Geology and Ecology Surrounding Dia Beacon, Ny

GEOLOGY AND ECOLOGY SURROUNDING DIA BEACON, NY
Dia: Beacon, being located an
hour and a half from New York City, is
one of the largest and most impressive
depositories for modern art. The
building is just along the Hudson River,
in Dutchess County. On the other side
is Newburgh, which can be accessed
by I-84 highway, only a mile from Dia.
The site features a view of greenery
and water all around the building, it
creates a sort of illusion in a way that
one would forget there are residential
developments not five hundred feet
from the building. Because it is right next
to train tracks and a station, it makes it
easy for travelers to visit the museum.
Throughout the site, rich environmental
conditions make Beacon an interesting
location to study. This paper will discuss
various elements of the terrain; the
ecological and geological components
that Dia Beacon stands upon.

ECOLOGY
Ecology is the exchanges (energy, habitat) between the
populations of organisms and their environment. Beacon is a
relatively small town of about fourteen thousand residents. The
biome is a cross between wetland and deciduous forest. Citizens
and visitors alike will often travel through the vast amount of
nature trails and brooks nearby. Breakneck Ridge, Squirrel Hollow
and Gordofffffffns Brook, and Beacon Reservoir are all relatively
close. The city is in between the Hudson River on the West, the
Hudson Highlands mountain range on the South East, with the cities
Glenham and Castle Point to the north. The total area of Beacon
stretches to about five square miles (0.1 square mile of that is water).
Despite how urban the city can appear, the mountains
and areas abundant in trees are home to interesting wildlife and
plantlife. The animals of Dutchess County residing in both farms and
the wild include chickens, cows, sheep, alpacas, deer, ducks, geese,
goats, pheasants, raccoons, minks, beavers, porcupines, and turkeys,
among others. Animals such as black bears and bobcats, however, are
found in the more rural areas of the county, not near Beacon. Along
the Hudson River, various fish, frogs, turtles, newts, and snakes are
present. The region includes various plants such as the ones listed,
as well as many deciduous trees like River Birch and Red Maple.
For the climate in Dutchess County, the winters are cold and the summers are mostly warm with occasional
heat waves, unlike northern New York which tends to be much colder. In the winter the average temperature 26
degrees Fahrenheit. The average minimum temperature during the winter is 16 degrees. In the summer, the average
temperature is 68 degrees. The daily maximum
temperature during the summer is 80 degrees.
Rain is not usually distributed often
throughout the year. The annual precipitation is
roughly about 22 inches. Which around 55 percent
of the rainfall occurs in April through September.
Thunderstorms occur only 26 days a year and
most of them occur during the summer time. The
average amount of seasonal snowfall is about
49 inches (compared to Syracuse’s average of
123.8 inches, Beacon has less harsh of a climate
in winter).In the afternoon, the humidity is about
60 percent.At dawn and during nightfall, the
humidity is much higher, around 80 percent. The
sun only shines about 60 percent during the summer. During the winter, the sun only shines about 45 percent
of the time. The average wind speed is about 11 miles per hour, one percent more than the state average.
GEOLOGY
Equally as important to what is on land, are the contents beneath, or the
geology. Geology refers to the Earth’s structure and materials, as well as the history
of said materials and how the terrain was configured millions of years ago. To further
understand our site, we will examine the ground from which Dia Beacon sits, and
the layers beneath that earth. Beacon exhibits relatively flat terrain, approximately
Beacon
three hundred feet above sea level. Because of mining and fuel purposes, the natural
resources in this area are now depleted. The bedrock consists of worn, eroded
sedimentary rock such as shale, greywacke, and siltstone. The type of bedrock
in the area wis Austin Glen Graywacke. This type of bedrock is a sedimentary
rock formed by the cementing of muds and sands. They are also clay-rich.
Additionally, the geological history is something worth discussing. Over
the years, the natural landscape has drastically changed. Man-made alterations in
topography have increased flooding and ponding of water on roads have occured
where it has never been reported before. Millions of years ago, Dutchess County
was completely covered by glacial ice during the last ice age. There is a soil unit
Beacon
that is in the area which is the Cardigan-Dutchess-Nassau. These soils are on
hills that were formed by glacial tills that were influenced by underlying shale
bedrock. The type of soil that could be in Beacon is the Nassau soil. In Dutchess
County, it forms a wide band extending from the town in the Northeast to the
city of Beacon. They have deep soils that are usually farmed and are chiefly
composed of Bernardston soils. This type of the soil are very deep, well drained
and moderately well drained. They have a
medium texture and a dense substratum.
This type of soil is excessively drained.
They are about 10 to 20 inches deep into
shale bedrock. They have a channery
silt loam surface. The permeability is
very moderate throughout the soil.

