Optional: Post a photo of yourself with the grounds in the background. It might be nice to see how it looks at different times of the year. :)
GLACIAL LANDFORMS IN NEW YORK STATE:
The Pleistocene Epoch has been informally referred to as the “Great Ice Age.” The Ice Age in North America began about two million years ago and ended about 6,000 years ago. There were at least four major glacial advances and retreats that were triggered by fluctuations in the climate. Evidence of erosion and deposition for each major advance may be found in other northern states, but in New York, only features of the latest, or Wisconsin, glaciation are well preserved.
During the Wisconsin glaciation, almost all of New York was buried under ice that was more than a mile thick in places. The glaciers formed in the arctic regions, grew, and merged into large ice sheets that flowed slowly southward into zones of more mild temperatures. The ice sheet that covered New York is called the Laurentide Ice Sheet; it began in the Laurentian Mountains of Quebec and the uplands of eastern Quebec and Labrador. The glaciers changed the landscape; we can see their effects everywhere across New York State.
This slowly moving mass of glacial ice carried with it soil and bedrock, turning its underside into something like a giant piece of very coarse sandpaper. That “sandpaper” eroded rock, sediment, and soil in its path. As it traveled, it smoothed and polished bedrock, gouged deeper valleys around streams, and created cliffs.
The glacier also left behind deposits containing the rock and soil that it carried, causing rivers to dam and change course, and creating some distinctive landforms such as drumlins and moraines. Much of New York State is covered by a variety of loose rock debris carried southward by glaciers. The most widespread type of debris deposited directly by a glacier is a mixture of clay, sand, gravel, and boulders, known as till.
In some places, after depositing till, the ice continued to move over it, creating streamlined or gently rounded landforms called drumlins. The word “drumlin” is derived from the Gaelic word druim (“rounded hill” or “mound”) and first appeared in 1833. A drumlin’s shape has been described as looking like an upside-down spoon, an upturned boat, or a cigar. The elongated shape follows the direction of the glacier’s movement. Their size can vary. The land on which Mt. Albion Cemetery sits includes a drumlin.
Drumlins are commonly found in clusters numbering in the thousands. They disrupt drainage, so small lakes and swamps have formed between them. Large drumlin fields are located in central Wisconsin and in central New York; in northwestern Canada; in southwestern Nova Scotia; and in Ireland. The region between the Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario has one of the largest drumlin fields in the world.
Sources:
“drumlin.” Britannica School, Encyclopaedia Britannica, 24 Feb. 2011. school.eb.com/levels/high/article/drumlin/1619. Accessed 14 Sep. 2018.
Isachsen, Y. W., et. al., editors. Geology of New York: a Simplified Account. 2nd ed., New York State Museum/Geological Survey, State Education Dept., University of the State of New York, 2000. New York State Museum Educational Leaflet 28.
Johnson, W. Hilton. “Pleistocene Epoch.” Encyclopædia Britannica. July 30, 2018. URL: https://www.britannica.com/science/Pleistocene-Epoch. Accessed September 16, 2018.
“Subglacial Landforms and Processes,” New York State Museum, http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/research-collections/geology/research/subglacial-landforms-and-processes. Accessed September 14, 2018.
Van Diver, Bradford B. Roadside Geology of New York. Mountain Press Pub. Co., 1985. Tenth printing, January 2007.
This cache was created to coincide with International EarthCache Day (October 14, 2018). A big thank-you to Jason Zicara, cemetery supervisor, for approving this EarthCache and providing some info, and to Orleans County Historian Matt Ballard for providing some info, too.
Mt. Albion Cemetery is celebrating its 175th anniversary this year (established 1843). It is located at 14925 Telegraph Road (Route 31), Albion, NY 14411. Some history on the cemetery:
https://orleanshub.com/this-year-is-mt-albion-cemeterys-175th-anniversary/
https://orleanshub.com/mount-albion-tower-the-great-smalltown-civil-war-memorial/