Richland beacon., 1888-03-24
A PREHISTORIC HUDSON.
itTook in the HOusat Onic anN Jersey
Rivers and l.mpticd slightly Miles
O.t 10 sea.

"Thc Geology of New York and Its
EnvirC-ls' was the title of most inter
cstin5 paper read 10y Prof. Daniel 5.
Martin, before the New York Academy
of Sciences, in Hamilton Hall. Columbia
College.
Ate, reviewing the great deposits in
the vicinity Of New York Of gl.ciss,
brown sandstone, scrprn,inc, trap and
sand. gravel and boulder beds of the
Glacial period, when, hundreds of thou
sands of years ago the whole of the
northern portion of the United States
was covered by an immense sheet of ice
stretching northward to the Pole. Prof.
Martin said:
with regard t. the changes of level
since tho Tertiary-thc last great geo
logical agc-therc are interesting wi
dcnccs of various kinds i'll and around
New York, though not conspicuous to
the eve. The great and long duration
which preceded, in part, at least, ac-
companicd the Glacial period, has left
It's unmistakahlc record in the deeply
cXcayatcd river valleys on both sides of
ihe city, and i'll the depressed channel
revealed by soundings. which shows us
that the Hudson then reached the sea
some eighty miles southeast Of the pres
ent mouth of the harbor.
'Prc glacial New York presented n
very different aspect from what it does
now. and one far more bold and roman
tie IN its scenery. The island itself was
II rocky promontory. some 300 feet high.
and the wall If the Palisades on the
west side Gi The Hudson rose to 700 feet
while in the gorge between these lofty
shores the river flowed in its present
course, though far below.
"On the east of the island, between it
and the rocky heights which now ere
sunk and buried beneath the drift--or
debris Of the ancient elacicr-of North
western Long Island, another river
flowed to join the Hudson from the
northeast This river WAS continue
ton Of the Housatonic and carried the
drainage Of southwest New England,
along the bed of tlisRresent Sound and
East River. These streams united in
the upper bay and were ioined' by the
rivers from New Jersey, and the great
current flowed on through lofty rocky
islands, where now are the gentle hills OF
Staten Island AID the low inlcts of the
upper bay and entered great lowland
plain, through which ii pursued its
course nearly 100 miles to the ocean.
"Then slowly came on the Great Ice
Age: and the great ice mantel covered
all and left its impress so plain that 'hc
who runs may read Finally the con
ditious changed. and the great elevation
was followed by depression to the pres
cnt level, and then by subsistence below
it. In this Champlain depression
though scarcely sufficient at this point
TO have traces over the island, yet TIL,
| deeplv-worn river channels were filled
ND to depth of 800 to 400 feet; so that
now the Hudson-likc most of the rivers
of the North-howed in its old course
indeed, but far above its former rocky
| bed. The same cause has made q til,
tributary streams Of New Jersey AM
/ Connecticut Independent rivers, ant
spread the broad New York bay and tn,
tide-channels of the East River, and tn,
quiet waters Of the Sound, over a wid'
area of pre- glacial land, and the ocear
over all the literal coast plain. Again
there was an elevation, but at the presen
time the movement seems to be aSall
downward, and the sea is slowly en-
croaching on the land.
an the projected tunnel beneath tn
Hudson River it is of interest to not
that the work, though carried OH man,
wards below the bed of the river, wa
entirely in hard clay, with recent marin'
shells-the latter portion of the pos
glacial filling up the channel. Nowher
was rock encountered or approached
and the same is true of the excavation
! for the caissons on which were laid tin,
massive piers of the Brooklyn Bridge.