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Home My WebLink AboutThe Long Story of Long Island . ..[~ //e~~-~A /^-, -- --- - ... 0 ,... ~ ! ~ ~ .... - 5 ~ 0 ..... ... a fI> .. ~ .... ~ ! , . . . <+ II .., <+ ... ~ , .:JJ . . ~ r - " ",-.~... f HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT LONG ISLAND? See if you can find these features on the map. They all have numbers; put the correct number in front of the name. Atlantic Ocean Connecticut (Why is it the Nutmeg State?) Long Island Sound (On L.I. you can see the Sound and hear the Sea). Manhattan Island ($24) Nassau County Suffolk County Peconic Bay Fire Island Great South Bay Shinnecock Bay Peconic River Napeague Herbor (Walking S~nd Dunes just west of it) Shelter Island. Mattituck Harbor" .~ Gardiner's Island Plum Island (Keep Offl) Hempstead Harbor Fisher's Island Lloyd's Neck Lake Ronkonkoma Eaton's Neck Wildwood Lake (Great Pond) Port Jefferson Harbor Carmen's River '. . . . Introduction Most guides to rocks, minerals and geology are written for general use anywhere. The beginner is sure to be confused because much of the material does not apply to his own area. This guide is written for those who will be start- ing their search on Long Island. It will be of very little use anywhere else. It was designed for this particular area and to be used in a specific way. Part I is programed instruction leading to an understanding of the basic rock types and their relation to each other. It is written for beginners of any age from Grade 4 on up. Part II should be tackled only after Part I is fully underst,JC d and only by those who are interested in trying to name things. It's more important to know relationships than names, so be sure you have covered Part I first. As Ben Franklin said, "What signifies knowing the Names, if you know not the Natures of Things..." Probably this part will be useful to only the most interested of the students from the 5th grade and higher, and their teachers. Part III is for an even more select group: those most interested from Grade 7 or so, and their teachers. It is oversimplified but a fair summation of current theories. The references are more or less in order of their value, both as useable references and as economic bargains. The annotations are personal opinion; you may not agree, or you may know of better sources of information. In either case, I'd like to know. I would also like to hear your criticisms of this guide; it certainly could be better. Harold J. Evans, Teacher Riverhead Schools, New York Find a dark-~olored, fine-grained rock. On some beaches almost any of the "black'" rock$ you see will do. You probably won't' be able to see any mixture in it ,as the various mineral pieces in it a.t" too sln.illl. The shapes you can find are'so,me- t1mes,interestin~:' long; narrow ones that ring when held ,by one end and tapped; flat-sided blocky' pieces; various streamlined, shapes, all of them rounded and smoothed'by the waves and sand. (Some may have holes, either open or filled with the different material.) , Fut the sample you have chosen in your pocket and look for: ' A rock'with coarse grain, 'different colored and textured areas, some with shiny or sparkly surfaces, but no bands or layers. Colors in this kind of rock may be whit~ salmon~black, silvery, pink, mixed in different combinations. Keep one of these and 'look for: A brick-colored rock, often flat or showing layers or parallel markings, sometimes' (usually) with a sandy texture, and sometimes mixed with pebbles like a fruitcake (well, you know what I mean). The red part, if it is by itself, will make a reddish streak on a white pebble. Hang on to, one of these and look for: A rock with grains the size of coarse "pepper and salt," often in layers or bent bands of different colors: black, gray pink, green, you name it. You may find a rock that is'white, gray or maybe pink with darker spots shaped like the drawing in the margin. Someo! these ~ spots may be nearly clear. If you find one save it. ~~ Now,' find a smooth place, maybe on the sandy part of the ~ beach, or, you may be able to find a driftwood board or a piece o of plywood. We aTe going to make a "life history" chart of rocks. If you are using the sand, make five circles in a circle () like in the margin. If you are 'using a board, find a piece of () charcoalfromsomebody's fire and draw the circles. Now, if you can find a scrap of red plastic on the beach, put it in the top chcle to represent molten rock (MAGMA is the word you will find books using). If you can't find red plastic, put something there to remind you of 'molten rock. Long Isl$nd is' ' different! Rocks are mixturea of minerals Minerals are one kind of stuff Elements or Compounds. Sand grains are usua11y made of single mineral,. Watch out for flying rocs. (Look up "roc;" if you see one flying - wa1;c;h out.) o o Molten 'rock is called MAGMA. "BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO LONG ISLAND ROCKS" Long Island has a much different history than any other part of the United States, with the exception of our neighboring "islands ," Cape Cod; Nantucket, Martha' s'Vineyard, Fisher's Is- land, and Block Island. And it I s different from these. Most "nature guides" are written to covet a wide area, and when we try to use them here we find a lot that does not apply to Long Island. This guide will get you started, hopefully without too much confusion. PART I ROCKS Let's go to the beach and see what we can find. In order to learn the history of rocks, we'll look for some special kinds. If you read this part before you start looking, you may be able 'to find all of these kinds very quickly. -1- :11 VOLCANIC ROC\< PLUTONIC R()CK 18 _d tor Pluto (who ha?) An axpadmant you llll1'l ailt. . IGNEOUS ROC\<S or "f:l.n rock." il\lllude botb Volll~ll'and Plut:on1ll ro~k. SllDiMENTs: ,and gn".! mud . lllay - bacau.atbay' ..ttla out. SEDIKENTARYROCis ara u.ua1ly 111. layer.. Pieea., t;b.refQra, ata u.ually fla.t. , ...li......."".,..'" Draw an arrow from tbis circle to the next one (go eitber way, but.I awually go to tbe next one on tbe rigbt). This next eirel. repnlant. all the kill4. of rock tbat can be formed wb.n molt_ rock cool,. In tbh c:1l"ch put the. first tWo rocks ws 100u4 for: 'rbe fine-textured dark one 1& a l.va type or volcaDic rock, and ita fine texture t.lls ultbat it cooled fairly quickly. f1'Olll tbe 1DOlUn at&te. Th. lecond rock YOU'pillked up, coarle-grained with leveral different mln.rall Ihowina. rapresentti thOle rOllkl that form wben moltln rock cool. vary Ilowly, uluallyin large ma..al deep under- ground. Thele are called Plutonic rockl after Pl~to, the god of tbe undeniorld. You can'try an axperlmant that might delDOnltratethat; quillk cooliDg cau.e. fine gralD and .10'1' cooling causelcoarse grain. Dielolve sugar in hot water--all'that '1'111 diseolve ~ to make a thick eyrup. . Pour part of tha'syrup \Wer snow or llhipped ice to llool it quickly; Let the rest cool alowly in a warm room. Com- para tbe texture of tbetwo s8lllple. al you eat them. V01C8I\ic.. a,nd Plutonic rockl are botb what geolagilt. call IGNEOUS rock.. '. "Igneou." h.. to do with fira. ,0 if Yllu call them Fite Rocks you're pretty lllo.e to r:!.ght. There are uny kinda of IsnaoUl Rocke, but u.ually tbey .how no layer'. - they ara all m:!.xed up. In' the next drcle put lome .and, loma gravel, and if YQU can f:l.nd1t, .oma clay or mud. . The.. are all ude of 11tt1ll pie c.. of rock. (110'1' do. you .uppo.. they get broken up 80 Une?) The one word that cav.1'8 all .of the.e Uttle piece. 