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ALBANY, NY – During the week of April 8th, New York State Museum geologists will collect sediment cores in the Esopus Valley and its tributary valleys to conduct research relating to climate change and provide a unique educational experience to the Onteora High School Earth Science students.

Students observing the research project will have an opportunity to better understand glaciation, geologic time, rock and mineral identification and how streams and rivers change the landscape.

The research project is funded by the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program, a partnership of Cornell Cooperative Extension in Ulster County, the Ulster County Soil and Water Conservation District and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection. It will involve mapping the location and thickness of clay deposits in the Esopus Creek watershed. The clay was deposited in large lakes dammed by glacial ice during the most recent retreat of the continental ice sheet from New York State between 20,000 and 12,000 years ago. During their existence, the glacial lake basins accumulated thick deposits of layered silt and clay that record information about climate change. Geologists hope to extract paleo-climate data from the recovered sediments to help determine the timing of the lakes' existence and the ice retreat.

The second, and more pragmatic reason for locating the clay deposits in Esopus Creek watershed is because Esopus Creek water flows into the Ashokan Reservoir, one of the Catskill water supply reservoirs for New York City’s drinking water. Floods in the Esopus watershed have caused stream bank erosion and landslides that expose these lake clay sources and increase the amount of clay suspended in the water, causing turbidity.

Because of the importance of identifying the distribution of these potential turbidity sources in the Ashokan watershed, experts with the State Geological Survey of the New York State Museum were funded in 2009 and 2010 by the National Cooperative Geological Mapping Program of the

United States Geological Survey. Knowing the location and extent of clay deposits will aid the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program’s proposed management strategies for improving the quality of New York City's drinking water.

Established in 1836, the State Museum is a program of the State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission is free. Further information can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the Museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

(EDITORS NOTE: Media wishing to cover the high school students working with researchers at the drilling location should contact Joanne Guilmette in advance at (518) 474-8730.)

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