NATURAL AREA INVENTORY 

 Basic Information Summary Sheet 



1. Natural Area Name: 421 Sand Ridge 



2 . County : Pender 



3. Location: On both sides of US 421, from the Pender-New Hanover County 

 line, northwest for approximately 3 miles. The natural area is bounded 

 of the east by the swamp of the Northeast Cape Fear River and on the west 

 by the swamp of Black River, included in the Black River Natural Area. 

 Coordinates: 34°22'N, 78°01'W (FIGURE 17). 



4. Topographic Quadrangle: Acme, NC 1954 (15' series) 



5. Size: 3,080 ac 



6. Elevation: 10 ft to 40 ft above mean sea level 



7. Access: Pedestrian access from US 421; infrequent hunter trails usually 

 gated and locked. 



8. Names of Investigators: S. W. Leonard Ricky Davis 



P, O. Box 3475 126 Duncansby Court 



Wilmington, NC 28406 Cary, NC 27511 



9. Date(s) of Investigation: May 6 and August 28, 1981 



10. Priority rating: High 



11A. Prose Description of Site: The 421 Sand Ridge Natural Area occupies 

 a peninsula between the Northeast Cape Fear and the Cape Fear Rivers. 

 The geologic processes which were responsible for this landform include 

 marine, riverine, and eolian factors. Sand was initially deposited 

 during Pleistocene high sea level periods, uplifted, became increasingly 

 well drained as the river valleys deepened, and during previous periods 

 of vegetation cover absence, was sculptured by wind erosion and deposition. 

 This landform is unique in North Carolina, partly because few other narrow 

 peninsulas between major river systems have the contrast in elevation 

 and particle size magnitude that is found on the 421 ridge. (A similar 

 peninsula is present in South Carolina at the confluence of the Pee 

 Dee and Little Pee Dee Rivers.) Subsurface sand is yellow and deep; 

 surface material is highly leached, and appears white, or grayish when 

 mixed with organics. The topography is seldom level, and the surface is 

 marked by eolian depressions, solution slumps, Carolina bay ellipses, and 

 sluggish, meandering streams. 



From the crest of the ridge to the river swamps, the cover vegetation 

 changes from longleaf pine - turkey oak to longleaf pine - gallberry 

 and eventually to pond pine pocosin. Wet depressions are usually filled 



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