Online Encyclopedia

MARSH (O. F. mersc, for merisc, a pla...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 769 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MARSH (O. F. mersc, for merisc, a place full of "meres" or pools; cf. Ger. Meer, sea,
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Lat.
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mare)
  , an
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area of low-lying watery
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land . The significance of a marsh area is not so much in the manner of its formation as in the
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peculiar chemical and
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physical results that accompany it, and its relation to the ecology of plant and animal
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life . Chemically it is productive of such gases as arise from decomposing vegetation and are transitory in their effects, and in the production of hydrated iron
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oxide, which may be seen floating as an iridescent scum at the edge of rusty, marshy pools . This sinks into the
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soil and forms a powerful iron cement to many sandstones, binding them into a hard
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local mass, while the surrounding sandstones are loose and friable . A curious morphological inversion follows in a later
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geological period, the marsh area forming the hard cap of a hill (see MESA) while the surrounding sandstones are weathered away . Salt marshes are a feature of many low-lying sea-coasts and areas of inland drainage .

End of Article: MARSH (O. F. mersc, for merisc, a place full of "meres" or pools; cf. Ger. Meer, sea, Lat. mare)
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