Eight Physical Regions of North America

By Sabian St. Prix

8 Physical Regions of

North America

Legend• Western Cordillera

• The Intermountain Range

• The Interior Plains

• The Costal Plains

• The Appalachian Region

• The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowland

• The Canadian Shield Key• The Arctic Mt. Logan

Western Cordillera

Western Cordillera - Topography

• Tall and rough mountain ranges that are separated by valleys

• Contains mountains that are not weary by erosion just yet.

• The mountains in the Western Cordillera are twice as high as the mountains in the Appalachian Region.

Western Cordillera - Climate

• Climate is deeply influenced by the Pacific Ocean

• Western Cordillera contains some of the wettest regions on the entire planet

• Slopes with upward wind (Windward Slopes) are wetter than slopes with downward wind (Leeward Slopes), because in some areas, they have very little precipitation.

Western Cordillera - Vegetation

• Giant trees grow on the very moist, windward slopes

• Grasses and cacti grow on the very dry, leeward slopes.

• Due to the lack of rain in the south, evergreens don’t grow there.

• At the top of the mountains here, the vegetation is similar to the vegetation of the tundra.

Western Cordillera – Economic Activity

• Fishing

• Logging

• Mining

• Farming

Western Cordillera – Environmental Concern

• Silitation (When dirt covers up streams of water, affecting its wildlife).

• In taking care of marine wildlife, it can result in pesticide run-off

The Intermountain Region

The Intermountain region -Topography

• It has bodies of water usually don’t connect to the sea. These bodies of water become somewhat salty instead.

• It contains desert like locations where it can collect water, which makes it so dry.

The Intermountain Region - Climate

• Some places here can have an affected climate due to its location and elevation

• In southern areas, its winters are warm with little precipitation

• In northern areas, winters are very damp, also with little precipitation, and summers are very dry

The Intermountain region - Vegetation

• Thin grasslands

• Has plants that are able to live in very hot desert conditions

The Intermountain Region – Economic Activity

• Growing flowers

• Forestation (Chopping down trees to use as lumber)

The Intermountain Region –Environmental Concerns

• Due to forestation, the intermountain region is losing a lot of its forests.

The Interior Plains

The Interior Plains - Topography

• It is divided by the Central lowlands and Great Plains.

• Flat or gently rolling plains at various elevations

The Interior Plains - Climate

• In the north, winters are long and cold, and summers are short and cool.

• Its climate is no where near influenced by the ocean, because it is in the centre of the continent.

The Interior Plains - Vegetation

• Prairie grasses

• It used to be made up of a lot more forests than it has now.

• In the north, boreal forests are grown, and become tundra the further north you go

The Interior Plains – Economic Activity

• Farming

• Mining

• Oil and natural gas drilling

The Interior Plains – Environmental Concerns

• If there is a spill in the oil and natural gas drilling, it can get into the water. This can cause any life that needs water to survive, to die.

• When farmers take care of plants, they use pesticides. If it gets into the water supply, it can poison the water.

• When mining, the entire vegetation around where they want to mine has to be destroyed.

• The interior plains get tornadoes that spin at a speed of around 650 km/h

The Costal Plains

The Costal Plains - Topography

• Its average elevation is around 200 m above sea level.

• It contains many swamp like places.

• The gradual sinking of land was allowing the sea to plunge into streams that cross the plains.

• In the Mississippi delta, the Mississippi empties into the Gulf of Mexico, which creates a wide belt of fruitful and undeveloped land.

The Costal Plains - Climate

• In the north, it has cold and snowy winters. Summers in the north are hot and humid.

• In the south, it has mild or warm winters.

• The southern portion also has a lot of hurricanes. Mostly they happen around fall.

The Costal Plains - Vegetation

• The original vegetation consisted of pine forests.

• Its soils are mainly very sandy

• Lush jungles in the Mexican area are developed from the sandy soil

The Costal Plains – Economic Activity

• Farming in costal plains is at its strongest on higher and drier grounds.

• National park services

• Connecting estuaries are important nurseries for so many marine species.

