Landscapes of New York

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Landscapes of New York
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What are landscapes?

• 3 Major Classifications
• Mountains
• Plains / Lowlands
• Plateaus / Uplands

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New York has all three!
Notice the Catskills are part of a plateau, and
are not really mountains
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Mountains / Highlands

• At least 300 meters above the surrounding land.
• Created by a tectonic collision between two
  landmasses (Orogeny).
• Characterized by distorted rock structures
  (metamorphic bedrock) a result of the pressures
  applied during collision.

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Plains / Lowlands

• Large areas of flat land at low elevations.
• Lots of gravel, sand and clay.
• HOME SWEET HOME!

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Plateau / Uplands

• Large areas of flat land at high elevation.
• Usually flat, horizontal, sedimentary rock
  structures.

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Check your note sheet now
Landscapes Landscapes Landscapes
Mountains Plateaus Plains
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• Landforms are the result of the interaction of
  tectonic forces and the processes of weathering,
  erosion, and deposition.

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What tectonic events and surface processes were
occurring during these times?
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Adirondack High Peaks
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Correlate page 2 to page 3 of your ESRT
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What was happening in NY during the Middle
Proterozoic?
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Correlate pages 2 3 to pages 8 9.
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No horizontal layering blocky, chunky, jointed
metamorphic rock.
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Isolated garnet crystals like this one, tell us
the rock has been subjected to a lot of heat and
pressure (metamorphism).
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Anorthosite composed of large crystals of
labradorite feldspar (another clue of
metamorphism).
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Distorted bedrock structure result of
compression forces during the collision of
landmasses that created the supercontinent that
came before Pangea.
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Letchworth Gorge
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Correlate page 2 to page 3 of your ESRT
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What was happening in NY during the Devonian?
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Correlate pages 2 3 to pages 8 9.
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• During the Devonian the western parts of NY are
  underwater. The Acadian orogeny occurs mostly to
  the North (Maine, Newfoundland, Greenland, etc).
• The rising of those mountains produced a lot of
  erosion of the softer surface sedimentary rocks
  and the Catskill delta was formed.

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Is this a true mountainous region?
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Elevated sedimentary rocks being worn down by
running water
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Watkins Glen
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These and other marine fossils tell us that the
area was once covered by a shallow sea.
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Sedimentary rocks, at fairly high elevations,
being worn down by running water
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Take Us Home!

• What NYS Landscape do we live in?

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Hudson-Mohawk Lowlands
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Notice the layering in the rocks
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Conglomerate rock from the Catskills. The
Catskills are made of sedimentary rocks, not
metamorphic rocks!
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Long Island
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Correlate page 2 to page 3 of your ESRT
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Correlate pages 2 3 to pages 8 9.
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Caumsett State Park, Lloyds Neck, LI
Pleistocene Sands Gravels
Cretaceous Clay
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Loess
Glacial till