﻿86 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  of 
  elevation 
  greater 
  then 
  than 
  now 
  at 
  not 
  less 
  than 
  2000 
  feet 
  because 
  

   the 
  very 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  Hudson 
  channel 
  is 
  submerged 
  to 
  that 
  extent. 
  5 
  

   The 
  coast 
  was 
  then 
  at 
  what 
  is 
  now 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  continental 
  

   shelf 
  or 
  platform 
  about 
  100 
  miles 
  east 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  coast 
  line. 
  

   That 
  this 
  greater 
  altitude 
  was 
  before 
  the 
  Ice 
  age 
  is 
  proved 
  by 
  the 
  

   fact 
  that 
  the 
  inner 
  Hudson 
  channel 
  now 
  contains 
  much 
  glacial 
  

   debris 
  filling. 
  That 
  all 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  State 
  was 
  then 
  higher 
  than 
  

   now 
  is 
  quite 
  certain 
  because, 
  for 
  example, 
  with 
  the 
  lower 
  Hudson 
  

   region 
  considerably 
  elevated, 
  the 
  upstate 
  region 
  must 
  also 
  have 
  

   been 
  elevated 
  (though 
  possibly 
  not 
  so 
  much) 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  maintain 
  

   the 
  gradients 
  of 
  the 
  actively 
  eroding 
  streams. 
  

  

  To 
  summarize 
  briefly 
  the 
  drainage 
  and 
  physiography 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  

   during 
  the 
  Tertiary, 
  we 
  may 
  day 
  that, 
  with 
  a 
  certain 
  few 
  important 
  

   exceptions, 
  the 
  major 
  features 
  as 
  we 
  see 
  them 
  today 
  were 
  practi- 
  

   cally 
  the 
  same 
  toward 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  Tertiary, 
  and 
  that 
  these 
  

   relief 
  features 
  were 
  developed 
  by 
  erosion 
  which 
  began 
  with 
  the 
  

   uplift 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  peneplain 
  at 
  the 
  opening 
  of 
  this 
  period 
  or 
  the 
  

   close 
  of 
  the 
  one 
  just 
  preceding. 
  A 
  few 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  notable 
  differ- 
  

   ences 
  between 
  the 
  drainage 
  of 
  the 
  late 
  Tertiary 
  and 
  the 
  present 
  

   are 
  as 
  follows: 
  Very 
  few, 
  if 
  any, 
  lakes, 
  waterfalls, 
  or 
  gorges 
  

   existed; 
  Lakes 
  Erie 
  and 
  Ontario 
  were 
  absent 
  and 
  these 
  basins 
  

   contained 
  important 
  streams 
  which 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  drained 
  west- 
  

   ward 
  into 
  the 
  Mississippi; 
  the 
  St 
  Lawrence 
  river 
  probably 
  had 
  its 
  

   source 
  in 
  the 
  Thousand 
  Islands 
  region; 
  the 
  Mohawk 
  river 
  had 
  its 
  

   source 
  on 
  the 
  divide 
  at 
  Little 
  Falls, 
  while 
  the 
  so-called 
  Rome 
  river 
  

   flowed 
  westward 
  from 
  Little 
  Falls; 
  West 
  Canada 
  creek 
  entered 
  the 
  

   Rome 
  river; 
  the 
  Sacandaga 
  river 
  entered 
  the 
  Mohawk; 
  the 
  State, 
  

   especially 
  the 
  southeastern 
  portion, 
  was' 
  notably 
  higher 
  (perhaps 
  

   not 
  less 
  than 
  2000 
  feet) 
  than 
  it 
  now 
  is 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  

   line 
  was 
  about 
  100 
  miles 
  farther 
  out 
  where 
  the 
  Hudson 
  emptied 
  

   into 
  the 
  ocean; 
  and 
  Long 
  and 
  Staten 
  islands 
  did 
  not 
  then 
  exist 
  as 
  

   such. 
  

  

  1 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  suggested 
  by 
  Chamberlain 
  and 
  Salisbury 
  (Geology, 
  vol. 
  I, 
  

   page 
  529) 
  that 
  the 
  very 
  end 
  of 
  the 
  Hudson, 
  and 
  other 
  submerged 
  channels, 
  

   may 
  have 
  been 
  deepened 
  by 
  tidal 
  scouring 
  and, 
  if 
  so. 
  the 
  figure 
  (2000 
  feet) 
  

   generally 
  given 
  may 
  be 
  too 
  high. 
  At 
  any 
  rate 
  the 
  Hudson 
  channel 
  at 
  the 
  

   Highlands 
  is 
  submerged 
  nearly 
  800 
  feet 
  which 
  certainly 
  implies 
  an 
  altitude 
  

   cf 
  more 
  than 
  1000 
  feet 
  greater 
  than 
  now 
  when 
  the 
  river 
  was 
  actively 
  eroding. 
  

  

  