Jockey's Ridge State Park and dunes

Jockey's Ridge State Park

Scientists believe that the barrier islands of the Outer Banks were remnants of the last Ice Age, which ended approximately 12,000 years ago. They have also concluded that Jockey's Ridge itself came into being about 7,000 years ago. The process of how this came about is unclear; however, scientists believe that minerals such as quartz were washed from the mountains of the state to the ocean, creating sand. This sand was pushed onto the beaches of the area by storms and hurricanes. Through a process known as saltation the sand was eventually blown onto the area now known as Jockey's Ridge where something caused it to begin building the dune system.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jockey's Ridge State Park
• http://www.ncparks.gov/jockeys-ridge-state-park