North Carolina Coastal Plain Research Articles

Comparison of Cropping Systems Including Corn, Peanut, and Tobacco in the North Carolina Coastal Plain

Research was conducted in North Carolina from 2001 to 2006 to determine disease development, parasitic nematode population in soil, crop yield, and cumulative economic return in rotation systems including corn, peanut, and tobacco. Specific rotations included two consecutive cycles of corn-corn-peanut, corn-tobacco-peanut, or tobacco-corn-peanut; five years of corn followed by peanut, and corn-corn-tobacco-corn-corn-peanut. In the final year of the experiment when only peanut was planted, the Cylindrocladium black rot (caused by Cylindrocladium parasiticum) (CBR)-susceptible cultivar Gregory and the CBRresistant cultivar Perry were included. Increasing the number of years between peanut plantings increased yield of peanut in the final year of the experiment when Gregory was planted but not when Perry was planted. Incidence of CBR was highest when peanut was planted twice during the duration of the experiment compared with only once. No difference in ring nematode was observed regardless of rotation in the final year of the experiment. The highest soil population of stunt nematode was noted when five years of corn was followed by peanut with the lowest soil population of this nematode noted following two cycles of tobacco-corn-peanut. Cropping systems that included tobacco provided higher cumulative economic returns regardless of rotation sequence in most instances.

Soil moisture dynamics and smoldering combustion limits of pocosin soils in North Carolina, USA

Smoldering combustion of wetland organic soils in the south-eastern USA is a serious management concern. Previous studies have reported smoldering was sensitive to a wide range of moisture contents, but studies of soil moisture dynamics and changing smoldering combustion potential in wetland communities are limited. Linking soil moisture measurements with estimates of the sustained smoldering limits of organic soils will improve our understanding of changes in ground fire potential over time. Seasonal soil moisture trends were monitored in six North Carolina coastal plain pocosin sites from January 2005 to November 2007. Measurements of the root-mat upper soil horizons were sampled at 2-week intervals while measurements of lower horizon muck (sapric) soil moisture contents and watertable depths were made with automated data logging equipment. The watertable and soil moisture responses were influenced by seasonal and yearly differences in precipitation and hydrologic factors. The maximum estimated probabilities of sustained smoldering were highest in the fall of 2007 and lowest in 2006. Watertable depth was not a consistent predictor of the smoldering combustion potential in the upper organic soil horizons. Maximum Keetch–Byram Drought Index values on all sites were between 500 and 662 during 2005 and 2007 and these values were not consistent with measured soil moistures.

Effect of sampling density and design on estimation of streambed attributes

Summary Underlying questions that are central to field studies of the groundwater–surface water interaction are the extent of error in means and spatial distributions of streambed attributes such as groundwater seepage rate or solute flux, and the relation of this error to the number and location of point measurements. To investigate these questions, spatially intensive point measurements of five streambed attributes were made in two 63-m long stream reaches in the North Carolina Coastal Plain: hydraulic conductivity ( K ), hydraulic head gradient between groundwater and stream water ( J ), nitrate concentration in streambed groundwater ( C ), and groundwater seepage ( v = KJ ) and nitrate flux ( f = vC ) through the streambed. In all, 10 datasets (2 reaches, 5 attributes), each with 54 closely-spaced point values, were created (540-point values in all). For each dataset, subsets of 8- to 40-point values were selected from the 54 available to evaluate the effects of sampling density (the number of point values per reach, or per m 2 of streambed) and sampling design (the relative number of point values from the right side, left side, and center of the channel) on the mean and the spatial field of the streambed attribute. Specifically, we evaluated the following as a function of sampling density and sampling design: (1) the likelihood of error in the reach-average value of each streambed attribute, (2) the average magnitude of error and distribution of error in the reach-average value of each attribute, (3) the magnitude of error in the prediction of point values of each attribute, and (4) the geometry of interpolated surfaces of two attributes ( K and f ). In all cases, “error” in a value or interpolated surface based on a subset of points was taken as a deviation from the corresponding result based on the full dataset of 54 points. The probability ( p ) that error did not occur increased with sampling density for each sampling design and attribute in both reaches, though the effect of “diminishing returns” was evident for sampling densities greater than ∼24 points per reach (roughly 0.05–0.06 points per m 2 of streambed). Relative to sampling density, sampling design had little effect on values of p . Average error in streambed attributes was generally small (⩽10%) and less than the 95% confidence limits about the reach-average values of the attributes. The ability to estimate unknown point values by interpolation among other point values was poor using both 12- and 36-point subsets, though results suggest the 24 additional known point values (in going from 12 to 36) were helpful in one case in which there was some degree of autocorrelation between the additional known values and the values to be predicted in the interpolation. Visual inspection of 130 contour maps showed that those based on 36-point values were far more realistic in appearance than those based on 12-point values (where the standard for “realistic” appearance was the contour maps based on the full datasets of 54-point values).

