GEOGRAPHY OF THE UNITED STATES OF

AMERICA

Azizah Istiqomah C11.2009.01028Abill Wimanda C11.2010.01146

Ayu Monita C11.2010.01185Lectured by: Sarif Syamsu Rizal, M.Hum

HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY

United States nowadays

PHYSICAL FEATURES

• United States of America is located in the North America

• The conterminous (excluding Alaska and Hawaii) United States stretches across central North America from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Pacific Ocean on the west, and from Canada on the north to Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico on the south.

• It consists of 50 states and a federal district.

• The United States is the world's third largest country in population and in area.

LOCATION ON THE MAP

TOTAL 3,717,813 sq mi9,629,090 km2

LAND 3,536,294 sq mi9,158,960 km2

WATER 181,519 sq mi470,131 km²

LATITUDE 38°0' N

LONGITUDE 97°0'W

AREACANADA 5,526 miles

8,893 km

MEXICO 2,067 miles 3,327 km

COASTLINES 12,380 miles19,920 km

BORDERS

The conterminous United States may be divided into several regions: 1. The New England states

(Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut),

2. The Middle Atlantic states (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia),

3. The Southeastern states (North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky),

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

4. the states of the Midwest (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri),5. the Great Plains states (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas),6. the Mountain states (Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, andUtah),7. the Southwestern states (Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona), and8. the states of the Far West (Washington, Oregon, California, and Nevada).

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

Washington, D.C. (District of Columbia), is the capital of the United States.

New York is its largest city.

The Largest Population

The Smallest Population

Cody City

Topography Map of the USA• The primary topographical features of continental United States include the Rocky Mountains in the west

the Great Plains and the Missouri River and Mississippi River systems in the central interior

the Great Lakes in the northern Midwest, the Appalachian

Mountains in the East

and the coastal plain along the eastern Atlantic coast and southern Gulf

coast.

LANDFORMS

The Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain

The Coastal Plain extends

along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts from Cape

Cod, Massachusetts, to Mexico.

• The plain was formed millions of years ago when deep marine sediments were deposited on the ocean's floor. Eventually these sediments emerged to become dry land.

• This flat coastal lowland varies in width from only a few miles in New England to more than 500 miles (800 km) in the lower Mississippi River valley.

• Sandy beaches, bars, and islands border the coast; swamps and marshes are often found short distances inland.

• The inner margin of the Atlantic Coastal Plain is marked in part by the fall line, where rivers descend from the Piedmont Plateau, forming rapids and waterfalls. Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Columbia, South Carolina, and many other southeastern cities are located on or near the fall line.

The Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plain

The Appalachians Highlands

• The Appalachian Highlands is a region of mountains, valleys, and

plateaus extending southwestward from

New England to Alabama.

• The Appalachians are one of the oldest

mountain systems in the country. Through the ages they have been

worn down relatively low.

The Superior Uplands / Northwestern Midwest

The Superior Uplands are in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and, Michigan. They are part of the huge Canadian Shield and rise to a maximum height of about 2,000 feet (600 m).

The Central Uplands are in Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma. They include the Ozark Plateau and the Boston and the Ouachita Mountains. The Ozarks rise to about 2,500 feet (760 m); the Ouachitas, to 3,000 feet (900 m).

Central Uplands

Ozark

Ouachita

THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS

The Rocky Mountains rise abruptly from

the Great Plains and extend

northwesterly from northern New

Mexico to Canada. Compared with the Appalachians, the

Rockies are geologically young

and are considerably more rugged.

The Basin and Range Section

The Basin and Range section, covering parts of Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, is a vast dry area of low mountains, most of them running north and south, and broad basins.

East of the Coast Ranges

• East of the Coast Ranges are the Cascade Range of Washington and Oregon, and the high Sierra Nevada of California.

CASCADE RANGE

SIERRA NEVADA

East of the Coast Ranges

• Lofty volcanic peaks dot the Cascades, towering high above the other mountains.

• Mount Rainier, the highest of these old volcanoes, rises 14,410 feet (4,392 m) above sea level.

