land and water features of the united states
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Land and Water Features Of the United States. United States Landforms. Great Plains. Great Plains is an extensive grassland region in North America. Extends form Northern Canada to Texas between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Land and Water FeaturesOf the
United States
United States
Landforms
Great PlainsGreat Plains is an extensive grassland region in
North America.Extends form Northern Canada to Texas between
the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River.It is a very fertile region and is called the “Bread
Basket” of America because a lot of wheat is grown there.
Great BasinThe Great Basin is a lowland desert region
in the western U.S. between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.
An area of land that is a depression (lower than the land around it) is called a basin.
Death Valley is in the Great Basin and is the lowest basin at 282 ft below sea level.
Cape CodJuts out into the Atlantic like
a giant fishhook near Boston, MA.
Pilgrims landed on the shores of Cape Cod at Plymouth, MA, establishing one of the first European settlements.
Gulf Coastal PlainStarts in Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula and
moves along Texas and around the Gulf of Mexico to Florida.
The shoreline on the Gulf Coastal Plain is low, sandy, marshy and has many swampy areas called bayous. These areas are prone to flooding and dangerous especially when hurricanes like Katrina come through.
Atlantic Coastal PlainThe Atlantic Coastal Plain extends from Canada
down the eastern U.S. coastline to Florida.Made up of low flatlands which are prone to
flooding, and sometimes makes good farmland.
Central Valley of CaliforniaThe Central Valley is between the Sierra Nevada
Mountains and the Coastal Ranges and extends 450 miles.
It has very fertile lands and contains the largest concentration of fruit farms and vineyards in the US.
Appalachian MountainsThe Appalachian Mtns. run from the
St. Lawrence River to the Gulf Coastal Plain.
Mount Mitchell is the tallest mountain in the Appalachians.
The Appalachians are a very old mountain chain and used to be the tallest in the world (millions of years ago), but they have erroded over long periods of time.
They formed a natural border to west during early colonization of American.
Rocky MountainsLocated in the western U.S.
and extend more that 3,000 miles from central New Mexico to NW Alaska.
The jagged peaks indicated they are young in geological times.
The Rockies form the continental divide which means it separates the Rivers that drain into the Atlantic and Arctic from those that drain into the Pacific.
Sierra Nevada Mountains
The Sierra Nevada mountains extend from Bakersfield, CA to Lassen State Park in eastern CA.
The mountains are known for their spectacular scenery including Yosemite and Lake Tahoe.
Mount McKinleyLocated in Alaska in the Alaska Range in south
central Alaska.It is the highest peak in North America at over
20,000ft.
Mount WhitneyMount Whitney is the highest mountain in CA
and the second highest peak in North America.It is located in the Sierra Nevada Mountain
range.
Cascade RangeThe Cascade Range stretches from
Canada to Northern California. There are volcanic cones in this area, including Mount St. Helen which erupted in 1980.
Mount Rainier is its highest peak.
Coast RangeThe Coast Range runs
along the Pacific coast of North America from Alaska to California.
There are rocky coasts with sheer cliffs often shown in movies with high speed car chases (because it is very dangerous curvy roads bordered by cliffs).
Brooks RangeThe Brooks Range is in northern Alaska and you
can see the Arctic ocean from this range.There is oil in the mountains and a pipeline was
finished in 1977 that brings oil to southern Alaska.
Mauna LoaMauna Loa is Hawaii’s most active volcano.Volcanoes like Mauna Lao formed the Hawaiian
Islands as the flow of lava cooled and hardened into the rock which built slowly into islands.
The island of Hawaii grows each year because of lava flow.
United States
Waters
Pacific OceanBorders the US to the westNamed by Ferdinand
MagellanPacific means tranquilThe part he saw was very
peaceful, but the Pacific is known for rough waters.
The Pacific is the largest ocean in the world.
Atlantic OceanBorders the United States to the eastSecond largest ocean in the worldMany underwater mountain ranges
Gulf of MexicoLarge body of water
west of Florida, it is actually an extension of the Atlantic Ocean
Oil has been found under the Gulf
It is bordered by Florida, Alabama,Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas
Great Lakes Group of five freshwater
lakes between the United States and Canada.
They make up the largest body of fresh water in the world
Made up of Lake Huron, Lake Ontario, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Superior.
Great Lakes Region was rich in furs.
Great Salt LakeShallow body of salt water in NW UtahLargest body of salt water in the USThere are few or no outlets from the lake so salt
has built up over time. The area is rich in salt deposits and has been mined for many years.
Chesapeake BayThis bay is a 200 mile inlet to to the
Atlantic OceanIts calm waters provide many ocean
vessels with protection from rough waters and has been a popular area for settlement since the first European arrived
Big urban areas have formed here including Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Richmond.
San Francisco BayThe bay is 50 miles long
and is an important entrance to the Pacific Ocean.
It is a major seaport on the west coast of US
Some of the largest ship in the world come and go from San Francisco Bay.
Hudson RiverStarts in the Adirondack
Mountains and flows through NY City.
The Erie canal was built in 1825 to connect the river to Lake Erie.
The Hudson was an important natural water route for the trade of furs.
New York City grew to be one of the largest cities in the world because of its easy trade accessibility.
Mississippi River It is 2,350 miles long and
starts in Minnesota, flows down through the central US to Mississippi.
It empties into the Gulf of Mexico.
It is the major shipping route and has been very important to trade for a long time.
It was part of the Louisiana purchase.
Ohio RiverStarts in Western Pennsylvania and flows
generally westward where it joins with the Mississippi River in Illinois.
Serves as a natural boundary between several states, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois.
Missouri RiverForms a natural border
between Iowa and Nebraska and Kansas.
Flows in a curvy (meandering) path through the Great Plains.
Called the “Big Muddy” for its heavy load of silt.
Meets with the Mississippi in St. Louis.
Much of the Louis and Clark expedition was traveling the Missouri River.
Colorado River
Major river that flows through the Grand Canyon and is responsible for carving out this and many other canyons.
Starts in the Rockies and flows SW through Utah, Arizona, Nevada and California before entering Mexico and empting into the Gulf of California.
Rio GrandFlows south from
Colorado through New Mexico then turns southeast and forms the border between Texas and Mexico.
In some places it is very narrow.
St. Lawrence RiverOne of the most important rivers of North
America, it flows NE from Lake Ontario and forms part of the border between Canada and the US before turning north to Quebec and then finally into the Atlantic ocean.
It has been important to trade and is now a large source of hydroelectric power to the region.
Thousand Islands
Columbia RiverFlows from British
Columbia, Canada through Washington and Oregon.
It forms part of the Washington and Oregon border before emptying into the Pacific Ocean near Portland, Oregon.
Lewis and Clark found the Columbian River on their great expedition.