There is a strange beauty at the heart of every mystery, and the mystery of the Carolina Bays is an enigma that is lushly, uniquely beautiful. How did these odd geomorphological features come to be formed in the landscape in the first place, with their uniform shapes and matching elliptical orientations scattered across the Carolinas? There are many hypotheses but no definitive answers. Why are these inland phenomena even called "bays?" There is no clear answer to that either. The best definition of these features are "temporary, isolated freshwater wetlands," variously described as "high or flatwater ponds, wet weather lakes, or vernal pools," often identified more accurately as "pocosins," and they are ecological wonders, full of all manner of amphibians and reptiles, insects and birds, wildlife and plants—many of them exotic and rare. What also defines them is their uncommon beauty. Featuring more than one hundred-fifty color images, Carolina Bays takes you from an aerial perspective of these unusual bays to an on-the-ground safari, from frogs that croak and bark and boom to skinks that skim across the water as if on skis, and on to squawking herons to black-and-yellow polka-dotted caterpillars. There are growling alligators and four hundred-year-old trees and delicate yellow-fringed orchids. Life is found in astounding abundance. These wetlands are unique and almost immeasurably ancient; as is to be expected in the modern world, they are threatened by human intervention. Such diverse habitats and their rich, unmatched biodiversity call out for preservation and restoration. The bays are not only visited and documented by the authors; they make an impassioned case for respecting how important these singular formations are for the health of the planet. You could not find more able guides.

Carolina Bays is an action/mystery adventure in which Rick Parker, a freelance investigator, gets caught up into an investigation that he is not sure how to solve. His persistence in the truth leads him from one mystery to another while endangering his family and friends. Although Carolina Bays is fictional, the author uses real places and events to justify the plot. The mysteries of the more than 500,000 bays scattered across the Mid-Atlantic states have been documented and studied for centuries. The author, David C Terry was born in Jacksonville, North Carolina where he lived until attending college in South Carolina. After graduation, he served four years in the United States Coast Guard. He is married to Charlene and lives in Jacksonville, NC. They have one daughter, Kimberley and three sons, Brian, Christian and Mark. Carolina Bays is the third book written by the author. His other books are: The Vortex A Gift From Afar David C. Terry

This is a very unique book, that for the first time puts forth a new theory on how a recent global flood as described in the Bible may have occurred, that is both plausible and scientifically sound. The author treats Noah´s flood as a scientific mystery story which he then proceeds to solve by examining the clues found in the geological record and human history, building a theory that is in harmony with the biblical record of an earth wide deluge and with what we know about the geology of the earth. In this detailed and well referenced book, common objections to the biblical deluge are examined and answers are found that satisfy both a literal interpretation of scripture and a scientific examination of the facts. This book is compelling as the author proves what many have come to view as mere myth, is actually a historical event well supported by scientific evidence. The author also presents the results of his research on detecting recently deposited micro marine fossils left by the flood in soil samples. Presenting solid Paleoclimatological evidence of the deluge, this book may require rewriting many currently used textbooks. Sure to be considered very controversial, this is a must read for any one interested in geology or the biblical deluge. Written for the general public and the more geologically inclined as well, this book is a seamless merging of a literal reading of Genesis with what geology knows about the earth. 305 pages, 20 B&W illustrations, index.

This is a very unique book, that for the first time puts forth a new theory on how a recent global flood as described in the Bible may have occurred, that is both plausible and scientifically sound. The author treats Noah ́s flood as a scientific mystery story which he then proceeds to solve by examining the clues found in the geological record and human history, building a theory that is in harmony with the biblical record of an earth wide deluge and with what we know about the geology of the earth. In this detailed and well referenced book, common objections to the biblical deluge are examined and answers are found that satisfy both a literal interpretation of scripture and a scientific examination of the facts. This book is compelling as the author proves what many have come to view as mere myth, is actually a historical event well supported by scientific evidence. The author also presents the results of his research on detecting recently deposited micro marine fossils left by the flood in soil samples. Presenting solid Paleoclimatological evidence of the deluge, this book may require rewriting many currently used textbooks. Sure to be considered very controversial, this is a must read for any one interested in geology or the biblical deluge. Written for the general public and the more geologically inclined as well, this book is a seamless merging of a literal reading of Genesis with what geology knows about the earth. 305 pages, 20 B&W illustrations, index.

Scientific proof validating the legends and myths of ancient floods, fires, and weather extremes • Presents scientific evidence revealing the cause of the end of the last ice age and the cycles of geological events and species extinctions that followed • Connects physical data to the dramatic earth changes recounted in oral traditions around the world • Describes the impending danger from a continuing cycle of catastrophes and extinctions There are a number of puzzling mysteries in the history of Earth that have yet to be satisfactorily explained by mainstream science: the extinction of the dinosaurs, the vanishing of ancient Indian tribes, the formation of the mysterious Carolina Bays, the disappearance of the mammoths, the sudden ending of the last Ice Age, and the cause of huge underwater landslides that sent massive tsunamis racing across the oceans millennia ago. Eyewitness accounts of these events are chronicled in rich oral traditions handed down through generations of native peoples. The authors’ recent scientific discoveries link all these events to a single cause. In The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes Richard Firestone, Allen West, and Simon Warwick-Smith present scientific evidence about a series of prehistoric cosmic events that explains why the last Ice Age ended so abruptly. Their findings validate the ubiquitous legends and myths of floods, fires, and weather extremes passed down by our ancestors and show how these legendary events relate to each other. Their findings also support the idea that we are entering a thousand-year cycle of increasing danger and possibly a new cycle of extinctions.

"We all love a good mystery. We are driven by primal instinct to ask why, how, where, and myriad other questions aimed at solving the mysteries that both plague and enrich our lives. Carolina bays are the embodiment of a good mystery. Since their initial description in 1848, when South Carolina State Geologist Michael Tuomey noted their unique shape and orientation, myriad scientists have been fascinated by these features. Tuomey's work cracked the door open to the mystery of Carolina bays, but the advent of aerial photography in the 1930s blew the door off entirely. Since their early discovery and description, they have both intrigued and bewildered us. In fact many early descriptions labeled them "mysterious Carolina bays," leaving no doubt that our understanding of these phenomena was greatly limited. Humans encountered and began describing Carolina bays long before their formal discovery. Native Americans made camps along the sandy rims and edges of them. Early explorers and naturalists mentioned them in their writings, giving them their first "unofficial" name: pocosin. The word pocosin derives from an Algonquin word meaning "swamp on a hill"-and there the mystery begins. The early explorers of our country were accustomed to swamps along rivers, streams, large lakes, and coastal tidelands. Finding a swamp while crossing great stretches of upland was something quite different. No one seems to be sure who originally coined the term "Carolina Bay," but it may have been the early naturalist John Lawson, who in the 1700s noted the abundance of bay trees found in these "swamps on a hill." So even the name, which many associate with an embayment of some sort, is a bit mysterious and may originally have had nothing to do with the embayment or impoundment of water. It wasn't until the advent of aerial photography in the 1930s that the extent of the real mystery associated with Carolina bays became obvious. Yes, we had read the descriptions of Carolina bays offered by Tuomey and other early researchers, but seeing is believing. Early aerial photos, many from the coast of South Carolina, revealed both great and small elliptical and oval-shaped features spread across the landscape. And as if to enrich the mystery further, these ellipses and ovals all pointed in the same direction: technically speaking, their long axes were all aligned in a northwest-southeast direction. Some of these features had sandy rims outlining their circumference; some did not. Some appeared to overlap other bays, as if they were stacked one upon another. There it was: visual proof that the mysterious Carolina bays were real"--