Peat deposits of Dismal Swamp pocosins: Camden, Currituck, Gates, Pasquotank, and Perquimans Counties, North Carolina

Technical Report · Wed Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1981

OSTI ID:6219829

Ingram, R L; Otte, L J

Peat is present in the Dismal Swamp of northeastern North Carolina and southeastern Virginia. In North Carolina the peat is in 4 separate deposits located west, northwest, and north of Elizabeth City. In a few infilled channels the peat is up to 12 ft thick but most of the peat lies in broad shallow depressions and increases in thickness from 0 ft at the margins to 6 to 8 ft in the interior of the deposits. The deposits in North Carolina occupy an area of 76,800 acres (120 sq mi) containing about 68 million tons of moisture-free peat. The deposits greater than 4 ft thick occupy an area of 34,700 acres containing about 43 million tons of peat. The peat lies to the east of the Suffolk Scarp on the Pamlico Terrace. The surface elevation of the peat ranges from 15 to 20 ft. Two main types of peat are present: (1) a brown, decomposed fibrous peat usually found at the base of the thicker peats, and (2) a black, fine-grained, highly decomposed peat that usually overlies the fibrous peat. Both peat types contain large amounts of wood. The moisture content ranges from 40 to 94% with an average of about 81% and usually increases with depth and total thickness of the peat. Away from the margins and bottoms of the deposits, the average ash content is about 7%. Heat values for moisture-free, low ash peats range from 8700 to 10,900 Btu/lb with a median of 10,100. The sulfur content ranges from 0.2 to 0.7% with a median of 0.3%.

• Research Organization: North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill (USA). Dept. of Geology; Kent State Univ., OH (USA). Dept. of Geology
• DOE Contract Number: AC01-79ET14693
• OSTI ID: 6219829
• Report Number(s): DOE/ET/14693-T3; ON: DE81029642
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
011000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290400 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Energy Resources
58 GEOSCIENCES
580100 -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS
ASHES
CALORIFIC VALUE
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COMBUSTION PROPERTIES
DATA
DENSITY
DEPOSITS
DIMENSIONS
ECOSYSTEMS
ENERGY SOURCES
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGICAL SURVEYS
INFORMATION
MOISTURE
NORTH AMERICA
NORTH CAROLINA
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC MATTER
PEAT
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
QUANTITY RATIO
RESIDUES
RESOURCE ASSESSMENT
SOUTHEAST REGION
SULFUR CONTENT
SURVEYS
SWAMPS
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
THICKNESS
USA
WETLANDS