gradual. The eastern foot has a very uniform altitude of from
900 to 1000 ft. above the sea. The crest of the ridge is from 600
to 1200 ft. W. of the foot, and from 450 to 600 ft. above it. At
the Water Gap the ridge is cut through to its base, and the Delaware
river flows through the opening. This gap, 900 ft. wide at the
base and 4500 ft. wide at the top, with sides rising very abruptly
to a height of 1200 ft. and more, is an impressive sight. The
Kittatinny Valley, S.E. of and parallel to the Kittatinny Range, is
about 40 m. long and 12 m. wide and has an average elevation of
700 ft. Its western margin is from 900 to 1000 ft. above the sea,
and its eastern border is from 400 to 500 ft. lower. The floor of the
valley is very undulating, and contains numerous small streams,
whose divides are from 700 to 900 ft. above the sea. South-east of
the Kittatinny Valley, and parallel with it, lies the second topographic
belt, the Highlands. This region embraces an area of
900 sq. m., having a length, N.E. and S.W., of 60 m., and a width
varying from 9 to 18 m. It consists of an upland plateau now
dissected by streams into a series of hills and ridges, and corresponds
to the Piedmont Belt farther to the S.W. and to the upland region
of southern New England. The average elevation of the Highlands
is about 1000 ft.; the highest point, between Canisteer and Vernon,
in Sussex county, being 1496 ft. The third belt, called the Triassic
Lowland, occupies about one-fifth of the surface of the state. Its
N.W. border is marked by a line drawn S.W. across the state through
Pompton, Morristown, Lebanon and Highbridge to the Delaware;
its S.E. border by a line drawn from Woodbridge to Trenton. The
surface is irregular, with altitudes ranging from about sea-level to
900 ft. A noteworthy feature of this area is the series of trap rock
ridges, between which the Passaic river makes its irregular way
through a region of flat bottom lands. On the N. E. border of the
Lowland, one of these trap ridges lines the western bank of the
Hudson river for about 25 m., and is known as the Palisade Ridge,
or simply the Palisades, because of the scenic effect produced by
the columnar jointing and steep eastern wall of the trap sheet.
To the W. the slope of the ridge is very gentle. The Palisades extend
from a point N. of the New York boundary as far S. as Weehawken,
their height gradually decreasing southward. A slope of débris
occurs at the E. base of the Palisade Ridge, but the summit is
covered with trees. The trap formation extends to the Kill van Kull
Channel, and includes, among other ridges, the so-called First and
Second Watchung (or Orange) Mountains W. of the group of suburbs
known as the “Oranges,” but S. of Weehawken it has no scenic
attractiveness. With the exception of the ridges, the Triassic Lowland
N. of the Raritan river is usually below 200 ft. in altitude;
S. of the Raritan the topography of this belt is similar to the northern
portion, but much of the area is over 200 ft. above the sea. South-east
of the Triassic Lowland lies the fourth topographic belt, the
Coastal Plain, containing an area of 4400 sq. m., or slightly more
than one-half the entire surface of the state. This belt, bordered
on the E., S. and W. by water, is highest near its centre and lowest
along its margins. It is free from mountainous ridges, but there
are a number of isolated hills, such as the Navesink Highlands
(259 ft.) in Monmouth county. One-third of the Coastal Plain is
below 50 ft. in altitude; two-fifths are between 50 and 100 ft.;
and somewhat more than a fourth of the area is over 100 ft. above
sea-level. The total area of the belt as high as 200 ft. above the sea
does not exceed 15 sq. m. About one-eighth of the area consists
of tidal marsh, lying chiefly between the long sandy ridges or barrier
beaches of the Atlantic coast and the mainland. The width of the
marsh varies from 1 to 6 m., being least in the extreme N. and S.
and greatest near the mouths of streams. There is also a marsh
along Delaware Bay, unprotected by a beach. The waters between
these beaches and the mainland are gradually filling with sediment
and changing into tidal marsh. In addition to the stretches of marsh
along the coast, the eastward-flowing rivers of the Coastal Plain are
fringed with large areas of swamp land, some of which is well
forested.
For the entire state the average elevation is 250 ft., with 4100 sq. m. below 100 ft.; 2100 sq. m. between 100 and 500 ft.; 1400 sq. m. between 500 and 1000 ft.; and 215 sq. m. between 1000 and 1500 ft. The four topographic belts of the state correspond very closely to the outcrops of its geological formations; the rocks of the Appalachian belt being of Palaeozoic age; the formation of the Highlands, Archaean; that of the Triassic Lowland, Triassic; that of the irregular hills of the Coastal Plain, Cretaceous and Tertiary.
The great terminal moraine of the glacial epoch crosses the N.E.-S.W. topographic belts of the state, in an irregular line running W. and N.W., from Staten Island, N.Y. North of the morainic belt the effect of the glaciation is seen in the irregular courses of the streams, the numerous lakes and freshwater marshes and the falls and rapids along those streams displaced by the glaciers from their former courses. The effect of glaciation on the soil is noted in a later paragraph.
