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THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: THE LAND CHAPTER 5 SECTION 1.

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Presentation on theme: "THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: THE LAND CHAPTER 5 SECTION 1."— Presentation transcript:

1 THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA: THE LAND CHAPTER 5 SECTION 1

2  EQ: How has physical geography affected the development of the United States and Canada?  OBJ: I will be able to identify major parts of the United States’ and Canada’s physical geography.

3 PHYSICAL MAP OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

4 LANDFORMS: WESTERN MOUNTAINS, PLAINS, AND PLATEAUS  Tectonic plate collisions created the Pacific Ranges millions of years ago  The highest point on the North American continent is Mount McKinley, which extends to 20,320 feet high  The Rocky Mountains are also a result of geological forces  The Rockies link the U.S. and Canada and stretch from New Mexico to Alaska  Dry basins and plateaus fill the area between the Pacific Ranges and the Rockies

5 LANDFORMS: EASTERN MOUNTAINS AND LOWLANDS  At the edge of the Canadian plains the Canadian Shield anchors North America  The Canadian Shield is a giant core of rock centered on the Hudson and James Bays  It makes up the Eastern half of Canada and Northeast U.S.  The Appalachian Mountains are east of the Mississippi River and are America’s oldest mountains  It is one of North America’s largest mountain range, extending about 1,500 miles from Quebec to central Alabama  The Appalachian Mountains were formed by powerful upheavals within the Earth’s crust and shaped by ice and flowing water over time

6 LANDFORMS: ISLANDS  The islands of the United States and Canada were created in part by geologic forces  Oceanic island are volcanic, like Hawaii  Continental islands are unsubmerged parts of the continental shelf, which is a shallow underwater platform that form a continental border  Large islands like Greenland are continental  Greenland, a territory of Denmark, is the world’s largest island at 839,999 mi 2

7 WATER SYSTEMS: RIVERS  In North America, the ridge of the Rockies is called the Continental Divide or Great Divide  A divide is a high point or ridge that determines the direction in which rivers flow  Rivers like the Colorado and Rio Grande have headwaters, or source, in the Rockies  Tributaries, or smaller rivers and streams, connect with one of these two large rivers  The Mississippi River is one of North America’s largest rivers, and it flows 2,357 miles  In the eastern U.S., a boundary called the fall line marks the place where higher land of the Piedmont drop s to the lower Atlantic coastal plain  The St Lawrence River flows for 750 miles

8 WATER SYSTEMS: RIVERS

9 WATER SYSTEMS: LAKES AND OTHER WATERWAYS  The Great Lakes were formed due to glaciers that cut out the Canadian Shield and left behind a basin that filled with water  Large deposits of coals, iron, and other minerals near the Lakes favored the development of industries and urban growth in the area

10 NATURAL RESOURCES: FOSSIL FUELS AND MINERALS  Petroleum and natural gas are important energy resources  Most of Canada’s petroleum and natural gas reserves lie in or near Alberta  Coal in Appalachians, Wyoming, and British Columbia has been mined for more than 100 years  Coal, petroleum, and natural gas are types of fossil fuels  Formed in the earth from the buried plant and animal remains of a previous geological time period hundreds of millions of years ago  Conservation and land preservation are important issues for today’s mining industry

11 NATURAL RESOURCES: TIMBER AND FISHING  Today forests cover 34 % of Canada and 33% of the United States  Replanting helps protect forests and ecosystems affected by the commercial lumber industry  Important fisheries, or places for catching fish and other sea animals, are located in coastal waters of Atlantic and Pacific Oceans as well as the Gulf of Mexico  Grand Banks was once one of the World’s Richest fishing grounds  Overfishing caused fish stocks to drop so the Canadian government had to ban cod fishing  A species protection plan is in affect in both the U.S. and Canada  Aquaculture, fish farming, is affected

12 AMERICAN GEOGRAPHY CLOSE UPS  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deta5DscPS4


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