DOCSLIB.ORG

Glaciation and New York State

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Glaciation and New York State 2/16/2018 The Last Ice Age 5 Pleistocene Epoch began 1.6 mil yrs ago had GLACIATION numerous periods of ice field expansion. – Coincides with a period of global cooling. and New York State The last Ice Age started c.100,000 yrs ago. – Final advance of ice in N. America (there were Prof. Anthony Grande many advances and retreats) Geography Dept. was during the Hunter College-CUNY Wisconsin Stage of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Spring 2018 – Southernmost limit reached c.18,000-22,000 yrs Lecture design, content and ago, including NYS. presentation ©AFG 0118. For detailed information see Ch. 12 Individual images and illustrations may Copyrightbe subject AFG to prior 2014 copyright. of “Geology of New York”. OPTIONAL EXERCISE 7 Nature of Glaciation 2 Pleistocene Polar Ice Cap Laurentide Ice Sheet over NYS Movement of the ice wasn’t uniform. Flow was influenced by the force exerted from the weight of the snow, topo- Extent of the LAST ice sheet graphy and rock resistance over North America about (erosion and friction). 20,000 years ago. Independently moving sec- = New York City tions of ice are called LOBES 3 4 Results of Glaciation in NYS Glacial Dynamics The nature of moving ice. What did it do to NYS? 1. Ice sheets move away from their zones of accumulation and push forward in sections 1. Major shaper of the landscape, both by (lobes – see map) under the pressure from sculpting and dumping. their weight (called plastic flow). ICE LOBES 2. Influenced slope angles. 2. Ice also moves down slope by 3. Etched the drainage system. slippage as its weight melts 4. Influenced the location of farms: soil, its lowest levels and acts as a lubricant (called basil slip). boulders and limestone 3. The forward edge of the ice sheet (ice front) acts as a “snow plow” or “bulldozer.” Scours the land, plucks loose rocks out of the 5 ground and slices all vegetation in its way. 6 1 2/16/2018 Glacial Dynamics (cont’d) Glacial Dynamics (cont’d) 4. All this material (called glacial debris) is mixed 7. The “retreat” of a glacier is the melting of the into the ice as the ice moves forward and down ice front, creating the illusion that the glacier is slope. moving backward. (It melts in place, not backward.) 5. Moraines (unsorted glacial debris) are created. 8. As the ice melts a variety of glacial features 6. The furthest advance is created as the material picked up is of the ice front is marked exposed and dropped in place. by a ridge of debris called the terminal 9. A recessional moraine is a low ridge of moraine. debris marking the position of the ice front’s advance after it retreated. 7 8 Glacial Dynamics (cont’d) Glacial Landforms 10. Outwash is melt water that flows from the leading edge of the glacier. Flowing outwash carries debris which is sorted by the moving water and deposited in front of the moraine (largest/heaviest material is dropped closest to the moraine; smallest/lightest material farthest away.) 11. An “outwash plain” is a landform feature created by outwash deposition. It ranges is thickness from several feet to several hundred feet. Deposits may be found tens of miles from the edge of the moraine. 9 10 Mountain Glaciers Glacial Features of Mountains ADIRONDACK EXAMPLE In a mountainous area, snow and ice collects at the highest elevations. The pressure of the mass of ice moves it down a valley under the force of gravity. Unique landform features are created. 1. Pre-glacial landscape 2. Active-glacial landscape - Cirques - Lateral and medial moraines - Arêtes - U-shaped valleys - Horns - Hanging valleys During the last ice age the Adirondacks were covered by both mountain glaciers 3. Post-glacial landscape and the continental ice sheet. 