“S” is for Sandhills. The Sandhills are gently rolling hills that form the uppermost portion of the coastal plain in South Carolina. The Sandhills are composed of discontinuous bands of clay and sand that cut the state diagonally in a northeast to southwest direction, forming approximately twelve percent of the state. The name “Sandhills” can be misleading, for the sediments that compose the region include tremendous amounts of clay as well as sand. The geology of the Sandhills has shaped the use of the land. Quartz sand—abundant in the Sandhills, contains few nutrients and the consequent absence of organic matter in the soils causes great permeability. In addition, the clays often bake into hardpans in which plants have difficulty growing. These poor growing conditions led settlers in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries to avoid the Sandhills.
“S” is for Sandhills