The Delaware river, from its junction with the Neversink Creek to the capes, flows along the western and southern borders of the state for a distance of 245 m., and has a total drainage area in New Jersey of 2345 sq. m. Of equal importance is the Hudson, whose lower waters, forming the north-eastern boundary of New Jersey for a distance of 22 m., drain a very small part of the state, but have contributed materially to the state’s commercial development. The streams lying wholly within the state are relatively unimportant. Of the tributaries to the Delaware river the northernmost is Flat Brook, 25 m. long, draining an area of 65 sq. m. W. of the Kittatinny Mountain. The Kittatinny Valley is drained by Paulins Kill and the Pequest river in the E. and S.E., and by the Walkill river in the N.E. Of the streams of the Highlands and the Triassic Lowland, the Passaic river is the most important. Rising in the N.E.—in the southern part of Morris county—it pursues a winding north-easterly course, passing through a gap in the trap rock at Little Falls, and by means of a cascade and a mile of rapids descends 40 ft. At Paterson, 3 m. farther, the stream passes through a crevasse in the trap rock and has a sheer fall of 70 ft. (the Great Falls of the Passaic).[1] The stream then makes a sharp bend southward and empties into Newark Bay.[2] The Passaic and its small tributaries—the Whippany, Rockaway, Pequanac, Wanaque, Saddle and Ramapo—drain an area of about 950 sq. m. On account of the rapid fall of its tributaries, the union of so many of them with the main stream near its middle course and the obstructions to the flow of the water in the lower course, the Passaic is subject to disastrous floods. In 1903 a heavy rainfall caused a flood which continued from the 8th to the 19th of October and destroyed not less than $7,000,000 worth of property. Another, which continued from the 25th of February to the 9th of March 1902, destroyed property valued at $1,000,000 or more, and there were less disastrous floods in 1882 and 1896.[3] The Hackensack river enters the state about 5 m. W. of the Hudson river, flows almost parallel with that stream, and empties into Newark Bay, having a length of 34 m. and a drainage area of 201 sq. m. The Raritan river, flowing eastwardly through the centre of the state, is the largest stream lying wholly within New Jersey, and drains 1105 sq. m. Commercially, however, this stream is less important than the Passaic. In the southern half of the state the drainage is simple, and the streams are unimportant, flowing straight to the Delaware or the Atlantic. The westward streams are only small creeks; the eastward and southward streams, however, on account of the wider slope, have greater length. Among the latter are the Maurice river, 33 m. long, emptying into Delaware Bay; and the Great Egg Harbor river, 38 m. long, and the Mullica, 32 m. long, emptying into the Atlantic. In the northern part of the state, and especially among the Highlands, are numerous lakes, which are popular places of resort during the summer months. Of these the largest and the most frequented are Lake Hopatcong, an irregular body of water in Morris and Sussex counties, and Greenwood Lake, lying partly in New York and partly in New Jersey.
Fauna and Flora.—The fauna of New Jersey does not differ materially from that of the other Middle Atlantic states. Large game has almost disappeared. The red, or Virginia, deer and the grey fox are still found in circumscribed localities; and of the smaller mammals, the squirrel, chipmunk, rabbit, raccoon and opossum are still numerous. Among game birds are various species of ducks, the quail, or “Bob White,” and the woodcock. The waters of the coast and bays abound in shad, menhaden, bluefish. weak-fish (squeteague), clams and oysters. The interior streams are stocked with trout, black bass and perch.
The conditions of plant growth are varied. In the northern and north central parts of the state, where the soil consists partly of glacial drift, the species have a wider range than is the case farther S., where the soil is more uniform. New Jersey is a meeting ground for many species which have their principal habitat farther N. or farther S., and its flora therefore may be divided into a northern and a southern. Still another class, and the most clearly marked of all, is the flora of the beaches, salt marshes and meadows. The total woodland area of the state is about 3234 sq. m. Two distinct types of forest are recognized, with the usual transition zone between them. South and east of a line drawn approximately from Seabright to Glassboro, and thence southward to Delaware Bay, is a nearly level, sandy region known as “The Pines.” This is the great forest area of the state; it contains about 1,200,000 acres of woodland, practically continuous, and portions of it still but sparsely inhabited. The original forest has been entirely removed, but a young growth of the same tree species, chiefly pitch pine with a variety of oaks, replaces it. Within “The Pines,” immediately north of the Mullica river, lies an area of about 20,000 acres called “The Plains.” These are sparsely clothed with prostrate pitch pine, scrub oak and laurel. Tree forms are entirely absent. The cause of this condition is still undetermined. Along the streams in this section are many swamps, valuable for the white cedar that they produce, or when cleared, for
cranberry bogs. The northern part of the state is much more rugged,- ↑ As the waters of the stream have been diverted into mill races, the river very seldom makes this leap in its natural channel. The power thus generated has been largely instrumental in creating the city of Paterson (q.v.).
- ↑ The total length of the Passaic is about 100 m., but its course is so irregular that the distance in a straight line from its source to its mouth is only about 15 m.
- ↑ See G. B. Hollister and M. O. Leighton, The Passaic Flood of 1902 (Washington, 1903), and M. O. Leighton, The Passaic Flood of 1903 (Washington, 1904), being numbers 88 and 92 of the Water Supply and Irrigation Papers of the U.S. Geological Survey.
