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The Pine River Esker

Robert E. Morency

When driving North on NH Route 16, you reach a point on Wakefi eld Hill, where the White Mountains, and especially Mount Washington and the Presidential Range, suddenly come into view in the far distance. In the near distance, however, you might, amidst all the greenery, notice a patch of light-colored land, which often during weekday working hours, has what looks like a dust cloud rising from it. This is the Ossipee Aggregates sand and gravel operation, where dump trucks bound for local construction sites, and rail cars full of various sand and gravel products, begin their trip south to Dover on the New Hampshire Northcoast Railroad.

The dust cloud marks the place where Route 16 and the Pine River Esker, a Late Glacial Depositional feature, meet up, and run together for a mile, or so, south of the railroad crossing. While heading to the North, along this highspeed stretch of winding road, the land rises gently, to your right, and forms a winding ridge, which parallels the roadway. This is one of the remnants of a glacial-age sand and gravel deposit, known as the Pine River Esker, most of which has been exploited for countless construction projects over the years. Two worth mentioning are the landfi ll used in the construction of the original Logan Airport, as well as the more recent Big Dig project, which changed the face of transportation in Boston.

The Pine River Esker is one of a small number of glacio-fl uvial features (glacial sediments derived from water fl ow features), known as “Stratifi ed Drift Deposits.” These include, in addition to eskers: “kames” (isolated hummocks of sand and gravel, which originate as local sand and gravel mounds); the sandy bottoms of small ponds, “kettles,” which developed as the water in the ponds drained away on the upper surface of the retreating ice; and were left stranded on either the local bedrock (“ledge”), or compacted sediments (“glacial till” -also known as “hardpan.”) Likewise, sand and gravel can occur in stratifi ed deposits on the sides of valleys, as the sand and gravel fl ows in streams at the margins of the ice occupying the valley. As the ice retreats, these deposits, called “kame terraces” can become valuable (but often hard to get to) sources of sand and gravel resources.

By far, the most extensive and productive of these Stratifi ed Drift Deposits, are the “Glaciofl uvial Deltas,” which were deposited at the furthest reaches of meltwater streams, in lakes or marine environments, during times when the glaciers were retreating northward, under warming climatic conditions. Deltas may have complex layering, which indicate changes in how the meltwater was fl owing, and deltas may also include desert-like dune deposits of sand and dust (“loess”), transported by the ever-shifting winds.

An esker (from the Irish word, escair, meaning “ridge) is a landform that is formed as glacial meltwater runs toward the natural low point in the local glacial landscape. Eskers often are characterized by a sinuous shape, made up of smaller segments, that stand out as being higher than the surrounding ground on maps and aerial photographs (Figure 1.) Eskers remind us of dry sand and gravel rivers, which gives a clue as to their origin. In Figure 1, arrows point to several small deposits, left over from mining operations, and which line up in a snake-like shape, characteristic of a map view that streams take, called “meanders.” Eskers, which we have observed in present-day glaciers, form in tunnels under the ice, or as on the ice surface, and the meandering remnants are left as a clue to the sometimes fast-fl owing stream environment in which the sand and gravel was deposited.

Eskers are considered valuable resources because of their accessibility, and the convenient sorting that fl owing water tends to give as a gift to gravel pit operators. The eskers sometimes are found along with the larger delta deposits on the shores of glacial lakes, and may contribute larger-sized gravels, which are much desired in concrete production, and which further enhance the value of eskers.

It’s hard to overstate the importance of the sand and gravel industry in New Hampshire, and with it, the vital role of the Owner/ Operators and their employees. These folks contribute to local economies, and without their locally available construction products, the cost of housing, roads and road maintenance, and wastewater management (rural septic systems), would rise signifi cantly, along with fuel costs for delivery of these critical materials.

While on the subject of the Pine River Esker, local legends about the Pine River being one of only a handful of north-fl owing rivers persist and are correct. The river does not fl ow into Pine River Pond, but instead, fl ows out of the north end of the pond toward, and just northwest of, Green Mountain, in Effi ngham, where it becomes part of the Ossipee Lake watershed at a boat launch on NH Route 25, just east of its intersection with Route 16. Eventually, somewhere between the towns of Cornish and West Baldwin Maine, the Ossipee River (outfl ow from Ossipee Lake) joins the Saco River, where it fl ows into the Atlantic Ocean. at Saco, Maine.

The northward fl ow is understandable, when examining Figure 2, which shows a cluster of hills to the southeast of the location of Pine River Pond. These hills block the southeasterly ground- water fl ow out of pond, and forces the fl ow to the northwest, toward Ossipee Lake and, as described above, into the Ossipee River watershed, and beyond to the Saco River Watershed, which begins at the top of Crawford Notch in the White Mountains.

So, Pine River Pond is easily seen as being untouched by mining operations and benefi tting from natural protection from the geology of the Pine River Pond watershed However, there still remains an ongoing challenge, due to the human usage of the pond. Water quality remains, as always, a concern, but it is comforting to realize that improved regulation of land practices and monitoring of sand and gravel mining by Ossipee Aggregates, in cooperation with the NH Department of Environmental Services, can continue to build a sustainable and robust economy in Southern Carroll County for the foreseeable future.

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