SC Coastal Habitats
Post on 10-Apr-2016
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South Carolina Coastal Habitats
By C. Livingston, 2009
Where is South Carolina?
Here we are! South Carolina borders the Atlantic Ocean.
North America
United States of America
Earth
SC
Did you know?
South Carolina ranks 40th in physical size, and is one of the top 15states for biodiversity in plants and animals.
Quick Review of SC Regions
Our state is divided into regions, starting at the mountains and going down to the coast.
Blue Ridge MountainsLandform Regions
The Blue Ridge Mountain Region is only 2% of the South Carolina land mass.
Facts about the Blue Ridge Mountains . . .
1, The Blue Ridge Mountains are part of theAppalachian Mountain Range.
2. Many streams begin in the mountains.3. These are the oldest mountains in America.4. The Blue Ridge Mountains are folding
mountains.5. The Blue Ridge Region takes up only 2% of
South Carolina’s land mass.
Piedmont Landform RegionsGreenville Spartanburg Union Greenwood Rock Hill Abbeville
Facts about the Piedmont Region . . .
1.The Piedmont Region is the largest region of South Carolina.
2. The Piedmont Region is thought to be a large plateau (raised high land that is usually flat on the top).
3. The Piedmont is NOT flat, but is hilly.4. The word Piedmont means “foot of the
mountains”.
Sandhills
Do you wonder why the Sandhills are so sandy? They used to be the coastline of North America millions of years ago.
Columbia, Our State Capitol
Landform Regions
Facts About the Sandhills Region . . .
1. The Sandhills are made of sand and sand dunes from when this area was SC’s coastline millions of years ago.
2. The Sandhills are next to the fall linewhere the land slopes down and the rivers become waterfalls.
3. The Sandhills are hilly.
Coastal Plain Landform Regions
There is an Inner and Outer Coastal Plain. Can you see the dividing line? This area was once in the ocean millions of years ago.
Aiken Orangeburg Sumter Florence
Facts about The Coastal Plains…
1. The Coastal Plains are very wet.2. The Coastal Plains used to be under the ocean
millions of years ago.3. The Coastal Plains have savannahs, which are wild
grass prairies.4. The Coastal Plains have a lot of swamps and
marshlands.5. Because of sediment that settled in the ocean
millions of years ago over the Coastal Plains, there is a lot of Sedimentary Rock in this area.
6. The Coastal Plains are flat in most areas.
Did you know?
Geologists have learned that the coastal plain stair-steps down gradually with six flats and seven slopes. They believe that this happened as the ocean receded (moved backward) throughout thousands of years.
Coastal Zone Landform Regions
South Carolina has 185 miles of coastline.
Hilton Head Beaufort Charleston Georgetown Myrtle Beach
Facts about the Coastal Zone…
1. The Coastal Zone borders the Atlantic Ocean.
2. It has the most protected wetlands in the east coast.
3. It has estuaries, wetlands, beaches and barrier islands.
4. It has more square kilometers of salt marshes than any other state along the Atlantic coast.
What is an estuary?
An estuary is a partially enclosed body of water where two different bodies of water meet and mix (e.g. fresh water from rivers or streams and salt waterfrom the ocean).
…where rivers meet
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Estuaries include…
• harbors• bays • inlets• sounds
Estuary
What is a wetland?
A wetland is an area of gradual transition where land meets water.
Wetlands include…
• swamps• freshwater marshes• saltwater marshes• tidal mud flats• lagoons• beaches
Other coastal habitats include…
•barrier islands
•maritime forest
Coastal Food Chain & Food Web
Coastal South Carolina Plants
Phytoplankton Smooth Cordgrass Glasswort
More Coastal S.C. Plants
Sabal Palmetto Live Oak Sea Oats
Coastal South Carolina Animals
Horseshoe Crab Blue Crab Loggerhead Turtle
Zooplankton Lettered Olive Snail
More Coastal S.C. Animals
Diamondback Terrapin Periwinkle Snail Great Blue Heron
Moon Snail
More S.C. Coastal Animals
Bottlenose Dolphin Manatee American Alligator
River OtterDiamondbackRattlesnake
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