instance_of frying pan shoals
American English ( variously abbreviated AmE , AE , AmEng , USEng , en - US ), also called United States English or U . S . English , is the ___MASK68___ of varieties of the English ___MASK29___ native to the United States . English is the most widely spoken ___MASK29___ in the United States and is the common ___MASK29___ used by the ___MASK94___ , considered the " de facto " ___MASK29___ of the country because of its widespread use . English has been given official status by 32 of the 50 state governments . As an example , while both Spanish and English have equivalent status in the local courts of Puerto Rico . Under federal law , English is the official ___MASK29___ for any matters being referred to the United States district court for the territory . British English is the English ___MASK29___ as spoken and written in the United Kingdom or , more broadly , throughout the British Isles . Slight regional variations exist in formal , written English in the United Kingdom . For example , the ___MASK55___ " wee " is almost exclusively used in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland , and occasionally Yorkshire , whereas " little " is predominant elsewhere . Nevertheless , there is a meaningful degree of uniformity in " written " English within the United Kingdom , and this could be described by the term " British English ". The forms of " spoken " English , however , vary considerably more than in most other areas of the world where English is spoken , so a uniform concept of British English is more difficult to apply to the spoken ___MASK29___ . According to Tom McArthur in the " Oxford Guide to World English ", British English shares " all the ambiguities and tensions in the word " British " and as a result can be used and interpreted in two ways , more broadly or more narrowly , within a range of blurring and ambiguity ." A ___MASK65___ ( also or ) is a floating device that can have many purposes . It can be anchored ( stationary ) or allowed to drift with the ___MASK31___ wave . The word , of Old French or Middle Dutch origin , is ( in British English ) now most commonly pronounced ( identical with boy , as in buoyant ). In American English the pronunciation is closer to "" boo - ee "." North Carolina is a ___MASK6___ in the southeastern region of the United States . The ___MASK6___ borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south , Tennessee to the west , Virginia to the north , and the Atlantic ___MASK51___ to the east . North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the U . S . states . The ___MASK6___ is divided into 100 counties . The ___MASK32___ is Raleigh . The most populous municipality is Charlotte , and it is the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City . In oceanography , geomorphology , and earth sciences , a shoal is a natural submerged ___MASK9___ , bank , or bar that consists of , or is covered by , sand or other unconsolidated material , and rises from the bed of a body of ___MASK73___ to near the surface . Often it refers to those submerged ridges , banks , or bars that rise near enough to the surface of a body of ___MASK73___ as to constitute a danger to navigation . Shoals are also known as sandbanks , sandbars , or gravelbars . Two or more shoals that are either separated by shared troughs or interconnected by past and or present sedimentary and hydrographic processes are referred to as a shoal complex . Geomorphology ( from Ancient Greek :  , " gê ", " earth ";  , " morph ", " form "; and  , " lógos ", " study ") is the scientific study of the origin and evolution of topographic and bathymetric features created by physical , chemical or biological processes operating at or near the Earth ' s ___MASK60___ . Geomorphologists seek to understand why landscapes look the way they do , to understand ___MASK90___ history and dynamics and to predict changes through a combination of field observations , physical experiments and numerical modeling . Geomorphologists work within disciplines such as physical geography , geology , geodesy , engineering geology , archaeology and geotechnical engineering . This broad base of interests contributes to many research styles and interests within the field . An anchor is a ___MASK10___ , normally made of ___MASK50___ , used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of ___MASK73___ to prevent the ___MASK5___ from drifting due to wind or current . The word derives from Latin " ancora ", which itself comes from the Greek  (" ankura "). ___MASK39___ (, officially the Commonwealth of ___MASK39___ ) is a ___MASK6___ located in the Mid - Atlantic region of the United States , as well as in the historic Southeast . ___MASK39___ is nicknamed the " Old Dominion " due to its ___MASK49___ as the first colonial possession established in mainland British America , and " ___MASK78___ of Presidents " because ___MASK46___ U . S . presidents were born there , more than any other ___MASK6___ . The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake ___MASK42___ , which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna . The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond ; ___MASK39___ Beach is the most populous city , and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision . The Commonwealth ' s estimated population is over 8 . 