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Hudson River Studies with guest scientist Dr. Robin E. Bell

Hudson River Studies with guest scientist Dr. Robin E. Bell. Earth2Class Workshops for Teachers March 9, 2002 Dr. Michael J. Passow. The Hudson at the base of the Palisades on which LDEO is located is one of America’s most interesting waterways. Few rivers match its beauty and history.

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Hudson River Studies with guest scientist Dr. Robin E. Bell

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  1. Hudson River Studieswith guest scientistDr. Robin E. Bell Earth2Class Workshops for Teachers March 9, 2002 Dr. Michael J. Passow

  2. The Hudson at the base of the Palisades on which LDEO is located is one of America’s most interesting waterways

  3. Few rivers match its beauty and history Autumn foliage, Alpine Cornwallis House, Alpine

  4. In the 19th Century, the “Hudson River School” was among America’s earliest art movements. “Hastings-on-Hudson” by Jasper Cropsey (1897.) http://www.byu.edu/moa/exhibits/Current%20Exhibits/150years/830025900.html

  5. “View from the Artist’s Home, Sunset” by Jasper Cropsey (1887). http://www.newingtoncropsey.com/index1.htm

  6. Up until development of modern highways in the 20th century, the Hudson was a major north-south transportation corridor. • Dutch fur traders and settlers used the river between Ft. Orange (Albany) and New Amsterdam (NYC) • Hundreds of thousands of people and tons of freight floated on the river to and from the Erie Canal’s eastern end. http://www.ulster.net/~hrmm/sail/age.html

  7. Even today, there is much barge traffic for cement, petroleum, and other goods. The river is also important for pleasure boating during the warmer months. • Images of the former bustle on the river can still be found in many books. • A selected bibliography is provided in the Resources section accompanying this Workshop. http://www.hudsonriver.com/

  8. The Hudson provide a true opportunity for “re-creation” after the bustle of everyday life. Looking south near Croton across the Tappan Zee

  9. Croton River near Peekskill Many tributaries contribute to the Hudson as it flows more than 300 miles (500 km) from its source at Lake Tear of the Clouds in the Adirondacks to the Atlantic

  10. For “armchair” explorers of the Hudson, there are several excellent videos: • “The Hudson River: An American Paradise” • “Henry Hudson’s River:A Biography” (narrated by Orson Welles) • “World’s End: A Brief History of the Hudson River Highlands” (narrated by Richard Kiley) Hudson River Film & Video Indian Brook Road, Garrison NY 10524 914-265-3405

  11. One of the best sources for scientific information about the Hudson (or any river) is the EPA’s Surf Your Watershed • http://cfpub1.epa.gov/surf/locate/map2.cfm There’s so much about the Hudson on this site that the best way for you to learn about it is to explore it over by opening the links in the next few slides of this presentation. When you’re finished, close those screens and continue from here.

  12. Start by opening http://cfpub1.epa.gov/surf/locate/map2.cfm • Then, click on “NY” in the map to select this state. • From here, you should be able to use your mouse to find which watersheds are part of the Hudson system http://cfpub1.epa.gov/surf/state.cfm?statepostal=NY Spend a few moments exploring the kinds of data available in these pages.

  13. The Hudson is an estuary with tidal flows all the way to Albany • You can find more about these cyclical changes in the water level through the National Ocean Service web pages: www.nos.noaa.gov You can find both tide predictions http://www.co-ops.nos.noaa.gov/tp4days.html and, for some locations, the actual water levels http://tidesonline.nos.noaa.gov/.

  14. The Lower Hudson has a tongue of saltier water extending upriver from the Atlantic beneath fresher water at the surface. • “Salt Front” data is monitored by the US Geological Survey http://ny.usgs.gov/htdocs/dialer_plots/saltfront.html

  15. Geologically, the Hudson is also among the most fascinating river systems because of the many regions through which it passes • The Hudson begins in the Adirondacks as a small stream coming out of a small pond on the southeast side of Mt. Marcy. • As it flows through the Hudson-Mohawk Lowlands, it grows in size as tributaries join. • The ancient rocks of the Hudson Highlands have been sliced through, forming West Point and Bear Mountain.

  16. The Tappan Zee is the widest part of the river, nearly three miles in places. This area is a boundary between the Manhattan Prong of the New England on the east and the Palisades and Triassic Lowlands on the west.

  17. Not far north of LDEO is the Sparkill Gap, where the river once turned sharply westward through the Palisades to wander in a generally southward directions, eventually eroding what is now the Hackensack Meadowlands and reaching the Atlantic south of Staten Island.

  18. Some of the best information about the geology of this region is available at http://everest.hunter.cuny.edu/bight/index.html • A vast amount of information about other parts of New York State’s geology can be located through the New York Geology Resource Page http://www.albany.net/~go/newyorker/

  19. What happens when the Hudson meets the Atlantic? • During the Pleistocene when continental ice sheets covered much of this region, the Hudson Valley was beneath glacier more than a thousand feet thick. • Sea level was much lower, and the river carved out the largest of several submarine canyons along the Northeast coast, the Hudson Canyon

  20. Many of the earliest Lamont Geological Observatory research cruises aboard the “Vema” investigated this fascinating drop-off valley. Recently, Diane Duane used this area as the setting for her science fantasy book “Deep Wizardry.” http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/CORE_REPOSITORY/RHP1.html

  21. Some other Useful Links • NYS DEC Hudson River Homepage http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/hudson/ • USGS Hudson River Basin National Water Quality Assessment http://wwwdnyalb.er.usgs.gov/projects/hdsn/ • New York Geology Resource Page http://www.albany.net/~go/newyorker/ • Hudson River Links http://riverresource.com/text/Hudsonlinks.html

  22. Hudson River Research at LDEO • Bottom Mapping http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/Hudson/articles/article5.html • Water Quality http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/Hudson/articles/article1.html • River Marsh http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/Hudson/articles/article4.html

  23. Other areas of LDEO Hudson River Studies • River Plume http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/Hudson/articles/article2.html • Estuary Ecosystem http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/Hudson/articles/article3.html • LDEO’s Commitment to the Hudson River http://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/Hudson/about/index.html

  24. After a break, we’ll learn much more about research on the Hudson River underway here at LDEO from Dr. Robin E. Bell.

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