was exposed as dry land, and that Gates County stood about 400 

 ft above sea level, nearly the elevation of the present lower 

 Piedmont in the vicinity of Raleigh and Durham. 



With greatly lowered base level, the Chowan River and 

 Bennett's Creek were narrow. Piedmont-like streams, downcutting 

 and becoming entrenched in their floodplains. Stream valleys 

 would have been much more V-shaped than at present. The depth 

 to which these valleys were cut is unknown, although this may 

 someday be determined from well borings. It is certain that the 

 level was considerably below that of the present. Deep holes in 

 the stream channels of Lassiter Swamp and Bennett's Creek, both 

 in its upper section and near its mouth, are remnants of the 

 Wisconsin stream valley. Since the present surface of Bennett's 

 Creek is at sea level, the holes 20 ft or more deep reported 

 from its lower section could not have been eroded by the present 

 slow-flowing stream, but are remnants of a much deeper valley 

 that only began to fill around 5,000 yrs ago (see discussion 

 of geology of Chowan Swamp) . 



The rolling land and slopes forming the valley sides of 

 Bennett's Creek were probably formed by a series of processes. 

 One such event may have been wave action during recession of 

 water from the Chowan embayment. The major erosional period, 

 however, probably occurred during the Wisconsin while streams 

 were deepening their valleys. 



With respect to the relative ages of these three major 

 topographic surfaces exposed within the natural area, the flat, 

 stable uplands are the oldest, dating from the end of the 

 Sangamon. The valley slopes are younger, having undergone 

 extensive erosion and lateral recession during the Wisconsin. 

 This process has continued, although at a very reduced rate, 

 in post-Wisconsin time to the present day. Youngest of all are 

 the swamp bottomlands, which are presently aggrading year by 

 year. 



Obviously, very different time intervals have been available 

 for the formation of soils. From the overview above it would be 

 expected that the bottomlands would contain Entisols in the 

 swampy areas and Inceptisols on the drier flats. The valley 

 walls may be Inceptisols, and the upland divides should have 

 had time to develop Ultisols. A detailed soil survey of part of 

 the natural area has been begun by the local office of the Soil 

 Conservation Service. Identification of the various soils to 

 series has not yet been completed. 



These swamp bottoms, tributary to the Chowan River, are 

 the filled floodplains of deeper stream valleys carved during the 

 late Sangamon and Wisconsin. Filling must have been rapid in the 

 past few thousand years. About 2,000 years ago sea level had 



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