5/12/2017 DATES TO REMEMBER Regional Landscape Studies NORTHLANDS <<<For each region: NORTHEAST COAST Until May 26: Course evaluation period. 1. Know its physical MEGALOPOLIS Check your Hunter e-mail for instructions. geography. Smartphone: www.hunter.cuny.edu/mobilete Computer: www.hunter.cuny.edu/te CANADA’S NATIONAL CORE TODAY May 12: REQUIRED ROADTRIP EXERCISE AMERICA’S HEARTLAND 2. Identify its unique DUE; late penalty assessed starting May 13. APPALACHIA and the OZARKS characteristics. THE SOUTH 3. Be able to explain the May 16: Last class lecture and last day for GREAT PLAINS and PRAIRES human imprint. pre-approved extra credit (paper or other project). MOUNTAINS, PLATEAUS and May 23: Exam III: The Final Exam BASINS: The Empty Interior 4. Discuss its sequence DESERT SOUTHWEST – From 9 to 11 AM << note different time from class occupancy and eco- NORTH PACIFIC COAST nomic development. – Same format as exams I and II. HAWAII – Last day to hand in Exam III extra credit exercise and “Landscape Analysis” extra credit option. 2 Attu Is North Pacific Coast Review Ch 1, 2, 8, in Text; Sec. 4 in Atlas Alaska Peninsula Gulf of Elongated, isolated coastal area Alaska of western N. America (34°N to 63°N) Regional Landscapes of the Over 4,000 miles long but less than United States and Canada 150 mi wide (most of it is <100 mi wide). 1. Runs north from the Los Angeles Basin. BC 2. Past San Francisco Bay. Vancouver North Pacific Coast Island 3. Along coastal Pacific Northwest and Attu Is Prof. Anthony Grande British Columbia (with Vancouver Is), Inland Passage and Alaska Panhandle. ©AFG 2017 4. Turns W at Gulf of Alaska Coastal Plain. LA Basin 5. Follows the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands for over 1,200 miles. SF 6. Ends at Attu Island near the International Date Line in Pacific Ocean. LA4 Cloudy days Volcanoes North Pacific Coast Dense forests OVERVIEW: Physical Geog. Hydroelectricity Rugged coastlines When you think about this region, Seattle/Vancouver Composed of three distinct sub-regions. what images come into your mind? Cruise ships/Fjords Marine subtropical climate dominates Totem poles Salmon . Wettest area of North America; ice free harbors. Tall parallel N-S trending coastal mountain ranges . Intercept westerly winds from Pacific Ocean . Irregular, rocky coastline with little or no coastal plain. Warmer but drier (rain shadow) fertile lowlands between them. Geologically active area. Shaped by: volcanism, earthquakes, mass movements. North: glacier-carved valleys flooded by the sea – fjords. South: large fast flowing rivers fed by rainfall and snowmelt. Tsunami danger: from undersea tectonic activity. Heavily forested. 5 6 1 5/12/2017 Major climate controls are: Subtropical “C” Westerly winds OVERVIEW: Human Geog. Ocean current temperature Climate Predominates Tall north-south mountains with vertical zonation (H). Isolated from the rest of N. Amer. by site and situation Variations due to (difficult transportation between areas). latitude, elevation Dfc Large rain and situation. Over 150 distinct Native American ethnic groups each and snow Coast of Alaska totals in located in small coastal valleys (isolated from each other). mountains gets less rain and Cfb/Cfc: Marine West Coast snow than areas Explored by Spanish, Russians, British, Americans. (cool summers/precipitation every further south. Historic British and American claims on the “Oregon Country.” month is unique to this area of Pacific storms do not make it that North America (coastal OR/WA/BC/AK) Low population density with few large cities. far north. Csb: Mediterranean (cool dry Aleutians had a strategic location in WWII and Cold War sum-mer) found along California H • Warm ocean current pre- Diversifying economy but still dominated by primary coast north of Santa Barbara. vents harbors from freezing Csa: Mediterranean (hot dry sum- activities: lumbering, fishing, agriculture. during winter even at 60°N. mer) found in the Central Valley. • Cold ocean current cre- Fastest growing area is SW British Columbia. Dfc: Humid continental (cold and ates California’s coastal fog damp) found on the Aleutian Is. H as warm air blows over cold H: Highland (vertical zonation) water. 7 found in the mountains. 