Kettle Moraine
Encyclopedia
Kettle Moraine is a large moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...

 in the state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

 stretching from Walworth County
Walworth County, Wisconsin
Walworth County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2010, the population was 102,228. Its county seat is Elkhorn.-Geography:According to the U.S...

 in the south to Kewaunee County
Kewaunee County, Wisconsin
Kewaunee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 20,187. Its county seat is Kewaunee. Kewaunee County is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:According to the U.S...

 in the north. It has also been referred to as the Kettle Range and, in geological texts, as the Kettle Interlobate Moraine.

The moraine was created when the Green Bay Lobe of the glacier, on the west, collided with the Lake Michigan Lobe of the glacier, on the east, depositing sediment. The western glacier formed Green Bay, Lake Winnebago
Lake Winnebago
Lake Winnebago is a freshwater lake in eastern Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest lake entirely within the state.-Statistics:...

 and the Horicon Marsh
Horicon Marsh
Horicon Marsh is a marsh located in northern Dodge and southern Fond du Lac counties of Wisconsin. It is the site of both a national and state wildlife refuge. The extinct glacial lake is the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the United States....

 while the eastern one formed Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...

. The major part of the Kettle Moraine area is considered interlobate moraine, though other types of moraine features, and other glacial features are common.

The moraine is dotted with kettles
Kettle (geology)
A kettle is a shallow, sediment-filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters.-Overview:...

 caused by buried glacial ice that calved of the terminus of a receding glacier and got entirely or partly buried in glacial sediment and subsequently melted. This process left depressions ranging from small ponds to large lakes and enclosed valleys. Some of the kettles that are now filled in with water range from a few feet to 200 feet deep (60.9m) . The topography
Topography
Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...

 of this area is widely varied between the lakes and kettles and the hills of glacial deposits, which can rise up to 300 feet (91.4m) from the lakes. The largest include Holy Hill, Pulford Peak and Lapham Peak. Elkhart Lake, Geneva Lake
Geneva Lake
Geneva Lake is a body of freshwater in southeastern Wisconsin in Walworth county. On its shores are the city of Lake Geneva, and the villages of Fontana-on-Geneva-Lake, and Williams Bay....

, and Little Cedar Lake
Little Cedar Lake (Wisconsin)
Little Cedar Lake is a lake in Southeastern Wisconsin; United States. It is located at the geographic center of Washington County, in the Town of West Bend, and Town of Polk. The lake covers an area of acres, has a shoreline of miles, and reaches a maximum depth of feet...

 are among the larger kettles now filled by lakes. Kame
Kame
A kame is a geological feature, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the glacier...

s are also found in the kettle moraine area, and are mounds of compressed glacial till.

Parts of the area have been protected in the Kettle Moraine State Forest
Kettle Moraine State Forest
The Kettle Moraine State Forest is a state forest in southeastern Wisconsin, USA. The chief feature of the reserve is the Kettle Moraine, a highly glaciated area. The area contains very hilly terrain and glacial landforms, such as kettles, kames and eskers...

.

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