Assignment 3 Toenjes

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Southwestern Illinois College *

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152

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Geography

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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Uploaded by GrandWater1291

Assignment Three (20 Questions) Name: This assignment covers the remainder of Chapter Two (pages 31-43). This part of Chapter Two focuses on vegetation, soil, and mineral resource patterns. 1) Let’s begin by examining Figure 2.5 on page 33. The key at the bottom of the map lists ten types of vegetation regions. These ten types can be collapsed into which three broad categories? 2) Climax vegetation is the vegetation that would exist somewhere in the absence of human interference – the original natural vegetation of an area! Tall grasses seem to be the climax vegetation of the so-called Prairie Wedge in Illinois. Climatically, the existence of grassland vegetation in that area doesn’t make sense! Why doesn’t it make sense? 3) Scrublands developed in dry lower elevations of the interior West. But some of the scrublands in the Southwest haven’t always been scrublands! What did they used to be? 4) We usually think of a treeline as something controlled by altitude – existing on the side of a mountain (like in the photo of Mt. Sneffels on page 34)! But there is also a treeline that is controlled by latitude . Where is that treeline located? Grant Toenjes 1) Grasslands 2) Scrublands 3) Forests 3) With the rainfall of the prarie wedge tree growth should be supported. Grasslands Northlands

5) Now some questions about . . . dirt! “Soil is basically a mixture of weathered rock material and organic matter.” A soil’s properties (color and texture) and composition is important in evaluating an area’s agricultural potential! Suppose you’re a pioneer looking for a place to settle down and start a farm. You reach an area where the soil has a very dark color. What does the dark color tell you about the composition of the soil? 6) The caption under the photograph on page 35 tells us that “the soil of a place is not an unlimited resource.” Which question in the previous assignment could be used to confirm / back up / illustrate this statement? (Give me the question #!) 7) Let’s consider soil texture. Soils called loams are considered best for agriculture. If sand has the coarsest texture, silt has a medium texture, and clay has the finest texture . . . then what type of texture does loam have? 8) On Figure 2.6, the area of mollisols in Illinois and Indiana roughly coincides with a vegetation area shown on Figure 2.5. What do geographers call that particular area of tall grasses? 9) A more general question about Figure 2.6: In what sense does Figure 2.6 “hide” the true soil types that exist across the U.S. and Canada? The darker the color of the soil, the more abundant the soil is of materials. 7 A mix of all three. It is enough to hold moisture but not enough so water can be taken up easily. The prarie wedge Uses a general soil region based on the seventh approximation and doesn't show the complexity of soil areas that can be small.

10) Farmers around Belleville, Illinois grow their crops in udalfs, a type of alfisol. Udalfs are decent for agriculture, but farmers must modify this type of soil to make it highly agriculturally productive. How do they modify it? 11) Entisols are very ‘young’ soils. Where are the entisols nearest to Belleville located? 12) North America’s subsurface rock structure has helped shape the economic geography of the continent. The three categories of rock are introduced at the beginning of the “Mineral Resources” section on page 37. The various areas of mineral fuels highlighted on the Figure 2.7 and 2.8 maps indicate the presence of which one of these three types of rock? 13) Millions of years ago, all the highlighted areas on the Figure 2.7 and 2.8 maps had the same type of natural landscape. What type of landscape would you have seen in these areas back then? 14) “North America’s broad pattern of mineral fuel deposits is one of extensive coal south of the Great Lakes and west of the middle Appalachians accompanied by large petroleum and natural gas fields southwest of the major coal reserves, stretching from the middle Great Plains south to the Gulf Coast.” Beyond this, the controversial extractive technique called ____ ____ has opened up many more formerly untapped and dispersed mineral fuel deposits across the continent. (Fill in the blanks with two words.) They add limes to it. Mississippi River Valleys. Sedimentary Rock. Heavily Vegitated swampy areas. Hydraulic fracturing

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