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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A cozy winter village
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Decorating for Diwali
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Pretty, pretty…butterfly?
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Yosemite National Park, California
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Celebrating National Park Week, April 21-29
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Panda Day
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East River crossing
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El Valle de la Luna, Chile
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Happy Independence Day!
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Siblings Day
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A history of Vinland
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Splügen Pass, Switzerland
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The roots of invention
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Nothing plain about it
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Yosemite National Park turns 132
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Great horned owl near Lake Tohopekaliga, Florida
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Blink and you ll miss it
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The birth of Bauhaus
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And they’re off!
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Riding the bore tide at Turnagain Arm, Cook Inlet, Alaska
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Up in the Highlands
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Bournemouth beach huts
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How green is my valley
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Whales in winter
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Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
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Venice s grand regatta
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Albion Falls, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Take the stairs
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Waiānapanapa State Park, Maui, Hawaii
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The aftermath of a meteorite