Physical Geography of North America

North America is the third largest continent, and is also a portion of the second
largest supercontinent if North and South America are combined into the Americas
and Africa, Europe, and Asia are considered to be part of one supercontinent called
Afro-Eurasia. With an estimated population of 460 million and an area of 24,346,000
km2 (9,400,000 mi2), the northernmost of the two continents of the Western
Hemisphere is bounded by the Pacific Ocean on the west; the Atlantic Ocean on the
east; the Caribbean Sea, Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and South America on the south;
and the Arctic Ocean on the north. The northern half of North America is sparsely
populated and covered mostly by Canada, except for the northwestern portion which
is occupied by Alaska, the largest state of the U.S. The central and southern portions
of the continent are represented by the United States, Mexico, and numerous smaller
states primarily in Central America and in the Caribbean. The continent is delimited
on the southeast by most geographers at the Dariee n watershed along the Colombia-
Panama border, placing all of Panama within North America. Alternatively, a less
common view would end North America at the man-made Panama Canal. Islands
generally associated with North America include Greenland, the world's largest
island, and archipelagos and islands in the Caribbean. The terminology of the
Americas is complex, but "Anglo- America" can describe Canada and the U.S., while
"Latin America" comprises Mexico and the countries of Central America and the
Caribbean, as well as the entire continent of South America.
Natural features of North America include the northern portion of the American
Cordillera, represented by the geologically new Rocky Mountains in the west; and
the considerably older Appalachian Mountains to the east. The north hosts an
abundance of glacial lakes formed during the last glacial period, including the Great
Lakes. North America's major continental divide is the Great Divide, which runs
north and south down through Rocky Mountains. The major watersheds all drain to
the east: The Mississippi/Missouri and Rio Grande into the Gulf of Mexico, and St.
Lawrence into the Atlantic.
Climate is determined to a large extent by the latitude, ranging from Arctic cold in
the north to tropical heat in the south. The western half of North America tends to
have milder and wetter climate than other areas with equivalent latitude, although
there are steppes (known as "prairies") in the central and western portions, and
deserts in the Southwestern United States of Arizona, Colorado, California, Nevada,
New Mexico, Utah, Oklahoma, and Texas; along with the Mexican states of Baja
California, Baja California Sur, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and
Tamaulipas.
North America may be divided into at least five major physiographic regions:
1. Canadian Shield
This is a geologically stable area of rock dating between 2.5 and 4 Gya that occupies
most of the
northeastern quadrant, including Greenland.
2. Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachians are an old and eroded system that formed about 300 Ma and
extends from the
Gaspee Peninsula to Alabama.
3. Atlantic Coastal Plain
The plain is a belt of lowlands widening to the south that extends from south New
England to Mexico.
4. Interior Lowlands
The lowlands extend down the middle of the continent from the Mackenzie Valley to
the Atlantic Coastal Plain, and include the Great Plains on the west and the
agriculturally productive Interior Plains on the east.
5. North American Cordillera
The cordillera is a complex belt of mountains and associated plateaus and basins
some of which were formed as recently as 10065 Ma, during the Cretaceous. The
cordillera extend from Alaska into
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Mexico and includes two orogenic belts the Pacific Margin on the west and the
Rocky Mountains on the east separated by a system of intermontane plateaus and
basins.
The Coastal Plain and the main belts of the North American Cordillera continue in
the south in Mexico (where the Mexican Plateau, bordered by the Sierra Madre
Oriental and the Sierra Madre Occidental, is considered a continuation of the
intermontane system) to connect the Transverse Volcanic Range, a zone of high and
active volcanic peaks south of Mexico City. The vast majority of North America is
located on the North American Plate, centered on the Laurentia craton. Parts of
California and western Mexico form the partial edge of the Pacific Plate; the two
plates meet along the San Andreas Fault. The southern portion of the Caribbean and
parts of Central America compose the much smaller Caribbean Plate.
The western mountains have split in the middle, into the main range of the Rockies
and the Coast Ranges in California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia with
the Great Basin (a lower area containing smaller ranges and low-lying deserts) in
between. The highest peak is Mount McKinley/Denali in Alaska. The geographic
center of North America is approximately "6 miles west of Balta, Pierce County,
North Dakota" at 480 10north, 1000 10west, and a 15 foot (4.5 m) field stone
obelisk in Rugby, North Dakota (~15 miles or 25 km away) claims to mark the
center. Three countries (Canada, the United States, and Mexico) make up most of
North America's land mass; they share the continent with 34 other island countries
in the Caribbean south of Mexico.
