Sawmills to sunfish Coulee region
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COULEE REGION GEOLOGY.
A geolical feature that is often mentioned while
discussing the Onalaska area is the natural beauty
of the vicinity. The river, the steep, rocky bluffs,
the rolling hills and the coulees of rich farmland
all play a part
There is great diversity in the geology of the
State of Wisconsin. While the entire state is known
for its scenic beauty, one section, in the southwest
portion of the state in which Onalaska is located, is
particularly unique. The section is called the
driftless area.The last glacial period of the four major advances
is known as the Wisconsin Stage. This stage began
70,000 years ago and ended about 10,000 years ago.
It is called the Wisconsin Stage because it was first
studied in detail in Wisconsin. Besides the Great
Lakes, these tongues of ice scooped out Green Bay,
Lake Winnebago, and the Horicon Marsh area. Five
lobes of ice reached down across the state, but
went around one small area of the state where
Onalaska is located. This small area, left alone withall its beauty intact, is known as the Driftless Area.
In all other parts of the state the Precambrian
mountains were crumbled, hills were leveled, rocks
and boulders were strewn about, and valleys were
filled. Over three-fourths of the state was thusly
damaged and littered; only the Driftless Area re-
mained as it was. This occurred because of the
aforementioned Wisconsin Dome that was formed
during the rising and falling of the land in the Pa-
leozoic Era. Twenty-three counties and portions of
adjoining counties in the three parts of the
state-the Western Uplands, Central Plains, and the
Northern Highlands-became like an island
surrounded by a ring of ice, as the five lobes
joined together at the lower edge to form a solid
mass again below the Driftless Area. In total 13,360
square miles of land in Wisconsin was left unlike
anyplace else in the world. (Total is 15,000 square
miles in area in three other states.)
Some examples of remnants of Precambrian
mountains are the sandstone pinnacles, called
Chimney Rocks as in Vernon County, castle rock
and shiprock formations near Necedah, and the
Mill Bluff near Camp Douglas in Juneau and Mon-
roe Counties.
As the glaciers melted, they also formed the
paths of many present day rivers and streams; for
example, The Dells on the Wisconsin River. The
melting of the ice also caused lakes. An ice jam
blocked up the waters of the Wisconsin River to
form a large shallow lake that covered 1,800 square
miles of land in the middle of the state. This was
in the general area of the Horicon Marsh and
Necedah Wildlife Area as we know it today. The
water backed up until the Black River finally be-
came a drain for it. This means that much of the
water in Old Glacial Lake Wisconsin flowed past
Onalaska's doorstep.
Erosion has caused a change to occur forming the
bluffs of our area to have a ridge with a broad
slope on one side, and a steep slope on the other,
and a rock front showing through that is known as
an escarpment. Coulees formed between these hills.
A local term, coulee, taken from the French lan-
guage, means valley. Some valleys are narrow;
some, broad. This general area has become known
as the "Coulee Region." In describing the south-
western quarter of the state The Encyclopedia
Americana states, "It is by all odds the most beauti-
ful part of the state and is often compared to the
valley of the Rhine.
in order to log this earh cache you must answer the folllowing questions
#1 N43 53.574 W091 11.693 What is the elevation posted here and what is the name of the trail that begins here ?
#2 N43 53.590 W091 11.563 Describe the rocks color,shape,texture and type if known?
#3 N43 53.575 W091 11.556 what is the elevation difference between#1 and #3 and post a picture here with youself or your gps unit with Onalaska in the background?
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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