11 "S.di1ileJ\t" whichmaanl th. Ituff that ..ttlea out. Try this' find'a bottle or jar ,.114 putiu,1t'10lD' of eacb.'lf the kiDd.of .edimente you have found. . ACId Water and lhake it up good, then let it .ettle. If you had an)' clay ln it; it '1'111 take a longtime to eettle. After.tbe water i. 'clear again, what do you .ee?' What yoU lie has a .lot to do with the rock. in th.DlXt circle. Draw an arrow from tbe Sedim.nt circl. to th.next, wh.re you '1'111 put the red-brown .aDdy or pebbly rOllk. you found. If you found a "Pdnt 'pot," and, cup-.haped pebble, put it here too. The rock. in thh circle repreeent all the kind. of rock that an fllrmed from ..ediment.. The jar of mixed aedimeztta--you clid mix. jar of eedim.nta alld'water, didJl't"you?--abowe bow laye:recome naturally when eedimant. do thaiI' thlng.. After a long time, aDd after a very deap bed.of aadimenU hat formad, the IowaI' layer. cantll~ ~o rock by the pre..ur. of the 'layera .abo". and by' 'ch8llical,which cement thegrainl together. Uaually Sedimentary Rockl look aa if they ware made o'f .and, gravel, mucl or clay. They ulually show layer. and, apli~ into flat piaca.. Since they are loft aDd....lly broken back'up into .adimentl, draw an-arrow back into the Secl~merit circle. The 'l88t c~rcle represent. rock. which have been. c;hangacl. . 110'1' .do. theyaat changed? Well, would you ba11eve. that. .acl1mantary rock. csn accumulate into layer. .ava:ralmile. deep? They do, and -2- Pressure and heat change other rocks into METAMORPHIC or "Changed" rocks ~ Lens shaped Confusing, isn't it? THE ROCK CYCLE (Not'to be con- fused with Flintstone's bicycle. ) Reading the landscape How did Long Island get them all? how theydo'it in a shallow sea only a few hundred feet deep is an.interesting story in itself. This much rock, as you can imagine, causes terrific pressure on the bottom layers. Also, when rocks are that deep there is a lot of heat, since it is usually hotter at great depths. (It isn't true that all rock is molten down there, though.) The heat on these sedimentary rocks doesn't get quite high,enough to melt them and under the great pressure they flow like plastic and the molecules,re- arrange, so that the rock, if it ever gets exposed to we can see it, may look like the banded, fine grained rock you picked up and will put into the last circle. If it started out as a layer of gravel it may end up with the pebbles flattened and fused together into the lens-shaped spots you may have seen in some rocks. If these rocks were buried several miles deep, how do you suppose they got'to our beach? The people who make up big words named this type of rock Metamorphic, which means "changed form." There are other ways to make metamorphic rocks; one is to force magma up through c~acks in other rocks. The heat and pressure changes the original rock in layers along the cracks. There are various degrees of change, and some rocks get back to the surface looking a lot like they did before, except they may be harder and more uniform. You may see some big boulders on the beach that have some parts coarse like Plutonic Rocks and other parts finer and banded like Metamorphic Rocks. These just didn't quite get fully done and show how hard it is to give a rock an exact name. Since either Igneous or Sedimentary Rocks, (or Metamorphic for that matter), can be changed, you can draw arrows into the last circle from those two circles. If the heat and pressure get great enough, the Metamorphic Rocks will melt, so draw an arrow from that circle into the Magma circle. You now have a "Life Cycle" of Rocks, but the name usually used in "Rock Cycle." Understanding it will help you, read the landscape if you'get off of Long Island. Where most of the rocks are layers of Sedimentary Rock, you can be pretty sure that that place was under the sea at one time. ' If the bed 'rocks are Igneous it shows that there was volcanic activity or that magma cooled undergro~nd without erupting. If the rocks are Metamorphic it shows that there have been a lot of changes in the landscape in the last few billion years, because those rocks had to 'be buried very deep, then lifted up above sea level, and all the rock and stuff above them had to be eroded away. All that takes a lot more time than most people can imagine. Why do we find all three types of rock on Long Island? Has everything happened here? Some of the answers will be given in section III. NAMES OF ROCKS Naming every rock is very difficult and really unnecessary. Even geologists, who are supposed to know more about them than -3- !(NOW Tlll! ROCK. CYCLES: IGNEOUS ROCKS Volcanic type: Plutonic type: SEDIMENTARY R.OCKS Concrete is maa4aade conglOlllerate. Want to be a colorful characUr? you or Ido, often use general names. The reason is that you can usually find a rock that's halfway between two you have names.for, so what can you.call it? .The most important thing to learn i8 the relationship between the types in the Rock Cycle. Then we can know something of the history of every rock. we find. Here is a guide to the names of some of the easy ones. You may find some that will stump the experts. Basalt - The common dark-colored, fine-grained rock. Usually gray to black, sometimes greenish or brown or reddish, usualiy with no visible crystals except in cracks and holes~ (The holes may have been made by gases trapped in the lava as it cooled.) Sometimes Basalt has lighter spots rather regularly arranged; Call this one Phorphyritic Basalt if you can remember it. Some of the volcanic rocks from our beaches look pretty much like lavas from western states. Granite - We'll use this name a little loosely to cover all the coarse-grained Igneous rocks. The experts divide them into more eXact groups. Granite usually has three different minerals showing, the most common set including mica, quartz and feldspar. Books refer to ~ranite-type rocks with very large crystals and sections of the different minerals as Pegmatite, and some of the choice mineral specimens you may find here could have come out of a Pegmatite. Sandstone - This is the red-brown sandy rock you found. It is sand cemented together with an iron ore - Hematite - which will make a brick-red streak on a white pebble (if there's not too much sand with it). Sandstone comes in other colors, but these sre not as common here as the red. Conp:lomerate - This is the "fruitCake" rock, often called "Pudclingstone.". It is sand and gravel Cemented together by. Hematite. You may find conglomerate in other colors Cemented by other minerals. When pebbles weather out of red conglomerate' they often show by their red stain where they came from. "Paintpots" are often found on our b~chers. They come in many shapes but usually look like little pots. They are formed when some pure hematite isurrounded by sand. The hematite seeps into the sand and cements it together. When this hematite concretion west hers out and breaks open it forms