The Hudson River is a 315-km river that flows from north to south primarily through eastern New York in the United States. The river comes from the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York, flowing through the Hudson Valley, and eventually flows into the Atlantic Ocean, between New York City and Jersey City. The river serves as the political boundary between the states of New Jersey and New York, and further north between New York territories. The lower half of the river is the tidal estuary, deeper than the body of water where it flows, occupying the Hudson Fjord, an inlet formed during the latest period of North American glaciation, estimated at 26,000 to 13,300 years ago. The tidal water affects the Hudson flow from the north as far as Troy.
The river is named after Henry Hudson, an English sailor for the Dutch East India Company, who explored it in 1609, and after whom Hudson Bay Hudson was also named. It had previously been observed by Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano sailing for King Francis I of France in 1524, when he became the first European known to have entered Upper New York Bay, but he regarded the river as an estuary. The Dutch called the river the North River - with the Delaware River called the South River - and it formed the bones of the Dutch colony in New Netherland. The colony's settlements swarmed around the Hudson, and its strategic importance as a gateway into the interior of America led to years of competition between England and the Netherlands over the control of rivers and colonies.
During the eighteenth century, the river valley and its inhabitants were the subject and inspiration of Washington Irving, the first internationally acclaimed American author. In the nineteenth century, the area inspired paintings of the Hudson River, American pastoral style, and environmental and wilderness concepts. The Hudson is also an eastern outlet for the Erie Canal, which, when completed in 1825, became an important transportation artery for the early 19th century United States.
Video Hudson River
Course
Source
The source of the Hudson River is the Cloud Teardrop in the Adirondack Park at an altitude of 4,322 feet (1,317 m). However, the river is not cartographically called the Hudson River for miles downstream. The river is called Feldspar Brook until its encounter with Calamity Brook, and then named Calamity Brook until it reaches Indian Pass Brook, flowing south from the Lake Henderson outlet. Since then, the river is cartographically known as the Hudson River. The US Geological Survey (USGS) uses this cartographic definition.
The longest source of the Hudson River as shown on the most detailed USGS map is the "Opalescent River" on the western slope of Little Marcy Mountain, which is two miles north of Clouds Teardrop, a few miles past Lands Dialiri, to the Hudson River. and a mile longer than "Feldspar Brook", which flows out of the lake in the Adirondack Mountains. However, popular culture and conventions, more often than not, cite Photographic Tears from the Cloud as the source.
Upper Hudson River
Using the river name as seen on the map, the Indian Pass Brook flows into Henderson Lake, and the outlet from Henderson Lake flows to the east and meets the Calamity River that flows southwest. The meeting of the two rivers is where the map begins to use the name of the Hudson River. Just south of Sanford Lake, the Opalescent River flows into Hudson.
Hudson then flows southward, picking up at Beaver Brook and an outlet from Harris Lake. After his encounter with the Indian River, Hudson formed the boundary between Essex and Hamilton districts. In the North River hamlet, the Hudson River flows completely in Warren County and takes on the Schroon River. Further south, the river forms the boundary between Warren and Saratoga County. The river then takes on the Sacandaga River from Great Sacandaga Lake. Shortly thereafter, the river left Adirondack Park, flowing below Interstate 87, and through Glens Falls, just south of Lake George although it did not receive the river flow from the lake. This goes beyond Hudson Falls. At this point the river forms a line between Washington and Saratoga County. Here the river has a height of 200 feet. Just south of Fort Edward, the river reaches its meeting with the Champlain Channel, which historically provides vessel traffic between New York City and Montreal and the rest of Eastern Canada via Hudson, Lake Champlain and Saint Lawrence Seaway. Further south, Hudson takes water from the River Kill Bull and Fish Creek near Schuylerville. The river then forms the boundary between Saratoga and Rensselaer counties. The river then enters the heart of the Capital District. It takes in water from the Hoosic River, which runs into Massachusetts. Soon the river met the Mohawk River, the largest tributary on the Hudson River, in Waterford. The river then reaches the Federal Dam in Troy, marking a river shelter. At a height of 2 feet (0.61 m), the lower part of the dam marks the beginning of the tidal influences on the Hudson as well as the beginning of the lower Hudson River.
