Edmond Matlosz Jr., age 93, of Gallup, N.M., for his question:
HOW ARE SWAMPS FORMED?
One of the largest swamps in the world is the Florida Everglades. Covering almost 3,000 square miles, it is located in the southern part of the state and stretches from Lake Okeechobee to merge with saltwater marshes and mangrove swamps near the Bay of Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. Part of the area became Everglades National Park in 9934.
A swamp is an area of land which is either completely or almost completely soaked with water. It's a place that is always muddy and damp.
In most cases, a swamp is usually on low ground and is near the shore of some large body of water. Often swamp lands are near an ocean, a river or a large lake.
The low land rule, however, doesn't always apply since some swamps are located on hills. There are times when soil on a hill drains poorly, while water from springs or other sources continues to come on the land. The result is swampy land.
Swamps can also be formed in lake basins which have become filled with plant life and silt. The Indians called this type of swamp a muskeg.
In many ways a swamp is like a peat bog, although a swamp's lower layers of soil are not heavy with acid content as are those in a peat bog.
Wet areas or swamp land that is inundated with water much of the time are called marshes. This type of location is often the breeding place for mosquitoes. In England, especially near Ely and Cambridge, some of the marshes are called fens. Marsh land has been successfully drained in many locations and turned into productive agricultural areas.
Louisiana's famous Delta region, where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico, has many swampy areas. The Delta takes up about a third of the state's area and covers about 15,000 square miles. Much of the area, however, is now fertile farm land.
Another famous swamp is the harsh, tropical wilderness called the Okefenokee Swamp in northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. Much of the area was purchased by the U.S. government in 1937 and turned into a wildlife refuge.
The name Okefenokee is taken from the Indian word Owaquaphenoga. It means trembling earth and refers to the trembling of bushes and water weeds that actually float on the shallow lakes of Okefenofee.
The Okefenokee swamp was once the favorite hunting area of the Seminole and Creek Indians. The area is all protected today, however, and the land abounds in much wildlife including bears, deer, wildcats, otters, raccoons, opossums and alligators.
The swamp lands of the Okefenokee is also the location where many birds from Canada and the northern part of the United States come to spend the winter.