科羅拉多高原
科羅拉多高原(英文:Colorado Plateau或Colorado Plateau Province)是位於美國西南部的高原之一,橫跨猶他州、科羅拉多州、新墨西哥州和亞利桑那州,面積是337000平方公里,平均高度在600至3,870公尺,也是美國唯一的沙漠高原。其90%的區域都是由科羅拉多河及其支流灌溉的。
概況
科羅拉多高原也位於洛磯山脈的南邊與瓦薩奇山脈之間與科羅拉多河中上游,科羅拉多高原主要由古生代、中生代、新生代的岩層和熔岩構成,有零星分佈熔岩丘陵和火山。受科羅拉多河及其支流的沖蝕,分佈多條深邃峽谷,以科羅拉多大峽谷最著名。科羅拉多高原上,氣候乾旱,年降水量250到500毫米之間。植被部份以乾草原和半荒漠佔優勢,較高處有針葉林。且交通不便,經濟開發程度較為落後,經濟產業以旅遊業、牧業為主,兼有採礦業與林業。分佈着大面積的印地安人保留地。建有多處國家公園、國家紀念地和國有林區。
地形
參考資料
- ^ Hawley, John W. New Mexico’s Environment, Physiographic Provinces (PDF). [2007-12-25]. (原始內容 (PDF)存檔於2008-02-29).
- Kiver, Eugene P. and David V. Harris, 1999, Geology of U.S. Parklands, Wiley, 5th ed., ISBN 0-471-33218-6
延伸閱讀
- Donald L. Baars, Red Rock Country: The Geologic History of the Colorado Plateau, Doubleday (1972), hardcover, ISBN 0-385-01341-8
- Donald L. Baars, Traveler's Guide to the Geology of the Colorado Plateau, University of Utah Press (2002), trade paperback, 250 pages, ISBN 0-87480-715-8
- W. Scott Baldridge, Geology of the American Southwest: A Journey Through Two Billion Years of Plate-Tectonic History, Cambridge University Press (2004), 280 pages, ISBN 0-521-01666-5
- Crampton, C. Gregory, Standing Up Country: The Canyon Lands of Utah and Arizona, Rio Nuevo Publishers (September 2000), ISBN 1-887896-15-5
- Geology of National Parks: Fifth Edition, Ann G. Harris, Esther Tuttle, Sherwood D., Tuttle (Iowa, Kendall/Hunt Publishing; 1997), pages 2–3, 19-20, 25 ISBN 0-7872-5353-7
- Physical Geology: Eight Edition, Plummer, McGeary, Carlson, (McGraw-Hill: Boston; 1999), page 320 ISBN 0-697-37404-1
- Earth System History, Steven M. Stanley, (W.H. Freeman and Company; 1999), pages 511-513, 537 ISBN 0-7167-2882-6
- USGS - Geologic Provinces of the United States: Colorado Plateau Province (some adapted public domain text)
- Annabelle Foos, Geology of the Colorado Plateau, National Park Service PDF Accessed 12/21/2005.
- Ward Roylance, Utah: A Guide to the State, Utah: A Guide to the State Foundation; Salt Lake City; 1982; 779 pp
- Look, Al, 1947, A Thousand Million Years on the Colorado Plateau, Golden Bell Publications, Fifth printing 1971, 300 pages.
- The Bright Edge, Subtitle: Guide to the National Parks of the Colorado Plateau.