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Category Archives: Earth Science
ENVIRONMNETAL CHANGES
This is the first in a series of four seasonal posts that speak to changes: environmental changes, cultural changes, generational changes, and seasonal changes. They’re all based on insights provided directly by life on the Farm and rooted in the … Continue reading
Posted in Earth Science, Life Science
Tagged climate change, Covid-19, glaciers, mammoths
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Buried Sand Aquifer
The last couple of posts have described fractured clay till and an overlying terrace gravel that store groundwater in the Creek pasture. Both aquifers “leak” out onto the ground surface to form springs. However, this post is about a layer … Continue reading
Fractured Clay as Aquifer
This post is a continuation of our “walk about” exploring underground water stored in glacial deposits. The layers of sediment deposited by glacial melt water (“outwash”) and directly by the ice itself (“till”) have been mapped regionally in southwestern Minnesota … Continue reading
Underground Water Along the Creek
In 2018 and 2019 we had record total rainfalls, but this year it’s been dry. That gives us a window on how water is stored underground and how that water interacts with vegetation, topography, and surface water in sloughs, springs … Continue reading
Exposing Artifacts
Six generations of kids have hunted for arrowheads and buffalo bones along Kanaranzi Creek. But, in the last two or three years it seems like the high water levels have opened up a treasury of cultural resources. An archaeological survey … Continue reading
Posted in Earth Science, Farm History
Tagged archaeology sites, buffalo bones, deposition, erosion
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Place-Based Stacked Experiences
That’s a weird title! It’s trying to communicate that some places seem to host multiple experiences that don’t seem to be related. But, sometimes these “coincidences” have a common thread, other than sharing a specific location. This picture taken in … Continue reading
Posted in Earth Science, Farm History, Life Science
Tagged archaeology, beaver den, cache pit, erosion
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Battling Brome
Prairie restoration programs often involve attempts to eradicate or at least limit smooth brome. This invasive, non-native, cool season grass is a vigorous sod-maker that usually expands to turn a pasture into essentially a monoculture. I understand why the restoration … Continue reading
Prehistoric Corn Cobs
As Kanaranzi Creek erodes away the steep banks on the outer edges of meander loops, archaeological “treasures” continue to emerge and be deposited on adjacent sand bars. We think that’s what happened at the site described in the post of … Continue reading
Posted in Earth Science, Farm History
Tagged archaeology, artifacts, channel erosion, Native Americans
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Oxbow Mystery
OXBOW MYSTERY When a channel cuts through the steep bank in a meander loop there’s a distinctive landform produced called an “oxbow”. This blog has a number of posts describing our oxbow because it’s a cool complex of unique small … Continue reading
Posted in Earth Science, Life Science
Tagged cricket frogs, ecology, frog calling, habitat
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Native Americans Along the Creek
Last week’s post described some “treasures” that our grandkids have discovered in the pasture down along Kanaranzi Creek. Some of the artifacts and bones that they found near circular vegetation patches seemed to warrant input from professional archaeologists. That input … Continue reading
Posted in Earth Science, Farm History
Tagged artifacts, Dakotah, geophysical anomalies, glacial geology, Great Oasis
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Lone Tree Farm on Kanaranzi Creek 