Norfolk, Virginia, and the Hampton Roads (Tidewater) Region

Norfolk, Virginia, and the Hampton Roads (Tidewater) Region Thomas R. Allen (bio), Thomas Chapman (bio), Ryley C. Harris (bio), Nicole S. Hutton (bio), Jonathan Leib (bio), and Jennifer L. Whytlaw (bio) Norfolk, Virginia, is the host city of the 78th annual meeting of the Southeastern Division of the American Association of Geographers (SEDAAG). The conference will occur from November 18th to 20th, 2023 at the downtown Sheraton Norfolk Waterside Hotel and will be hosted by Old Dominion University's (Figures 1 and 2) Department of Political Science and Geography. Norfolk is located on the Elizabeth River, at Mile Marker 0 of the Intra-Coastal Waterway in one of the world's largest natural harbors and is home to the world's largest naval base, Naval Station Norfolk, as well as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) North American headquarters (Pike 2011). This cover art essay highlights the physiography, cultural history, vernacular, and current landscape of Norfolk and the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. physiographic setting Located on the outer Coastal Plain physiographic province, Norfolk is situated at the confluence of the Elizabeth River and the James River, the specific feature defining the term "Hampton Roads" referring to terminuses at the riverfront. The region is underlain by thousands of feet of Quaternary sediments derived from the Appalachian Mountains (Parham et al. 2013). The region lies east of the Fall Line and within the Chesapeake Bay watershed and the ancient Susquehanna River (Grymes 2020). However, several coastal [End Page 219] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Northwestern twilight view of the Old Dominion University campus, Norfolk, Virginia, taken from above Hampton Boulevard. Photo Credit: Ryley C. Harris. Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 2. Aerial photo taken during Old Dominion University's Mars Fest, with a southern view of the downtown Norfolk skyline. Event hosted by the Barry Art Museum. Photo Credit: Ryley C. Harris. [End Page 220] plain draining "blackwater" rivers composed of alluvial bottomwoods and swamp forests are also prevalent (i.e., the Elizabeth River and its three branches drain portions of the Great Dismal Swamp and associated peatlands perched on late Pleistocene terraces formed during higher sea-level stands). The region is also experiencing a relatively rapid rate of coastal subsidence owing to the relaxation of the ice sheet forebulge located to the north during the Quaternary glaciations (Eggleston and Pope 2013). This vertical land motion (VLM) is estimated at approximately half of the current rate of observed "relative" sea-level rise of 4 mm/year (Sherpa et al. 2022). Furthermore, filling and construction on salt marshes in the urban estuary and along the waterfront appear to indicate much more variability of subsidence than expected, with buildings along downtown and the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth experiencing foundation shifting and tilting and wetlands susceptible to a hidden vulnerability owing to VLM (Ohenhen et al. 2023). Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 3. King tidal flooding (October, 2022) worsened by northeasterly winds at Knitting Mill Creek, Norfolk, VA. Photo Credit: Ryley C. Harris as part of the Blue Line Project. The region is also proximate to the active coastal storm tracks of the Atlantic Seaboard, with the southernmost length of the Labrador Current stretching past the area toward Cape Hatteras. Hence, the region is prone to strong extratropical and tropical storm passages (Allen and Allen 2019). The tidal range in the region is approximately 1 meter, reflecting a semidiurnal-type tide (i.e., two tides per day, with one higher than the other) (Figures 3 and 4) (Ezer and Atkinson 2014). Tides penetrate up the west to approximately Jamestown on the James River, where there remains measurable salinity and salt marshes (Roberts et al. 2002). [End Page 221] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 4. A look to the north across the North Carolina-Virginia border into Virginia's False Cape State Park during the October 2022 king tide. Photo Credit: Ryley C. Harris. cultural history Initially called "Skicoak" by Indigenous peoples, Norfolk, Virginia's pre-colonial settlement history can be dated back over 1,000 years. At the beginning of colonial settlement, several Native American tribes lived in...