Wisconsin Glacier

The Wisconsin Glacier moved to this area from the north about 22,000 years ago. The glacier's edge measured 500 feet high and a depth of about one mile. The glacier carried soil, rocks and clay. As the glacier melted the rocks and soil made up Long Island's surface which formed the hills of the north shore, the flat lands of the Hempstead Plains. The glacier also deposited large boulders like Shelter Rock in North Hills and Target Rock in Lloyd Neck. All told, it took 450 million years for the layers of bedrock, sediment and glacial deposits to form Long Island. (Information from NEWSDAY 'It Happened on Long Island')