Vocabulary[geographic]

Front

A mountain or hill, typically conical, having a crater or vent through which lava, rock fragments, hot vapor, and gas are being or have been erupted from the earth's crust.

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volcano

Front

A sudden and violent shaking of the ground, sometimes causing great destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's crust or volcanic action.

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earthquake

Front

The largest mountain range in North America. They form the Continental Divide and were a major barrier for people crossing the country to settle in the Far West. The range covers more than 3 000 miles, from the Yukon Territory in Canada through the US Rocky Mountain States to the Mexican border.

Back

Rocky Mountains

Front

Fairly continuous ridge of north-south–trending mountain summits in western North America which divides the continent’s principal drainage into that flowing eastward (either to Hudson Bay in Canada or, chiefly, to the Mississippi and Rio Grande rivers in the United States) and that flowing westward (into the Pacific Ocean).

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Continental Divide