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DATES TO REMEMBER Regional Landscape Studies NORTHLANDS <<
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See Ch. 2, Mountains, Plateaus 8, 10 and 15 in American and Basins Landscapes Regional Landscapes of the Visual landscape is dominated United States and Canada by physical features with rugged natural beauty but few people. . Long, narrow region with Mountains, Plateaus great variations in landform (geology) and climate (latitude). and Basins: . Extends from Alaska’s North Slope to the Mexican border Different scale The Empty Interior and from the Great Plains to than main map the Pacific mountain system. Prof. Anthony Grande
©AFG 2017 V e r y W i d e through Alaska Narrow in Canada See Ch. 2, 8, 10 and 15 W i d e in Southwest US in American Landscapes 4
Great scenery Mountains, Plateaus Wilderness; no people Physiography Mining towns and Basins Desert conditions of the West National parks When you think about Las Vegas/Salt Lake City this region, what images Mormon Church come into your mind? Grizzly bears
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OVERVIEW: Physical Geography OVERVIEW: Human Geography Harsh, isolated area Difficult area to exist and prosper
Denali (Mt. McKinley from 1896-2015) • Very low population density: few cities. Physical landscape dominates +20,310 ft Unique combo of impressive • Limited overland routes: habitable areas isolated. topographic features: • Regionally distinctive populations: ethnic, cultural, high mountains, deep valleys, and religious (isolation factor). dissected plateaus (with canyons), • Resource removal and recreation are chief basins and salt flats. economic activities. Contains North America’s • Spectacular scenery for human enjoyment: much Death Valley - 282 ft highest and lowest points. of it preserved in parks. Contains North America’s • Most of the land is government-owned. largest supervolcanos. • Ideal area for military training and testing. Climate variation due to both • Conservation issues and conflicts abound. latitude and altitude. 7 8
Nevada . Harsh conditions every Vast Empty Landscape Climate where. Climate varies with (at least empty of people) latitude and elevation. CLIMATE ZONES . Orographic precipitation PRECIPITATION Grand Canyon Rocky Mt NP is dominant. Rain shadows pronounced. . Snow is the chief form of H = precipitation. Highland Dfc = • Occurs in the mountains short from autumn to late spring. summer Dfb = • Deserts and basins may cold winter get winter snowfall. Yukon Valley, Alaska BSk = cold winter, . Arid/semi-arid conditions semi arid esp. in the southern portion. BWk = cold winter, . Death Valley is hottest arid and driest place in Western Hemisphere. 134°F on July 10, 1913 9 128°F on July 15, 1972 10
Main Topographic Ecozones Units III. Rocky Mountain 1 3 System Natural vegetation and wildlife 3. Brooks Range varies with elevation and 2 4. Canadian (or Northern) latitude Rockies as well as exposure to 4 sunlight. 5. Middle Rockies . This affects people-use of 6. Southern Rockies valleys and slopes. I. Central Lowlands of 7 IV. Intermontane Area 5 14000 ft S Alaska 8 7. Columbia Plateau O 9 N 1. Yukon River Basin 8. Wyoming Basin O U 10 6 R T II. Coast Mountains 9. Basin and Range H T 2. Alaska Range 10. Colorado Plateau 0 ft H c.2,300 miles from Yukon Territory to New Mexico
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Yukon River Alaska Range Basin Between Brooks and Alaska ranges in Alaska and Yukon. Fairbanks on Tanana River . Extension of the Coast Mts. Lowland area of rolling hills . Separates the Gulf of Alaska and swampy river valleys; coastal plain from the Yukon underlain by permafrost. River Valley. • Covered by taiga. . Created as the Pacific Plate pushes against the North • Frozen and snow-covered American Plate. from October to June. . Contains some of the tallest • Drained by the Yukon river system peaks of North America, whose drainage basin that is larger than including Denali (>20,300 ft high) Mt. Hayes is only Texas. The Yukon River is 1,980 miles long. and Mt. Foraker (>17,400 ft.). 13,800 ft high First people from Asia followed the Seven are taller than 13,000 ft. valley inland at end of the last Ice Age. 13 14
Colorado Alpine Meadow (tundra), Rocky Mt. NP, Colorado Rocky Mts. Elev. 12,100 ft Difficult Area to Traverse Few natural routes cross it. Sangre de Cristo Mts Most are steep. Great Sand Dunes NP South Pass, elev. 7500 ft Canadian Rockies are a major provides an easy, . Steep slopes with pointed summits. gradual assent from the impediment to E-W movement. High Plains in Wyoming . High elevation: most peaks exceed 10,000 ft; most gaps (called passes) are Gaps (called passes) in the Canadian Rockies at 6,000-12,000 ft. Middle Rockies (WY/CO) exist . Dramatic elevation changes: local and were the pathways used relief over 3,000 ft from base to summit. by explorers, frontiersmen and Idaho . Narrow valleys with swift rivers. wagon trains. Inter- montane . Forms the Continental Divide: back- South Pass was the main route bone of North America. across the continental divide. Colorado Today’s highways and rail lines continue to use these passes.
