HISTORY OF
LAKE RONKONKOMA
Formation
Early Settlers
Turn of the Century
Beach Resort
Permanent Residents
Home
KETTLES (also known as Kettle Holes):
A circular depression in a glacial outwash drift made by the melting of a detached mass of glacial ice that became wholly or partially buried.
The occurrence of these stranded ice masses is thought to be the result of gradual accumulation of outwash atop the irregular glacier terminus.
Kettles may range in size from 5m (15 feet) to 13km (8 miles) in diameter and up to 45 m in depth. When filled in with water they are called
KETTLE LAKES. Most kettles are circular in shape because melting blocks of ice tend to become rounded; distorted or branching depressions
may result from extremely irregular ice masses.
Two types of kettles are recognized: a depression formed from a partially buried ice mass by the sliding of unsupported sediment into the space
left by the ice and a depression formed from a completely buried mass by the collapse of overlying sediment
In the United States, kettle holes are common in Wisconsin, Minnesota, New York, and New England. The largest lake on Long Island,
LAKE RONKONKOMA, is a kettle hole.