Landscape Regions of NYS

New York State…

• Has a wide variety of landscape regions

What is responsible for shaping the landscape of NYS in recent times?

• The present landscape of northeastern NYS was created by mountain building processes and eroded by glaciation.

• Each landscape region is classified by the type of underlying bedrock.

A tour of NYS Landscapes…

Glacial Sediments North Shore, Long Island

Large glacial erratic in Smithtown Bay, Long Island

Loess Glacial till Glacial deposits exposed in beach cliff at Caumsett State Park

Central Park

Large erratic on roche moutonee bedrock. Also note glacial grooves.

Hudson Highlands

Bear Mountain Bridge

Hudson Highlands - View from Bear Mountain

Shawangunk Ridge

Shawangunk Ridge, Appalachian Fold Belt, New York Silurian conglomerate unconformity Ordovician shales

Waterfall over Shawangunk conglomerate on Peters Kill.

Catskill Mountains

Oneonta Formation sandstone overlying red floodplain shales, Catskill Mts. “The Rip Van Winkle Trail”.

Slide Mountain – tallest peak in the Catskills (4180ft)

Saratoga Springs

Adirondack High Peaks

View of high peaks region from top of Whiteface Mt

Sharp arete ridges and glacial cirque on Whiteface Mt. (4865 ft.)

44 °06'45" N 73 °55'24" W Mt. Marcy: Highest Peak in NYS (5344 ft.)

Tug Hill Plateau

Salmon River Falls, Tug Hill Plateau

Pixley Falls State Park

Niagara Falls / Niagara Gorge

Ontario power station, Niagara Gorge

American Falls

Horseshoe Falls

Letchworth Gorge

Genesee River, Letchworth gorge

Salt pile, salt mine, near Geneseo, NY.

Watkins Glen

Taughannock Falls

With a 215 foot plunge, this waterfall stands three stories taller than Niagara Falls.

These are the highest falls in NYS

Mucrospirifer brachiopods and Phacops rana trilobites).

Crinoid columnals