Mark Demitroff was kind enough to send me some information in response to a discussion on BC's list. I felt it was worth cross posting.
Text follows...
Blue holes are simply strong riverine springs that issued from deep, circular cavities or holes occupying the bottom of relict and modern streambeds. In Pine Barrens folklore, each hole was as sinister as the next. All were reputed to be bottomless, and all possessed dangerous “whirlpools”. Like spungs, blue holes often had precontact trails that were contiguous with their shores since fresh water sites was important places. Upwellings that flowed with great force over a century ago (e.g., Inskeeps, Mt. Misery, Danger Hole, Dog Heaven) are now a rarity in the Pine Barrens landscape. Their absence from the modern landscape is attributed to over-withdrawal of ground water. The upcoming issue of Bartonia 64 will contain a Philadelphia Botanical Club field trip report on Pine Barrens Wetlands (Ted Gordon & Mark Demitroff, August 13, 2005).
Here's UMI's abstract for Pine Barrens Wetlands: Geographical Reflections of South Jersey's Periglacial Legacy:
by Demitroff, Mark Nicholas, M.S., University of Delaware, 2007, 244 pp, AAT 1444697
ISBN:9780549062240
ProQuest document ID:1367835481
Abstract (Summary)
The wetlands of the Pinelands National Reserve in New Jersey provide valuable geographic clues concerning the region's cold, dry, and windy Ice Age past. Studying the relationships between humans and unusual landforms known locally as spungs, cripples, blue holes, and savannahs yields important insight into the effects of 200,000 years of global climate change, and how regional environmental dynamics relate to cultural ecology.
Spungs are enclosed wetland basins, created by deflation under cold, non-glacial (i.e., periglacial) conditions. These features served as oasis-like watering places for wildlife and ambulant peoples over a period of 12,000 years. Cripples are short, broad, and damp valleys lacking modern stream incision. Surface wash over frozen ground and wind action were the primary geomorphic agents responsible for shaping these valleys. Blue holes are deep, strong springs, of some antiquity, and are found in present-day river channels or, occasionally, on the broad paleochannels bordering watercourses. Savannahs are flat stretches of sedgey, grassy, and sparsely wooded meadow occupying abandoned river channels.
The debate about the periglacial/permafrost origins of Pine Barrens landforms has been spirited and controversial. Recent contributions to paleoenvironmental reconstruction in the region provide strong support for the interpretation that cold, nonglacial processes left distinctive marks on the region's landscapes. Unusual "periglacial" wetland features were linked by ancient trails, woven together in a geographic tapestry of interactions between society and nature. In the absence of a long-term scientific monitoring program, historical records and local knowledge were used to document recent changes in these wetland environments, which are drying up. This process threatens life-supporting systems that are fundamental elements in this internationally important ecological region. It is hoped that a wider understanding of the Pinelands National Reserve's natural and human history spurs greater efforts to protect near-surface and surficial water resources. After all, the shallow aquifers are the lifeblood of the Pine Barrens.
Other helpful citations:
Cresson JA, Mounier A, Bonfiglio A, Demitroff M. 2006. Periglacial landforms of southern New Jersey: sites, trails and ancient cultural links. In Hellström R, Frankenstein S (eds.). Program and Abstracts, 63rd Eastern Snow Conference, University of Delaware, Held Jointly with the Cryosphere Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers, 7-9 June 2006, p. 72.
Demitroff M. 2003. A geography of spungs and some attendant hydrological phenomena on the New Jersey Outer Coastal Plain., In Hozik MJ, Mihalasky MJ, (eds.), Field Guide and Proceedings, 20th Annual Meeting of the Geological Association of New Jersey, October 10-11, 2003. Trenton, NJ: Geological Association of New Jersey. pp. 51-78.
Text follows...
Blue holes are simply strong riverine springs that issued from deep, circular cavities or holes occupying the bottom of relict and modern streambeds. In Pine Barrens folklore, each hole was as sinister as the next. All were reputed to be bottomless, and all possessed dangerous “whirlpools”. Like spungs, blue holes often had precontact trails that were contiguous with their shores since fresh water sites was important places. Upwellings that flowed with great force over a century ago (e.g., Inskeeps, Mt. Misery, Danger Hole, Dog Heaven) are now a rarity in the Pine Barrens landscape. Their absence from the modern landscape is attributed to over-withdrawal of ground water. The upcoming issue of Bartonia 64 will contain a Philadelphia Botanical Club field trip report on Pine Barrens Wetlands (Ted Gordon & Mark Demitroff, August 13, 2005).
Here's UMI's abstract for Pine Barrens Wetlands: Geographical Reflections of South Jersey's Periglacial Legacy:
by Demitroff, Mark Nicholas, M.S., University of Delaware, 2007, 244 pp, AAT 1444697
ISBN:9780549062240
ProQuest document ID:1367835481
Abstract (Summary)
The wetlands of the Pinelands National Reserve in New Jersey provide valuable geographic clues concerning the region's cold, dry, and windy Ice Age past. Studying the relationships between humans and unusual landforms known locally as spungs, cripples, blue holes, and savannahs yields important insight into the effects of 200,000 years of global climate change, and how regional environmental dynamics relate to cultural ecology.
Spungs are enclosed wetland basins, created by deflation under cold, non-glacial (i.e., periglacial) conditions. These features served as oasis-like watering places for wildlife and ambulant peoples over a period of 12,000 years. Cripples are short, broad, and damp valleys lacking modern stream incision. Surface wash over frozen ground and wind action were the primary geomorphic agents responsible for shaping these valleys. Blue holes are deep, strong springs, of some antiquity, and are found in present-day river channels or, occasionally, on the broad paleochannels bordering watercourses. Savannahs are flat stretches of sedgey, grassy, and sparsely wooded meadow occupying abandoned river channels.
The debate about the periglacial/permafrost origins of Pine Barrens landforms has been spirited and controversial. Recent contributions to paleoenvironmental reconstruction in the region provide strong support for the interpretation that cold, nonglacial processes left distinctive marks on the region's landscapes. Unusual "periglacial" wetland features were linked by ancient trails, woven together in a geographic tapestry of interactions between society and nature. In the absence of a long-term scientific monitoring program, historical records and local knowledge were used to document recent changes in these wetland environments, which are drying up. This process threatens life-supporting systems that are fundamental elements in this internationally important ecological region. It is hoped that a wider understanding of the Pinelands National Reserve's natural and human history spurs greater efforts to protect near-surface and surficial water resources. After all, the shallow aquifers are the lifeblood of the Pine Barrens.
Other helpful citations:
Cresson JA, Mounier A, Bonfiglio A, Demitroff M. 2006. Periglacial landforms of southern New Jersey: sites, trails and ancient cultural links. In Hellström R, Frankenstein S (eds.). Program and Abstracts, 63rd Eastern Snow Conference, University of Delaware, Held Jointly with the Cryosphere Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers, 7-9 June 2006, p. 72.
Demitroff M. 2003. A geography of spungs and some attendant hydrological phenomena on the New Jersey Outer Coastal Plain., In Hozik MJ, Mihalasky MJ, (eds.), Field Guide and Proceedings, 20th Annual Meeting of the Geological Association of New Jersey, October 10-11, 2003. Trenton, NJ: Geological Association of New Jersey. pp. 51-78.