Works Cited
Dutchess Tourism. “Dutchess County Tourism.” Dutchess County Tourism,
www.dutchesstourism.com/farm-animals-of-dutchess-county.
Dutchess Tourism. “Dutchess County Wildlife.” Dutchess County Tourism, 2018,
www.dutchesstourism.com/wildlife-on-the-hudson-river.
“Geology and Topography of Dutchess County, NY.” Roy T. Budnik, Jeffery R Walker, Kristen Menking, May
2010, www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/Planning/nrichapthree.pdf.
Kiviat, Erik. “Vegatation of Dutchess County, New York.” Hudsonrivervalley, 1980,
www.hudsonrivervalley.org/review/pdfs/hvrr_1pt2_kiviat.pdf.
Larsen, Helena Bajaj. “Dia:Beacon.” Culture Trip, 19 June 2015,
www.theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/dia-beacon/.
“1985 Natural Resource Inventory.” Dutchess County Environmental Management Council (EMC), 9 Dec. 2009,
www.dutchessemc.org/projects/dutchess-county-nri/1985-nri/.
USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service. “Soil Survey of Dutchess County, New York.” Nrcs.usda.org, 2001,
www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_MANUSCRIPTS/new_york/NY027/0/Dutchess.pdf.

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GEOLOGY AND ECOLOGY SURROUNDING DIA BEACON, NY

Dia: Beacon, being located an

hour and a half from New York City, is

one of the largest and most impressive

depositories for modern art. The

building is just along the Hudson River,

in Dutchess County. On the other side

is Newburgh, which can be accessed

by I-84 highway, only a mile from Dia.

The site features a view of greenery

and water all around the building, it

creates a sort of illusion in a way that

one would forget there are residential

developments not five hundred feet

from the building. Because it is right next

to train tracks and a station, it makes it

easy for travelers to visit the museum.

Throughout the site, rich environmental

conditions make Beacon an interesting

location to study. This paper will discuss

various elements of the terrain; the

ecological and geological components

that Dia Beacon stands upon.

Ecology is the exchanges (energy, habitat) between the

populations of organisms and their environment. Beacon is a

relatively small town of about fourteen thousand residents. The

biome is a cross between wetland and deciduous forest. Citizens

nature trails and brooks nearby. Breakneck Ridge, Squirrel Hollow

and Gordofffffffns Brook, and Beacon Reservoir are all relatively

Despite how urban the city can appear, the mountains

and areas abundant in trees are home to interesting wildlife and

plantlife. The animals of Dutchess County residing in both farms and

goats, pheasants, raccoons, minks, beavers, porcupines, and turkeys,

temperature is 68 degrees. The daily maximum

temperature during the summer is 80 degrees.

Rain is not usually distributed often

throughout the year. The annual precipitation is

roughly about 22 inches. Which around 55 percent

of the rainfall occurs in April through September.

Thunderstorms occur only 26 days a year and

most of them occur during the summer time. The

average amount of seasonal snowfall is about

49 inches (compared to Syracuse’s average of

123.8 inches, Beacon has less harsh of a climate

in winter).In the afternoon, the humidity is about

60 percent.At dawn and during nightfall, the

humidity is much higher, around 80 percent. The

Equally as important to what is on land, are the contents beneath, or the

Additionally, the geological history is something worth discussing. Over

and moderately well drained. They have a

medium texture and a dense substratum.

This type of soil is excessively drained.

They are about 10 to 20 inches deep into

shale bedrock. They have a channery

silt loam surface. The permeability is

very moderate throughout the soil.

Dutchess Tourism. “Dutchess County Tourism.” Dutchess County Tourism,

Dutchess Tourism. “Dutchess County Wildlife.” Dutchess County Tourism, 2018,