Pest Reaction, Yield, and Economic Return of Peanut Cropping Systems in the North Carolina Coastal Plain

Pest Reaction, Yield, and Economic Return of Peanut Cropping Systems in the North Carolina Coastal Plain

Optically stimulated luminescence age controls on late Pleistocene and Holocene coastal lithosomes, North Carolina, USA

Luminescence ages from a variety of coastal features on the North Carolina Coastal Plain provide age control for shoreline formation and relative sea-level position during the late Pleistocene. A series of paleoshoreline ridges, dating to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5a and MIS 3 have been defined. The Kitty Hawk beach ridges, on the modern Outer Banks, yield ages of 3 to 2 ka. Oxygen-isotope data are used to place these deposits in the context of global climate and sea-level change. The occurrence of MIS 5a and MIS 3 shorelines suggests that glacio-isostatic adjustment (GIA) of the study area is large (ca. 22 to 26 m), as suggested and modeled by other workers, and/or MIS 3 sea level was briefly higher than suggested by some coral reef studies. Correcting the shoreline elevations for GIA brings their elevation in line with other sea-level indicators. The age of the Kitty Hawk beach ridges places the Holocene shoreline well west of its present location at ca. 3 to 2 ka. The age of shoreline progradation is consistent with the ages of other beach ridge complexes in the southeast USA, suggesting some regionally contemporaneous forcing mechanism.

Guestworkers,Enganchadores, and Changing Labor Relations in U.S. Rural Communities

IntroductionIn a two-month time span early in 2007, North Carolina's Beaufort County Commission approved two measures directed against the growing Latino population in the county, voting first to remove all non-English language materials from county offices and following with a vote to approve the County Sheriff's cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to locate and deport undocumented immigrants. Around the same time, the New York Times reported on a case of excessive exploitation among two Thai guestworkers in North Carolina and Louisiana, the Southern Poverty Law Center (2007) released a report entitled, Close to Slavery: Guestworker Programs in the United States, and National Public Radio aired at least two stories addressing immigration issues. In the week between the New York Times article and the release of Close to Slavery, the cooperative extension service of Johnston County, North Carolina, hosted a panel to address agricultural labor issues, inviting representatives of the North Carolina and U.S. Departments of Labor, the Employment Security Commission, North Carolina Department of Labor, the Farm Bureau, and, most notably, the North Carolina Growers Association (NCGA). This last organization is one of the largest labor contracting organizations in the United States, specializing in the placement of H-2 workers; in 2004, the NCGA signed an agreement with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee on the condition that law suits against them be dropped. Farmers from across the North Carolina's coastal plain attended, and the issue of pending immigration reform legislation generated the most heated debate. Not insignificantly, much of this focus on immigration occurred around the time that President Bush toured Latin America and, in Mexico, again raised the issue of immigration reform.These local, regional, and national events and reports illustrate the varied dimensions of immigration and its pervasiveness across the North American social and cultural landscape, underscoring the point that the United States is ripe for immigration reform. Several legislative initiatives include some form of expansion of the current H-2 programs-the nation's current guestworker programs-although these vary according to such things as how guestworkers' wages would be determined, whether or not employers would provide housing, guestworkers' access to the courts, protections workers would receive, and other factors. Much of this legislation has been crafted as if ignorant of the ways the H-2 programs have evolved (or devolved) since the last major immigration reform in 1986, despite widely publicized works like Close to Slavery and other, less widely read work (e.g. North South Institute 2006; Wilkinson 1989; Hahamovich 2003; Griffith 2006; Smart 1997). These works nearly always find that H-2 programs, primarily because of the provision that H-2 workers are bound to one and only one employer, have a tendency to deteriorate over time, approximating highly exploitative labor contracting practices like indentured servitude.In this paper, I examine practices that are common in the nation's current H-2 programs and in labor contracting generally, relating them to other developments in immigration taking place in the rural U.S. South.1 Drawing on research conducted in rural North Carolina regions from 2001 to the present, as well as case studies of immigration into Georgia, Iowa, and Minnesota, I suggest that, as labor relations in guestworker programs deteriorate, people participating in H-2 programs have been able to resist the excessive labor control that has been structured into the program. They accomplish this, usually, by working outside of their contracts, in jobs that they are not legally contracted to accept. At times they access these jobs with the assistance of their legal employers and at times against their employers' wishes or without their employers' knowledge. The maturing of Latino communities in new destinations across the United States, a process bolstered by several public and private U. …

