View source for Currituck Sound

{{Short description|Lagoon in North Carolina and Virginia}}
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[[Image:CurrituckSoundMap.png|thumb|200px|right|Map of northeastern [[North Carolina]] and southeastern [[Virginia]] showing Currituck Sound]]

'''Currituck Sound''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ʊr|ɪ|t|ʌ|k|}})<ref name="North Carolina Collection">[http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/resources/tlth.html Talk Like A Tarheel] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622041633/http://www.lib.unc.edu/ncc/ref/resources/tlth.html |date=June 22, 2013 }}, from the North Carolina Collection's website at the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]]. Retrieved February 5, 2013.</ref> is a [[lagoon]] located in northeastern part of [[North Carolina]] and extreme southeastern [[Virginia]].

{{Convert|36|mi|km}} long north-south and {{Convert|8|mi|km}} at its widest,<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Moran |first1=Kelli L. |last2=Mallinson |first2=David J. |last3=Culver |first3=Stephen J. |last4=Leorri |first4=Eduardo |last5=Mulligan |first5=Ryan P. |date=2015 |title=Late Holocene Evolution of Currituck Sound, North Carolina, USA: Environmental Change Driven by Sea-Level Rise, Storms, and Barrier Island Morphology |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43432897 |journal=Journal of Coastal Research |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=827–841 |doi=10.2112/JCOASTRES-D-14-00069.1 |jstor=43432897 |hdl=10342/4096 |s2cid=130347776 |issn=0749-0208|hdl-access=free }}</ref> this shallow, island-filled sound is separated from the [[Atlantic Ocean]] by the Currituck Banks Peninsula (formerly [[Bodie Island]]), part of the [[Outer Banks]]. On the northeast, it extends to Back Bay in southeast [[Virginia Beach, Virginia]]. A fork on the northwest leads to the [[Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal]], which is a part of the [[Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway]] that connects the sound to [[Hampton Roads]] and the [[Chesapeake Bay]]. It ranges from 1 to 3 feet deep.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Secrets of Currituck Sound {{!}} UNC-TV: Science |url=http://science.unctv.org/content/video/secrets-currituck-sound |access-date=September 27, 2022 |website=science.unctv.org}}</ref>

Although several inlets connected it directly to the Atlantic at one time or another, they have all since closed and there is now no direct access to the Ocean from the Sound. Thus contemporary salinity levels are very low, usually around 2-3[[Per mille|‰]] at the north end and 4-5‰ at the sound.<ref name=":0" />

Currently, the only access to the ocean is through the [[Albemarle Sound]], which joins the Currituck to the South, meaning that the sound has no lunar or solar tides. Instead, wind is the major force that moves water.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

[[Currituck County, North Carolina|Currituck County]]'s [[Mackay Island National Wildlife Refuge|Mackay Island]] and [[Currituck National Wildlife Refuge]] as well as [[Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge]] and [[False Cape State Park]] in [[Virginia Beach]] border the sound and are winter habitats on the [[Atlantic Flyway]]. Many watersports activities occur in the sound, including [[parasailing]], [[sea kayak]]ing, and [[personal water craft|jet skiing]]. An area of [[barrier island|barrier beaches]], it is also noted for its duck and goose hunting.

==See also==
* [[Carova Beach, North Carolina]]
* [[Corolla, North Carolina]]
* [[Currituck, North Carolina]]
* [[Duck, North Carolina]]
* [[Knotts Island, North Carolina]]
* [[Monkey Island, North Carolina]]
* [[Point Harbor, North Carolina]]
* [[Sandbridge, Virginia Beach, Virginia|Sandbridge, Virginia]]
* [[USS Currituck (AV-7)]], a World War II era seaplane tender named for the Currituck Sound

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Outer Banks}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|36|17|01|N|75|52|14|W|source:GNIS_scale:500000|display=title}}

[[Category:Bodies of water of Currituck County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Dare County, North Carolina]]
[[Category:Sounds of North Carolina]]


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