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North and South Carolina have three main land regions: the Blue Ridge, the Piedmont and
the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The geography has had a profound influence on the development
of Carolina and the economic/industry mix of today is an acute reflection of this
geography. The Blue Ridge is the eastern split of the
Appalachian mountain chain (The Great Smoky Mountains form the western split.) The highest
mountains in the eastern United States are in North Carolina's portion of the Blue Ridge,
the tallest (Mount Mitchell) being 6,684 feet high. The famed
Blue Ridge Parkway
skirts the crest of the Blue
Ridge in North Carolina, arcs in a wide curve south of Asheville to terminate in the Great
Smoky Mountains east of Waynesville. Most of the rivers in Carolina flow down the
southeastern slopes of the Blue Ridge creating dozens of spectacular waterfalls. Though
South Carolina's share of the Blue Ridge is much less, some of the mountains rise to over
3,000 feet (Sassafras Mountain is 3,560 feet above sea level). South Carolina certainly
has its share of mighty waterfalls, such as
Whitewater
Falls north of Walhalla.
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The Piedmont is like a large,
diagonal stripe
running southwesterly across North Carolina and into South Carolina covering most of its
northwestern half. Sloped steeply toward the Atlantic Coastal Plain, the Piedmont is laced
with swift flowing rivers, tumbling over waterfalls and whitewater rapids to the Coastal
Plain. There they become tamed and slow moving ending in wide estuaries at the Atlantic
Ocean. Manufacturing came to the Carolinas in the last century to take advantage of the
power of these mighty rivers.
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Today,
the water-driven mills are gone, their waterwheels replaced by
hydroelectric power vital to manufacturing in both States. The
Piedmont drops from about 1,500 feet at its juncture with the Blue
Ridge to 300 feet, where it meets the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
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The Atlantic Coastal Plain rises
from the sandy beaches of the Atlantic coast to about 300 feet elevation (called the
Fall Line). The Coastal Plain has
low-level marshland and swamps. Many of these swamps are populated with moss-hung cypress
trees. The wild grass prairies, called savannas are treeless and cover the eastern
portions of the Coastal Plain. Starting in the southern part of North Carolina
(Fayetteville) and extending southwesterly are the Sand Hills. Many of the more popular
winter resorts are in this region. The Sand Hills were part of an ancient beach indicating
that the Atlantic Coastal Plain was once covered by the ocean.
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The Fall Line
is a unique
geological feature in land areas where rocky terrain having a significant slope meets
soft, sandy soil. Over time, rapid flowing rivers (running from the higher elevations over
the rocky terrain) wash away the soft sand creating water falls (hence the name Fall Line)
and cascades. In the last century, manufacturing plants were drawn to this Fall Line
(which extends from New Jersey to Georgia) to utilize the strong water flow as mechanical
energy for their machinery. These same rivers and streams are now used in many places to
generate hydroelectric power.
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