Water Bodies: Finger Lakes

The finger-shaped lakes of New York State were captured on film by a space-shuttle astronaut. They formed about 10,000 to 15,000 years ago at the end of the ice ages. Glaciers carved the lake basins and bulldozed the landscape. When the ice sheets melted, rocks and other debris frozen in the ice was deposited. You can see several lakes in this photo, including Seneca Lake (west) and Cayuga Lake (east).