Wednesday Mini-Lesson: How Geography impacts human settlement, part 2-2

Landscape and Resources

How do the landscape and resources of an area affect how people live?

The United States has many landscapes. Landforms range from vast plains to basins, plateaus, and tall mountain ranges.

Coastal Plains

Coastal plains can be found in the United States along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts. A coastal plain is a flat, low-lying area next to a coast. These areas provide excellent locations for harbors. Many of the country's largest cities, such as Boston, New York City, Houston, and New Orleans, are located in coastal plains.

In northeastern areas of the Atlantic coastal plain, the thin, rocky soil limits farming, A fertile, hilly area, however, stretches inland from the coastal plain. In the southeast, fertile soil and a mild, moist climate make this area a producer of many agricultural products. The coastal plain along the Gulf of Mexico is wider than the Atlantic plain. Soils in this region are better than those in many parts of the Atlantic coast. A wealth of natural resources is hidden below the surface of the coastal plains. They include minerals, such as iron ore, gold, zinc, and fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas.

Appalachian Mountains

West and north of the Atlantic coastal plain spread a number of highland areas. These include the Appalachian Mountains, which run from eastern Canada to Alabama. The Appalachians are the oldest mountains in North America. Their rounded peaks show their age. Erosion has worn them down over time. The highest peak, Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, reaches 6,684 feet (2,037 m). Rich coal deposits in the Appalachians fueled industrial growth in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The eastern side of the Appalachians meets a fertile, hilly area known as the Piedmont. A boundary called the fall line marks the place where the higher land of the Piedmont drops to the lower land of the Atlantic coastal plain. Along the fall line, eastern rivers break into rapids and waterfalls, blocking ships from traveling farther north.

Great Plains

West of the Appalachians lie vast interior lowlands. The Central Lowlands in the Midwest area has grassy hills, rolling flatlands, thick forest, and fertile farmlands. This area contains the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Large cities, such as Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, and St. Louis, are located in the Central Lowlands.

The Great Plains stretch west of the Mississippi River, gradually rising in elevation from east to west. Much of this vast region is a prairie, or rolling inland grasslands with fertile soil. The Great Plains once provided food for millions of bison and Native Americans who lived there. Today, farmers grow grains, and ranchers raise cattle on the land. The Great Plains also have reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas.  Cities, such as Omaha and Dallas, are important centers of industry and commerce.

Rocky Mountains and Plateaus

West of the Great Plains tower the Rocky Mountains. The Rockies are not a single mountain chain, but a cordillera. A cordillera is a region of parallel mountain chains. The Rockies extend from the Canadian border to the Mexican border. Peaks soar up to 14,000 feet (4,267 m), and valleys plunge thousands of feet below. Many of the mountains are snowcapped. Trees cover the slopes but not above the timberline, where it is too cold for trees to grow.

Near the Pacific coast is a series of mountain chains that make up the western part of the cordillera. They are the Sierra Nevada, the Cascade Range, the Coast Ranges, and the Alaska Range. Mount McKinley in the Alaska Range rises to 20,320 feet (6,194 m) and is the highest point in North America.

Between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific ranges is a stretch of dry basins and plateaus. In the southern part of this area, rivers have worn through rock to create magnificent canyons, or deep valleys with steep sides. The most famous of these is the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River.

The United States west of the Great Plains has large reserves of energy resources. Petroleum is found in the Gulf of Mexico, near Louisiana and Texas, and in California and Alaska. Natural gas is found in the same areas.

A growing source of energy coming from the region is ethanol, a liquid fuel made from plants. In the United States, ethanol is made from corn and blended with gasoline. The United States is one of the world’s leading producers of ethanol.

Go to your teacher and give him the code word 'halloween' and you'll get a treat (after you finish reading).

Hydroelectric power is an important source of energy in the western United States. Dams along the Columbia and Colorado Rivers supply this power. Wind power is a growing source of energy here. Solar power is also becoming important.

The West is an important source of gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead. Timber is an important resource, too. Large areas of great natural beauty have been set aside in national parks. These parks attract millions of visitors every year.

The western part of the United States, including Alaska, meets the Pacific Ocean. Hawaii lies in the midst of this vast body of water. Ocean inlets create many excellent harbors in Pacific coastal areas. As a result, the U.S. Pacific region has many major ports, including San Diego, Long Beach, and Los Angeles, California; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. Valdez, Alaska, and Honolulu, Hawaii, are also important Pacific ports.