the sandstone cup with a soft'red rouge in the center. Indians really did use these, but probably not the ones you will find on the.beach. . Try wetting your finger, rubbing it in the paintpot, and painting your face with it. Wow! -4- You can writ~ on it with !lnother I'iece of shale. Look for fossils. The Italian word-for~the-day. Shale - This is not as common on the beach as the other rocks listed, but you 'will find it .if you look. The Qest place is at the foot of the cliffs or bJilnkll wh\\re the waves do not pound very oftem. Shale is a sof~, easily split rock formed from mud or clay. It doesn't last long in the surf zone. The commonest ~lor seems to be dirty brown or red, but if you travel to other parts of New York State you are more likely to see it in grays and black. From Northport west look fOr red shale with leaf fossils. The leaves are from trees very much li~e the o.es that grow here now: willow, beech, maple, but tljey grew in the times of the dinosaurs, called the Cretaceous Period by the geologists. This was the ttme that flowering plants first really made it. llreccia ,.. This name is from an ftlllian word mea.ing "pieces of stone." It is something like c;onglolllerate except that the pieces are not rounded but sharp edged. Sometimes the pieces of the original rock never got separated but were cemented back together in their original po~itions. Breocia many 'not be Basalt Breccia is the one you wi~l probably find if you lpok, and a true: sedimentarY as you might expect. ill basalt; stuck back tpgether. You might rock-it .y be find this near old wlcallOes. Do you ~now of any old volcanoes morll ehliln j ustaroun6 here? stuck together loIETAMORPHIC ROC~S 2 millimeters (mm) is a little more than One sixteenth pf an inch' Make a line here ( ) 2 mm long. Gneiss and SChist may have Garoetll ,.. hard, dark red crystsls. When the rocks break up, the garnets end up in the red l1and you l!lI\yfil:ld alpng parts of the beach (see the spots On Page 3.) Bibliogrsphy: Gndlis'''; '(Pronounce it "nice.") The Germans n!lmed this OnEl. The dictionary says it is "A laminated or foliated metamorphic roc;k. corresponding to granite or some other...plutonic rock." How do you like that? It's the easiest metamorphic rOCk to find around herll, and thetb1ngs to look for sre the b~nds l/lf different C:01or or materials. The crystals are S\Ilall, abQul; ~ .millimeters acrolli snd often sparkly. As the bpOk said, it often contains the Sal!l8 Stuff as granite - mica, quartz and feldspar, but in smaller siZes and in b!lnds, sometime~ in b~!lutiful w~v~, and fold~. Schist is another German-named me~smqrphic rock you csn find. One way ~t is formed, prpbably, i. fro~ Shale, which met!lmOrphoses to, Slate, (which makes the best blackbo!lrd~.) whic~ tn turn is changed to S~~ist, which has lots of tiny micaflak~s that 1\11 lay the S!lme way and reflect light when you tQrn it in SOllle~irections. It is tn layers, but doesn't sp~it as ea8ily as shale Qr sl!lte, !lnd the layers are often "hilly'.' Look for it in dlvery, greenish or gray COlor...-' :u ~chist were to get ~queezed ~ndheated ,om~ more it ~ight turn'out.to be Gneiss. Quartzite - is the other met$mOrph~crock most likely to be found. It is .the next step beyol;lC1 sa.ndstone pr c;onglol!l8ute. It is much stronger than its parent rock, and ts one of the ,trongest rocks there is. The original grain. m!lY be f\stt~.d and blended intp e!lch other, the larger ones making lens~shaped spots, 80me of tlj~~ dark $ray or nearly clesr. ROCKS ,AND MINERALS - Ulll, ,Shaffer, Perlman (A Golden Nature Guide) -5- ) \ ONI lilY TO DRAW A'l\OClt CYCU (It'a a Flow Cha~~) .' ~ . . ',", . . ""'J'" ~ .' . HAQI,\ , '(1I01~e" ~ock) Do,,'t pt~k IJP any of. ehb:, Coo1t~ -'~~yatalll.atIQn . '!II! . . ... : IIITAND.,HIC: aoc:u , (Slate, aehbt. I"etaa, quartette) Ofte" allow. baadlnt of dlf'erant oolor., ...11 ahed cry.tal.. IGIIB!lUI' _a (lava. ......,. cranl,.) Fait 0001...... fuulu la -..lIto a1cf08CofIC 01L'1...1I & .1.., cool..... 'n.ulta 1l' l.raw c1L'1.tat.. , LOOn' , QDDCIlI'l'I (..... If"'l, ela,. atc.) U.llally 4.PO."t~ 1" layau. whaa thef' ..,U. CMI\I. 1" vata . c:.-..u... -y rock you f:IM~ all4 any a1aa&'al 1I'0Il rock. U,. ,la'o eM rock orela, . 110 roCk. have b.a" fOUlld (op ..lItb) whloh baVa IIOt bti.. "'"lIIb tM cyel.. ,","'1, lIOn tMD ODca. Alao. rock. ..y "- fOllAd V111eb..... .. ba ".'ant.""a 'yPe.. for .....1e. M"y llaach \'IOul"'fI .an PUt. araal" _ . pIll't."I".', '" -6.. --'-'-- Rememb eJt, m.<.neJta.f.6 Me what eveJty- tlUng .u, made 06 ('<'6 you .<.g- nOlLe gau.6 ,UkP. Oxygen) . V.<.d you know: .6ome people cla.6.6 <<XLteJt a..6 a mbleJta..t! Look up: Moh'.6 Sc.a1.e 06 HMnU.6. ThAA .u, the 06 6.{.c.<.a.e 0 ne. saU ClLY.6ta..e. .6Mpe: e 16 you p.<.c.k up a hand6u.t 06 pebblu OIL glLa.ve..t, mO.6t 06 il w.<.u be QuMtz. QUM:tz ClLY.6ta..e. 'M!f) ."..., MINERALS In the Guide to Long Island Rocks you have been introduced to several minerals. Rocks may not all have names, but all minerals so far discovered have names. Here's a guide to the ones you are most likely to find on Long Island, and a few clues for naming them. Some you will find in sand, some built into rocks, and some as pebbles. (How big is a pebble?) There are many tests for identifying minerals but a few are easy and important. Hardness - This doesn't mean how easy it is to break it, but how easy it is to scratch it. If you had a diamond (around here you find them only in rings) it would scratch any other mineral. A piece of chalk is an example of a mineral that won't scratch much of anything. All other minerals range somewhere be- tween them in hardness. Make your own "Hardness kit~" your fingernail is softer than a penny, which is softer than a paper- clip or knife blade, which will be scratched by glass, which is softer than quartz. Usually all you have to do to get quartz is lean over and pick up a pebble. Break the pebble with a larger one to get a sharp edge and try it on a piece of glass or a bottle. So - it's harder than glass. Cleavage - Some minerals cleave or split, making pieces with flat, smooth faces. Others just break, or fracture, in any old way, like glass. Luster - Shinyness. Crystal shape - All minerals have their own shaped molecule or atoms, and these fit together in ways that are different for each mineral. These distinctive shapes are called crystals. The way the molecules and atoms fit and bind together also determines the cleavage, mentioned above. Look at some salt grains. Their shape is that of the crystals and also the way salt naturally cleaves. Now for the Minerals. Quartz - One of the world's commonest minerals, at least on the surface. where we are. It will scratch glass and may look a lot like glass. In this case which scratches which tells you which is which. The trouble with quartz is that it comes in so many forms you will get confused. The white pebbles so common on our beaches are quartz. So are many of the pink ones, yellow ones, brown ones, gray ones, and a lot more. Break one of these pebbles and you will see no flat surfaces - they break or fracture in curves. After you have looked at a lot of them you will not have to break them all. Many pebbles have streaks and interesting markings. If you ever try polishing them you will see how beauti- ful they can be. Wetting them also brings out the true color, and plastic spray will make a choice one more decorative. -1- ,t" .i Qu.CVL.tz ma.k.e.6 4pM./u, when . 