Alaska State...
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US Geography: The Land
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Alaska Geography: The Land
Geography and Landforms of Alaska Find an overview of Alaska geography, topography, geographic land area, and major rivers. Access Alaska almanac furnishing more details on the state geography, climate and weather, elevation, land area, bordering states, and other statistical data.
Alaska is by far the largest state in land area. If you placed it on top of the "lower 48," the Aleutian Islands would touch California's coast, the southeastern coast near Juneau would rest atop Georgia, and the North Slope would cover Minnesota. The population density of Alaska is only one person per 1.1 square miles.
Alaska's rivers and waterways include the Yukon, third longest in the US. The Yukon stretches East to West from Canada's Yukon Territories to the Bering Sea. If you travel upriver along many of the rivers in the glacier-formed valleys, you come to large glacier fields. Alaska has more glaciers than anywhere else in the inhabited world.
Alaska is known for its volcanic activity and related earthquakes. The Pacific Plate of the earth's crust collides and rides under the North American plate along the Aleutians, causing the Ring of Fire volcanoes. There are more than 70 active or potentially active volcanoes in Alaska. Much research on volcanoes and geo-physics is conducted in Alaska because of this activity.
Alaska Landscape and Landforms:
Alaska's geography can be categorized into four main areas including two mountain ranges, a central plateau, and the Arctic slope or coastal plain.
Pacific Mountain System
In the south and southeast, the Pacific Mountain system is a major feature and is divided into many subdivisions. In general, the Pacific Mountain System runs from the Aleutian Islands down through south central Alaska down the Pacific coast to southern California. Within the Pacific Mountain System are two distinct lowland areas; the Copper River Basin and the Susitna-Cook Inlet lowland.
Central Uplands and Lowlands
This area is sandwiched between the Alaska Range of the Pacific Mountain System in the south and the Brooks Range of the Rocky Mountain System of Alaska in the north.
Rocky Mountain System of Alaska
The Brooks Range and the Brooks Range foothills is in this area. It is north of the Central Uplands and Lowlands area.
Arctic Coastal Plain
This area is called the tundra, it lies north of the Rocky Mountain System and slopes gradually toward the Arctic Ocean.
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US Geography
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Forty-eight of the States are in the single region between Canada and
Mexico; this group is referred to, with varying precision and formality, as the continental or
contiguous United States, and as the Lower 48. Alaska, which is not included in the term contiguous
United States, is at the northwestern end of North America, separated from the Lower 48 by Canada.
The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. The capital city, Washington, District
of Columbia, is a federal district located on land donated by the state of Maryland. (Virginia had
also donated land, but it was returned in 1847.) The United States also have overseas territories. |
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