APUSH: US PHYSICAL Geography

Coast Ranges

A group of mountains, lying along the Pacific Ocean and stretching from Alaska to California

Gulf of Mexico

A large gulf off the southeastern coast of North America

Mississippi River

A major US river, that controls a LARGE portion on agriculture, transport, and usage from the Midwest; feeds into the Gulf of Mexico

Central Valley (California)

A major fruit growing area in California, produces half in all of the US for food

Rocky Mountains

A major mountain system of the United states and Canada, extending 3,000 miles from Alaska south to New Mexico

Great Plains

A mostly flat and grassy region of midwest North America: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, both Dakotas, pieces of Colorado, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming and Iowa

Appalachian Mountains

A mountain range that stretches from eastern Canada south to Alabama.

Cascade Range

A mountain range with several active volcanoes in northern California, Oregon, Washington, and southern British Columbia, Canada.

Great Salt Lake

Lake within Utah

Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Plain

Land surface region, composed of sedimentary materials, that extends in the United States from New Jersey to Texas, and then southward into Mexico.

Aleutian Islands

Lands that were once connected as a bridge that crossed the Bering Strait, allowing humans to migrate from Asia to the Americas

Mauna Loa

Largest volcano on earth, located in Hawaii

Lake Michigan

The third-largest of the Great Lakes; borders Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

Mt. Rainer

Composite Cone (Strato) Volcano in Washington State, has alternating layers of ash-lava-ash

Mt. Whitney

The highest point in the United States outside Alaska, located in the Sierra Nevadas, 14,505 ft

Lake Erie

The lake of Cleveland, Ohio It lies among the Canadian province of Ontario and the American states of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio

Lake Superior

The largest freshwater lake in the world, sits on top of Michigan's hat, borders US and Canada

Cheasapeake Bay

Body of water shared by Maryland and Virginia, pocket of water

Mojave Desert

It is the hottest, driest, lowest desert in the U.S.; in California, Nevada, and Arizona

Black Hills

Mountains in Wyoming & South Dakota that were protected under Fort Laramie Treaty; sacred lands for many Sioux; scouted by Custer and said to contain large amounts of gold that was perused by miners; led to Battle of Little Bighorn after negotiations for purchase were refused

Long Island

New York, an important geographical location for the US

Lake Huron

Northeast of Michigan, Second largest lake

Ohio River

River that spans on the border of Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio, most was the boundary for the Northern Territories

Colorado River

River that starts in Colorado, runs through Nevada, Arizona, and California, that deposits into Gulf of California

Florida Keys

Small islands off the coast of Florida

Lake Ontario

Smallest of the Great lakes, most eastern lake, borders Canada and the US

Atlantic Ocean

Ocean on the East Coast of the United States

Pacific Ocean

Ocean on the West Coast of the United States

Missouri River

River that goes from the Rocky Mountains into the Mississippi

Hudson River

River that snakes through New York and deposits into the Atlantic Ocean

Great Lakes

a group of five freshwater lakes of the central North America between the United States and Canada; the lakes are Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior

Everglades

a large subtropical swamp in southern Florida that is noted for its wildlife

Sierra Nevadas

a mountain range in eastern California that also has parts of Western Nevada in it

Blue Ridge Mountains

a name for a group of mountains located in the Appalachian chain that are characterized by a "blue" haze that surrounds their peaks.

Mt. Shasta

a peak in the Cascades that erupted 13 times in the past 10,000 years

Ozarks

an area of low mountains in northwestern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri and northeastern Oklahoma

St. Lawrence River

forms part of the northeastern border with Canada and connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, goes up Northeastern

Mt. McKinley

highest peak in North America

Continental Divide

mountain ridge that separates river systems flowing toward opposite sides of a continent

Adirondack Mountains

mountains that cover most of northern New York

Bering Sea

part of the North Pacific between Alaska and Siberia

Rio Grande

river that forms the border between Texas and Mexico, runs also into New Mexico

Mauna Kea

tallest mountain when measured from base to peak, in Hawaii

Columbia River

the largest river flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America, in Washington and parts of Oregon

Allegheny Mountains

the mountain range from Pennsylvania to Viginia, parallel to the Appalachian Mountains, and rising to more that 4,900 feet