Since cryopedimentation and classical pedimentation are closely entwined subjects, this makes the Iowan paha hills akin to rock inselbergs on pediments such as on the southwestern pediments of the US . This is because the loess and till of the Iowan paha were anchored to the ground by moisture of the sheetwash and hardened into rock-like masses due to the paleo-permafrost during the Pleistocene.