UNIT 9

A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE

AMERICAN PHYSICAL
GEOGRAPHY
General Geography of the UK & the US – ULIS-VNU | Lecturer: Nguyen Dieu Hong
 GENERAL FEATURES
• A federal republic of 50 states:
- 48 conterminous
- 1 in the tropical part of the Pacific
Ocean & 1 near the Arctic Circle
• The 3rd largest country in the world
• Extends for 4,500km from the
Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast
• 6 time zones
PDT = GMT – 7
Pacific Daylight Time

= GMT - 8 EDT = GMT – 4

Eastern Daylight Time

= GMT - 5

= GMT - 9

= GMT - 10
= GMT - 10
 TOPOGRAPHY
• A tremendous variety in physical features
(from moist rain forest to arid desert & bald
mountain peaks)
• Mount McKinley in Alaska – the highest
• Death Valley in California – the lowest
• Three main parts:
- Eastern part
- Central part
- Western part
 MOUNT MCKINLEY
• Also called Denali
(The Great One)
• In Alaska
• 6,194 meters
• The highest point in
the U.S
• extremely cold
weather
 DEATH VALLEY
• In California
• 89 meters below sea
level
• long, low depression
set in largely barren
and unpopulated
country of desert
plains and rocky
ridges
 THE EASTERN PART
• The coastal plains:
- long, rolling lowland area
- stretch from Maine to Texas
- flat and swampy
- soil is very poor except in the fertile southern part
• The Appalachian Mountains
- A chain of low, unbroken mountains, partly in
Canada, but mostly in the United States
- Stretch from Maine to Alabama
- Contain enormous quantities of accessible coal and
iron
• Highest point : Mt. Mitchell (2,037 m)
THE CENTRAL PART

• a vast plain
• good soil
• divided into :
- The Central Plains
- The Great Plains
CENTRAL PLAINS
GREAT PLAINS

North Dakota, South

Dakota, Nebraska,
Kansas, Oklahoma,
Texas, parts of New
Mexico, Colorado,
Wyoming and
Montana
 THE WESTERN PART
• a general name for this part is Cordillera
• accounts for 1/3 of the US
• a region of tremendous variety
• subdivided into:
- Eastern border :The Rocky Mountains
- Western edge The Sierra Nevada and the Cascades

The Coastal Ranges along the western coast

A large plateau region between these two sets

of mountains
Rocky Mountains

• great chain of rugged

mountain ranges in western
North America
• stretch more than 3,000
miles (4,800 kilometers)
from British Columbia, in
Canada, to New Mexico, in
the United States
• highest peak is Mount Elbert
(4,402 m)
The Cascades

• Across central
Washington, Oregon
and northern
California
• lie from about 160 to
240 km inland from
the Pacific Ocean
• Serial volcanic peaks
• Highest point : Mt.
Rainier (4,392 m)
The Sierra Nevada

• Northern
California
• Spanish word
meaning ‘Snowy
Mountain’
The Coastal Ranges

The trough between

the Cascades along
with Sierra Nevada
and the Coastal
Ranges
Hawaii
• A chain of 20 islands,
only 7 of which are
inhabited.
• Mountain islands
formed by volcanic
activity
 RIVER SYSTEM IN THE US

• Immense long rivers

• A large number of rivers in the eastern part
• Mississippi-Missouri-Red Rock system
extends for 6,176 km before entering the
Gulf of Mexico
• The Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee are
tributaries of the Mississippi
Mississippi
• is one of the world's
major river systems
in size, habitat
diversity, and
biological
productivity
• is an Ojibwa
(Chippewa) Indian
word meaning great
river or gathering of
waters
 Mississippi
• is the 2nd longest river in
North America, flowing
3,730 km from its source
at Lake Itasca in the
Minnesota North Woods
• Missouri - Mississippi
river system ranks fourth
in length of the world's
rivers

(Source : US Geologic Survey,1990)

The source of the Mississippi River at Lake Itasca

 WEATHER AND CLIMATE
• Every type of climate, from artic to
subtropical.
• Not generally temperate.
• Tremendous size of NA landmass heightens
the extreme variations in temperature and
precipitation, esp. in the central regions.
• A humid continental climate with hot
summers and cold winters.
 Hot and very humid
summers, less rainfall to
the west

Rainless, foggy in
the summer
Warm & dry in the
moderately rainy
winter
with humid
summers

Hottest and Extremely humid

most arid region summers
 WEATHER AND CLIMATE
• The hottest and most arid region: The
southwest of the Great Plains
• The Pacific coast is rainless but foggy in
summer and warm and dry in winter
• The eastern part is moderately rainy with
humid summers
• The USA is subject to a range of climate-
related calamities
 NATURAL RESOURCES
• possesses vast non – fuel natural resources:
iron, zinc, copper, silver and phosphate rock
• produces 1/4 of the world’s coal, 1/7 of its
petroleum
• nuclear power
Comprehension Check

2.
– In North America
– Alaska and Hawaii
– Pacific and Atlantic
– The country presents a tremendous variety
in physical features
– Appalachian mountains
– Central Plains and Great Plains
– The Sierra Nevada, the Cascades and the
Coastal Ranges.
 3
Weather features Causes

Climate not generally The tremendous size of N.

temperate America heightens extremes
variations.
Spectacular weather in The lack of natural barriers
Great Plains and either to the north or the
Midwest
south.
The rain shadow created by
Southwest part of Great the West Pacific range and
Plains very arid the Sierra Nevada.