Landscapes

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Landscapes

• Drainage Patterns, Landscapes of NY and the
  Affects of Human Activites

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To start

• Rocks that are durable resist weathering and
  erosion
• Durable rocks form the higher portions of a
  landscape (ex. plateaus, mountains, and cliffs)

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• Softer rock erodes faster than harder, durable
  rock
• If layers of a hill differ in durability, the
  softer rocks will wear away faster, giving the
  hill an uneven or stepped appearance

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Drainage Patterns

• Drainage patterns are determined by the way
  tributaries join to form larger streams
• Streams tend to follow zones of weaker rock
  because they erode into valleys

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• Dendritic/ Random Develops in horizontal rock
  layers with little difference in resistance

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Other types of drainage

• Rectangular/Trellis Observed in folded, faulted
  and jointed rocks with much difference in
  resistance

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• Radial- occurs on domed landscapes with little
  difference in resistance, like volcanoes- looks
  like spokes of a wheel

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Final One

• Annular A pattern of concentric circles found in
  areas of domed structure with much difference in
  rock resistance

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Human Activities Affect Landscapes

• Farming and construction projects can increase
  erosion
• Contour plowing curves around a hill, rather than
  up and down the hillside, helping to slow water
  runoff and erosion.

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• Strip mining removes layers of soil to dig up
  minerals found in bedrock.
• When finished, engineers can even out the land,
  replace the soil and add plants
• People move more soil and rock than all rivers
  combined!

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Landscapes of NYS

• St. Lawrence/Champlain Lowlands low-lying plain
  along the St. Lawrence River and Lake Champlain
• Adirondack Mountains only true mountain region
  in NYS made up of resistant rocks
• Appalachian Uplands NYs largest region that is
  mostly flat layers of sedimentary rocks. Used to
  be the bottom of an ocean, pushed up over the
  years

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More Landscapes

• The Finger Lakes formed by a continental glacier
  which deepened and widened pre-existing valleys.
  As the glaciers melted, the till blocked outlets
  to the south forming the lakes
• The Erie-Ontario Lowlands lie south of the Great
  Lakes with NY borders. Although it is a plains
  landscape, these lowlands have many hills
  composed of unsorted glacial till. Good soil,
  deposited and mixed by glaciers, and a climate
  moderated by the lakes makes this an important
  agricultural area

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Even More

• Tug Hill Plateau small region of elevated
  sedimentary rock layers. Poor drainage caused by
  glacial deposits and abundant winter snowfall
  make this one of the least-inhabited areas in the
  state
• Hudson-Mohawk Lowlands/Plains Follows a zone of
  easily eroded limestones and shales
• New England Highlands a region of intensely
  folded and faulted metamorphic rocks.

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Last Few

• Triassic Lowlands a section of sandstones and
  shales deposited in a fault basin. This region is
  geologically younger than the surrounding
  highlands. An intrusion of basaltic magma was
  eroded by the Hudson River, forming the high
  cliffs of the Palisades.
• Atlantic Coastal Plain largely composed of
  glacial sediments. The land south of the moraines
  of LI is composed of sorted material wasted out
  of glaciers.

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