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The
Carolina Bays are oval-shaped depressions concentrated in the coastal
plains of the southeastern United States, but occurring along the Atlantic
Coastal Plain from southern New Jersey to northern Florida. The nearly
500,000 bays first came to the attention of geologists in 1884 when
Dr. L.C. Glenn proposed that the depressions may have been formed by
the eastward retreat of the ocean.
In
1932, Melton and Schriever proposed a new hypothesis to explain the
origin of the numerous, similarly shaped, and S50°E aligned depressions.
They suggested that the small oval basins and their rims were formed
many years ago by a meteor shower on dry land. The hypothesis was supported
by the discovery that there were highly magnetic areas concentrated
in the southeastern portions of the bays The meteor origins hypothesis
attracted attention worldwide. Geologists and physical geographers rallied
to support or refute the new hypothesis.
In
1934, C. Wythe Cooke proposed that the Carolina Bays were aligned due
the consistency in the direction of the wind while they were being formed.
The elliptical sand ridges that accompany the bays were thus bars and
beaches that were built up in shallow lagoons when sea levels were higher.
Additional
hypotheses were put forth in the late 1930s and in the 1940s that suggested
that the Carolina Bays were the result of artesian springs rising through
moving ground water.
The
true origins of the Carolina Bays remain controversial and a mystery
to this day.
In the past, nearly all of the bays contained open water. In the present
day, most of the Carolina Bays are filled with organic soils and overgrown
with wetland vegetation. Water in most bay lakes is highly acidic and
dark in color due to the decomposing plant matter at the lake bottom.
The few relict bay lakes that remain are quite small and shallow. They
range from 8 to 12 feet in depth and generally measure less than 500
feet in length. Of the small number of remaining larger bays, several
form the core of a state park.
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