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Technology Yellowstone Caldera Needed Yellowstone National Park • Sits on a “hot spot.” • Does not look like a volcano. • N. Am.’s largest supervolcano: few Movement of North eruptions but with cataclysmic results. American Plate • Noted for its geothermal features including Old Faithful geyser.
Opened in 1908 over 1500 ft high
Tunnel at Loveland, CO cuts http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/yellowstone/ 17 18 into the Rockies at 11000+ ft.
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Eruption Comparisons Intermontane Area
Located between the Rocky Mts. and the Pacific mountain system. Four major units: N 1. Columbia Plateau: a basalt (lava) plateau formed from the gradual buildup of lava flows; >2,000 ft thick with narrow, deep canyons. 2. Wyoming Basin: an outlier of the High Plains; natural passage between Middle and Southern Rockies. 3. Basin and Range: fault-block region of sedimentary rock layers; area of interior drainage with salt flats.
S 4. Colorado Plateau: dissected sedimentary plateau carved by rivers; “canyon lands” area is >5,000 ft thick. If Yellowstone were to erupt today an area from the Mississippi River to Pacific coast could be covered by a suffocating cloud of volcanic material. 19 20
Columbia Plateau Columbia Plateau (layers of lava) Washington State
Snake River Canyon Walla Walla Section of the Columbia Plateau in southern Washington. One of the largest flood basalt Snake River cuts through the farmland. formations on Earth created 2.5-3 million years ago. Snake River Palouse Falls, WA Hells Canyon of the Snake R. Canyon (ID-OR)
21 22 Craters of the Moon Nat’l Mon., Idaho
Wyoming Basin Basin and Range Wyoming Basin is nestled behind the Front Range CA NV UT between the Wind River Range and Uinta Mts. Made up of over 80 broad, flat - Considered a western extension of the High Plains. - South Pass allowed travelers to easily move from the basins and 200 linear ridges. High Plains to the Great Basin. No drainage outlet to the sea.
South Pass and Wyoming Basin Streams from surrounding highlands flow into it, but none leave it. CA AZ
+14000ft
-280ft
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Mt. Whitney Salt Flats Sierra Nevada N-S trending fault block mountain Lake Bonneville (W Utah) was range of E. California forming the largest lake of the Ice Age. Salt water stream western boundary of Great Basin. Today Great Salt Lake and numerous salt flats in the basin Rises to 14,505 ft at Mt. Whitney, Switch back road up east face bottoms are its remnants. (highest point in lower 48 states). . Major barrier to movement of people and air masses. . Few mountain passes cross it. Pleistocene lake locations.
East face of the Sierra Nevada Bonneville Salt Flats International Speedway Owens Valley (in the rain shadow)
Basin and Range Province
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Donner Pass is the chief route across the Sierra Nevada now used by I-80. Colorado Plateau Canyonlands National Park Donner Pass Connects the Humboldt Valley in Nevada with the Central Valley of California. Subject to winter storms. Dissected plateau: layers of sediment carved by the Colorado River system.
Grand Canyon National Park
Infamous for the 1846 tragedy when the Donner Wagon Train, following the California Trail across the Sierra, got Monument Valley caught in a blizzard. Navajo Tribal Park
People resorted to cannibalism to survive. 27 Bryce Canyon National Park 28
Population Low headcount. Mormon Influence Low density. Utah Territory Characteristics Young population. See historical atlas maps pp. 36, 42, 46. Growth in urban areas. Population Density by county. • Innovative farmers, especially irrigation techniques. • Strong central organization (theocracy). • Tried to create the State of Deseret (1849). Covered most of Intermontane area. • Utah Territory (est’d. 1850) Population Aged 75 or older by county. Population Change by county. • Admitted to the Union as the State of Utah in 1896. • Today, area of rapid population MORMON growth: high birth rate; in-migration; missionary outreach for converts.
