Reading Prong
Encyclopedia
The Reading Prong is a physiographic subprovince
of the New England Uplands section of the New England province
of the Appalachian Highlands. The prong consists of mountain
s made up of crystalline metamorphic rock
.
, Pennsylvania
, through northern New Jersey
and southern New York
, reaching its northern terminus in Connecticut
. In Pennsylvania, the Reading Prong is simply referred to as such, while in New Jersey and New York, the mountains of the subprovince are referred to as the New York – New Jersey Highlands. Near the Hudson Valley
, the term Hudson Highlands
is often used. The portion of the prong that enters Connecticut is known as the Housatonic Highlands
.
along the Hudson River
. This region is often referred to as the Manhattan Prong. The Staten Island Sepentinite is also a southward extension of the New England Uplands.
basement which is discontinuously exposed in the north-central Appalachians. The rocks that make up the prong consist of diverse gneiss
es. The New England Province and the Blue Ridge province
share many geological similarities, and some experts consider the Reading Prong merely a continuation of the Blue Ridge Mountains
, which reach their northern terminus at South Mountain
near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
, Pennsylvania. In the gap between the Blue Ridge and the Reading Province, the two mountainous regions descend into the Appalachian Piedmont
. Together, the Blue Ridge province and the New England province are often referred to as the Crystalline Appalachians. Rocks of the Reading Prong are characterized by elevated concentrations of uranium
, the decay of which produces gaseous radon
, a potentially hazardous source of indoor contamination in structures constructed on the prong.
Geologic province
A geologic or geomorphic province is a spatial entity with common geologic or geomorphic attributes. A province may include a single dominant structural element such as a basin or a fold belt, or a number of contiguous related elements...
of the New England Uplands section of the New England province
New England province
The New England province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division of eastern North America. The province consists of the Seaboard Lowland, New England Upland, White Mountain, Green Mountain, and Taconic sections.-Geology:...
of the Appalachian Highlands. The prong consists of mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
s made up of crystalline metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock
Metamorphic rock is the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
.
Location
The Reading Prong stretches from near ReadingReading, Pennsylvania
Reading is a city in southeastern Pennsylvania, USA, and seat of Berks County. Reading is the principal city of the Greater Reading Area and had a population of 88,082 as of the 2010 census, making it the fifth most populated city in the state after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown and Erie,...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, through northern New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
and southern New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, reaching its northern terminus in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. In Pennsylvania, the Reading Prong is simply referred to as such, while in New Jersey and New York, the mountains of the subprovince are referred to as the New York – New Jersey Highlands. Near the Hudson Valley
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in New York State, United States, from northern Westchester County northward to the cities of Albany and Troy.-History:...
, the term Hudson Highlands
Hudson Highlands
The Hudson Highlands are mountains on both sides of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York, between Newburgh Bay and Haverstraw Bay, which form the northern region of the New York - New Jersey Highlands....
is often used. The portion of the prong that enters Connecticut is known as the Housatonic Highlands
Housatonic River
The Housatonic River is a river, approximately long, in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. It flows south to southeast, and drains about of southwestern New England into Long Island Sound...
.
Relation to other divisions of the New England Uplands
There are two subsections of the New England Uplands in addition to the Reading Prong. A prong of the same rock belt extends from the Hudson Highlands south to New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
along the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
. This region is often referred to as the Manhattan Prong. The Staten Island Sepentinite is also a southward extension of the New England Uplands.
Geology
The Reading Prong is part of the PrecambrianPrecambrian
The Precambrian is the name which describes the large span of time in Earth's history before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is a Supereon divided into several eons of the geologic time scale...
basement which is discontinuously exposed in the north-central Appalachians. The rocks that make up the prong consist of diverse gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
es. The New England Province and the Blue Ridge province
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
share many geological similarities, and some experts consider the Reading Prong merely a continuation of the Blue Ridge Mountains
Blue Ridge Mountains
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...
, which reach their northern terminus at South Mountain
South Mountain (Maryland and Pennsylvania)
South Mountain is the northern extension of the Blue Ridge Mountain range in Maryland and Pennsylvania. From the Potomac River near Knoxville, Maryland in the south, to Dillsburg, Pennsylvania in the north, the long range separates the Hagerstown and Cumberland valleys from the Piedmont regions of...
near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is the capital of Pennsylvania. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 49,528, making it the ninth largest city in Pennsylvania...
