Uploaded November 2023 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Nearly all online material regarding Carolina Bays focuses on clusters of impressively elliptical bays along the Lumber and Cape Fear Rivers in North Carolina. The expanses of ancient sand dunes that interact with the bays receive comparatively little attention, but they deserve more! The Atlantic Coastal Plain landscape is covered in Pleistocene sand dunes, some of which formed from the edges of the bays themselves, indicating the bays existed during the Pleistocene. Things get interesting when bays cut off each other's sand sheets, suggesting some bays are younger than others. Was bay formation an ongoing process related to climatic conditions and an open, windy landscape? Check out these images and see what you think.
Nearly all online material regarding Carolina Bays focuses on clusters of impressively elliptical bays along the Lumber and Cape Fear Rivers in North Carolina. The expanses of ancient sand dunes that interact with the bays receive comparatively little attention, but they deserve more! The Atlantic Coastal Plain landscape is covered in Pleistocene sand dunes, some of which formed from the edges of the bays themselves, indicating the bays existed during the Pleistocene. Things get interesting when bays cut off each other's sand sheets, suggesting some bays are younger than others. Was bay formation an ongoing process related to climatic conditions and an open, windy landscape? Check out these images and see what you think.
