"Now, as the city thaws, we're saying goodbye to the ice and hello to everything it preserved. Wrappers, pill bottles, cigarette butts, takeout containers, an inexplicable amount of cardboard, and, yes, a faucet, are just some of the things I discovered in the melting messes. And then there's what the dogs left behind - or rather, what their owners did. (Pupper West Siders aren't to blame. All of them are pure as snow, and not the curb kind.)"
"The OG ice. The one that began advancing about 2.6 million years ago, at the start of the most recent major ice age. Its final act around here, known as the Wisconsin glaciation, pushed south from Canada roughly 90,000 years ago and reached New York City somewhere between 25,000 and 20,000 years ago, depending on which geologist you ask. But on the scale of Earth's history, 5,000 years is nothing more than a hot minute."
"The ice is estimated to have been about 1,000 to 2,000 feet thick - at least as tall as the Chrysler Building, and possibly even taller than the 1,776-foot Freedom Tower. Picture it with Lady Liberty on top, pedestal included, and you're in the right ballpark. As this massive glacier moved along, carrying a medley of rocks, from giant boulders to tiny pebbles, it scraped and polished the landscape."
Snowbanks formed after a major snowstorm collapsed into dirty mounds, revealing wrapped trash, pill bottles, cigarette butts, takeout containers, cardboard, and even a faucet. The frozen accumulations acted as barricades and compacted four weeks of neighborhood life into preserved layers. In Central Park, much older glacial remnants are visible from the Wisconsin glaciation that advanced during the most recent major ice age. The glacier reached New York City roughly 25,000–20,000 years ago after pushing south about 90,000 years ago. Ice thickness reached approximately 1,000–2,000 feet and transported rocks that scraped and polished the landscape.
Read at West Side Rag
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