The clay and bulk mineralogy of soil and till from 26 Adirondack watersheds was studied. The materials consist typically of quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, mica, vermiculite, and kaolinite. Talc, smectite, halloysite, and hornblende are present in some samples. The clay fraction of the soils is composed predominantly of vermiculite, likely derived from the transformation of a mica precursor, and kaolinite. The soil vermiculite commonly contains hydroxy-Al interlayers which are especially prevalent in the B-horizon samples. Despite significant variation in the type of bedrock and the composition of heavy mineral assemblages in these watersheds, the clay mineralogy is remarkably uniform. This finding supports earlier suggestions that the occurrence of vermiculite in soils is more dependent on climate than on the nature of the parent material.

Clay mineral analysis of Spodosols collected from the Adirondack Mountains reveals that smectite is common in the forest floor and uppermost soil horizons (the O, A and E horizons) and probably forms from the transformation of vermiculite via a low-charge vermiculite intermediate. The conversion of vermiculite to smectite occurs in the upper part of the soil profile where organic acids and strong inorganic acids (derived from atmospheric deposition) combine to create an intense weathering environment. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and chemical data for the clay fraction indicate that both the smectite and the low-charge vermiculite are Al-rich and dioctahedral. The smectite appears to be a beidellite. Transformation of vermiculite to smectite may have progressed in these acidic horizons by net layer-charge reduction resulting from the progressive substitution of Si for Al. The parent material for the soil clays was probably biotite, but little remains in these soils.

The Or-rich part of optically blebby to lamellar mesoperthite crystals from an Adirondack granulite has been shown by TEM to be a lamellar cryptoperthite, composed dominantly of tweed orthoclase. A fluid-absent, two-stage thermal history is proposed to explain the coarse and fine textures, with the cryptoperthite forming by coherent exsolution below ∼350°C probably during uplift. The mechanism was most probably homogeneous coherent nucleation rather than spinodal decomposition. However, cutting the orthoclase cryptoperthite are thin (<1 μm) seams of tartan microcline with sharp boundaries, often defined locally by {110} planes, and micropores. The microcline has replaced orthoclase by solution-redeposition along narrow planes infiltrated by fluid during minor retrogression at T < 350°C Solution-redeposition is a common process in feldspars at T < 500°C potentially accompanied by 18O exchange, because release of elastic strain energy in coherent perthite lamellar boundaries and twin-domain walls, followed by Si, Al ordering, provide driving forces for dissolution and reprecipitation of unstrained, more ordered phases.

The mix of public and private land ownership within the Adirondack Park often leads to conflict between development and conservation interests. We explore the effects of the Adirondack Park Agency's classifications on property values through hedonic analysis while simultaneously controlling for environmental and recreational amenities. Results show that lands in the park classified for moderate-intensity use sell at a premium of up to 7 percent while lands in more restrictive classes are discounted. There is also evidence that decreasing the impact of humans by one unit increases property values by approximately 2 percent.

The Landscape Species Approach is a framework developed by the Wildlife Conservation Society for planning landscape-scale conservation based on a suite of focal species. The approach has so far been implemented at 12 terrestrial and two marine sites. We demonstrate the approach using two sites, the Adirondack Park, USA, and San Guillermo-Laguna Brava Landscape, Argentina. We describe the spatially explicit components, including steps to map the attainable (Biological Landscape), current, and future distribution of Landscape Species, human activities (Human Landscapes) and their impacts on Landscape Species, the possible impacts of conservation actions (Conservation Landscapes), and a procedure to set spatial conservation priorities. We discuss advantages and innovations of the approach, including how it incorporates both vulnerability of biodiversity and possible recovery. Finally, we discuss improvements that can be made to the approach, costs, and implications for conservation at the two sites.