The Drift Prairie is a geographic region of

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

and

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

. In North Dakota, the Drift Prairie is the transition zone between two zones. The gently rolling hills and shallow lakes were formed by glacial action, while the

Badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...

to the west are characterized by the lack of this action, and the Red River Valley to the east was a lake bed. This distinction causes the area considered as Drift Prairie to overlap somewhat with the

Missouri Plateau The Missouri Coteau, or Missouri Plateau, (french: Coteau du Missouri) is a large plateau that stretches along the eastern side of the valley of the Missouri River in central North Dakota and north-central South Dakota in the United States. In t ...

, another of North Dakota's distinct geographic regions, but the Drift Prairie also includes the

Souris River The Souris River (; french: rivière Souris) or Mouse River (as it is alternatively known in the U.S., a calque of its French name) is a river in central North America. It is about in length and drains about . It rises in the Yellow Grass Mars ...

basin. Prairie grasses and wheat grow there making it a perfect place for ranchers. The prairie is filled with drift. Drift is soil consisting of clay, sand, and gravel. In South Dakota, most of the eastern state is covered by the Drift Prairie. The Missouri River cuts through the center of the state. To the east of the river are low hills and lakes formed by glaciers referred to as the Drift Prairie. The area is bordered on the east by the Minnesota River Valley and on the west by the James River Basin.

References

Regions of North Dakota Regions of South Dakota Prairies Landforms of North Dakota Landforms of South Dakota {{NorthDakota-geo-stub

See also

References