11 12 2 2/16/2018 Moraine Deposits in NYS Drumlins Ice disappeared from NYS about 8,000-10,000 yrs ago creating thousands of glacial features. Drumlins: elongated Recessional hills of glacial debris Moraines created parallel to Recessional Moraine the flow of ice. They are tapered in the direction of ice flow. <<Terminal Moraine Individual drumlins can be 200 ft. high and over a mile long. 13 14 Drumlins Mohawk River: a glacial valley Schenectady Co. Drumlin field between Rochester and Syracuse What are the clues that this river valley was not created by the present-day Mohawk River? https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8539 689,-74.0375243,13.2z/data=!5m1!1e4 https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0432673,-76.8259625,10.43z/data=!5m1!1e4 http://docs.unh.edu/NY/plmy02sw.jpg 15 16 Glacial Potholes Creation of a U-Shape Valley https://www.googl e.com/maps/@43.0 392927,- 74.8321215,14.59z/ data=!5m1!1e4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pb8ay60XHQg Moss Island Nat’l Natural Landmark on the Mohawk River at Little Falls in Herkimer Co. Before glaciation. After glaciation. An uplifted fault block of ancient crystalline rock. Has the best examples of Ice Age pot- holes created by meltwater in E U.S. 17 18 http://docs.unh.edu/NY/cort03ne.jpg 3 2/16/2018 The Finger Lakes In pre-glacial times, The Finger Lakes the “Finger Lakes” existed as V-shaped river valleys on the plateau surface. The valleys were deepened and wide- ned by moving ice (they are now U-shaped). Their southern out- -50 lets were clogged Two of the Lakes have depths that are below sea level. -200 by glacial debris, impounding water and creating lakes.19 20 Recessional Moraines of the Southern Tier Glacial Dam at Ithaca, NY These recessional Tompkins Co. moraines are responsible for creating the Finger Lakes Southern outlet of the pre- and the drain- glacial valley of present- age pattern of day Cayuga Lake was this area. filled with deposits from the recessional moraine. 21 http://docs.unh.edu/NY/ithc95ne.jpg 22 https://www.google.com/maps/@42.1833207,-76.6208671,10.11z/data=!5m1!1e4 Glacial Erratics Ithaca Pelham Bay Park, Topographic Map Bronx Co. Wide dry valleys and valleys North Salem, Westchester Co. with small streams indicate features that once contained North Shore, great amounts of water. Suffolk Co. Deposits of glacial debris blocked the flow of most of the water draining south. https://www.google.com/maps/@42.4774 856,-76.2180924,9.64z/data=!5m1!1e4 Erratic and glacial groves Central Park, 23 New York Co24. 4 2/16/2018 Physiographic Map OUTWASH AREA: of Northeast US Beyond the Edge of the Ice Sheet Glacial material was OUTWASH DEPOSITS deposited on the dry Layers exposed by wave erosion continental shelf. ICE SHEET Suffolk Co., NY (NOTE: Sea level lowers during ice ages.) Terminal moraines mark the furthest extent of continental glaciation. MORAINES Recessional moraines mark OUTWASH PLAIN subsequent ice advances after retreat. 25 26 Lake Ronkonkoma Mendon Ponds Park Suffolk Co. Monroe Co. Lake Ronkonkoma is a kettle lake. Created when a chunk of the ice sheet got c. ½ mile diameter and 60 ft deep KETTLE stuck on the outwash plain and melted. Because of the high clay content of the sediment, the depression was able to retain the glacial melt water that filled the hallow. 28 27 Mendon Ponds Park Glacial Topography of SE NYS Outwash Plain ICE LOBE then a glacial lake The ice sheet in SE Terminal NYS: Moraine 1. Furthest extent of the ice creates the Present day Narrows terminal moraine (a gap in the moraine) 2. Ice recedes leaving behind the South Fork of Long Island 1 3. Ice advances again to Kettle lakes south of Rochester, NY. create a recessional The ridge in the background is an esker. moraine. 2 4. When it recedes the OPTIONAL EXERCISE 7 3 Nature of Glaciation North Fork is left 4 29 behind. 30 5 2/16/2018 Surficial Geology of SE NYS Creation of Long Island focus on Long Island Long Island was once an elongated set of hills on the dry Atlantic coastal plain surrounded by dry land. 31 Long Island Sound was a river valley. 32 The advances of Creation of http://yout 1. With global warming, the u.be/4Uyo Creation of continental ice Long Island cM9bDL4 Atlantic rose and flooded sheet. the continental shelf. Long Island 1 The valley filled with salt water creating an estuary. DRY LAND The set of hills (Long Island) DRY became a peninsula. LAND 2 3 2. As sea level continued to rise, the waters of Long 4 Island Sound breached the ridge at its western The Ronkonkoma and Harbor Hill moraines run from Staten Island to end. southern New England creating the base of Long Island and Cape Cod. Glacial Lake Connecticut was created between the Harbor Hill Moraine 3. It overflowed westward and the mainland. It filled with meltwater from Connecticut rivers. Excess into New York Bay creat- Salt water flowed through outlets near present-day Fishers Island. ing the East River (a strait), water flows Over time the glacial lake broke through the Harbor Hill Moraine and and making the peninsula an island – Long Island. into the drained, leaving a river that flowed to the sea and a dry valley. 33 34valley https://www.google.com/maps/@41.007 0821,-72.7160525,9.5z/data=!5m1!1e4 1. Prior to the last Ice Age Long Island (LI) is an elongated hilly area on the continental shelf. The Atlantic shoreline is over Formation of Long Island Formation of 100 miles to the east. 2. Long island Sound (LIS) is a valley drained by a river. and Long Island Sound 3.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Analysis of Boulder Distribution: Implications for Glacial Processes in the Vicinity of Wildwood State Park, Wading River, New York