4.t1tu.c.k aga.in6t an oU6,ue. T Il.Y .tfU4, too: When .u' 4 da.Jr.k 6.wnly Il.u.b two Qu.cur.tz pebblu togetheIL. ~;!,~' .~ f~' ,~1'.t~,~ If you are lucky enough to find a rock with a hole lined 'with crystals they are .most likely to.be quart~. If they are they will be longish, six-sided in cross section, with pointed tips. A small magnifying glass helps a lot in seeing tiny de- tails like this. In some. Basalt rocks you may find holes or seams filled with white or creamy colored quartz in the form of Opal. (Not the valuable kind, sorry.) Keep your eyes open for pebbles with a grape juice color, any shade from dark to pale lavender, sometimes both or shading You. rnKght 6lnd YOu.ll. into white. There are Amethyst, and could be good ones. They b~h4tone l6 you. are just c color variety of quartz, as is rose quartz, also very welle boll.n In pretty. F ebll.u.My . Look 6oll. 4Uky 4mooth, bla.c.k pebble.6; the.6e. Me anotheIL tOILm 06 qu.cur.tz ca.Ue.d Bct4ctnUe.. Ge.Il.mctn 6 all. "Me.ld c.h.i.p4" Some. Fe.ld4pM. c.le.avu like. th.i.4: B You may find Agates, which don't look anything like the forms so far described. The crystals in it are so tiny that for a long time scientists thought it didn't have any. Then they got better microscopes and found it did. You can tell agate by its smooth feel and by its color bands which often look like ribbons. A form without bands but in dark red might be Jasper. Flint is also a form of Quartz. Look up Chalcedony (cal sed 0 nee) in a mineral book and find out more about these interesting forms. Feldspar - Another of the worlds commonest minerals. The best clue is its cleavage in two directions, making it break with nearly square corners. You may find salmon colored pebbles with six flat sides that shine almost as if they were polished. You will find it in most granite and in white, salmon, gray, pink, and other colors. It's about as hard as quartz but not as glassy looking. Mica - This is easy - it is flat, shiny and flakes off with your fingernail or knife blade. Some rocks with, a lot of mica look silvery, but if you peel off a flake you will find it is clear. People used to use it in windows, and it is used as an insulator in electrical work. The other color you will find is glossy black. It's soft enough to be scratched with a penny. Hematite - This is the paint in paintpots, and the red in red sandstone and conglomerate and the red or rusty stain on many other rocks. Makes a red streak on a white pebble. It's very soft in the pure red form but also comes in a metallic looking black form that is used for jewelry. Used in face paint and barn paint. Since it is about half iron it's called an iron ore. (You can't pick it up with a magnet, though.) Magnetite - Another iron ore. This can be picked up with a magnet, and in some parts of the world it can be found with magnetism of its own and was used for the first compasses by the Chinese and the Vikings. If you drag a magnet through the dark sands you find on parts of the beach you can collect lots of it which has weathered out of the igneous and metamorphic rocks that the waves and the glaciers broke up. -2- T!W, .u, YOWL bWhM:one ,[6 you welte bOJtl1 ,[n J a.nu.aJty @ Gold ha..6 been 60und on L. 1. ,[n one wWe QuaM:z !toc.k a;t HoJc.ton'I> Po'[n;t. Yu, :thelte Me 60Mili on Long rl>la.nd F,[nd out why :the holtl>uhoe c.lta.b .u, c.a.U.ed a. l,[v,[ng 60MU Ilmenite - Some of the black particles in the dark sand don't stick to a magnet. They are probably Ilmenite, and iron and titanium ore, which is also found in moon rocks. Garnet - Most of the red, pink and orange sand in the dark streaks on the beach is garnet. It is harder than quartz. You may find it in granite, gneiss and schist. The best crystals may be in schist and look like little spheres with many flat faces. If you can find enough dark sand made up of magnetite, ilmenite and garnet, fill a bottle with it. Fill another bottle with white quartz sand and you can feel how much heavier the dark sand is. This is how it gets separated out by the wind and waves. If you have a round pan or bowl, try "panning" it like the pros':' pectors did for gold, which is also heavier than ordinary sand. If you look at some of this heavy mineral sand under "black light" you will see some bright orange grains. There are Zircon. Hornblende - A brittle, sparkly black mineral usually found in gneiss. Don't confuse it with mica, which is much softer. Prehnite - You may find a soft, translucent pale green pebble - this might be it. It can be nearly white and might be in seams in basalt. You may find minerals not described here, but this is a good start. There are many people who make a hobby of collecting and studying rocks and minerals. They are often called "rockhounds." If you can find one in your community you will probably find him or her very friendly and willing to help you learn more. Don't' be afraid to ask. Long Island is not noted for fossils because they are usually found in soft sedimentary rocks, and these have been worn away over the years. However, there are a few you should watch for. Petrified Wood - It has been found all along the beaches on the Sound. Look for brownish, grayish or bone-colored pieces with wood grain. Some pieces are as big as your head and look just like wood, others are not as easy to recognize. This is wood that was buried long enough for dissolved quartz to soak into it and fill the wood pores. Very little seems to be known about this wood, but it can be identified by the grain as various hardwood species similar to those growing here now. Lignite - You probably won't find any but this form of very soft coal-like wood remains is often brought up by well drillers and can be found in Nassau County sand mines. -3- Leaf Fossils - These are found in red sandstone and are prints of willow, beech, maple, sassafrass and other leaves. They date back to the time of the dinasaurs, or the Cretaceous Period. You may find red shale with darker, long branching ma~ks. These may be prints of twigs or the trails of worms which burrowed in the mud. Dinasaur Tracks - Don't expect to find any, but a nice one was found near Northport. It was like a six inch long chicken track in red shale. Parts of northern Nassau County and northwest Suffolk County were land during the time of the dinasaurs, but most of our island is newer than that. Shell Fossils - Rare, but they have been found by lucky They are in quartz which replaced the original shells. funny things like that happen under the ground. lookers. Lots of -4- IJmiIOJIl1CIlfG: !HI KAR!BIIIIIII ID !D GRUSS! SHOW DftR SU.IIII 8'!1JPBlOl0l1S II COLLOSnLl cas!' OF BILLIOlf81 lIOWI It . aon. fila onU k..... 1M.a .... of .U'tIl'. h1.t.l7. 111 tIl 0.. p10tl1ro tan .....1'1 100,000 TAU'., tJae. proj.otetl .t replU' .,.... .. 1IOUtl k..... . fila 1'lUm1Ia, 47 aUut.o. (!'Il. firot tl1Jluav. .0000tl .ppeU' 2t. aU"t.. before tIl. .Ilti utl au nutl 1M .. ooro.. 01111 t~.. l~t_ t~;~o~~ X- ---~ uotJa.r ooapari_ to 11" 7ft. .... 1tl.. of .U'tJa' 0 ...: _. 