• Contains 3,628,062 square miles

• 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico

• Approx. 6,000 miles of coastline

• Major mountain chains: the Appalachians, the Rockies, and the Cascades-Sierras

• Major bodies of water: Great Lakes, St. Lawrence River, Mississippi River

• SC is divided into 6 geographical regions: Coastal Zone, Outer Coastal Plain, Inner Coastal Plain, Sandhill Region, Piedmont, and Blue Ridge.

• Stretches along the Atlantic Coast

• 185 miles long and reaches 10 miles into the interior

• Divided into 3 sections: – Grand Strand– Santee Delta– Barrier islands

• This is the largest landform region in the state

• Divided into 2 section: – Outer Coastal Plain: 30-50 miles wide, the

rivers in this region and rise and fall with the tide, inland swamps and savannas. This is where the rice and indigo was grown in colonial times.

– Inner Coastal Plain: rich land for growing cotton, 130-250 feet above sea level, contains Carolina Bays’ contains the richest soil in SC

• Extends along the Fall Zone

• Contains red soil (clay); poor farm land

• Today, pine forests and fruit orchards grow successfully here

• Includes Columbia

• Pied= foot; mont = mountain

• Piedmont means foot of the mountain or foothills

• Contains nearly 1/3 of the state

• Has rapidly flowing rivers that have to come down hill, so they were good for hydroelectric factories

• Contains 500 square miles of the Blue Ridge Mountains (near Greenville)

• Contains the highest peak in SC, Sassafras Mountain

• Also contains the highest waterfall east of the Mississippi River, Whitewater Falls

• There are 3 major river systems in SC– Savannah River System (on the border

between SC and GA)– Santee River System (middle of the state)– Pee Dee River System (Northeast part of the

state)• The Rivers in the Up Country are narrow and

swift• At the fall zone, they become broad and carry

rich soil deposits

• SC has a humid, subtropical climate– Long summers with temperatures close to

100 degrees– Mild winters with temperatures rarely reaching

0 degrees– Abundant rain; mostly in February and July– Hurricanes affect this area: hurricane season

runs June 1- November 30, though SC sometimes gets them in May and December

Use the smart board to label the 6 geographical region of SC

Piedmont Inner Coastal Plain

Coastal Zone

Blue Ridge Outer Coastal Plain

Sandhills

References

• http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/9/H/usa3.jpg (map of the US on slide 3)

• http://www.remax.com/images/states/SC_Map.gif (map of SC on slide 4)

• http://www.ncmountainlife.com/admin/editor_assets/Whitewater-Falls1.JPG (White Waterfalls on slide 10)

• http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/eos/geo41/wea046.gif (The Sandhills on slide 8)

• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/usa/states/southcarolina/outline/ (outline of SC Map on slides 1 and 13)

• South Carolina Geography: The Coastal Plain (United Streaming Video). (1988). SCETV.