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Chapter 31 of the book "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Chicago: Including Aurora, Northwest Indiana, and Waukegan," 2nd Edition, by Ted Villaire is presented. It explores the Moraine Hills State Park Hike in Chicago, Illinois, which is a complete mosaic of marshes, lakes and prairie dogs. It notes that while the moraines and Lake Defiance highlight the park, it also offers more than a half-dozen parking and picnic areas.

Chapter 21 of the book "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Minneapolis and St. Paul," 2nd Edition, by Tom Watson is presented. It offers information on the Clearly Lake Regional Park in Minnesota, which is one of the casual hiking areas where one can amble along at a slow pace or speedwalk for some aerobic exercise. It also informs that more than 137 acres of the northern half of the park has covered the lake nearby. Moreover, it is situated in ground moraine, deposited during the last Ice Age.

The article presents information on glacial lake outburst floods. Topics discussed include a major flood risk posed by proglacial lakes impounded behind moraines or an ice dam to downstream communities, examples of such floods and climate change and glacier fluctuations as key controls on the occurrence of outburst floods.

In a representation of history, the landscape should be thought of as being continually influenced by people. It can be seen as the tangible and characteristic result of the interaction between a specific society, its cultural preferences and potential, and the physio-geographical conditions. Human intelligence exercises a decisive influence on the ecological balance of the landscape, to store knowledge and to organise the use of natural resources. For that reason, much of the landscape has been dominated by human influence over the centuries, and should therefore be regarded as a part of cultural history. The agrarian landscape provides an excellent illustration of this line of thought. Before agriculture became industrialised the farming population was affected by and was dependent on the conditions dictated by nature. The natural landscape was gradually transformed into a cultural landscape which, depending on natural conditions, varies from region to region. The natural landscape can be likened to a chessboard. Man himself makes the rules of the game to suit his social and economic needs; he determines how natural resources are to be used. What the chessboard looks like is primarily dependent on geology, the landforms, climate, hydrology and soil conditions. Let us therefore start by considering some of the main physical characteristics of the Scandinavian landscape throughout the millennia that have passed since the Quaternary glaciations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chapter 27 of the book "60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: Minneapolis and St. Paul," 2nd Edition, by Tom Watson is presented. It highlights the Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve, which is one of the most rugged parks in the Hennepin Park System. It notes that the park offers diverse terrain, challenging trails and great strenuous hike for hikers who preferred for a good workout. Serious glacial moraine and best stands of oaks have best represented the park.

The article presents information on the last glacial cycle. Topics discussed include major impact of the Last Glacial on ground conditions overextensive areas, important changes in the oceans, the degree of temperature change that occurred in the vicinity of the great ice sheets, impact of periglacial conditions and the deposition of silt-sized aeolian material (loess) derived from deflation of outwash plains and moraines.