physical regions of north amercia

PHYSICAL REGIONS OF NORTH AMERICA

MAP

THE APPALACHIAN

TOPOGRAPHY

• Made of many different mountain ranges

• Mountains as old as 300,000,000 years

• Relatively low mountain ranges with rolling mountains and hills because of erosion

• Contains fertile plateaus and river valleys

CLIMATE

• Effected by two oceans

• The Labrador current brings cold water south from the Arctic and causes freezing during the winter

• The Gulf Stream brings warm water north from the Caribbean

VEGETATION

• Was heavily forested

• Had Coniferous and Deciduous trees that can survive in the unproductive soil

• Soil was much more productive on the plateaus and in huge river valley

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

• Fishing in isolated settlements

• Mining

• Lumbering

• Farming

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Mountain removal coal mines

THE COASTAL PLAINS

TOPOGRAPHY

• Average elevation of 200m above sea level

• Surface is mostly flat or gently rolling

• More then half is less than 30m above sea level

CLIMATE

• The North has very cold winters and very hot, humid summers

• The South has a sub-tropical climate and mild to warm winters

• Subject to hurricanes, occurring between late summer and early winter

VEGETATION

• The soils are mainly very sandy

• The natural , vegetation adapted to the sandy soil

• Lush jungles have developed in some areas like Mexico

• The original vegetation of the area was pine forests

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

• Tourism and recreation

• Shipping at ports

• Commercial fishing

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Rapidly growing population

• Industrial development

THE GREAT LAKES

TOPOGRAPHY

• Has rolling hills, mainly creat by glaciation

• Flat plains are broken by hills and deep river valleys

CLIMATE

• Essentially a humid continental climate

• It is humid because of the presence of the Great Lakes

• The lakes can store heat and make winters warmer and can store coolness and make summers cooler

VEGETATION

• Has very fertile soil

• Once had Canada's largest broad-leafed forests

• In the Great Lakes portion, they had maple, beech, hickory, and black walnut trees

• Elsewhere in the region, the vegetation was mixed forests of both deciduous and conifers.

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

• Farming

• Tourism from their natural features

• Manufacturing

• Lumbering

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Water pollution

• Invasion alien species

• New chemical contaminants

THE INTERIOR PLAINS

TOPOGRAPHY

• The US section is divided into Central Lowland and the Great Plains

• The Great Plains has a elevation of 600 to 1500m above sea level

• In Canada, the plains are generally gently rolling, gradually sloping down from west to east

CLIMATE

• Is a continental climate, affected by its location in the heart of the continent

• Has extreme climate with long, hot summers and cold winters

• Farther North has arctic climate with extremely cold winters and cool summers

VEGETATION

• Originally was covered with mixed deciduous trees and scattered evergreens in the east of Mississippi

• In the Canadian prairie, there's grassland and trees only grown in river valleys

• In the North, boreal forest grows and gradually becomes tundra

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

• Agriculture

• Mining

• Industry

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Farm pollution seeping into the ground and/or running off into the river and lakes system

THE CANADIAN SHIELD

TOPOGRAPHY

• Average elevation at about 100m above sea level in the North, 500m in the South

CLIMATE

• Varies greatly

• Colder winter in the North

VEGETATION

• Boreal forests cover most of the shield

• Some deciduous trees such as poplars and white bitches

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

• Mining metals and minerals

• Paper manufacturing

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Igneous rocks have little capacity to neutralize acid rain from power plants

• Increased acidity of lakes levels that fish can't tolerate

WESTERN CORDILLERA

TOPOGRAPHY

• New mountains, not yet worn down by erosion

• Many different mountain ranges

• All rivers flow east

CLIMATE

• Maritime climate

• Generally moist and mild

VEGETATION

• Very old and immense evergreens

• Rain forest

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

• Farming

• Mining

• Tourism

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Acid rain

• Air pollution

• Nuclear disasters

• Distracting of rain forest

THE INTERMOUNTAIN REGION

TOPOGRAPHY

• Stretches from northern Alaska through the interior of BC then to Mexico

• Broad spectrum of land

• Has high plateaus and isolated mountain ranges and deserts

• Many streams and rivers

CLIMATE

• Winters can be cool and wet or hot and dry depending on its region

• In the south, winters and short and warm

• In the north, winters are moist and summers are hot and dry

VEGETATION

• Ranges between sparse grasslands to plants that can survive in semi desert or desert conditions

• Higher areas are covered in pine forests

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

• Mining

• Cattle ranching

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Threatened and endangered species

THE ARCTIC REGION

TOPOGRAPHY

• Very flat near the ocean

• The mountains far north are covered in glaciers

CLIMATE

• Climate is very severe since it's so far from the equator

• Winters lasts 10 months

• Summer is very short and not very warm

• Because of the little precipitation, the arctic is technically a desert

VEGETATION

• Very few life forms beyond lichen

• Trees cannot grow on the tundra

• Smaller shrubs, mosses, and lichens are the only thing that can grow

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

• Extraction of petroleum, mineral, oil and natural gas

• Fishing

ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS

• Climate change

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• HowStuffWorks.com, . "The Appalachian ." HowStuffWorks. (2008): 1. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. <http://geography.howstuffworks.com/united-states/the-appalachians.htm>.

• "Great Lakes." Environment Canada. (2013): n. page. Print. <http://www.ec.gc.ca/grandslacs-greatlakes/default.asp?lang=En&n=70283230-1>.

• "The Interior Plains." Weebly. n. page. Print. <http://interiorplains.weebly.com/economic-activities.html>.

• "Environment Issues." Yahoo.Answers. 2010. Print. <http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100505173826AAUIqepo>.

• "Geography of Canada." Wikipedia. 2014. Print. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Canada#Current_environmental_issues>.

• "Arctic Facts." Arctic. 2014. Print. <http://arctic.ru/arctic-facts>.

• "Great Lakes Region." Wikipedia. 2014. Print. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Lakes_region_(North_America)>.