AmericaPart One Geography

Chapter I A General Introduction to Physical Geography I The location of America in the world :

in the central part of North America with Alaska in the northwestern

part of North America and Hawaii in the central Pacific ( Maps 1&2).

Map 1 Tthe map of the world

Map of the world

Map 2 North America

II.Three Geographical Divisions ( Maps 3, 4,5,6,7&8)

Map 5: Landform of America

Map7 The topography of America( 美国地形图 )

Map8The Cross Section Map of American Continent( 美国大陆横剖面示意图 )

The eastern part highlands formed by the Appalachian

Range one sixth of national territory on the continent, 800 meters above sea level. The range from north Maine to

central Alabama, covering a distance of 1200 miles.

The width of the upland belt: not more than 300 miles.

Appalachian Spring

Picture1 Appalachian Range

Three components of this upland belt: the Piedmont Plateau( Pictures6,7), the

Appalachian Plateaus and the Appalachian Range(Pictures7,8,9,10).

Picture6:Appalachian Highlands: Piedmont Plateau

Outer Piedmontrolling upland; erosion and deep The Outer Piedmont is a gently weathering have long since obliterated surface indications of the folded bedrock beneath. Picture9:Appalachian Highlands: Valley and Ridge

The Blue Ridge is composed of complexly folded and faulted igneous (granitic) and meta

morphic rocks.

The Atlantic plain : the Florida Everglades.

II.The western part: high plateaus

and mountains formed by the Great Cordillera Range, the Coast Range,

the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains, holding one third of the country’s territory on the continent.

1.Yellowstone National Park (1) The hydrothermal( 热液的 ) featuresOld faithful, the first national park in the world, wild geologic( 地质的 ) history, caldera( 火山口火山爆发而形成的环形山或大山核心部分的崩塌而形成的环形山 ), the hydrothermal features. the deepest pool in the park, hence its name, and actually erupted as a geyser间歇泉 in 1987,cooking hillside, changed as a result of a number of earthquakes in 1978-1979,200 degrees Fahrenheit （ Pictures1,2,3,4,5 ）

Picture1 Old Faithful

Picture 2 Abyss Pool

(2) Wildlife(Pictures 1,2,3)animals roam freely , the buffalo

Picture 1: The buffalo

Picture 2: Moose 驼鹿

(4) Rivers, Waterfalls, LakesYellowstone Lake, the largest lake in the world over 7,000 feet

Picture 6:Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

 

The canyon and cliffs The canyon and cliffs below are on the Yellowstone River. Pinnacles are basalt( 玄武岩 )columns which are formed as lava 熔岩 , 火山岩 cools and contracts(pictures1,2 )Tower Falls: the wat

er drops 132 feet .

Tower Falls

Rock Under Construction Mammoth Hot Springs Yellowstone National Park

Wyoming, USA

 

Mammoth Hot Springs Yellowstone National Park Wyoming, USA

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone National Park Wyoming, USA

The Sierra Nevada Yosemite National ParkThe Pacific Mountain System: the first chain: the Cascade Range in Oregon and Washington. the second chain: the California Coast Range, the Oregon Coast Range. Between the two chains lies the valley of California, 450 miles long and 50 miles wide.

Death Valley

Five Lakes