Lake
Superior
Lake
Superior
Lutsen is located in
Cook County as
indicated by the star
above.
-The picture to the left shows just how
enormous the Laurentide Ice Sheet really was.
It covered basically all of Canada and a portion
of the north United States. All of Northern
Minnesota was completely covered.
BelowGlaciers around the World
(Star indicates where
Northern Minnesota was)
-The picture on the left shows how winds
played a role in how the glaciers of North
America were affected. The Laurentide Ice
Sheet moved down from Canada to the United
States.
-As the glaciers of
North America flowed
over the bedrock it left
large scrapes in the
rock. These scrapes are
called glacial striations.
The ice was very
powerful and could cut
right through the rock
without much effort.
These striations took
an extremely long time
to form, for the ice
moved so slowly.
Moraines are rock debris that
has been accumulated by an
alpine glaciers. There are many
different types of moraines.
There are lateral, terminal, and
medial moraines.
Volcanoes actually
formed much of the rock
that is in Lutsen MN.
Especially along the
shore of Lake Superior.
After the lava from the
volcano cooled it formed
to create rock. The type
of rock formed from lava
is typically igneous rock.
Mostly Igneous rock
makes up the majority
of the Lutsen area. The
rock the lies here is
actually the oldest rock
found in the state of
Minnesota. The two
circles on the map
indicate where the
Igneous rock is mainly
located in the state .
This map
shows that
in the
Lutsen
area, the
main rock
type here
was
formed by
volcanoes.
There are so many activities to do in the summer while you visit Lutsen as the slide
after shows.
Different resorts and companies offer different activities such as:
-Waterfall Tours
-Rock Climbing
-Alpine slides-Canoe Lessons
-Canoe lessons
-Kayak Lessons
Some of the above activities you could do on your own as well as the following:
-Fishing
-Hunt for rocks along Lake Superior
-Swimming
shore
-Viewing the sites
-Have a picnic
-Hiking
-Agate Hunting
-Camping
The slide after this one shows that there are many activities
to do in the winters in Lutsen Minnesota .
-Resorts and other companies can set you up with the
following activities if you need assistance:
-Snowboarding
-Skiing
-Ride in a horse drawn sleigh
-Take a snowmobile ride
-Take a snowshoe walk through a trail
-Ride on a dog sled
-You could even have a winter picnic
Gondola rides are
offered through a
number of companies
throughout Lutsen.
They are not only used
for getting up a
mountain to ski or
snowboard but to site
see as well!
There are many different resorts in the area.
Such as the Caribou Highlands Lodge,
Cascade Lodge and Restaurant , Lutsen
Resort, Solbakken Resort and
Lakeshore Cabins, and many many
more!
-As you can see by the rock cycle Igneous rocks are formed
by lava or (magma). Before the time of the ice age there was
a volcano in the Lutsen area. That volcano spilled lava , the
lava cooled and then created Igneous Rocks.
-Along the North
Shore including,
Lutsen there are
many rock
beaches where
agates can be
found.
Long before the ice age the North
American continent began to split apart.
Lava flows then came up to the surface of
the earth. These lava flows were rich with
iron. Carbon dioxide and tiny water vapers
actually became trapped in the cooled lava.
Later chalcedony (fine-grained quartz)
filled into the air pockets. After much time
passed the ice age fell upon Minnesota. The
glacier came through and picked up many
of the agates that were on the ground’s
surface. Many of these agates were
transported by the glacier to the south. It is
said that the glacier actually acted as a
giant rock tumbler by polishing the agates.
The lake superior agates actually have a
different color scheme then other agates
found in different parts of the world. Lake
Sperior agates are usually colored yellow,
orange, and red. The color of an agate is
actually determines by the amount of iron
and the oxidation.
*The pH level in the soil of this
area is between 5.2 and 5.1. This
means that the soil is slightly
acidic. On the pH scale neutral
is 7. A pH of % is more on the
Acidic side.
*The soil in the Lutsen area is
fairly moist. It holds moistures
fairly good as well.
Large rocks and
boulders mixed in
with the till.