The Costal Plains – Environmental Concerns

• Mineral exploration

- They have to search a vast amount of land to discover what they are looking for. They don’t do it in one place, they go all around the vast area to find what they need.

• Hurricanes that can go up to speeds of 120-240 km/h

The Appalachian Region

The Appalachian Region - Topography

• It is made up of many different mountain ranges that change every day, due to erosion.

• It consists of low mountain ranges, rolling hills and river valleys

The Appalachian Region - Climate

• Labrador current brings freezing water from the south of the arctic, which causes cold winters in the northern part of the region.

• The Gulf stream brings warm water from just north of the Caribbean.

The Appalachian Region - Vegetation

• It at first had a lot of coniferous (Evergreen like trees) and deciduous trees(Trees that shed leaves once a year).

• These trees were able to live through poor and fruitless mountain soil.

• They also grow on flat terrains and in river valleys, with much more fruitful soil.

The Appalachian Region – Economic Activity

• Mining

• Logging

• Fishing

• Trade (Usually at sea ports)

The Appalachian Region –Environmental Concerns

• The Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) is an insect that is destroying forests by eating trees that grow slowly and live long (Hemlock trees)

• The simplest way for people to coal mine now, is to remove the top of a mountain. This completely gets rid of all life that once lived at the top of that mountain.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowland

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands - Topography

• Flat plains, rolling hills and deep river valleys

• Several steep hills

• Its rolling landscape is mostly created by glaciation (Process of being completely covered in ice sheets and glaciers)

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands - Climate

• Its climate is not subjective to the ocean, but it’s subjective to the great lakes.

• The presence of the great lakes makes this area humid. It also cools the temperature during the summer, and warm the area during winter by storing heat.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands - Vegetation

• Fertile soils

• Mixed deciduous and coniferous forests

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands – Economic Activity

• Farming

• Logging

• Manufacturing

• Urban economic activity

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands – Environmental Concerns

• Great lakes are getting polluted

• Exhaust from manufacturing plants cause air pollution

• From hot and humid weather, it can help pollution develop, and even cause thunderstorms or even floods.

The Canadian Shield

The Canadian Shield - Topography

• Rock surfaces with no life

• It has an approximate elevation on 100 m above sea level in north, and 500 m above sea level in the south

• Lots of lakes and wetlands

• Areas near Hudson and James bay are covered with clay

The Canadian Shield - Climate

• Winters are long and cold and summers are short and cool.

• Around 250 mm of rain in summer, and 1375 mm of snow during winter

The Canadian Shield - Vegetation

• Arctic forests

• Deciduous trees

• North of where trees grow, there is not enough precipitation for trees to grow

• Thin soil makes it out of place for agriculture

The Canadian Shield – Economic Activity

• Pulp and paper industry

• Mining

The Canadian Shield – Environmental Concerns

• The Canadian shield has acid rain, which can destroy life in Canadian shield. This threatens human life in this area.

• Air pollution from acid rain

• When mining, it can cause great damage to the area around it

The Arctic

The Arctic - Topography

• Very flat

• Near the ocean

• Contains mountains

The Arctic - Climate

• Winter is 10 months in the far north. Summers aren’t very warm, and are very short

• Arctic has very little precipitation. It’s basically a cold desert.

The Arctic - Vegetation

• Shrubs, mosses and lichens are usually the only things that grow there.

• Too cold and dry for trees to grow

The Arctic – Economic Activity

• Mining

• Oil and natural gas drilling

• Fishing

The Arctic – Environmental Concerns

• Climate change causes can cause rises in temperature and severe weather

• Arctic tree line is moving more towards the north, causing the tundra to grow more trees.

• Melting permafrost could make well drained lands wetlands.

• Vascular plants are becoming more dominating over the regular plants. Lots of animals eat the regular plants, so this is lowering their food supply.

Bibliography

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Bibliography

• [Web Drawing]. Retrieved from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/naoutl.gif

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Biblography

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• Bryan and Josh. (2003, December). Canadian shield region. Retrieved from http://projects.cbe.ab.ca/ict/2learn/kdwajda/alberta/studentwork/shield.htm

Bibliography

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