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"The Nature of the Outer Banks: 

 Environmental Processes, Field Sites, 

 and Development Issues, Corolla 

 to Ocracoke." 



157 pages. Dirk Frankenberg. 1995. 

 ISBN 0-8078-4542-6 The University 

 of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill 

 and London. 



Using different scales of time. 

 Dirk Frankenberg unveils the changing 

 nature of the northern section of North 

 Carolina's barrier islands. Moment-by- 

 moment coastal processes occur on the 

 beach with the pounding of each wave. 

 Each grain of sand in the surf lifts and 

 moves with the wave surge. Each day, 

 two tides cleanse the beach of foot- 

 prints. Over days and weeks, waves 

 work the shape of the beach. Concave 

 indentations form half-moon crescents 

 along the shoreline that migrate like 

 giant, slow-moving waves. In reality, a 

 straight beach doesn't exist. 



The shape of entire barrier islands 

 changes over the years. Inlets narrow 

 or broaden or, in the case of Oregon 

 Inlet, march doggedly to the south. 

 Inlets release water from the sounds 

 and rivers and carve one end of an 

 island while broadening the other. 



On each island, dunes rise or fall 

 with wind or overwash. The edges of 

 salt marshes accrete or erode, fattening 

 or thinning the island's contour. Over 

 centuries, capes have come and gone, 

 inlets opened and shut, marshes 

 drowned or succeeded to shrub thickets 

 or maritime forests. 



Frankenberg also views the 

 changes from a geologist's perspective, 

 which is scaled in millions of years. 

 North Carolina's shoreline has experi- 

 enced a dramatic evolution. Once, 

 ocean waves lapped beaches along the 

 path of Interstate 95. When glaciers 

 were present, the ocean receded 

 hundreds of miles, explosing the 

 continental shelf to herds of toed horses 

 and mammoths. Frankenberg explains 



Scott D. Taylor 



the dynamics and driving forces with 

 clarity and a scientist's consistency of 

 detail. 



In no less light, Frankenberg also 

 focuses on people and their changing 

 use of the coast: the long period of 

 subsistence use from the Colonial 

 period to the Civil War; the increasing 

 importance of the military and 

 fisheries and waterfowl harvest from 

 the Civil War through World War II to 

 the 1950s; and the frantic concentra- 

 tion of visitors and development from 

 the fabulous '50s into the frenzy that 

 continues to drive today's coastal 

 economy. 



The body of the book is an 

 excellent guide for motorists — 

 whether from North Carolina or a 

 neighboring state — to field sites 

 along the Outer Banks. It's one matter 

 to discuss the theory of overwash and 

 barrier island migration, but it's an 

 entirely different experience to see 

 evidence of these environmental 

 processes. Frankenberg provides 



directions to guide the reader to 

 geologic sites, such as old inlets, and 

 biological systems, such as maritime 

 forests, dune fields and marshes. He 

 always implores readers to keep an eye 

 open for places where nature's driving 

 forces, including various waves and 

 currents, can be observed. 



Also tucked into the guide are sites 

 where people have had a historical 

 impact. Find out why the Wright 

 brothers chose Nags Head for their 

 first flights, why the federal govern- 

 ment needed cape and inlet lighthouses 

 and how the Civil War changed the 

 splendid isolation of the island 

 communities. 



The index at the end of the text 

 makes it easy to focus on isolated 

 topics. The illustrations and the 

 photographs clarify the written 

 descriptions. 



As the reader, you will leave 

 this book and hopefully your Outer 

 Banks explorations with an idea of 

 the natural dynamics of the islands 

 and the changing nature of people's 

 involvement with the coast. 



I found the last section of the guide 

 particularly interesting. Frankenberg 

 has provided a scientist's perspective 

 of several major issues facing the coast. 

 These issues include fisheries and the 

 risk from overexploitation, water 

 supplies — source, use and quality — 

 and waste disposal for an increasing 

 population of full-time residents. 



Here's a piece of advice: Get a 

 copy of "The Nature of the Outer 

 Banks" and just start reading on a 

 chilly, rainy day. I bet that soon after, 

 you'll take a road map and begin to 

 plot your own course to the coast. 

 We need people in North Carolina 

 who understand the dynamics and the 

 beauty of the coast, the resources and 

 history. This book will start your 

 journey. I just hope that Frankenberg 

 is already writing the guide for rest 

 of our coast. □ Lundie Spence 



24 MARCH/APRIL 1996 