Multiple-method estimation of recharge rates at diverse locations in the North Carolina Coastal Plain, USA

Recharge rates determined at diverse study sites in a shallow, unconfined aquifer differed from one another depending on the analytical method used and on each method’s applicability and limitations. Total recharge was quantified with saturated-zone methods using water-table fluctuations at seven sites in North Carolina, USA and using groundwater-age dating at three of the seven sites; at two of the sites, potential recharge was quantified with an unsaturated-zone method using Darcy’s law; and at five of the sites, net recharge was quantified with a stream hydrograph-separation method using streamflow-recession curves. Historical mean net recharge was 25 to 69% of the historical total recharge rates. The large disparity is attributed to groundwater losses between recharge and discharge areas, primarily by evapotranspiration and seepage to underlying aquifers. The spatial distribution of historical mean annual total recharge did not vary between landscape units, as suggested in a previous study. Similarly, total recharge did not correlate significantly with mean annual rainfall, mean annual water table depth, or the surficial soil properties of percent clay and bulk density. Total recharge did correlate significantly with the surficial soil properties of percent sand and percent silt.

Factors affecting sustained smouldering in organic soils from pocosin and pond pine woodland wetlands

The smouldering combustion of peat and muck soil plays an important role in the creation and maintenance of wetland communities. This experimental study was conducted to improve our understanding of how moisture and mineral content constrain smouldering in organic soil. Laboratory burning was conducted with root mat and muck soil samples from pocosin and pond pine woodland wetlands common on the North Carolina coastal plain. The results of laboratory and prescribed burning were compared. Laboratory results showed that moisture and mineral content influenced sustained smouldering in root mat soils. Predictions based on logistic regression analysis show that root mat soils with an average mineral content of 4.5% had an estimated 50% probability of sustained smouldering at a moisture content of 93%, whereas at moisture contents above 145% the estimated probability was less than 10%. The odds that root mat soil will sustain smouldering decrease by 19.3% for each 5% increase in moisture content. Root mat soils with an average mineral content of 5.5% and a moisture content of 93% had an estimated 61% probability of sustained smouldering. The odds that root mat soil will sustain smouldering combustion increased by 155.9% with each 1% increase in mineral content. Root mat and muck soils differ in physical and chemical characteristics expected to influence smouldering behaviour. The formation of muck soil has led to increases in density, smaller soil particle size, changes in water holding characteristics and increases in waxes, resins and bituminous compounds. Muck soil smouldered at higher moisture contents than root mat soil. Muck soil at a moisture content of 201% had an estimated 50% probability of sustained smouldering, whereas at moisture contents above 260% the estimated probability was less than 10%. The odds that muck soil will sustain smouldering combustion decrease by 17.2% with each 5% increase in moisture content. Ground fire in the prescribed burns stopped its vertical spread in organic soils at moisture contents consistent with logistic regression predictions developed from our laboratory results.

