Physical Geography of North America

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Physical Geography of North America

• Ch 5.1

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North America

• U.S. and Canada share the northern part of the
  continent
• Covers more than 7 million sq miles about 12 of
  the earths land surface

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Landforms

• Mountains at eastern and western edges
• Plateaus and rolling plains in the middle
• Rivers and enormous lakes provide freshwater

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Landforms West

• Pacific Ranges young, contain Sierra Nevada,
  Cascade Range, the Coast Range, and Alaska Range.
• Located in Alaska, Mt. McKinley highest point,
  20,320 ft
• Rocky Mtns connect US and Canada, 3000 mi long
• Dry basins and plateaus between 2 western ranges
• Columbia Plateau formed by lava
• Colorado Plateau flat topped mesas, Grand
  Canyon (formed by Colorado River walls 6,000
  ft)
• Great Basin contains Death Valley, hottest and
  lowest place in the US

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Interior Landforms

• Great plains 300-700 miles
• Slopes toward central lowlands along Mississippi
  River

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Eastern Mountains and Lowlands

• Canadian Shield Hudson and James Bays
• Appalachian Mountains NA oldest mtns, Quebec to
  Alabama
• Coastal Lowlands SE of the Appalachians
• Piedmont coastal lowlands close to the Atlantic
  Coastal plains

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Islands

• Manhattan Island NYC mouth of the Hudson R
• Hawaii 8 major and 124 smaller volcanic islands
  in the Pacific Ocean
• Canadas most important West Vancouver Island,
  East-Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Cape
  Breton Island
• Greenland worlds largest island territory of
  Denmark size of Texas and Alaska together

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Water

• Large amounts of fresh water provides power,
  movement of resources, and meets city and rural
  needs
• Divide high point or ridge that determines the
  direction that rivers flow
• Continental Divide In the Rockies
• east of the divide rivers flow into the Arctic,
  Atlantic, Hudson Bay, Gulf of Mexico, and
  Mississippi River
• West rivers flow into the Pacific Ocean

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Water Cont

• Headwaters source of a rivers water
• Tributaries smaller rivers or streams that feed
  into a larger one
• Mississippi River NAs longest river empties
  into the Gulf of Mexico
• Eastern Rivers St. Lawrence River Canadas
  most important
• Fall line boundary where the higher land of
  Piedmont drops to lower Atlantic Coastal Plain
• Rivers break into waterfalls and rapids (provide
  power)
• Niagara Falls major source of electricity

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Water Cont

• Glaciers to lakes
• Glaciers caused the Canadian Shield and glacial
  basins which formed the Great Lakes
• Great Lakes Lake Huron, Ontario, Michigan,
  Erie, and Superior

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Natural Resources

• Fuels (petroleum and Natural Gas)
• Texas and Alaska rank 1st and 2nd in oil reserves
• Texas 1st in Natural Gas
• Coal mined in Appalachians, Wyoming, and British
  Columbia for 100 years
• Minerals
• Rocky Mtns Gold, Silver, and Copper
• Canadian Shield Iron and Nickel

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More Resources

• Timber
• Forest covered most of the land
• Today less than 50 of Canada and 33 in the US
  have forest
• Fishing
• Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and Gulf of Mexico
  rich with shellfish and fish

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Climate and Vegetation

• Ch 5.2

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Varied Region

• 2/3 of Canada and Alaska lie in higher latitudes,
  long, cold winters, brief/mild summers
• Most of US and 1/3 of southern Canada temperate
  climates with varied elevation
• Hawaii- tropical climate

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Northern Climates

• Cold winters
• January temps below 0 to -70
• Cold winds
• Arctic Coastline Tundra, cold summers few
  people live here
• Greenland sedge, cotton seed, lichens on small
  ice free areas few people live here

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Western Climates

• Variation of climate due to latitude, elevation,
  ocean currents, and rainfall
• Marine West Coast
• Windward side of the mountains 100 inches
• Plateaus, Basins, and Deserts
• Rain Shadow effect b/w Pacific and Rocky mtn
  ranges
• Great Salt Lake Desert, Death Valley, Mojave, and
  Chihuahan desert

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• Death Valley highest temperature recorded in US
  134 degrees F
• Highlands - elevation
• Coniferous forests
• Timberline elevation above which trees cannot
  grow
• Chinook a warm dry wind

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Interior Climate

• Great Plains (center of North America)
• Humid continental climate cold winters, hot
  summers
• Prairies naturally treeless expanses of grasses
• Avg 10-30 in, grasses 6-12 ft tall
• Dust Bowl settlers broke up sod to grow crops
  on the Great Plains
• Dry weather and wind eroded the topsoil creating
  a huge dust bowl

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Eastern Climates

• Humid subtropical climate southeast US
• Wetlands and swamps (Everglades)
• Hurricanes ocean storms hundreds of mi with
  heavy winds (hit coastlines)
• Humid continental Northern US and Southeastern
  Canada deciduous and mixed deciduous-coniferous
  forest from Newfoundland to Yukon Territory
• Blizzards winds 35 MPH heavy or blowing snow
  and low visibility

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Tropical Climates

• tropical savanna - Extreme southern tip of
  Florida
• tropical rainforests - Hawaii and Puerto Rico

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Exit Ticket

1. List the major islands of North America
2. Name the tallest mountain peak in NA and what mtn
   range it is located in?
3. What is significant about the Death Valley?
4. What is a timberline?