Massachusetts, Barnstable County, Eastham
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A bird's eye view of Cape Cod reveals a landscape dimpled with holes. Most of them are nearly round, and many are filled wit water, like Salt Pond in front of you.
A bird's eye view of Cape Cod reveals a landscape dimpled with holes. Most of them are nearly round, and many are filled wit water, like Salt Pond in front of you.Geologists call these intriguing depressions "kettles." They were formed over 18,000 years ago when the gigantic ice-age glaciers that covered this region began to melt.pSalt Pond is unique among the kettles of the outer Cape because it has been captured by the ocean. A tidal channel from Nauset Marsh has breached the opposite side of the kettle, allowing salt water to enter. Water levels rise and fall twice daily with the tides.
"Some of the valleys... are circular, a hundred feet drop without any outlet, as if the Cape had sunk in those places, or it sands had run out."
Cape Cod
Henry David Thoreau
1863
(Natural Features • Natural Resources) Includes location, directions, 6 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
