Finger Lakes

Finger Lakes
Satellite view of the Finger Lakes region in late fall. Lake Ontario at the top left.
LocationNew York
Coordinates42°40′N 76°50′W / 42.667°N 76.833°W / 42.667; -76.833
TypeFinger lakes
Part ofLake Ontario Basin
Primary outflowsOswego River
Basin countriesUnited States
SettlementsIthaca, Geneva, Canandaigua
Map
The eleven Finger Lakes of New York State.

The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located directly south of Lake Ontario in an area called the Finger Lakes region in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and transitional edge of the Northern Allegheny Plateau, known as the Finger Lakes Uplands and Gorges ecoregion, and the Ontario Lowlands ecoregion of the Great Lakes Lowlands.[1]

The geological term finger lake refers to a long, narrow lake in an overdeepened glacial valley, while the proper name Finger Lakes goes back to the late 19th century.[2][3] Cayuga and Seneca Lakes are among the deepest in the United States, measuring 435 feet (133 m) and 618 feet (188 m), respectively, with bottoms well below sea level. Though none of the lakes' widths exceed 3.5 miles (5.6 km), Seneca Lake is 38.1 miles (61.3 km) long, and at 66.9 square miles (173 km2) is the largest in total area.[2]

  1. ^ Bryce, S.A., Griffith, G.E., Omernik, J.M., Edinger, G., Indrick, S., Vargas, O., and Carlson, D., 2010, Ecoregions of New York: Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geological Survey, map scale 1:1,250,000.
  2. ^ a b Mullins, H.T., Hinchey, E.J., Wellner, R.W., Stephens, D.B., Anderson, W.T., Dwyer, T.R. and Hine, A.C., 1996. Seismic stratigraphy of the Finger Lakes: a continental record of Heinrich event H-1 and Laurentide ice sheet instability. Geological Society of America Special Paper 311, pp.1-36 ISBN 9780813723112
  3. ^ Kozlowski, A. L., and Graham, B. L., eds., 2014, Glacial geology of Cayuga County of the Eastern Finger Lakes–lakes, lore and landforms: Guidebook for the 77th Annual Reunion of the Northeastern Friends of the Pleistocene Meeting, Auburn, New York, 140 p.