Western United States

Natural Geography

Along the Pacific Ocean coast lie the Coast Ranges, which do not approach the scale of the Rockies. They collect a large part of the airborne moisture moving in from the ocean. Even in the relatively arid climate of central California, the Coast Ranges squeeze enough water out of the clouds to support the growth of coast redwoods. East of the Coast Ranges lie several cultivated fertile valleys, notably the San Joaquin Valley of California and the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

Related Topics:
Pacific Ocean - Coast Ranges - Rockies - Coast redwood - Valley - San Joaquin Valley - Willamette Valley

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Beyond the valleys lie the Sierra Nevada in the south and the Cascade Range in the north. These mountains are some of the highest in the United States. Mount Whitney, at 4,421 metres (14,505 feet) the tallest peak in the contiguous 48 states, is in the Sierra Nevada. The Cascades are also volcanic. Mount Rainier, a volcano in Washington, is also well over 4,392 metres (14,000 feet aprox). Mount St. Helens, a volcano in the Cascades erupted explosively in 1980 and a, major volcanic eruption at Mount Mazama around 4860 BC, forming Crater Lake. These mountain ranges see heavy precipitation, capturing most of the moisture that remains after the Coast Ranges, and creating a rain shadow to the east forming vast stretches of arid land. These dry areas encompass much of Nevada, Utah and Arizona. The Mojave Desert and Sonoran Desert along with other deserts are found here.

Related Topics:
Sierra Nevada - Cascade Range - Mount Whitney - Mount Rainier - Mount St. Helens - 1980 - Mount Mazama - 4860 BC - Crater Lake - Rain shadow - Mojave Desert - Sonoran Desert

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Beyond the deserts lie the Rocky Mountains. In the north, they run immediately east of the Cascade Range, so that the desert region does not reach all the way to the Canadian border. The Rockies are hundreds of miles wide, and run uninterrupted from New Mexico to Alaska. The tallest peaks of the Rockies, some of which are over 4,250 metres (14,000 feet aprox.), are found in central Colorado.

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The West has several long rivers that empty into the Pacific Ocean, while the eastern rivers run into the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi River forms the easternmost possible boundary for the West today. The Missouri River, a tributary of the Mississippi, flows from its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains eastward across the Great Plains, a vast grassy plateau, before sloping gradually down to the forests and hence to the Mississippi. The Colorado River snakes through the Mountain states, at one point forming the Grand Canyon. The Colorado is a major source of water in the Southwest and many dams, such as the Hoover Dam form reservoirs along it. So much water is drawn of for drinking water throughout the West and irrigation in California that in some years, water from the Colorado no longer reaches the Gulf of California. The Columbia River, the largest river in volume flowing into the Pacific Ocean from North America, and its tributary the Snake River water the Pacific Northwest. The Platte runs through Nebraska and is a mile (2 km) wide but only a half-inch (1 cm) deep. The Rio Grande forms the border between, Texas and Mexico before turning due north and spliting New Mexico in half.

Related Topics:
Pacific Ocean - Gulf of Mexico - Mississippi River - Missouri River - Great Plains - Grass - Colorado River - Grand Canyon - Hoover Dam - Gulf of California - Columbia River - Snake River - Platte - Rio Grande

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Climate and agriculture

The seasonal temperatures very greatly throughout the West. Annual rainfall is greater in the eastern portions, gradually tapering off until reaching the Pacific Coast where it again increases. In fact, the greatest annual rainfall in the United States falls in the coastal regions of the Pacific Northwest. The heaviest snows in the nation fall in the Rockies. Drought is much more common in the West than the rest of the United States. The driest place recorded in the U.S. is Death Valley, California. Violent thunderstorms occur east of the Rockies. Tornadoes occur every spring on the southern plains, with the most common and most destructive centered on Tornado Alley, which covers eastern portions of the West, (Texas to North Dakota), and all states in between and to the east.

Related Topics:
Death Valley - Tornado Alley - Texas - North Dakota

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Agriculture varies depending on rainfall, irrigation, soil, elevation, and temperature extremes. The arid regions generally support only livestock grazing, chiefly beef cattle. The wheat belt extends from Texas through the Dakotas, producing most of the wheat and soybeans in the U.S. and exporting more to the rest of the world. Irrigation in the Southwest and allow the growing of great quantities of fruits, nuts, and vegetables as well as grain, hay, and flowers. Texas is a major cattle and sheep raising area. Washington is famous for its apples, and Idaho for its potatoes. California and Arizona are major producers of citrus crops, although growing metropolitan sprawl is absorbing much of this land.

Related Topics:
Dakotas - Southwest

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Government officials became convinced after several surveys made during the latter part of the nineteenth century that only a federal action could provide water resources adequate to support the developement of the West. Starting in 1902 congress passed a series of acts authorizing the establishement of the United States Bureau of Reclamation to oversee water development projects in seventeen western states. During the first half of the twentieth century, the dams and irrigation projects provided water for rapid agricultural growth throughout the West and brought prosperity for several states, where agriculture had previously only been subsistence level. Following World War II, the West's cities experience and econoic and population boom, due to the cheap water and power available. The unrestrained population growth, mostly in the Southwest, has strained the water and power resources to the limits with water diverted from agricutural uses to major population centers, such as Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Related Topics:
United States Bureau of Reclamation - Southwest - Las Vegas

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Geology

Plains make up most of the eastern half of the West, underlain with sedimentary rock from the Upper Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras. The Rocky Mountains expose igneous and metamorphic rock from both the Precambrian and the Post Precambrian periods. The Intermountain States and Pacific Northwest have huge expanses of volcanic rock from the Cenozoic period. Salt flats and salt lakes reveal a time when the great inland seas covered much of what is now the West. The Pacific states are the most geologically active areas in the United States. Earthquakes cause major damage every few years in California. While the Pacific states are the most volcanically active areas, extinct volcanoes and lava flows are found over most of the western half of the West.

Related Topics:
Paleozoic - Mesozoic - Cenozoic - Precambrian - Salt flat - Earthquake - Volcanoes

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Human geography

Most of these states are growing rapidly. The coastal strip includes several major cities, but the areas between the Rocky Mountains in the east and the Sierra Nevada are still thinly populated. In 2000, Wyoming was the least populous state, with population of 493,782 while California was the most populous, with 33,871,648.

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The largest city in the region is Los Angeles, located on the West Coast. Other West Coast cities include San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland. Prominent cities in the Mountain States include Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Las Vegas and Salt Lake City.

Related Topics:
Los Angeles - San Diego - San Jose - San Francisco - Seattle - Portland - Denver - Phoenix - Albuquerque - Las Vegas - Salt Lake City

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Because the tide of development had not yet reached most of the West when conservation became a national issue, agencies of the federal government own and manage vast areas of land. (The most important among these are the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management within the Interior Department, and the U. S. Forest Service within the Agriculture Department.) National parks are reserved for recreational activities such as fishing, camping, hiking, and boating, but other government lands also allow commercial activities like ranching, logging and mining. In recent years some local residents who earn their livelihoods on federal land have come into conflict with the land's managers, who are required to keep land use within environmentally acceptable limits.

Related Topics:
Conservation - Federal government - National Park Service - Bureau of Land Management - Interior Department - U. S. Forest Service - Agriculture Department - National park - Fishing - Camping - Hiking - Boating - Ranching - Logging - Mining

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Geographical terminology

The term Western United States is not strictly interchangeable with American West or the West. The latter terms almost never refer to Alaska or Hawaii, and often exclude the western portions of the Pacific Coast states, meaning, in particular, the exclusion of all of the West Coast cities.

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