North America

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top Questions
Geologic history
- General considerations
- Tectonic framework
  - Structural plan
  - The Canadian Shield
  - Interior platform and basins
  - Paleozoic orogenic belts
  - Passive continental margins
  - Mesozoic and Cenozoic orogenic belts
  - Cenozoic volcanic fields
- Tectonic evolution
  - Precambrian time
    - 4.6 to 3.0 billion years ago
    - 3.0 to 2.6 billion years ago
    - 2.6 to 2.0 billion years ago
    - 2.0 to 1.8 billion years ago
    - 1.8 to 1.6 billion years ago
    - 1.6 to 1.3 billion years ago
    - 1.3 billion to 950 million years ago
    - 950 to 600 million years ago
  - Paleozoic and early Mesozoic time
    - 600 to 250 million years ago
    - 250 to 120 million years ago
  - Late Mesozoic and Cenozoic time
    - 120 to 30 million years ago
    - 30 to 2.5 million years ago
    - The past 2.5 million years
Land
- Relief
  - The central shield
  - The marginal mountains
    - The Appalachians
    - The Cordilleras
  - The lowlands
- Drainage
  - Lakes
  - Rivers
- Soils
  - Forest soils
    - Spodosols
    - Andisols
    - Alfisols
    - Ultisols
    - Oxisols
  - Grassland, desert, and tundra soils
    - Mollisols
    - Vertisols
    - Aridisols
    - Gelisols
  - Other soils
    - Entisols
    - Inceptisols
    - Histosols
- Climate
  - Temperature
  - Precipitation
  - Air masses
  - Storm tracks
  - Climatic regions
    - The Arctic zone
    - The cool temperate zone
    - The warm temperate zone
    - The tropical humid climate
    - Dry climates
- Plant and animal life
  - Forest communities
    - The Pacific coniferous forest
    - The boreal forest
    - The Cordilleran forest
    - The Laurentian mixed forest
    - The Eastern Upland forest
    - The Eastern mesophytic forest
    - Mangrove thickets
    - The Western sclerophyllous scrub forest
    - The tropical rainforest
  - Grassland, desert, and tundra communities
    - Tropical savannas
    - Temperate grasslands
    - Deserts
    - Tundra
  - The human imprint on the landscape
The people
- The North American Indian heritage
- The European heritage
  - The European attitudes toward the environment
  - The dispossession of the Indians
  - The policies of the colonizers
    - Spanish policy
    - French policy
    - British policy
    - U.S. policy
- The African heritage
- Demographic patterns
  - Favourable and unfavourable regions
  - Geographic distributions
    - The role of Canada
    - The role of the United States
    - The role of Mexico, the West Indies, and Central America
The economy
- Resources
  - Metallic minerals
    - The shield
    - The marginal mountains
    - Other metallic minerals
  - Nonmetallic minerals
    - Coal deposits
    - Oil and natural gas deposits
    - Other nonmetallic minerals
  - Water resources
  - Biological resources
- Mining, forestry, and fishing
- Agriculture
  - Tropical regions
  - Subtropical and warm temperate regions
  - Cool temperate, humid regions
  - Dry regions
  - Livestock raising
- Water development
- Energy development
  - Fossil fuels
  - Hydroelectricity
  - Nuclear and other sources
- Industry
  - Coastal sites
  - Inland sites
- Trade
  - The Canadian segment
  - The United States segment
  - The Mexican and the Central American segments
- Transportation
  - Waterways
  - Railways
  - Roads
  - Air transport

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Last Updated: May 28, 2025

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