(Oaks and DuBar 1974) . This would have inundated all of the county 

 with the exception of the plateau of high land above the Hazleton 

 Scarp in north-central Gates County adjacent to the NC/VA state 

 line. 



Some or all of the carving of the scarp could have occurred 

 during that period, which may have lasted several thousand years. 

 The coastline apparently lay along the Suffolk Scarp. Sand 

 deposits there may have comprised something resembling modern 

 barrier islands, at least during the later stage of this time. 

 The interior of the county may have been a sound or bay where the 

 Chowan emptied into the sea. Water may have flowed through inlets 

 in the barrier or directly from the mouth of the river, perhaps 

 in the same manner in which the James River becomes embayed at 

 its mouth before emptying into the Chesapeake. 



The Hazleton Scarp would have been formed primarily by wave 

 action from the Chowan embayment. As its wave-cut face receded 

 northward, the present 35-40 ft terrace forming the uplands 

 surrounding Merchants Mill Pond would have been created and 

 mantled with estuarine sediments which later developed into the 

 modern soils of the area. Recession of the Sangamon sea left the 

 new terrace exposed from that time until the present day. 



While the precursor of the drainage pattern that was to 

 become Bennett's Creek may have been incised during the earlier 

 Illinoian glacial exposure, most of the existing modern 

 topography visible along its course was shaped in the Wisconsin. 

 The dendritic pattern of streams that were to become Duke, 

 Harrell, Raynor and Lassiter Swamps was extended and deepened 

 during this erosional period. 



Daniels et al. (1971) have shown that the flat terraces 

 between stream drainage systems are extremely stable on the 

 Coastal Plain, with little erosion having occurred over a period 

 of several million years on the higher terraces. Since the 

 Talbot Terrace is only about 80,000 to 90,000 yrs old, its 

 present surface is probably little changed from the time of its 

 deposition, with the exception of portions dissected by streams. 



The most prominent of these stream valleys is that of 

 Bennett's Creek which, although flat-bottomed, is walled by 

 steep, rolling valley sides and has topography which is locally 

 quite rugged for the Coastal Plain (see ravines around Merchants 

 Mill Pond and Lassiter SWamp) . Most of this relief was created 

 in the period from late Sangamon (around 70,000 - 80,000 yrs 

 ago) to the end of the Wisconsin (around 15,000 yrs ago). 



During this 60,000 yr period, world sea level fell to as 

 much as 350 ft lower than the present. This meant that most of 

 the continental shelf to the east of the present Outer Banks 



93 



