Editing Nantucket (section)

==Geology and geography==
[[File:Sum04-118.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The [[cobblestone]] Main Street in historic downtown Nantucket]]

According to the [[U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of {{convert|304|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|45|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|259|sqmi}} (85%) is water.<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_25.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=September 16, 2014|date=August 22, 2012|title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140914175857/http://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_25.txt|archive-date=September 14, 2014}}</ref> It is the smallest county in Massachusetts by land area and second-smallest by total area. The area of Nantucket Island proper is {{convert|47.8|sqmi|km2}}. The triangular region of ocean between Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, and Cape Cod is [[Nantucket Sound]]. The highest points on the island include Saul's Hill at {{convert|102|ft|m|abbr=}},<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Robinson|first=John Henry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HdYWAAAAYAAJ&q=nantucket+highest+point&pg=PA34|title=Guide to Nantucket|date=1910|publisher=Judd & Detweiler, Incorporated, printers|pages=34|language=en}}</ref> Altar Rock at {{convert|100|ft|m|abbr=}},<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wang|first=Amy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onkSY3tHwQQC&q=nantucket+highest+point&pg=PA89|title=Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket – Fodor's|date=April 2008|publisher=Fodor's Travel Publications|isbn=978-1-4000-1905-2|pages=89|language=en}}</ref> and Sankaty Head<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wilson|first=John Howard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S9q7AAAAIAAJ&q=nantucket+highest+point&pg=PA6|title=The glacial history of Nantucket and Cape Cod: with an argument for a fourth centre of glacial dispersion in North America|date=1906|publisher=The Columbia University Press|pages=6|language=en}}</ref> at {{convert|92|ft|m|abbr=}}.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Nantucket NASA 2002.jpg|thumb|right|250px|NASA satellite image of Nantucket Island]]

Nantucket was formed by the outermost reach of the [[Laurentide Ice Sheet]] during the recent [[Wisconsin Glaciation]], shaped by the subsequent rise in sea level. The low ridge across the northern section of the island was deposited as [[glacial moraine]] during a period of glacial standstill, a period during which [[till]] continued to arrive and was deposited as the glacier melted at a stationary front. The southern part of the island is an [[outwash plain]], sloping away from the arc of the moraine and shaped at its margins by the sorting actions and transport of [[longshore drift]]. Nantucket became an island when [[sea level rise|rising sea levels]] covered the connection with the mainland, about 5,000–6,000 years ago.<ref>The most recent survey of the geology of Cape Cod and the islands, accessible to the layman, is Robert N. Oldale, ''Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard & Nantucket: The Geologic Story'', 2001.</ref>

The island and adjoining islands of Tuckernuck and Muskeget comprise the Town and County of Nantucket, which is operated as a [[Consolidated city–county|consolidated town and county]] government. The main settlement, also called Nantucket, is located at the western end of Nantucket Harbor, where it opens into Nantucket Sound. Key localities on the island include [[Madaket, Massachusetts|Madaket]], [[Surfside, Massachusetts|Surfside]], [[Polpis, Massachusetts|Polpis]], [[Wauwinet, Massachusetts|Wauwinet]], Miacomet, and [[Siasconset, Massachusetts|Siasconset]] (generally shortened to "'Sconset").<ref name=Oars>
{{cite book
 | last = Karttunen
 | first = Frances Ruley
 | title = The Other Islanders: People Who Pulled Nantucket's Oars
 | publisher = Spinner Publications
 | date = 2005
 | page = [https://archive.org/details/otherislanderspe00kart/page/304 304]
 | url = https://archive.org/details/otherislanderspe00kart/page/304
 | isbn = 0932027938
 | url-access = registration
 }}
</ref>