Lower Hudson River
In the south of the Federal Dam, the Hudson River began to widen. The river enters the Hudson Valley, flowing along the western edge of Albany and the eastern edge of Rensselaer. Interstate 90 crosses Hudson to Albany at this point on the river. Hudson then left the Capital District, forming a line between Greene and Columbia County. It later meets a meeting with Schodack Creek, widening considerably at this time. After flowing by Hudson, the river forms a line between Ulster and Columbia County and Ulster and Dutchess Counties, passing Germantown and Kingston. The Delaware and Hudson Channels meet the river at this point. The river then flows by Hyde Park, the former residence of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and next to the town of Poughkeepsie, flowing under the Walkway through the Hudson and Mid-Hudson Bridge. Afterwards, Hudson passes the Wappingers Falls and picks up at Wappinger Creek. The river then forms the boundary between Orange and Dutchess Counties. It flows between Newburgh and Beacon and under the Newburgh Beacon Bridge, taking in Fishkill Creek. In this area, between Gee's Point at the US Military Academy and Constitution Island, the area known as "The End of the World" marks the deepest part of the Hudson, at 202 feet (62 m). Shortly thereafter, the river enters the Hudson plateau between Putnam and Orange County, flowing between mountains like Mount Storm King, Breakneck Ridge, and Bear Mountain. The river narrows enough here before flowing beneath the Bear Mountain Bridge, which connects Westchester and the Rockland Counties.
After that, leaving the Hudson Plateau, the river enters Haverstraw Bay, the widest point of the river at 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide. Shortly thereafter, the river forms Tappan Zee and flows beneath Tappan Zee Bridge, which brings Thruway New York State between Tarrytown and Nyack in Westchester and Rockland Counties respectively. In the New Jersey state line, west bank Hudson entered Bergen County. Palisades is a huge rocky cliff along the west bank of the river; also known as Bergen Hill at their lower end in Hudson County. Further south down the east bank of the river into Yonkers and then the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. South of the Hudson River and Spuyten Duyvil meeting, the eastern edge of the river becomes Manhattan. This river is sometimes still called the North River at this point. The George Washington Bridge crosses the river between Fort Lee and the Manhattan neighborhood in Washington Heights. The Lincoln Tunnel and the Dutch Tunnel are also opposite under the river between Manhattan and New Jersey. South of the Battery, the right river ends, meets the East River to form Upper New York Bay, also known as New York Harbor. The flow continues through the Narrows between Brooklyn and Staten Island, under the Verrazano Bridge, and to Lower New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean.
Maps Hudson River
Geography and DAS
The lower Hudson is actually a tidal estuary, with tidal influences stretching as far as the Federal Dam in Troy. There are about two high and two low tides per day. As the tide rises, the tidal currents move north, taking enough time that part of the river can be in the tide while the other part can be at the bottom of the low tide.
Strong waves make parts of New York Harbor difficult and dangerous to navigate. During the winter, ice clumps float south or northward, depending on the tides. The name of the river Mahican represents a portion of its estuary of nature: muh-he-kun-ne-tuk means "two-way river." Due to tidal influences from the oceans extending into Troy, NY, freshwater discharge is only about 17,400 cubic feet (490 m 3 ) per second on average. The average fresh water drain at the mouth of a river in New York is about 21,900 cubic feet (620 m 3 ) per second.
The Hudson River is 315 miles (507 km) long, with a depth of 30 feet (9.1 m) for the southern outskirts of the Federal Dam, dred to maintain the river as a delivery route. Some parts there are about 160 meters deep, and the deepest part of Hudson, known as the "End of the World" (between the US Military Academy and Constitution Island) has a depth of 202 feet (62 m).
The Hudson and its tributaries, especially the Mohawk River, drain an area of ​​13,000 square miles (34,000 km 2 ), the Hudson River. It covers most of New York, as well as parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Vermont.
Parts of the Hudson River form a small bay, such as Weehawken Cove in the towns of Hoboken and Weehawken in New Jersey.
