Pleistocene - Ice Ages

The Geologic History
of New York State
The Pleistocene
0 Ma
Phanerozoic
C
M
P
Pleistocene
Paleogene Neogene
Cenozoic
Tertiary
Ma
0
Pliocene
Miocene
Oligocene
Eocene
Paleocene
Cretaceous
Mesozoic
Proterozoic
2500 Ma
Holocene
Quat.
540 Ma
Jurassic
Triassic
Archean
3800 Ma
Carb.
Paleozoic
Permian
Pennsylvanian
Mississippian
Devonian
Silurian
Ordovician
Cambrian
.01
Ice Ages
1.6
5
23
35
57
RIP
65
146
208
245
290
323
360
408
439
510
540
Hadean
Geologic Time Scale
4600 Ma
Pleistocene - Ice Ages
• 100 / 40 ka glacial (cold) - interglacial (warm)
cycles.
• Most recent glacial period = Wisconsin Interval.
• Peak glaciation 22,000 years ago.
• New York State completely covered by ice.
• Up to 1 mile thick ice overwhelmed all
topography.
• All New York landscapes are glacially modified.
• Long Island was created by glacial deposition.
Extent of Continental
Glaciers
Peak of Wisconsin
Ice Age
App. 22 ka
Athabasca Glacier, British Columbia
Glacial Features and Deposits
• Erosional - carving the bedrock and landscape
• glacial striations
• chatter marks
• U-shaped valleys and tunnel valleys
• Depositional - releasing rock, sand, and mud
• drumlins
• erratic boulders
• moraines (till)
• outwash
• kettle holes and kames
Terminal / Recessional Moraines
Kame
Outwash
Kettle
Glacial features in New York
• Drumlins - tear drop-shaped hills
• Finger lakes, kettle ponds
• Wide, U-shaped valleys
• Bedrock striations, chattermarks
• Glacial boulders (erratics)
• Long Island (moraines and outwash plain)
• Tunnel Valleys (Long Island)
(all meltwater)
Drumlin fields, Ontario lowlands
Finger Lakes
Drumlins - Manitoba
Glacial Lake Shoreline
drumlins
flutes
Drumlins
Finger Lakes
Finger Lakes, New York
Glaciated Valleys
•Trough-shaped
•Underfit streams
Charlotte Creek Valley, Central New York State
Chatter marks and striations, Bear Mountain, Hudson Highlands
roche moutonee with striations
Shawangunk Ridge, New Paltz, NY
N
Central Park, Manhattan
Moraines of Long Island
Cape Cod, Nantucket, Marthas Vineyard (NASA Space Shuttle Image)
Harbor Hills moraine, north of Hofstra campus
Necks, western Long Island - glacial tunnel valleys
Stratified drift (outwash delta), Caumsett State Park, Long Island
Loess
Glacial till
Erratic boulder, Lloyd Neck, New York
Glacial polish, erratic boulder
Glacial erratics, Smithtown Harbor, Long Island
Tunnel Valleys - formed by water
flowing beneath the glacier
N
Eatons
Neck
Lloyd Neck
Little Neck
West Neck
East Neck
Northport
Centerport
Huntington
Port Jefferson
Tunnel valley
Outwash fan
Central Long Island (Hauppauge - Farmingville area)
Moraine
Lake Ronkonkoma
Kettle lake
Post glacial
stream valley
Meltwater channel
Meltwater
channel
North
Formation of gaps in Ronkonkoma Moraine
South
Ronkonkoma
Moraine
Proglacial Lake
Upper Lake, eastern Long Island - Glacial meltwater channel
Lake Ronkonkoma Kettle Pond
Kame and kettle topography
Outwash plain
Eastern L.I. - Kettle
Ponds
Sears Pond
Penny Pond
Calverton
Bellows Pond
Lake Panamoka
Deep Pond
Hampton Bays
Swans Pond
Eroding terminal moraine, Montauk Point, New York
Hyde Park Mastodon locality, Hyde Park, NY
Home of Larry and Sheryl Lozier
Summer, 2000.
Mastodon skeleton
Hyde Park, New York
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObJgLo0Wa6g