The document discusses the various geographic features of the United States, including its mountain ranges, coastal plains, climate regions, and water features. It describes the Pacific region's mountainous terrain with volcanic peaks, the Interior West's basins and ranges, the Appalachian Mountains, and the Interior Lowlands. The climate is influenced by latitude, altitude, ocean currents, and proximity to water. Natural resources provide benefits but also challenges from hazards.

8. Benefits of natural resources
•Ample water, different types of climate & soil for domestic, agriculture, & industrial use
•Wide river systems for navigation network, natural harbors, seaports
•Scenic landscapes for tourism

9. Challenges
•Natural hazards: geologic, weather related, waterborne, fire related, etc.

10. Three questions of geographers
1.How do people adapt to the environments in which they live?
2.What natural elements are important to a people? How are natural resources used?
3.How have humans changed the environments in which they live?
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11. The lands & its features
Pacific region
Mountains, Plateaus, Basins of Interior West
Interior Lowlands
Appalachian Mountain
Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Plains
Climates & Ecosystems
Humid East
Dry Interior West
Pacific Region
Water feature
Oceans
Lakes
Rivers
Groundwater
Environmental hazards

12. BACK

14. Mountains & Valleys of the Pacific Region
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15. Pacific region
Hawaii
Kilauea Crater
Mauna Kea
Alaska
Mt McKinley
Aleutian Islands
Mainland
Fertile valleys
The Sierra Nevada
Death Valley
The Cascades

16. General characteristics
•Greatest mountain ranges, highest/tallest mountains, stunning scenery
•Nature’s land-building process: volcanism, faulting, folding.
•Erosion: glacier, swift-flowing streams

17. fault
fold

19. San Andreas Fault

20. Fold

21. glacier

22. Soil erosion (by stream)

23. ALASKA
of fault block origin
100 volcanoes

24. Mount McKinley (aka. Denali): North America’s highest peak

25. Aleutian Islands: volcanoes

26. Aleutian Islands

27. Ring of Fire
cause >80 % world’s seismic & volcanic activity.

28. Denali (AK) vs Everest (Nepal)

29. List of peaks by prominence
Rank
PEAK
HEIGHT (m)
COUNTRY
1
Mount Everest
8,848
Nepal/China
2
Aconcagua
6,962
Argentina (Mendoza)
3
Mount McKinley (Denali)
6,194
US (Alaska)
15
Mauna Kea
4,205
US (Hawaii)
21
Mount Rainier
4,393
US (Washington)

30. List of peaks by base-to-peak height
Rank
PEAK
HEIGHT (km)
COUNTRY
ORIGIN
1
Mauna Kea & Mauna Loa
10.2 (4.2 SL)
US (Hawaii)
Volcanic
2
Pico del Teide
7.5 (3.7 SL)
Spain (Canary Islands)
Volcanic
3
Mount McKinley (Denali)
5.3 - 5.9
(tallest on land)
US (Alaska)
tectonic
4
Mount Everest
3.6 - 4.6
Nepal/China
tectonic

31. Mainland
•Hill & low mountains form coastal ranges.
•Inland: fertile valleys for agriculture

32. Imperial Valley
Imperial Valley, Central Valley in CA

33. Willamette Valley in OR

34. Willamette Valley dam

35. lowlands bordering Puget Sound in WA

36. The Sierra Nevada
•CA’s “backbone” (uplifted fault block range)
•Mount Whitney (4,418 m, highest in 48 states)

37. Death Valley
86m (below sea level), world’s 3rd lowest point of dry land

38. The Cascades
•active volcanic range
•Mt Rainier: highest peak, snowcapped, 4,392 m
•Mt St. Helens: erupt violently in 1980

39. Mount St. Helens (1980 - 57 deaths)

40. HAWAII

41. Kilauea Crater

42. Mauna Kea (world’s tallest mountain in sea)

43. Milky way from Mauna Kea

44. Mountains, Plateaus, and Basins of the Interior West
between the Sierra Nevada - the Cascades, eastward to the Rockies, western Texas.
TX
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45. Interior West
Basins & Ranges
Columbia Plateau
Hells Canyon
The Scablands
Colorado Plateau
Rocky Mountains
Mt Elbert
Mt Grand Teton
Mt Glacier
Mt Rocky

46. Basins & Ranges
Basins’ Feature:
–low & scattered mountain ranges separate broad & flat basins.
–With/without interior drainage

47. Bonneville Salt Flats, UT

48. Great Salt Lake, UT

49. Salton Sea, CA

50. The Columbia Plateau

51. of volcanic origin (formed by layer of magma & lava)

