Carolina Environmental Diversity Explorations
Large sand volume barrier islands · By Dirk Frankenberg
Bear Island dunes (1)
Figure 3. High-volume dunes on Bear Island. (Photograph by the author. More about the photograph)
We will begin our trip by visiting Bear Island, the undeveloped island of the pair of large sand volume barrier islands.
Figure 3 shows the high volume sand dunes on Bear Island. These dunes are about 50 feet high and cover an area about 5 miles long and one-half mile wide. Note that the crests of the dunes are stabilized by plant growth, but the flanks remain bare sand.
The line of footprints up the dune on the right were made by a deer.
