The Traprock Landscapes of New England. Peter M. LeTourneau

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      THE TRAPROCK LANDSCAPES OF NEW ENGLAND

      A DRIFTLESS CONNECTICUT SERIES BOOK

      This book is a 2016 selection in the Driftless Connecticut Series, for an outstanding book in any field on a Connecticut topic or written by a Connecticut author.

      Peter M. LeTourneau PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT PAGINI

      The Traprock Landscapes of New England

      ENVIRONMENT, HISTORY, AND CULTURE

      Wesleyan University Press Middletown, Connecticut

      Wesleyan University Press

      Middletown CT 06459

       www.wesleyan.edu/wespress

      Text © 2017 Peter M. LeTourneau

      Photographs © Robert Pagini

      All rights reserved

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      Designed by Mindy Basinger Hill

      Typeset in Electra LT Standard

      The Driftless Connecticut Series is funded by the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.

      Images available from Robert Pagini Photography.

      Contact [email protected].

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      NAMES: LeTourneau, Peter M. | Pagini, Robert.

      TITLE: The traprock landscapes of New England: environment, history, and culture / Peter M. LeTourneau and Robert Pagini.

      DESCRIPTION: Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2016. | Series: Driftless Connecticut series | Includes bibliographical references and index.

      IDENTIFIERS: LCCN 2016032965 (print) | LCCN 2016044992 (ebook) | ISBN 9780819576828 (pbk.: alk. paper) | ISBN 9780819576835 (ebook)

      SUBJECTS: LCSH: Landscapes—Connecticut River Valley. | Natural history—Connecticut River Valley. | Connecticut River Valley—History.

      CLASSIFICATION: LCC QH76.5.C8 L38 2016 (print) | LCC QH76.5.C8 (ebook) | DDC 333.7209746—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016032965

      5 4 3 2 1

      Cover photo: Alpenglow, Robert Pagini.

      For Jelle Zeilinga de Boer (1934–2016),

      Harold T. Stearns Professor of Earth Science, Wesleyan University,

      BELOVED TEACHER, MENTOR, AND FRIEND

      and to our children and grandchildren,

      who will inherit the earth we leave behind:

      ANNIE, JEFFREY, KEVIN, EMMA, AND KAITLYN

      CONTENTS

Preface	xi
Note on Terminology and Usage	xiii
1 Welcome to Traprock Country	1
2 Rising in Shapes of Endless Variety	17
Geography of the Traprock Highlands
3 Born of Fire Traprock Geology	43
4 Sky Islands Ecology and Water Resources	71
5 A Valley of Extreme Beauty and Great Extent	121
Traprock Landscapes and Legacy
6 These Mural Cliffs	157
Sculpted by Nature, Painted by Time
7 So Fine a Prospect	197
Landscapes of National Significance
Appendix Places to Visit in Traprock Country	211
Notes	219
References	221
Index	229

      Sunset lights up the cliffs of Beseck Mountain at Black Pond State Fishing Area, Middlefield, Connecticut.

      PREFACE

      This book is our love letter to a landscape and a call for action. We were both born in Meriden, Connecticut, and have lived all, or most, of our lives surrounded by