Fillmore County

By: Amanda Hasser

Location in Minnesota

Latitude Zone

Fillmore county is in the midlatitude zone. In this belt, the sun’s height in the sky shifts through a wide range annually. Differences in day length from winter to summer are large, meaning seasonal contrasts in insolation are strong.

Atmospheric Moisture and Precipitation

• Unstable air is air with substantial content of water vapor, capable of breaking into spontaneous convectional activity leading to the development of heavy showers and thunderstorms.

Atmospheric Moisture and Precipitation Cont.

• Thunderstorms can produce hail, which is formed by the accumulation of ice layers on ice pellets that are suspended in the strong updrafts of the thunderstorm. When they become too heavy for the updraft, they fall to Earth. Fillmore county is shown to the right in green.

Wind Belts

• Between 30 and 60 degrees latitude, where Fillmore county is located, the wind pattern is complex. This area is a zone of conflict between air bodies with different characteristics, but on average, the winds are mostly from the west, so the region is said to have prevailing westerlies.

Climate• Fillmore county

has a moist continental climate.

• This means that it is cold in winter, warm in summer, with plenty of precipitation through the year.

Temperature Regime

• Minnesota’s coldest month is January when the average temperature overnight is 4.3°F. In July, the warmest month, the average day time temperature rises to 83.3°F.

Minnesota

PrecipitationThe driest month in Minnesota is February with 0.79 inches of precipitation, and with 4.34 inches , June is the wettest month.

Minnesota

Ecosystem

• Fillmore county’s vegetation is shown in gray as brushlands – oak/savanah.

Soil TypeUdalfs, shown here in green, are brownish Alfisols of the midlatitude zone. They are closely associated with the moist continental climate.

Bedrock Geology

• The majority of the county is Ordovician sedimentary, shown in a salmon color, but the south west corner is Devonian sedimentary.

Continental ShieldsContinental shields are low-lying continental surfaces beneath which lie igneous and metamorphic rock in a complex arrangement.

Plate Tectonics

• Fillmore county is part of the North American Plate, shown in light purple.

WeatheringWykoff Balsam Fir in Fillmore County contains several steep talus slopes with cold air drainage. Talus slopes: accumulations of angular debris that occur at the base of rock walls and form by the deposition of rock fall loosened by frost weathering. They exhibit a range of forms, including single cones, or expansive sheets.

Aquifers

• An aquifer is a rock mass or layer that readily holds and transmits water. Fillmore County is part of the state where they are not likely to be present.

Karst Landscapes

• Karst is an efficiently drained landscape that forms on soluble rock, typified by caves, sinkholes and other landforms. It is usually formed on limestone. In Minnesota, karst is mostly found in the southeastern area and in Pine County.

Caves

• Fillmore county has many cavernous tunnel systems with stalagmites, stalactites, and other cave features.

Sinkholes

• Fillmore county contains many examples of karst topography, featuring sinkholes or pits which are caves with weak ceilings that collapsed.

Minnesota WatershedsFillmore county is part of the lower Mississippi River Watershed.

Landforms Made By Running Water

Limestone bluffs cut by the Root River near Preston, MN in Fillmore County.

Colluvium

• Colluvium is shown on the map in dark tan, and is a deposit of sediment or rock particles accumulating from overland flow at the base of a slope and originating from higher slopes where sheet erosion is in progress.

Alluvium

• Alluvium, shown in light tan on the map, is any stream-laid sediment deposit found in a stream channel and in low parts of a stream valley subject to flooding.

Meander Scar

• The meander scar is shown to the right with this symbol: . These are formed by part of the river being cut off and becoming an oxbow lake that gets filled in.

Landforms Made By Wind

• Loess distribution, shown in yellow, is where the surface is covered by deposits of wind-transported silt that has settled out from dust storms over many thousands of years.

Loess

Maximum Glaciation In North America

Glaciers, at their maximum extent, covered Fillmore County. They were covered by what is known as the Laurentide Ice Sheet.

Last Glacial Period

• The driftless area or Paleozoic Plateau is a region that escaped glaciation in the last glacial period, and covers part of Fillmore County.

Glacial Till

Referenceshttp://www.winona.edu/geology/2823.htm

http://www.co.fillmore.mn.us/history.html

http://www.exploreseminnesota.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fillmore_County_Minnesota_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Peterson_Highlighted.svg

http://www.landsat.com/choice-minnesota-aerial-p654643.html

http://www.mapsofworld.com/world-maps/world-climate-map.html

http://www.soils.umn.edu/academics/classes/soil2125/img/om11veg.jpg

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/cropsystems/images/2331f01aa.gif

References Cont.http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Geology_of_Minnesota

http://www.pca.state.mn.us/water/basins/index.html

http://cain.ice.ucdavis.edu/repository/SerpWebPics2.htm

http://nrm.salrm.uaf.edu/~dverbyla/bnz_synthesis_CD/chapter3/index.html

http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/uwsp_lectures/lecture_fluvial_landforms.html

http://www.rssweather.com/climate/Minnesota/Minneapolis-St.Paul/

http://www.fas.org/irp/imint/docs/rst/Sect2/Sect2_1b.html

http://www.golivewire.com/forums/peer-yaiotbi-support-a.html

http://www.mngeo.state.mn.us/chouse/geology/county_regional.html

References Cont.http://www.soils.umn.edu/academics/classes/soil2125/doc/s4chp5.htm

http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/changes/htmls/Current/variation/hardwood_forest/forest_soil.html

http://nesoil.com/images/newport.htm

http://www.kgs.ku.edu/Publications/PIC/pic28.html

http://pubs.usgs.gov/ha/ha730/ch_j/J-text2.html

http://www.midwestflyworks.com/

http://www.geomorphology.org.uk/pages/education/alevel/coldenvirons/Lesson%2022.htm

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/snas/naturalhistory.html

http://minnemom.com/2008/10/21/spelunking-family-style-mystery-caves-kid-friendly-cave-tour/

References Cont.http://www.uwex.edu/wgnhs/large_sinkhole1.htm

http://www.georgefcram.com/education/lgl6.html

http://uisevereweather.pbworks.com/Minneapolis

http://www.disastersafety.org/publications/view.asp?id=8854&cid=1085

http://www.berkeleycitycollege.edu/faculty/rhaberlin/pwpptnts.htm