3 million , which is slightly less than New York City . The Frying Pan Shoals are a long , shifting ___MASK22___ of shoals off the coast of Cape Fear in North Carolina , United States . The shoals have been a hazard to ships in the ___MASK22___ since the beginning of European exploration of the ___MASK22___ ; the ___MASK22___ is littered with shipwrecks . The southern edge of the shoals have been marked by a lightship , a light tower and a ___MASK65___ . From ___MASK52___ 1994 to August 2008 , over 130 new shipwreck locations have been discovered in the ___MASK22___ encompassing Frying Pan Shoals . The ___MASK22___ is also a great fishing destination . In ___MASK52___ 2010 , the United States ___MASK21___ sold the Frying Pan Shoals Light Station through a sealed bid auction . The winning bidder ( Richard Neal , a private US citizen ) made his plans public to renovate and return the light station to use as a private rental property . The tower as it is known by locals is significant not only for its longevity but also since when out of sight of land , it is a commonly referenced location and as such is marked on many navigation charts with its GPS coordinates . In August 2011 , the Frying Pan Tower was directly hit by Hurricane Irene with measured winds of 67 MPH and waves of 28 ft . An observational flight the day after the storm , August 28 , 2011 , showed that the tower had no visible damage from the impact . A video of the flight is available from YouTube by searching for Frying Pan Tower and Hurricane Irene and was listed in an article in Time Magazine on light houses that have been restored to bed and breakfast facilities . In November 2012 , Hurricane Sandy went within a few dozen miles of the Frying Pan Tower but due to its strength , the only issue was a few disturbed ceiling tiles due to a window being left open . The Frying Pan Tower ( light station ) has been privately owned by Richard Neal for a couple years now and has been re - opened as a functioning but `` rustic '' bed and breakfast that has volunteers , guests and news crews coming out to experience the beauty of the ocean , a near perfect `` dark sky '' for viewing the Milky Way or clearly the moon and amazingly large and varied fish species and turtles . Frying Pan Shoals Light Station is one of 15 light stations off the United States coastline most of which have been dismantled or destroyed by weather and time . The ___MASK97___ , often called New York City or simply New York , is the most populous city in the United States . With an estimated 2015 population of 8 , 550 , 405 distributed over a land area of just , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the United States . Located at the southern tip of the state of New York , the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area , one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world . A global power city , New York City exerts a significant impact upon commerce , finance , media , art , fashion , research , technology , education , and entertainment , its fast pace defining the term " New York minute ". Home to the headquarters of the United Nations , New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural and financial ___MASK32___ of the world . South Carolina is a ___MASK6___ in the southeastern region of the United States . The ___MASK6___ is bordered to the north by North Carolina , to the south and west by Georgia across the Savannah River , and to the east by the Atlantic ___MASK51___ . A ___MASK59___ is a young male human , usually a ___MASK37___ or adolescent . When he becomes an adult , he is described as a man . The most apparent difference between a typical ___MASK59___ and a typical ___MASK26___ is the genitalia . However , some intersex children with ambiguous genitals , and genetically female transgender children , may also be classified or self - identify as a ___MASK59___ . Middle Dutch is a ___MASK76___ name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects ( whose ancestor was Old Dutch ) spoken and written between 1150 and 1500 . There was at that ___MASK63___ as yet no overarching standard language but they were all mutually intelligible . During this period a rich Medieval Dutch literature developed , not yet present during the period of Old Dutch . The various literary works of that ___MASK63___ are often very readable for modern Dutch speakers , since Dutch is a rather conservative language . By many non - linguists , Middle Dutch is often referred to as Diets . Old French (', ', ""; Modern French ) was the Gallo - ___MASK67___ ___MASK70___ continuum spoken from the 9th century to the 14th century . In the 14th century , these dialects came to be collectively known as the " langues d ' oïl ", contrasting with the " langue d ' oc " or Occitan language in the south of France . The mid - 14th century is taken as the transitional ___MASK80___ to Middle French , the language of the French Renaissance , specifically based on the ___MASK70___ of the Île - de - France region . The Atlantic ___MASK51___ is the second largest of the world ' s oceans with a total area of about . It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth ' s ___MASK60___ and about 29 percent of its ___MASK73___ ___MASK60___ area . It separates the " Old World " from the " New World ". Tennessee (" Tanasi ") is a ___MASK6___ located in the southeastern region of the United States . Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 16th most populous of the 50 United States . Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north , North Carolina to the east , Georgia , Alabama , and Mississippi to the south , and Arkansas and Missouri to the west . The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern ___MASK40___ of the ___MASK6___ , and the Mississippi River forms the ___MASK6___ ' s western ___MASK25___ . Tennessee ' s ___MASK32___ and second largest city is Nashville , which has a population of 654 , 610 . Memphis is the ___MASK6___ ' s largest city , with a population of 655 , 770 .