DLESE description of Glacial and Postglacial Geology of Grafton Notch State Park

This guide provides an introduction to the glacial landforms and other complexly eroded features seen in Grafton Notch State Park, which is located in southwestern Maine. There is a detailed discussion of the glacial history of the area, which features steep gorges, waterfalls, eskers, an ancient glacial lake, and other landforms superimposed on a terrain of Silurian metamorphic rocks and Devonian granites by the Laurentide Ice Sheet. The discussion also covers problematic erosional features, some of which have been interpreted as produced by alpine glaciation, and questions about the origins of some of the more complex erosional features (deep gorges and potholes) seen southeast of Grafton Notch. A field trip iternerary is included to provide cumulative mileages to stops featured on the trip; permission and access information, directions, and references are also included.