Section 1: Section 1: Louisiana Louisiana’ ’s Location s Location Section 2: Section 2: Louisiana Louisiana’ ’s Waterways s Waterways Section 3: Section 3: Louisiana Louisiana’ ’s Natural Regions s Natural Regions Section 4: Section 4: Louisiana Louisiana’ ’s Climate s Climate Section 5: Section 5: People and the Environment People and the Environment
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Slide 3
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: –What are the differences between absolute and relative location, and what are Louisiana’s boundaries?
Section 1: Louisiana Section 1: Louisiana’ ’s s Location Location
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Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 2: Louisiana’s Geography: Rivers and Regions Study Guide
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Slide 4
What words do I need to know? 1. absolute location 2. relative location 3. latitude 4. longitude 5. prime meridian 6. cartographer
Section 1: Louisiana Section 1: Louisiana’ ’s s Location Location
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Slide 5
• Louisiana in the United States
• Boundaries
Section 1: Louisiana Section 1: Louisiana’ ’s s Location Location
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Slide 6 Louisiana Louisiana in the United States in the United States
• Louisiana: between 28° 55 & 33° north (N) latitude & between 89° & 92° west (W) longitude
• North Africa, the Middle East, & the Indian subcontinent (approximate same latitude) – 24 states east of Louisiana – 25 states westernmost of Louisiana
• 31 st rank order in physical size • Total area (land & water): 49,651 sq. miles
– Alaska: capable of holding 12 Louisianas – Louisiana: capable of holding 48 Rhode Islands
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Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 2: Louisiana’s Geography: Rivers and Regions Study Guide
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Slide 7 Boundaries Boundaries
• One between Mississippi and Louisiana near the 31 st parallel north (31° N latitude)
• Another between Arkansas & Louisiana near the 33 rd parallel north (33° N latitude)
• Louisiana & Texas separated by 94 th meridian west (94° W latitude)
• Upper boundary shaped by Mississippi River
• Lower boundary formed by Pearl River • Southern boundary marked by the Gulf of Mexico
What words do I need to know? 1. navigable 2. bayou 3. terrain 4. brackish 5. cutoff lakes 6. raft lakes 7. marsh lakes
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Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 2: Louisiana’s Geography: Rivers and Regions Study Guide
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Slide 10 Louisiana’s Waterways
1. Rivers 2. Lakes 3. Bayous
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Slide 11 Rivers Rivers
• Names and meanings designated for the Mississippi River: – Algonquin Indians: Messipe (meaning the “great river”)
– Spanish: Rio del Espiritu Santo (the river of the Holy Spirit)
– The “Nile of America” • Area Mississippi River covers (1,245,000 square miles)
• Red River (2 nd largest river drainage area) • Other rivers: the Ouachita, Little, Tensas, Black, Atchafalaya, Pearl, Calcasieu, & Sabine
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Slide 12 Lakes Lakes
• Manmade Lakes: Toledo Bend, Lake D’Arbonne, Lake Claiborne, Sibley Lake, & Lake Chicot
• Natural Lakes: Lake Pontchartrain (Louisiana’s largest – 625 square miles) & Lake Maurepas (lagoonal lake)
• Cutoff Lakes: False River, Lake Bruin, & Larto Lake
• Raft Lakes: Caddo Lake & Lake Bistineau • Marsh Lakes: White Lake, Grand Lake, &
Calcasieu Lake
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Slide 13 Bayous Bayous
• Name most connected with Louisiana waterways
• Popular slogan “Louisiana, The Bayou State”
• Name derived from the Choctaw Indian language, meaning “creek”
• Designated as “the sleeping water” by early French culture
• Wellknow bayous: Bayou Lafourche and Bayou Teche
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Slide 14 Section 3: Louisiana Section 3: Louisiana’ ’s s Natural Regions Natural Regions
ESSENTIAL QUESTION: –What are the five major natural regions of Louisiana?