North American Watershed
North America can also be divided into four great regions:
1. Great Plains: stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to the Canadian Arctic;
2. The geologically young, mountainous west: including the Rocky Mountains, the
Great Basin, California
and Alaska; the raised but relatively flat plateau of the Canadian Shield in the
northeast;
3. The varied eastern region: including the Appalachian Mountains, the coastal plain
of the Atlantic
Seaboard, and the Florida peninsula.
4. Mexico and its long plateaus and cordilleras fall largely in the western region,
although the eastern
coastal plain does extend south along the Gulf.
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Surface and climate

The Great Plains is the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lies east of the
Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. The narrow plains in the Mexican
coast and the savannas of the Mississippi are analogous to, respectively, the
Patagonian steppes and the pampas of the Piranha, Paraguay, and Rio de la Plata.
Thus the Appalachians and the mountain chains of Brazil are regarded as creating
similar interruptions to the plains community.
North America extends to within 10 of latitude of both the equator and the North
Pole. It embraces every climatic zone, from tropical rain forest and savanna on the
lowlands of Central America to areas of permanent ice cap in central Greenland.
Subarctic and tundra climates prevail in north Canada and north Alaska, and desert
and semiarid conditions are found in interior regions cut off by high mountains from
rain-bearing westerly winds. However, most of the continent has temperate climates
very favorable to settlement and agriculture. Prairies, or vast grasslands cover a
huge amount in mountain ranges
Climate and vegetation
The climate in North America is typically cool and humid. The rainy zone
disproportionately extends in America, and as the continent stretches over the
climatic zones, vegetation is remarkably distinctive. Great indentations of the
shoreline make insular conditions to prevail in much of its interior. The area along
the west coast tends to be milder and wetter than other areas with the same
latitude.
There are various plant life distributions in North America. Plant life in the Arctic
includes grasses, mosses, and Arctic willows. Coniferous trees, including spruces,
pines, hemlocks, and firs, are indigenous to the Canadian and Western U.S. mountain
ranges as far south as San Francisco. Among these are giant sequoias, redwoods,
great firs, and sugar pines. Sugar pines are generally confined to the northwestern
area of the United States. The central region of the country has hardwoods. Southern
states grow extensive yellow pines. In addition, mahogany, logwood, and lignumvitae
- all tropical in nature - are grown. The southwest has desert plants, including yucci
and cacti. The cultivated native plants of North America are tobacco, maize, potato,
vanilla, melons, cacao, gourds, indigo plant, and bean.
Deserts
The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run along the entire Pacific Coast,
acting as a barrier to the humid winds that sweep in from the ocean. The rising
topography forces this air upwards, causing moisture to condense and fall in the
form of rain on the western slopes of the mountains, with some areas receiving more
than 70 inches (1.8 m) of rainfall per year. As a result, the air has lost much of its
moisture and becomes hot and dry when it reaches the areas east of the coastal
mountain ranges. These arid conditions are, in some instances, exacerbated in
regions of extremely low altitude (some near or below sea level) by higher air
pressure, resulting in drier conditions and adiabatic heating effects, some of these
pocket deserts exist in valleys well north of the Canadian border in interior British
Columbia. What precipitation does fall generally does not last long, lost primarily to
evaporation, as well as rapid runoff and efficient water uptake and storage by native
vegetation.
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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF SOUTH AMERICA

The physical geography of South America contains many diverse regions and
climates. Geographically, South America is generally considered a continent forming
the southern portion of the American landmass, south and east of the Panama
Colombia border by most authorities, or south and east of the Panama Canal by
some. South and North America are sometimes considered a single continent or
supercontinent, while constituent regions are infrequently considered
subcontinents. Geopolitically and geographically, all of Panamaincluding the
segment east of the Panama Canal in the isthmusis generally considered a part of
North America alone and among the countries of Central America.
South America became attached to North America only recently (geologically
speaking) with the formation of the Isthmus of Panama some 3 million years ago,
which resulted in the Great American Interchange. The Andes, likewise a
comparatively young and seismically restless mountain range, run down the western
edge of the continent; the land to the east of the northern Andes is largely tropical
rain forest, the vast Amazon River basin. The continent also contains drier regions
such as eastern Patagonia and the extremely arid Atacama desert.
