Chapters 5 and 8

1. Chapters 5 and 8 Geography of North and South America

2. Geography of North America • Landforms • Pacific Ranges caused by collision of tectonic plates. Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, Coast Range and the Alaska Range. Mt. McKinley 20,320 ft • Rocky Mountains caused by geological forces pushing land upwards. Link U.S. and Canada. Stretch 3000 miles with peaks reaching 14,000 ft. • In between dry basins and plateaus. Columbia Plateau- north. Created by lava that came from the cracks in ground. Colorado Plateau- eroded. Flat topped mesas and Grand Canyon. Great Basin has DeathValley. Canada’s plateaus colder and narrower than U.S. • Great Plains- 300 to 700 miles. Elevations of 6,000 ft. Slopesdownward up to 10 ft per mile to Central Lowlands along Mississippi River

3. Geography of North America • Landforms • East of Mississippi are AppalachianMountains. Canadian Shield- giantcore of rock centered on Hudson and James Baysanchors the continent. • AppalachianMountians- oldestmountains. Second longest range. 1500 miles. Shaped by ice and running water. Coastallowlands to the east and south. Betweenis Piedmont- area of rolinghills. • Atlantic Coastal Plain in the Carolinas and the Gulf Coastal Plain in the southeast. • Volcanicislands- Hawaii. Lava forms and builds. Formed 8 major and 124 minorHawaiianislands. • Continentialislands- part of continental shelf. Greenland and largerislands. Largestislandat 840,325 square miles.

4. Geography of North America • Water Systems • Continental Divide- high point in Rockies. Determines direction thatrivers flow. East go towardsArctic, Hudson Bay, Atlantic Ocean or Mississippi River System. West go to the Pacific Ocean • Manyriversincluding Colorado and Rio Grande have theirheadwaters (origins) in the Rockies. Tributaries flow intotheserivers. • MacKenzie River drains most of the Canadian Interior. • Mississippi flows 2,350 miles fromits source. Longest river. Width of 1.5 miles. Drains 1.2 million square miles. • Fall line in eastern U.S. preventsshipsfrom traveling furtherinlandbecauseitmakesrivers break intorapids and waterfalls. • St. Lawrence River forms part of the boundaryalong the border of U.S. and Canada as doesNiagraFalls. Hydroelectric power.

5. Geography of North America • Water Systems • Glacial damscreated Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake. Glaciers alsocreated the GreakLakes and part of the Continental Sheild. • Rivers and lakes have provided transportation and economic support for both American and Canadian economies.

6. Geography of North America • Natural Resources • Energyresoureslikepetroleum and naturalgas. Texas and Alaska rank first and second in petroleumreserves. Texas has naturalgas. • Coal, petroleum, and naturalgas are forms of fossil fuels. Nonrenewableresources. • Gold, silver, copper, iron, and nickel are plentiful in both areas. 28% of potashisfound in Canada, 18% of copper, 14% of gold and 12% if silver. • Mineralresources are alsononrenewable. Miningcan use othernaturalresources as well as significantly damage the environment. • Timberis vital resource. Coverlessthan 50% of Canada and 33% of U.S. renewableresource. • Coastal waters providefishing and fisheries. Grand Banks- richestfishingground. Covers 139,000 square miles. Overfishing. Aquaculture or fishfarmingpopularnow.

7. Climate and Vegetation of North America • SouthernClimates • Warm and wetclimates • Southeast- Humid Subtropical. Long, muggysummers and mildwinters. Atlantic Oceanhelpsthis. No dry season. Deciduousforests in LA. Farmingalong Mississippi River. • Everglades provideshelter to variety of vegetation and wildlife. • Latersummer and earlyfall hurricanes occur. • Extremesouthern tip of Florida has a distinct dry season in winter. Lush rainforestsfound in Hawaii and PuertoRico. • Warm and dry climates • Rainshadowcreatesdeserts. Keeps plateaus and basins between Rockies and Pacific Ranges hot and dry. • Steppe or desertclimates. DeathValley. Highest temperatureeverrecordedat 134°F • Mediterraneanclimate in southern and central CA. Mild, wetwinters and hot, dry summers. Droughtresistentvegetation. Chaparral. Grow best whenitcanbeburned but the dry windsoften cause this to turnintowildfires.

