Dunes or Deposits

[Gibby]

I have always wanted to explore the cranberry bogs along Route 539, but haven't done so because I thought the property was private. Teegate's recent thread on the Wychwood Gun Club answered the question to who owned the property, so today I spent the half of the day exploring the area surrounding the gun club property. I walked the dim roads tracing the paths of the Greenwood surveys. The area is full of surprises and if you have the ability, explore it.

What attracted me to the area in the first place was a set of mounds located on the western side of Route 539. As you pass the Switlik bogs, driving south on the highway, take a look out of your passengers side window and you will see what appears to be dunes. I have always wondered what they were. I at first thought that they were ancient dunes, but when I took a closer look at the topographic maps, I thought that they may be deposits from glacial wind action. The north western face of the small series of hills has the typical ramp of elevation found in the Barrens. Now, I have more question than answers. Any ideas or thoughts to what they may be? Dunes? Wind blown deposits? Blowouts?

http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.84574577480427&lng=-74.38336372375488&z=16&type=topo&gpx=

Plenty of washed stone in the soil make up.

The first small mound in the series. It is close to thirty feet in height and hundred feet in diameter.

The beginning of large "dune". The highest point is one hundred and eighty feet above sea level as indicated on my GPS.

The view of the highway from the top. There is a dim road running next to the highway and nearby to this location a monument to a fallen friend.

 

[Spung-Man]

Gibby,

I am on my way home from the Sahara with the European Space Agency, and am interested in your finds. The Pine Barrens is an exciting location for Mars analog studies.

Cheers,
Spung-Man

 

[bobpbx]

I've been in those hills several times Gibby....they are remarkable for the area. I've always considered them part of the reverse topography that this area has experienced over thousands of years. In other words, the tops of these hills were actually part of ancient stream valleys, and the low land surrounding them has worn away to the present day topography. The hilltops did not wear as much due to the harder soil deposits from the streambeds.

I'm only guessing. Your assumptions may be correct.

 

[Gibby]

I've always considered them part of the reverse topography that this area has experienced over thousands of years.

Bobpbx, to my untrained eye, the hills appear to be dunes, but what I am drawing from your explanation is that they could be the result of landscape evolution. If this could be the event that developed the hills would you take a another guess to if it was wind (katabatic?) or water that caused the erosion? A combination of the two over time?

I must say, I did enjoy walking the hills in area. It was a change to view the treetops surrounding the top, but I couldn't find a tree that was safe enough to climb to see farther.. All of the tall pines were dead from beetles. I wanted to take pictures of the low-lying areas.

-Spungman, it looks like you were having to much fun!

 

[GermanG]

I look at that spot everytime I drive by, wondering how it was formed and hoping to expore it one day. It seems my days off are always spent venturing deeper in the woods than exploring what can be easily seen from the road.

 

[Teegate]

Spung-man will straighten us all out. However, from his posts in the past he says that as the gracers thawed and the ice was exposed, the wind blew away all the softer sand and dirt leaving the harder sections. If you dig into that hill I suspect it is full of sandstone and the area around it isn't.

Gibby, have you visted the hill along Carranza Road? You will see the largest stones in South Jersey except for maybe LaHaWay.

Guy

 

[Gibby]

Gibby, have you visted the hill along Carranza Road? You will see the largest stones in South Jersey except for maybe LaHaWay.

Teegate, no I haven't but it is on my to-do list. The hill you are speaking of is across from Moores Meadow Road correct?

I also saw a small hill named Owens Hill somewhere near Wheatland on one of Ben's historic topos. I also wanted to visit that location someday.

Without a doubt, Spungman will set the record straight to what is the reason for the formations.

 

[ecampbell]

It is at Hampton Gate.

http://maps.njpinebarrens.com/#lat=39.80113453834086&lng=-74.67660427093506&z=16&type=h&gpx=

 

[Gibby]

Thanks Ecampbell. I had a general idea where it could be. Is it state land?

This is Owens Hill as located on the 1872 Ocean County map. (Governors Hill can just be seen in the lower left. It is another interest.)

 

[ecampbell]

Yes, state. If you park across from the Wharton welcome sign you will see a trail going up the hill,

Ed

 

[Teegate]

I have been to Owens Hill. It is nothing like you would think and there are no views. It was so unremarkable I did not take any photo's. This was on 12/20/2003.

Guy

 

[Gibby]

I have been to Owens Hill. It is nothing like you would think and there are no views. It was so unremarkable I did not take any photo's. This was on 12/20/2003.

Guy

Teegate you should make a hitch hikers guide to the Pine Barrens and note what is significant. Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks Ecampbell for the trail location.

 

[Spung-Man]

The Pine Barrens is full of windblown phenomena like dune fields, sand sheets, and blowouts. Many are subtle features, not always easily discerned, since the ground was frozen when Pleistocene winds were strongest. We were a sand-starved eolian system. See our newest paper in the Netherlands Journal of Geosciences titled "Late-Pleistocene paleohydrology, eolian activity and frozen ground, New Jersey Pine Barrens, Eastern USA" for details. I should be back in Philly shortly.

Adios,
S-M

Waiting in Marrakech Airport.

 

[dogg57]

Spung-Man you sure get around

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-...=X&ei=EiqPUKXkPIe90AH624CoBw&ved=0CI8BEPwSMAM