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Glaciated Wabash Lowlands
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↑About the Glaciated Wabash Lowlands
The Glaciated Wabash Lowlands are a region mostly located in southwestern Indiana, extending barely into Illinois at their northern end.This region was glaciated in pre-Wisconsinian events, but escaped glaciation in the most recent glacial period. As such, it is covered in highly leached loamy till. It also features windblown silt and sand. The bedrock consists mostly of shale and sandstone, but there is also some limestone and coal. The topography alternates between very flat lowlands and gently-dissected regions only slightly elevated above the rest of the terrain. There are numerous wide, shallow valleys, and also numerous small lakes and ponds throughout.
Originally this region was mostly covered in oak-hickory forest and beech forest, with scattered prairies found on sand dunes.
Nowadays this region is heavily utilized for agriculture. The region produces corn, soybean, wheat, various vegetables, and livestock. There is also some surface coal mining. There is some forest cover, distributed irregularly throughout the region: some areas have small woodlots, but there are also larger tracts of forest.
This region is bordered to the east by the much more rugged Crawford-Mammoth Cave Uplands. To the northeast, it borders the Loamy High Lime Till Plains, which were more recently glaciated and are covered by till that is similar in texture to this region, but not as leached. To the south lies the Green River-Southern Wabash Lowlands, the portion of this region that was never glaciated. To the west, along the Wabash river, lies the Wabash-Ohio Bottomlands. The northwesternmost portion of this region is surrounded by the slightly drier Illinois/Indiana Prairies. There is also a very tiny border to the south with the Wabash River Bluffs and Low Hills.
Plant Lists & In-Region Search
We do not yet have data to generate plant lists for a region as fine-tuned as this one. However you can move up to the broader Interior River Valleys and Hills and generate lists for that region: native plants or all plants. Or search that region's plants here:
↑References
1. Woods, A.J, Omernik, J.M., Brockman, C.S., Gerber, T.D., Hosteter, W.D., Azevedo, S.H. "Ecoregions of Indiana and Ohio (Poster)", US Geological Survey (1998) Web.