011. U* - (J) 0.. .......; 0.. ..eo" - ';- rn .11. JIIU'.... c+ r....... 150 TAU'O .f -(Ie. ~ tiok1al t. took }.i4- off tIlo .CO of _ _ _ ot'""I - tIlo oartlll -1 tJaia 010.. U ... _t1ao JIIotortla7 .0. tJao l..t 100 ..oot ..lto. o. Ion, Ial... ... 10" tIIu .. kour ... *_ Atlr1u Blo. oaUo.. U'OllJltl U. Pue 1 TO LONG STORY OF' LONG ISLAND According to most estimates the earth has been a planet revolving around its Sun for about four and a half billion years. It has not been as stable and unchanging as most people seem to think. If a movie of its history could be speeded up and shown on a screen it would be a real great show. Mountains would rise up and wear down again. the sea would rise and fall and change its location. Islends would form and dis- appear and continents would form. break up and move over the earth like floating islands. Volcanic eruptions would spread lava over great areaS and fill the atmosphere with their pol- lution. Ice sheets would advance and retreat and the floods of their melting would mak.e great in- land seas. . Half of the show would not have any living acto~s. but they would slowly appear. and eventu- ally plants would give the air its oxygen and change its climate. Great groups of animals would come into being and then become extinct. to be re- placed by new. improved models. The coal forests flourished and were buried. the Appalachians and Adirondacks were pushed up miles high and slowly worn down to their roots. The "spot" where Long Island is today went through many changesl it has moved--up. down and sideways. It has been mountain. plain. ocean. ice--no one knows all its forms. In comparison to the full-length earth show it has been on stage in its present character for only a few minutes. We'll start our part of the story back a little farther than that, at a time when there was no Atlantic Ocean. The continents were clumped together in a more or less single land mass called, by some writers, Pangea. Our spot was either coastal plain or shallow water in a narrow sea, only a short distance from the INW corner of Africa. Where it was before that. no one seems to be guessing. TOday's continents fit .~uite well along the borders of their continental shelves, not their coastlines. Anyway. a seam opened up, (or maybe had never closed?). right down the division between the Americas and Europe- Africa. from Iceland nearly to Antarctica. and I ICE AGE TIME SCALE I Present (Inter- glacial?) . "&rill WaI'II Wisconsin Glac1atillJl Sang_on Inter- glacial period Illinoi81an a Glaciation ~ Y aI'IIOU th Inter- glacial Puiod Kansan 0 Glaciation 8 . ~ - AttOnirul Warm Intel'- 8 glsci~ 0 Period . on to- - Pall:e 2 o tn. great land masses separated as new sea floor va. manufactured between them along the seam. rne seam still operates under the name of Mid Atlantic-Ridge. Estimated production of sea tloor is about two inches a year. Try figuring now long it has taken to get here from Africa at that rate. (There is evidence that the rate has not been steady, but try two inches for an eYerage). - 1 II ~ ~ . ~ 2 3 During the trip from then to now, the Appa- lachians continue to wear down until today what 3tarted out as ridges are valleys and what were yalleys are now the tops of the ridges! The c08stal plain sank to a point where only a few islands remained, about where the north shore of Nassau and western Suttolk Counties are now. The climate was probably not a lot different from todaY's--maybe a little warmer. 4 5 III :3 ~ 8 . If) C\J '" Which brin~s us ri~ht up to a million or two years ago. 6 The climate, for debatable reasons, cooled a .ittle, over the whole world. A few degrees cool- ing now would have the same effect: snow that tall in winter in the low latitudes and higher elevations wouldn't quite get melted in summer, bringing on a gradual building up of glacial ice. Tbe ice grew thicker and thicker, and slowly apread away from the centers of accumulation by its own weight. (Ice is plastic under pressure-- not at all like the ice cube in your glass). As the area of ice grew it reflected more of the aun's heat, bringing about more cooling, and on it spread, farther and farther south in a grind- 10 ing irresistable sheet that was two miles thick oYer much of New York State and New England. 7 I: 8 9 At its southern extremities the climate wa. 11 varm enough to melt the ice about as fast aa it arrived, but more ice kept coming, bringing with it rocks, sand, everything that it had been able 12 to scrape or break loose from the country over vhich it had passed. This rock debris would pile up at the edge of the ice sheet if the rate of ~elting and the rate of ice advance were equal. 13 So the ice could act much like a conveyor belt dumping the materials Rathered along its route at one place at the end of the belt. Nebrask.. ~ 14 Glaciation . on I\J - 15 " Time in 100,000 , yrs. ~ '& (1 s j tIl H, (~ ;Z; 0 D H .. i ~ o ... ::c 0 ::c ~ = : i ~ i III Pl " .. ~ ~ 'lj, K other 1ce eheets crossed or stopped at Long Island before the Wiscons1n. wh1ch left the last and aost not1ceable results. 1'811.:. 3 Donlt get the idea that there wa. one long ~ce age. Wh~tever caused the climat. to change was te.porar1 and more or18ss cyclio." There" were tive di.ti.ct periods ot glaciation and tive inter-glacial periods, it you count now as one. And why not? All tha previous ones wera auch longer than the ti.e aince the last ice aeltad, about 10,000 leal'S ago, as you can see troa the chart. Piles and hill. ot rock materials lett bl aelting glaciers are called .oraines, and thel 00_ in many sizes and tor... The type we ar. interested in here is the ~erminal Moraine, tormed by the end ot a ~lacier or all along the leading edge ot an ice sheet. Atter the ice is all gone the terminal moraines are lett as bumpy hills and ridges ot jumbled rock, in all sizes trom clal particles to boulders as big as a house. The long ridges ot hills show where the ice tront lingered a while. Now look at. Long Island. It has two long bumpl ridges running along its length--one trom Montauk Point along most or the South Fork' and through the center ot tba Island. Tbe otber runs trom Orient Point all along the North Sbore. The ridges are composed ot a jumbled mixture ot coarse and tine rocks. Obviously they are termi- nal moraines. To make two moraines, the ice sheet must have stopped, either on the way soutb to this, its extreme advance, or on the way back north atter advancing as tar soutb as the edge ot the oontinental shelt (depending on which books you read). It stopped long en~gh to leave the south or Ronkonkoma Maraine; then, aa a result of a short warming trend of a tew hundred or a rew 'housand years it melted back into position to deposit the Harbor Hill Moraine. While the Moraines were being built by the icy conveyor belt a lotot water was being pro- duced as a by-product ot the melting. This water couldnlt run north as the ice was in the way, probably all the way over the pole to Siberia, so it ran south, in great quantities, carrying with it a lot ot the tineI' rock particles. This tormed wp.t is called an outwash plain, and this is what you see along the south shore and between the two 1Ih7 are the ...t .14.. of th... ....u.78 .t..p.r than the ...t .14..' Bow K.ttl. Bol.. are .