It's hard to believe, but millions of years ago most of Queens was buried
beneath a massive ridge of ice, rock and deposited material. Called the
Terminal Moraine, the ridge was left by the last Glacial Period of the
current Pleistocene (Ice Age) Epoch, and has driven the development of
modern day Queens, from its transportation hubs to its shopping malls,
cemeteries and golf courses. In a slide lecture at the Greater Astoria
Historical Society entitled "Queens: The Ice Age Stopped Here,"
pop geologist/Astoria resident Fred Hadley will explore the science behind
the forming of Queens and Brooklyn. Much more than a dry lecture for nerds,
Hadley's presentation will make the geology of the borough accessible
to the lay person while opening the mind to many interesting facts about
the borough.
"From geologically named areas such as Jackson Heights, Forest Hills,
and Ridgewood that describe the lay of the land, to streets such as Hillside
Avenue that runs parallel to the Moraine, this program has fun, imagination
and historical facts all rolled into one," said Bob Singleton, GAHS's
president.
Highlights of the slide/video presentation include recent slides of Alaskan
glaciers and a not-to-be-missed autumn video aerial tour of the Terminal
Moraine from Staten Island's Todt Hill, across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge
on Marathon Sunday, over Prospect Park and into Queens.
The lecture will take place at GAHS on Monday, June 2nd, starting at
7 pm. The historical society is located in Quinn's
Gallery, 35-20 Broadway in Long Island City. For further information,
call the historical society at (718) 278-0700 or visit GAHS's website
at www.astorialic.org. The event
is free for members and $5 for the general public.
