South Carolina Coastal

Habitats

By C. Livingston, 2009

Earth

Where is South Carolina?

North America

United States of America

SC
Here we are!
South Carolina
borders the
Atlantic Ocean.

Did you know?

South Carolina
ranks 40th in
physical size, and is
one of the top 15
states 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 Mountains

Landform 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 the
Appalachian 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 Carolinas land mass.

Greenville

Spartanburg

Union

Greenwood

Rock Hill

Abbeville

Piedmont Landform Regions

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.

Columbia, Our State Capitol

Sandhills

Do you wonder why

the Sandhills are so
sandy? They used to
be the coastline of
North America
millions of years ago.

Landform Regions

Facts About the Sandhills Region . . .

1. The Sandhills are made of sand and
sand dunes from when this area was
SCs coastline millions of years ago.
2. The Sandhills are next to the fall line
where the land slopes down and the
rivers become waterfalls.
3. The Sandhills are hilly.

Aiken

Orangeburg

Coastal Plain

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.

Sumter

Florence

Landform Regions

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.

Hilton Head

Beaufort

Charleston

Georgetown

Myrtle Beach

Coastal Zone Landform Regions

South
Carolina has
185 miles of
coastline.

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 water
from the ocean).

where
rivers meet
h

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

Zooplankton

Horseshoe Crab

Lettered Olive Snail

Blue Crab

Loggerhead Turtle

More Coastal S.C. Animals

Diamondback Terrapin

Periwinkle Snail

Moon Snail

Great Blue Heron

More S.C. Coastal Animals

Bottlenose Dolphin

River Otter

Manatee

American Alligator

Diamondback
Rattlesnake