Clearings slightly south of nowhere

[woodjin]

That is really interesting, right Jeff? I love those clearings. I think I know why they are there, or at least what contributes to them. As a geology professor explained to me, the pine barren higher uplands are the result of the land all around them "weathering" away over time. The higher lands are made up of harder rock, hence they are slower to weather away and remain higher than the surrounding land. Witness that hill of rocks close to your house that me, you, Guy and Jess visited.

If you look at your area, you have a weather resistant plateau in land surrounded by swamp--hence the briars that held you back:

One of the most prominent ones I have ever seen is on the Pope Branch up by route 72. It is a nice little plateau me and Guy visited in 2004 or so. It is long and bare. You have to fight your way through those skinny small cedars to get to it:

I don't know, maybe the chemicals leaching from the sandstone inhibit growth of plants on a selective basis?

I see what you are saying, but what accounts for the nearly complete lack of growth in these areas. That hill with the large sandstones still has alot of tree growth on it?

 

[bobpbx]

I see what you are saying, but what accounts for the nearly complete lack of growth in these areas. That hill with the large sandstones still has alot of tree growth on it?

I don't really know. It could have subtle changes from that stone hill. Suppose the system of clearings you went to was once a sandbar in the middle of an ancient river system, and that that this sandbar was a natural trap for very coarse sand grains that were somehow formed by the action of the river upstream from the bar. Being very coarse, there are many spaces between the grains, allowing rain water to rapidly flow through, carrying nutrients that plants need to flourish. Perhaps Stone Hill by the Batso was not part of an ancient river, but was formed by sediment drifting down upon the bottom of the ocean that covered this area at that time. The sediment solidified into one huge stone mass that is difficult to break up by weathering, but where it has broken up, the plants take advantage and readily take root because the conditions allow nutrients and water to remain at root level for longer periods.

Its fun to speculate, but in the final analysis, I really don't have any idea.

 

[woodjin]

I don't really know. It could have subtle changes from that stone hill. Suppose the system of clearings you went to was once a sandbar in the middle of an ancient river system, and that that this sandbar was a natural trap for very coarse sand grains that were somehow formed by the action of the river upstream from the bar. Being very coarse, there are many spaces between the grains, allowing rain water to rapidly flow through, carrying nutrients that plants need to flourish. Perhaps Stone Hill by the Batso was not part of an ancient river, but was formed by sediment drifting down upon the bottom of the ocean that covered this area at that time. The sediment solidified into one huge stone mass that is difficult to break up by weathering, but where it has broken up, the plants take advantage and readily take root because the conditions allow nutrients and water to remain at root level for longer periods.

Its fun to speculate, but in the final analysis, I really don't have any idea.

I think that that is excellente speculation. It is amazing that these areas retain that character for such a long period of time.

Jeff