Indiana | Flag, Facts, Maps, & Points Of Interest | Britannica

Relief, drainage, and soils

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Indiana forms part of the east-central lowlands that slope downward from the Appalachian Mountains to the Mississippi River. Most of the state’s surface was modified by glacial action, leaving a vast quantity of excellent soil material and extensive deposits of sand, gravel, glacial till, and loess. The more-eroded southern part of the state gives way to the central plain, an extremely fertile agricultural belt with large farms, and then to the mostly flat glacial lake basin and moraine (rocky glacial debris) region of northern Indiana. The highest elevation is near the Ohio border, at about 1,250 feet (380 meters) above sea level, while the lowest point, at roughly 330 feet (100 meters), is in the southwest where the Wabash River enters the Ohio River. About 90 percent of the land lies between 500 and 1,000 feet (150 and 300 meters).

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The general slope and drainage pattern is toward the south and southwest, though an almost imperceptible groundswell in the northeast forms a watershed between the St. Lawrence and Mississippi basins. The Wabash, the Ohio, and the east and west forks of the White River form part of the Mississippi basin. In the north the St. Joseph River meanders into Lake Michigan, while in the east the Maumee flows northeastward into Lake Erie. The northern half of the state is dotted with many small glacial lakes, including several of the state’s largest.

A high percentage of the forested land is privately owned, primarily by farmers. Among the dramatic features of the landscape are the Indiana Dunes—sand dunes along Lake Michigan—most of which have been removed from the public domain by industry and private homes. This situation was remedied somewhat with the dedication in 1972 of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. One of the most scenic parts of the state is the hilly south-central region around Brown County.

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