Chapter 12 Lesson 1
Geography of the West
Page 374-381
Grand Teton – the highest peak in Wyoming
The Rocky Mountains mark the end the Midwest and the beginning of the West,
The Rocky Mountains are among the highest mountains in the North America.
Continental Divide – imaginary line runs north and south along the Rocky
Mountain peaks
All Rivers to the east of the Continental Divide flow toward the Atlantic Ocean.
All rivers west of the line flow toward the Pacific Ocean.
The highest and the lowest land in the United States are both in the West region.
The highest land is the peak of Alaska’s Mount McKinley. It is known as Denali,
which means “the great one” in a Native American language.
The lowest land is Death Valley, California – 282 feet below sea level
Some of the West’s mountains are volcanoes
Volcano – a mountain formed when erupted lava cools and hardens onto Earth’s
surface
Lava – melted rock on the Earth’s surface; (Magma – melted rock in the Earth)
Crater – bowl-shaped area that forms at the volcano’s top
The 3 West states that have volcanoes are Hawaii, Washington, and Oregon.
Movement occurring along faults causes an earthquake.
Earthquake – sudden shaking of the ground
Faults – cracks in Earth’s outer layer
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Like volcanoes, most earthquakes in the West occur in states that border the
Pacific Ocean because the rock layers under the Pacific Ocean move against those
of our continent.
Mount Saint Heaths in Washington erupted in 1980. It was one of the largest
volcanic eruptions ever recorded in North America.
The geography of the West is described as “extreme” because:
*landforms and climate vary greatly
*the West has the hottest, coldest, driest, rainiest, highest, and lowest places in
the United States
Timberline – too cold for trees to grow above this location; below this timberline
forests grow
Death Valley is the driest, hottest, and lowest land
Alaska (Prospect Creek) has the lowest recorded temperature
Mount Waialeale, Hawaii is the wettest place in the United States.
Natural Resource of Land:
*Most of the land in the West is either too mountainous or too dry for farming
*States along Pacific coast have a huge agriculture industry
*California is the nation’s leading agriculture state
*Oregon grows grains, vegetables, and fruit
*Washington is the nation’s leading producer of apples
*Montana and Wyoming ranching of cattle and sheep are important
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Natural Resource of Water:
*the West’s major rivers: Missouri, Colorado, Columbia, and many smaller rivers
*Great Salt Lake in Utah is the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi River
*the coastal waters of the northern Pacific Ocean are rich in fish and shellfish
including salmon, flounder, tuna, crabs, oysters, and clams
Time zone – a region in which all the people use the same clock time
The United States has 6 time zones.
Time zones have a time that is one hour earlier than the time zone to its east.
South Dakota is in 2 time zones: Central Time Zone and Mountain Time Zone