Norwottuck is the Algonquian name for an area that is now Northampton and Hadley , Massachusetts . It is also used to refer to the Algonquian people who once lived there, who were part of the Pocumtuck Confederacy . Early English documents also refer to the area and people by the orthographic variants Norwootuc , Nonotuck , and Nolwotogg , the latter being the best representation of the local dialect.
30-561: White (1903) claims that the territory of the Norwottuck extended "from the 'Great Falls' at South Hadley to Mt Sugarloaf . Colonists cite a deed of land signed by three Norwottucks: Umpanchla alias Womscom, Quonquont alias Wompshaw, and Chickwalopp alias Wowahillowa in selling land to John Pynchon (son of William Pynchon ). Although the Norwottuck may have resided in the area until around 1700, their presence often went unrecorded. Many local geographical and other features are named for
60-510: A lake once existed, as water drains or evaporates from the lake, the deposited sediments are left behind, resulting in a level plain of land where the lake once existed. The soil of the plain may constitute fertile and productive farmland due to the previous accumulation of lacustrine sediments; in other cases, it may become a wetland or a desert . Lacustrine plains are plains formed when lakes filled with sediments are drained. There are several reasons why drainage might occur, but in all cases
90-612: A redirection of the rivers, causing the Paleo-lake Obweruka to break into smaller regional lakes and the drainage system to change. Tectonics-induced lacustrine plain formation can also be found at the Congo Lake Plain and the Lake Plain of South Sudan. While differential uplift can certainly create inland basins and lakes, many inland lakes are created due to a period of heavy and consistent rainfall that
120-478: A variety of places. For instance, Lake Agassiz -Ojibway Basin in northwestern Quebec is a good example of lacustrine plain formation caused by the ice readvance and drainage of Lake Ojibway . By analyzing the varve sequences and dividing them into the Matagami section and La Reine section, researchers were able to determine the time of occurrence for a major ice readvance event in the area and two drainage events in
150-544: A very prominent landscape feature visible for miles. Despite low elevations relative to the Berkshire Mountains to the west, dramatic cliff faces and a rise of 500 feet (150 m) to 600 feet (180 m) from the nearby Connecticut River make the mountain a popular tourist and hiking destination. Sugarloaf Mountain is the southern terminus of the Pocumtuck Range . The name sugarloaf refers to
180-586: Is Lake Eyre in South Australia. The Lake Eyre North basin formed due to tectonic subsidence, and repeating glacial cycles and climatic cycles led to wet and dry cycles in the lake where the state of the lake changed drastically. Lake Eyre is currently a playa , indicating that it is in a relatively arid episode. However, it was much wetter when it was in flood-dominated episodes, and it held more water than its current ephemeral state. The Chad Basin Plain
210-520: Is a drainage system formed by mantle plumes activity induced tectonic uplift, forming the Rwenzori and Virunga Mountains. This uplift led to a segmentation of the west East African Rift System and led to the difference in flowing directions of the rivers in the northwestern Main Ethiopian Rift and the eastern and western East African Rift System . The regional tectonics therefore contributed to
240-553: Is also a good example of inland lacustrine plain formation. By conducting facies analysis, researchers are able to determine four lithofacies associations for the Chad Basin, and thus the sequences of the Chad Basin's formation. Those lithofacies with little plant debris indicate a period of aridity and represent the last sequence of Chad formation where a lacustrine plain existed. Other examples of inland lake creation, drainage, and lake plain formation can be found at plains near
270-459: Is easily accessible via Route 116 and is only a 15-minute drive from the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. There is parking at the base of the mountain and at the top of the paved road that leads from the parking area to the summit of South Sugarloaf. It is free to hike the trails or climb the road by foot or by bike, but there is a nominal fee for vehicles. North Sugarloaf Mountain
300-543: Is now Sugarloaf Mountain. There may be some truth to this tale; 15,000 years ago the Connecticut River from northern Vermont to southern Connecticut was post- glacial Lake Hitchcock . A now extinct species of giant beaver as big as black bears once inhabited North America at about the same time (see Pocumtuck Range for details). Sugarloaf Mountain, geologically contiguous with the Pocumtuck Ridge to