8 Unique Vegetation Unique Vegetation: Sequoia Coast Redwoods are Temperate rainforest is support- Giant Sequoias are found on the wind- on the windward (wet) side ed on the west side of the Olympic ward side of the Sierra Nevada Mts. the Coast Range in N. Calif. Mts (Coast Range in NW Washington) which gets >150 in of rain/250 in of snow/yr. 9 10 Subregion 1: Subregion 2: COAST MTS California Coast Pacific Northwest Pacific Northwest California Coast subregion KLAMATH subregion includes MTS extends westward from the foothills NW California, W Oregon, of the Sierra Nevada and north of W Washington and The lowlands and the Los Angeles Basin. SW British Columbia. Strait of Georgia are • Klamath Mts. part of a structural Includes: • Coast Ranges trough created along • Cascades Central Valley of California SF BAY >> a fault line, deepened San Francisco Bay Estuary • Coast Mts by glaciers then Coast Ranges • Puget Lowlands flooded by the sea. • Fraser Valley (lowland) KLAMATH MTS • Willamette Lowlands • Strait of Georgia LA 11BASIN 12 2 5/12/2017 Subregion 3: Coastal BC and Southern Alaska Earthquakes and Volcanoes Entire Pacific Northwest Coast Dots show epicenters region exists on the NE margin of major earthquakes. of the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a geologic zone of earthquakes and volcanism. The northernmost and most sparsely populated area. Extends from Puget Sound INSIDE (WA-BC) to Attu Island, Alaska. PASSAGE QUEEN The magnitude 9.2 Great Alaska Earth- Dominated by the tall Coast Mountains. CHARLOTTE ISLAND quake (aka Good Friday Earthquake) that Volcanic landscape formed by subduction of struck south-central Alaska on March 27, 1964, is the largest recorded earthquake the Pacific Plate under North America Plate. VANCOUVER ISLAND in U.S. history and the second-largest earth- Volcanic Aleutian Islands experience cold, PUGET SOUND>> quake recorded with modern instruments. cloudy and wet conditions (Dfc) plus extremes The earthquake generated a tsunami Pacific Plate of daylight hours (high latitude location). 13 which devastated Anchorage. 14 Alaska-Aleutian Convergent Zone Southern The Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Islands experi- Alaska’s ence volcanism because they are located along the boundary where the Pacific Plate goes under the Volcanic Augustine eruption, 2006 North American Plate. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/map/index.php?mo Katmai Cluster nvolcs=on&othervolcs=on Zone Alaska has over 130 volcanoes. About 90 are classified as ”active” and 50+ have had recent activity. This region has over 70 of Alaska’s volcanoes. Carlisle, central Aleutians Snow-covered Shishaldin https://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/about.php 15 https://www.avo.alaska.edu/volcanoes/alaska_peninsula.php 16 Valley of 10,000 Smokes Undersea Cascadia Katmai National Park Rupture Zone BC WA OR CA 17 18 3 5/12/2017 Tsunami Prone Coast Volcanism caused by Coastal areas are in danger of des- 8 ft waves from 2011 Japanese truction from tsunami waves esp. tsunami hitting Crescent City, CA Subduction when the shape of the embayment marina. and the configuration of the shore- line funnel water upward. Anchorage and Crescent City (CA) have been severely damaged by tsunamis. NORTH JUAN de AMERICAN Houses built at the edge of cliffs “for the FUCA PLATE PLATE ocean view” can be undermined and may collapse. The Juan de Fuca Plate is being overridden by N. America Plate. Mt. Shasta, CA As molten rock moves to the 14,162 ft high surface through fracture zones in the crumbled North America 19 Plate, volcanoes are created. 20 Crater Lake, Oregon Eruption of Mt. St. Helens (1980) 1,300 ft blew off the summit Lake is 2,000 ft deep Ave elevation of rim is 7500 ft FORMATION OF CRATER LAKE About 7500 years ago, Mt. Mazama erupted with such force that 4,500 ft of its summit was blown off, creating a caldera that has since filled with water. 12,000 ft Area blown off 7,500 ft 21 http://news.yahoo.com/magma-rising-washington-states- 22 mount-st-helens-volcano-102422513.html?vp=1 Mt. St. Helens (1982 eruption) Volcano Skylines Lahar LAHAR: volcano eruption- Mt. Rainier and Seattle, WA Urban areas, on the coastal 70 miles away triggered massive fast-moving lowlands, have grown in the mudflow (ash, debris and water from shadow of the Cascades and melted snow). Greatest danger is at can be affected by an eruption the end of winter when snowpack is thickest. Mt. Hood and Portland, OR 40 miles away The creation of lahars is the chief concern of any volcanic eruption in the Cascades. Evidence of historic lahars are found throughout the region including the suburbs of Seattle <70 mi from Mt. Rainier. Evacuation route maps are posted around the area. Mt. Baker and Bellingham, WA 30 miles away 23 24 4 5/12/2017 Landslides and Mudflows Landslides along Big Sur Landslides usually occur Mudflows occur towards during and after an earthquake. the end of the winter rainy season, during a period of snowmelt and especially in areas that had brush fires at the end of the dry season. 25 26 Coast Ranges The Golden Gate and Linear folded mountain ranges (3,000- San Francisco Bay 5,000 ft high in CA; to 7900 ft in WA) rising from the sea and paralleling the coast . SF Bay is a tidal estuary from LA Basin to Seattle. reached via a gap in the • The only gap is the Golden Gate. Coast Range (Golden Gate). Coastline is characterized by stacks . Divided into four bays. Fed by Sacramento and 1 created by headland wave erosion. 2 San Joaquin rivers which create the Delta Region.