The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City. The copper statue, a gift from the people of France, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and its metal framework was built by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was dedicated on October 28, 1886.
The statue is a figure of Libertas, a robed Roman liberty goddess. She holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776 in Roman numberals), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. A broken shackle and chain lie at her feet as she walks forward, commemorating the recent national abolition of slavery. After its dedication, the statue became an icon of freedom and of the United States, seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea.
This EarthCache was created on the 247th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence - July 4, 2023.
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Liberty Island is located in New York Harbor, a few miles north of the terminal moraine that defines the southern limit of the Wisconsin ice sheet during the most recent glacial period. The moraine was deposited at the limit of the advancing ice sheet forming a series of discontinuous ridges from Long Island across Staten Island and into New Jersey. At the time of the ice sheet’s maximum extent, the Atlantic shoreline lay some 50 miles further to the east, thus leaving exposed a vast portion of the Continental shelf. As the glacier receded and melted from the New York Harbor area, the area behind the moraine was deeply covered in a glacial outwash and several large lakes formed behind the terminal moraine. Liberty Island was likely located within Glacial Lake Flushing, which also covered most of the Manhattan Prong. The increased meltwaters also caused the sea level to rise and the shoreline gradually moved westward, inundating and foreshortening the coastal plain environment. Roughly 5,000 years ago (circa 3,000 B.C.), the shoreline lay some 25 miles to the east; by around A.D. 500 to 1000, less than 1,500 years ago, the coastline began to roughly resemble that of the present day. By this time Liberty Island would have become an island, although much smaller than its current extent. Native American occupation of the Lower Hudson Valley is likely to have followed soon after the retreat of the ice sheet.
During the colonial period, Liberty Island was a low-lying, tear-shaped island, perhaps best known for its surrounding oyster beds. The island’s history of ownership dates to the years immediately after the English took control of Dutch New Netherlands. In 1667, the island was granted to a Captain Needham who sold it to Isaac Bedloo (a.k.a. Bedloe, Bedlow). Although Liberty Island went by various names, including Oyster Island and Love Island, the appellation Bedloe’s Island remained in use well into the 20th century.
In 1794, construction of a fort began on Bedloe’s Island in response to rising tensions with Great Britain over attacks on American shipping. The fort eventually became known as Fort Wood, in memory of Colonel Eleazar Wood, who was killed during the British siege of Fort Erie in Ontario, Canada in 1814. The fort originally consisted of an earthen battery and brick buildings. In the spring of 1808, an 11-point, star-shaped, masonry battery for Bedloe’s Island, was approved by the War Department. Work was completed around 1811 on the battery, which enclosed a brick barracks and arsenal occupying three sides of the parade under the rampart. From 1841 to 1850, major repairs were made on the fort, and during this time the sandstone scarp of the fort's out walls was refaced with granite. The building program of the 1840s also involved the construction of the granite seawall that still surrounds the southern end of Liberty Island today. Built in 1842-44, this wall, aside from protecting the island’s shoreline, also retained fill that supported an artificial slope leading up to an earthen parapet surmounted by a battery. Effective use of the northern part of the island for military support activities depended in large part on the extension of the seawall along the island’s eastern and western sides and around the northern tip. A seawall created a barrier behind which fill could be deposited and on which buildings could be erected. Several episodes of filling to facilitate new construction took place from the mid-1850s through into the late 1880s. The eastern seawall was extended to the northern tip of the island between 1874 and 1879, and in 1887 this was extended around the tip and partway down the western side, sufficient to protect the newly created Lighthouse Board Reservation. The western seawall perimeter was fully completed between 1901 and 1907 by the U.S. Army, which led to additional filling to provide a basis for a new barracks building. In 1917-18, as a result of United States involvement in World War I, the Army sought to expand the military infrastructure on Liberty Island. A new concrete seawall was built on a six-foot-wide riprap embankment expanding the island on its western side. Related filling resulted in the burial of the earlier western seawall.
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TYPES OF WEATHERING: There are two distinct types of weathering which alter and degrade rocks in different ways:
Physical Weathering breaks down a rock's physical structure. For example, in cold environments water that gets into holes in rock and freezes will cause those holes to expand and eventually crack and split the rock. The same process may be caused by salt buildup or growing tree roots. Another form of physical weathering occurs when wind or water causes rocks to rub against each other, smoothing their surfaces. One of the most common types of physical weathering is wedging. Wedging occurs when a substance finds its way into cracks or holes in a rock and expands outward. This widens these cracks and holes, and can cause rock to split apart; this may also occur to exposed brick. Freezing water, crystalizing salt, and growing plant roots are common causes of wedging.
Chemical Weathering changes the chemical structure of rock, causing it to become softer or more brittle. For example, iron in a rock might react with oxygen to form easily degradable rust, or acids in rainwater may remove calcium from limestone and marble. Chemical weathering often precedes physical weathering, making rocks more vulnerable to forces like wind and rain. Chemical weathering does not cause physical damage to rock but rather is a reaction between the chemical composition of the rock and outside chemicals. Chemical weathering can make a rock more vulnerable to physical weathering forces. For instance, oxidation is a process by which oxygen in the air reacts to chemicals in the rock. Iron in rocks can react with oxygen to form iron oxide, or rust. Rust is weaker than iron and makes the rock more likely to degrade. Hydration is a reaction in which molecules of water are incorporated into the structure of a rock. For instance, hydration causes the mineral anhydrate to convert into gypsum, a less dense mineral that is more vulnerable to outside physical weathering forces.
The exterior walls of the fort are covered with a grey-blue granite from Blue Hill, Maine. The granite is bonded to the rubble masonry walls with concrete.
The base of the Statue of Liberty is made out of concrete with a granite facade. The statue itself is made out of copper with a steel skeleton supporting it.
Send me your answers to the following questions, and post a photo of yourself (face not required) or a personal item with the Statue of Liberty in the background ON LIBERTY ISLAND (required):
1. What erosion control measures do you see around the island, and do you think they are adequate to keep the island from eroding away?
2. What material is the seawall around the island made out of? Do you see any signs of weathering on this material?
3. What material are the outside walls of the old fort made out of? Do you see any signs of weathering on this material?
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The Terrain rating is based on having to take a boat to Liberty Island, as well as the fact that if you walk to the top you will have to climb 377 steps from the main lobby to the crown platform. Tickets on the ferry to Liberty Island range from $12 (children 4-12) to $24.50 (Ages 13-61). Children under 4 are free, and Seniors over 61 are $18. The prices are the same from New Jersey or New York. There are additional fees if you want to tour the Pedestal and Fort, as well as to go up to the Crown inside the Statue of Liberty. Information on the Park can be found at the National Park Service website here: National Park Service.
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Sources:
Roadside Geology of New York, Bradford Van Diver, 1985
Geology of New York, Yngvar W. Isachsen, 2011
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island park brochure, National Park Service
Special thanks to the employees of the Statue of Liberty National Monument that aided in the history and geology for this EarthCache lesson.