330-730: Is only accessible by foot; a small cave is located just beneath the summit ledges. In Fall 2008, the Mel Gibson film Edge of Darkness was filmed at the summit of South Sugarloaf. The observation tower was temporarily renovated for the film. Lacustrine plain A lacustrine plain or lake plain is a plain formed due to the past existence of a lake and its accompanying sediment accumulation . Lacustrine plains can be formed through one of three major mechanisms: glacial drainage, differential uplift, and inland lake creation and drainage. Lake plains can have various uses depending on where and how they form. Over time, in regions where
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#1732794081692360-550: Is partially composed, was deposited mainly by rivers and alluvial fans , with some localized floodplain ponds or swamps . The formation is known in other locations to preserve Triassic fossils such coprolites , plant remains such as Clathropteris and Equisitites , and fishes such as Semionotus , Redfieldius , and Ptycholepis . Additionally, the Sugarloaf Formation preserves rare examples of lithified armored mud balls . A seasonal auto road climbs
390-553: Is the basal unit of the Deerfield rift basin and was formed by fluvial and alluvial processes. It is overlain by 50 m (160 ft) of lacustrine deposits called the Fall River beds. The Fall River beds are capped by 80 m (260 ft) of tholeiitic basalt flows which are most visible as part of the geology of the Pocumtuck Ridge to the north. The basalts are overlain by a black siltstone to conglomerate called
420-401: Is the carcass of a human-eating giant beaver who lived in a lake now occupied by the Connecticut River. The people complained to the god Hobomok that the beaver was greedy, and consuming all their resources. In response Hobomok decided to kill the beaver with a club he fashioned from a large tree. After the struggle, the beaver died, sank to the bottom of the lake, turned to stone, and became what
450-657: The Caspian Sea and the Lake Bonneville Plain. The Great Plains in North America are examples of the agricultural values of lacustrine plains. The flat lake plain where Lake Agassiz once existed now serves as a cropland for sugar beets and potatoes. Beneficial to the growth of the crops, the soils of the lacustrine plains in the Great Lakes region are fertile due to prior sedimentation, and
480-634: The Norwottuck. The name Mount Norwottuck was given to a mountain previously known as Hilliard Knob in 1841 by Edward Hitchcock . The Norwottuck Rail Trail is likewise named after the people. Sugarloaf Mountain (Massachusetts) Sugarloaf Mountain or Mount Sugarloaf , is a butte -like mountain located in South Deerfield, Massachusetts , United States, with two summits, North Sugarloaf Mountain 791 ft (241 m) and its more popular knee, South Sugarloaf Mountain 652 ft (199 m). Its cliffs, made of arkose sandstone , are
510-575: The Turners Falls Sandstone and Mt. Toby Conglomerate. Mount Toby , the type locality for the Mt. Toby Conglomerate, can be seen directly across the Connecticut River from Sugarloaf Mountain. About 200 million years ago, as the continent of North America began rifting apart from Africa and Eurasia , a series of erosion and deposition episodes interspersed with basalt lava flows created this layer cake. Faulting and earthquakes tilted
540-473: The conditions in which they form. Lake formations depending on the existence of active glaciers are different from those depending on the proximity of the lake to glaciers and those depending on glacier retreats. Regardless of the difference in those glacial lakes' formation conditions, lakes that are trapped inside ice walls drain after the ice walls melt, and the sediments in the lakes form glaciolacustrine plains. Glaciolacustrine plain formations can be found in
570-545: The drainage of glacial lakes are called glaciolacustrine plains, which differ from those resulting from differential uplifts and those from the creation of inland lakes. Glaciolacustrine plains form when the lakes in the continental ice sheets drain and leave the rocky debris within behind. The most recent ice age, the Wisconsin, was a drive for glacial lake formation and the glaciolacustrine plain formation that followed. Glacial lakes are grouped into categories which represent