&4.1 Before .e!tlllg. After ..!tlllg. Pall:e 4 moraines. There are many valleys on Long Island . wldcb today .carry 1 ittle or no water. out wbi.cl1 were major drainage-ways for the ice water. Church Lene in Aquebogue runs through one of these valleys. and others may be seen along the south side of the .Island near the Moriches. In and between the two moraines are many rounded depressions of various shapes. but obvi- ously not drainage valleys. Some of them have water in them. like Leke Ronkonkoma, Wildwood Lake and many others. Others are dry, others boggy. The.. are all. kettleholes. and they have an interesting story. As the ioe sheet retreated it left behind a lot of ioe mixed with and buried by the dirt and debris. Some of this ioe was in huge chunks. When these icebergs melted they left holes where they had been. Can you imagine an ioe oube big enough to leave a Lake Ronkonkoma? The largest number of these kettle holes is between the two moraines. whioh is evidence that the ioe chunks were still there, buried even deeper by the out- wash of the Harbor Hill Moraine. If the time between the two stops of the ice sheet had been long enough to melt the buried icebergs. the holes would have been filled in by the outwash. Water always seems to run into holes and tends to fill them with sediment. Most authorities imply that the ioe sheet retreated back into New England and then came back a long time later to form the second moraine. The kettle holes are telling us that this wasn't the. way it was. Some of the rocks left by the ice were very large. The longest one is Shelter Rock near Manhasset, but there are many around the Island as big as garages (various sizes of garages). Some of the smaller rooks lay on the .urface at least part of the time and were sandblasted by the loose sand oarried by the high winds generated by the temperature difference between the air oooled by the ioe sheet and the warm air south of it. There were no plants to hold the sand down for a long time after the ioe left. The rooks were shaped and smoothed by the hard quar'z partioles. Surfaoes beoame pOlished muoh more than those of water-worn pebbles. They also Kow VEN'lIlAC'l'S are tONed: f.tld U.d~ 8u.d .' ., :M~1l! .'.. . (...) <': .~.". . ~ .< "'::' ..' .' ,- Wid ~?0~~~~~fac' .-;.-~::.~~~ :i."~'-;""~'::'':J":' RenUs: ~ Pap;e 5 acquired ridges and fluted edges, some almost like roof ridges, some coming together at about 1200 angles in threes. For pictures of this kind of wind-formed rock, look up "ventifact", which means "wind-tormed", or Dreikanter" which means "three- edged". Most tex~s say they are formed on deserts or in the Antarctic. The authors apparently never looked around on Long Island because here they are quite common. Look at pebbles and fist sized rocks, especially the fine-grained hard ones like quartzite, in the hilly areas of the moraine where there are lots of rocks. Once you learn to recog- nize them you will find them in many places. Since the ice traveled all the way to here from Canada, the Adirondacks and New England we can find rocks and minerals from their sites in those areas. We can't be sure of the origin of most of them, but some are distinctive. The red sandstones and conglomerates come from Massa- chusetts. The basalt came from southern Connecti- cut where a mass of magma pushed up the hills around New Haven at about the time the Hudson Pali- sades were similarly formed. The gneisses are from old mountain roots and are supposed to be around two billion years old. Since there were at least five glacial ad- vances, and since the ice moves rocks only one way, each advance moved rocks farther south and eventu- ally provided us with a greater variety. So, now you can see why there is such an endless variety of rocks and minerals on Long Island, and why we find different types as we move east and west along the shorelines. While the ice sheet was in existence so much water was involved in being ice that the world sea- level was several hundred feet lower than today. That the continental shelf was exposed, covered with vegetation and populated by game is shown by fresh-water peat samples in ocean-bottom cores, and by plant remains and mastodon teeth which have been dred~ed up by fishermen with their otter trawls. (See reference #18). It was sometime during the Wisconsin glaciatmn ('see page 2 marginal chart) that early man arrived in North America from Asia by way of the exposed continental shelf. The shelf was more level than Palte 6. the mountainous Paoific side of the oontinent and was ice-free and vegetated for long periods. Some believe that man was bunting mastodons on our nearby oontinental shelf before tbe ioe was gone. Sinoe the olues are now under water they will be hard to find. Along our shore are a few evidences of water levels lower than tOday's. In the Sound are areas of tree stumps and salt marsh peat that show only during abnormally low tides. Tree stuaps in salt marshes along Peoonio Bay show that it was onoe dry enough there for trees to grow. Now the marsh grasses and salioornia are all that will withstand the twice-daily flooding by the tides. It may not have been so very long ago that the sea reaohed its present level. (Like a few hundreds or thousands of years). Onoe Long Island was here, natural prooesses of ohange never stopped. One form of geological ohange oould be oalled "ooastal prooesses". If there is a ooast-line there is ohange from waves and ourrents. At first, of oourse, the edge of the salt water was a long way from where it is now because of the long time it took for the sea level to rise enough to till Long Island Sound and to reaoh the rest of what is now an island. During the periods between ice and Sound there was a river flowing eastward between us and Conneotiout. During one ot the interglaoial periods it may have flowed through what is now Peoonic Bay. This is not certain. As soon as the sea level got near its present position, the outline ot Long Island began to be ohanged. Waves beat against the shore, outting into the loose glaeial material, building beaohes. Sinoe waves seldom strike beaohes straight on, a ourrent is tormed along the shore. This is some- times called "LSD" for Long Shore Drift. The LSD oarries the beaoh sand along and drops it where the water is deeper. This prooess oloses harbor and bay mouths snd oreates various types of sand bars. Most of the ponds along our shore line were onoe bays but are now land looked. Fire Island has been built up over the last few thousand years from material oarried from the eastern tip of the Island. Fire Island Lighthouse was built near the end of Fire Island but is now about 6 miles from the end. The lighthouse didn't move, the end did. Do ;roll DOW 1Ib.;r the Nortla ehore eut ot Port Jetter~n 1. lle1ng eroded aW&1 tuter tIlan the ehorel1ne west of it' The answer is in tile prevailing winds (NW) and in the length of tile wavs tetch (the distance the waves travel while being pushed by a wind). Look at the map - there is a much shorter NW tetch west ot Port Jetterson. ... Pall:e 7 Montauk Lighthouse is now about 50 feet trom end of the point--when built in George Washington's administration, it was 350 feet baok. In the last few years the point has been eroded at