11a. Prose Description of Site 



The Pettigrew State Park Natural Areas are located on the 

 northern and southern shores of Lake Phelps, a 16,000 acre 

 natural lake, the second largest in North Carolina. Pettigrew 

 State Park and Lake Phelps, both administered by the N.C. Division 

 of Parks and Recreation, encompass the entire lake acreage below 

 the mean high water line, in addition to two upland tracts along 

 the northern and southern margins containing 270 and 500 acres, 

 respectively. 



Lake Phelps is the dominating landform of the region. 

 Elliptical in shape, it is located in southeastern Washington 

 County with a small portion of its extreme eastern edge in 

 Tyrrell County. The lake averages about 5 feet in depth 

 and has a shallow, sandy bottom except in the northern and 

 eastern portions where wind and water-borne silt and fine 

 peat sediments have accumulated. The origin on Lake Phelps 

 is unknown although several theories exist. One is that the 

 lake is an example of a Carolina bay, an elliptical depression 

 with a NW-SE orientation and usually with a sand rim along the 

 southeastern margin. Another theory is that Lake Phelps was 

 formed by a peat fire which burned down to the underlying 

 mineral layers during a severe drought below the normal 

 water table. The depression thus formed eventually filled 

 in with water. Later, wind and wave erosion helped to en- 

 large the lake , smooth out the margins , and create the el- 

 liptical shape (Otte, pers. coram. 1982) . 



Whatever its origin, Lake Phelps is unique compared to 

 the similar Pungo and Alligator (New) lakes to the south. 

 These latter two lakes do not have a sandy bottom and are 

 totally rimmed by deep peat deposits. They are also much 

 more depauperate both floristically and faunistically, con- 

 taining very small fish populations and little if any emergent 

 marsh vegetation. 



Lake Phelps, on the other hand, supports a large population 

 of both game and non-game fish, including the state endangered 

 Waccamaw Killifish (N. C. Department of Natural Resources and 

 Community Development, 1977). A number of swans, geese, and 

 ducks use the lake for feeding and roosting during the winter 

 months. The lake also supports a remnant old-growth stand of 

 baldcypress along its north shore and a unique emergent and 

 submergent marsh system along its southern shore. These two 

 vegetation types are of statewide significance and are dis- 

 cussed in detail in the following pages. 



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