HISTORY AND GEOLOGY OVERVIEW
Although quite young geologically speaking, Long Island has existed in more or less its present state for more than 10,000 years. Seen from above it resembles a fish, with its head facing west toward Manhattan and its tail fin making up the North and South forks, with Peconic Bay in between. This resemblance is so pronounced that even the Native Americans that settled the island centuries ago took note of it and called their home Paumanok, or “fish-shaped.” What they could not see, though, were the amazing processes that formed the Long Island that we know today. Indeed, its creation began roughly one million years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch, when global temperatures dropped and the first of many massive glaciers began to form.
As these immense masses of ice form, they constantly melt and refreeze in a cycle that ultimately results in movement, or flow, that is known as an advance. As a glacier advances, it scours the land before it of topsoil, rocks, and pieces of bedrock. With its retreat, the glacier deposits most of this substrate in telltale hill-like or ridgelike formations known as moraines, with meltwater rivers and streams cutting paths throughout. As global temperatures rise and fall, a particular glacier may advance and retreat again and again, ultimately changing the topography along its route forever.
Such was the case with Long Island, as a series of glacial advances, known collectively as the Wisconsin Glaciation, covered the land and carved out its basic fish shape. In the end, it was the final two of these advances that produced the most lasting results. One ultimately covered most of Long Island before beginning its retreat and depositing its sediment. As it did, it formed a ridge, called the Ronkonkoma Moraine, which extends along the middle of Long Island from what is now Nassau County down the island’s South Fork to Montauk Point. This same glacier then stopped again a bit farther north, creating a second ridge, the Harbor Hill Moraine, which runs from modern-day Brooklyn to Orient Point, forming the island’s North Fork.
As this final glacier retreated, it left behind the Long Island of today. The small streams created by the melting ice carried fine silt and sand with them before dropping them in what is known as an outwash plain. This sediment ended up south of the Ronkonkoma Moraine and formed Long Island’s relatively flat South Shore with its sandy beaches. On the other hand, the glaciers deposited larger sediment (rocks and pebbles) north of the Harbor Hill Moraine, resulting in the rocky beaches that line the island’s North Shore. Then, with the rising of sea levels, water filled in the valley north of Long Island to create Long Island Sound. It also flowed between the two moraines and created Peconic Bay. Finally, it flooded a portion of the South Shore’s outwash plain and created the Great South Bay and its system of shallow, protected lagoons.
The glaciers also gouged out large portions of the island’s North Shore, forming many of its deep-water harbors like Port Jefferson, Cold Spring, and Hempstead. They left behind huge chunks of ice that eventually melted and formed depressions known as kettle holes (Lake Ronkonkoma is a water-filled kettle hole, or kettle lake). And they carved out streambeds that now carry water from underground springs to Long Island Sound (the Nissequogue River), the Great South Bay (the Connetquot and Carmans rivers), and Peconic Bay (the Peconic River).
Though Long Island is no longer affected by glacial activity, it is still being modified by another force: the ocean. Waves pound its shores, water erodes its bluffs, and currents carry its sediments away, further changing the island’s topography. Indeed, Long Island’s barrier islands were formed as a result of the ocean’s actions and are constantly being shaped and shifted. New inlets have formed while existing ones have closed up. Even shorelines have softened and some harbors and bays have shallowed. It’s as if the ocean is fine-tuning the work of the glaciers.
LONG ISLAND PADDLING SEASONS
Because of its moderate climate, Long Island is lucky to have a lengthy paddling season. In fact, most of the island’s salt water can be paddled year-round, although some sections of its bays and harbors do freeze by late winter. Likewise, the local freshwater rivers—the Upper Carmans, Peconic, and Bronx—often freeze over, as does Lake Ronkonkoma. Unlike the slushy, soft ice associated with salt water, this freshwater ice is quite solid and can often last through February and into March.
Though it means enduring the cold air and water temperatures of winter, paddling along Long Island between December and early March gives kayakers a view to some amazing wildlife. Loons, snowy owls, mergansers, eiders, and dozens of other species of waterfowl come here to spend the winter and can be seen in incredibly large numbers throughout its bays. Seals are also common winter visitors to the island’s waters, seen congregating on sandbars and exposed rocks or poking their heads out of the water whenever a kayaker paddles by. Because most of the powerboaters have taken their craft out of the water for the season, paddlers can often have all of Long Island’s beauty to themselves.
Conversely, summer on Long Island is an incredibly busy time to be on the water. Powerboaters are back, as are sailors, Jet Skiers, windsurfers, and kiteboarders. Everyone wants a chance to enjoy the area’s incredible waters for themselves. Luckily, there is usually more than enough water for everyone, including kayakers, to find a place of their own. And with water temperatures remaining quite warm well into October, there’s more than enough time to spend enjoying it.
A BOATHOUSE ON GEORGICA POND
PART ONE SUFFOLK COUNTY
SUFFOLK COUNTY
3A Yaphank Avenue to Southaven County Park
3B Montauk Highway to Squassux Landing
4 Coecles Harbor Marine Water Trail
