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54-687: Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve is a joint project between the North Carolina state park system and Cary , Wake County , North Carolina in the United States . Located in Cary, it covers approximately 140-acre (0.57 km) in the Research Triangle region of the state. The state owns 97-acre (0.39 km) of the preserve, known as Hemlock Bluffs State Natural Area . The Town of Cary owns approximately 42-acre (0.17 km) of

108-542: A 0.3–1.2 m thick unit of sand and silty sand (lacustrine deposits and paleosols) that rests on an unconformity above an undisturbed unit of gray clay and sandy clay (with marine shells and burrows) of Pleistocene age. Cores from the adjacent sand rims revealed a 2.6–2.9 m thick unit of silt, sand silt, and silty sand (interpreted as paleosols, shoreline, loess, and eolian deposits) that rests on an unconformity above an undisturbed unit of gray clay and sandy clay (with marine shells and burrows) of Pleistocene age (the same unit that

162-473: A 1.5–3.2 m thick unit of sand, sandy silt, and silty sand (lacustrine deposits) that rests on an unconformity above an undisturbed unit of saprolite (weathered felsic gneiss). These lacustrine deposits yielded a radiocarbon age of ~21,920 years BP. Cores and augers from the adjacent sand rims revealed a 1.5–4.0 m thick unit of muddy sand, sand, and gravel that rests on an unconformity above an undisturbed unit of saprolite/weathered felsic gneiss (the same unit that

216-428: A harder substrate that does not show signs of deformation or other disturbance. The composition and the age of this harder substrate varies from location to location. Stratigraphic relations of some Carolina bays with fields of eolian dunes in river valleys suggest that Carolina bays formed episodically during different times at different places. For example: Cores taken within several Carolina bays have revealed

270-553: A hundred thousand years ago and have since been episodically modified. Recent work by the U.S. Geological Survey has interpreted the Carolina bays as relict thermokarst lakes that have been modified by eolian and lacustrine processes. Modern thermokarst lakes are common today around Barrow (Alaska), and the long axes of these lakes are oblique to the prevailing wind direction. These lakes develop by thawing of frozen ground, with subsequent modification by wind and waves. Thus,

324-528: A large bay in Georgetown County, South Carolina , was used as a bombing practice range during World War II . It has been drained and is mostly used for tree farming today. Others are used for vegetable or field crops with drainage . A study of bays located on the Delmarva peninsula estimated that 70% had been partially or fully converted to agriculture. In South Carolina, Woods Bay , on

378-512: A sand rim at the margin of this Carolina has yielded an OSL age of ~23,600 years ago. Basal peat bog sediment within this Carolina bay yielded an age of ~8,600 radiocarbon years ago. In a study of several Carolina bays in North Carolina, Gamble et al. (1977) stated that drilling and coring indicated that the bedding and sediments underlying Carolina bays are undisturbed. Studies by Frey, Watts, and Whitehead have also documented that

432-464: A single core, most radiocarbon dates are typically consistent in terms of their stratigraphic position within a core, and accumulation rates calculated from them only are rarely anomalous. Given the nature of radiocarbon dating, discordant dates occasionally occur even in undisturbed deposits, when multiple samples were dated. The occasional discordant dates by themselves are meaningless as an indicator of disturbance. The intact internal stratigraphy of

486-512: A stratigraphically consistent series of pollen zones, which increased in age consistently with depth from Holocene Stage to the Wisconsin Stage, back into marine isotope stage 5 Flamingo Bay (Aiken County, South Carolina): A core (C1) taken within this Carolina bay revealed a 0.94 m thick unit of quartz sand that rests on an unconformity (paleosol) above an undisturbed unit of sandy silt and clay of Eocene age. Charcoal samples within

540-565: A stratigraphy of a few meters of sand and/or mud resting on a unconformity above a harder substrate. Carolina bays for which the stratigraphy has been described in some detail include Lake Mattamuskeet ( Hyde County , North Carolina), Wilson's Bay ( Johnston County , North Carolina), Herndon Bay ( Robeson County , North Carolina), Big Bay (Sumter County, South Carolina), Flamingo Bay ( Aiken County , South Carolina), and Duke's Pond (Tattnall County, Georgia). Lake Mattamuskeet (Hyde County, North Carolina): Cores from within this Carolina bay revealed