Mt. Rainier

East of the Coast Ranges

• The rugged Sierra Nevada range includes Mount Whitney, which rises 14,494 feet (4,418 m) and is the highest peak in the United States outside of Alaska (Mount McKinley, in the Alaska Range, rises to 20,320 feet [6,194 m]).

In Death Valley, less than 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Mount Whitney, is the lowest point in the country—282

feet (86 m) below sea level

THE HIGHEST MOUNTAINMc. Kinley Mountain

6.134 m

The main stems of 38 rivers in the United States are at least 500 miles (800 km) long.

RIVER

The main stem is "the primary downstream segment of a river, as contrasted to its tributaries".

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) defines a main-

stem segment by listing coordinates for its two end

points, called the source and the mouth.

The Yukon and Columbia rivers—begin in Canada and flow into the

United States.

The Milk and Saint Lawrence rivers and the Red River of the North—begin in the United States and flow into

Canada. Of these, only the Milk River crosses the international border twice, leaving and then re-entering

the United States.

Two rivers, the Colorado and the Rio Grande, begin in the United States and flow into or

form a border with Mexico.

In addition, the drainage basin of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers extend into Canada, and the

basin of the Gila River extends into Mexico .

Rivers east of the divide drain into the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, or Hudson Bay.

THE LONGEST RIVER

The Longest River in the United States as measured by the United States

Geology is Missouri River in Montana. As stated above some sources

consider the Missouri River a part of the Mississippi River and include its

length combined with the Mississippi. The USGS lists the Missouri River as a

separate river and therefore it is the longest river in the United States at

2,540 miles. The Missouri River starts in the Rocky Mountains in Montana and flows into the Mississippi River

near St. Louis, Missouri.

LAKES There are 1219 lakes

listed in the United States. The Great Lakes

—Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and

Ontario—are the largest lakes of the

United States. Of the five, only Lake Michigan

lies entirely within the United States.

FROM SATELLITE

• In the dry regions of the West are many salt lakes, of which the Great Salt Lake, in Utah, is the largest. Smaller salt lakes include the Salton Sea, in California, and Pyramid Lake, in Nevada.

High in the western mountains are some of the nation's most scenic lakes. Among them are Lake Tahoe, in California and Nevada; Crater Lake, in Oregon; and

Yellowstone and Jackson lakes, in Wyoming.

LAKE TAHOE

CRATER LAKE

YELOWSTONE LAKE

JACKSON LAKE

FORESTRY IN U.S.A

• Here are United States Forest Service maps defining the 20 major forest cover types in the United States and where they are most often located based on frequency of occurrence. These forest land maps have been constructed based on data "that indicate the species forming a plurality of live-tree stocking". The maps delineate exactly where each timber cover type most commonly occurs.

DESERT IN U.S.A• There are four major desert categories in the

Southwest USA: Great Basin, Mojave, Sonoran and Chihuahuan. The deserts are classified based on

the plant species that live there. Desert classifications also take into account the

temperature of the deserts. The Great Basin Desert is considered a "cold desert" with plant life that is

not subtropical, but the other deserts are called "hot deserts" and contain subtropical plant life.

MOJAVE, CALIFORNIA SONORAN, ARKANSAS

CHIHUAHUAN, ARKANSAS-NEW MEXICO

GREAT BASIN

WEATHER AND CLIMATE

WEATHER AND CLIMATE• The difference between weather and climate is

a measure of time. Weather is what conditions of the atmosphere are over a short period of time, and climate is how the atmosphere "behaves" over relatively long periods of time.

• When we talk about climate change, we talk about changes in long-term averages of daily weather

• An easy way to remember the difference is that climate is what you expect, like a very hot summer, and weather is what you get, like a hot day with pop-up thunderstorms.

Cont’

• Weather in The United States of America is influenced by the high pressures zones. The origin of a high pressure zone will determine the type of weather to come. If a high pressure zone moves in from the south, the weather is usually warm and clear in the summer. However, a high pressure zone originating from the north will usually bring cold weather in the winter months.

CLIMATE Climate, in short, is the description of the long-term pattern of weather in a particular area.

