The Outer Lands is the prominent
terminal moraine
A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...
archipelagic region off the southern coast of
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
in the United States. This eight-county region of
Massachusetts
Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...
,
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
, and
New York, comprises the peninsula of
Cape Cod
Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...
and the islands of
Nantucket,
Martha's Vineyard, the
Elizabeth Islands
The Elizabeth Islands are a chain of small islands extending southwest from the southern coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts in the United States. They are located at the outer edge of Buzzards Bay, north of Martha's Vineyard, from which they are ...
, the
Narragansett Bay Islands,
Block Island,
Long Island, and
Staten Island, as well as surrounding islands and islets.
Though the existence of an arc or chain of islands in this archipelago is widely acknowledged by geographers, it is rarely given a specific name; occasionally a descriptive term such as southern New England islands or a technical term such as Cape Cod/Long Island ecoregion
or Long Island-Cape Cod Coastal Lowland
is used. The Isles of Stirling was the name granted in 1635 when the islands came into the possession of
William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling
William Alexander, 1st Earl of Stirling (c. 1567 in Menstrie, Clackmannanshire12 February 1640) was a Scottish courtier and poet who was involved in the Scottish colonisation of Charles Fort, later Port-Royal, Nova Scotia in 1629 and Long I ...
. "Outer Lands" is a term popularized by author
Dorothy Sterling
Dorothy Sterling (née Dannenberg; November 23, 1913 – December 1, 2008) was an American writer and historian. After college, she worked as a journalist and writer in New York for several years, including work for the Federal Writers’ Pr ...
in her 1967 natural history guide of the same name, and used by later natural history authors such as
Patrick J. Lynch.
Divisions
The Massachusetts section is often called the "Cape and Islands", with the "Islands" subregion very specifically referring to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, and other smaller islands in
Dukes
Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranke ...
and
Nantucket counties.
Long Island is often informally considered a part of the "New York islands", together with
Staten Island and
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. These islands are geographically contiguous with the broader region. (The insular Massachusetts sections were actually part of the
Province of New York
The Province of New York (1664–1776) was a British proprietary colony and later royal colony on the northeast coast of North America. As one of the Middle Colonies, New York achieved independence and worked with the others to found the U ...
for most of the late 17th century.)
Other islands in
Long Island Sound and
Rhode Island Sound
Rhode Island Sound is a strait of water off the coast of the U.S. state of Rhode Island at the mouth of Narragansett Bay. It forms the eastern extension of Block Island Sound and opens out the Atlantic Ocean between Block Island and Martha's Vin ...
are also included often.
Rarely,
Sandy Hook
Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States.
The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern ...
in New Jersey is included.
Geology
The Outer Lands forms the insular northeasternmost extension of North America's
Atlantic coastal plain. The islands of the Outer Lands were formed of
terminal moraine
A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front edge ...
s deposited on a series of
cuesta
A cuesta (from Spanish ''cuesta'' "slope") is a hill or ridge with a gentle slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other. In geology the term is more specifically applied to a ridge where a harder sedimentary rock overlies a softer laye ...
s by the recession of the
Laurentide Ice Sheet
The Laurentide Ice Sheet was a massive sheet of ice that covered millions of square miles, including most of Canada and a large portion of the Northern United States, multiple times during the Quaternary glacial epochs, from 2.58 million year ...
during the
Wisconsin glaciation
The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cord ...
.
Some of the islands are included in the archipelago due to proximity, despite key geological differences, such as
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, actually part of the
Manhattan Prong The Manhattan Prong of the New England Uplands is a smaller belt of ancient rock in southern New York (including Manhattan, the Bronx, and segments of Brooklyn and Staten Island), parts of Westchester County, and upland portions of southwestern Co ...
.
The islands are separated from the mainland by a series of bays and sounds that used to make up
Lake Connecticut
Glacial Lake Connecticut formed over what is now Long Island Sound and coastal Connecticut at the fore edge of the ice sheet of the Wisconsin glaciation, as the lobe of the Laurentide Ice Sheet began to retreat, some 18 to 20,000 years before pres ...
,
Lake Narragansett, and other glacial lakes.
Ecology
For eastern Long Island and areas east, the region is designated
Environmental Protection Agency ecoregion 84 for the
Atlantic coastal pine barrens, with the majority 84a for "Cape Cod/Long Island", and along the Long Island south shore 84c for "
Barrier Islands
Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a f ...
/Coastal Marshes". Western Long Island and along the north shore is largely 59g for "
Long Island Sound Coastal Lowland", a part of the broader Northeastern Coastal Zone.
The region is designated the "Long Island-Cape Cod Coastal Lowland",
Major Land Resource Area 149B, by the United States Department of Agriculture, which also includes Staten Island.
Culture
The region has historically had a strong maritime culture, with an emphasis on fishing. From eastern Long Island east, much of the region has in recent decades taken on a
summer colony character.
See also
*
Outer Barrier Islands
The Outer Barrier, also known as the Long Island and New York City barrier islands, refers to the string of barrier islands that divide the lagoons south of Long Island, New York from the Atlantic Ocean. These islands include Long Beach Barrier ...
*
Thimble Islands
The Thimble Islands is an archipelago consisting of small islands in Long Island Sound, located in and around the harbor of Stony Creek in the southeast corner of Branford, Connecticut. The islands are under the jurisdiction of the United Sta ...
*
Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sm ...
*
Cape and Islands
*
New York Islands
*
Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States.
The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern ...
References
{{authority control
Archipelagoes of the Atlantic Ocean
Coastal islands of Massachusetts
Islands of New York (state)
Islands of Rhode Island
Islands of Dukes County, Massachusetts
Landforms of Long Island
Islands of Nantucket, Massachusetts
Geographical neologisms
Moraines of the United States
Archipelagoes of the United States
Geography of New England
Coastal islands of Rhode Island