Transcript LANDFORMS - Edmond Public Schools

LANDFORMS
Chapter 1
• Flat, low land
Coastal Plain
• Along Atlantic Coast
• Very fertile land
• Massachusetts down the
East coast around Texas
and into Mexico
• “at the base of a mountain”
Piedmont
• Region of hills & valleys
• Eastern side of Appalachian
Mountains
• Begins in New Jersey
extending to Alabama
http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/Sect6/
MapPiedmontUS01.jpg
Appalachian Mountains
• Southern Canada to central
Alabama
• Oldest mountains in U.S.
• Peaks worn down by
glaciers, rain, wind (aka 
erosion)
http://static.howstuffworks
.com/gif/willow/theappalachians0.gif
Interior Plains
• Stretch from Appalachians
to the Rocky Mountains in
west
• Two parts:
– Eastern side called Central
plains
• Flat or rolling hills
• Many trees and rivers
– Western part called Interior
Plains
• flatter
• Few trees and rivers
• Flat or rolling land
Prairie
• Covered by grasses
• Central plains called tallgrass prairies
Rocky Mountains
• Covers most of Western
U.S.
• Largest & longest U.S.
mountain range
• Mexico through Canada
into Alaska
• Younger than Appalachian
mtn.
• Sharp jagged peaks 
haven’t been eroded
Mountain comparison
Great Basin
• Part of the Intermountain
Region (between Rockies
and land west)
• Mostly dry land
• Includes Nevada and 5
neighboring states
• Basin – low bowl shaped
land with higher land
around
• Death Valley, CA – edge of
G.B. lowest land in North
America.
• California
Sierra Nevada
• “snowy mountain range”
• Eastern side – very steep
• Cascade Range north of
Sierra Nevada in
Washington & Oregon
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thew
est/places/states/california/ca_s
ierra.htm
Compare Coasts
Atlantic Coast
• Flat
• Fertile land
http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=60572&
rendTypeId=4
Pacific Coast
• Rocky
• Sharp drops into ocean
• Little flat land
http://pinker.wjh.harvard.edu/photos/santa_barbara_california/pa
ges/Pacific%20Coast%20highway%20south%202.htm
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commo
ns/0/09/Barker_Inlet_location.png
Inlet
area of water extending into the land from a larger body of water
http://gulfofmexicomap.com/
Gulf
The largest inlets
http://soundwaves.usgs.gov/2005/01/puget-soundLG.jpg
Sound
Long inlet that separates offshore islands from the mainland.
Great Lakes
http://www.divinglore.com/Genesis/USA/Great_Lakes_&_Inland_Sites
.htm
Largest lakes in U.S.
Along boarder between U.S. & Canada
HOMES  Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior
Great Salt Lake
Utah
Salty like the Ocean
http://faculty.washington.edu/jsachs/lab/www/Research/Canada_Expedition_2007/
Great_Salt_Lake_map2.jpg
Tributary
Stream or river that flows into a larger stream or river.
http://www.mapofmississippi.com/map_of_mississippi.cfm
River System
A river and its tributaries.
Drain, or carries water away from, the land around it.
http://serc.carleton.edu/images/research_education/katrina/drainage.gif
Drainage Basin
The land drained by a river system.
Mississippi River – flows from Minnesota to Gulf of Mexico and is the
largest rivers system in the U.S.
http://lpetrov.net/niagara/p2160189_mini.jpg
Fall Line
A place where the land drops sharply
Cases rivers to form waterfalls or rapids.
Continental Divide
Imaginary lines runs north & south along the highest points of the
Rockies.
Divides major rivers systems in North America.