Collections of these dome-like hills are common in landscapes throughout the United States. Depending on your region, you might know them as Mima mounds, hogwallow mounds, or even pimple mounds–and their origin isn’t always clear. Theories range from seismic activity to gophers—and even just an accumulation of sediment. The prairie mounds on our homepage today are part of Oregon’s Zumwalt Prairie, a protected grassland area in northeast Oregon. Encompassing some 330,000 acres, it’s of one of the largest remaining tracts of bunchgrass prairie in North America. Once part of an extensive grassland in the region, this portion has remained preserved due to its high elevation, which made farming difficult.
Mysterious prairie mounds abound
Today in History
More Desktop Wallpapers:
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Just another day in paradise
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Shenandoah National Park, Virginia
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It s Teacher Appreciation Week
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A meerkat stands alone
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Seventeen arches at sunset
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Traditional red fishermens cabins, Reine, Norway
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Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming
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Great horned owl near Lake Tohopekaliga, Florida
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A view fit for a queen
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Mack Arch Rock
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Red Planet Day
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A whale of a hug
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The Door County Coastal Byway in Wisconsin
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It s truffle season here in the Dordogne Valley
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Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
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World Teachers Day
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Astrotourism at its finest
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National Umbrella Day
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Memorial Day
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Happy Welsh New Year!
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Defying gravity on a swing ride
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Humpbacks return to the Inside Passage
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A march toward a dream
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At ease, it’s Armed Forces Day
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Haghartsin Monastery, Armenia
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Marine Day in Japan
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International Mountain Day
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Red fox
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Chittorgarh Fort, Rajasthan, India
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Cinco de Mayo