594-544: A trail corridor or for protecting significant features or resources along the trail. Most of these lands are leased to other land management agencies. All of the State Trails are joint projects with other government agencies and nonprofit organizations. The following is the NC Division of Parks & Recreation description of State Trails: The North Carolina Trails System Act was passed in 1973 to help provide for

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648-560: Is a nature center located on Cary's portion of the preserve, which provides the preserve's core visitor facilities. It provides information about the natural history of the area and the plants and animals that live in the Nature Preserve. The preserve has approximately 3 miles of mulched hiking trails featuring boardwalks, benches, stairs, and overlooks. This article about a location in Wake County , North Carolina

702-405: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . List of North Carolina state parks State Parks are the principle unit of the state park system. The NC Division of Parks & Recreation describes its parks as follows: Generally, State Parks are expected to possess both significant natural resource values and significant recreational values. State Parks are expected to accommodate

756-410: Is by L. C. Glenn (1895), who used the term "bay" (which he described as "lake-like expanses") to refer to these features near the town of Darlington, South Carolina . Glenn put quotation marks around the word "bay" but did not use the phrase "Carolina bay". A subsequent publication by F.   A.   Melton and William Schriever (1933) used the phrase "The Carolina Bays" (with quotation marks around

810-507: Is focused on preserving and protecting areas of scientific, aesthetic, or ecological value. Facilities are limited to those needed for interpretation, protection, and minimum maintenance. Generally, recreational and public use facilities such as camping, swimming, picnicking, and the like are not provided in State Natural Areas. State Lakes are all large, naturally formed bodies of water in the state's Coastal Plain . Most of

864-400: Is necessary for Canby's Dropwort and many of the other species unique to the environment. Most geologists today interpret the Carolina bays as relict geomorphological features that developed via various eolian and lacustrine processes. Multiple lines of evidence, e.g. radiocarbon dating , optically stimulated luminescence dating, and palynology , indicate that the Carolina bays predate

918-478: Is provided than in State Parks. Protection and enjoyment of the natural resources are still important, and the sites are expected to contain scenic and attractive natural features. Development is planned and constructed to keep a "reasonable amount" of each area undisturbed and free from improvements and structures. State Natural Areas protect areas more sensitive to human activities than State Parks. Most of

972-559: The Delmarva Peninsula , they and other coastal ponds are also called Delmarva bays . The name "Carolina bay" is sometimes attributed to the writings of the English explorer John Lawson , who explored North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia during the early 18th century. This attribution, however, is not correct. Lawson described visiting a swamp that contained bay trees , but there is no indication that he wanted to name

1026-699: The Sumter - Florence county line near Olanta , was designated a state park to preserve it as much as possible in its natural state. Also, 66 Bennett's Bay, near Manning , in Clarendon County, South Carolina , is a designated Heritage Preserve. Another bay in Bamberg County, South Carolina is owned by the South Carolina Native Plant Society, which has been developing a 52-acre (210,000 m ) preserve called

1080-828: The 0.94 m thick unit of quartz sand yielded radiocarbon ages of ~4,500 to 2,500 years BP. A core (P25) taken from adjacent sand rim revealed a 1.85 m thick unit of Quaternary sand that rests on an unconformity (paleosol) above an undisturbed unit of sandy silt and clay of Eocene age (the same unit that was encountered in core C1 from within the Carolina bay). Moore et al. (2012) reported that sediment samples from sand ridges associated with this Carolina bay have yielded five OSL ages of ~15,000 years ago; ~13,100 years ago; ~11,500 years ago; ~9,200 years ago; and ~5,000 years ago. Brooks et al. (2010) reported that sediment samples from sand ridges associated with this Carolina Bay yielded OSL ages of ~108,700 years ago; and ~40,300 years ago. Duke's Pond (Tattnall County, Georgia): A sediment sample from

1134-482: The Atlantic Coastal Plain, the orientation of the long axes of Carolina bays varies by 10 to 15 degrees. If the long axes of these Carolina bays, as measured by Johnson (1942), are projected westward, then they generally converge in the area of southeastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio . At the northern end of the distribution of Carolina bays, within the Delmarva Peninsula and New Jersey ,

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1188-514: The Carolina bay sediments, as indicated by paleosols and pollen zones (e.g. Big Bay ) refutes such arguments. As discussed by Gaiser, radiocarbon dates reported from any Carolina bay are minimum dates for their formation. The radiocarbon dates only represent times during which organic matter accumulated and was preserved in Carolina bays. At other times, datable organic matter either might not have been preserved as sediment accumulated within them, or older organic matter might have been destroyed when