    Analysis of Boulder Distribution: Implications for Glacial Processes in the Vicinity of Wildwood State Park, Wading River, New York A Thesis Presented by Jessica Leigh McEachern to The Graduate School in Partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Geosciences Stony Brook University December 2003 Stony Brook University The Graduate School Jessica Leigh McEachern We, the thesis committee for the above candidate for the Master of Science degree, hereby recommend acceptance of this thesis. ___________________________________ Dr. William E. Holt, Geosciences ___________________________________ Dr. Daniel M. Davis, Geosciences ___________________________________ Dr. Scott M. McLennan, Geosciences This thesis is accepted by the Graduate School _________________________________ Dean of the Graduate School ii Abstract of the Thesis Analysis of boulder distribution: implications for glacial processes in the vicinity of Wildwood State Park, Wading River, New York by Jessica Leigh McEachern in Geosciences Stony Brook University 2003 Wildwood State Park on Long Island’s north shore features many glacial erratics situated on the beach and throughout the park itself. Most of these boulders have been classified into three distinct lithologies: granite, granite gneiss, and basalt. The majority of granites and granite gneisses are comparable to those found in the Branford-Stony Creek Massif of southeastern Connecticut. The Branford-Stony Creek Massif is part of the Avalonian Terrane, which dips southward from southern Connecticut, underneath Long Island Sound and continuing underneath Long Island. I studied 647 boulders on the beach and 235 in the park. By using characteristics such as boulder roundness, the likely source area for these boulders is determined to be approximately 10 miles to the north, in Long Island Sound.
    [Show full text]
  • Biodiversity and Ecological Potential of Plum Island, New York
    Biodiversity and ecological potential of Plum Island, New York New York Natural Heritage Program i New York Natural Heritage Program The New York Natural Heritage Program The NY Natural Heritage Program is a partnership NY Natural Heritage has developed two notable between the NYS Department of Environmental online resources: Conservation Guides include the Conservation (NYS DEC) and The Nature Conservancy. biology, identification, habitat, and management of many Our mission is to facilitate conservation of rare animals, of New York’s rare species and natural community rare plants, and significant ecosystems. We accomplish this types; and NY Nature Explorer lists species and mission by combining thorough field inventories, scientific communities in a specified area of interest. analyses, expert interpretation, and the most comprehensive NY Natural Heritage also houses iMapInvasives, an database on New York's distinctive biodiversity to deliver online tool for invasive species reporting and data the highest quality information for natural resource management. planning, protection, and management. In 1990, NY Natural Heritage published Ecological NY Natural Heritage was established in 1985 and is a Communities of New York State, an all inclusive contract unit housed within NYS DEC’s Division of classification of natural and human-influenced Fish, Wildlife & Marine Resources. The program is communities. From 40,000-acre beech-maple mesic staffed by more than 25 scientists and specialists with forests to 40-acre maritime beech forests, sea-level salt expertise in ecology, zoology, botany, information marshes to alpine meadows, our classification quickly management, and geographic information systems. became the primary source for natural community NY Natural Heritage maintains New York’s most classification in New York and a fundamental reference comprehensive database on the status and location of for natural community classifications in the northeastern rare species and natural communities.
