NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



267 



condition. It lies mainly within the 

 boundaries of the Laurentian plateau 

 and is covered with the northern coni- 

 ferous forest. Travel is by canoe in 

 summer and dog team in winter. The 

 Pas, a town of 2000 people, is the usual 

 outfitting center for travel in the north. 

 Hotel accommodations are good and 

 camp equipment, canoes and supplies can 

 be obtained there. C. N. R. from Win- 

 nipeg. The Hudson Bay Railway has 

 been completed from The Pas to within 

 90 mi. of Port Nelson on Hudson Bay. 

 Regular boat service is available from 

 The Pas up the Saskatchewan River to 

 Cumberland House and Sturgeon Lake. 

 Thence the Churchill River can be 

 reached easily (c) . Northeastern Mani- 

 toba is generally reached by steamer 

 from Winnipeg to Norway House at the 

 north of Lake Winnipeg. From here 

 the old Hudson Bay canoe route runs 

 to York Factory on Hudson Bay by 

 way of the Hayes River. 



16. MINNESOTA 



BY CARL OTTO ROSENDAHL 



I. GENERAL FEATURES 



1. Physiography 



The whole state of Minnesota with the 

 exception of the extreme southeastern 

 corner has been heavily glaciated and 

 a typical glacial topography is therefore 

 characteristic of most of the state. 

 The glacial soil or drift varies from a 

 few feet to 300 ft. in thickness and occurs 

 mainly as unmodified till plains or 

 ground moraines, as gravelly and sandy 

 outwash plains, and as terminal mo- 

 raines. The generally level surface of 

 the main body of the state is due to the 

 predominance of the two first mentioned 

 types of drift. The four corners of the 

 state, drained each in its own direction 

 from the central portion, exhibit con- 

 siderable variations from the typical 

 sheet of till which covers the rest. 



The southeast corner is characterized 

 by a broken and hilly surface where high 

 uplands alternate with numerous deeply 

 eroded valleys running in various direc- 

 tions. These valleys have been cut in 

 the generally level strata to a depth of 

 300 to 500 ft. through the bygone ages 

 and have undergone very little sub- 

 sequent disturbance by the glacial 



period. Both the glaciated and un- 

 glaciated portions of this part of the 

 state are overlaid with a sheet of loess, 

 varying in thickness from a few inches 

 to 30 ft . or more. In general this deposit 

 shows the greatest depth on the uplands 

 but in some valleys, where subsequent 

 erosion has not been too extensive, a 

 depth of twenty feet is not uncommon. 

 From some areas the loess has been 

 completely washed away. 



The northeast corner of the state is 

 rough and rugged and may be said to be 

 semi-mountainous in places. Eleva- 

 tions of 1200 to 1500 ft. above Lake 

 Superior are attained in the Sawteeth, 

 Mesabi, and Giant's Ranges. This 

 part of the state was heavily glaciated 

 and much of the area is covered with 

 an uneven deposit of drift. In the 

 region north and east of Vermillion 

 Lake the rocks for the most part are 

 bare or only thinly mantled with soil 

 formed in situ. 



In the northwest part of Minnesota, 

 embracing part of the Red River Valley 

 of the North, the surface is very flat and 

 even. Over this part of the state once 

 stood glacial Lake Agassiz and the level 

 nature of the land is due to lacustrine 

 deposits laid down evenly and to a 

 considerable depth over the till sheet. 

 The southwest corner has a gently 

 rolling to flat surface but the plain is 

 interrupted by a height of land known as 

 the Coteau des Prairies, running from 

 northwest to southeast and rising 400 

 to 500 ft. above the general level. Near 

 the extreme corner occur large outcrops 

 of quartzite rocks. 



Extensive moraines, marking either 

 the limits of advance of the various ice 

 sheets or places where they rested in 

 their retreats, form belts of low hills, 

 isolated knobs, or ranges which rise 

 above the general plain. These mo- 

 raines are found in many parts of the 

 state but the most extensive are those 

 which occur in the west-central portion 

 through Kandiyohi, Pope, Douglas, 

 Otter Tail and Becker counties, the 

 region of the upper Mississippi River 

 and the region surrounding Minneapolis 



