Earth science 7-4 north america

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Earth Science 7-Regions


North America

northamerica-physical-map-highres.jpg


Countries

Canada, North America, and Mexico

Latitude and Longitude

Latitude 46° 4' 23" N

Longitude Range 100° 32' 48" W[1],

North America: Canada, United States of America, Mexico, Greenland, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago

Elevation Range

Elevation Range Highest Point: Mt. McKinley, 6193.536 m. Alaska, United States Lowest Point: Death Valley, California, United States, 85.9536 m. below sea level [2],

Large Bodies of Water

  • Rivers - Mississippi River, Rio Grande River, Churchill River, The Colombia River, St. Laurence River, The Colorado River, The Yukon River, The Brazos River
  • Lakes - The Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, Lake Winnipeg, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Superior, Lake Manitoba, Salt Lake,
  • Oceans - North Pacific Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean
  • Bays/Gulfs - Baffin Bay, The Gulf of Alaska, The Gulf of Mexico, The Gulf of California, Hudson Bay, The Gulf of St. Lawrence, The Bay of Fundy
  • Seas - The Beaufort Sea, The Chukchi Sea, The Caribbean Sea, The Labrador Sea, The Hudson Strait

[3],

Topographic Features

Major Topographic Features

  • Mountain Ranges - Appalachian Mountains, The Sierra Madre Oriental, Sierra Madre Occidental, Sierra-Cascade Range, Rocky Mountains, Continental Divide
  • Basins - North American Cordillera
  • Highlands/Lowlands - Cordilleran Highlands, Mississippi Valley System, Great Plains

[4],

Average Monthly Precipitation and Temperature High/Low=

Average Monthly Precipitation (in November)

  • Calgary, Canada - 0.50 inches
  • Houston, TX, USA - 4.32 inches
  • Mexico City, Mexico - 0.20 inches

Average Monthly Temperatures (in November)

  • High 
    -Calgary, Canada - 37 degrees F
    -Houston, TX, USA - 72 degrees F
    -Mexico City, Mexico - 72 degrees F
  • Low 
    -Calgary, Canada - 16 degrees F
    -Houston, TX, USA - 54 degrees F
    -Mexico City, Mexico - 47 degrees F

[5],

Climate Zones

Location and size are two factors that affect the climate of North America. There climates are ET (Polar Tundra), Dsc (dry, cool, short summer), Csb (warm, dry summer, cool, wet winter), Dfa (humid, hot summer, no dry season), BSk (cool, dry, semiarid), and Cfa (warm, no dry season, hot summer, wet winter). [6], [7],

Factors that affect the Climate of North America:

The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans surround North America, which stretches from right inside the Arctic Circle to 15°North, relatively close to the Equator. Because North America spans over so much land, there is a wide range of climates.

Canada

  • Latitude: 60 degrees 00' North
  • Elevation: Canada is at around 550 feet above sea level, which contributes to it's cold temperatures slightly
  • Topography: It is colder than normal above Canada's mountains
  • Proximity to water: Canada is sandwiched between two oceans
  • Prevailing winds: Prevailing Southwesterlies blow up into Canada
  • Vegetation: Much of Canada is Tundra, where there is a short growing season and low temperatures, or Boreal Forest, characterized by it's cold and it's coniferous forests
  • Ocean currents: The North Pacific Current blows around the west coast of Canada

USA

  • Latitude: 38 degrees 0' North
  • Elevation: The elevation ranges all over the different states, from sea level, to 6700 feet above
  • Topography: There are a few main mountain ranges across the US. It is very cold and snowy there
  • Proximity to water: The US has oceans on two of it's sides, which can make it warmer
  • Prevailing winds: Prevailing Northeasterlies blow down into the US
  • Vegetation: The United States has a great variety of vegetation areas and plants
  • High or low pressure zone: There is a low pressure zone over some of the states on the coast where there are many hurricanes
  • Ocean currents: The Gulf Stream blows around the United States' east coast

Mexico

  • Latitude: 23 degrees 00' North
  • Elevation: It gets much cooler over Mexico's mountains
  • Topography: Mexico has mountains and the Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico
  • Proximity to water: The two oceans on two of Mexico's sides contribute to Mexico's heat and humidity
  • Prevailing winds: Prevailing Northeasterlies flow down into Mexico
  • Vegetation: Much of Mexico is made up of dessert, where plant growth is limited. One popular plant is the cactus, only 1% of land is used for crops
  • High or low pressure zone: There is a low pressure zone over Mexico, which is responsible for hurricanes

