What is the meaning of a Driftless Area?

: an area (as in Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa) that is free from glacial drift and seems not to have been covered by the Pleistocene ice.

What does the word driftless mean?

1 : having no aim or direction : being without purpose to the rookie, military directives seem driftless. 2 : free from glacial drift a section driftless except for loess deposits.

What are the four states in the Driftless Area?

The Driftless Area is a region in southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois, of the American Midwest.

Why is it called driftless?

The Driftless Wisconsin area is geologically unique in many respects and is called “Driftless” because it lacks drift. “Drift” refers to the material left behind by glaciers: an aggregate of gravel, boulders, and other telltale residue.

Which is an alternative definition of the Driftless Area?

An alternative, less restrictive definition of the Driftless Area includes the sand Plains region northeast of Wisconsin’s portion of the incised Paleozoic Plateau in the southwestern part of the state.

What makes the Driftless Area of Wisconsin unique?

The rugged terrain comprising most of the Driftless Area is distinct from the rest of Wisconsin, and is known locally as the Coulee Region. The steep ridges, numerous rock outcroppings, and deep, narrow valleys in the Driftless Area are in marked contrast with the rest of the state, where glaciers have modified the landscape.

When was the Driftless Area of Minnesota established?

“The course of the upper Mississippi River along the margin of the Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota is believed to have been established during pre-Wisconsin time, when a glacial advance from the west displaced the river eastward from central Iowa to its present position.”

Why was there no glaciation in the Driftless Area?

Another factor that may have contributed to the lack of glaciation of the Driftless area is the fractured, permeable bedrock within the paleozoic plateau underlying it, which would have promoted below-ground drainage of subglacial water that would otherwise have lubricated the underside of the glacial ice sheet.