The South American continent also includes various islands, most of which belong to
countries on the continent. The Caribbean territories are grouped with North
America. The South American nations that border the Caribbean Seaincluding
Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guianaare also known as
Caribbean South America.
Topography and geology
The geographical structure of South America is deceptively simple for a continent-
sized landmass. The continent's topography is often likened to a huge bowl owing to
its flat interior almost ringed by high mountains. With the exception of narrow
coastal plains on the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, there are three main topographic
features: the Andes, a central lowland, and the extensive Brazilian and Guiana
Highlands in the east.
The Andes are a Cenozoic mountain range formed (and still forming) by the
continuing convergence of the American and Pacific tectonic plates. In their
northern and central reaches the Andes are quite wide and contain extensive
plateau such as the Altiplano and a number of major valleys such as the Rio
Magdalena. These contain three of the world's highest capitals: Bogotae , Quito and
highest of all, La Paz, Bolivia. The southern Andes have been eroded by the
Patagonian Ice Sheet and are much lower and narrower. There are a number of large
glaciers in the northern part, but from latitude 19S to 28S the climate is so arid
that no permanent ice can form even on the highest peaks. Permafrost, however, is
widespread in this section of the Altiplano and continuous above 5,600 metres
(18,373 ft).
The climate of the coastal belt west of the Andes shows violent contrasts, including
two of the world's wettest regions in the Colombian Chocoe and southern Chile, and
the world's driest desert, the Atacama. This dry area is cooled by the Humboldt
Current and upwelling, giving rise to the largest fisheries in the world. There are two
small transition zones between the perhumid and perarid regions: around Guayaquil
with summer rain, and the Mediterranean climate region of central Chile. Both these
regions have highly erratic rainfall strongly influenced by El Ninn o events, which
bring major floods. In contrast, the high plateaux of the Andes are drier than normal
during El Ninn o episodes.
The very fertile soils from the erosion of the Andes formed the basis for the
continent's only pre- Columbian state civilizations: those of the Inca Empire and its
predecessors (Chavien, Nazca, Mochica, etc.). The area is still a major agricultural
region. The Altiplano contains many rare minerals such as copper, tin, mercury ore.
The Atacama is mined for its nitrates. Peru east of the Andes is regarded as the most
important biodiversity hotspot in the world with its unique forests that form the
western edge of the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon Rainforest.
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East of the Andes is a large lowland drained by a small number of rivers, including
the two largest in the world by drainage areathe Amazon River and the more
southerly Paranae River. The other major river of this central lowland is the Orinoco
River, which has a natural channel linking it with the Amazon.[1] Most of this central
lowland is sparsely populated because the soils are heavily leached, but in the south
is the very fertile pampas of Argentinaone of the world's major food-producing
regions where wheat and beef cattle are pre-eminent. The natural vegetation of the
northern lowlands are either savanna in the northern llanos and southern campos,
or tropical rainforest throughout most of the Amazon basin. Efforts to develop
agriculture, outside of fertile floodplains of rivers descending from the Andes, have
been largely failures because of the soils. Cattle have long been raised in the llanos of
northern Colombia and Venezuela, but petroleum is now the dominant industry in
the northern lowlands, making Venezuela the richest country in the continent.
The eastern highlands are much older than the Andes, being pre-Cambrian in origin,
but are still rugged in places, especially in the wet tepuis of Venezuela, Guyana and
Roraima. The Amazon River has cut a large valley through a former highland, and to
the east is a relatively low plateau comprising the Nordeste and Southeast regions of
Brazil. In the north of this region is the arid sertan o, a poor region consistently
affected by extremely erratic rainfall, and the humid zona da mata, once home of the
unique Atlantic Rainforest with many species not found in the Amazon, and now a
centre for sugarcane. Further south, the main land use is coffee, while San o Paulo is
the economic heart of the continent with its industry. South of about Santa Catarina,
the highlands fade out to low plains in Uruguay. East of the Andes in Argentina, there
are a number of rugged, generally dry lslands, the highest of which is the Sierra de
Cordoba near the city of that name. Argentine Patagonia is a Paleozoic plateau now
heavily dissected by rivers flowing from the Andes.