    [Show full text]
  • Section 4. County Profile
    Section 4: County Profile Section 4. County Profile Profile information is presented and analyzed to develop an understanding of a study area, including the economic, structural, and population assets at risk and the particular concerns that may be present related to hazards analyzed later in this plan (e.g., significant coastal areas or low lying areas prone to flooding or a high percentage of vulnerable persons in an area). This profile describes the general information of the County (government, physical setting, population and demographics, general building stock, and land use and population trends) and critical facilities located within Suffolk County. 4.1 General Information Suffolk County was established on November 1, 1683, as one of the ten original counties in New York State. Suffolk County was named after the county of Suffolk in England, from where many of its earliest settlers originated (Suffolk County Department of Planning, 2005). Suffolk County’s western border is approximately 15 miles from the eastern border of New York City. According to the U.S. Census data, the Suffolk County estimated population in 2012 was 1,499,273. Suffolk County is one of the 57 counties in New York State and is comprised of 10 towns and 31 incorporated villages. Within each town and village, there are incorporated and unincorporated areas (Suffolk County Department of Planning, 2007). The population of Suffolk County is larger than ten states and ranks as the 24th most populated county in the country (U.S. Census Bureau, 2012). Suffolk County is bordered by Nassau County to the west and major water bodies to the north, south, and east.
    [Show full text]
  • Long Island and Patchogue Vertical File Subject Heading Index
    Long Island and Patchogue Vertical File Subject Heading Index Celia M. Hastings Local History Room Patchogue-Medford Library, Patchogue, New York Return to Celia M. Hastings Local History Room home page The Vertical Files contain primary and secondary sources regarding the history of Long Island, New York with emphasis on Suffolk County, the Town of Brookhaven, the Village of Patchogue and Medford Hamlet. “CTRL F” CAN BE USED TO SEARCH THIS INDEX Most persons are listed alphabetically by surname (e.g., Chase, William Merritt). Some vertical files have as few as a single item, others are more extensive, containing more than fifty items. Contact us with questions at https://history.pmlib.org/contact or call 631-654-4700 ext. 152 or 240 to make an appointment with a Local History Librarian. 1 SUBJECT HEADING INDEX Agriculture* General Cooperative Extension Service Cauliflower Cranberries Dairy Farms Ducks Eastern Farm Workers Association Experimental Farms Farmers & Farm Families Farmingdale State College (State Institute of Applied Agriculture) Farmland Preservation Act Farms Fruit History Horse Farms Horticulture Implements & Machines Livestock Long Island Farm Bureau Migrant Workers Nurseries Organic Farms Pickles Potatoes Poultry Sod Farms Statistics Suffolk County Fair Suffolk County Farm & Educational Center Vegetables Vineyards & Wineries Airports* (Aeronautics, Aviation) General Aviation Industry E-2C Hawkeye (1995 last military plane built on Long Island) Fairchild Republic Firsts: Dirigible R-34 two-way Transatlantic Aircraft Flight (Royal Naval Air 1919 Mineola), First Sustained Airplane Flight (Glenn Curtiss 1909 Mineola), Instrument Only Airplane Flight (James Doolittle 1929 Mitchel Field), Transatlantic Airplane Flight (Pan American World Airways 1939 Port Washington to France) Grumman Corporation Long Island Airways Pan American World Airways (Port Washington) 2 Aviators Curtiss, Glenn Doolittle, Lt.
