EARTHCACHE: Stony Brook Harbor
Coordinates: N40 55.118
W073 08.963
The coordinates are at a Brookhaven Town Parking Lot at the harbor waterfront. The sign states no loitering after dark.
EARTHCACHE LOGGING TASK
When you are standing at these coordinates, you, the geocacher, are at the only developed area of the Stony Brook Harbor, the Stony Brook Village Center vicinity. This location is at the commercial, yet historical, portion of the Stony Brook Village with its quaint green-and-white shuttered shops.
To receive credit for this Earthcache, you must complete this Logging Task:
Describe the size, color, and texture of any rock or sediment you see at or adjoining the Harbor. Why do you think this is the case, using what you now know about glacial deposition?
Email your description and answer to me, separately from your log, which you may post right away as a find. Only if there is a problem, or if you have a question, will I write back to you. Enjoy continuing to learn about geology in your country and in the world. Plus, take time to read about academic research that has been done to protect our geological environment.
EARTHCACHE RULES
When participating in Earthcache, you, the geocacher, agree to adhere to the principles of geocaching and Leave No Trace outdoor ethics. You also agree that the site must not be damaged, and that the fragile ecosystems must be respected. Earthcach visitors collect memories, not samples, from these virtual sites. No physical caches or other items are to be left at the Earthcache site. Learn about geology, and have fun doing so.
INTRODUCTION TO STONY BROOK HARBOR
Stony Brook Harbor is on the north shore of Long Island within the towns of Smithtown and Brookhaven, Suffolk County, New York State. Two baymouth bars, Long Beach and West Meadow Beach, separate this harbor from Long Island Sound. The harbor exhibits classical examples of geological glacial features from two separate periods. Its drainage basin includes vast wooded hills, large open space, and some low density residential development. Current use of the harbor is recreational, for boating, swimming, and fishing. The Stony Brook Village waterfront begins at the mouth of the West Meadow Creek where it empties into the Stony Brook Harbor.
GEOLOGY OF STONY BROOK HARBOR
Stony Brook Harbor serves as a classic exhibition of geological examples of glacial features. The harbor's geological origins began about 65 million years ago in the late Cretaceous to the early Tertiary periods. A north-flowing stream drained into what is now the Long Island Sound and cut a valley through the sedimentary deposits laid in the earliest period. During the Pleistocene epoch about 3 million to 10,000 years ago, glacial action enlarged the valley into its present broad shape.
The harbor's terrestrial agency is glacial deposition, and its partially submerged landform is a moraine. Moraines are hills created from deposits of sand, pebbles, clay, and boulders carried by glaciers which left the sediments behind as the glacial epochs ended and the glacial ice began to melt, perhaps 20,000 years ago. As the last glaciation retreated, the Stony Brook Harbor area formed when a glacial drift deposited what became the land form of the Harbor Hill Moraine, the topographic ridge running horizontally along the north shore of Long Island. This moraine is the more northerly of two glacial moraines that formed the surface of Long Island.
Stony Brook Harbor's youngest glacial features are baymouth bars and marshes. In forming the two baymouth bars, Long Beach and West Meadow Beach, the longshore currents took the sand fraction and other eroded material to the east and south. These bars separate the Stony Brook Harbor from the Long Island Sound. Subsequent water wave actions resulted in erosion of the bluffs. Along with the rest of the north shore of Long Island, the Stony Brook Harbor region constitutes a primary coast, with sea level at a land form, resulting from the terrestrial agencies. Salt marsh plants grew in the waters behind the baymouth bars and trapped sediments carried in with the tides, further expanding the marsh.
PHOTOGRAPH OF CURRENT-DAY HARBOR
The attached photograph, dated April 23, 2013, of one view of the Stony Brook Harbor is taken from the Hercules Pavilion. The pavilion houses the historic figurehead from the U.S.S. Ohio which launched from the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1820. It is the property of the Ward Melville Heritage Organization. Also displayed is the Polaris Whaleboat of the 1870 Charles Hall exhibition to the Arctic.
SOURCES
(Excerpt from MS thesis of Susan K. Robbins, Marine Sciences Research Center, 1977).
"A History of Stony Brook Harbor", posted sign on walkway at N40 55.300 W073.08.961.
"Ecology of Stony Brook Harbor", posted sign on walkway at N40.55.295 W073.08.969.
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
Ward Melville Heritage Organization.