Salinity
New York Harbor, between the Narrows and the George Washington Bridge, has a mixture of fresh water and seas, mixed by wind and tides to create an increased salinity gradient from the top of the river down. This varies by season, weather, variations in water circulation, and other factors; the melting of snow at the end of winter increases the flow of fresh water downstream.
The river salt lines vary from the north in Poughkeepsie in the south at Battery Park in New York City, although it is usually located near Newburgh.
Geology
Hudson is sometimes called, in geological terms, a drowning river. Rising sea levels after the retreat of Wisconsin's glaciation, the latest ice age, have resulted in sea attacks that drown the coastal plains and bring salt water over the mouth of the river. The overflowing old creek beyond the current coastline, Hudson Canyon, is a rich fishing area. Previous layers of the river are clearly illustrated beneath the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, extending to the edge of the continental shelf. As a result of the glaciation and rising sea levels, the lower part of the river is now the tidal estuary that occupies the Hudson Fjord. The Fjord is estimated to have formed between 26,000 and 13,300 years ago.
Along the river, Palisades are metamorphic basalts, or diabases, mainly Highland granites and gneiss with intrusion, and from Beacons to Albany, shale and limestone, or especially sedimentary rocks.
The Narrows most likely formed about 6,000 years ago at the end of the last ice age. Earlier, Staten Island and Long Island were connected, preventing the Hudson River from ending through the Narrows. At that time, the Hudson River was emptied into the Atlantic Ocean through a more western path through northern New Jersey today, along the eastern side of the Watchung Mountains to Bound Brook, New Jersey and then into the Atlantic Ocean via Raritan Bay. The water deposition in Upper New York Bay eventually allows the Hudson River to break through the previous plains connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn to form the Narrows as it is today. This allowed the Hudson River to find a shorter route to the Atlantic Ocean through its current path between New Jersey and New York City.
Suspended sediments, mainly consisting of eroded clays of glacial deposits and organic particles, can be found in abundance in rivers. Hudson has a relatively short history of erosion, so it does not have a large deposition plain near its mouth. The lack of significant sediment near the mouth of the river is different from most other estuaries. Around New York Harbor, the sediment also flows into the estuary from the ocean as the current flows to the north.
Name
The river is called Ca-ho-ha-ta-te-a ("river") by Iroquois, and it is known as Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk ( "two-way flowing river") by the Mohican tribe who previously inhabited the two ledges from the bottom of the river. The Delaware tribe of India (Bartlesville, Oklahoma) considers the Mohan people to be closely related to the people of Lenape, and so Lenape also claimed Hudson as part of their ancestral domain, named the river Muhheakantuck ("flowing river two-way direction").
The first known European name for the river was the Rio San Antonio named by Portuguese explorers in Spain, EstÃÆ'ªvÃÆ'Â £ o Gomes, which explored the Central Atlantic coast in 1525. Another early name for the Hudson used by the Dutch was the Rio de Montaigne . Later, they generally refer to it as Noortrivier , or "North River", Delaware River known as Zuidrivier , or "South River". Other occasional names for Hudson include: Manhattes rieviere "The Manhattan River", Groote Rivier "Great River", and
In 1939, Life magazine described the river as "America's Rhine", comparing it with the stretch of the Rhine over 40 miles (64 km) in Central and Western Europe.
The various stretch of the river has its own historical name, many made by early Dutch explorers and settlers. Stretches all have the same sailing conditions, and the names are commonly used until the early general use of steamers. These names include, from south to north: Great Chip Reach, Tappan Reach, Haverstroo Reach, Achievement of Seylmakers, Crescent or Cook's Reach, Hoge or High Reach, Martyr's or Martelaire Reach, Fisher's Reach, Lange Rack or Long Reach, Vasterack or Vaste Reach, Kleverack or Claverack, Backerack or Baker's Reach, Jan Playsier's Reach, and Hart's or Hunter's Reach.
