NYSGA 1959
GEOLOGY OF THE CAYUGA LAKE BASIN
A Guide for the 31st Annual Field Meeting of the
New York State Geological Association
prepared by
Staff and students of the Department of Geology
Cornell University
"....We must especially collect and describe all the organic remains of our soil, if we ever want to speculate with the smallest degree of probability on the formation, respective age, and history of our earth."
Second (Revised) Edition
Ithaca, New York
May, 1959

A: ENFIELD GLEN (ROBERT H. TREMAN STATE PARK)
by Staff and Students
of
Cornell University

A: ENFIELD GLEN (ROBERT H. TREMAN STATE PARK)

Cross delta plain
Down the eastern wall of the Cayuga trough, and west across the delta-plain to Albany street, turning south.

Views of Coy Glen
Excellent views west from this stretch of road of the surface of the delta plain and the sequence of hanging deltas through which the Coy Glen stream has cut its gorge.

Railroad underpass
Just south of this underpass the end of the interglacial Buttermilk gorge may be seen on the east to be followed slightly to the south by the hanging valley waterfalls made by the post-glacial Buttermilk stream as it descends the oversteepened eastern wall of the Cayuga trough. The large gravel pit to the south of the Buttermilk falls was excavated in the hanging delta sequence made by Buttermilk creek.
The bed-rock exposed in Buttermilk Falls is the Ithaca formation. The upper member of the Ithaca shale begins at about the top of the first cascade.

Cross delta-plain
The road crosses the delta-plain to the west side of the valley and continues southward on glacial deposits

West wall of trough
From the floor of the Cayuga trough the road climbs the west wall. Small hanging deltas may be observed in several of which gravel pits have been opened.

Treman State Park
Upper or western entrance to Treman State Park. The parking area is in a post-glacial, excavated part of an interglacial gorge (see diagram for details). (The buses will leave the parties and later meet them at the lower or eastern entrance.) From the parking area, walk to the entrance of the post-glacial section of the gorge. This post-glacial gorge is nearly at right angles to the drift-filled interglacial gorge which swings around the rock island which forms the north wall of the post-glacial gorge. The outstanding feature of the post-glacial gorge itself is the perfection of joint-plane control of the stream course.

Lucifer Falls
Lucifer Falls at the eastern end of the upper gorge is slightly upstream from the main southern wall of the interglacial gorge which has been excavated by the post-glacial stream. The upper gorge is cut in the Enfield shale. The base of the Enfield formation is about at the top of Lucifer Falls. The lower sector of Enfield Glen is in the Ithaca formation.
Several sedimentary features are well developed in the rocks in the vicinity of Lucifer Falls, including current ripple marks that demonstrate that the general current direction was from northeast to southwest. Moreover, there is a submarine erosion channel which shows well in the south wall of the gorge above Lucifer Falls.
View eastward before descending into the interglacial part of the Enfield Glen the eastern, over steepened slope of the Cayuga trough.

Eastward from Lucifer Falls.
The trail follows down the drift-filled interglacial valley and thence along the excavated part of interglacial valley. Sulphur falls and the Lower falls represent spurs of the interglacial valley upon which the post-glacial stream was superimposed.

B: CAYUGA INLET TROUGH
by Staff and Students
of
Cornell University

B: CAYUGA INLET TROUGH

Downtown Ithaca
From Cornell campus descend into Cayuga trough to downtown Ithaca built on compound delta of four creeks. Valley fill more than 400 ft. thick. Bottomlands subject to flooding.

STOP 1. Buttermilk Falls.
Lower portion of Enfield and upper portion of Ithaca formation exposed. Representative of notched lower reaches of hanging valleys of Cayuga trough but contrasts with gorges initiated prior to last glaciation. Buttermilk Creek was diverted by glacial deposition in its interglacial gorge. Hanging deltas exposed in gravel pits 150 yards south.

STOP 2. Coy Glen hanging deltas.
Excavations by Rumsey Ithaca Corporation expose structure of massive deltas built into pro-glacial Lakes Warren and Dana during recession of the continental ice sheet in late Wisconsin time. Coy Creek in incising a meander initially developed across the main Dana delta has imposed on it second order meanders controlled by bedrock joints.

Kame and Kettle topography
Continue south on Route 13 over kame and kettle topography. Contrast steep southeast wall with gentler northwest wall of Cayuga trough.

