Between Lake Erie and the Ohio River lies the state of Ohio, named from an Iroquoian word meaning “great river.” Its greatest river is the Ohio River, which forms its southern border. The Miami, Little Miami, Scioto, Hocking, Muskingum, and Mahoning rivers drain southward into the Ohio River, which in turn empties into the Mississippi River farther west.
The portion of Ohio drained by these rivers is called the Allegheny Plateau. It belongs to the Appalachian Highlands, which are even higher in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Ohio’s neighbors to the east.
The Allegheny Plateau largely escaped Ice Age glaciers. Today, southeastern Ohio remains a hilly area with many steep valleys and outcroppings of bedrock. In contrast to glaciated areas, soils are generally shallow here. However, glacial silt carried by rivers enriches the lower valleys of some rivers.
Petroleum reserves are also found in southeastern Ohio. Major deposits of coal—Ohio’s most valuable mineral resource—and natural gas occur mainly in the east.
Western Ohio belongs to the Central Lowlands. This land of rounded hills and valleys is subdivided into the Lake Plains and Till Plains. The Lake Plains include the shores of Lake Erie and the northwestern counties, while the Till Plains cover western Ohio. The Maumee, Sandusky, Cuyahoga, and Grand rivers drain into Lake Erie.
Ice Age glaciers covered about three quarters of Ohio. The great ice sheets rounded hills and filled valleys with fertile soils. They also dammed streams and created lakes.
These lakes became shallower as they filled with silt and plants took root in the shallows. Eventually, many became swamps, especially in northern Ohio. Pioneers drained swamps in northwestern Ohio, which was once under the waters of Lake Erie at the end of the Ice Age. Today, fertile farms are found here.
Buckeyes and other hardwoods dominated the forests that once covered nearly all of Ohio, split here and there by prairies. Today, Ohio’s prairies are gone, and only about one quarter of the state is forested, with the most heavily wooded area in southeast Ohio.
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism - Paperback