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Slide 15 Section 3: Louisiana Section 3: Louisiana’ ’s s Natural Regions Natural Regions
What words do I need to know? 1. elevation 8. salt dome 2. relief 9. geologist 3. alluvial 10. delta 4. swamp 11. floodplain 5. estuary 12. loess 6. topography 13. uplift 7. marsh 14. wolds
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Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 2: Louisiana’s Geography: Rivers and Regions Study Guide
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Slide 16 Louisiana’s Five Major Natural
Regions 1. Mississippi Floodplain
Region 2. Terraces Region 3. Marsh Region 4. Red River Valley Region 5. Hills Region
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Slide 17 Mississippi Floodplain Mississippi Floodplain Region Region
• Floodplain – the level along a river that is likely to flood
• Mississippi floodplain region – a parallel to Mississippi River in the eastern part of the state
• Soil – deposited by the river (alluvial) • Fertile soil – producer of abundant natural vegetation & valuable agricultural crops
• Floodplain region – divided into three parts:
• The Natural Levee, the Swamp, & the Passes
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Slide 18 The Natural Levee The Natural Levee
• Natural riverbanks – built up over time by silt deposits from flooding
• Natural Levees – – Lie within 100 feet of the river & cover area of about 5 miles wide
– Rise 10 to 15 feet high: do not keep river from flooding
– Possessed a canebrake of switch cane in early times
• Batture – contains trees that survive flooding
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Slide 19 The Swamp The Swamp
• Lowest part of the river basin • One definition: “a seasonally flooded forest”
• Much of New Orleans built in the drained swamp of the Mississippi floodplain
• Cypress & tupelo gum trees abundant in swamp
• Spanish moss not harmful to trees moss nutrients absorbed from the air
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Slide 20 The Passes The Passes
• Routes the Mississippi River takes to merge with the Gulf of Mexico
• Area called a delta (mouth of river triangleshaped like the Greek letter delta)
• Sometimes called the “birdsfoot delta” (looks like the foot of a monster sized bird from the air)
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Slide 21 Terraces Region Terraces Region
• Contains the old Mississippi floodplains • Changed its course after every ice age • Once natural levees & low swamps • Three divisions in the Terraces Region
1. The Blufflands 2. The Prairies 3. The Flatwoods
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Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 2: Louisiana’s Geography: Rivers and Regions Study Guide
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Slide 22 The Blufflands The Blufflands
• The old natural levees • Highest part of the Terraces region • Loess (winddeposited soil) – causing increased heights of old levees
• Fine silt eroding easily – Result: vertical slopes on the high bluffs (good example: West Feliciana Parish)
• State Flower – the magnolia showcased by beautiful forests (blooms in summer)
• Other trees abundant: dogwood, holly, ash, & oak
• Ferns, green mosses, & wildflowers on forest floor
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Slide 23 The Prairies The Prairies
• Formed by old river channels • Flat as a giant table top (hard clay just below topsoil – few trees)
• Similar to Midwestern United States • 2,000,000 acres once grasses & wildflower: some common plants – broom & bluestem sedge, water & switch grass
• Resemblance of tall grass to rippling water – hence, occurrence of names like “points,” “islands,” & “coves”
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Slide 24 The Flatwoods The Flatwoods
• Covered with a forest • Better soil drainage than Prairies, allowing trees to grow
• Covered with pine & hardwoods along with wire grass & palmetto
• Region called “piney woods” by early settlers
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Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 2: Louisiana’s Geography: Rivers and Regions Study Guide
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Slide 25 Marsh Region Marsh Region
• Located along Louisiana’s Gulf Coast • More than 2.5 million acres of marsh • People habitation along the chenier ridges • French meaning of Chenier – “places of the oak”
• Sandy soil of chenier ridges (composed of shells and sand)
• Marsh grass in the fertile muck & peat soil • Abundant rainfall & a long growing season • Plant life & habitat for 180+ bird species
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Slide 26 Salt Domes
• Found in the salt marsh • Layers of rock that have folded upward
• Hold sulphur, petroleum, & salt • Main domes between New Iberia & Morgan City called the Five Islands: –Avery, Weeks, Jefferson, Cote, and Bell Islands
– Foods & petroleum products produced
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Slide 27 Red River Valley Region
• Borders the Red River from the northwestern corner to central Louisiana
• Resembles small version of Mississippi Floodplain
• Single stream with natural levees & low lying areas (fertile red soil found)
• Forests created by trees that survived flooding
• Contains some swamp forest
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Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 2: Louisiana’s Geography: Rivers and Regions Study Guide
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Slide 28 Hills Region
• Covers much of North Louisiana • Highest region with roughest terrain • Major part – Sabine Uplift (also called Dolet Hills)
• Included in Hills Region: Nacogdoches Wold & Kisatchie Wold (contains Louisiana’s highest point)
