1. Drainage Patterns, Landscapes of NY and the Affects of Human Activites

2.  Rocks that are durable resist weathering and erosion  Durable rocks form the higher portions of a landscape (ex. plateaus, mountains, and cliffs)

3.  Softer rock erodes faster than harder, durable rock  If layers of a hill differ in durability, the softer rocks will wear away faster, giving the hill an uneven or stepped appearance

4.  Drainage patterns are determined by the way tributaries join to form larger streams  Streams tend to follow zones of weaker rock because they erode into valleys

5.  Dendritic/ Random: Develops in horizontal rock layers with little difference in resistance

6.  Rectangular/Trellis: Observed in folded, faulted and jointed rocks with much difference in resistance

7.  Radial- occurs on domed landscapes with little difference in resistance, like volcanoes- looks like spokes of a wheel

8.  Annular: A pattern of concentric circles found in areas of domed structure with much difference in rock resistance

9.  Farming and construction projects can increase erosion  Contour plowing curves around a hill, rather than up and down the hillside, helping to slow water runoff and erosion.

10.  Strip mining removes layers of soil to dig up minerals found in bedrock.  When finished, engineers can even out the land, replace the soil and add plants  People move more soil and rock than all rivers combined!

11.  St. Lawrence/Champlain Lowlands: low-lying plain along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain  Adirondack Mountains: only true mountain region in NYS made up of resistant rocks  Appalachian Uplands: NY’s largest region that is mostly flat layers of sedimentary rocks. Used to be the bottom of an ocean, pushed up over the years

12.  The Finger Lakes: formed by a continental glacier which deepened and widened pre- existing valleys. As the glaciers melted, the till blocked outlets to the south forming the lakes  The Erie-Ontario Lowlands: lie south of the Great Lakes with NY borders. Although it is a plains landscape, these lowlands have many hills composed of unsorted glacial till. Good soil, deposited and mixed by glaciers, and a climate moderated by the lakes makes this an important agricultural area

14.  Tug Hill Plateau: small region of elevated sedimentary rock layers. Poor drainage caused by glacial deposits and abundant winter snowfall make this one of the least-inhabited areas in the state  Hudson-Mohawk Lowlands/Plains: Follows a zone of easily eroded limestones and shales  New England Highlands: a region of intensely folded and faulted metamorphic rocks.

16.  Triassic Lowlands: a section of sandstones and shales deposited in a fault basin. This region is geologically younger than the surrounding highlands. An intrusion of basaltic magma was eroded by the Hudson River, forming the high cliffs of the Palisades.  Atlantic Coastal Plain: largely composed of glacial sediments. The land south of the moraines of LI is composed of sorted material wasted out of glaciers.