ROWLEE: RELATION OF MARL PONDS AND PEAT BOGS 413 



occur at Tully and near Cortland. The limestone outcrop in these 

 regions accounts for a continuous supply of water impregnated with 

 lime. The peat bogs with the greatest thickness of marl under them 

 occur not far from this same limestone belt, while the peat bogs with 

 little or no marl are usually farthest from the limestone outcrop. 



It does not seem at first thought as though Chara could be the 

 agency causing the radical change in the history of the vegetation of 

 the pond and the accumulations in these depressions. In so far as 

 vegetation is concerned calcium carbonate is relatively insoluble. 



Fig. 3. Transition bog near Cortland, N. Y. A thick bed of marl is over- 

 laid with about four feet of fibrous peat. Marl was excavated from the hole in the 

 foreground. Sedges are prominent in the vegetation now covering the surface of 

 the bog. 



Not so, however, is the lime in spring water. The water with available 

 (more or less) free lime is what Chara takes in and in its life processes 

 converts into calcium carbonates secreted in its walls. That an im- 

 mense amount of lime is converted is shown by the bulk of marl in the 

 ponds. Where the amount of the lime in the original soil was not 

 large, rain water constantly tended to wash it out and in the course of 

 time the lime content of the water would be decreased. The ponds 

 were artesian pools fed by these springs and as the character of the 

 water changed there was, if our theory is correct, a corresponding 

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