Wanderlust World Wanderlust World Block Island, located off Rhode Island's coast, is a geological gift of the last Ice Age. Its formation began as the Wisconsin Glacier retreated approximately 19,000 years ago.
The glacier's melting edge deposited a terminal moraine—a ridge of accumulated rock, sand, and debris—creating the island's core. This moraine represents the glacier's farthest advance. As sea levels rose with glacial melt, the moraine emerged as the first land in southern New England to rise from the ice.
Subsequent coastal processes—wave action, longshore drift, and wind—sculpted the island's iconic bluffs (up to 200 ft), dunes, and ponds. Today, Block Island's rolling hills, freshwater ponds, and dramatic clay cliffs (like Mohegan Bluffs) are direct legacies of that glacial pause and retreat.