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Catskill Mountains
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==Geology== [[File:Kaaterskill Falls.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Kaaterskill Falls]] on Spruce Creek near Palenville, New York. One of the higher falls in New York. Two separate falls total {{convert|260|ft|m|0|abbr=on}}.]] Although the Catskills are sometimes compared with the [[Adirondack Mountains]] farther north, the two mountain ranges are not geologically related, as the Adirondacks are a continuation of the [[Canadian Shield]]. Similarly, the [[Shawangunk Ridge]], which forms the southeastern edge of the Catskills, is part of the geologically distinct [[Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians|Ridge-and-Valley]] province and is a continuation of the same ridge known as [[Kittatinny Mountains|Kittatinny Mountain]] in New Jersey and [[Blue Mountain (Pennsylvania)|Blue Mountain]] in Pennsylvania. The Catskill Mountains are more of a [[dissected plateau]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Geology of National Parks, 3D and Photographic Tours |url=https://3dparks.wr.usgs.gov/nyc/valleyandridge/catskills.htm |website=USGS |access-date=6 August 2018}}</ref> than a series of mountain ranges. The sediments that make up the rocks in the Catskills were deposited when the ancient [[Acadian Orogeny|Acadian Mountains]] in the east were rising and subsequently eroding. The sediments traveled westward and formed a great delta into the sea that was in the area at that time. The escarpment of the Catskill Mountains is near the former (landward) edge of this delta, as the sediments deposited in the northeastern areas along the escarpment were deposited above sea level by moving rivers, and the Acadian Mountains were located roughly where the [[Taconic Mountains]] are located today (though significantly larger). Finer sediment was deposited further westward, and thus the rocks change from gravel [[Conglomerate (geology)|conglomerates]] to [[sandstone]] and [[shale]]. Further west, these fresh water deposits intermingle with shallow marine sandstone and shale until the end, in deeper water [[limestone]]. The uplift and erosion of the Acadian Mountains was occurring during the [[Devonian]]<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Beneath it all: bedrock geology of the Catskill Mountains and implications of its weathering |journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences |volume=1298 |pages=1β29 |pmid=23895551 |year=2013 |last1=Ver Straeten |first1=C. A |doi=10.1111/nyas.12221 |s2cid=19940868 }}</ref> and early [[Mississippian (geology)|Mississippian period]] (395 to 325 million years ago). Over that time, thousands of feet of these sediments built up, slowly moving the Devonian seashore further west. A meteor impact occurred in the shallow sea approximately 375 [[mya (unit)|mya]], creating a {{convert|10|km|mi|0|abbr=on}} diameter crater. This crater eventually filled with sediments and became [[Panther Mountain Crater|Panther Mountain]] through the process of uplift and erosion. By the middle of the Mississippian period, the uplift stopped, and the Acadian Mountains had been eroded so much that sediments no longer flowed across the Catskill Delta. [[File:Platte Clove.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Platte Clove]], a break in the [[Catskill Escarpment]] created by glacial action]] Over time, the sediments were buried by more sediments from other areas, until the original Devonian and Mississippian sediments were deeply buried and slowly became solid rock. Then the entire area experienced uplift, which caused the sedimentary rocks to begin to erode. Today, those upper sedimentary rocks have been completely removed, exposing the Devonian and Mississippian rocks. Today's Catskills are a result of the continued erosion of these rocks, both by streams and, in the recent past, by glaciers. In successive [[ice ages]], both valley and continental glaciers have widened the valleys and the notches of the Catskills and rounded the mountains. Grooves and scratches in exposed bedrock provide evidence of the great sheets of ice that once traversed the region. Even today the erosion of the mountains continues, with the region's rivers and streams deepening and widening the mountains' valleys and cloves.
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