Climate
As part of the Hadley model of atmospheric circulation, the equator is characterised
by the ascending branches of separate meridional cells, driven by intense insolation.
The vertical convection draws in air from the surrounding atmosphere, known as
the trade winds. As these inwards flows of air converge they reduce horizontal wind
speed, and as they rise, they form precipitation. The vertical convection also results
in a net export of heat and freshwater from the lower atmosphere into the
troposphere This system is known as the ITCZ. The location of the ITCZ is centred on
the areas of highest insolation, although it is more stationary over the oceans than
landmasses.
In the Atlantic region, the ITCZ is clearly developed, and the spatial extent of the
ITCZ reaches a minimum close to the equator during the boreal spring (MarchMay),
while extending to a maximum of 1015N in late boreal summer (August). No
comprehensive theory for ITCZ formation and spatial variation has been validated,
although several hypotheses have been proposed. Some studies advance ideas that
describe one or more atmospheric cells over the equator, while others state that the
position of the ITCZ depends on Ekman pumping efficiency and moisture
availability. Whichever hypothesis best represents the natural system, it is clear that
the dynamics of the ITCZ are influenced by several other external climate systems.
These include continental convection and equatorially asymmetric sea surface
temperature (SST) distribution. This asymmetry is evident in the northward bias of
the ITCZ es location, which is maintained by a positive feedback between wind speed,
evaporation and SST.
Whereas the ITCZ has a global extent, South America is subject to its own unique
climate patterns. which have been organised into the South American Monsoon
System (SAMS). As an integrated component in the global climate system, the SAMS
is influenced the Atlantic sector of the ITCZ, variability in the adjacent Pacific and
Atlantic Oceans, the Andean and central-east Brazil topography, complex land
surface processes and relations with land use change, and interactions involving
topography and soil moisture. The SAMS framework comprises several distinct
subcomponents, which are discussed below:
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1. The Pacific and Atlantic subtropical high: These are semi-permanent high
pressure systems caused by descending sectors of the equatorial Hadley cells. The
air masses are relatively warm and dry, and move in an anticyclonic circulation
pattern over the sub-tropical oceans. The Pacific High is generally stable, whereas
the Atlantic High moves throughout the year. During the summer, it covers most of
the midlatitude and subtropical Atlantic Ocean. During winter, it is smaller and
moves to the east.
2. The Gran Chaco thermal low: A semi-permanent thermal-orographic depression
located over the slope extending from Chaco to the Los Andes mountain range in the
Argentine Northwest. It can be considered, together with the Bolivian High, as the
regional response of the tropospheric circulation to the strong convective heating
over the Amazoncentral Brazil. The Andes effect reinforces the strength of the
Chaco Low as an orographic barrier. It is present throughout the year, but is more
intense during the summer, with a strong thermal component caused by the
combination of high insolation and dry surface conditions. The resulting pressure
gradient between the south Atlantic subtropical high and the Chaco low forces the
easterly winds over the Amazon basin to turn southward, being channelled between
the eastern slope of the Andes and the Brazilian Plateau.
3. The South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ): The SACZ controls rainfall in the
southern subtropics and extends southeastward from the large continental
convective zone of tropical South America. It is generated by moisture convergence
between the South Atlantic high pressure zone and the continental thermal low
pressure zone. The location of the SACZ is influenced by the topography in central-
east Brazil Vera et al. (2006). The intensity of the SACZ is highest in austral summer,
in phase with intensifying continental heating and convection. Weak SACZ is
accompanied by enhanced rainfall over northern Argentina and southern Brazil.
These positive rainfall anomalies are supported by a strong southward moisture flux
at about 35S60W that shifts eastward to about 40W for the opposite phase of the
seesaw, in accordance with an eastward displacement of the Atlantic high. An
intensified SACZ is associated with enhanced streamflows to the north and
diminished flows to the south. This northsouth separation is probably related to
the anomalously warm sea surface temperatures (SSTs) over the tropical and
subtropical South Atlantic that strengthens the low-level meridional temperature
gradient, intensifying the South Atlantic High and consequently the trade-winds.
4. Polar outbreaks: Polar outbreaks occur when cold dense polar air masses pass
beneath warmer tropical air masses, significantly cooling subtropical South America.