Aerial Color Infrared Photography for Determining Early In‐Season Nitrogen Requirements in Corn

In‐season determination of corn (Zea mays L.) N requirements via remote sensing may help optimize N application decisions and improve profit, fertilizer use efficiency, and environmental quality. The objective of this study was to use aerial color‐infrared (CIR) photography as a remote‐sensing technique for predicting in‐season N requirements for corn at the V7 growth stage. Field studies were conducted for 2 yr at three locations, each with and without irrigation, in the North Carolina Coastal Plain. Experimental treatments were a complete factorial of four N rates at planting (NPL) and five N rates at V7 (NV7). Aerial CIR photographs were taken at each of the locations at V7 before N application. Optimum NV7 ranged from 0 to 207 kg N ha−1 with a mean of 67 kg N ha−1. Significant but weak correlations were observed between optimum NV7 rates and the band combinations relative green, Relative Green Difference Vegetation Index, and Relative Difference Vegetation Index as measured in CIR photos. High proportions of soil reflectance in the images early in the corn growing season (V7) likely confounded our attempts to relate spectral information to optimum NV7 rates. The primary obstacles to applying this technique early in the season are the use of relative digital counts or indices that require high‐N reference strips in the field and strong background reflectance from the soil. When the NPL treatments that were nonresponsive to NV7 (i.e., optimum NV7 = 0) were removed from the analysis, the normalized near infrared, the Green Difference Vegetation Index, the Green Ratio Vegetation Index, and the Green Normalized Difference Vegetation Index were the best predictors of optimum NV7 rate (r2 = 0.33).

Multiple modes of storm runoff generation in a North Carolina coastal plain watershed

AbstractThe results of field measurements conducted in a small (19·37 ha) agricultural watershed on the North Carolina coastal plain during the summer of 1996 are presented. The objective of the study was to develop a more complete understanding of basin response in the region with respect to stormflow generation and, in particular, to identify the processes that determine storm runoff and the conditions under which such processes occur. Twenty‐four storm events were monitored, including two tropical storm systems and two hurricanes. The data demonstrate considerable spatial and temporal heterogeneity in runoff generation within the watershed. Surface flowpaths, in the form of Hortonian overland flow and saturation overland flow, were found to be the dominant runoff processes during the storm events measured. The hillslope flowpaths had the same response time as the basin streamflow, but significantly shorter time of rise and lag times. The importance of Hortonian flow in a basin with sandy, permeable soils, as well as the rapid stormflow response in a low‐relief area with a humid climate, was contrary to expectations. This, coupled with the contingency of runoff response, suggests that it may be difficult to generalize about runoff generation mechanisms in broad terms, and that a synoptic approach may be more appropriate. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Aerial Color Infrared Photography for Determining Late‐Season Nitrogen Requirements in Corn

Fast and accurate methods of determining in‐season corn (Zea mays L.) N requirements are needed to provide more precise and economical management and potentially decrease groundwater N contamination. The objectives of this study were (i) to determine if there is a response to late‐season N applied to corn at pretassel (VT) under irrigated and nonirrigated conditions, and (ii) to develop a methodology for predicting in‐season N requirement for corn at the VT stage using aerial color infrared (CIR) photography. Field studies were conducted for 3 yr over a wide range of soil conditions and water regimes in the North Carolina Coastal Plain. Different fertilizer N rates were applied (i) at planting (NPL) to create a range of N supply, corn color, and near‐infrared (NIR) radiance; and (ii) at VT (NVT) to measure yield response to NVT. Aerial CIR photographs were obtained for each site at VT before N application. Significant grain yield responses to NPL and NVT were observed. Economic optimum NVT rates ranged from 0 to 224 kg ha−1 with a mean of 104 kg ha−1. Better prediction of economic optimum NVT rates was obtained with spectral band combinations rather than individual bands, and improved when calculated relative to high‐N reference strips measured at VT. The best predictor of economic optimum NVT (R 2 = 0.67) was a linear‐plateau model based on corn color and NIR radiance expressed using the Green Difference Vegetation Index (GDVI) relative to high‐N reference strips (Relative GDVI, RGDVI).

