Resource nodes despawning
I haven’t been where you’re referring to, but I’ve seen something like this in a Queensdale newbie area (the western dam). When the harpy event begins, for whatever reason, all the ore nodes in the immediate area vanish. When they return, they’re in different spots just as happens to an entire zone after a patch update. So, if there was an event that might have begun right around that area at that time it may explain it—though it doesn’t explain why only very specific areas exhibit this behavior.