Physiographic Regions http://tapestry.usgs.gov/physiogr/physio.html
The Union of Two Maps - Geology and Topography
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An interpretative tool that can help make sense out of the large amount of information contained in this map is the regional classification shown here. Geomorphic, or physiographic, regions are broad-scale subdivisions based on terrain texture, rock type, and geologic structure and history. Nevin Fenneman's (1946) three-tiered classification of the United States - by division, province, and section - has provided an enduring spatial organization for the great variety of physical features. The composite image presented here clearly shows the topographic textures and generalized geology (by age) from which the physical regions were synthesized. The features we describe represent many of these subdivisions.
PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS OF THE LOWER 48 UNITED STATES
LAURENTIAN UPLAND INTERIOR HIGHLANDS
1. Superior Upland 14. Ozark Plateaus a. Springfield-Salem plateaus ATLANTIC PLAIN b. Boston "Mountains" 15. Ouachita province 2. Continental Shelf (not on map) a. Arkansas Valley 3. Coastal Plain b. Ouachita Mountains a. Embayed section
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b. Sea Island section ROCKY MOUNTAIN SYSTEM c. Floridian section d. East Gulf Coastal Plain 16. Southern Rocky Mountains e. Mississippi Alluvial Plain 17. Wyoming Basin f. West Gulf Coastal Plain 18. Middle Rocky Mountains 19. Northern Rocky Mountains APPALACHIAN HIGHLANDS INTERMONTANE PLATEAUS 4. Piedmont province a. Piedmont Upland 20. Columbia Plateau b. Piedmont Lowlands a. Walla Walla Plateau 5. Blue Ridge province b. Blue Mountain section a. Northern section c. Payette section b. Southern section d. Snake River Plain 6. Valley and Ridge province e. Harney section a. Tennessee section 21. Colorado Plateaus b. Middle section a. High Plateaus of Utah c. Hudson Valley b. Uinta Basin 7. St. Lawrence Valley c. Canyon Lands a. Champlain section d. Navajo section b. Northern section (not on map) e. Grand Canyon section 8. Appalachian Plateaus province f. Datil section a. Mohawk section 22. Basin and Range province b. Catskill section a. Great Basin c. Southern New York section b. Sonoran Desert d. Allegheny Mountain section c. Salton Trough e. Kanawha section d. Mexican Highland f. Cumberland Plateau section e. Sacramento section g. Cumberland Mountain section 9. New England Province PACIFIC MOUNTAIN SYSTEM a. Seaboard Lowland section 23. b. New England Upland section Cascade-Sierra Mountains c. White Mountain section a. Northern Cascade Mountains d. Green Mountain section b. Middle Cascade Mountains e. Taconic section c. Southern Cascade Mountains d. Sierra Nevada 10. Adirondack province 24. Pacific Border province INTERIOR PLAINS a. Puget Trough b. Olympic Mountains 11. Interior Low Plateaus c. Oregon Coast Range a. Highland Rim section d. Klamath Mountains b. Lexington Plain e. California Trough c. Nashville Basin f. California Coast Ranges 12. Central Lowland g. Los Angeles Ranges a. Eastern Lake section 25. Lower California province b. Western Lake section c. Wisconsin Driftless section d. Till Plains e. Dissected Till Plains f. Osage Plains 13. Great Plains province
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a. Missouri Plateau, glaciated b. Missouri Plateau, unglaciated c. Black Hills d. High Plains e. Plains Border f. Colorado Piedmont g. Raton section h. Pecos Valley i. Edwards Plateau j. Central Texas section
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