Today, Fresh Pond Reservation consists of 162 acres of open space surrounding and protecting the 155 acre Fresh Pond Reservoir ("Fresh Pond Reservation"). Fresh Pond Reservoir is a vital part of the drinking water supply system for the City of Cambridge.
Fresh Pond is a kettle pond. The retreating Laurentide Glacier sculpted Fresh Pond and the surrounding features about 15,000 years ago, when ice blocks from the Laurentide glacier broke off and was buried by sand ("Geology of Boston"). The ice then melted leaving multiple ponds behind. Fresh Pond is at southern end of a series of kettle lakes extending north through spy pond.
Formation of a Kettle Pond
Kettle Ponds are depositional features.
1. When the glacial ice front retreated, it left behind huge chunks of ice (dead ice). 2. The chunks of ice are then wholly or partially buried in the sandy outwash plain. 3. As the ice melted, it left a depression where it was buried. 4. Over time, some of these depressions are filled in with water. (Skehan) |
Here is a brief video about how Kettle Ponds are formed:
Fun Fact: Burial sites of the Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland have been excavated from the blue clay at Fresh Pond (Skehan 174). This is due to glaciers have advanced far from Newfoundland.