Mammoth Bones Found on Mahaska County Farm
Pictures from the mammoth dig
What was Iowa like 14,000 years ago?
14,000 years ago, Iowa was partially covered by a glacier. The Earth was in the midst of an ice age. We call this period the Pleistocene Epoch. It started about 1.8 million years ago. During that time, much of the Earth's water was frozen as glaciers formed, spread, receded, and then formed again. This made the Earth a dramatically different place to live than it is today.
The climate was much different as well. Temperatures were about 12 degrees colder than they are today. So, winters were colder and lasted longer. Average summer temperatures would be around 26/13°C (79/55°F). Average winter temperatures would have been −13/−20°C (9/-4°F). Summers were cooler and were shorter. We got about the same amount of precipitation. About 20 in. of precipitation in the form of rain and/or snow. So, winters were colder and lasted longer.
The glaciers formed because summers were too short to melt all of the accumulated ice and snow in the northern part of the globe. This accumulated ice and snow formed rivers of ice called glaciers which moved south. To learn more about this period read about the Pleistocene era.
Link: The Pleistocene Epoch
Ice Age Biomes
Ice Ages: Illinois
Ice Age
Parts of Iowa were covered in glaciers during much of this period. The southern part of Iowa was more like Canada. Temperatures were much cooler. Instead of the prairies of pioneer days, there were pine trees and large forests broken up by smaller meadow areas. The animals that lived here were also much different.
Link: Ice Age Mammals
Mammals of the Ice Age Midwest
As mentioned, 14,000 years ago, Mahaska county's climate was a lot more like Canada's is today. Many of the plants that we find in Southern Canada are similar to the plants that would have covered our land. Read about the plants of the Taiga or Boreal forests that once covered southern Iowa.
Link: Plants of the Late Pleistocene (12,000 B.C.E)
The Boreal Forest
This is what Iowa would have looked like 14,000 years ago
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Read about the Woolly Mammoth Link: Woolly Mammoths Link: Woolly Mammoth Link: Woolly Mammoth Link: Woolly Mammoth and modern elephants ( username: 31oskaloosa password: gpaea ) Research more about the Woolly Mammoth. Compare mammoths to modern day elephants. How are they similar? How are they different? |