1242-532: The Lisa Matthews Memorial Bay, which is trying to preserve and increase the federally endangered wildflower Oxypolis canbyi (Canby's Dropwort) in the bay. The uplands area surrounding the bay is being restored from a loblolly pine plantation to the original longleaf pine . Included in the longleaf restoration is the restoration of wiregrass ( Aristida beyrichiana ) as a key understory plant. Its flammability aids in periodic burning, which

1296-406: The State Natural Areas are undeveloped and have limited to no facilities, and some of them are closed to the general public to protect rare, fragile ecosystems . A few have developed facilities for low intensity, passive recreation, as well as facilities for public interpretation and education of the natural area. The NC Division of Parks & Recreation states: The purpose of State Natural Areas

1350-550: The State Parks System known as State Lakes. Most of these are administratively included as part of an adjoining State Park, but one of the lakes (White Lake) has no public ownership on its shoreline. State Trails are one of the principal components of the State Trail System. State Trails may be either long-distance, hiking trails or paddle trails . State Trails may have land components for providing

1404-412: The average orientation of the long axes abruptly shifts by about 112 degrees to N48°E. Farther north, the orientation of the long axes becomes, at best, distinctly bimodal, exhibiting two greatly divergent directions, and, at worst, completely random, lacking any preferred direction. Plate 3 of Rasmussen and Slaughter, which is reproduced as Figure 51 of Kacrovowski, illustrates the disorganized nature of

1458-476: The average trend of the long axes also corresponds with a shift in the average inferred direction of movement of Pleistocene parabolic sand dunes such that their direction of movement is also oblique to the long axes, as is the case in the rest of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Alternative interpretations of Carolina bays that are no longer viewed favorably by most geologists include: Other landform depressions, not widely accepted as Carolina bays, are present within

1512-415: The bays dried out. During times when the water table was below the bottom of a Carolina bay (e.g., possibly during glacial periods when sea level was 130 meters (400 ft) below present), organic matter could have been destroyed by oxidization and weathering. Also, during such times, eolian processes could have eroded any existing sediments at the bottom of Carolina bays. There are some who suggest that

1566-915: The bays' habitats include birds, such as wood storks , herons , egrets , and other migratory waterfowl , mammals such as deer , black bears , raccoons , skunks , and opossums . Other residents include dragonflies , green anoles and green tree frogs . The bays contain trees such as black gum , bald cypress , pond cypress, sweet bay , loblolly bay , red bay , sweet gum , maple , magnolia , pond pine , and shrubs such as fetterbush , clethra , sumac , button bush , zenobia, and gallberry . Plants common in Carolina bays are water lilies , sedges and various grasses . Several carnivorous plants inhabit Carolina bays, including bladderwort , butterwort , pitcher plant , and sundew . Some bays have been greatly modified by human activities including farming , highway building, and construction of housing developments and golf courses . For example, Carvers Bay,

1620-627: The benefit of present and future generations. The Natural and Scenic Rivers Act established criteria and methods for inclusion of components to the system. Components of the Natural and Scenic Rivers System are State Rivers, and are also units of the State Parks System. Some units have been formally removed from the NC State Park System and transferred to other agencies for management. When the State Historic Site system

1674-518: The classic area of the Atlantic Coastal Plain, many in groups aligned in a northwest–southeast direction. Generally the southeastern end has a higher rim composed of white sand. According to published papers and monographs, the average trend of the long axes of Carolina Bays varies from N16°W in east-central Georgia to N22°W in southern South Carolina, N39°W in northern South Carolina, N49°W in North Carolina, and N64°W in Virginia. Within this part of

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1728-516: The depression depth, size, hydrology , and subsurface. Many are marshy; a few of the larger ones are (or were before drainage) lakes; 14-square-mile (36 km ) Lake Waccamaw is an undrained example. Some bays are predominantly open water with large scattered pond cypress , while others are composed of thick, shrubby areas ( pocosins ), with vegetation growing on floating peat mats. The bays are especially rich in biodiversity , including some rare and/or endangered species . Species that thrive in

1782-460: The development of facilities, but may vary in the extent of development depending upon what can be provided without damage to the scenic or natural features. Facilities are planned and constructed to keep disturbance of natural resources to a minimum and to leave a "liberal portion" of each park undisturbed and free from improvements and structures, except for trails. Several of the State Parks are new and are still being planned and developed. A few of