    [Show full text]
  • Classification of Pleistocene Deposits, New York City and Vicinity--Fuller (1914) Revived and Revised
    CLASSIFICATION OF PLEISTOCENE DEPOSITS, NEW YORK CITY AND VICINITY--FULLER (1914) REVIVED AND REVISED John E. Sanders and Charles Merguerian Geology Department, Hofstra University Hempstead, NY 11549-1140 INTRODUCTION After the Pleistocene deposits in New York City and vicinity had been recognized as products of continental glaciation, debates arose and have continued over the number of times such now-vanished continental glacier(s) invaded our region. Late in the nineteenth- and early in the twentieth centuries, several authors cited evidence that SE New England had been subjected to at least two and probably three discrete ice advances (Shaler, 1866, 1886; Shaler, Woodworth, and Marbut, 1896; Upham, 1879a, b; 1880; 1889a, b, c; Woodworth, 1901; Clapp, 1908; Fuller, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1906). In the face of the case made by T. C. Chamberlin (1883, 1888, 1895a, b) for a "one-glacier-did-it- all" view, however, the multi-glaciation concept lost favor. The one-glacier view took over. (For examples, see references by Salisbury and co-workers in New Jersey.) In 1914, the U. S. Geological Survey finally published M. L. Fuller's monograph on the geology of Long Island (based on field work completed nearly a decade earlier). Fuller found deposits that he interpreted as products of 4 glacial advances; between some of the glacial sediments, he found nonglacial strata. In order of decreasing age, Fuller (1914) recognized the following six major units of the Pleistocene on Long Island: (1) the Mannetto Gravel, (2) the Jameco Gravel, (3) the Gardiners Clay, (4) the Jacob Sand, (5) the Manhasset Formation (which Fuller diagnosed as consisting of two units of outwash, the basal Herod Gravel and upper Hempstead Sand/Gravel, that are separated by a middle Montauk Till) and (6) the two world-famous terminal-moraine ridges and associated outwash plains to the south of each: the older Ronkonkoma and younger Harbor Hill, which overlie the Manhasset Formation (Table 1).
    [Show full text]
  • The Daedalean Editor, Who Flew Station
    THAMES RIVER COMPOSITE SQUADRON Once again, Thames River Composite Squadron The played its part in the annual Ledyard Aerospace Festival. The event is directed by Stu Sharack, a Daedalean CAP Aerospace Education Member and first winner of CAP's Aerospace National Teacher of Semper Discens the Year Award. Cadets Meers and Flynn Monthly Aerospace Education Publication of the prepare to demonstrate the Connecticut Wing of the Civil Air Patrol precession of the earth's poles using a spinning bicycle wheel. Stephen M. Rocketto, Maj., CAP CTWG Director of Aerospace Education [email protected] Art Dammers, Maj. CAP CTWG Internal Aerospace Education Officer The gymnasium of the Gales Ferry School is filled Volume VI, Number 06 June, 2013 with a wide range of exhibitors: the US Navy, NASA, CATO (Connecticut Amateur Rocket SCHEDULE Club), and LifeStar, to mention just a few. The elementary school youngsters for whom this 8 JUN-CTWG Encampment Staff Training program is designed, move from station to station, participating in the activities and receiving a stamp 21 JUL0-03 AUG-NESA-Camp Atterbury, IN on their attendance card. 27 JUL-CADET Ball-USCGA 10 AUG to17AUG-CTWG Encampment A Ledyard pupil explores SQUADRON AEROSPACE NEWS the mysteries of gyroscopic stability under SILVER CITY SQUADRON the guidance of Cadet submitted by Stout. Capt Oran Mills Capt. Oran Mills and Cadet Greg Lineberry presented an primary Aerospace class to Durham's Boy Scout Troop 270 on May 7th. The role of CAP in search and rescue and community The TRCS team, supervised by Lt Meers and activities was also discussed.
