An Upland Bog in North Carolina

This upland bog lays on the top of a mountain ridge in Uwharrie National Forest, NC. The ridge top is unusually flat, possibly caused by the weathering and erosion characteristics of underlying metamorphosed volcanic rocks or it is an old terrace created by the Pee Dee River, that is west of this location. The only drainage outlet is a small low-order ephemeral stream and the stream's head is elevated above the level of the bog. There is also a geomorphic barrier on one side of the ridge created by a resistant rhyolite layer. Two deer ran across the bog as I approached.
This upland bog lays on the top of a mountain ridge in Uwharrie National Forest, NC. The ridge top is unusually flat, possibly caused by the weathering and erosion characteristics of underlying metamorphosed volcanic rocks or it is an old terrace created by the Pee Dee River, that is west of this location. The only drainage outlet is a small low-order ephemeral stream and the stream’s head is elevated above the level of the bog. There is also a geomorphic barrier on one side of the ridge created by a resistant rhyolite layer. Two deer ran across the bog as I approached.

Ripples over Bedrock № 1

ripples over bedrock 21
Shallow water ripples over jointed bedrock with algae.

Water ripples are forming in very shallow water of a Piedmont stream as it flows over orange bedrock. The rock is a metamorphosed argillite (fine-grained sedimentary rock) whose present color is the result of weathering in an oxygen-rich environment. Algae has grown preferentially in planar, nearly vertical fractures in the rock called joints.

The stream is in Uwharrie National Forest, North Carolina.

Image © Andy R. Bobyarchick.