600-558: The extension of the lake in the past. It was concluded that the lake extended a larger territory in the past. In the case of Llancanelo Lake, the western lacustrine plain was a crucial factor in determining the evolution of the lake. A similar use of drainage areas and lacustrine plain can be found in a research done on the Congo . Sedimentation and drainage data collected through monitoring the Congo's drainage system provide valuable insight into
630-572: The lake. It was concluded that two drainage events separated by approximately 65 years led to the final drainage of the lake and the formation of the glaciolacustrine Agassiz-Ojibway Basin. Other locations of glaciolacustrine plains include Lake Erie , Saginaw Bay in Lake Huron , and the Lake Superior lake plain. Lake plains caused by tectonic movements, or epeirogeny, constitute another type of lacustrine plain. Due to tectonic events,
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#1732794081692660-464: The land is so flat that crops can thrive. The remaining glacial materials also provide essential nutrients for crop growth and thus boost farm productivity. Lacustrine plains are also valuable in paleoenvironment and paleoclimate studies. By surveying the western lake plain of Llancanelo Lake in Argentina, researchers were able to gather geomorphological data and sedimentary evidence to reconstruct
690-493: The layers; subsequent erosion and glacial activity exposed the tilted "layers" of sandstone, basalt, and erosion-resistant conglomerate visible today. Although not composed of basalt trap rock , Sugarloaf Mountain is a closely associated with the Metacomet Ridge by virtue of its origin via the same rifting and uplift that created those mountains. The Sugarloaf Formation (or Sugarloaf Arkose), of which Mt. Sugarloaf
720-578: The loaf-like shape that sugar was once molded into for shipment. The names Sugarloaf Mountain and Mount Sugarloaf are both used to describe this mountain. USGS sources and published hiking maps refer to (North and South) Sugarloaf Mountain . However, the Massachusetts state reservation encompassing them is called the Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation . The name Mount Sugarloaf is sometimes used to describe only
750-492: The north, is composed of Triassic arkose sandstone and conglomerate . The Sugarloaf arkose was formed in a rift valley and sits in a half graben regionally called the Deerfield rift basin. The rift basin formed in Triassic- Jurassic time and is part of an area of crustal extension that extended from Long Island Sound into Vermont and New Hampshire . The 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) thick Sugarloaf arkose
780-451: The region experiences. Like any other lake, lakes formed in inland basins are bound to face obliteration. As sediments deposit and accumulate at the bottom of the lake and as water drains due to environmental forces and geologic events, the lake gradually approaches its full state. A lacustrine plain is then formed when drainage reaches completion, and the lake becomes a plain of sediments. One example of inland lake creation in once arid land
810-491: The south summit, and the north summit is sometimes described as the Pocumtuck Ridge. Both names are used locally. The original Native American name for the mountain is Wequamps (or Wequomps ). The root wehqu- in this name or weckw- in Weckwannuck "Sugarloaf Brook" means "at the point of or extremity of" and occurs in placenames indicating a stopping point. According to Native American myth, Sugarloaf Mountain
840-404: The summit of South Sugarloaf (open late spring through the fall foliage season), and a small seasonal observation tower is located on the summit. Several steep hiking trails, including the 20-mile (32 km) Pocumtuck Ridge Trail , make the mountain a favorite local hiking destination. Most of the mountain has been conserved as part of the Mount Sugarloaf State Reservation . The reservation
870-500: The uplift of crusts may occasionally lead to the formation of basins. Later, as water fill the region, a lake is formed. Various factors may contribute to the drainage of the lakes formed in such fashion, and the sediments form a large, flat plain where the lakes once existed. Lacustrine plains formed by differential uplift can be found in multiple locations, and they are most commonly seen in Africa. The Nile drainage system, for example,
900-438: The water in the lake is lost, leaving behind a level land of sediments. The resulting plain is an area of flat land which is often rich in fine-grained sediments. Depending on geologic and climatic factors, the once-lake region may turn into a desert or wetland. In other cases, lacustrine plains may have agricultural value. The origins of lacustrine plains are lakes formed under different circumstances. Lake plains resulting from
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