SPRING SUMMER

WINTER AUTUMN

NATURAL DISASTERS

TORNADO SEASON

•In the U.S., tornado season tends to move northward from late winter to mid-summer.• In Southern states, tornado season is typically from March to May.• In the Southern Plains, it lasts from May to early June. •On the Gulf Coast, tornadoes occur most often during the spring. •And in the Northern Plains, Northern states and upper Midwest, peak season is in June or July.

What causes tornadoes?• The most common explanation for the

formation of tornadoes is the result of warm, moist air meeting cooler, dry air, and creating instability in the atmosphere. When the wind changes direction and increases in speed and height, it creates an invisible horizontal spinning effect in the lower atmosphere. Inside this updrift, rising air tilts the spinning air from horizontal to vertical, forming tornadoes that can be miles wide.

HURRICANE SEASON• Hurricane season runs

from June 1 to November 30, with a peak from mid-August through early October. Some of the more devastating hurricanes have included the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The remnants of tropical cyclones from the Eastern Pacific also occasionally impact the western United States, bringing moderate to heavy rainfall.

Hurricane Andrew

FLOODING

• There was the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, the Great Flood of 1993, and widespread flooding and mudslides caused by the 1982-1983 El Niño event in the western United States.

before

after

SNOWSTORMSA winter storm is an event in which the

varieties of precipitation are formed that only occur at low temperatures, such

as snow or sleet, or a rainstorm where ground temperatures are low enough to

allow ice to form (i.e. freezing rain). In temperate continental climates, these

storms are not necessarily restricted to the winter season, but may occur in the late

autumn and early spring as well. Very rarely, they may form in summer, though it

would have to be an abnormally cold summer, such as the summer of 1816 in the Northeast United States of America.

WATCHING VIDEO

• KLIK on My FOLDER named Oklahoma Tornado Video

NATURAL RESOURCES

MINING – AGRICULTURE

• Natural resources: coal, copper, lead, molybdenum, phosphates, rare earth elements, uranium, bauxite, gold, iron, mercury, nickel, potash, silver, tungsten, zinc, petroleum, natural gas, timber

• Note: the US has the world's largest coal reserves with 491 billion short tons accounting for 27% of the world's total

MINERAL Mineral resources are available in

abundance and spread almost evenly in all regions of North America.

It is a highly influential geographic factor for the development of the United States as it is today.

This country has oil and gas deposits and coal very rich.

Natural gas is found in Texas, Louisiana, and Alberta.

CONT’

• Other sources of minerals are metallic minerals. United States also has a supply of main metallic mineral ores. Iron ore deposits located around the Great Lakes (Great Lakes). United States produced more steel than iron ore, iron ore therefore many are imported.

Regions which have potential of mineral resources in the U.S

Fruits, vegetables, cotton, and tobacco are predominant in the warm, subtropical zones of northern Mexico and the United States.Important agricultural areas in this zone include the Rio Grande Valley (citrus fruits) in the U.S. state of Texas and Mexico, Californias Central Valley (fruits and vegetables), the Gulf Coastal Plain (vegetables), and the sandy valleys of the Appalachians (cotton and tobacco). These areas benefit from ample rain and warm air currents.

NATURAL PHENOMENON

>> Fog in San Fransisco

NATURAL PHENOMENON

The red tide in California- entire bay of Puerto Rico

NATURAL PHENOMENON

>> HOAR FROST

NATURAL PHENOMENON

HAIL STORM >>

NATURAL PHENOMENON

Aurora Borealis

Klik to play video

REFERENCES

• http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/noaa-n/climate/climate_weather.html

• www.infoplease.com• http://www.indexmundi.com/united_states/natur

al_resources.html• United States: Political Geography — Infoplease.co

m http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/us/united-states-political-geography.html#ixzz2DRw5MWG2

• www.bing.com• http://forestry.about.com/od/forestresources/tp/F

orest_Cover_Type.htm• http://www.ehow.com/list_6598446_names-deser

ts-southwest-usa.html#ixzz2EFOyNirT