Geology

all_540.gif [8],

Canada

Rocks: Majority of the rocks are Sedimentary East/ South-East has all three types of rock, igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary East- mainly intrusive igneous South East- mainly metamorphic Around the country boarders volcanic rock are the only type of rock Central/ West- 100% sedimentary

Minerals: North: Uranium, Zinc, Lead and Iron South/ West: Oil, Coal, and Copper South: Coal, Iron, Gold and Silver

Mining: Canada mines the most Uranium in the world Canada produces and exports the most Potash Canada produces the second most Asbestos and Sulfur (17% of world output and 38% of world trade)

Sources: http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Americas/Canada-MINING.html#b

Mexico

Rock Types

Sedimentary, metamorphic, volcanic, and plutonic. Sedimentary rocks are found on the east coast because of the Rio Grande and other rivers depositing sediments that over time become sedimentary rocks. Metamorphic are found in the very southern tip off Mexico because of mountain building. Volcanic rocks are found in central and the west coast of Mexico. These extrusive rocks are found on the east coast due to volcanic activity. Plutonic rocks are found on the east coast because of plutons rising from the mantle. Sedimentary and volcanic rocks are most commonly found.

Minerals Graphite and gypsum are the two minerals in Mexico. Graphite is found on the west coast and gypsum is found on the east coast.

Mining Copper, Silver, and Iron are mined in Mexico. These minerals are mined in central Mexico.

USA

Rock Types

  • Sedimentary rocks are found all over the USA, especially the eastern side. They are found here because of the deposition and cementation of sediments over the years.
  • Metamorphic rocks are found down the Appalachian Mountains, on the California coast, and in the Rocky Mountains because of the mountain building in these areas.
  • Volcanic rocks are found on the eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains, down the western coast and a little further in, especially in the Cascade Range. There is a little in the Rocky Mountains, but not much. They are found here because there are volcanoes nearby.
  • Plutonic rocks are found in the eastern coast of New York and a little in the Appalachian Mountains, a little in the Rocky Mountains, and down the eastern coast. They are found at the bottom of old volcanoes or volcanic mountain ranges. They are the rock resulting from the magma that didn't erupt.

[9],

Minerals

  • Some major minerals found in this area are iron, coal, silver, oil, and copper.
  • Iron is found up north near the great Lakes and in the Appalachian Mountains.
  • Coal is found in the central eastern strip of land in the middle of the USA.
  • Silver is located in the upper left corner of the US, near Washington state.
  • Oil is located at the bottom of California and near the bottom of Texas.
  • Copper is found near the middle of California and Nevada.

[10],

Mining

minesmap.gif

  • There is a lot of coal mined in the USA, especially in the northeast.
  • Copper is mined in the bottom parts of New Mexico and Arizona and in parts of Nevada
  • Sulfur is mined all over the US, but mostly the southern half.
  • There is some gold found in the southwestern part of the US, mostly California and Nevada. There is also some gold found in Alaska.
  • Talc and Pyrophylite are mined all over the USA.
  • Dimension Stone is mined all over the United States.
  • Industrial Sand and gravel is mined a lot on the eastern side of the USA.
  • Salt is mined in the south of the USA, mostly in Texas and Louisiana.

[11],


United States of America

Tectonic Plates

The USA is completely on the North American plate, except for Hawaii and a sliver of the Californian coast, running almost all the way up the plate, on the Pacific plate.

Boundary Type: On the west coast, near Washington and Oregon, there is a convergent boundary. Below that, near California, it is a transform boundary. The other side of the USA is not on a plate boundary, but the one near it is a divergent boundary.

Margin Type: The west coast of the USA is an active margin; the east coast of the USA is a passive margin.