History
Pre-Columbian era
The area around the Hudson River was inhabited by natives before Europeans arrived. The Lenape, Wappinger, and Mahican branches of Algonquins live along the river, mostly in peace with other groups. Algonquins in this region mainly live in small clans and villages throughout the region. One of the major settlements is called Navish, located at Croton Point, overlooking the Hudson River. Other settlements are located in various locations throughout the Hudson Plateau. Many villagers live in various types of homes, which Algonquins calls wigwams, although large families often live in longhouses that can reach up to a hundred feet long. In the associated villages, they grow corn, beans, and pumpkin. They also collect other types of plant foods, such as hickory beans and many other wild fruits and tubers. In addition to farming, Algonquins also fished in the Hudson River, focusing on a variety of freshwater fish species, as well as various variations of bass stripes, American eels, sturgeon, herring, and shad. Oyster mattresses are also common at the bottom of the river, which provides an additional source of nutrients. The hunting ground consists of turkeys, deer, bears, and other animals.
The Lower Hudson River is inhabited by Lenape, while further north, the Wappingers live from Manhattan Island to Poughkeepsie. They trade with Lenape to the south and Mahansika in the north. The Mahicans live in the northern part of the valley from Kingston that is now to Lake Champlain, with their capital city located near the current Albany.
Exploration and colonization
John Cabot is credited for the discovery of the Old World of the North American continent, with his travels in 1497 along the continent's coast. In 1524, Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano sailed north along the Atlantic coast and into New York Harbor, but he left the port shortly thereafter, without navigating to the Hudson River. In 1598, Dutch men were employed by the Greenland Winter Company in New York Bay. Eleven years later, the Dutch East Indies Company financed British navigator Henry Hudson in his search for the Northwest Traffic Way. During the search, Hudson decided to ship his ship to a river that would later be named after him. His journey into an increasingly widespread river led him to Haverstraw Bay, leading him to believe that he had made it to the Northwest Lane. He landed on the west coast of the bay and claimed the territory for the Netherlands. He then continued upstream as far as the present Troy before concluding that there was no such strait there.
The Dutch then began to colonize the area, establishing a New Dutch colony, including three main feather trading posts: New Amsterdam, Wiltwyck, and Fort Orange. Amsterdam is newly established at the mouth of the Hudson River, and will then be known as New York City. Wiltwyck was founded roughly in the middle of the Hudson River, and later it would become Kingston. Fort Orange was founded on the river north of Wiltwyck, and came to be known as Albany. The Dutch West Indies company operated a monopoly in the area for about twenty years before other entrepreneurs were allowed to set up their own businesses in the colony. In 1647, General Director Peter Stuyvesant took over the management of the colony, and handed it in 1664 to England, which had invaded a very helpless New Amsterdam. New Amsterdam and the New Netherland colony were renamed New York, after the Duke of York.
Under British colonial rule, the Hudson Valley became the center of agriculture. The manor was developed on the east side of the river, and the west side contained much smaller and independent farmland. In 1754, the Albany Plan of Union was formed at Albany City Hall in Hudson. The plan allows the colonies to enter into agreements with Iroquois and provide a framework for the Continental Congress.
Revolution
During the American Revolutionary War, the British realized that the proximity of the river with Lake George and Lake Champlain would allow their navy to control the water route from Montreal to New York City. British General John Burgoyne planned a Saratoga campaign, to control the river and therefore cut the center of the New England patriot (east of the river) from the South and Central Atlantic regions to the west of the river. The move would allow the UK to focus on garnering support from loyalists in the southern states. As a result, many battles occurred along the river and in the nearby waters. These included the Battle of Long Island, in August 1776 and the Battle of Harlem Heights the following month. Later that year, the British and Continental Army engaged in small battles and battles in the big city of Hudson in Westchester County, culminating in the Battle of White Plains.
Also at the end of 1776, the New England militia fortified the sunken point of the river known as the Hudson Plateau, which included building Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery on both sides of the Hudson and metal chains between the two. In 1777, Washington expected Britain to try to control the Hudson River, but they instead conquered Philadelphia, and left a smaller force in New York City, with permission to attack the Hudson Valley at all times. England attacked on October 5, 1777 in the Battle of Forts Clinton and Montgomery by sailing over the Hudson River, looting the Peeksill village and capturing two forts. In 1778, the Continentals built the Great West Point Chain to prevent other British fleets from sailing to Hudson.
