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Landforms of Iowa
Rear cover "Here is a captivating, authoritative guide to the Hawkeye State's landscape features and their geologic ingredients. The clearly presented text and superb full-color photographs and maps will inspire all visitors to read and enjoy the story of Iowa's landscape. 'Jean Prior writes about the glacial geology of Iowa as if it's an old friend. She knows and cares about her subject and explains Iowa's geologic attractions with a sure hand.' - Rex Buchanan, Kansas Geological Survey"
168 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1991
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September 8, 2024
Landforms of Iowa by Jean C. Prior:
A Book Review
The last 500 million or half-billion years of the earth’s 4.5-billion-year existence is when most of higher life forms appeared on this planet, like trees, dinosaurs, rodents, and people. People have been around in one form or another for less than 2 million years, people that we have any inkling of some history for perhaps 10,000 years.
Notions of the true geologic nature of our planet, a crust broken into plates, edged by volcanic heat escaping from below, are mostly only since the 1950s. It turns that what today we know of as Iowa and much of the central United States was near the equator and under seawater, primarily in shallow coral seas, where ancient and primitive Cambrian era life forms, that now exist in the bedrock as fossils. The only bedrock in Iowa that shapes the present topography is the plateau of northeast Iowa, the Paleozoic Plateau, bordering similar bedrock contouring topography in Wisconsin and Illinois. The Paleozoic Plateau in the last 1.2 million years saw very little glaciation. The land on top, there, because of glaciation and glacial environments is very thin.
The last remnant of the glaciers that periodically covered Iowa, bringing ground debris from what is now the Canadian Shield, is now in Greenland. The topography of Iowa, outside of the Paleozoic Plateau, is governed by the age of surfaces since glaciation in various parts of Iowa, forming surfaces of varied age, from about a million years ago until a mere 10,000 years ago. Moving and melting ice, tundra winds, and rivers have carved topography in land surface of varying ages. Thus, these plains and hills are a record of a million years or less, bedrock showing in some places because of exposure from water erosion or uplift of sedimentary bedrock. The Landform Regions Map of Iowa in the photo above are the topic of discovery and analysis of this book.
“Iowa’s early explorers and inhabitants had no choice but to consider the land carefully for landmarks, shelter, nourishment, and safety. Today we are free to turn a more inquisitive eye to the landscape—to study its forms, learn of its history, and enjoy its beauty. Yet our view must also be more encompassing, looking broadly and deeply at the land resource with increased understanding of its importance to our future.” (from page 130, Epilogue)
Contents: Preface; Introduction; Outlooks on Iowa Landforms; Landform Regions (Des Moines Lobe; Loess Hills; Southern Iowa Drift Plain; Iowan Surface; Northwest Iowa Plains; Paleozoic Plateau; Alluvial Plains); Visits to Iowa Landforms; Epilogue; Glossary; Supplementary Reading; Selected References; Index.
Landforms of Iowa by Jean C. Prior, designed and illustrated by Patricia J. Lohmann, University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, for Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 1991.
A Book Review
The last 500 million or half-billion years of the earth’s 4.5-billion-year existence is when most of higher life forms appeared on this planet, like trees, dinosaurs, rodents, and people. People have been around in one form or another for less than 2 million years, people that we have any inkling of some history for perhaps 10,000 years.
Notions of the true geologic nature of our planet, a crust broken into plates, edged by volcanic heat escaping from below, are mostly only since the 1950s. It turns that what today we know of as Iowa and much of the central United States was near the equator and under seawater, primarily in shallow coral seas, where ancient and primitive Cambrian era life forms, that now exist in the bedrock as fossils. The only bedrock in Iowa that shapes the present topography is the plateau of northeast Iowa, the Paleozoic Plateau, bordering similar bedrock contouring topography in Wisconsin and Illinois. The Paleozoic Plateau in the last 1.2 million years saw very little glaciation. The land on top, there, because of glaciation and glacial environments is very thin.
The last remnant of the glaciers that periodically covered Iowa, bringing ground debris from what is now the Canadian Shield, is now in Greenland. The topography of Iowa, outside of the Paleozoic Plateau, is governed by the age of surfaces since glaciation in various parts of Iowa, forming surfaces of varied age, from about a million years ago until a mere 10,000 years ago. Moving and melting ice, tundra winds, and rivers have carved topography in land surface of varying ages. Thus, these plains and hills are a record of a million years or less, bedrock showing in some places because of exposure from water erosion or uplift of sedimentary bedrock. The Landform Regions Map of Iowa in the photo above are the topic of discovery and analysis of this book.
“Iowa’s early explorers and inhabitants had no choice but to consider the land carefully for landmarks, shelter, nourishment, and safety. Today we are free to turn a more inquisitive eye to the landscape—to study its forms, learn of its history, and enjoy its beauty. Yet our view must also be more encompassing, looking broadly and deeply at the land resource with increased understanding of its importance to our future.” (from page 130, Epilogue)
Contents: Preface; Introduction; Outlooks on Iowa Landforms; Landform Regions (Des Moines Lobe; Loess Hills; Southern Iowa Drift Plain; Iowan Surface; Northwest Iowa Plains; Paleozoic Plateau; Alluvial Plains); Visits to Iowa Landforms; Epilogue; Glossary; Supplementary Reading; Selected References; Index.
Landforms of Iowa by Jean C. Prior, designed and illustrated by Patricia J. Lohmann, University of Iowa Press, Iowa City, for Iowa Department of Natural Resources, 1991.
October 23, 2025
The book "Landforms of Iowa" by Jean Cutler Prior is well-respected for its authoritative and concise overview of Iowa's geologic features. It is lauded for its clear writing and stunning full-color photographs and maps that encourage readers to explore Iowa's landscape story. Jean Prior's deep expertise and passion for the subject make her explanations of Iowa's geological attractions both engaging and informative. This book is anticipated to be a standard reference for many years, serving as a valuable resource for anyone interested in Iowa's geology and landforms.
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