North American Geography Quiz 7

Grasslands

\-Biome consisting of grass covered landscapes

\-Habitat for birds, bison, and rodents

“Prairie Potholes”

\-Depressional wetlands

\-Mostly found in Northern Prairie region (Manitoba, Canada)

Aeolian landforms

\-Eroded sediments from the Rockies

\-Aeolian (wind processes) created

\--Nebraska sand hills

\--Monahan’s sand hills

Major rivers of the Great Plains

\-Missouri

\-Platte

\-Arkansas

\-Canadian

\-Red

Blue northers

\-”Polar Vortex”

\-Outbreaks of polar air from Canada, can bring blizzard conditions to the nothern plains and freesing temperatures as far as Texas

Chinook winds

Warm, dry, downslope air flow causing extreme changes in local temperatures common in the Rocky Mountains

Tornado alley

\-The area where tornadoes most frequently occur

\-Includes Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Bison hunting

\-60 to 100 million bison before 1800

\-About 1000 remained by 1900

\-Now conservation is slowly increasing population

\-Many native peoples relied on hunting bison & other large animals

Agriculture

-Wheat, cotton, sorghum, flax, oats, barley, canola, and sunflowers

\-Agriculture is dependent on irrigation

Dust bowl

\-1930s (coincided with the Great Depression)

\-Severe drought, massive dust storms

\-Worse in the south

\-Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas

\-Many residents migrated to California

Crop Rotation Program (CRP)

Government program to rotate crops to replenish nutrients in the soil and hold the soil in place

Ogallala Aquifer

\-Extremely important t to agriculture in this region

\-Irrigation is lowering water tables

\-Depleting aquifers

\-Ogallala irrigates ¼ of all U.S. cropland

\-Water levels have dropped by 100 ft in some places

\-Pollution seeping into the aquifer

Population losses in the Great Plains

\-0 to 9.7% of change in rural population

\-Not a lot of people live there anymore

Aging in place

\-Many communities have a large % of older residents

\-Also, housing is older

Cities of the Great Plains

\-Calgary, Alberta

\-Oklahoma City, OK

\-Grand Forks, ND

\-Bismark, ND

\-Wounded Knee, SD

\-Lincoln, NE

\-Topeka, KS

\-Wichita, KS

\-Amarillo, TX

\-Lubbock, TX

Calgary, Canada

\-Oil town

\-Cowboy culture

\-Calgary Stampede (every July)

Hudson Bay Company

Prevented Canadian prairies being settled, making them settle late

1862 Homestead Act

160 Acre given to settlers who agreed to live upon, cultivate and improve the property

Railroad expansions

\-1869 Transcontinental Railroad

\-1885 Canadian Pacific Railroad

Native resistance

\-Rapid settlement led to conflict with native groups

\-Many natives died from diseases, fighting

\-Many resisted forced resettlement

\-More than 200 Dakota men, women, and children killed at Wounded Knee, 1890

Indian reservation/ territories

\-Dakota Sioux

\-High levels of poverty and unemployment on reservations

\-Significant discrimination

\-Dispute w/ U.S. government over mineral rights

Energy production and mining

\-Gas production on S. Plains

\-Oil production in state/providences near the border

\-Coal in Wyoming & Montana

\-Wind energy a developing sector

\-Oil, natural gas, and coal

\-Oil sands in Alberta, Canada

\-Texas wind farms

Sand hills

\- An inland habitat type characterized by rolling hills capped by deep coarse sands

\-Nebraska and Moahan’s

Fracking

A drilling method used to extract petroleum (oil) or natural gas from deep in the Earth

Wind farms

\-Getting the Power where it is needed the most:

\--Transmission lines

\-Amarillo and Lubbock area

Montana

North Dakota

South Dakota

Nebraska

Colorado

Kansas

Oklahoma

Texas

Grand forks, ND

Bismark, ND

Wounded Knee, SD

Lincoln, NE

Topeka, KS

Wichita, KS

Oklahoma City, OK

Amarillo, TX

Lubbock, TX

Ogallala Formation/ Aquifer (on map)

Missouri River

Arkansas River

Canadian River

Red River

Nebraska Sand Hills (on map)

Badlands (ND)