Walking with a Glacier: Part 2

How the Years Go By!

I would like to post some "cameo shots" of rocks I've discovered while hiking in Wisconsin, but first things first: here's my free-wheeling interpretation of "The Ice Age:"

A few numbers are required: over the past 2.5 million years, colossal sheets of ice have covered the planet not only once but at least fifteen times.  

Fast forward to the last glacial period, a mere 26,000 years ago. Around then Wisconsin was hit with some bad weather and got swamped by a two-mile high sheet of ice that has come to be called the “Wisconsin Glacier.” Besides all of our celebrated beer and cheese, Wisconsin happens to be sitting on some of the finest examples of continental glaciation on earth. 

Here’s what I *think* happened next (but don't trust me: see earlier post):

As the glacier slowly receded northward over the course of the next 15,000 years, a varied and unique landscape was left behind. A series of ridges made from rocky debris, called "moraines," were sculpted across the state. Where chunks of ice melted, craters, called “kettles,” were formed that would later fill and become the lakes, rivers and streams that populate the state. Tremendous boulders were left behind that would create its cliffs, dells and glens.

The same glacier responsible for this dramatic landscape also helped create an extraordinarily rich environment that is home to over 1,800 species of plants and animals. The Nature Conservancy has declared Wisconsin one of the “Last Great Places.’’

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