Minnesota

Minnesota — page 5
MINNESOTA GEOGRAPHY Minnesota Minnesota is in the Upper Midwest It is the northernmost state in the contiguous United States Its land and water area is 86,936 square miles 225,163 sq km That makes it the 12th-largest state Many volcanic and metamorphic rocks such as granite and gneiss are found in northern Minnesota Some are nearly 3 6 billion years old They are among the oldest rocks found on Earth Huge deposits of iron ore also formed in the north between 1 6 2 5 billion years ago In southern Minnesota fossil evidence of ancient seabeds is found in the sedimentary rock About 12,000 years ago ice sheets more than 1-mile 1 6-km thick scoured the landscape When these Ice Age glaciers melted they left behind fertile soil deep river valleys and thousands of lakes Minnesota is filled with thousands of lakes 8 MINNESOTA