Volcanoes

  • There are volcanoes in the United States.
  • The volcanoes located in the Cascade Range are cinder cones (rhyolitic magma), composite volcanoes (andesitic magma), and shield volcanoes (basaltic magma). These volcanoes on the west coast formed because of the continental-oceanic subduction boundary along the North American/Pacific plate boundary.
  • There are cinder cones (rhyolitic magma) and shield volcanoes (basaltic magma) in the northwestern part of the USA.
  • In the southwestern part of the USA, there are mostly cinder cones (rhyolitic magma).
  • There are cinder cones (rhyolitic magma), composite volcanoes (andesitic magma), and a few shield volcanoes(basaltic magma) located in Alaska.
  • In Hawaii, there are multiple shield volcanoes (basaltic magma). Hawaii is a volcanic island arc, created by a plate moving over a hot spot.
  • A recent large eruption in the USA was the eruption of Mt. St. Helen's, in Washingtin. On May 18, 1980, Mt. St. Helens' collapse was triggered by an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.1. The earthquake caused the collapse of the summit, forming the largest recorded landslide in history.

[12],

  • Yellowstone erupted 650,000 years ago, leaving a large caldera.

[13], Recent volcanic eruptions:

  • Cleveland: April 11-17, 2012
  • Kilauea: April 11-17, 2012
  • Pagan: April 11-17, 2012
  • Cleveland: April 4-10, 2012
  • Kilauea: April 4-10, 2012
  • Pagan: April 4-10, 2012
  • Cleveland: March 28- April 3, 2012
  • Iliamna: March 28- April 3, 2012
  • Kilauea: March 28- April 3, 2012
  • Ilamna: March 21-27, 2012
  • Cleveland: March 21-27, 2012
  • Kilauea: March 21-27, 2012

[14], [15],

Earthquakes

  • The USA does have earthquakes.
  • There are earthquakes in the USA, mostly in California, but a few are scattered throughout the country.

Earthquakes in the USA in the past 20 years:

  • April 25-26, 1992: California. Magnitude: 6.5-7.2
  • June 28, 1992: California. Magnitude: 7.3
  • June 28, 1992: California. Magnitude: 6.5
  • January 17, 1994: California. Magnitude: 6.7
  • October 16. 1999: California. Magnitude: 7.1
  • February 28, 2001: Washington. Magnitude: 6.8
  • November 3, 2002: Alaska. Magnitude: 7.9
  • December 22, 2003: California. Magnitude: 6.5
  • October 15, 2006: Hawaii. Magnitude: 6.7
  • December 19, 2007: Alaska. Magnitude: 7.2
  • January 9, 2010: California. Magnitude: 6.5
  • September 7, 2011: Alaska. Magnitude: 6.8

[16], Major earthquakes in the US:

  • 1964: Prince William Sound, Alaska. Magnitude: 9.2
  • 1700: Cascadia subduction zone. Magnitude: ~9
  • 1965: Rat Islands, Alaska. Magnitude: 8.7
  • 1957: Andreanof Islands, Alaska. Magnitude: 8.6
  • 1938: East of Shumagin Islands, Alaska. Magnitude: 8.2
  • 1946: Unimak Islands, Alaska. Magnitude: 8.1
  • 1899: Yakutat Bay, Alaska. Magnitude: 8.0
  • 2002: Denali Fault, Alaska. Magnitude: 7.9
  • 1987: Gulf of Alaska, Alaska. Magnitude: 7.9
  • 1986: Andreanof Islands, Alaska. Magnitude: 7.9
  • 1899: Near Cape Yakataga, Alaska. Magnitude: 7.9
  • 1868: Ka’u District, Island of Hawaii. Magnitude: 7.9
  • 1857: Fort Tejon, California. Magnitude: 7.9
  • 2003: Rat Islands, Alaska. Magnitude: 7.8
  • 1996: Andreanof Islands, Alaska. Magnitude: 7.8
  • 1906: San Francisco, California. Magnitude: 7.8
  • 1892: Imperial Valley, California. Magnitude: 7.8
  • 1811: New Madrid, Missouri. Magnitude: 7.7
  • 1812: New Madrid, Missouri. Magnitude: 7.7
  • 1812: New Madrid, Missouri. Magnitude: 7.5

[17],

Rock Relationships to Tectonic Activity

Tectonic activity in this area is mostly related to igneous rocks, there from the mountain building at the subduction boundary in the volcanic mountains. There are a few sedimentary rocks. There are here because of the sediments deposited there by the ocean, which had eroded them from other masses. There are also sediments along the coast that were scraped off during subduction.