, Pennsylvania. In the gap between the Blue Ridge and the Reading Province, the two mountainous regions descend into the Appalachian Piedmont
Piedmont (United States)
The Piedmont is a plateau region located in the eastern United States between the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the main Appalachian Mountains, stretching from New Jersey in the north to central Alabama in the south. The Piedmont province is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division...
. Together, the Blue Ridge province and the New England province are often referred to as the Crystalline Appalachians. Rocks of the Reading Prong are characterized by elevated concentrations of uranium
Uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table, with atomic number 92. It is assigned the chemical symbol U. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons...
, the decay of which produces gaseous radon
Radon
Radon is a chemical element with symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, occurring naturally as the decay product of uranium or thorium. Its most stable isotope, 222Rn, has a half-life of 3.8 days...
, a potentially hazardous source of indoor contamination in structures constructed on the prong.
East Hudson Highlands (north to south)
- Sour Mountain
- Beacon MountainBeacon MountainBeacon Mountain, sometimes Mount Beacon, is the highest peak of the Hudson Highlands, located behind the City of Beacon, New York, in the Town of Fishkill. Its two summits rise above the Hudson River behind the city and can easily be seen from Newburgh across the river and many other places in the...
- Scofield Ridge
- North Sugarloaf
- Breakneck RidgeBreakneck RidgeBreakneck Ridge is a mountain along the Hudson River between Beacon and Cold Spring, New York, straddling the boundary between Dutchess and Putnam counties...
- Bull HillBull HillBull Hill, also known as Mount Taurus, is a mountain north of the village of Cold Spring on the Hudson River in Putnam County in the State of New York. It is part of the river-straddling range known as the Hudson Highlands. The original name came after a bull that used to terrorize the mountain was...
, aka Mt. Taurus - South Redoubt and North Redoubt
- Sugarloaf HillSugarloaf Hill (Hudson Highlands)Sugarloaf Hill is a peak along the Hudson River in Putnam County, New York, part of the Hudson Highlands. It was named by the Dutch for its resemblance in outline to a sugarloaf when sailing up the river towards it.-Topography:...
- White Rock
- Canada Hill
- Anthony's NoseAnthony's Nose (Westchester)Anthony's Nose is a peak along the Hudson River at the north end of Westchester County, New York.- Topography :Anthony's Nose, together with Dunderberg Mountain, comprises the South Gate of the Hudson Highlands...
West Hudson Highlands (north to south)
- Storm King Mountain
- Crow's NestCrow's Nest (New York)Crow's Nest is a mountain along the west bank of the Hudson River in the Town of Highlands on the northern edge of the United States Military Academy at West Point...
- Popolopen TornePopolopenPopolopen is the name of several related landmarks mainly within the Hudson Highlands of Orange County, New York. These include a mountain, Popolopen Torne—or simply "The Torne" and a short and steep-sided nearby valley officially called Hell Hole, but often Popolopen Gorge...
- Bear MountainBear Mountain (Hudson Highlands)Bear Mountain is one of the best-known peaks of New York's Hudson Highlands. Located mostly in Orange County's Town of Highlands, it lends its name to a nearby bridge and the state park that contains it....
- West Mountain
- Bald Mountain
- Dunderberg MountainDunderberg MountainDunderberg Mountain stands at the so-called southern gate of the Hudson Highlands where the region's namesake Hudson River enters a dramatic gorge...
New Jersey Highlands (north to south)
- Pochuck MountainPochuck MountainPochuck Mountain is a ridge in the New York-New Jersey Highlands region of the Appalachian Mountains. Pochuck Mountain's summit and most of its peaks lie within Vernon Township, Sussex County, New Jersey, although the south-western portion of the ridge lies within Hardyston Township, and the...
- Wawayanda MountainWawayanda MountainWawayanda Mountain is a ridge in the New York-New Jersey Highlands region of the Appalachian Mountains. The summit lies within Sussex County, New Jersey.-Geography:...
- Hamburg Mountain
- Sparta Mountain
- Hackettstown Mountain
Reading Prong of Pennsylvania (north to south)
- South MountainSouth Mountain (eastern Pennsylvania)South Mountain is a colloquial name applied to features in the mountain range extending south and south west from the Lehigh Valley to the Lebanon Valley regions of Pennsylvania. At times, it also been known as Durham Hills, Reading Hills, and the Lehigh Mountains...