Collards in North Carolina

The collard plant has flourished as an important garden food crop in the U.S. South since the early nineteenth century because it is able to endure hot summers and still thrive in winter, when it is harvested and consumed as greens. The uneven geographic pattern of collard production in North Carolina calls into question claims that the collard is a ubiquitous Southern food crop. It is still the dominant winter garden crop on the North Carolina Coastal Plain, but fewer patches are being planted and consumption of collards is waning, especially among young people. Commercial collard production is increasing to satisfy the demand of older folk.

Planting Nonlocal Seed Sources of Loblolly Pine – Managing Benefits and Risks

Abstract Seed source testing of loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), which began in the 1920s, has allowed large realized genetic gains from using nonlocal seed sources in operational plantations. Seed source testing continues, and deployment guidelines are still being refined. Some general effects of seed source movement can be described, but there are still gaps in (1) understanding exactly how far certain seed sources can be moved, (2) the degree of risk involved, and (3) how certain traits such as wood quality vary by seed source, especially with seed source movement. In some cases, seed source movement gains can be achieved with little risk; for example, planting Livingston Parish, Louisiana material for rust resistance in more easterly Gulf Coastal areas. Also, movement of seed sources one plant hardiness zone north can result in increased growth with little concern for winter damage. Big gains in growth, however, from using nonlocal seed sources may come at significant risk. Two industrial examples of planting nonlocal seed sources and how risks were managed are covered: (1) South-to-north movement: MeadWestvaco's use of loblolly pine north of the native range in Kentucky and surrounding areas, and (2) East-to-west movement: Weyerhaeuser's use of North Carolina coastal plain families in southern Arkansas and southeast Oklahoma. To deal with the significant risks of seed source movements, one must be aware of the risk factors, understand historical climatic data (are the risks high or low within a typical harvest rotation period), and have silvicultural and genetic strategies to mitigate or reduce risk. Possible genetic strategies include thorough testing and allocation of orchard families of the nonlocal seed source, development of a “land race” (breeding and testing for local adaptation of the nonlocal seed source), interprovenance hybrids, and interspecific hybrids. Examples of these are discussed in this article. South. J. Appl. For. 29(2):96–104.

Dissolution of phosphate in a phosphorus-enriched ultisol as affected by microbial reduction.

Phosphorus dissolution often increases as soils become more reduced, but the mechanisms are not fully understood. The objectives of this research were to determine rates and mechanisms of P dissolution during microbial reduction of a surface soil from the North Carolina Coastal Plain. Duplicate suspensions of silt + clay fractions from a Cape Fear sandy clay loam (fine, mixed, semiactive, thermic Typic Umbraquult) were reduced in a continuously stirred redox reactor for 40 d. We studied the effects of three treatments on P dissolution: (i) 2 g dextrose kg(-1) solids added as a microbial carbon source at time 0 d; (ii) 2 g dextrose kg(-1) solids split into three additions at 0, 12, and 26 d; and (iii) no added dextrose. After 40 d of reduction, concentrations of dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) were similar for all treatments and increased up to sevenfold from 1.5 to 10 mg L(-1). The initial rate of reduction and dissolution of DRP was significantly greater for the 0-d treatment. A linear relationship (R(2) = 0.79) was found between DRP and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). Dissolved Fe and Al and pH increased, suggesting the formation of aqueous Fe- and Al-organic matter complexes. Separate batch experiments were performed to study the effects of increasing pH and citrate additions on PO(4) dissolution under aerobic conditions. Increasing additions of citrate increased concentrations of DRP, Fe, and Al, while increasing pH had no effect. Results indicated that increased dissolved organic matter (DOM) during soil reduction contributed to the increase in DRP, perhaps by competitive adsorption or formation of aqueous ternary DOM-Fe-PO(4) or DOM-Al-PO(4) complexes.