52. loess or powder-like material

53. hilly, fertile soil & best wheat- growing land

54. Hells Canyon (Snake River), deepest river gorge in NA

55. Formation of “Scablands”

56. Palouse Fall (“Scablands”)

57. The Colorado Plateau (Four Corners area)

58. Layers of sandstone & limestone

59. Water erosion -> towering cliff

60. Water erosion -> natural bridges

61. Water erosion -> arches

62. Water erosion -> deep gorges

63. •Location: from northern NM to MT, into Canada as a mountain chain & AK
•A series of mountain ranges with regional names
•17 peaks in CO (>4,267m)
The Rocky Mountains

64. .
Mount Elbert: highest in Rockies, 4,399m

65. Mountain glaciers scour the jagged terrain (Grand Teton NP in WY)

66. Glacier NP in MT

67. BACK
Rocky Mt NP in CO

68. Interior Lowlands
Location: from the Rockies to the Appalachians
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69. Interior Lowlands
Great Plains
Central Plains

70. west of 100th meridian
The Great Plains

71. Eastward, plains drop gradually -> Missouri & Mississippi rivers.

72. City of Denver (1585m high)

73. Flat terrain broken in places by buttes, mesas, low mountains

74. mesas

75. Black Hills

78. BACK

79. Appalachian Mountains
from AL to New England
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80. •Shape: an accordion-like series of parallel, southwest- northeast-trending ridges & valleys
•By geologic folding
•oldest mountain range

81. worn down by ice and water to produce a landscape of rolling hills and broad valleys.

82. Mount Mitchell (2,037m)

83. Gaps (Past)

84. BACK
Gaps (Now)

85. Piedmont & Atlantic & Gulf Coastal Plains
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86. “fall zone/line”. -> early settlement 30 cities founded

87. Gulf coastal plain: an arc from western FL to southern TX

88. cypress trees

89. Atlantic coastal plain from mouth of NY’s Hudson River to eastern FL Along the coast, seaports are developed

90. Atlantic coastal plain

91. Factors that control our climate

92. Latitude
•The farther away from the Equator, the colder the climate becomes.

93. Altitude (Elevation)
•The higher the elevation is, the colder the climate.

95. Air Pressure
1. Low pressure is warm, moist air. It raises and forms clouds.
2. High pressure is cold, dry air. It sinks and creates clear skies.

96. Ocean currents
Ocean currents flow in circular paths:
1. Warm currents carry water from low to high latitudes. These make land nearby warmer.
2. Cool currents carry water from high to low latitudes. These make land nearby colder.

98. Prevailing winds
•prevailing winds carry amounts of moisture.

99. Distance from the sea
•Large bodies of water are slower to heat and cool than land.
•As a result, water To remain stable, and land To change frequently .
•Coastlines have stable temperatures.
•Interior of continent has extreme temperatures (hotter and colder)

100. Maritime
•generally features warm (but not hot) summers and cool (but not cold) winters

101. •Within temperate mid-latitudes, moderate conditions of weather & climate (-AK, HI)
•Extremes are seasonal (- aridity)
•Settlers found ways to adapt to challenges: water storage, diversion, irrigation, air- conditioning, insulation, artificial heating
•Varied climates offer diversity of natural vegetation, soil conditions, water features
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102. U.S. deaths caused by different types of natural hazards

103. Climate regions

104. Biomes

105. BACK
Precipitation

106. THE SOUTHEASTERN CLIMATE
•Humid subtropical
•Ample moisture: Gulf Coast, southern FL, parts of Appalachian
•LA is wettest
•Mild winter
•Long, hot, steamy summer
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107. Southeast longleaf pine forest

108. THE NORTHEASTERN CLIMATE
•Humid continental climate
•Ample moisture < the Southeast
•Western: Dry condition
•Snowfall in winter (cover ground Nov-Apr in north)

109. THE NORTHEASTERN CLIMATE
•Near Great Lakes: 250cm, “lake effect” snow
•Temperature: moderate in summer, frigid in winter
•North: in Jan: -12->-18oC

110. Formation of lake effect

111. Northeast deciduous forest

112. Mixed forest of the Appalachian Plateau

113. coniferous forest

116. BACK

117. The dry interior west
•Scant moisture
•Nevada: driest state,
•To depends on latitude & elevation
•Far from sea = weather extremes -> Interior west:
–Summer: fiercely hot
–Winter: frigidly cold
25cm
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118. Las Vegas: driest city

