Notes (1)

The US is 2,807 miles across the center of North America. It is the 4^th largest country in the world, behind Russia, Canada and China. The US consists of 50 states. The states have five main physical regions: The Coastal Plains, the Appalachian Mountains, the Interior Plains, the Mountains and Basins, and the Pacific Coast.

The Coastal Plains

The plains are a broad lowland that runs across the eastern/southeastern coast of the USA. This plain stretches from Massachusetts all the way down to Florida and widens as you go further south. The eastern lowlands, or the Atlantic Coastal Plain, are littered with a lot of excellent harbors which has led to the growth of shipping ports, such as New York City. The soil in the northern part of this plain is known to be very thin, dry, and rocky. Boston, NYC, Baltimore, Philidalphia and Washington DC all are based in this plain. Geographers refer to this as a megalopolis.

The Appalachian Mountains

This range is along the western side of the Coastal Plains. It is called the Appalachian Mountain Range because it is made up entirely of the Appalachian Mountains. These mountains run about 1500 miles from eastern Canada right down into Alabama. They are easily the oldest mountains on the continent- you can tell this from looking at their peaks, which have rounded due to erosion over time. The highest peak is Mount Mitchell, which in North Carolina rises up 6684 feet.

The Interior Plains

After you cross through the Appalachians heading west, you enter into the vast Interior Plains. The eastern section is called the Central Lowland- a large plain with fertile fields and plenty of productive farms. The forests are thick, lush and healthy and this land also contains essential waterways. The Great Lakes are also all located in the Central Lowland- this is due to the glaciers many years ago that melted down into what are today known as Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Lake Ontario. The water of all these lakes flow out into the St. Lawrence River, which in turn empties out into the Atlantic Ocean.

Mountains and Basins

West of the Interior Plains lies the Rocky Mountains- the LONGEST mountain range in North America. They were created due to the shifting and clashing of tectonic plates, which over time has risen some of the peaks up to over 14,000 feet above sea level. Along the ridge of this mountain range is the continental divide, which separates the water that flows west (towards the Pacific Ocean) from those who flow east (towards the Mississippi river).

West of the Rocky Mountains are three large plateaus; the northern Columbia Plateau, the southern Great Basin, and the even FARTHER south Colorado Plateau.

The Pacific Coast

Near the pacific there are two other much smaller mountain ranges. The Cascade Range goes from Washington State all the way to California, and much like the rockies, the peaks are extremely high due to collision of the tectonic plates. On the eastern side of California you have the Sierra Nevada- “Nevada” means “snow covered” in Spanish. Even as far south as they are, these mountains are always topped with snow- giving them their meaningful name.