Driftless Area, North America

Travel Blog  •  Ben Keene  •  04.07.06 | 12:26 PM ET

Area: 12-15,000 sq. mi. (31,080-38,850 sq. km)
States included: 4
imageWarm as it may seem to concerned citizens around the globe, talk to a geographer or a geologist and they’ll tell you we’re actually in the middle of an ice age (albeit a milder period known as an interglacial). The last interglacial, which ended about 120,000 years ago, was followed by the advance of ice sheets in North America as far south as New York City and St. Louis, Missouri. The deep valley now occupied by Lake Michigan as well as the erosion-resistant rock in northern Wisconsin protected a swath of land called the Driftless Area from sheets of ice that altered much of the terrain in the Upper Midwest. The Driftless Area’s uniquely rugged topography also contains an abundance of caves and sinkholes.

—.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) is the editor of the Oxford Atlas of the World.

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Ben Keene has appeared on National Public Radio, Peter Greenberg Worldwide Radio as well as other nationally syndicated programs to discuss geographic literacy and his work updating a bestselling world atlas. Formerly a touring musician, he has written for Transitions Abroad and inTravel.


1 Comment for Driftless Area, North America

Bill Cummings 04.11.06 | 12:17 PM ET

Ben:
I just stumbled on this site. What is weblog? I am 67 and a stroke victim with full use of body’s left side and about 1/2 use of right side arm and leg.

If I get lucky selling a book (about driving)I’ve written for teenagers, I intend driving the USA and Canada. In doing so, I would like to write of individual’s opinions about things that the media “polls” about.

The question is: what do you do? and, what is this site?

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