(4-2) Final_SS_Chapter9_LS1_A Varied Land

The West includes the states of C_________, O_____, M______, W______, C_______, U___, N_____, I____, W_________, A_____, and H_____.

<Mountains of the West>

From Alaska, through Canada, and on south through New Mexico, the _____ Mountains form the largest mountain range in North America. They stretch more than 3,000 miles in length and more than 300 miles in width in some places.

<Mountains of the West>

West of the Rocky Mountains is another mountain range located in eastern California and western Nevada called the ______ ______. Some of these mountains are more than 14,000 feet above sea level. Sea level is the height of the surface of the ocean.

<Mountains of the West>

Another mountain range, called the ________, extends from northern California up through Oregon and Washington. Mount Rainier, the tallest mountain in this range, is more than 14,400 feet above sea level.

<The Long Coast>

The _______ Coast is the land along the western border of the United States. This is where the land meets the Pacific Ocean. California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska are the states that share this coastline.

Sea arches and sea stacks are unusual landforms that visitors can spot along the coast. A sea arch is formed by waves wearing away large rocks along a coast. Over time, the waves erode the middle of a rock to form an arch. As erosion continues, part of the arch may break. The pile of rocks that is left behind is called a ___ _____.

<Volcanoes>

A _______ is an opening in the surface of Earth through which gas, ash, and lava are forced out. As hot lava flows from the volcano, it begins to cool and harden. More lava flows on top and begins to accumulate, creating land.

______ formed from undersea eruptions millions of years ago. Eventually, the islands rose above the Pacific Ocean.

<Geysers and Hot Springs>

In Wyoming’s Yellowstone National Park, more than 10,000 hot springs and hundreds of geysers attract tourists from around the globe. A ______ is a hot, underground spring that shoots steam and boiling water high into the air. The park’s most famous geyser is Old Faithful, which erupts about every 60 to 110 minutes.

<Geysers and Hot Springs>

The geysers and hot springs of Yellowstone occur because groundwater there is heated by magma, or melted rock that is underneath Earth’s surface. Pools of heated water that form are known as ___ _______. Only when these pools of hot water erupt, such as Old Faithful does, are they called _______.

<Earthquakes>

A fault is a break in Earth’s crust that is created by the movement of giant blocks of Earth. These massive blocks sometimes overlap or slip past each other. When the blocks finally break free of each other, the energy that is released is an __________. There are a great number of faults in the West, especially along the coastline

<Earthquakes>

In March 1964, an earthquake hit Prince William Sound in Alaska and created a number of tsunamis.

A _______ is a wall of water that can be 100 feet higher than an average wave.

These enormous waves are dangerous when they crash along the shore.