Did you know that Vermont has a beluga whale as an official state fossil? On Sept. 18 Laura Meyer from the Vermont Master Naturalist (VMN) program presented to us about the glacial geomorphology of Williston and human settlement patterns of the last 13,000 years. It was fascinating to hear about the glacier that sat above Williston at 1.5 miles elevation, ultimately creating Lake Vermont at 625 ft. above sea level before changing to the Champlain Sea (hence the whale) at 325 ft and now leaving Lake Champlain at 95 ft above sea level.
About 2/3 of the land within Williston's borders was covered by water not too long ago, leaving behind clay deposits, except where deltas collected sand particles. The remaining 1/3 is rock, mostly in the southern portion of town, with some notable outcroppings where the Catamount Community Forest is today.
The Vermont Master Naturalist program was founded in 2016. Williston's branch was founded in 2019.
To learn more about the organization, visit https://vermontmasternaturalist.org/.
To see and hear the Laura's talk with our Rotary club, go to: https://youtu.be/xIjxYPIm-PM