Wisconsin Its Geology and Physical Geography - A Popular Account of the Natural Features and Climate of the State for Students and General Readers #266356

No state of the union presents features more diverse or of wider interest to the student or traveler than Wisconsin. Within its borders are found rocks so old that they perhaps represent the crust formed on the surface of the cooling globe and with them lie the deposits of the last of all the geological epochs, the glacial deposits of the geological yesterday. In the north central part is the great central massif of crystalline igneous rocks and the highly altered sediments which, tortured and twisted by the mountain making forces, now shelter the mines of iron; in the southwestern portion arc the layers of undisturbed sedimentary rocks with the mines of lead and zinc and the quarries of building stone.<br><br>Wisconsin is classic ground in the annals of Geology and Physical Geography, for within its borders have been made many steps in settling the important problems in connection with the highly complex science of glaciology and the scarcely less intricate questions of the deposition of the ores of iron, lead, and zinc. Few regions of equal size present so many points of interest and beauty to travelers. The scenery of the state is not so grand as that of a mountainous country, but the unique beauty of the Dells of the Wisconsin, the St. Croix river, and the Devils lake: the gem-like beauty of thousands of small glacial lakes; the solemn grandeur of the evergreen forests, rival in the quiet satisfaction that they give the more majestic beauty of Alpine mountains.<br><br>With the exception of a few miles on the northern and northwestern borders, the state of Wisconsin is marked by natural boundaries on all sides but the south. Beginning at the southeastern corner of the state the eastern border is formed by the shores of Lake Michigan and Green Bay as far north as the mouth of the Menominee river.