Peat resources of North Carolina. Annual report, 1980

Technical Report · Sat Nov 01 04:00:00 EST 1980

OSTI ID:6725387

Otte, L J; Ingram, R L

Peat deposits of North Carolina are of three main geologic types representing the accumulation of organic matter in: (1) pocosins (broad shallow depressions on an uplifted sea floor), (2) river flood-plains, and (3) Carolina Bays (elliptical depressions of unknown origin). The largest pocosin deposits are: (1) Pamlimarle Peninsula (360 square miles, 210 million tons moisture-free peat), (2) Dismal Swamp (100 square miles, 60 million tons), and (3) Croatan Forest (40 square miles, 23 million tons). These deposits normally range in thickness from 1 to 8 feet. River flood plain peats are of unknown extent. They occur as lenses in alluvial sands and clays and may attain a thickness of 20 feet. The ash content usually exceeds 10%. Five to six hundred Carolina Bays from 0.2 to 3 miles in length are scattered over the Coastal Plain. Many contain high quality peats up to 15 feet thick. Most North Carolina peat is a black fine-grained, highly decomposed peat with ash contents commonly less than 5%. Sulfur contents are low (median 0.2%), and heating values are high (median 10,300 Btu/lb moisture-free). North Carolina has an estimated 1000 square miles (640,000 acres) of peatland containing about 600 million tons of moisture-free peat.

• Research Organization: North Carolina Univ., Chapel Hill (USA). Dept. of Geology
• DOE Contract Number: AC01-79ET14693
• OSTI ID: 6725387
• Report Number(s): NCEI-0025
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010600 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Properties & Composition
011000* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
294001 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Coal
ASHES
CALORIFIC VALUE
COMBUSTION PROPERTIES
DIMENSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
NORTH AMERICA
NORTH CAROLINA
ORGANIC MATTER
PEAT
RESIDUES
RESOURCES
SOUTHEAST REGION
SULFUR CONTENT
THICKNESS
USA