ision closed an ancient ocean called Iapetos, sandwiched in a group of minicontinents called Avalonia and formed a supercontinent referred to by geologists as Pangaea from the Greek meaning “all-lands”. Connecticut is one area where these large continents were welded together. As this supercontinent started to pull apart separating North America , Europe, and Africa, the remnants of this welding stuck to the edges of these new continents. Much of Connecticut is the remnant of the welding of these continents. A small portion of Connecticut is what was once the small continents of Avalonia which were sandwiched during the collision. This portion reaches along the eastern shoreline of Connecticut westward and stops at Lighthouse Point. The geology we find at Lighthouse Point is very different from what we find elsewhere in New Haven. The granite formations at Lighthouse Point are much older than the basalt outcrops we find across Morris Cove at Nathan Hale Park or across New Haven Harbor to the volcanic rock west of New Haven. Since the rock we find is so different in type, age, and formation, the beaches and ecology we would find would also differ.
Lighthouse Point Park is now an 84 acre park which lies on the east side of New Haven harbor reaching out into Long Island Sound. Lighthouse Point was formed out of high temperatures and pressure and landscaped by glacier activity. The bedrock is billion year old granite. The Eastern Border Fault otherwise known as the Great Fault runs between Lighthouse point and the rest of New Haven. The point is flatland and saltmarsh which proves to be a natural draw for migrating birds following the coastline on the Atlantic flyway. A large area of the park in the northeast corner is designated as a bird sanctuary to give protection to these birds. While East Rock Park is known for its migrating warbler population, Lighthouse Point is just as well known for its coastal migrating hawk population. Throughout the fall, thousands of hawks of different varieties, falcons, osprey, and occasionally eagles can be sighted. An average count of twenty thousand raptors can be seen during the migration season. Thousands of songbirds migrate through Lighthouse Point during the fall also. Again the wetlands provide a place for them to rest and take advantage of the abundant food source before moving on.
Lighthouse Point has a variety of coastal communities that we can explore and learn about. These would include salt wetlands, rocky shoreline, and sandy beaches, all of which contain an intertidal zone, the area between the high-and low-tide lines. Tides and wave action are two of the most important factors which shape our coast. These two factors can also change a habitat dramatically every day. The tide rises and falls twice a day and during these times animals and plants who live within the intertidal zones need to withstand changes in temperature, moisture levels, and sometimes even salinity changes. Marine animals and plants have adapted in ways so as to survive these daily changes in their habitats.
Along the rocky shore we find animals and plants we would not see living at the sandy beach or the salt marsh. These marine organisms have found their own way of surviving the harsh action of waves against rocks and the rise and fall of the water. Animals and plant material either are anchored onto the rocks themselves such as barnacles, mussels, or seaweeds, or they hide in cracks such as crabs or seastars, or they bend with the waves as seaweeds do while floating on the waters surface while anchored to rocks. As the tide goes out, many animals, to avoid drying out, will pull their bodies into their shells and become inactive like the periwinkle. Others like crabs will lay under the protective moist layering of seaweed. As the tide goes out there are also left behind small pools of water in depressions and crevices in rocks. Many different animals and plants inhabit these pools during low tide including algae, anemones, hermit crabs, sea stars, and even tiny fish. They wait for the water level to rise a