
Pamlico Sound with the southern Outer Banks. Orbital photo courtesy of NASA.
Pamlico osund is not 20 miles from greenville, cathy is a noob and should go play tennis.
'Pamlico Sound' (PAM-lik-o) in
North Carolina, is the largest
lagoon along the
U.S. East Coast being 129 km (80 miles) long and 24 to 48 km (15 to 30 miles) wide. It is a body of water separated from the
Atlantic Ocean by the
Outer Banks, a row of low, sandy
barrier islands, including
Cape Hatteras. The
Neuse and
Pamlico rivers (the latter is the
estuary of the
Tar River) flow in from the west. Pamlico Sound is linked on the north with
Albemarle Sound through
Roanoke Sound and
Croatan Sound (
passages).
Core Sound is the narrow southern end. Explorer
Giovanni da Verrazzano mistook the sound for the
Pacific Ocean. The sound and its ocean inlets are noted for wide expanses of shallow water and occasional shoaling, making the area hazardous for larger vessels. In addition, the shallow nature of the sound makes it susceptible to wind and barometric pressure driven tidal fluctuations. This effect is amplified on the tributary rivers where water levels can change by as much as two feet in three hours when winds are aligned with the rivers' axes and are blowing strongly.
Pamlico Sound is part of a large interconnected network of lagoon estuaries, which as a whole is the second largest estuary in the United States (
Chesapeake Bay being the largest). There are seven sounds making up the whole: Albemarle Sound,
Currituck Sound, Croatan Sound, Pamlico Sound, Bogue Sound, Core Sound, and Roanoke Sound.
Cape Hatteras National Seashore and
Cape Lookout National Seashore are located on the barrier islands. Along the coastal areas are numerous
waterfowl nesting sites, including
Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge and
Swanquarter National Wildlife Refuge on the mainland.
External links
★
Pamlico Sound Boating