OUTER BANKS, N.C. — Environmentalists captured pictures that look like the surface of the moon but are in fact of the Outer Banks.
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Cape Lookout National Seashore posted pictures on Facebook of unusually large sand pedestals at the north end of North Core banks.
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According to environmentalists, a sand pedestal is formed when the sand is not uniformly hardened and the wind blows away the loose sand, leaving domes or pedestals.
Experts said the light and dark patterns seen in the pedestals are from layers of light-colored minerals, such as quartz, and heavy minerals, such as magnetite or ilmenite. The wind cuts through the layers, leaving the designs.