Galilee Salt Marsh

Physical Characteristics

How did glaciers play a part in the formation of a salt marsh?

The salt marsh we are visiting is located in the southern part of Narragansett, RI and encompasses Point Judith Neck and Little Neck, Rhode Island (See Base SM map). This landscape is essentially flat. Its maximum elevation is 100 feet above sea level.

During the last glacial period large amounts of soil were deposited creating an irregular landscape along the Rhode Island coast. Soil and rock were pushed ahead of the moving glaciers. When the glaciers stopped they left in front of them mounds of soil and rock, often hundreds of feet thick. These mounds are called terminal moraines. (The southern end of the last ice sheet that visited this part of New England created what is known as the Charlestown Moraine. It extends across the southern part of Rhode Island from Westerly to Narragansett.) (See State Geo map)

Left behind the terminal moraine is glacial till, a layer of soil composed of many different sized particles. These soils deposited by the glaciers blocked already existing waterways and thus created several small ponds and many swamps, especially on Point Judith Neck. West of Point Judith Neck is Point Judith Pond, also known as the Great Salt Pond.