the rate of two feet per year. The north shore east of Port Jefferson is being out away on the average of a foot a year, and this figure was also given in books written 150 years sgo. During extremely in- tense storms suoh as hurrioanes, the wave erosion is aooelerated. If we aooept the figure of one foot per year, and assume that the Sound has ex- isted near its present level for 5,000 years, we oan see that Long Island's north shore oould have been about a mile farther north. Wherever it was, .a lot. of real estate is gone, and a lot has been added. Man's efforts seem puny in oomparison, but he tries hard. He has had the greatest suoo~ in addir~ land by filling in wetlands. Sinoe 1954 about 25~ of Long Island'a ooastal wetlands and about 10% of its shoal water habitat have been destroyed by developers at the expense of millions of dollars worth of lI18rine life, to say nothing about the reduotion in quality of human life. When the job of filling in salt marsh "wasteland" is completed, we will have destroyed that whioh lI18kes Long Ialand unique--its fisheries, marine life and clean water, both fresh and salt. Along with the ohanges due to ooastal pro- oesses went the ohangea oaused by erosion of the land by runoff of rainwater and by wind. Erosion must have been extreme for quite a few years, until plants gradually got established. The first plants to gain a foothold were the liohens, eaoh a tough team of an alga and 8 fungus. An axample you oan find today is the Reindeer Moss, a relio of the "old days"-perhaps 1,000 years long-- when it was almost the only plant, as it is tOday in the tundra "barrens" of the North. When weather oonditions improved, and the liohens had broken down some of the rook particles into soil, other plants moved in, the arctio types you oan see on the tops of New York and New England mountains and in the tundra farther north. The first woody plants were also arotio types--willows, spruoe. fir. Aooording to one author. it may have been only about 1,000 years ago that the present mixed hardwood forests finally re-clothed the New Englsnd hills. (See Referenoe #19). Since this ..ter lU1 Pollell grailUl are almoat lIIdeatruct~ble. When buried the1 rema~n aa "lIIdex tossils" to tell us what plants gre. as the ditterent layers were deposited. Everr plant species has its own tOl'll. Here are ate. eX8lllplell: Pine Beech o. Pa p;e 8 northward advanoe of plants was very slow, it may have been only one or two thousand years earlier here. Gradually the more southern types of plant reproduced themselves back north as generation after generation of seed producers spread their seeds in all directions by all the amazing means they have of insuring dispersal. Long Island has some remaining representatives of its early-settler plants like the leatherleaf, sphaguum moss, pitcher plant and other bog plants in our kettle-hole bogs. (Some of these bogs con- tain a complete record of the plant succession since the ice melted in the pollen grains pre- served in the layers of "peat moss". FOJ;'ty foot cores have been taken from bogs which are now nearly full of peat). We also have the nOrthern outriders of the southern trees like post oak, tulip tree, sweet bay magnolia, American holly and sweetgum. It is quite possible that the warming process is not finished and there will continue to be plant colonization from the south. Our birdlife is also representative of the north and the south. During the winter we are visited by many arctic species such as snowy and short-eared owls, cross bills and northern finches, rough-legged hawks, eiders, owls and m any northern ducks and sea birds. In the summer we get black skimmers, oystercatchers, egrets, ibis, and even flamingos. Long Island is on the migration route of dozens of transient species, SOme of them rel- atively rare, like ttie golden plover and phalarope. For a desoription of what Long Island was like a few hundred years ago, a "must read" book is Fish-Shaped Paumanok by Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy. The streams, gone or shrunken due to the Destructkn of the forests and vegetation, were filled with trout and salmon. There were beaver, now only re- membered in place names like "Beaver Dam Road". The trees were enormous on the fertile parts of the Island, and the Hempstead Plains were the eastern- most true prairie, inhabited by "prairie chicken". Much of our so-called "scrub" oak and "pine barren" areas were much the same then as now. Fires set by Indians and lightning kept the growth down and en- couraged the blueberries. P811:e 9 The Indian had a "happy hunting ground" here. Game was abundant and easily available the year round. More species of water birds visit here than any other place in the United States. The salt-marshes produced the greatest tonnage of protein food per acre of any land on earth. Shellfish were a staple food and shell mounds abound where the Indians had their camps. They had learned to kill whales, which were very numerous then but nearly gone now, and it was their techniques whioh enabled the settlers to operate a whale fishery along the south shore. (Probably their most rapid form of transportation was by oanoe attaohed to a harpooned whale). The early European settlers found a fabulous plaoe and immediately set out to "subdue" it. The Indians were expert ecologists because their lives depended on their understanding of the environment. The first European settlers were also dependent on their ability to respond to and take advantage of any favorable natural situ- ations. Look around your area. Can you see any features of the real Long Island that influenced the settlers? Many plaoes appealed to these Colonists be- cause they were ports. Some had water power, either streams, as at Riverhead, or tidal basins. There were many tide mills which used the energy of rising and falling tides to turn water wheels which enabled the miller to grind grain or saw wood. Names like Mill Creek, and Old Mill refer to these tide mills. Where there was no water power, there was always wind. Some of the wind- mills remain and a few still operate. Interesting~ enough, there is a windmill at Watermill. Some oommunities grew up where the land was good for farming. Suffolk County is still an im- portant farming area, but in years gone by there was muoh more land for farming. The soils of the outwash plains along the North and South Forks are very deep and well drained. With the long growing season and ample rainfall, they have fed and sup- ported many people. Where will food be grown in the future if these areas become developed for other uses? .