8. Climate and Vegetation of North America • NorthernClimates • Interiorclimates • Great Plains has humid continental. Cold winters and hot summers. Moistureblockedfrom the Rockies but wereceive cool windsfrom the Arctic and moisturefrom the Gulf. Extendsintosouthern Canada. • Pairies- treeless. 10-30 inches of rain. Supercellsoccur in the spring and summer. Tornadoes. • DustBowlcreated by bad conservation habits. Caused many people to leave the area. Great Depression. Conservation efforts helped restore land. • West of Great Plains is a steppe climate. Mixture of vegetation. Transitionalclimatesbetweendesert and humid continental. • Higlandclimate in Rockies. Timberline. Chinooks melt the snow. • Coastalclimates • Pacific coastgets a marine westcoastclimate. Some parts get over 100 inches of rain. Winters are rainy and summers are cool. Ferms, mosses, and coniferousforests.

9. Climate and Vegetation of North America • Highland Climates • Large parts of Alaska and Canada have subarcticclimates. -70°F. • Northern American get blizzards. • Confierous and deciduousforests. Along the Arcticcoast have a tundraclimate. Bitter winters and cool summers. • Greenland has littlevegetation and almost no ice free parts. Interior has ice cap climate. 2 mile thicklayers of ice and snowthatconstantlycover land.

10. Geography of Latin America • Landforms • 8 million square miles. 16% of earth’s land surface. Middle, Caribbean and South America (largest) • Begins as Rockies and extends to the southern tip of South America. Sierra Madre in Mexico, Central Highlands in Central America and the Andes in South America. • Landscape caused by Pacific Ring of Fire. • Mountainscoolerclimates and richnaturalresouresdrawsettlers. Isolatedthesecommunities. • Sierra MadressurrounddenslypopulatedMexican Plateau. Mildclimate, fertile volcanicsoil, and rainfall. • Central Highlands- volcanic peaks. Caribbean islands • Andes strech 4, 500 miles. Longestmountainchain as well as the highest. Peaks over 20,000 ft. Cordilleras. Isolatedsettlements. • Peru and Bolivia surround altiplano. Patagonia- plateau in Argentina- dry, barren and windybecause of the Andes. • Mato Grosso Plateau- Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. Not populated. • Brazilian Highlands- livestock. • Escarpment on easternedgeinto the Atlantic Ocean.

11. Geography of Latin America • Water Systems • Transport people and goods. Most of the world’s major river systemshere. • Amazon River flows about 4,000 miles. Western Hemispherelongest river and second in the world. Carries ten times the water volume of the Mississippi River. • Amazon River basin- hundreds of tributaries. Drains over 2 million square miles. • Paraná, Paraguay, and Uruguay Rivers form second largest river system. Drains easternhalf of South America. • Hydroelectic power is a keyingredient. • Panama Canal- important. • Lake Titicaca- 12,500 ft abovesealevel. • Lake Maracaibo- largestlake. Inlet of Caribbean Sea. Oilfields of Venezuela.

12. Geography of Latin America • Natural Resources • World’sleadingproduces of energyresources. Oil and naturalgas. • Mineralresources: gold, emeralds, copper, and bauxite. • Not all of the areas have the sameresources. Predominately in Venzuela and Mexico. • Resources not evenlydistributed. Geographicinaccessibility, lack of capital for development, and deeppolitical and social divisions keepmany of naturalresourcesfrombeingfullydeveloped.

13. Climate and Vegetation of Latin America • Elevation and Climate • Five vertical climate zones found in the highlands of Middle America and western Southern America. • Tierrahelada and puna climate zones are from 12-16,000 ft. Frozen land. Puna is a cold zone. • Tierrafríaclimate zone isfrom 6-12,000 ft. Cold land. Winter frosts. Middle America’s highest climate. Potatoes and barley. • Tierratempladaclimate zone isfrom 2500-6000 ft. Broad leafedevergreens and needleleafedevergreens. Densleypopulated areas. Coffee and corn. • Tierracaliente- hot land. Sealevel to 2500 ft. Rainforests. Bananas, sugar, rice and cacao

14. Climate and Vegetation of Latin America • Climate and VegetationRegions • Tropical Wet: tropical rainforestsdominates. High temperatures and lots of rainfall. Amazon rainforestsblankets the Amazon River Basin. World’swettest tropical plain. • Tropical Dry: coast of southwestern Mexico, most Caribbean islands and north-central South America. High temps and lots of rainfall. Extended dry season. • Humid Subtropical: southeastern South America. Winters short with cool to mild temps. Summers are long, hot and humid. • Dry: northern Mexico, coastalPeru and Chile, and southeastern of Argentina have desertclimates. Atacama Desert- some areas had no rainfallat all. Some areas recievelittlerainfall and have steppe climates.