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TheCoteau des Prairies[pronunciation?] is aplateau approximately 200 miles in length and 100 miles in width (320 by 160 km), rising from theprairie flatlands in easternSouth Dakota, southwesternMinnesota, and northwesternIowa in theUnited States. The southeast portion of the Coteau comprises one of the distinctregions of Minnesota, known asBuffalo Ridge. The tip of the feature starts in extreme southNorth Dakota.
Theflatiron-shaped plateau was named by early French explorers fromNew France (Quebec),coteau meaning "hill" inFrench; the general termcoteau has since been used in English to describe any upland dividing ridge.[1]
The plateau is composed of thickglacial deposits, the remnants of many repeated glaciations, reaching a composite thickness of approximately 900 feet (275 m). They are underlain by a small ridge of resistantCretaceousshale. During the last (Pleistocene) Ice Age, two lobes of the Laurentide glacier, the James lobe on the west and the Des Moines lobe on the east, appear to have parted around the pre-existing plateau and further deepened the lowlands flanking the plateau.
The plateau has numerous small glacial lakes and is drained by theBig Sioux River in South Dakota and theCottonwood River in Minnesota.Pipestone deposits on the plateau have been quarried for hundreds of years byNative Americans, who use the prized, brownish-red mineral to make their sacredceremonial pipes. The quarries are located atPipestone National Monument in the southwest corner ofMinnesota and in adjacentMinnehaha County, South Dakota.
Numerous wind farms have been built on the area's surface to take advantage of the high average wind speeds.[2][3]
44°00′00″N96°19′00″W / 44.0000°N 96.3167°W /44.0000; -96.3167
