Term Papers on Cordillera

Term Paper Title	Cordillera
# of Words	896
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.58

Cordillera

Physical Characteristics

The Cordillera is a region consisting of mountains and plateaus.

Landforms
There are three mountain ranges in the Cordillera. The Rocky Mountains, which stand 4200m above sea level, are the highest range; the Cascade Range, which is made up of lava and volcanic materials and the home to Mt. St. Helens; and the Coastal Range which form the western coast of North America for approximately 4000 km.  The Cascade and Coastal Ranges encountered change in 1980 when Mt. St. Helens erupted.  As a result, two dozen lakes were buried, rivers were flooded and landscape was permanently changed due to the boiling rock and ash.  However, mountains aren't the only landforms in the Cordillera.  In fact, most of the US portion is plateau enclosed in the mountain ranges.  There are three subregions of plateaus - the Columbia Plateau, Basin and Range Plateau, and Colorado Plateau.  The plateaus are flatter than the mountainous regions, but they do have hills, ridges and plains.  Two examples of these would be the Grand Canyon which was formed by erosion from streams and rivers, mainly the Colorado, running through it and Death Valley, which is 60 m below sea level

Bodies of Water
In the Cordillera, streams are dry most of the year, but are prone to flooding in the rainy season.  Most rivers begin in the mountains and flow through the plateaus.  The main rivers of the Cordillera are the Colorado, Rio Grande, and Colombia.  The great divide is a line which follows the biggest points along the Rockies and divide the flow of  the river, forcing it to drain out to one of the drainage areas.  Most rivers either go west to the Pacific Ocean, east and north to the Arctic Ocean, or east and south to the Gulf of Mexico.  Some rivers flow from the mountain and become trapped in the plateaus and  form salty lakes.  The water evaporates from the lake, but leaves behind the salt.  The Great Salt Lake in Utah is a good example of this.

Soil
There are many types of soil in the Cordillera region.  In the mountains, soil is thin and not useful for farming.  Desert soil is dry and lacks organic matter, as a result not useful for farming unless irrigated.  However, in the northwest, soils are fertile and good for growing grasses and grains.  Some river valleys provide soil suitable for farming.

Vegetation
Vegetation in the Cordillera region is affected by the elevation.  Forests grow at high elevations.  The windward west side of a mountain has much precipitation.  Cedar and Ponderosa Pine grow in these moist areas.  The east side, most of the plateau subregion, is arid, resulting in desert  vegetation.  The cactus grows in the southern part of the plateau region...

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