They occur as a result of anticyclogenesis in the Pacific subtropical high, which is
constrained at a low level by the southern extent of the Andes mountain range. This
leads to the formation of a slow-moving long wave that creates mountain-parallel,
ageostrophic flow, causing incursions of high-latitude cold air. They generate an
important drop in temperature and increase in pressure, resulting in regional
precipitation for southern South America. These surges occur mainly during the
winter but their impact on the precipitation is even greater during summer.
5. Low Level Jet (LLJ): LLJs originate in a low pressure area over the northern Andes
and provide moisture for subtropical latitudes. During summer, they operate as
localised wind maximum within the lower 12 km of the atmosphere, channelled by
the Andes, terminating in southeastern South America. They area controlled by
Amazonian wind patterns, which are in influenced by controlled by patterns of
insolation. They transport large amounts of moisture from the Amazon basin to the
monsoonal anitcyclone over Bolivia. A suppressed SACZ and increased convection in
the sub-tropical plains is associated with a strengthening of the LLJ. These phases
are linked to
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short-term extreme precipitation events in the plains of central Argentina. When the
LLJ is weak, there is enhanced SACZ and suppressed convection to the south and
extreme heat waves over the sub-tropical regions. It also generates turbulence
through shear and participates actively as trigging mechanism for the formation of
severe storm and Mesoscale Convective Systems over Paraguay, Northern Argentina
and South of Brazil.
6. Westerlies: South America experiences westerly winds in the middle latitudes,
caused by the Coriolis force and associated geostrophic circulation patterns. They
are more intense than their Northern Hemisphere counterparts due to the lack of
continental landmass in the Southern Hemisphere. They reach their maximum
speed in the troposphere, where they form jetstreams. In particular, over the
southern tip of South America and the adjacent south Pacific, the westerlies are
strongest during austral summer, peaking between 45 and 55S. During the austral
winter, the jetstream moves into subtropical latitudes (its axis is at about 30S) and
the low-level westerlies expand equatorward but weaken, particularly at ~50S. The
pressure gradients between the polar low-pressure belt and the Pacific high-
pressure cell, combined with these westerlies, results in permanent
anticyclogenesis. Northward penetration of atmospheric perturbations from the
westerlies is possible when the southeast Pacific anticyclone is weakened or moves
equatorward, allowing penetration of westerly storm tracks to latitudes as far north
as 31S. In the Andes, winter rains reach further north. During summer, the Pacific
anticyclone shifts southward, impeding the northward migration of the westerlies.
7. The Bolivian High: large anticyclonic circulation centred near 15S, 65W. It has
been explained as the response of diabatic local heating in the Amazon region. The
SACZ has a strong influence on the position and intensity of the Bolivian High
8. The Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO): The MJO is characterized by an eastward
progression of large regions of both enhanced and suppressed tropical rainfall,
observed mainly over the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean. It is a source of intra-
seasonal variability affecting South America that seems to be related to a
combination tropical circulation changes and midlatitude Rossby wave trains that
propagate into South America.
The development of the SAMS during spring is characterised by a rapid southward
shift of the convective region from northwestern South America to the highland
region of the central Andes and to the southern Amazon basin. The South Atlantic
High moves eastward, reflecting the pressure reduction over the continent and the
intensity and direction of the zonal flow over the nearby tropics and sub-tropics.
This change in flow direction is evident in changes to terrestrial windfields over
extreme southwestern Amazonia, with winds changing from northerlies to
northwesterlies, and over eastern Brazil, where the winds turn from easterlies to
northeasterlies. The southward moisture flux east of the Andes also increases,
bringing humidity to central and southeast Brazil.
As the SAMS progresses a continental-scale gyre transports moisture westward from
the tropical Atlantic Ocean to the Amazon basin and then southward toward the
extratropics of South America. The diabatic heating released in the SAMS region
seems to promote that gyre, and the maintenance of the South Atlantic subtropical
high during austral summer. It has also been suggested that is the subsidence over
the cool SSTs of the eastern Pacific and extensive stratocumulus decks provide a
radiative heat sink to the tropical atmosphere that can balance the adiabatic
warming due to the monsoonal descent. The decay phase of the monsoon begins
between March and May, as convection shifts gradually northward toward the
equator. During April and May, the low-level southward flow of moisture from the
western Amazonia
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weakens, as more frequent incursions of drier and cooler air from the mid-latitudes
begin to occur over the interior of subtropical South America.