The ground between the central plateau and the low shelf is gently sloped to the northeast and southwest, with moderately steeper slopes to the northwest and southeast. The configuration of melting ice in what is now southeast Arlington allowed for deposition in the middle of the pond, forming Elizabeth Island.Įlizabeth Island is lens-shaped, with a central plateau standing ten to twenty feet above the pond surface surrounded by a ring of lower ground one to two feet above the water. Some ice blocks persisted during this depositional phase and then melted later, leaving behind kettle ponds such as Spy Pond, the Mystic Lakes, and Fresh Pond. Sediment carried off the glacier by meltwater settled to the bottom of these lakes in deep sand and gravel deposits. As the glacier melted back some 15,000 years ago, stranded ice blocks backed up natural drainages and created lakes throughout the Boston basin. The soils at Elizabeth Island and in the vicinity are related to glacial processes, specifically the retreat of the Laurentian Glacier, which once covered all of New England, and extended as far south as Block Island, Rhode Island, and Long Island, New York. On behalf of the Town, it will co-hold the permanent conservation restriction with Mass Audubon, a statewide land conservation and education organization. The Arlington Conservation Commission was another key funder through its own land conservation fund. ALT was awarded a grant of $85,000 through the state’s Conservation Partnership Grant Program to help with the purchase. More than 500 individuals and families, local businesses, and foundations contributed to the successful Campaign to Protect Elizabeth Island. Elizabeth Island is owned by the nonprofit Arlington Land Trust (ALT), which purchased the land from a private owner in late 2010.

Cardinal land trust