The escarpment along the southern edge gently slopes seaward with a 

 network of shallow valleys and sand ridges. Most of the Carolina Bays within 

 the property are found in the two projections in this area. These elliptical 

 depressions are aligned on a northwest-southeast axis and form distinct 

 topographic features on the landscape. The series of limestone sinks, two 

 of which are over 100 feet in diameter, stand out in the southern part of the 

 Myers-Clemmons tract. 



Soils ' 



The soils within the Green Swamp were mapped by Kologiski from vegetation 

 analysis and FPB site data (Map 2). Soils are more varied than the generalized 

 map indicates, with a number of soil series often located on single savannahs 

 (Appendix K). Histosols, or deep peat soils, is the predominate soil order 

 within the swamp. Along the ridges of the escarpment in the southern portions 

 of NCNC land, the soils are generally sandy with more poorly drained mineral 

 soils in the shallow valleys. 



Peat is presently being mined experimentally for use as an energy source 

 elsewhere in North Carolina. The Department of Energy-sponsored peat survey 

 team out of the UNC/CH Geology Department will survey peat deposits and peat 

 characteristics within NCNC's property in 1981. The Soil Conservation Service 

 of Brunswick County will map the soils in the area during the early 1980 's. 

 . Hydrology . c . - • 



• The original Green Swamp encompassed some 200,000 acres in Columbus and 

 Brunswick Counties, extending throughout the lowland swamp forests and upland 

 pocosin of the Waccamaw River drainage. NCNC's preserve lies on the broad, 

 interstream flat between the Cape Fear River and Waccamaw River drainage 

 systems. Driving Creek flows west from the swamp to the Waccamaw River. 

 Smaller streams, often intermittent, flow from the pocosin east to the Cape 

 Fear River via Town Creek and south to the Lockwoods Folly River. The vast 

 peat areas and lower portions of savannahs are wetlands as classified by the 

 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The source of Driving Creek is an extensive, 

 boggy area, locally termed the "soups" (Map 1). The probable source of water 

 to this area is rainfall which drains laterally through the peat (Charles 

 Daniels, USGS Hydrologist, personal communication). It is possible that the 

 area is an aquifer discharge from lower stratigraphic units. 



Hydrological dynamics within pocosins are little understood. Lateral flow 

 within the peat is slow due to its low permeability. Surface flow during the 

 high water season (winter and spring) is more rapid. FPB intends to place a 



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