1836-627: The features of the Carolina bays can be readily explained by known terrestrial processes and repeated modification by eolian and lacustrine processes. Also, Quaternary geologists and geomorphologists have found a correspondence in time between when active modification of the rims of Carolina bays most commonly occurred and when adjacent sand dunes were active during the Wisconsin glaciation between 15,000 and 40,000 years (Late Wisconsin) and 70,000 to 80,000 years BP (Early Wisconsin). In addition, Quaternary geologists and geomorphologists have found that

1890-737: The following units: (1) Drilling depth 0 to 4.5 m = eolian sand sheet that overlies the Carolina bay; (2) Drilling depth 4.5 to 9.0 m = silty sand and sandy mud with abundant organic material; and (3) Drilling depth 9.0 to 10.6 m = sandy clay of Pliocene age (Duplin Formation). Sediment samples from sand rims associated with this Carolina bay have yielded four optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of ~35,700 years ago; ~25,200 years ago; ~11,200 years ago; and ~2,100 years ago. Within cores of undisturbed sediments recovered from Big Bay, North Carolina, Brook and others documented well-defined pollen zones consisting of distinct pollen assemblages. They found

1944-401: The interpretation of Carolina bays as relict thermokarst lakes implies that frozen ground once extended as far south as the Carolina bays. This interpretation is consistent with the optically stimulated luminescence dates, which suggest that the Carolina bays are relict features that formed when the climate was colder, drier, and windier. Quaternary geologists and geomorphologists state that

1998-574: The lakes are Carolina Bays . The NC Division of Parks & Recreation describes its State Lakes as follows: Chapter 165 of the Laws of 1929 specified that "all lakes now belonging to the State having an area of 50 acres or more" should be "administered as provided for other recreational areas now owned by the State." This allowed the then-Department of Conservation and Development to assume management authority for seven Coastal Plain lakes that became units of

2052-548: The northern Gulf of Mexico coastal plain in southern Mississippi and Alabama , where they are known as either Grady ponds or Citronelle ponds . They are also known by a variety of names such as pocks , pock marks , bagols , lacs ronds , and natural ponds. These features in southern Mississippi and Alabama are elliptical to roughly circular in shape. The measurement of the long axes of 200 elliptical Grady / Citronelle ponds in southwestern Baldwin County, Alabama found

2106-487: The older state parks were greatly expanded in size in the 2000s adding trails and bike paths open to the public. State Recreation Areas are more intensely developed units than State Parks, and they largely encompass lands less sensitive to human activities than State Parks. According to the NC Division of Parks & Recreation: State Recreation Areas are sites where the primary purpose is outdoor recreation, rather than preservation. More intensive development of facilities

2160-470: The oldest radiocarbon date from a Carolina bay only indicates the time when the water table rose high enough for a permanent lake or swamp to exist within it. This interpretation, however, may depend upon the nature of the overlying sediment. For example, eolian processes can bury and preserve organic matter, and thus the preservation of organic matter can occur independently of water table behavior. The bays have many different vegetative structures, based on

2214-472: The orientation is matched by an inferred west to east direction of movement of Pleistocene sand dunes. Northward from northern Georgia to Virginia, the average inferred direction of movement of Pleistocene parabolic sand dunes systematically shifts along with the average orientation of the long axes of Carolina bays as to lie oblique to them. In the Delmarva Peninsula, the 112 degree shift in

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2268-569: The orientations of the Carolina bays are consistent with the wind patterns that existed during the Wisconsin glaciation, as reconstructed from the orientations of parabolic dunes in river valleys. Within the Atlantic Coast Plain, the orientation of the long axes of Carolina bays and the inferred direction of movement of adjacent sand dunes, where present, are generally oblique to each other. In southern Georgia and northern Florida,

2322-465: The orientations of the long axes of Carolina bays in Somerset , Wicomico , and Worcester counties, Maryland. At the southern end of their distribution, the Carolina bays in southern Georgia and northern Florida are approximately circular in shape. In this area, they have a weak northerly orientation. Most Carolina bays consist of a few meters of sand and/or mud that rest on an unconformity above

2376-506: The preserve, and the town leases the state's land for management. The preserve protects a population of Eastern Hemlock trees and other vegetation more typically found further west, in the Appalachian Mountains . The tall, north-facing bluffs of Swift Creek provide conditions similar enough to the mountains to have allowed the plant communities to have survived there since the last ice age . The Stevens Nature Center

