Submitted by beatsmaestro t3_xvswwo in vermont
I recently purchased a raised relief map of Vermont, and immediately noticed a flat area in the NEK. The westernmost part is at Island pond, and it contains most of the Silvio Conte wildlife refuge.
My immediate thoughts are glaciers or aliens, but was curious if anyone has any more information beyond that.
Image search "topo map vermont" and you'll see what OP means. It must be glacial somehow, but it is weird. It looks volcanic with how round it is.
For people wondering here’s a picture
I think what you are looking at is the Nulhegan Basin. Google for "Nulhegan Basin geologic history". One source: "The Nulhegan Basin was formed when a pool of magma formed within existing metamorphic rock. The magma cooled into a relatively soft granite rock called quartz monzonite. Once erosion wore away the cap of metamorphic rock, the softer monzonite eroded more rapidly than the surrounding metamorphic rock. This resulted in a relatively flat, circular area, roughly 10 miles in diameter, surrounded by hills. " (https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC4J611_the-nulhegan-basin?guid=035bf082-3180-40c9-8190-095bf75b5da1)
This is definitely it!! Thank you, and I appreciate you sharing the link as well with the description!
Oh hey that's kinda neat
Definitely Nulhegan! Super cool area and I believe has a lot of cultural/religious significance for native Americans (although my mind may be making that up).
Thanks for the puzzle! :)
Where did you purchase your raised relief map, if you don’t mind?
Good thing it had 15 blue circles around it. I might have missed it.
I'm reading this post thinking, "reminds me so much of how Willoughby came to formation." Then I viewed the image provided in a comment and yep! I didn't know about Nulhegan Basin, but it is verily close to Willoughby gap which was definitely formed by a glacier long ago. So cool, really cool post and comments all around, TIL for sure!
It's wetlands.
It's actually one of the nicest secret spots in the nek. There are roads and trails throughout. The great northern powerlines run through it and is an extremely popular area for snowmobiles.
Nulhegan is a cool name.
you seem like a fun person
xxKingAmongKingsxx t1_ir2z69r wrote
Pic would be helpful. I’ve spent hours upon hours of my life scouring google maps and google earth, including the NEK, and never noticed it. I’m on google maps right now and not noticing anything, even utilizing the 2D topographical view.
Realistically it’s probably from glaciers. That’s what almost all of our land formations in this region come from