Landforms in the United States: Coastal Plains, Interior Plains, Plateaus, and Mountains

2. Table of Contents Chapter: Views of Earth Section 1: Landforms Section 2: Viewpoints Section 3: Maps

3. Landforms • Pictures of Earth from space are acquired by • instruments attached to satellites. Scientists • use these images to make maps because they show features of Earth’s surface, such as mountains and rivers. • Choose one country • on the globe or map and describe its • major physical features in your Science Journal.

4. AIM: What are the different landforms in US? 1 Plains • The three basic types of landforms are plains, plateaus, and mountains.

5. Landforms • Plains often have thick, fertile soils and abundant, grassy meadows suitable for grazing animals. 1 Plains • Plainsare large, flat areas, often found in the interior regions of continents.

6. Landforms • When plains are found near the ocean, they’re called coastal plains. 1 Plains • Plains also are home to a variety of wildlife, including foxes, ground squirrels, and snakes.

7. Landforms 1 Coastal Plains • A coastal plain is often called a lowland because it is lower in elevation, or distance above sea level, than the land around it.

8. Landforms 1 Coastal Plains • The Atlantic Coastal Plain is a good example of this type of landform. • This area has low rolling hills, swamps, and marshes.

9. Landforms 1 Coastal Plains

10. Landforms 1 Coastal Plains • The Atlantic Coastal Plain began forming about 70 million years ago as sediment began accumulating on the ocean floor. • Sea level eventually dropped, and the seafloor was exposed. • As a result, the coastal plain was born.

11. Landforms 1 Interior Plains • The central portion of the United States is comprised largely of interior plains. • A large part of the interior plains is known as the Great Plains. • It is a flat, grassy, dry area with few trees. • The Great Plains consist of nearly horizontal layers of sedimentary rocks.

12. Compare and Contrast coastal plains and interior plains

13. Landforms 1 Plateaus • Plateausare flat, raised areas of land made up of nearly horizontal rocks that have been uplifted by forces within Earth. • They are different from plains in that their edges rise steeply from the land around them.

14. Compare and Contrast Plains and Plateaus Plains Plateaus Both

15. Landforms 1 Mountains • The world’s highest mountain peak is Mount Everest in the Himalaya—more than 8,800 m above sea level. • The four main types of mountains are folded, unwrapped, fault-blocked, and volcanic.

16. Landforms 1 Folded Mountains • The Appalachian Mountains and the Rocky Mountains in Canada are comprised of folded rock layers. • In folded mountains,the rock layers are folded like a rug that has been pushed up against a wall.

17. Landforms • To form folded mountains, tremendous forces inside Earth squeeze horizontal rock layers, causing them to fold. 1 Folded Mountains

18. Landforms 1 Unwarped Mountains • The southern Rocky Mountains in Colorado and New Mexico are unwarped mountains. • High peaks and sharp ridges are common to this type of mountain.

19. Landforms • Unwarped mountainsform when blocks of Earth’s crust are pushed up by forces inside Earth. 1 Unwarped Mountains

20. Landforms • Fault-block mountains are made of huge, tilted blocks of rock that are separated from surrounding rock by faults. 1 Fault-Block Mountains

21. Landforms 1 Fault-Block Mountains • These faults are large fractures in rock along which mostly vertical movement has occurred. • When these mountains formed, one block was pushed up, while the adjacent block dropped down. • This mountain-building process produces majestic peaks and steep slopes.

22. Landforms • Volcanic mountains begin to form when molten material reaches the surface through a weak area of the crust. 1 Volcanic Mountains • The deposited materials pile up, layer upon layer, until a cone-shaped structure forms.

23. Section Check 1 Question 1 ________ are flat, raised areas of land with horizontal rocks that were uplifted. A. Coastal plains B. Interior plains C. Mountains D. Plateaus

24. Section Check 1 Answer The answer is D. Plateaus are found at higher elevations than plains.

25. Section Check 1 Question 2 When molten material reaches Earth’s surface through a weak area, _______ mountains begin to form. A. fault-block B. folded C. upwarped D. volcanic

26. Section Check 1 Answer The answer is D. Mount St. Helens and Mount Shasta are volcanic mountains.

27. Section Check 1 Question 3 Describe the difference between the formation of folded mountains and fault-block mountains.