Mexico

Tectonic Plates Mexico is completely on the North American plate.

Volcanoes

  • There are volcanoes in Mexico.
  • Most of the volcanoes in Mexico are located on the Baha peninsula the west coast and southern Mexico.
  • The volcanoes on the Baha Peninsula are mostly cinder cone (ryolitic magma).
  • The volcanoes on the west coast are mostly composite (andesitic magma).
  • The volcanoes in southern Mexico are almost all Shield volcanoes (basaltic magma).
  • The volcanoes on the east coast are pretty much all shield volcanoes(andesitic magma).
  • The largest volcano is Popocatepetl. This volcano is still the largest in Mexico and is still active.
  • This Volcanic actually just erupted on April 16, 2012.
  • Chichon was the biggest eruption Mexico has ever had it erupted in June 8, 2005.

[18]

Earthquakes

  • There are earthquakes in Mexico.
  • The most common spot for earthquakes in Mexico is along the west coast on the North American plate Boundary. There are a few in northern Mexico, some in southern Mexico and a few on the west coast.
  • April 15-16 Gulf of California 5.0
  • April 16, gulf of California 4.1
  • April 20 Baja California, Mexico 2.6
  • April 16 Baja California, Mexico 2.4
  • April 20 Baja California, Mexico 2.7
  • April 16 Baja 1.3
  • April 16 Baja 1.8
  • April 19 Oaxaca 4.5
  • April 20 Guerreo 4.6
  • April 19 Coast of Oaxaca 4.5

Historic Earthquakes

  • 1985 Mexico City 8.1 (largest earthquake in Mexico) [19]
  • 1973 Veracruz 8.5 [20]
  • 1995 Colima 7.8
  • 2003 Colima 7.9
  • 2010 Mexicali 7.2 [21]

Rocks

  • Igneous rock is the rock that is related to tectonic activity in Mexico.

[22]

Boundary Types/ Margins

  • Mexico is on a subduction boundary with the Coco's plate and is near a rift zone. The west boundary is active because it is on the North American plate boundary. The east is passive.

Canada

Tectonic Plates

Canada is on the North American Plate and Jaun de Fuca Plate

West Coast is a subduction boundary

East Coast is a divergent boundary

Both margins are active

Volcanoes

There are volcanoes in Canada.

Most volcanoes are on the west coast at the Cascadian Subduction boundary.

The Western coast, where most of the volcanic activity is, is a volcanic arc.

Most volcanoes are cinder cones, sheild volcanoes, and stratovolcanoes, or pyroclastic cones

the Western and Northern part of Canada form encircling chain of volcanoes and frequent earthquakes around hte Pacific Ocean called the Pacific Ring of Fire

Canada has over 100 volcanoes that are over 2 million years old, and still active.

The volcanoes in Canada are in remote areas, therefore causing the volcanoes to erupt less frequently than the average volcanoes in the ring of Fire 

Information: http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/region.cfm?rnum=12&rpage=list

Earthquakes

Moderate Earthquakes at the western coast of Canada on the Juan de Fuca & North American Plate bounary

The San Andreas fault has the major earthquake activity

Most recent:

April 22- 4.7 MM- off the shore of Vancouver Island April 13- 3.1 MM- near La Malbaie, QC April 11- 4.4 MM- near Shalborne, SC April 7- 3.1 MM- near Wakefeild, QC March 30- 3.4 MM- near Bathurst, NB

Most Horrific:

8.1- 1949 British Colombia 7.4- 1970 British Colombia 7.3- 1946 British Colombia 7.3- 1933 North West Territories 7.2- 1929 Newfoundland 7.0- 1929 British Colombia

  1. ↑ [1].
  2. ↑ [2].
  3. ↑ [3].
  4. ↑ [4].
  5. ↑ [5].
  6. ↑ [6].
  7. ↑ [7].
  8. ↑ [8].
  9. ↑ [9].
  10. ↑ [10].
  11. ↑ [11].
  12. ↑ [12].
  13. ↑ [13].
  14. ↑ [14].
  15. ↑ [15].
  16. ↑ [16].
  17. ↑ [17].
  18. ↑ [18]
  19. ↑ [19]
  20. ↑ [20]
  21. ↑ [21]
  22. ↑ [22]
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