EPOD - a service of USRA
The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.
Quechee Gorge in East Central Vermont
October 04, 2022
PattiW_IMG_0088 (003)a
PattiW_IMG_0084 (003)a
Photographer: Patti Weeks
Summary Author: Patti Weeks
The Quechee Gorge is a 165-feet deep (50 m), 1-mile long (1.6 km)
narrow chasm on the Ottauquechee River. As Vermont’s deepest gorge,
it is nicknamed by locals as “ Vermont’s Grand Canyon.” It was
formed following the retreat of the massive Pleistocene
Laurentide Ice Sheet, which covered all of present-day Canada and
much of the northern United States, between 95,000 to 20,000 years ago.
When the ice sheet began its retreat about 18,000 years ago, the
Ottauquechee River re-emerged and began to flow east again, but was
redirected from the Connecticut River to the newly-formed narrow
Glacial Lake Hitchcock, which ran nearly 200 miles (320 km) from
what is now northern Vermont to central Connecticut. A glacial
terminal moraine (near present day Hartford, Connecticut) called
the Rocky Hill Dam, blocked the flow of the Connecticut River for
approximately 4,000 years, during which the Ottauquechee River filled
the lake with 170 feet (52 m) of sand, mud and silt. When the dam
eventually broke, the river made a sharp turn to the south, rapidly
cutting through the soft mud. Geologist Frederick Larsen estimated
that this initial erosion occurred in less than a week. The river has
been slowly carving through the hard Devonian age schist and
quartzite bedrock, the Gile Mountain Formation, ever since —
for the past 13,000 years.
Now, the Quechee Gorge is a tourist attraction. The Ottauquechee River
is also rated as a Class III+(V) whitewater river for 3.7 miles
(6.0 km). According to a report by American Whitewater, the water
level was low (<30 cfs) most of this past summer. Bottom photo shows
whitewater details. Even at its best whitewater level, however, there
is a challenging rapid area called “Well Enough.” After a thorough
scouting, you might need to leave “well enough” alone and just portage.
The second photo, focusing nearly straight down into the gorge from the
bridge, shows some large rocks that could make rafting navigation
challenging, whether the water covers them or not. Photos taken on July
19, 2022.
Quechee Gorge, Vermont Coordinates: 43.6374, -72.4085
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Basin State Park, Utah Idaho’s Gravity-Defying Balanced Rock
Eastern Flank of Mt. Etna
More...
Geography Links
* Atlapedia Online
* CountryReports
* GPS Visualizer
* Holt Rinehart Winston World Atlas
* Mapping Our World
* Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
* Types of Land
* World Mapper
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