Hudson River School
The Hudson River School paintings reflect the theme of discovery, exploration and settlement in America in the mid-19th century. Detailed and idealized paintings also typically depict grazing backgrounds. His works often juxtapose the peace farm and the remaining wilderness, which quickly disappears from the Hudson Valley just as it comes to be appreciated for its rugged quality and majesty. School characterizes the artistic body, its New York location, the subject of its landscape, and often its subject, the Hudson River. In general, artists at Hudson River School believe that nature in the form of the American landscape is an ineffable manifestation of God, though the artists vary in their religious beliefs. Their honor for the natural beauty of America is shared with contemporary American writers such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Artist Thomas Cole is generally recognized as the founder of the Hudson River School, whose first work was reviewed in 1825, while painters Frederic Edwin Church and Albert Bierstadt were the most successful painters in school.
19th century
At the beginning of the 19th century, transportation from the US east coast to the mainland was very difficult. The ship was the fastest vehicle back then, because the train was still being developed and the car was about a century away. To facilitate delivery throughout the country's interior, many canals were built between internal water bodies in the 1800s. One of the most important channels in this era is the Erie Channel. The canal was built to connect the Midwest to the Port of New York, a significant port during that time, through the Great Lakes, canals, the Mohawk River, and the Hudson River. Channel completion enhances West American development, allows settlers to go west, sends goods to markets in border cities, and exports goods through the Hudson River and New York City. The completion of the canal makes New York City one of the most important ports in the country, surpassing the Port of Philadelphia and ports in Massachusetts. After the completion of the Erie Canal, a smaller channel was built to connect it to the new system. The Champlain Channel was built to connect the Hudson River near Troy to the southern end of Lake Champlain. This canal allows seafarers to travel from St. Lawrence Seaway, and then English cities such as Montreal to the Hudson River and New York City. The other main channel is the Oswego Canal, which links the Erie Canal to Oswego and Lake Ontario, and can be used to pass Niagara Falls. The Cayuga-Seneca canal connects the Erie Canal to Lake Cayuga and Seneca Lake. Further south, the Delaware and Hudson Canal are built between the Delaware River in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, and the Hudson River in Kingston, New York. This channel allows coal transportation, and then other items as well, between the Delaware River Basin and the Hudson River. The combination of these canals makes the Hudson River one of the most vital waterways for commerce in the country.
During the Industrial Revolution, the Hudson River became a prime location for production, especially around Albany and Troy. The river allows the transport of goods quickly and easily from the interior of the Northeast to the coast. Hundreds of factories were built around Hudson, in cities including Poughkeepise, Newburgh, Kingston, and Hudson. The North Tarrytown Assembly (later owned by General Motors), on the river in Sleepy Hollow, is a great and important example. The river is connected to the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes, allowing manufacturing in the Midwest, including cars in Detroit, to use the river for transportation. With the industrialization comes new technology for transportation, including steamers for faster transportation. In 1807, North River Steamboat (later known as Clermont), became the first successful commercial steamship. It carries passengers between New York City and Albany along the Hudson River.
The Hudson River Valley also proved to be a good area for railways. The Hudson River Railroad was founded in 1849 on the east side of the river as a way to bring passengers from New York City to Albany. This route was built as an alternative to New York and Harlem Railroad to travel to Albany, and as a way to ease the fears of cities along the river. The train was also used to head to New York City. Further northward, Livingston Avenue Bridge opened in 1866 as a way to connect the Hudson River Railroad to the New York Central Railroad, which leads west to Buffalo. The small railway is north of this point. On the west side of the Hudson River, the West Shore Railroad is opened to carry passenger services from Weehawken, New Jersey to Albany, and then Buffalo. In 1889, the Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge was opened for rail services between Poughkeepsie and the west side of the river.
20th and 21st centuries
Beginning in the 20th century, the technological requirements required to build large crossings across the river were filled. This is very important by New York City, because the river is wide enough at that time. In 1927, the Dutch Tunnel opened between New Jersey and Lower Manhattan. The tunnel is the longest underwater tunnel in the world at the time, and uses sophisticated systems for tunnel ventilation and prevents carbon monoxide accumulation. The original top level of the George Washington Bridge and Lincoln Tunnel followed in the 1930s. In 1955, the original Tappan Zee Bridge was built on one of the widest sections of the river, from Tarrytown to Nyack.
