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and Silver Lake in central western New Hanover County are 

 probably the largest. The smallest known to me are less 

 than 30 feet wide from rim to rim. Ponds may occur singly 

 or in groups of 2 to 10. 



The depressions range in depth from greater than 10 feet 

 to less than 1 foot with respect to surrounding terrain. In 

 the deeper ones, water may persist at the level of the normal 

 rini for nearly the entire year, or it may occupy a small 

 portion of the bottoms for only a few months of the year. 



The variation in the steepness of the side slopes is great. 

 A range between A5° and less than 10° has been noted. The 

 steeper slopes seem to be excessive in terms of the normal 

 angles of repose for surrounding sands. There is only a 

 fragment of evidence that such angles are being reduced 

 through time, though it certainly seems reasonable that they 

 should. One small, deep depression at Sunny Point Military 

 Ocean Terminal showed some upper side slope erosion as there 

 were visible signs that shrub or tree stems had been uprooted 

 and fallen to the bottom. 



From subjective observation, the larger the pond, the 

 greater the surface asymmetry. Small round depressions and 

 ponds exist, but large round ponds do not. Intermediate-size 

 ponds are generally ovoid. 



One point seems clear. All ponds are expressions of very 

 local water table aquifers. In this way they function as windows 

 for viewing localized water table equilibria. In some areas 



zzs 



