NATURAL HISTORY OF CONNECTICUT

Connecticut owes its ultimate scientific origin to the big bang which led to our third generation solar system that formed out of a contracting solar nebula. Geologists studying plate tectonics tell us that Connecticut has run the planetary gauntlet. The constitution state was once a frigid realm located near the South Pole. Later on ,after the breakup of a super-Continent, it was a lush, fertile, tropical paradise located near the equator. About 100,000 years ago during the last ice age, Connecticut was covered by an ice sheet one mile thick in parts. Evidence of glaciation can be attested to by every farmer in Connecticut  and found in till spread all throughout  Connecticut and the moraines around the Hammonasset region.

Today Connecticut is a moderate region existing in the mid latitudes. Though quiet now, Connecticut was once a place of significant geological activity. The entire Connecticut river valley is actually an  ancient rift valley and as anyone who has ever been to Dinosaur State Pak knows, dinosaurs once walked over and ruled these lands.

MORE TECHNICAL VERSION OF CT’s HISTORY

Around 1.4 bya (Precambrian-Mesoproterozoic) marks the date of the oldest rocks in Connecticut (southwestern portion) which were part of proto-North America. Eventually these rocks would recrystallize during the Grenville Orogeny. At this point is important to note that the globe looked nothing like it does today. The continents were arranged differently in relation to one another and latitude and longitude wise. Most people are familiar with Pangaea—the super-continent that split apart. But supercontinents and their break-up seem to be a cycle in Earth’s history and even around 250 million years into the future many geologists estimate another super-continent will form. 1.4 bya the Grenville Orogeny began to occur. Orogeny is mountain building and the Grenville Orogeny refers to events leading up to the formation of a supercontinent before Pangaea called Rodinia. About 1 bya the Grenville orogeny is ending and Rodinia forms and rules the globe for the next 400 million years or so.

The land that is today known as Connecticut appears to have been in the Southern Hemisphere near the South Pole.  Connecticut appears to have been a polar region at one time. But 600 mya Rodinia started breaking up and by 510 mya  Connecticut moved farther North in the Southern Hemisphere. North America was formerly known as Laurentia (or Proto-North America) and note its position on the small diagram below. It went from polar to equatorial. Laurentia is the landmass on the left.

230 mya the once joined but now separated land masses reunited  again, this time forming the famous Pangaea. But Pangaea itself also broke apart. At the time of Pangaea Connecticut was about 15 degrees north of the Equator. It was then a tropical place. Connecticut rose up to its current location as Pangaea broke up.

Principle Peaks around Connecticut:   (once around 20,000 ft)

1. •Bear Mountain 2316 feet—highest mountain summit in CT.
   

2. •Mount Frissell  2453 feet– highest point in CT is on slope of Mt. Frissell.
   

3. •Round Mountain  2296 feet —on the Mount Frissell trail, come to it first
   

4. •Mount Brace (not in CT) 2311 feet ---on the MT Frissell trail.
   

5. •South Brace (not in CT) Mountain 2304 feet also on Frissell trail.
   

6. •Also of interest: close by is Lion’s head and the Riga Falls and Swimming Hole.
   

The Taconics region makes for great hiking in Connecticut, whether is a 6 mile hike up and own bear mountain—with impressive views of twin lakes and surrounding areas or the ascending  and descending Round Mountain on your way to Mount Frissell—both of which offer incredible views. This area of Connecticut is very remote and these hikes can be considered a walk on the wild side.

The Taconics are a subset of the Appalachian Range and consist of a narrow range of mountains that straddle the borders of Connecticut, New York, Vermont and Massachusetts.

1. •Location: Northwestern Section of Connecticut.
   

2. •Age: Some of the rock in this area is almost 1.4 byo from Proto-North America and the taconics formed about 415 million years ago during the Taconic Oregeny.
   

3. •Mountain Type: Thrust fault, collision of continent with volcanic island arc.
   

4. •Rock Type: primarily Gneiss (pronounced nice) which is a metamorphic rock. This makes sense as metamorphic rocks are rocks that metamorphose under high heat and pressure. The mountain building event pushed up this material from within the earth so this rock type is expected here, as opposed to say basalt in a rift valley (central CT) or an area of past volcanic eruptions. Magma exits the earth’s surface and is then termed lava which hardens as it cools into erosion resistant basalt.
   

Taconic Oregeny—this is the mountain building event that occurred during the formation of Pangaea long after super-continent Rodinia disassembled. 445 mya Europe and North America drifted towards each other. There were volcanic island arcs off the coast (similar to Japan) which were pushed into the mainland (ca. 435 mya) which caused the formation of the Taconic mountains. At this point they reached their terminal peak of probably around 20,000 feet. Now they are just bigger than 1/10th of their original terminal peak due to weathering and erosion.

Note that a continent-continent collision will produce higher mountains than a continent-volcanic island arc collision.

MetaComet Ridge

Ice Ages in Connecticut

CONNECTICUT GEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY (in the works)...

Glacial Till -- debris eft over from the last glacial advance through new england during our last ice age which covered CT with an ice sheat up to a mile high.

Glacial Moraine -- terminal point of an advancing glacier. Hammonasset featured a glacial moraine. Block Island and was formed by glacial deposits and also, I believe, Long Island Sound.

Lava Pillows ---lava that cools underwater tends to form in pillow shapes...----Behind target in Meriden...

Moraine--definition----Hammonasset...

Potholes  --- Definition --- Location---Devil’s Hopyard, Kent Falls, etc.

Spit --- definition ----   Bluff Point State Park

Talus Slope -- visible at Giuffrida Park when looking up at Chauncey Peak

Traprock Ridge --basaltic traprock--hundred of millions of year old hardened molten lave that now forms long, flat like ridges atop mountain. Mount Higby, Chauncey’s peak, all along the metacomet ridge.