A Re-evaluation Of The Extraterrestrial Origin Of The Carolina BaysAbstract: Controversy as to the origin of the Carolina Bays has centered on terrestrial versus extraterrestrial theories. Meteoritic impact has been considered the primary causal mechanism in extraterrestrial models, but alternatives such as comets and asteroids have not been adequately considered. Comets may explode during fall and produce depressions which would conform to the morphology of the Bays. Only a comet appears to satisfy the constraints imposed both by extraterrestrial requirements and observed terrestrial characteristics.
by J. Ronald Eyton & Judith I. Parkhurst (April 1975)
Luis E. Ortiz & Susan Gross, editors
I don't assign much credibility to Eyton and Parhkurst's work. They propose a late Pleistocene-Early Holocene date for Carolina Bays. If that were the case, bays would occur on the Wando formation in the Carolinas...which was surficially exposed at that time...but they do not. The Wando was deposited ~90,000 years ago, and was exposed certainly during Wisconsinian glaciation, if not well before. Bays are well expressed, however, on the Socastee formation, which was laid down around 200,000 years ago, and exposed by the time the Wando was forming. Bays are commonly found as far inland as the Duplin formation (~2.6 to 3.8 Million ya)(and, by the way, at substantially higher elevations than mentioned by Eyton and Parkhurst). They are very rare on the landward Tar Heel formation (upper Cretaceous), although I have found a couple. I have not identified any on the Middendorf formation (also upper Cretaceous, but older and more landward than the Tar Heel). There aren't many stable Palic landforms on the Middendorf, but there are a few, and one would think that if bolide impact caused the formation of bays, some would be found on the Middendorf. In the absence of shocked quartz, I still maintain that the phenomenon is best explained hydrologically.