Long Island Glacial Erratic
August 29, 2007
Provided by: Stephanie Burns
Summary author: Stephanie Burns
During the summer, this large pegmatite boulder at Hulse Landing Beach in Wading River, New York, is covered with screaming children leaping into Long Island Sound. However, as photographed on this very cool and windy Sunday in May, the waves were crashing into the north side of the boulder quite forcefully. The southern coastline of Connecticut is visible along the horizon. This boulder is at least 15 feet tall (~5 m), and is a glacial erratic that was most likely plucked from the bedrock beneath Long Island Sound and later deposited along the Roanoke Point Moraine during the retreat of the Wisconsinan glaciers some 20,000 years ago. Years of wind and wave action have eroded the bluffs along this beachfront, to the south of the boulder, some 50 yards (~ 46 m).
Related Links:
- The Pegmatite Page
- Pegmatitic Textures
- All About Glaciers
- Late Wisconsinan Glaciation of Southern New England
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