Enfield Glen
Pass Enfield Glen and entrance to Robert H. Treman state Park

STOP 3. Shaffer Road overlook.
Meltwater from a pro-glacial lake briefly impounded near Newfield flowed through ice-walled channels, cutting the bench followed southeastward by Shaffer Road and debouching across kame terrace to the southeast. View across stagnant ice deposits which fill the southern end of Cayuga trough.

Kame complex
Descend into Cayuga trough over kame complex, via Piper St. to Stratton

Stagnant ice deposits
Turn right (south) on Route 34 at Stratton, riding across a complex of stagnant ice deposits which mark minor glacial oscillations during down-wasting of the Cayuga ice tongue in recession from the Valley Heads terminal moraine.

High point on road
Route 34 climbs to 1130 feet, about 750 feet above Cayuga Lake.
Tributaries to Cayuga trough have entry angles pointing north, whereas tributaries to the through valley south of this point have entry angles pointing south, suggesting that the present depositional divide between St. Lawrence and Susquehanna watersheds corresponds approximately with an interglacial or preglacial bedrock divide.

Enter outwash
Highway passes onto outwash where moraine ridge curves southeast.
Pitting and large kettle lakes (e.g. Spencer Lake) indicate outwash deposition onto unmelted stagnant ice. Valley Heads terminal moraine about 2.5 miles south of this point is largely buried in outwash.

Large kettle lake
Cross swampy edge of large kettle lake. Toward east side of Cayuga trough road curves north to parallel low, narrow ridge which separates it from south-flowing Michigan Creek.

STOP 4. Point. O'Rocks.
Ice and ice marginal deposits near the Valley Heads maximum crowded Michigan Creek against the side of its valley, forcing it to cut a bedrock channel around this point. During ice wastage Michigan Creek deposited a fan into which it is now cutting. Kame exposed in borrow pit.

Moraine
Moraine deposited by ice moving south down Michigan Hollow crosses valley.
Kames exposed in cuts and gravel pits to east near road. Valley bottom widens northward with swamp and ponds, the remnants of a small pro-glacial lake impounded behind the moraine until drained by Michigan creek.

Moraine ridge trending northeast across Danby Valley.

View of Portage escarpment
Road is here at 1500 feet above sea level on the glacially modified upland erosion surface. View northeast across Hungerford, Snyder and Turkey hills at the edge of the deeply dissected Portage escarpment.

Former ice-walled spillway
Descending the upper slope of Sixmile trough, cross rock bench at 33.6 miles.
This bench at 1030 ft. is continuous northwest to the abrupt nose on South Hill which marks a former ice-walled spillway.
Here the waters of pro-glacial West Danby Lake in Inlet trough first escaped eastward into Slaterville lake in Sixmile trough just before the two joined to form Lake Ithaca with outflow southeast past White Church and Willseyville.

C: AROUND CAYUGA LAKE
by Staff and Students
of

C: AROUND CAYUGA LAKE

Views of Cayuga trough
North towards Trumansburg (Views of Cayuga Lake trough to right. Note southerly dip of rocks on east shore of Lake; prominent datum plane is the Tully limestone).

Taughannock State Park.
East along upper Taughannock creek; exposures of middle part of Ithaca formation.

STOP 1. Main Falls Lookout.
Exposure of Geneseo, Sherburne, and Ithaca formations in gorge walls.

Delta and lower falls
Continue down hill to Rte. 89, south across Taughannock Creek and present delta, with view on right of lower falls over Tully limestone.

STOP 2. Hubbard Quarry.
Contact of Geneseo and Sherburne formations, Middle-Upper Devonian boundary. Fossils. Septarian concretions.

STOP 3. Fayette Town Quarry.
Upper Skaneateles (Levanna) shale in lower part of quarry; lower part of Centerfield member in upper part. Fossils from both members; septarian concretions.

STOP 4. Old Wolf Quarry (Warren Bros. Road Co.).
Upper Onondaga limestone (Seneca member). Tioga metabentonite.

STOP 5. Lunch Stop: Cayuga Lake State Park

STOP 6. Yawger's Woods.
Walk west from road 0.5 mile to woods, through woods to outcrop of Manlius (Olney) limestone and Oriskany sandstone.
Fossils from Oriskany (sledgehammers useful!).

STOP 7. Portland Point Quarry.
Upper Moscow (Windom) shale, Tully limestone, Lower Geneseo shale. Fossils. Alnoite dike. Low-angle thrust.