arghman
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Ah, the Pine Barrens... I tend to like underappreciated places in the middle of nowhere.
This is a general description & my trip report of more specific areas is on a different page I've linked to below.
In the northeast US, Southern NJ is kind of at the opposite end of the spectrum from NH. The glaciers took most of our (NH's) soil away, ground it down, and dumped it further south. I always thought this was how the sand plains formed in NJ / Long Island / SE Mass, but in preparing this report I found that this is apparently not the case after all. If NH's soil was shaped by glaciers, when the sea level was at its lowest, then southern NJ's soil was shaped by ocean sedimentary/turbulent deposits (sand & silt), when the sea level was at its highest and much of southern NJ was under water. (I guess then when it receded, rainfall washed away much of the salt & other water-soluble minerals. Disclaimer: I am not a geologist, just re-stating some of what's in the references cited below.) The sand here is not your average sandbox play sand, but rather very fine, silty, light-colored stuff; infertile and acidic. Bad for farming unless you like blueberries and cranberries, which someone finally figured out in the mid-late 1800's, after the bog iron and charcoal industries went downhill. The place is scattered with nondescript sand roads and cranberry bogs.
Anyway, it's one big sandy plain with little topographical relief -- the highest point is just over 200' above sea level, at the top of the fire tower on Apple Pie Hill, though if you count the land itself & not the tower, there are other places that are 5 or 10' higher. Not that you could tell easily, though. (This is where USGS must have sent misbehaving surveyors for punishment.)
Depending on the water table level & frequency of fire, there are different plant communities. The dominant plant is pitch pine (Pinus rigida) with a mix of oaks and blueberries & other acid-loving shrubs. The lower-lying areas tend to have Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) that leach tannins into the slow, windy, brown-tinged streams that meander their way to the coast. There are a few areas called the "Pine Plains" in the Barnegat / Warren Grove area which, for whatever reason (frequent fire? low water table?) have an abundance of pitch pine that only grows to 5'-10' tall.
This area is ecologically different from all nearby surrounding areas, so you get an "island" effect where there are a number of plant species that are either unique or have disjunct populations from elsewhere in the world. (e.g. Leiophyllum buxifolium which occurs in southern NJ, in the mountains of KY/TN/GA/NC/SC, and in the NC/SC coastal plain.)
If this piques your interest, go read John McPhee's "The Pine Barrens" or Howard P. Boyd's "Field guide to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey".
other online sources for science nuts:
soil formation of the Pine Barrens
geological map of NJ
geological history for teachers
habitats of the New Jersey Pinelands
I visited Brendan Byrne State Forest (formerly Lebanon State Forest) and a few other spots; more details & photos here (password in my profile)
This is a general description & my trip report of more specific areas is on a different page I've linked to below.
In the northeast US, Southern NJ is kind of at the opposite end of the spectrum from NH. The glaciers took most of our (NH's) soil away, ground it down, and dumped it further south. I always thought this was how the sand plains formed in NJ / Long Island / SE Mass, but in preparing this report I found that this is apparently not the case after all. If NH's soil was shaped by glaciers, when the sea level was at its lowest, then southern NJ's soil was shaped by ocean sedimentary/turbulent deposits (sand & silt), when the sea level was at its highest and much of southern NJ was under water. (I guess then when it receded, rainfall washed away much of the salt & other water-soluble minerals. Disclaimer: I am not a geologist, just re-stating some of what's in the references cited below.) The sand here is not your average sandbox play sand, but rather very fine, silty, light-colored stuff; infertile and acidic. Bad for farming unless you like blueberries and cranberries, which someone finally figured out in the mid-late 1800's, after the bog iron and charcoal industries went downhill. The place is scattered with nondescript sand roads and cranberry bogs.
Anyway, it's one big sandy plain with little topographical relief -- the highest point is just over 200' above sea level, at the top of the fire tower on Apple Pie Hill, though if you count the land itself & not the tower, there are other places that are 5 or 10' higher. Not that you could tell easily, though. (This is where USGS must have sent misbehaving surveyors for punishment.)
Depending on the water table level & frequency of fire, there are different plant communities. The dominant plant is pitch pine (Pinus rigida) with a mix of oaks and blueberries & other acid-loving shrubs. The lower-lying areas tend to have Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides) that leach tannins into the slow, windy, brown-tinged streams that meander their way to the coast. There are a few areas called the "Pine Plains" in the Barnegat / Warren Grove area which, for whatever reason (frequent fire? low water table?) have an abundance of pitch pine that only grows to 5'-10' tall.
This area is ecologically different from all nearby surrounding areas, so you get an "island" effect where there are a number of plant species that are either unique or have disjunct populations from elsewhere in the world. (e.g. Leiophyllum buxifolium which occurs in southern NJ, in the mountains of KY/TN/GA/NC/SC, and in the NC/SC coastal plain.)
If this piques your interest, go read John McPhee's "The Pine Barrens" or Howard P. Boyd's "Field guide to the Pine Barrens of New Jersey".
other online sources for science nuts:
soil formation of the Pine Barrens
geological map of NJ
geological history for teachers
habitats of the New Jersey Pinelands
I visited Brendan Byrne State Forest (formerly Lebanon State Forest) and a few other spots; more details & photos here (password in my profile)
