5. Appalachian Highlands and Coastal Plains

Appalachian highlands are great highland system of North America. They are the eastern counterpart of the Rocky Mountains. Like Western highlands (The Rockies), Appalachian highlands are not continuous chain highlands.

 

They extend for almost \(2,000\) miles (\(3,200\) km) from the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador to central Alabama in the United States. It forms a natural boundary between the eastern Coastal plain and the vast Interior Lowlands of North America.

 

Roan Highlands Southern Appalachian Mountain
 

These highlands are low and wide, with very few peaks over 1800m. They include High plateaus (Greenland), Labrador or Laurentian Plateau (Canada) and the Appalachian Mountains (the United States).

 

The Appalachians are some of the world's oldest mountains. They are worn down by weathering and are much lower than the Western highlands. These areas have been mined for its rich deposits of coal and other minerals, which play a vital role in the economy of North America.

The Coastal Plains of North America are youngest in age. Most of the Atlantic Plain are submerged. The soil is sandy in texture and infertile and hence not suitable for cultivation.

 

The Coastal plain is marked by lines of sandhills, which are the remnants of stranded beaches that eroded as the plains. They were lifted slowly out of the seas in postglacial times. This is a low and relatively plain area. Swamps and marshes are widely found, and the coast is indented by river mouths and bays, which serves as important seaports.

The Coastal plain begins in Mexico on the Yucatan Peninsula, and ends at Cape Cod, Massachusetts.