Till is deposited by
glaciers. It is composed
by glacial sediment.
This may made up of
one specific type of clay
or be a mixture of a few
different kinds. Sand
and gravels may
actually be apart of the
clay as well. Till is
usually deposited in
the moraines of the
glacier. Large amounts
of till is said to be, in a
scene, washed away as
outwash in rivers.
-The Cascade River between Lutsen
and Grand Marais.There is a state
park actually in Lutsen called the
Cascade River State Park. In both the
upper right picture and the one on
the left you can see that the river is
slowly eroding the rock.
-The bottom left-hand picure is
pointing out a point bar.The river is a
curve at this point.The river isn’t at
the same water level that it used to
be.The river has deposited sand in
that lower part.
Point bar
The Temperance River is actually
between Schroeder and Lutsen,
Minnesota as indicated on the map
above. This state park runs along the
temperance river and has many trails
for hiking. The opening of the
Temperance River is beautiful as it
joins Lake Superior. To get there travel
on Cook County Rd. 1 (Cramer Rd.) to
Temperance River Wayside on Hwy. 61
Lutsen Minnesota is considered to
be in a snowy-forest climate. This
area is also well known for having
moist winters. It is a moist climate
with a decent amount of rainfall
throughout the entire year. Lutsen
has no true dry season. It has a
fairly warm summer season with a
cooler winter season. This climate
is also sometimes called a moist
continental
climate.
-The lowest monthly average for rainfall is in
the month of February.
-In February Lutsen gets an average of
approximately 1.18 inches of rainfall during the
month
-The highest monthly average for rainfall is in
July
In July Lutsen gets an average of
approximately 3.96 inches of rainfall during this
month
As you can probably
already tell by the
pictures, there are
many different types
of animals that roam
around in Lutsen
Minnesota.
-Lutsen has a wide variety of vegetation.
Part it’s vegetation is flowers. There are
multiple wild flower types here.
-This slide shows the more common
types of wildflowers that are native to
this area. You may even stumble upon a
rare Showy Lady Slipper (the state
flower).
Lutsen is a part of the coniferoushardwood forest zone of Minnesota.
This area has a lot of spruce and fir
trees. It is mainly made up of Mixed
Pines and Aspen trees as indicated
by the map below. Maple trees are
also quite abundent in the area with
some oak as well.
Lutsen MN
Lutsen
MN
Lake superior just happens
to be the largest
freshwater lake on earth.
Lake Superior actually has
10% of all the freshwater in
the world. The surface area
of Lake Superior is 32,000
square miles.
-The map on the bottom
shows the different depth
levels in the lake. As you
can see, along the outer
edges of the lake it is more
shallow. Near the middle of
the lake it gets much
deeper.
Lake Superior’s
average annual water
temperature is
approximately 40
degrees Fahrenheit. It
is very rare when Lake
Superior fully freezes
over. This is because of
it’s large size. Even if it
freezes over it’s a very
thin layer . The thin
usually doesn’t even
last a full day.
Eskers are narrow embankments of
gravel and boulders. The gravel and
or boulders were deposited there
bfrom melting water or a stream
from an ice sheet or glacier. Eskers
are said to have formed during the
time of the glaciers. A retaining wall
of ice melts and the deposits from
the stream are left behind as ridges.
These ridges are called eskers. The
pressure from the water and ice of
the glacier is what forms the actual
shape of the esker.
A drumlin is a hill made of glacial till. Drumlins are
usually oval or elliptical in shape. Drumlins are formed
from underneath glaciers. A drumlin basically looks like
a rounded hill or large mound . Some drumlins can
actually get to be 150 feet tall.
http://www.lutsenresort.com
http://www.tripatlas.com
http://www.onthesnow.com-ski
http://www.caribouhighlands.com
http://www.google.com-images
http://www.dnr.state.mn.us
http://www.greatlakes.net/lakes/superior.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drumlin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esker
http://www.weather.com/outlook/recreation
/ski/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USMN0
458?from=tenDay_bottomnav_undeclared
http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/axel_heibe
rg/axel_south_aerial/icons/moraines.jpg