Archive Dive: Fire & Ice: Duluth’s Geological History

This week’s archive dive presents an excerpt from the first chapter of Zenith City Press publisher Tony Dierckins’s Duluth: An Urban Biography, winner of the 2020/2021 Northeast Minnesota Book Award. Titled “Formed By Fire & Ice,” the excerpt explains the geological history of the far western end of Lake Superior, including how the lake was created and how it has evolved. At one time, according to geologist John C. Green, the local landscape featured “great mountain ranges, perhaps rivaling the Alps, which have since been eroded to the nub.” Read chapter 1 of Duluth: An Urban Biography here. (You can also preview or purchase the book here.)