• Contains old (not fertile) soil – usually red due to iron content
• Much of region planted in tree farms • Pine forest (part of vegetation in Hills)
1. Temperature 2. Precipitation 3. Wind 4. Climate and Agriculture
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Slide 34 Temperature Temperature
• North Louisiana – highest temperatures in the state
• South Louisiana – benefits from the cooling effects of the Gulf of Mexico
• Record state temperatures • Highest: 114° August 10, 1936 • Lowest: 16° February 15, 1899
• Northwest Louisiana – greatest temperature range
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Slide 35 Precipitation Precipitation
• Water – liquid or solid – that falls from the atmosphere & reaches the ground
• Rain – most frequent precipitation • Occasional summer hail storms • Winter – sleet more common than rare snowfall
• Most rainfall – southeast • Least rainfall – northwest • Some areas annual rainfall, 48 inches • 1899 – rare snowfall for all of Louisiana
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Slide 36 Wind
• Causes worst weather • Two kinds of windstorms
•Hurricanes •Tornadoes
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Slide 37 Hurricanes Hurricanes
• Begin over tropical ocean waters • 74 mph minimal wind speed • Rotation of hurricane winds around calm center or eye
• Energy created from warm, moist air • Attacks coastline with high winds & high water (1020 feet, possible)
• Can cause major flooding • Greatest risk in September, although season from June 1 to November 30
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Slide 38 Tornadoes Tornadoes
• Give little warning • Can develop in 5–10 minutes
• In clouds of a thunderstorm • When cool air meets a layer of warm air
• Spotted by radar & computer technology • Usually 50 mph, perhaps 100 yards wide • Winds circling (up to 300 mph) inside funnel cloud
• Most damage caused by extreme low pressure (called the eye)
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Slide 39 Climate and Agriculture Climate and Agriculture
• Effect of climate & weather on natural environment important
• Growing season – 210 days in northcentral Louisiana – 290 days near the Passes
• Occurrence of severe freeze – once every 7 years at mouth of Mississippi
• Important crops: citrus trees, strawberries, sugar cane & cotton
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Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 2: Louisiana’s Geography: Rivers and Regions Study Guide
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Slide 40 Section 5: People and Section 5: People and the Environment the Environment
• ESSENTIAL QUESTION: –What are the factors that have affected Louisiana’s coastline and the ways in which people have affected the environment?
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Slide 41 Section 5: People and Section 5: People and the Environment the Environment
What words do I need to know? 1. wetlands 2. subsidence 3. barrier island 4. time zones 5. nutria 6. Asian carp
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Slide 42 Descriptions of the Mississippi River
• Conflicting relationships indicated between people & the river
• Names assigned to Mississippi: • “father of waters” • “great artery of the continent” • “unruly neighbor of the farmers” • “raging killer of small towns”
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Louisiana: The History of an American State Chapter 2: Louisiana’s Geography: Rivers and Regions Study Guide
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Slide 43 Flood Control
• 1719 – Flood warnings ignored by French king, first levees soon built
• 1927 – Great flood driving ½ million people from homes, leading to new system:
• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responsible for controlling flooding
• Bonnet Carre Spillway built 1935 • Old River Structure completed 1963
• Plan to protect people & property disastrous for Louisiana’s wetlands
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Slide 44 Vanishing Coastline
• Louisiana in a crisis • State having 30% of U.S. coastline; experiencing 90% land loss
• Since 1950 land loss comparable to area size of Delaware
• Once dry lands now covered by water
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Slide 45 Causes
• Sustenance of marsh dependent on rivers, water runoff, & silt
• Causes of coastline’s sinking: • Floodcontrol efforts reducing the amount of silt
• Underground faults resulting in shifting and sinking of land
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Slide 46 Impact of the Land Loss
• Louisiana ports vital to U.S. economy • Handles 20% of all U.S. imports • Supplies more than ⅓ of U.S. oil & gas needs
• Coastal marshes • Provides 75% of Gulf of Mexico’s seafood industry • Generates annual billion $ income • Impacts habitat of migratory birds & waterfowl
• Barrier islands affected by coastal changes • Lessens effectiveness of islands & marshes to protect from hurricane storm surge
• Brings about possible losses: – Buildings, railroads, highways – Humans, wildlife, & natural environment – Coastal erosion
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Slide 47 Response
• Early damage to the marsh unnoticed • Billions needed to correct problems • 1990 Senator John Breaux responsible for U.S. Congressional bill to save wetlands:
• CWPPRA (the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection & Restoration Act)
• Federal funds for wetlands projects • Hopeful to create a new manmade river channel to redirect Mississippi River
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Slide 48 Other Environmental Problems
• Efforts to save Louisiana’s coast: • Environmental groups • The Nature Conservancy
• Unintended negative impacts: • Water hyacinth • Nutria • Asian carp
