Gloria Hart, age 13, of Springfield, Mass., for her question:

HOW WAS CAPE COD FORMED?

A cape is a headland, cliff or point of land that projects prominently into a lake, sea or ocean. One of the most famous in the world is Cape Cod on the coast of Massachusetts.

Cape Cod is an excellent example of a cape formed by rocks, gravels and sands deposited along the margins of a continental glacier. Also helping were converging shore currents which deposited sandy materials in shallow water.

Cape Cod is a hook shaped peninsula that is about 65 miles long and at points from one to 20 miles wide. The long, sandy beaches attract many summer visitors.

The cape received its name because of the codfish caught off the shores. Cranberries are gathered in the Cape Cod marshes. The area was the center of the whaling industry in the 1800s.