SEDIMENTOLOGICAL AND PEDOGENIC CHARACTERIZATION OF RIM SANDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE JONES LAKE CAROLINA BAY, BLADEN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA

Jones Lake is a prominent Carolina Bay in northern Bladen County, NC. It is one of only a few Carolina Bays that continues to support a bay lake near its center. Rim sands along the eastern margin have been sculpted by eolian processes thought to be coeval with formation of the bay. Three pits were excavated along the eastern rim of the Jones Lake Carolina Bay within the Bladen Lakes State Forest. Samples were collected at regular intervals from each pit for grain size determination using standard sieve analysis protocol as a first approximation. Sample splits were also analyzed using a Beckman Coulter Counter System. In addition, samples were collected for age determination by OSL methodology. Preliminary results show that rim sands of the bay are dominated by poorly to moderately well sorted, fine to medium grained, subangular to subrounded, quartz-rich sand. Pedogenic horizonation is most evident in the pit nearest the bay center, with burrows and root traces common within the zone of accumulation. Minor horizonation is also noted in an adjacent pit. Non-pedogenic sedimentary structures are conspicuously absent except in the upper 5 cm of the pit farthest from the bay center, where cross-bedding is evident by interlaminations of quartz sand with organic matter. These observations compliment a growing set of data from south-central North Carolina in effort to better understand the timing of and factors influencing bay formation.