Soil and Landforms
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Generally, the study area was composed of three distinct terrains. The Mississippi river valley is composed of mollisols, specifically udolls, which is the moist soil type that covers much of southern part of Minnesota. This is a productive agricultural soil that is most commonly used to grow corn and soybeans. Much of the rest of the area is covered by the Anoka Sand Plain, which actually extends into Sherburne, Isanti, and Chisago counties. The sand plain is composed of psamments, a type of entisols. This is a sandy soil made of quartz which can support agricultural if irrigated. Also, orthods, a type of spodosols, are found in the area. This is a forested sandy soil, usually covered with aspen or pine, but it's rarely used for agriculture because of its acidic nature. Positioned in the middle of the sand plain is a large area of histosols, a suborder of hemists. This is a peat-like soil, which has poor drainage and produces a boggy landscape. It can support agriculturel if drained, which was a difficult task before large farm machinery. |
The 1930’s WPA Guide to Minnesota noted: Through this region are miles of peat bogs, which sometimes smolder for months. Although their inaccessibility makes it difficult to quench the fires, they rarely break into flame and are seldom a menace. The burning peat gives off an acrid, heavy odor that hangs low in the summer over miles of the surrounding area (page 431). |
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Sources: SOILS AND LANDSCAPES OF MINNESOTA 2001 Regents of the University of Minnesota |