    [Show full text]
  • Geography of Long Island Sound
    Geography of Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is the second largest estuary on the east coast of the United States af- ter Chesapeake Bay. It was created 8000 years ago as the glaciers retreated and their meltwater filled the de- pressions behind the Harbor Hill moraine with fresh water. The Harbor Hill extends from Rhode Island to Nassau County. Remnants include the North Fork of Long Island, Plum Island, and Fishers Island. As sea level rose, the fresh water basins was flooded by the sea and turned salty. Technically, LIS stretches from the Battery (Manhattan) to The Race (islands between NY and RI). The East River (actually a strait between LIS and NY Harbor) did not exist as a western outlet until the rising sea flowed over the western divide. Today Long Island Sound has about 600 miles of coastline, is bordered by three states (NY, CT, and RI) and surrounded by over 20 million people. Over 90% of its fresh water comes from three south flowing rivers: the (1) Connecticut, (2) Housatonic, and (3) Thames. Its watershed includes much of New England (see map.) However, there is no major river to flush out LIS from west to east. There is limited ex- change of sea water at the eastern end and very little at the western end. It is shallow (65- 120 ft) with its eastern basin saltier than its western basin. Because of its physical characteristics, it has problems. Surrounded by one of the most densely populated urban-industrialized areas of the coun- try, it has seen the degradation of its habitats, both in water and coastal.
    [Show full text]
  • Ralph S. Lewis, Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey and Sauy W
    DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MISCELLANEOUS FIELD STUDIES UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MAP MF-] 939-A PAMPHLET MAPS SHOWING THE STRATIGRAPfflC FRAMEWORK AND QUATERNARY GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF EASTERN LONG ISLAND SOUND By Ralph S. Lewis, Connecticut Geological and Natural History Survey and SaUy W. Needell, U.S. Geological Survey 1987 ABSTRACT The stratigraphic framework and Quaternary geologic history of eastern Long Island Sound have been interpreted from high-resolution, seismic-reflection profiles supplemented by information from vibracores and from previous geologic studies conducted in the Sound and surrounding areas. Seven sedimentary units are inferred from the subbottom profiling: 1) coastal-plain strata of Late Cretaceous age, 2) glacial drift (possibly stratif;<;d) of Pleistocene age, 3) end-moraine deposits of Pleistocene age, 4) glacial deposits (mostly till) of Pleistocene r^e, 5) glaciolacustrine deposits of late Pleistocene age, 6) fluvial and estuarine deposits of Holocene age (possibly very late Pleistocene to the east), and 7) marine deposits of Holocene age. The preglacial landscape of the area consisted of a fluvjally carved lowland that was floored by crystalline rocks of pre-Mesozoic age and was bounded to the south by an irregular, north-facing cuesta in coastal-plain strata. Pleistocene glacial erosion rounded and modified this landscape but its fluvial aspect was basically preserved. Three or four south-flowing Tertiary to early Pleistocene (?) fluvial systems drained the inner lowland (at times of lower sea level) and coalesced to join drainage from the Block Island Sound lowland east of Gardiners Island. Glacial drift, including moraines, till, and probably some stratified material, was deposited over the modified preglacial surface during the Pleistocene ice advances.
    [Show full text]
  • Distribution of Large Glacial Erratic Boulders on the North Shore Of
    1 Distribution of Large Glacial Erratic Boulders on the North Shore of Nassau County, New York Herbert C. Mills, Allan J. Lindberg, Lois A. Lindberg Nassau County Division of Museums & Preserves (Ret.) Following in the tradition of M.L.Fuller (1914), the current investigators have recorded the location, size, and rock types of over 1000 large boulders, ranging from 3 feet to 55 feet in length, within a study area in northern Nassau County, NY. The area boundaries include the Long Island Sound shoreline to the north, and the Harbor Hill terminal moraine to the south. The east/west boundaries are the Nassau/Queens border to the west, and the Nassau/Suffolk border to the east. Most of the surface deposits within these boundaries were mapped as ground moraine by Swarzenski, (1963) and Isbister, (1966). The current authors had no preconceived ideas going into this study other than to gather as much information as possible and to see what conclusions might be drawn from the data. The English measurement system was used to make direct comparison with Fuller’s data easier. A 3-foot minimum for the longest dimension was chosen because rocks smaller than that would be too numerous to count and too easily moved from their original location. As boulders increase in size so does the likelihood that they remain at, or very close to, the spot where they were dropped from the ice. Exceptions include, those sliding down the bluffs on eroding shorelines and those excavated during sand mining that have been moved by heavy equipment but still remain in the same general area.
    [Show full text]