The end of the 20th century suffered a setback in industrial production in the Hudson Valley. In 1993, IBM closed its two factories in East Fishkill and Kingston because IBM lost $ 16 billion over the previous three years. The factory in East Fishkill had 16,300 workers at its peak in 1984, and was opened in 1941 originally as part of a war effort. In 1996, GM's North Tarrytown plant was closed. In response to plant closures, cities across the region are trying to make the region attractive to technology companies. IBM retained the Poughkeepsie mainframe unit, and the construction of newer housing and offices was built nearby as well. The journey from Poughkeepsie to New York City has also increased. Developers are also looking to build GM factory properties long ago.
Around the closing time of the last factories, environmental efforts to clean up the river flourished. For example, GE participated in a cleaning attempt to remove PCBs from its old factory location in Hudson Falls. Cleaning is part of the EPA Superfund site, and consists of 40 miles dredging from the Troy Dam river to Fort Edward to remove possible carcinogens from the ecosystem. Other conservation efforts also occurred, such as when Christopher Swain became the first person to swim along the 315 miles of the Hudson River to support its cleansing.
In relation to conservation efforts, the Hudson River region has seen an economic revitalization, especially one that supports green development. In 2009, the High Line opened in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. This linear park has river views along its length. Also in 2009, the original Poughkeepsie railway bridge, since abandoned, was transformed into Walkway Over the Hudson, a pedestrian park over the river. Emblematic from the increased green development in the area, the waterfront gardens in towns like Kingston, Poughkeepsie, and Beacon are built, and several festivals are held every year.
Landmarks
Many places have been built along Hudson which has since become a landmark. Following the river from its source to the mouth, there are Hudson River State Parks in Greene and Columbia County, and in Dutchess County, there are Bard College, Staatsburgh, Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, Franklin D. Roosevelt home and the presidential library, and the main campus of the Culinary Institute of America, Marist College, Walkway over Hudson, Bannerman's Castle, and Hudson Highlands State Park. Southern in Orange County is the United States Military Academy. In Westchester there are Indian Point Energy Center, Croton Point Park, and Sing Sing Correctional Facility. In New Jersey is the Stevens Institute of Technology and Liberty State Park. In Manhattan there is Fort Tryon Park with Cloisters, and the World Trade Center. Ellis Island is located just south of the mouth of the river in New York Harbor. The Statue of Liberty, located on Liberty Island, lies a little farther south from there.
Landmark and protection status
A stretch of 30 miles (48 km) on the east bank of the Hudson has been designated as Hudson River History District, a National Historic Landmark. The Palisades Commission Interstate Park protects the Palisades on the west bank of the river. The Hudson River was designated as the American Heritage River in 1997. The Hudson River estuary system is part of the Estuarine Research Nature Reserve system as the Hudson River Estuary River Nature Reserve.
Transport and crossing
The Hudson River is navigated by large steamers to Troy, and by ships to the Port of Albany. The original Erie Canal, opened in 1825 to connect Hudson with Lake Erie, was emptied into Hudson at Albany Basin, just 3 miles (4.8 km) south of the Federal Dam at Troy (at 134 miles). The canals allow delivery between cities in the Great Lakes and Europe via the Atlantic Ocean. The New York State Channel System, the successor to the Erie Canal, flows into the Hudson River north of Troy. It also uses Federal Dam as a key.
Along the east side of the river flows the Hudson Metro-North Railroad Line, from Manhattan to Poughkeepsie. The track continues north of Poughkeepsie as the Amtrak train goes further north to Albany. On the western side of the river, CSX Transportation operates a freight line between North Bergen Yard in North Bergen, New Jersey and Selkirk Yard in Selkirk, New York.
