New York City Geology References


"Da Bronx is gneiss,
but Manhattan is full of schist"

There are a number of publications that provide excellent accounts of the geology of New York City. Check the left side column for there current availability, new or used, at AMAZON.

The Geology of New York & New Jersey by Bennington & Merguerian (2006) The coverage in this book extends from western Connecticut to southern New Jersey and spans the Atlantic Coastal Plain westward across the metamorphic Piedmont provinces, Newark Basin, Proterozoic Highlands, Appalachian Fold Belt, and Paleozoic Plateau regions.

The Geology of New York City & Environs by Chris Schuberth. While this book was published in 1968, before the theories of plate tectonics were firmly established, I consider this a "must read" for anyone wanting a clear understanding of the wide variety of geology that presents itself in the New York City area. The book is out-of-print, but should be available at any decent library. A used copy is almost always available for sale at AMAZON.com .
The Engineering Geology of the New York City Water Supply System is essentially a recap of the life's work of two men, Thomas Fluhr, engineering geologist, and Vince Terenzio, civil engineer. It documents several decades of geological exploration and construction geology for the greatest water supply system in the world. A copy of this book should be available in the main branch, NYC public library. ALso available at AMAZON (see left)
The Foundation Geology of New York City by Charles Baskerville, who has probably done more mapping in the "Big Apple" than anyone. This article appears in the Geological Society of America, Reviews in Engineering Geology Series (v.5, 1982) "Geology Under Cities" . A xerox copy of the article is available for $4.00 from the New York State Geological Survey.
Since writing this article, Charlie has produced several maps (1:24000 scale) depicting both the geology and engineering geology of Manhattan, the Bronx, and parts of Queens and Brooklyn. ( He even threw in a little bit of New Jersey). Unfortunately, we understand that the USGS no longer offers these maps for sale. These maps are USGS Misc. Investigation series Nos. I-2003, and I-2306.
The maps may be available on Ebay, or at libraries in the NYC area.

I have made on online, summary map of Baskerville's NYC maps available here.

  • Another excellent source of New York City data is Baskerville's 1989 publication
    Geology & Engineering Geology of the New York City Metropolitan Area
    This one is becoming more and more difficult to find, but you can almost always find a used copy at AMAZON.com.....

  • An excellent, online source, prepared by the USGS, is The Geology of the New York City Region

  • In 1987, Bruce Taterka produced the Bedrock Geology of Central Park, New York City. This 84 page report includes detailed maps of all walks and trails within the park. It is available for $5.00 as University of Massachusetts Geoscience Contributions Series No. 61. Information on ordering this report is available online.

  • Last but not least, the New York State Geological Survey offers a FREE phamphlet, "Continental Collisions and Ancient Volcanoes - the geology of southeastern New York". It is not an easy read, but it offers a great deal of information (and its FREE!)

    • get the Tee Shirt that says it all


    Da Bronx is gneiss.......
    Da Bronx is Gneiss.....


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