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in the Gold strikes were along Salt Lake City Gold the main route from the Great Plains to San Utah Sierra Nevada Francisco, making it Jan. 24, 1848: Gold flakes were discovered convenient for easterners “This is the Place” in the South Fork of the American R. at to get to the area. Monument Sutter’s Mill, a lumber camp in the Sierra Sacramento became the Nevada. This set off the California center of the gold mining Gold Rush of 1849. The find encouraged region of California. prospecting in the Rocky Mts. in the 1850s (“backwards settlement”). San Francisco grew as a supply point for the gold mining region and was the region’s financial Mormon Temple center. Salt Lake City metro area Tabernacle Square Both cities are outside of Salt deposits on the the Sierra Nevada. shore of Great Salt Lake 31 32
Mining Ghost Town
Miners were the 2nd largest group A town/settlement that has been abandoned by people. to settle the region (after the Mormons). WHY? – Variety of mineral deposits staked in late 1850s; gold was the lure. – Easily mined (close to the surface) After the economic activity, as mining or rail – Numerous towns grew on or near the depot, that supported the town ceases to exist, deposits there is no reason for anyone to stay. – Today towns serve as tourist attractions. Mining today: – Gold and silver still mined, but less important – Copper: most important mineral of the region, especially in Arizona and Utah – Lead and zinc: mined in U.S. and Canada.
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Abandoned Mines, Colorado Open Pit Copper Mine Bingham Canyon, Utah Oldest operations. Small scale. Open pit mining is a No longer economical. means of extracting Environmental hazards. minerals from the earth by digging a 2 ½ miles wide bowl-like pit that gets wider and Some are over ½ mi deep now tourist deeper with use. attractions. It is used where the min- eral is near the surface and/or if the ground is unsuitable for tunneling.
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Open Pit Mining Landscape Oil Shale: Newest Operation SCALE: Morenci Copper Mine, AZ
Oil shale comes from sedimentary rocks containing kerogen, a solid mixture of organic compounds from which from which liquid hydrocarbons called “shale oil” can be produced after heating. Shale oil is a substitute for conventional crude oil and not a petroleum product.
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Southwestern Coal Mining Public Control of Land Most land in the region is under Mining coal on the Navajo Coal seams are 30 feet below government control. Largely unsuit- the surface at the Navajo Mine. able for agriculture but has grazing/ Reservation in Arizona. lumbering potential. Controversial because of land- Gov’t. management programs scape destruction, air and water U.S. national park system (NPS) pollution. Coal is used to generate U.S. national forests (USFS) U.S. Bureau of Land Managem’t (BLM) electricity on site. Canadian provincial lands Criticism of Public Control Coal Mine . Hindrance to planning (free enterprise) Canyon near . Hindrance to private resource Tuba City, NE development Arizona . Hindrance to commercial grazing . Plight of Indian reservations in the southern part of the region 39 40
Lumbering and Ranching Military Landscape Transhumance: Seasonal movement of animals; crossing/ using government land is esp. important to sheep ranchers The emptiness and isolation who need grazing areas (regrowth period after browsing) of the area is an asset for: Use of Federal Lands Military bases/bomb-proof . Grazing and lumbering is allowed on US Forest Service command centers (USFS) and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land. Training centers . Productivity of government land tends to be less than Secret staging areas private land because of inferior conditions, however, much Practice bombing ranges more land is available for use (getter volume). Weapons testing/proving . On going controversy regarding the low cost leasing of grounds these lands to for-profit corporations. Military development and Rocky Mt. area: Wood from government land is important manufacturing Nuclear waste storage 41 42
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WATER Irrigation and Agriculture
Most important resource of the U.S. portion Arid conditions do not support agriculture without irrigation. Columbia- of the Empty Interior. Snake River Water from the Colorado and System . Coveted and diverted by the dry areas outside of the Columbia-Snake river systems region, especially Southern California. is essential to the region. . Now increasingly needed and retained by those • Diversion of rivers long practiced. inside the region, as Phoenix and Las Vegas metro areas. Colorado • Doctrine of Prior Appropriation: River . Important for the production of electricity. “first come, first served” as opposed System . Supplies affected by western drought, snowfall and to eastern US view of equal sharing shifting global precipitation patterns. • Reclamation Act of 1902: support for water works west of 100°W longitude.
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N E X T
DESERT
SOUTHWEST
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