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Physical Geo of United States & Canada
SSWG8a. Describe the location of major physical features and their impact on
Canada and the United States.
Mountains/Highlands
• Rockies, Appalachians, Cascade, Alaska, Brooks, Coastal Range, Sierra Nevadas
• Rockies in US & Canada and divided into 5 sections & 2000 miles long
• Appalachian Mts. Created by tectonic plates• California Mountains along fault lines• Alaska Range contains Mt. McKinley—highest
in the United States
Mountains/Highlands
Cascade Range Appalachian Mountains
Mountains/Highlands
Coastal Range Sierra Nevada
Plains
• Major Features: Great Plains• Gently rolling hills• Breadbasket of America growing corn, wheat,
etc.• Because of the landscape, area is a magnet for
tornadoes
Plains
Farming on the Plains Great Plains Bison
Rivers
• Major Features: Mississippi, Missouri, Colorado, Rio Grande, St. Lawrence
• Mississippi begins in Minnesota and flows into the Gulf of Mexico
• Missouri flows into Mississippi and begins in the Rockies
• Many dams on Colorado River—Hoover Dam• St. Lawrence River is main river of Canada and
feeds Great Lakes
Rivers
Colorado River Mississippi River
Lakes
• Major Features: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior (HOMES), Great Salt Lake
• Great Lakes created because of glaciers• Great Salt Lake has no fish, but brine shrimp– 7x as salty as ocean water
• Lake Michigan only Great Lake completely in US
Lakes
Great Salt Lake Lake Michigan
Additional Water Features
• Main Features: Bering Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Labrador Sea, Hudson Bay, Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean
• Hudson Bay is large inlet that is mostly unpopulated—used mostly for shipping.
• Bering Sea near Alaska and was used for commercial fishing
Additional Water Features
Bering Sea Hudson Bay
Deserts/Valleys
• Main Features: Death Valley, Mojave Desert• Both are found in California• Death Valley called this because during the
California gold rush, people tried to take it as a shortcut and died.
• Highest temperature in America in Death Valley (134F in 1913)
• Mojave between Sierra Nevada & Colorado River
Deserts/Valleys
Death Valley Mojave Desert
Additional Land Features
• Major features: Canadian Shield, Grand Canyon, Aleutian Islands, Hawaii
• Canadian Shield has exposed shield & buried shield—rugged land not good for agriculture
• Grand Canyon carved by the Colorado River • Aleutian Islands & Hawaii are archipelagoes of
the US
Additional Land Features
Canadian Shield Grand Canyon Skywalk
Weirdo Feature
• Scablands• Its desert and plateau and basin and a valley
with some random water• Formed because of an Ice Age flood• Part of it looks like the surface of Mars and
helps scientists theorize about life on Mars• Created pockets of water that are about 20
feet across and 10 feet deep
Weirdo Feature
Scablands