2430-510: The sediments filling Carolina bays are generally undisturbed. Several cores have found that the sediments that fill Carolina bays have distinct and conformably layers or beds. The dating of the sand rims of a number of Carolina bays by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques has yielded ages ranging from ~109,000 to ~2,000 years ago, but most ages from the sand rims range from ~40,000 to ~11,000 years ago. Radiocarbon dates have been obtained from organic matter collected from

2484-490: The start of the Holocene . Fossil pollen recovered from cores of undisturbed sediment taken from various Carolina bays in North Carolina by Frey, Watts, and Whitehead document the presence of full glacial pollen zones within the sediments filling some Carolina bays. The range of dates can be interpreted that Carolina bays were either created episodically over the last tens of thousands of years or were created at time over

2538-522: The state's Natural and Scenic Rivers System, which is the state's equivalent to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System . Most of the state's National Wild and Scenic Rivers , are also State Rivers and vice versa . The NC Division of Parks & Recreation states that: The Natural and Scenic Rivers System was created by the 1971 General Assembly to preserve and protect certain free flowing rivers, their water quality and their adjacent lands for

2592-485: The state's outdoor recreation needs and to promote public access to natural and scenic areas. The act prescribed methods for establishing a statewide system of scenic trails, recreation trails, and connecting or side trails. The Trails System includes "park trails", which are designated and managed as units of the State Parks System known as State Trails, and "designated trails", which are managed by other governmental agencies or corporations. State Rivers are components of

2646-481: The swamp with the word "bay". Furthermore, Lawson said that this swamp had steep margins and that he could see mountains to the west from the vicinity of the swamp. Thus, it seems more likely that this swamp was an inter-dune depression among the Carolina Sandhills , rather than a Carolina bay. Nevertheless, bay trees are present in some Carolina bays. The earliest scientific description of Carolina bays

2700-645: The undisturbed sediments filling Carolina bays by Bliley and Burney, Mixon and Pilkey, Thom, and Kaczorowski. Some radiocarbon dates obtained from organic matter within undisturbed sediments are greater than 14,000 BP radiocarbon in age. The radiocarbon dates range from 27,700 ±2,600 to 440 ± 50 radiocarbon years BP. Some cores have contained organic matter that was too old for dating by radiocarbon methods, resulting in "greater than" dates. For example, samples from some Carolina bays have been dated at greater than 38,000 to 49,550 radiocarbon years BP. In cases where multiple radiocarbon dates have been determined from

2754-558: The word "Bays"). Later, G. R. MacCarthy (1937) published a paper titled "The Carolina Bays", using this phrase throughout the publication (without quotation marks, and with a capital "B" for the word "Bays"). Carolina bays are present in the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain from New York to north Florida. In Maryland, they are called Maryland basins . Within the Delmarva Peninsula , they and other coastal ponds are also called Delmarva bays . Carolina bays vary in size from one to several thousand acres. About 500,000 of them are present in

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2808-440: Was encountered in cores from within the Carolina bay). Charcoal and wood from a western sand rim (closer to the bay) yielded radiocarbon ages of ~5,760 and 1,270 years before present (BP). Organic sediment and charcoal from an eastern sand rim (farther from the bay) yielded radiocarbon ages ranging from ~7,750 to 2,780 years BP. Wilson's Bay (Johnston County, North Carolina): Cores and augers from within this Carolina bay revealed

2862-793: Was encountered in cores from within the Carolina bay). Organic material within the bay yielded an age of ~21,920 radiocarbon years BP. Herndon Bay (Robeson County, North Carolina): Cores drilled into four different sand ridges associated with this Carolina bay revealed that the sand ridges are composed of 2.5–4.5 m thick accumulations of fine to coarse sand that rest on an unconformity above an undisturbed unit of black mud of Cretaceous age (Black Creek Formation). Sediment samples from sand rims associated with this Carolina bay have yielded three optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of ~36,700 years ago; ~29,600 years ago; and ~27,200 years ago. Big Bay (Big Bay, Sumter County, South Carolina): A core (drill hole D1/2) drilled within this Carolina bay went through

2916-779: Was established in 1955, the system's first six components were historic properties transferred from the State Park System. One unit, Rendezvous Mountain , was transferred back to the park system, after 66 years in the state forest system. Carolina Bay Carolina bays are elliptical to circular depressions concentrated along the East Coast of the United States within coastal New York , New Jersey , Delaware , Maryland , Virginia , North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , and north Florida . In Maryland, they are called Maryland basins . Within

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