The Valley Heads Moraine south of Ithaca marks where glaciers once extended past the Finger Lakes at maximum extent. Water gaps cut through ridges in the Valley and Ridge province show water flowed over submerged ridges at peak flood. An archetypal drumlin — about half a mile long — was spotted with a blunt north end tapering south. Classic subglacial flood geomorphology! ❄️
Valley Heads Moraine marks edge of glacial system south of Finger Lakes
Site mentioned
📍 Finger Lakes
Key facts
- Water gaps cut through ridges in the Valley and Ridge province, indicating water flowed over submerged ridges at peak flood
- Glaciers extended south of the Finger Lakes at maximum extent before retreating to the northern tips
- The Valley Heads Moraine south of Ithaca is a glaciofluvial deposit (half water-laid, half glacial)
- An archetypal drumlin (~half mile long) was observed from the highway with a blunt north end tapering south
Sources
Ithaca Was Glaciersmuseumoftheearth.org
The Valley Heads Moraine near the south end of Cayuga Lake is additional evidence of past glaciation. And to the north, drumlins are visible from Syracuse ...
Geology of the Finger Lakesearthathome.org
Moraines are visible south of Ithaca at North Spencer, along Route 13 west of Newfield, and northeast of Ithaca between Dryden and Cortland.
Geological History and Glacial Formation of the Finger Lakeslifeinthefingerlakes.com
The Valley Heads Moraine, a major moraine across central New York, closed the southern ends of several formerly south-flowing river valleys.
"Origin and formation of the Valley Heads Moraine system ...digitalcommons.unl.edu
by MQ Yang · 1992 · Cited by 3 — The Valley Heads Moraine (VHM) is a 280 km-long interrupted and discontinuous band of glacigenic sediment in central New York.
Glacial geology and the origin and distribution of aquifers ...usgs.gov
Glacial geology and the origin and distribution of aquifers at the Valley Heads moraine in the Virgil Creek and Dryden Lake-Harford Valleys, Tompkins and ...
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