Genetic discontinuities among populations of Cleistes (Orchidaceae, Vanilloideae) in North America

Genetic patterns were examined in five populations of North American Cleistes with three sources of molecular data: amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP), DNA sequencing, and plastid microsatellites. Populations of C. bifaria were sampled in four areas of the south-eastern US: the coastal plains of Florida and North Carolina and the mountains of North Carolina and West Virginia. A population of C. divaricata sympatric with the North Carolina coastal plain C. bifaria was also sampled. Analysis of the three types of molecular data resulted in the same relationships among the five sampled populations. The coastal plain population of C. divaricata was consistently grouped with the C. bifaria populations from the mountains of West Virginia and North Carolina, and the two coastal plain populations of C. bifaria formed a separate group, results not supporting the existing concepts of species relationships. For future studies, greater sampling of C. divaricata populations and more detailed morphological and phenological studies are recommended for better characterization of the diversity within North American Cleistes. © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 2004, 145, 87–95.

Dissolution of trace element contaminants from two coastal plain soils as affected by pH.

Trace element mobility in soils depends on contaminant concentration, chemical speciation, water movement, and soil matrix properties such as mineralogy, pH, and redox potential. Our objective was to characterize trace element dissolution in response to acidification of soil samples from two abandoned incinerators in the North Carolina Coastal Plain. Trace element concentrations in 11 soil samples from both sites ranged from 2 to 46 mg Cu kg(-1), 3 to 105 mg Pb kg(-1), 1 to 102 mg Zn kg(-1), 3 to 11 mg Cr kg(-1), < 0.1 to 10 mg As kg(-1), and < 0.01 to 0.9 mg Cd kg(-1). Acidified CaCl2 solutions were passed through soil columns to bring the effluent solution to approximately pH 4 during a 280-h flow period. Maximum concentrations of dissolved Cu, Pb, and Zn at the lowest pH of an experiment (pH 3.8-4.1) were 0.32 mg Cu L(-1), 0.11 mg Pb L(-1), and 1.3 mg Zn L(-1) for samples from the site with well-drained soils, and 0.25 mg Cu L(-1), 1.2 mg Pb L(-1), and 1.4 mg Zn L(-1) for samples from the site with more poorly drained soils. Dissolved Cu concentration at pH 4 increased linearly with increasing soil Cu concentration, but no such relationship was found for Zn. Dissolved concentrations of other trace elements were below our analytical detection limits. Synchrotron X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy showed that Cr and As were in their less mobile Cr(III) and As(V) oxidation states. XANES analysis of Cu and Zn on selected samples indicated an association of Cu(II) with soil organic matter and Zn(II) with Al- and Fe-oxides or franklinite.

Effectiveness of riparian buffers in controlling ground-water discharge of nitrate to streams in selected hydrogeologic settings of the North Carolina Coastal Plain

Water-quality and hydrologic information were collected along ground-water flow paths from two well-drained and two poorly drained Coastal Plain settings in North Carolina to evaluate the relative effectiveness of riparian buffers in reducing discharge of nitrate to streams. At one well-drained site with a 100 m buffer, little or no effect was detected on surface-water quality by discharging ground water because extensive woody vegetation in the buffer was able to take up not only most nitrate, but also most ground water before discharging to the stream during the growing season (March-October). At the second well-drained site, ground water discharging to the stream from the side with a buffer contained about 2 mg/L of nitrate-nitrogen after passing through the bed of the stream compared to 6 mg/L in ground water discharging from the side with no buffer. In the poorly drained settings, nitrate in ground water decreased from about 6 mg/L in the recharge area to less than 0.02 mg/L downgradient from the riparian buffer. Ground water discharging from the side with no buffer contained 0.83 mg/L. Riparian buffers appear effective in reducing nitrate in ground water discharging to Coastal Plain streams.