The Hudson is crossed at many points by bridges, tunnels, and ferries. The width of the Lower Hudson River requires great skill to cross; Today's results are seen at George Washington Bridge and 1955 Tappan Zee Bridge (replaced by New Tappan Zee Bridge) as well as Lincoln and Holland Tunnels and PATH as well as the Pennsylvania Railroad tubes. The George Washington Bridge, which carries many highways, connects Fort Lee, New Jersey to the Washington Heights neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, and is the world's busiest motor vehicle bridge. The new Tappan Zee Bridge is the longest in New York, though the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge has a larger main range. The Troy Union Bridge between Waterford and Troy was the first bridge over the Hudson; built in 1804 and destroyed in 1909; Its successor, the Troy-Waterford Bridge, was built in 1909. Rensselaer and Saratoga Railroad were rented in 1832 and opened in 1835, including the Green Island Bridge, the second bridge over the Hudson in the south of the Federal Dam.
Pollution
Hudson River sediments contain significant toxic substance compositions, accumulating over decades from industrial sewage disposal, sewage treatment plants, and general runoff. The overall water quality has improved significantly since the 1990s.
The most talked about Hudson River pollution was General Electric's contamination of rivers with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) between 1947 and 1977. This pollution caused many harmful effects on wildlife and people who ate fish from the river or drank water. In response to this contamination, the activists protested in various ways. Musician Pete Seeger founded the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and the Clearwater Festival to draw attention to the problem. Environmental activism encourages the passage of the federal Water Federal Act and the appointment of the federal government over the river as a Superfund site. Other types of pollution, including mercury contamination and waste disposal, have also caused problems. In 1966, in response to pollution in the Hudson River, a group of fishermen formed a group that would later become Riverkeeper, the first of the groups in the Waterkeeper Alliance.
Extensive remediation measures on the river began in the 1970s with the implementation of wastewater discharges and consequent reduction of waste water disposal, and sediment disposal operations, which continued into the 21st century.
Flora and fauna
Plankton
Zooplankton is abundant in all parts of fresh and saltwater streams, and provides an important food source for larvae and young fish.
Invertebrates
Benthic zones have species that are able to live in soft bottom habitats. In freshwater areas, there are animal species including chironomid fly larvae, oligochaete worms, predator fly larvae, and amphipods. In the saline area, there are abundant polychaete annelids, amphipods, and some molluscs like shells. This species digs burrows and accelerates the decomposition of organic matter. Atlantic blue crabs are one of the larger invertebrates, at the northern boundary of their range. The whole of Hudson was once much denser with the original suspension feeding bivalves. Freshwater shells are common in the river limnetic zone, but the population has declined for decades, perhaps from altered habitats and invasive zebra shells. Oyster beds once seeped into the saltwater section, but are now reduced by pollution and exploitation.
Fish
According to the NYSDEC Hudson River Estuary Program, about 220 fish species, including 173 native species, are currently found on the Hudson River. Commercial fishing once stood out in rivers, although most were closed in 1976 due to pollution; only a few survive today. American shad is the only finfish harvested for profit, albeit in limited quantities.
Species include striped bass, the most important game fish in Hudson. Estimated bass striped population in the Hudson range to nearly 100 million fish. The American eel also lives in the river before it reaches the age of mating; for most of this stage they are known as glass eels because of their body transparency. Fish is the only catadromous species in the Hudson estuary.
The Atlantic tomcod is a unique species that adapts resistance to the toxic effects of PCBs contaminating rivers. The scientists identified genetic mutations that gave resistance, and found that mutation forms were present in 99 percent of the tomodes in rivers, compared with less than 10 percent of tomcods from other waters. The hogstokard hogstokard is historically abundant in rivers, where farmers will use it for cheap livestock feed, giving fish its name. Other unusual fish found in the river include northern pipefish, sea horses lined, and northern pufferfish.
The Atlantic sturgeon fish, a species about 120 million years old, entered the estuary during their annual migration. Fish grow to a size large enough, up to 15 feet (4.6 m) and 800 pounds (360 kg). Fish is a symbol of the Hudson River Estuary. Their smoked meat is usually eaten in river basins since 1779, and is sometimes known as "Albany Beef". The city of Albany was called "Sturgeondom" or "Sturgeontown" in the 1850s and 1860s, with its inhabitants known as "Sturgeonites". The name "Sturgeondom" lost popularity around 1900. Fish has been banned from fishing since 1998. The populations of the sturnestone shortnose fish river have increased fourfold since the 1970s, and are also off limits to all fishermen as they are a critically endangered species.
