The Core Banks are barrier islands in North Carolina , part of the Cape Lookout National Seashore . Named after the Coree tribe, they extend from Ocracoke Inlet to Cape Lookout , and consist of two low-relief narrow islands, North Core Banks and South Core Banks , and, since September 2011, two smaller islands. New Drum Inlet , Old Drum Inlet and Ophelia Inlet now separate the islands. The Core Banks are now uninhabited. However, Portsmouth , at the north end of the North Core Banks, was once a substantial port, and Cape Lookout Village , about one and half miles south of the Cape Lookout Lighthouse , contains the historic Lookout Life-Saving Station, a U.S. Coast Guard Station , and several island homes.
17-510: Islands can be reached by two vehicle ferries. One ferry crosses Core Sound from Atlantic to North Core Banks, and another crosses the sound from Davis to South Core Banks. There are no roads on the islands: vehicles use the beach and four wheel drive tracks. Passenger ferries also take tourists from Harkers Island to the Cape Lookout area at the south end of South Core Banks. Portsmouth Island, on which Portsmouth Village stands,
34-994: A hurricane in 1933 , separating Shackleford Banks from South Core Banks). From northeast to southwest, the islands are located in the Townships of Portsmouth, Atlantic, Sea Level , Stacy, Davis, Smyrna, and Harkers Island, all in Carteret County . According to the Trewartha climate classification system, Core Banks, North Carolina has a humid subtropical climate with hot and humid summers, cool winters and year-around precipitation ( Cfak ). Cfak climates are characterized by all months having an average mean temperature > 32.0 °F (> 0.0 °C), at least eight months with an average mean temperature ≥ 50.0 °F (≥ 10.0 °C), at least one month with an average mean temperature ≥ 71.6 °F (≥ 22.0 °C) and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. During
51-472: A dominant vegetation form of Coastal Prairie ( 20 ). 34°42′23″N 76°27′32″W / 34.70639°N 76.45889°W / 34.70639; -76.45889 Core Sound The Core Sound is a sound in eastern North Carolina located between the mainland of Carteret County and Core Banks , part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It lies between the large Pamlico Sound to
68-536: A protected anchorage. It can be part of most large islands. In the more general northern European usage, a sound is a strait or the narrowest part of a strait. In Scandinavia and around the Baltic Sea , there are more than a hundred straits named Sund , mostly named for the island they separate from the continent or a larger island. In contrast, the Sound is the common international short name for Øresund,
85-555: A sound is produced by a glacier carving out a valley on a coast then receding, or the sea invading a glacier valley. The glacier produces a sound that often has steep, near vertical sides that extend deep underwater. The sea floor is often flat and deeper at the landward end than the seaward end, due to glacial moraine deposits. This type of sound is more properly termed a fjord (or fiord). The sounds in Fiordland , New Zealand, have been formed this way. A sound generally connotes
102-503: Is 8b with an average annual extreme minimum air temperature of 15.3 °F (-9.3 °C). The average seasonal (Dec-Mar) snowfall total is < 2 inches (< 5 cm), and the average annual peak in nor'easter activity is in February. According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Core Banks, North Carolina would have a dominant vegetation type of Live oak /Sea Oats Uniola paniculata ( 90 ) with
119-599: Is a tidal island accessible from North Core Banks at most states of the tide. The Cape Lookout Coast Guard Station , Cape Lookout Light Station , and Cape Lookout Village Historic District are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The geography of the Core Banks has changed since the mid 19th century. At that time South Core Banks was connected to the Shackleford Banks . Over
136-622: Is deeper than a bight and wider than a fjord ; or a narrow sea channel or an ocean channel between two land masses, such as a strait ; or also a lagoon between a barrier island and the mainland. A sound is often formed by the seas flooding a river valley . This produces a long inlet where the sloping valley hillsides descend to sea-level and continue beneath the water to form a sloping sea floor. These sounds are more appropriately called rias . The Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand are good examples of this type of formation. Sometimes
153-654: The English noun sin , German Sünde ("apart from God's law"), and Swedish synd . English has also the adjective "asunder" and the noun "sundry', and Swedish has the adjective sönder ("broken"). In Swedish and in both Norwegian languages , "sund" is the general term for any strait. In Danish, Swedish and Nynorsk , it is even part of names worldwide, such as in Swedish "Berings sund" and "Gibraltar sund", and in Nynorsk "Beringsundet" and "Gibraltarsundet". In German "Sund"
170-649: The Gulf of Mexico from the mainland, along much of the gulf coasts of Alabama and Mississippi . The term sound is derived from the Anglo-Saxon or Old Norse word sund , which also means " swimming ". The word sund is also documented in Old Norse and Old English as meaning "gap" (or "narrow access"). This suggests a relation to verbs meaning "to separate", such as absondern and aussondern ( German ), söndra ( Swedish ), sondre ( Norwegian ), as well as
187-645: The U.S. state of Washington . It was also applied to bodies of open water not fully open to the ocean, such as Caamaño Sound or Queen Charlotte Sound in Canada; or broadenings or mergings at the openings of inlets, like Cross Sound in Alaska and Fitz Hugh Sound in British Columbia. Along the east coast and Gulf Coast of the United States, a number of bodies of water that separate islands from
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#1732772594019204-532: The mainland are called "sounds". Long Island Sound separates Long Island from the eastern shores of the Bronx , Westchester County , and southern Connecticut . Similarly, in North Carolina , a number of large lagoons lie between the mainland and its barrier beaches, the Outer Banks . These include Pamlico Sound , Albemarle Sound , Bogue Sound , and several others. The Mississippi Sound separates
221-695: The narrow stretch of water that separates Denmark and Sweden , and is the main waterway between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea . It is also a colloquial short name, among others, for Plymouth Sound , England . In areas explored by the British in the late 18th century, particularly the northwest coast of North America, the term "sound" was applied to inlets containing large islands, such as Howe Sound in British Columbia and Puget Sound in
238-462: The northeast and the smaller Back Sound to the west. Several shifting inlets connect the sound to the Atlantic Ocean . Settlements on the mainland side of the sound include Marshallberg , Davis , Sea Level , and Atlantic . There are no permanent settlements on Core Banks. There are cabins that are available to rent. A ferry service out of Davis carries day visitors and campers across
255-433: The sound to the islands. 34°51′08″N 76°20′54″W / 34.85222°N 76.34833°W / 34.85222; -76.34833 This article about a location in Carteret County , North Carolina is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sound (geography) In geography , a sound is a smaller body of water usually connected to a sea or an ocean. A sound may be an inlet that
272-609: The summer months in Core Banks, a cooling afternoon sea breeze is present on most days, but episodes of extreme heat and humidity can occur with heat index values ≥ 100 °F (≥ 38 °C). Core Banks is prone to hurricane strikes, particularly during the Atlantic hurricane season which extends from June 1 through November 30, sharply peaking from late August through September. During the winter months, episodes of cold and wind can occur with wind chill values < 10 °F (< -12 °C). The plant hardiness zone in Core Banks
289-465: The years inlets have closed and opened in the barrier islands. From north to south these inlets have been Whalebone Inlet, now closed, which separated Portsmouth Island from the Core Banks, Swash Inlet (closed), Old Drum Inlet (closed in 1971 and reopened by Hurricane Irene in 2011), New Drum Inlet (opened by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1971), Ophelia Inlet (opened by Hurricane Ophelia in 2005), Cedar Inlet (closed) and Barden Inlet (opened by
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