Dissolved phosphorus retention and release from a coastal plain in-stream wetland.

Dissolved phosphorus (DP) can be released from wetlands as a result of flooding or shifts in water column concentrations. Our objectives were to determine the long-term (1460 d) DP retention and release characteristics of an in-stream wetland, and to evaluate how these characteristics respond to flooding, draining, and changes in DP concentrations. The studied in-stream wetland drains an agriculturally intensive subwatershed in the North Carolina Coastal Plain region. The wetland's DP retention and release characteristics were evaluated by measuring inflow and outflow DP concentrations, DP mass balance, and DP movement across the sediment-water column interface. Phosphorus sorption isotherms were measured to determine the sediment's equilibria P concentration (EPCo), and passive samplers were used to measure sediment pore water DP concentrations. Initially, the in-stream wetland was undersized (0.31 ha) and released 1.5 kg of DP. Increasing the in-stream wetland area to 0.67 ha by flooding resulted in more DP retention (28 kg) and low outflow DP concentrations. Draining the in-stream wetland from 0.67 to 0.33 ha caused the release of stored DP (12.1 kg). Shifts both in sediment pore water DP concentrations and sediment EPCo values corroborate the release of stored DP. Reflooding the wetland from 0.33 to 0.85 ha caused additional release of stored DP into the outflowing stream (10.9 kg). We conclude that for a time period, this in-stream wetland did provide DP retention. During other time periods, DP was released due to changes in wetland area, rainfall, and DP concentrations.

BANKFULL HYDRAULIC GEOMETRY RELATIONSHIPS AND RECURRENCE INTERVALS FOR NORTH CAROLINA'S COASTAL PLAIN1

ABSTRACT: Bank full hydraulic geometry relationships relate stream channel geometry to watershed size for specific physiographic regions. This paper presents bank full hydraulic geometry relationships and recurrence intervals for the Southeastern Plain coercion and the flat woods subtype of the Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain ecoregion found within North Carolina's Coastal Plain physiographic province. Cross‐sectional and longitudinal survey data from gated and unpaged streams were used to compute channel dimension and profile information. Power functions were developed, relating drainage area to bank full discharge, cross‐sectional area, width, and mean depth. Recurrence intervals of bank full events were estimated from gagged streams using both a Log‐Pearson Type III distribution of peak annual discharge and a partial‐duration series of average daily discharge. Results from both methods indicate that average bank full recurrence intervals for the study area are below one year. Determinations of recurrence intervals by the Log‐Pearson Type III distribution were for the most part inconclusive (less than one year), while a partial duration series estimated a 0.19 year average, ranging from 0.11 to 0.31 years.

Cretaceous aquifers in North Carolina: analysis of safe yield based on historical data

The Cretaceous aquifers underlying the central part of the North Carolina Coastal Plain are used extensively as the preferred source of water for municipalities, industries, and agriculture. Regional decline in head in the middle parts of the system (the Upper Cape Fear and Black Creek aquifers) began in the late 1950s to early 1960s. The trends in head during the 1960s, together with data on land subsidence, were analyzed to demonstrate the value of using early data, in conjunction with conceptual models, before collecting additional data. The sources of withdrawals from the Cretaceous aquifers identified in the conceptual model are: (1) movement of water (recharge) across confining beds, (2) reduction in natural discharge, (3) release of water from aquifer storage, (4) drainage of water from fine-grained lenses in aquifers and confining beds, and (5) release of water resulting from advance of the salt-water front. Estimates of the amounts derived from each of these sources resulted in a reduction of the estimated safe yield of the Cretaceous aquifers in the 2,486-mi2 (6,439-km2) area of the central Coastal Plain from 75 mgd (million gallons per day) (284,000 m3/day) to less than 5 mgd (19,000 m3/day).