page_title: Indiana
section_title: Geology and terrain
hierarchical_section_title: Indiana / Geography / Geology and terrain
caption_attribution_description: The w:Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area of w:Hoosier National Forest in Southern w:Indiana, viewed from the w:Hickory Ridge Fire Tower looking Northwest. Taller buildings in w:Bloomington, Indiana can barely be seen on the distant horizon. Though Indiana is often regarded as flat, this image shows the rolling hills in the area. Karst topography dominates, with deep ravines scattered throughout the wilderness area.
context_page_description: Indiana is a U.S. state in the Midwestern and Great Lakes regions of North America. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 United States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th state on December 11, 1816. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the south and southeast, and the Wabash River and Illinois to the west.
  Before becoming a territory, various indigenous peoples inhabited Indiana for thousands of years. Since its founding as a territory, settlement patterns in Indiana have reflected regional cultural segmentation present in the Eastern United States; the state's northernmost tier was settled primarily by people from New England and New York, Central Indiana by migrants from the Mid-Atlantic states and adjacent Ohio, and Southern Indiana by settlers from the Southern states, particularly Kentucky and Tennessee.
  Indiana has a diverse economy with a gross state product of $359.12 billion in 2017.
context_section_description: The average altitude of Indiana is about 760 feet (230 m) above sea level. The highest point in the state is Hoosier Hill in Wayne County at 1,257 feet (383 m) above sea level. The lowest point at 320 feet (98 m) above sea level is in Posey County, where the Wabash River meets the Ohio River. Only 2,850 square miles (7,400 km²) have an altitude greater than 1,000 feet (300 m) and this area is enclosed within 14 counties. About 4,700 square miles (12,000 km²) have an elevation of less than 500 feet (150 m), mostly concentrated along the Ohio and lower Wabash Valleys, from Tell City and Terre Haute to Evansville and Mount Vernon.
  The state includes two natural regions of the United States: the Central Lowlands and the Interior Low Plateaus. The till plains make up the northern and central regions of Indiana. Much of its appearance is a result of elements left behind by glaciers. Central Indiana is mainly flat with some low rolling hills (except where rivers cut deep valleys through the plain, like at the Wabash River and Sugar Creek) and soil composed of glacial sands, gravel and clay, which results in exceptional farmland. Northern Indiana is similar, except for the presence of higher and hillier terminal moraines and hundreds of kettle lakes.
  In northwest Indiana there are various sand ridges and dunes, some reaching nearly 200 feet in height. These are along the Lake Michigan shoreline and also inland to the Kankakee Outwash Plain. Southern Indiana is characterized by valleys and rugged, hilly terrain, contrasting from much of the state. Here, bedrock is exposed at the surface and isn't buried in glacial till like further north. Because of the prevalent Indiana limestone, the area has many caves, caverns, and quarries.
caption: Rolling hills in the Charles C. Deam Wilderness Area of Hoosier National Forest, located in the Indiana Uplands
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