To cover the entire Albemarle-Pamlico Sounds region, you must journey from the rolling hills of the Piedmont to the flatlands of the coastal plain to the windswept shores of the Outer Banks.
You will travel from Prince George County in Virginia to Morehead City in Carteret County, N.C. You will cross more than 9,299 miles of freshwater rivers and streams and 1.8 million acres of brackish estuarine waters.
The Albemarle-Pamlico Sounds region - 30,000 square miles of watershed - is the second largest estuarine system in the United States, second only to the Chesapeake Bay. It is composed of seven sounds - the Albemarle, Currituck, Croatan, Pamlico, Bogue, Core and Roanoke - and five major river basins, as well as beaches, marshes and bottomland forests.
Within this diverse geographic region is one of nature's most complete and dynamic ecosystems. The sounds, rivers, creeks, wetlands, and terrestrial areas in the Albemarle-Pamlico estuarine system support a variety of uses. We depend on the system to supply food, recreation, jobs, a mode of transportation, and vital habitat for fish and shellfish. In addition, its diverse ecological communities provide a rich natural heritage for humans and wildlife.
Economically, the Albemarle-Pamlico Sounds estuarine system represents the region's key resource base through commercial fishing, tourism, recreation and resort development. Economic benefits are also derived from uses of the natural resources for mining, forestry and agriculture.
CLICK ON AP MAP FOR LARGER IMAGE
Local Maps
Albemarle-Pamlico Study Area
(area where the program is concentrating its efforts)
Albemarle-Pamlico Watershed
(estuarine and fluvial drainage areas for the estuary)
Regional Maps- Southeast
Locations of Estuaries in the NEP
Watersheds of Estuaries in the NEP
Study Areas of Estuaries in the NEP
National Maps
Locations of Estuaries in the NEP
Watersheds of Estuaries in the NEP
USGS's Albemarle-Pamlico Drainage Study Unit (ALBE) Maps
Basin map in black and white showing major rivers
(from U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-398)
Basin map in black and white showing counties and basins
(from U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-398)
Hydrogeology map showing major hydrogeologic units
(from U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 95-136)
Soils map (modified from U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 95-136)
Soil-drainage map (from U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 241-96)
1972-75 Land-use map showing 1972-75 GIRAS (LUDA) land use
(modified from U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 95-136)
