9781422286111

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Lower Plains: Kansas, Nebraska

The chalk (soft limestone) deposits that form Monument Rocks were created 80 million years ago, when this region was part of a vast inland sea. Today abundant fossilized remains of shells and ancient sea creatures can be found here.

the hills. These deposits made the soil too rocky to be plowed up and con- verted to farmland, as was done in Illinois and other prairie states. As a result, Flint Hills has the nation’s largest remaining tallgrass prairie pre- serve. At one time, the United States had some 142 million acres (57.5 mil- lion hectares) of tallgrass prairie. Now less than 5 percent of that remains,

miles from their origin. When the gla- ciers melted, this sediment was deposited, creating the rich soils that make this area so good for farming. The Flint Hills area in the east-cen- tral part of the state is characterized by sloping hills and rolling grasslands. It is prime pastureland for cattle. The area gets its name from the flint deposits in the limestone underlying