Marine and invasive species
Marine life is known to exist in the estuary, with seals, crabs, and some whales reported. On March 29, 1647, white whales swam in the river to Rensselaerswyck (near Albany). Herman Melville, author of Moby-Dick, lived in and near Albany from 1830 to 1847, and is known to have an ancestor from New Netherland, leading some to believe the story of a papal apparition inspired by his novel.
Non-native species often come from New York Harbor, a long-distance trading center. More than 100 alien species live in rivers and ledges. Many of these have significant impacts on natural ecosystems and habitats. Water chestnuts produce vegetative mats that reduce the oxygen content in the water below, increase sedimentation, impede navigation of small vessels, and are a danger to swimmers and pedestrians. Zebra zippers arrived at Hudson in 1989 and had spread through the freshwater region of the river, reducing photoplankton and river oxygen levels. Positively, the shells clean up the suspended particles, allowing more light for aquatic vegetation. In the saltwater area, green crabs spread early in the 20th century and Japanese coastal crabs have become dominant in recent years.
Habitat
The Hudson has a wide variety of habitat types. Most rivers consist of deep water habitats, although tidal wetlands of freshwater and salt swamps are the most ecologically important. There is strong biodiversity, including intertidal vegetation such as freshwater cattails and saltwater cordgrass. Bays and coves are often covered with underwater vegetation; the shallow areas of harbors of various benthic faunas. Food abundance varies across different locations and time, which comes from a seasonal stream of nutrients. Large volumes of tertiary Hudson sediments reduce the penetration of light in the water column in the area, which reduces photosynthesis of photoplankton and prevents sub-aquatic vegetation from growing beyond shallow depths. Oxygen-producing phytoplankton have also been inhibited by the invasion of a relatively new species of recalcitrant zebra.
The Hudson River Estuary is the location of wetlands of New York City all the way up to Troy. It has one of the largest concentrations of freshwater swamps in the Northeast. Although rivers may be considered more remote to the south, 80 percent of wetlands are outside the influence of saltwater originating from the Atlantic Ocean. Currently, the river has some 7,000 hectares (28 km km) of wetlands, and rising sea levels due to climate change are expected to lead to the expansion of the area. Wetlands are expected to migrate to the highlands because sea level (and thus river level) rises. This is different from the rest of the world, where rising sea levels usually lead to wetland area reductions. The expansion of wetlands is expected to provide more habitat for fish and birds in the region.
Activity
Parkland surrounds most of the Hudson River; major parks including Battery Park and Liberty State Park at the mouth of the river, Manhattan's Riverside Park, Croton Point Park, Bear Mountain National Park, Storm King State Park and Hudson Plateau, Moreau Lake State Park, and its source at the High Desert Field Regional Peaks.
Fishing is allowed on the river, though the state health department recommends not to eat fish caught from South Glens Falls Dam to the Federal Dam in Troy. Women under 50 and children under 15 are not advised to eat fish caught in the southern Palmer Falls Dam at Corinth, while others are advised to eat anywhere from one to four meals per month of the Hudson River fish, depending on the species and locations captured. The Department of Health calls mercury, PCB, dioxin, and cadmium as a chemical that affects fish in this area.
The usual fishing species are striped bass (formerly the main commercial species, now only legally taken by anglers), channel catfish, white catfish, brown forehead, yellow perch, and white perch. The original largemouth and smallmouth bass are also popular, and serve as the focus of catch-and-release fishing tournaments.
See also
References
Further reading
Adams, Arthur G. (1996). Hudson River Handbook (2nd ed.). New York: Fordham University Press. ISBNÃ, 0-8232-1679-9. LCCNÃ, 96-1894. Ã, For a complete guide on river aspects.
External links
- Hudson River Maritime Museum
- Beczak Environmental Education Center
- Tocqueville in Newburgh - the Alexis de Tocqueville Tour segment on the Hudson River steamer runs in the 1830s
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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