220,000 to 400,000 years ago. The rest of the county is much younger. 



The Suffolk Scarp and the older parts of the Talbot Terrace, which 

 includes most of the upland areas and farmland of the county, are 

 probably no more than 80,000 years old. The next younger surface includes 

 the sandy lands around 20 feet elevation in the southern part of the 

 county near Carter and the sub-peat formations beneath Dismal Swamp, 

 perhaps 40,000 to 60,000 years in age. The Dismal Swamp peat only 

 began forming around 8,900 years ago (Oaks and Whitehead 1979). In Chowan 

 Swamp, peat probably only began forming around 5,000 years ago (see 

 discussion of geology in section on Chowan Swamp) . Sea level appears to 

 be rising worldwide (Milliman and Emery 1968, Bloom 1978), and the rate 

 of rise in the Albemarle area suggests that the region of which Gates 

 County is a part is presently subsiding. Consequently, Chowan Swamp, 

 which lies approximately at sea level in the southern part of the county, 

 is undergoing geologic aggradation through deposition of river sediment 

 and accumulation of peat. This would make it the youngest surface in 

 the area. 



STUDY SITES 



The present study was undertaken to inventory the remaining natural 

 areas, vegetation and wildlife of the county for the use of county 

 officials, state and federal government, and the public. The study was 

 carried out from May 1981 to April 1982 and utilized other data collected - 

 by the author during residence in the county from February 1976 to May 

 1981 as the first ranger at Merchants Mill Pond State Park. 



Study sites were selected by travelling all of the roads in the 

 county and by examination of a complete set of black and white ortho- 

 photoquad aerial photographs and color imagery from the Landsat satellite. 

 Detailed study was carried out with NASA color infrared aerial photo- 

 graphy of Dismal Swamp, Chowan Swamp and Merchants Mill Pond. Low 

 altitude 35mm color infrared photography by Pat Gammon of the USGS was 

 also used for Merchants Mill Pond. 



Study sites were analyzed according to the specification guidelines 

 of the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, based in part on the method 

 of Ecosystematics devised by A. E. Radford of the University of North 

 Carolina. This involves study of each site in terms of seven major 

 components: Biology, Climatology, Geology, Soils, Hydrology, Topography 

 and Physiography. 



An attempt was made to accumulate all scientific literature in which 

 work was carried out in Gates County, or was directly related to the area. 

 The majority of the material found involved work only within the past 

 10 years. These materials are presented in the section on References 

 Cited. 



With the exception of a small area in the Sand Banks, and the uplands 

 around Merchants Mill Pond, all of Gates County's significant remaining 

 natural areas are wetlands. Final areas selected for detailed study were: 