- ------""----- Bere'. the proble.: De. tile ice ad te4 &1\4 left "hu4 L.I., tIlere W&II 110 eal t water &MUIl4 it. Dell the rill1llS ..a laval a&4e it &1\ 1&1&1\4, the outwar4 flow of fresh water UIl4ersro1ll14 kept the eal t water fro. flow1llS iJa. Olloe .. pump out elloup fresh water to let the .alt water 1Iltru4e, it'. ill to .ta7, lI1Iloe it'. heavier or acre denae th&1\ the fresh wahr. This has &1rea47 happe.ed iJa eo.e 10cat1oll. 011 LollS Ial&1\d. ETer try to 4r1llk ealt water' IlILtl'fIOB II JIO'1' !'lIE, SOLtl'fIOB '1'0 POLLtl'fIOlf Pap;e 10 The water supply of Long Island is a result of its glaoial origin. Bedrook under Suffolk County averages between 500 and 1500 feet below the surfaoe. Above it is mostly sand and gravel. Forty inohes of rain usually falls in a year and most of this soaks into the ground (if it is not over-paoked, paved or roofed). The water has filled the spaoes in the sand and gravel up to sea level and above--the rest drains out around the edges. Wells drilled or dug int~ this under- ground reservoir or aquiter supply us with olean, filtered water, or they did betore pOllution was drained into the same reservoir from the many oesspools of the growing population. Overpumping in some areas has lowered the underground water level so muoh that salt water has flowed in to take its plaoe. Water is one resouroe we oan't do without and oan't very well import. We all need to oon- sider the effect of paving over more and more of the surfaoe with roads, parking lots and roofs and preventing the rain from soaking into the ground. Find out where the rain water in your oommunity goes. Does it soak into the ground without being polluted? We need to oonsider the water budget of Long Island--it is as mathematioal as your own money budget. The only income is the rain that falls; the old belief that there is soae kind of under- groundconneotion to Conneotiout whioh brings in water is oompletely false. Out of this inoome is deducted the immediate run-off, influenced by the area that we seal off with roads and roofs and by the vegetation. Then there is the percentage which evaporates from the surfaoe and that trans- pired by plants. The rest either remainsin the soil or percolates down into the reservoir or aquifer. Once there, it moves toward the nearest shoreline, and muchtlows out into the salt water. This amount, whioh might be called "wasted", except that it is necessary to many marine organisms. is our renewable water resource. If we use more than this, the water level will be lowered, eveatu- ally to a point where salt water will flow in. Most of that which we "use" ends up either in oess- pools or munioipal sewer systems. The oesspools drain back into the aquifer, the sewers into the salt water. Both are Wrong since the former pollutes our only source of water, the latter de- pletes it. The ultimate solution, since it is ;,------- - toa can help write the .futwre hi.tor,r" of Lollg 181and. LeU'll about it. put, eder.tancl it. pre..llt prollle..., appredate it. ull1quelle.. and. beaut,., and. d.o all :you can to ..ake it a lIetter place for future people like ,... to 11.... ill. H. J. BY&Il8, Jr. BiTerhead., L. I. Deee.lIer 1971 Pap;e 11 unlikely that our water demand will decrease, is to treat all effluents to a point where they may be safely re-introduced to the aquifer. Even if this is done, there is a limited amount which could rationally be withdrawn, so we must abolish the idea that Long Island can take unlimited ex- pansion in the name of "progress". Our thinking must progress to the point where we cen accept the limitations set by our environment. -~ . . . REFERENCES (1) ROCKS AND MINERALS - A Golden Nature Guide. Zim, Shaffer, Perlman. The best reference book to begin with, and costs only $1.25. Get itl (2) FIELDBOOK OF NATURAL HISTORY. E. Laurence Palmer. Absolutely incredible, not necessarily in earth coverage but in that it covers everything you are likely to see: plants, animals, bi~da. fish. atara, rocks, minerals - you name it. More expensive, but wortb every cent. (3) FISH-SHAPED PAUMONOK. Robert Cushman Murphy. ~ead i t1 (4) THE FIELD IDENTIFICATION OF ROCKS. LaFleur, N.Y.S. MuseUM and Science Service. One topy tree to teachers, otherwise 25~. A good system to.r rook ID. (5) The GEQIDGY OF NEW YORK STATE. Broughton, Fisher, Isachsen, Rickard. N.Y.8. MuseUM and Science Service. Map and Chart Series No.. g. The best overall reference for N.Y. State geology. (6) ROCKS AND MINERALS OF NEW YORK STATE. Borst. N.Y.S. Mils. & Sci. Service Leatlet No. 10. One copy tree to teaChers, 25~ each to the rest of us. Covers the whole state; very good. (7) PENNSYLVANIA AND THE ICE AGE. Education Series No. 6 Apparently free, from Division of DOCUMents, Bureau of Publications, 10th and Market Streets, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A go~d leaflet. (8) THE GREA~ ICE AGE. U.S. Dept. of Interior, Geological Survel 1966 0 - 208 - 267, Another freebie, and good. (9) THE GREAT WHITE MANTLE. David O. WOOdbury, Viking Press 1962. An imaginative attempt to take you back through time and space and experience the ice age. (10) COLLECTING ROCKS. GPO 1964-738-200. u.S. Dept. o.f Interior. Geolo.gical Survey. Free; very good for the price. (l:\.) Rocks and Minerals 4-H Science Project. Agnes Saunders, Na8lUUl Co.unty 4-H. Kids should be encouraged to ask for this if they are 4~H members in either Nassau o~ Suffolk County. If they are not members they can still ask tor it. Good genersl guide but much ot the material doe, not apply to Long Ialand. (12) ROCKS AND RILLS - A LOOK AT GEOLOGY. Stone and Ingmanson. Very good! Shows how you can demonstrate geological ideas. (13) THE EARTH. Life Nature Library. The whole series is good. (14) A FIELD GUIDE TO ROCKS AND MINERALS. Pough. (Peterson Serles) Too technical tor young beginners, but very good reference; if you stick with it, it gets easier. ..... ~ /' ..iIIL, 19;;': ':r' - -- ''f _~'~"~""'-_'__--c-___"__--"--_~~"~_'________~_____.'~'__._'"'7~-~-"'-.----~----' -------,~--.-.~..~_.. --,'.----.- --'""""- "'.. .. "r 0.$) GEOLOGY ILL'tJS'PRATED. Shelton (W.H. Freeman & Company) Basically a picture book. but what picturesJ They tell the story. , 11(;16) (17) (18) DOWN TO EARTH. Croneis and Krumbein. ($2.95 in paper) A good reference on geology - covers about everything. Since it was written in 1936 it is out of date in some areas in whicb great advances have been made. For example. Continental Drift is now an accepted explanation of earth m.ohanics - it wasn't ,in 1936. (For a good summary of continental drift see TIME mafazine for Jan. 5. 1970. page 46: - "Geopoetry Becomes Geofact. ) THE CRUST OF THE EARTH. Clsyton. Good illustrations. readable text. "Elephant Teeth From the Atlantic Continental Shelf" SCIENCE mag. 16Jun67. 'See this at your local library. A lit~le technical but teachers should read it. ,. (19): THi VALLlrr. Lorus J. and Margerie Milne. About a New England valley - a good ecological book to read. He. many applications to Long Island. (20) ROCKS AND MINERALS 30 samples FOSSILS 20 samples Available on free loan to schools and teachers from: N.Y. State Museum and Science Service. Albany, N.Y. 12224. Ask for a l~st ot available materials including these and other goodies. some mentioned above. (14.5. and 6). 'J , .~ ;r,,: 1,;, !~.;-,--"":.;,,,~- Answers to HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT, LONG ISLAND? 1 2 3 t 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Manhattan Island Nassau County Suffolk County Connecticut Long Island Sounll , ,Great South Bay Fire Island Atlantic Ocean Peconic Bay Sh1nnecock BaJ SbeltarIaland Gardiner's Island Plum Is land Napeague Harbor Fisher's Island Peconic River Lake Ronkonkoma . Wildwood Lake Mattituck Harbor Port Jefferson Harbor Eaton's Neck Lloyd' a Neck Hempstead Harbor Carmen's River , ' ---~--:: ,- , '. . ".',-' - ~.- \