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See also:MARSH (O. F. mersc, for merisc, a See also:place full of "See also:meres" or pools; cf. Ger. See also:Meer, See also:sea, See also:Lat. See also:mare)
, an See also:area of See also:low-lying watery See also:land
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The significance of a See also:marsh area is not so much in the manner of its formation as in the See also:peculiar chemical and See also:physical results that accompany it, and its relation to the ecology of plant and See also:animal See also:life
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Chemically it is productive of such gases as arise from decomposing vegetation and are transitory in their effects, and in the See also:production of hydrated See also:iron See also:oxide, which may be seen floating as an iridescent scum at the edge of rusty, marshy pools
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This sinks into the See also:soil and forms a powerful iron See also:cement to many sandstones, binding them into a hard See also:local See also:mass, while the surrounding sandstones are loose and friable
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A curious morphological See also:inversion follows in a later See also:geological See also:period, the marsh area forming the hard cap of a See also: |
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