The Adirondack Mountains in the north are part of the ancient Canadian Shield. The wide set of flat-lying sedimentary rocks in western and central New York are part of the North American heartland, laid down in shallow seas between Cambrian (blue) and Pennsylvanian (dark red) times (500 to 300 million years ago). They grow in thickness toward the east, where high mountains raised during plate collisions were eroded. The remnants of these alpine chains remain as the Taconic Mountains and Hudson Highlands along the eastern border. The entire state was glaciated during the ice ages, and rock debris was piled up forming Long Island.
See a gallery of New York geological attractions.
I've prepared wallpaper-size versions of this map, just to look at, at 800x600 (200 KB), 1024x768 (400 K), 1280x1024 (500 K), and 1600x1200 (725 K). (You may also use these in presentations, if you give me credit.)
A version you can actually read and use is the 3100x2500 version (1.93 MB). Or for the full fidelity of my original scans, download the maps for the western (3000x3000, 3.1MB), northern (2400x2400, 2.5 MB) and southeastern (2500x2500, 2.3 MB) parts of the state. By now you will want the map's legend (2655x2082, 1.09 MB) to identify the particular formation and age of the rocks at any locality. It puts a whole booklet worth of information onto one sheet. But really, just buy Educational Leaflet 33 instead.
More about New York City Geology
More New York resources from About.com:
New York City Travel
Upstate New York Attractions
About Brooklyn
About Long Island
About Manhattan
About Queens
New York Maps
New York Geography, State Symbols & Facts
New York National Parks
New York State Parks, Spring
New York State Parks, Winter
New York Campgrounds
New York Bed & Breakfasts
New York Skiing
New York Fishing
New York Saltwater Fishing
New York Fall Foliage
New York Archaeology
