New York State Geology Virtual Field Trip Click Here! What is so special about New York’s geology? What is the highest mountain in New York? Are the Catskills really mountains? How did Niagara Falls form? Is there a river that flows North in NYS? Are there dinosaur fossils in NYS? What kind of fossils can be found in NYS? What features are left from the glacier? Click Here! Created by Thomas L Vitti, West Islip High School, NY

New York State Geology Virtual Field Trip Print out this worksheet: New York State Geology Virtual Field Trip Using Page 2 & 3 in the Earth Science Reference Tables (ESRT), and the worksheet, follow directions and take a tour of New York State Geology! Click on the blue arrows to return to the map START HERE!

Letchworth Gorge Sometimes called “The Grand Canyon of the East” Formed from the Genesee River which flows North in NYS Rocks (mostly sandstone, shale and limestone) are formed during the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian time periods During Ordovician Time, this area was covered by a shallow inland sea

Watkins Glen State Park Total of nineteen waterfalls in 1,000 acres Formed during Pleistocene Bedrock is Devonian Formed when the finger lakes formed causing streams draining from steep hillsides to create a gorge with waterfalls while draining into the narrow Finger Lakes Receding glacier left a hanging valley

Taughannock Falls State Park Falls drop 215 feet tallest East of the Rockies At bottom of falls is Tully Limestone, at top of falls is sandstone from the Sherburne Formation, Geneseo Shale is between Receding glacier left a hanging valley

Niagara Falls As glaciers formed the great lakes, the Niagara river carved a path through bedrock, creating the falls Creates an outlet for water from Lake Erie to flow North into Lake Ontario Dolostone (Lockport Formation) towards top of falls, Shales (Rochester Formation) towards the middle, and Sandstones (Queenston Formation) towards the bottom. All formed during Silurian-Ordovician time Falls are slowly receding southward

Mount Marcy Highest Peak in New York State-5,344 ft (1629m) Lake Tear of the Clouds near summit is the headwaters of the Hudson River 14 Mile (round trip) hike on the Van Hoevenberg Trail to the summit. Trail rises 3,200 ft

Allegany State Park Only part of New York State to not experience glaciation Part of the Mississippi River watershed

Herkimer Diamonds Doubly terminated Quartz crystals Primarily found in the area of Herkimer County, NY Found in Cambrian age Little Falls Dolostone Occurs in “vugs” or cavities in the dolostone (top picture)

Adirondack Mountains Old rocks, but geologically new mountains forming a circular dome Adirondack region is experiencing uplift, exposing older basement rocks (Greenville Province) through erosion Glaciers then moved in and carved new features in the Adirondack Mountains Highest peak is Mount Marcy (5,344 ft)

Catskill Mountains An erosionally dissected plateau, not formed tectonically. Sediments were deposited from the erosion of ancient mountains to the East forming a huge delta Highest peak is Slide Mountain (4,180 ft) Entire region affected by glaciation Sandstone, Shale and Conglomerates of Late-Devonian Age Kaaterskill Falls located here

NYS Fossil-Sea Scorpion Eurypterus remipes a marine predator that went extinct at the end of the Silurian Found mostly in the Fiddler’s Green member of the Bertie Formation near Utica, NY, which is mostly dolostone

Finger lakes 11 Long, narrow almost parallel lakes Formed by glaciers carving out existing stream beds Glaciers exposed sedimentary rocks which eroded to form the gorges and waterfalls we see today

Glacial Moraines and Erratics As glaciers advanced and retreated through New York, piles of sediment left behind called moraines form the landscape of New York. Long Island was formed by two terminal moraines, the Ronkokoma and the Harbor Hill that give Long Island its distinct shape. Erratics are large rocks that are deposited as glaciers melt. These erratics are unique in that they are not native to the area.

Glacial Features-Drumlins Elongated, cigar shaped hills deposited by the retreat of a glacier Drumlins are oriented in the direction of glacial movement, with the blunter end pointing to glacial retreat. Chimney Bluffs State Park (bottom picture) are drumlins that are being eroded by Lake Ontario

Kaaterskill Falls Highest waterfall in New York State-260 ft Bedrock is Manorkill Sandstone in the middle of the falls, and Oneonta-Genesee sandstone-shale mix Falls are eroding backwards fairly quickly (in geologic time!)

John Boyd Thatcher Park Home to large exposures of fossil bearing sedimentary rocks Northern edge of Allegheny Plateau Devonian age sediments

Dinosaurs in New York Only footprints of Coelophysis found in New York First appeared during the Triassic Most rocks that would contain dinosaur fossils have long eroded away

Garnet-NYS Mineral Fairly hard mineral 6-7 on the Moh’s scale Used as a gemstone and as an abrasive (sandpaper, etc) Barton Mine’s near Gore Mountain is the biggest garnet mine in NYS

Palisades Sill Intrusive Diabase (igneous) sill (sill intrudes parallel to rock layers) between sandstone and shale formations of Early Jurassic/ Late Triassic origin Shows strong columnar jointing Is visible from George Washington Bridge and Tappan Zee Bridge Begins in New Jersey and seems to terminate in New York

Howe Caverns Formed in Coeymans and Manlius Limestone (Silurian-Devonian age) about six million years ago Formed by water seeping through limestone dissolving the rock

Shawanagunks-Ice Caves Shawanagunk ridge is Silurian Age conglomerate made up of mostly white quartz pebbles. Which rests on top of Martinsburg Shale. The ice caves are tectonic in origin, not fluid formed. As the shale erodes, huge blocks of Shawanagunk Conglomerate fall down like books creating the ice caves. Cold, dense air sinks to the bottom of these caves and ice can remain well into the summer.

Stromatolites Growths of shallow water blue-green algae preserved in the rock record, perhaps first life forms on Earth Formed 500 Million years ago