Attention mariners heading south along the U.S. East Coast’s Intracoastal Waterway this fall, the Surf City swing bridge in North Carolina will be closed to…
By Jordanna Sheermohamed
The recent geological phenomena off the U.S. East Coast, the appearance of a large sand island known as “Shelly Island,” is testament to the power of our constantly evolving Earth. Located just off the tip of Cape Hatteras, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, this newest addition is a result of its strategic location between converging Atlantic Ocean current systems. The cold and dense polar waters shift southward to meet the northward traveling warmer and lighter Gulf Stream waters in and around the Mid-Atlantic Coast. The continental shelf also narrows around the Mid-Atlantic, with the steep drop-off less than 100 miles from the coastline. Geographically, Cape Hatteras sticks out like a thumb in the middle of this turbulent location, often subject to the tumultuous churning of the sand and sediments.
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