Physical Geography of U.S. and Canada

Physical Geographyof U.S. and Canada

Landforms of the U.S.

• 5 Different Regions• From East to West

1. Coastal Plains2. Appalachian Mountains3. Interior Plains4. Mountains and Basins5. Pacific Coast

Coastal Plains

•What does Coastal mean?

–The flat or gently sloping land near a shore.

• Two areas 1.Atlantic

Coastal Plain2.Gulf Coastal

Plain

What is a Megalopolis?

A continuous line of Settlement

Appalachian Mountains

• Over 1,500 miles long

• From eastern Canada to Alabama

• Mountains are about 300million years old. (**Notice their shape.)

Appalachian TrailPiedmont area is very fertile, good for farming.

In 1937 became a National Scenic Trail

Interior Plains

• 500 miles wide, from Appalachian Mts. To the Rocky Mts.

Interior Plains

Central Lowlands• Eastern plains• Flatlands, grassy

hills, and thick forests

• Soil is rich in nutrients

Great Plains• Western plains

• Grassy Pastures, Prairie lands

Mountains and Basins

Rocky Mountains• Longest mountain

range in North America

• Extends from Alaska to Mexico

• Formed from Tectonic Plates

Mountains and Basins

• West of the Rocky Mts. • Three large plateaus1.Columbia2.Great Basin3.Colorado– What is a Plateau?

• Basins

Mountains and Basins

Plateaus The Great Salt LakeWhy is it called the Great Salt

Lake?

The Pacific Coast

The Pacific Coast

• Two mountain ranges–Cascade Range–Sierra Nevada•Nevada means “snow capped”• East of the mountain ranges are

fertile lands, great for farming

Alaska and Hawaii

Alaska• Mountain ranges surround

most of the state• Mt. McKinley, the tallest

mountain in the U.S. 20,320 feet

• Borders the Arctic Ocean

Hawaii• Made up of 8 large

islands and 120 small islands

• Volcanoes erupted and formed the islands

• Coral Reefs surround part of the island

Canada

Landforms of Canada

• Canada is

divided into 10 provinces and 3 territories.

• Provinces are political divisions, similar to states in America

• Nunavut is the newest territory Created in 1999

Serves as a territory for Canada’s indigenous people

Glaciers

• Glaciers are giant ice sheets that are slowly moving

• Glaciers moved across Canada thousands of years ago, and made the landforms that are present today, like mountains and lakes

Shield and Tundra• The Canadian Shield

is formed from ice sheets that depressed the land surface and scooped out thousands of lake basins. It carried away much of the region's soil. Drainage is generally very poor on the shield. The southern part of the shield has thick forests while the north is covered with tundra.

• Tundra is a treeless plain where the soil beneath a few inches is permanently frozen. Located in Canada’s far north.