119. Death Valley, CA: 57oC

120. Tucson, AZ: 1% humidity

121. Summer: wettest, torrential thunderstorm

122. Aridity near the Sierra Nevada & Cascades

123. Semi-permanent high pressure maintains aridity in desert Southwest

124. Mojave Desert
Sonora Desert
Afternoon to: >40oC

125. Wisdom, MT
Stanley, ID
Bellemont AZ
High elevation -> low temperature
Lowest: -57oC

126. Western ecosystem
steppe
prairie
Water available -> soil fertile

127. bison
deer
elk
antelope
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128. THE PACIFIC REGION
•Border Pacific ->coastal CA has mild, pleasant Mediterranean climate (summer drought)
->migration
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129. Chaparral scrub
Grassland with eucalyptus (from AUS mid-1800s)

130. Pacific coral reef

131. World’s tallest tree: Hyperion (115.5m)

132. World’s oldest tree: Methuselah

133. World’s largest tree by mass: General Sherman Tree

134. •Soggy West Coast marine climate (moist & temperate)
•Summer: cooler; Winter: warmer
•Some locations: years without snowfall (different than Cascades)
•Area west of mountain: Wettest spot
•Several locations in Cascades, Sierra Nevada: receive several hundred inches of snowfall each winter

135. Seattle, WA: weeks without sunshine

137. WA’s Mount Baker Ski Area: snowfall record (29m)

138. •Humid tropical climate, microclimatic conditions

139. Kaua’i: desert environment with scant vegetation

140. Mount Waialeale
wettest spot rain, rain shadow

141. •Summer: short, cool
•Winter: long, severe
•Southern coast: temperatures moderate
•Juneau (capital), Anchorage (largest city): warmer in winter (> “Lower 48”)
•Inland: to -61oC -> 40oC
•Adequate moisture

143. Ecosystem
•Animal: bears (black, brown), deer, whales, seafood (fish, crab)
Kodiak
Grizzly bear
Polar bear

144. moose
caribou
seals
walrus

145. Taiga (or boreal) forest: larch, pine, spruce aspen

146. Tundra (far north)

147. Tundra (far north)

148. Arctic Tundra

149. moss
Clump grasses
Hardy flowering plants
lichen

150. WATER FEATURE
•Importance for:
–agriculture,
–industry (maritime transportation, hydroelectricity- producing dams),
–commerce, recreational activity (fishing)
=>largest cities grow around a river mouth or natural harbor, oasis sites
•Problematic: water pollution & depletion
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151. Oceans
•Bordered by 3: Pacific, Atlantic, Arctic
Safe from potentially hostile neighbors,
countless marine resources,
scenic beauty,
shipping access to the world,
atmospheric moisture (melting Arctic Ocean ->global navigation to Europe, Asia)
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152. Lakes
•90% world’s natural lakes formed by glacial action
•In Pleistocene (ice age), glaciers reached into US (Ohio, Missouri rivers) & formed in many of higher mountain ranges
=>Most lakes in the northeastern & north of Ohio, Missouri rivers; reservoirs, water bodies formed behind dams in Southeast & West.
•Great Lakes: world’s largest system of freshwater (esp. Lake Superior); -> Canada’s St. Lawrence River -> Atlantic (water route)
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153. Rivers
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154. Mississippi river basin

155. Hudson River

156. The Rio Grande

157. The Rio Grande

158. The Colorado River

159. The Colorado River

161. Columbia River gorge

162. Snake River canyon

163. Dam on Snake River

164. Groundwater
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165. Ground water is water deposits stored in an aquifer, its upper limit is the water table.

166. Groundwater: tapped by wells, reach surface through springs

167. Environmental Hazards
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168. wreak havoc on land, property, human life

169. People -> hazard-prone areas

171. Hurricane

172. Hurricane Katrina (2005)

176. tornadoes

177. flood-causing rain

179. blizzards

180. hail

181. sleet

182. lightning

183. Ring of Fire

184. Mount St. Helens

185. Tectonic plates

186. Anchorage, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles on geologic faults -> in constant peril

187. Earth creep

189. Landslides

190. Raging wildfires

191. Periodic droughts

192. How they avoid it

194. DAM

195. DAM

196. LEVEE

197. LEVEE

198. Preservation of wetlands

199. Reforestation

200. Cellars (from tornadoes)

201. Firefighting strategies & technology

202. QUIZ

203. 1
2
3
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5
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7
8
9
10
11
12
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14
15

207. 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Desert
Tropical Rainforest
Tundra
Freshwater
Saltwater
Grassland
Coniferous Forest (Boreal, Taiga)
Temperate Rainforest
Temperate Deciduous Forest