28. Section Check 1 Answer Folded mountains form when rock layers are squeezed from opposite sides.

29. Section Check 1 Answer Fault-block mountains form when some rock blocks move up along a fracture and an adjacent block moves down.

30. Viewpoints 2 Latitude and Longitude—Latitude • The equatoris an imaginary line around Earth exactly halfway between the north and south poles. • Lines running parallel to the equator are called lines of latitude, or parallels. • Latitude is the distance, measured in degrees, either north or south of the equator.

31. Viewpoints 2 Latitude and Longitude—Latitude • The equator is at 0° latitude, and the poles are each at 90° latitude. • Locations north and south of the equator are referred to by degrees north latitude and degrees south latitude, respectively.

32. Viewpoints 2 Longitude • The vertical lines have two names—meridians and lines of longitude. • Just as the equator is used as a reference point for lines of latitude, there’s a reference point for lines of longitude—the prime meridian. • This imaginary line represents 0° longitude.

33. Viewpoints 2 Longitude • Longitude refers to distances in degrees east or west of the prime meridian. • Points west of the prime meridian have west longitude measured from 0° to 180°, and points east of the prime meridian have east longitude, measured similarly.

34. Viewpoints 2 Prime Meridian • The prime meridian does not circle Earth as the equator does. • Rather, it runs from the north pole through Greenwich, England, to the south pole. • The line of longitude on the opposite side of Earth from the prime meridian is the 180° meridian.

35. Viewpoints 2 Prime Meridian • You can locate places accurately using latitude and longitude. • Note that latitude position always comes first when a location is given.

36. Viewpoints • Each day has 24 h, so Earth is divided into 24 time zones. Each time zone is about 15° of longitude wide. 2 Time Zones • Time is measured by tracking Earth’s movement in relation to the Sun.

37. Viewpoints 2 Calendar Dates • In each time zone, one day ends and the next begins at midnight. • If it is 11:59 P.M. Tuesday, then 2 min later it will be 12:01 A.M. Wednesday in that particular time zone.

38. Viewpoints • The International Date Line is the transition line for calendar days. 2 International Date Line • You gain or lose time when you enter a new time zone.

39. Viewpoints • If you were traveling west across the International Date Line, located near the 180° meridian, you would move your calendar forward one day. Traveling east, you would move your calendar back one day. 2 International Date Line

40. Section Check 2 Question 1 The imaginary line representing 0º longitude is the ________. A. equator B. International Date Line C. prime meridian D. time zone transition line

41. Section Check 2 Answer The answer is C. This line was chosen by astronomers in 1884.

42. Section Check 2 Question 2 What imaginary line separates Earth into the northern and southern hemispheres? A. equator B. International Date Line C. prime meridian D. time zone transition line

43. Section Check 2 Answer The answer is A. The equator is at 0º latitude, and the poles are each at 90º latitude.

44. Section Check 2 Question 3 What location is nearest to the transition line for calendar days? A. 0º latitude B. 0º longitude C. 180º latitude D. 180º meridian

45. Section Check 2 Answer The answer is D. The International Date Line is located near the 180º meridian.

46. Objective • SWBAT Compare and contrast map • projections and their uses. • Analyze information from topographic, geologic, and satellite maps. • Learn why maps and map projections are important – maps help people navigate and understand the earth

47. What are map projections?Conic Projection DO NOW: Observe these three maps Explain how they differ

48. Mercator Projection Map

49. Robinson Projection Map

50. Maps 3 Map Projections • Maps are models of Earth’s surface. • Scientists use maps to locate various places and to show the distribution of various features or types of materials. • For example, an Earth scientist might use a map to plot the distribution of a certain type of rock.