens tree frog The Pine Barrens tree frog (''Dryophytes andersonii'') is a species of New World tree frog. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss. Description ''Dryophytes andersonii'' is about long, snout-to-vent, as an adult. Members of the species are p ...

, which are tolerant of low pH levels and often lay eggs in shallow, acidic ponds. The species can only be found in the Carolina Sandhills, Southern Alabama/Florida panhandle and the closely related ecosystem

New Jersey Pine Barrens The New Jersey Pine Barrens, also known as the Pinelands or simply the Pines, is the largest remaining example of the Atlantic coastal pine barrens ecosystem, stretching across more than seven counties of New Jersey. Two other large, contiguou ...

. ''Dryophytes andersonii'' is also the state amphibian of North Carolina.

Human history

Sand Hills cottage architecture is a style that developed in this area in the early to mid-1800s; it is a modified form of Greek Revival architecture. The people of the 'Piney Woods' that once covered the Sandhills and

Inner Banks The Inner Banks are the inland coastal region of eastern North Carolina. Without historical precedent, the term "Inner Banks" is an early 21st-century construct that is part of an attempt to rebrand the mostly agrarian Coastal Plains east of I-95 ...

were known as "Goobers" around the time of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

Preservation

The

Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge The Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge (NWR) located in Chesterfield County, South Carolina. The refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from a headquarters located in McBee, South Carol ...

in northeastern

attempts to preserve a fraction of the original Sandhills longleaf pine

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

. The refuge is located in Chesterfield County near McBee.

References

External links

Aspects of NC Climate--Carolina Sandhills
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Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge
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Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge (Brochure)
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Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

—accessed 19 March 2007
Sandhills Fact Sheet
��Savannah River Ecology Laboratory—accessed 19 March 2007
South Carolina Department of Environmental Resources
—Sandhills Ecoregion Terrestrial Habitat—accessed 19 March 2007. {{coord missing, North Carolina Regions of North Carolina Regions of South Carolina