query: instance_of frying pan shoals
supports: North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the U.S. states. The state is divided into 100 counties. The capital is Raleigh. The most populous municipality is Charlotte, and it is the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City. The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's oceans with a total area of about . It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earth's surface and about 29 percent of its water surface area. It separates the "Old World" from the "New World". American English (variously abbreviated AmE, AE, AmEng, USEng, en-US), also called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the most widely spoken language in the United States and is the common language used by the federal government, considered the "de facto" language 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 language for any matters being referred to the United States district court for the territory. A buoy (also or ) is a floating device that can have many purposes. It can be anchored (stationary) or allowed to drift with the sea 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"." Virginia (, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia) is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, as well as in the historic Southeast. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" due to its status as the first colonial possession established in mainland British America, and "Mother of Presidents" because eight U.S. presidents were born there, more than any other state. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia 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. In oceanography, geomorphology, and earth sciences, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water 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 water 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 surface. Geomorphologists seek to understand why landscapes look the way they do, to understand landform 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. Tennessee ("Tanasi") is a state 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 part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western border. Tennessee's capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 654,610. Memphis is the state's largest city, with a population of 655,770. South Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state 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 Ocean. An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin "ancora", which itself comes from the Greek  ("ankura"). Middle Dutch is a collective 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 time 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 time 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. A boy is a young male human, usually a child or adolescent. When he becomes an adult, he is described as a man. The most apparent difference between a typical boy and a typical girl is the genitalia. However, some intersex children with ambiguous genitals, and genetically female transgender children, may also be classified or self-identify as a boy. Old French (', ', ""; Modern French ) was the Gallo-Romance dialect 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 period to Middle French, the language of the French Renaissance, specifically based on the dialect of the Île-de-France region. British English is the English language 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 adjective "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 language. 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." The Frying Pan Shoals are a long , shifting area of shoals off the coast of Cape Fear in North Carolina , United States . The shoals have been a hazard to ships in the area since the beginning of European exploration of the area ; the area is littered with shipwrecks . The southern edge of the shoals have been marked by a lightship , a light tower and a buoy . From May 1994 to August 2008 , over 130 new shipwreck locations have been discovered in the area encompassing Frying Pan Shoals . The area is also a great fishing destination . In May 2010 , the United States government 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 City of New York, 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 capital of the world.
candidates: adjective adult area art beach body of water border boy buoy capital century city city of new york climate collective device dialect dialect continuum district education fashion federal law geography girl government habitat human landform language law literature metal metropolitan mother municipality number ocean part region ridge river romance set standard state status surface technology term the city time virginia water wave wind
answer: landform