Online Textbook 1.go to 2.Type in user name 9lastudent 3.Enter password student then click.

Online Textbook

1. go to www.experiencestatehistory.com

2. Type in user name 9lastudent

3. Enter password student then click login

4. Go to programs then find Louisiana Journey click on it and choose student edition

Natural Land

Regions

Coastal MarshesCreated when sediment

collected at the mouths of rivers as they entered the Gulf

Low wet grassland; usually no trees

Exception: Cheniers: ridges of high ground in the marsh that run parallel to the coastline; live oak trees grow here

Saltwater, freshwater, or brackish

Floodplains

Low, flat valleys through which rivers flow

Include: Swamps, sloughs, bayous, and lakes

Vegetation: Deciduous trees (Cypress, Oak, Hickory, Pecan, Magnolia, Tupelo Gum, and Cottonwood)

sugarcane

UplandsAreas with the highest elevation

Formed when magma pressure and tectonic forces pushed the land upward

Erosion then washed away soft material, leaving the hills

Vegetation: Some deciduous trees; Dominated by coniferous trees

Coniferous: evergreen, cone-bearing trees or shrubs

Contain ancient terraces (often called hills)created by rivers

Sketch Louisiana landforms

Examples of Uplands

Largest upland area – Piney Hills

Piney Hills is the V-shaped region in the northern part of the state that includes Driskill Mountain (rises 535 feet above sea level)

Uplands: Kisatchie National Forest, Dolet Hills, Florida Parishes

Uplands

Did you know Louisiana once had Prairies?

Prairies: wide flat areas where short grasses flourish, but few trees appear

Common in southwest Louisiana

Large herds of Buffalo used to roam

Agriculture and urban development destroyed most of the natural prairies and animal life that once existed

Awesome Power of Rivers

Rivers’ sediment creates the land, and their movement shapes it

Louisiana Landforms: Floodplains, Meandering Streams, Point Bars, Natural Levees, Terraces, Deltas, Coastal Marshes, Barrier Islands, Cheniers

1. Floodplains

Floodplain: flat valley floor covered by excess water caused by heavy rains that spills over the riverbanks

Reservoir: holds excess water

2. Meandering Streams

Meandering Streams: winds its way back and forth across the floodplain in loops and curves;

Water always seeks the path of least resistance and goes around obstacles

3. Point BarsPoint Bar: formed from

sediment falling to the bottom of the river after the current slows along the inside of the meander

Oxbow lake: The meander gets larger until it creates nearly a full circle around a narrow neck of land;

the river eventually straightens itself out by cutting across the point bar.

The ends of the old meander close up to form an oxbow lake.

Oxbow lake

4. Natural levees

sediment builds along the riverbank forming strips of elevated land.

5. Terraces Terraces: elevated ridges that

formed from the old riverbeds; 50-100 feet higher than the surrounding floodplain.

Ex. Terrace: Macon Ridge: 100 miles long and 20 miles wide; Highland Road in Baton Rouge

Loess: loamy wind-blown deposits rest on terraces; behaves like clay when wet; when the thick layer of loess eroded it left the region scarred with deep gullies and high bluffs; ex. Vicksburg, Mississippi

6. Deltas

Deltas: a landform shaped like a fan or a bird’s foot where a river flows into the ocean; most famous delta is the Miss. River Delta

Bar: underwater barrier of mud that interferes with the river’s current; process continues forming bird’s-foot shape.

7. Coastal Marshes

Coastal Marshes: wet grasslands formed by river sediment deposited along the coast during floods

Brackish: fresh and saltwater mixed together

Louisiana has the largest marshland area in the U.S.

8. Barrier Islands

Barrier Islands: created after a river abandons its delta;

without fresh sediment to maintain it, the delta erodes away;

sturdy bar that formed at the river’s mouth remains.

Waves and tides deposit sand leaving a crescent shape island.

Barrier Islands Importance:

1) absorb storms;

2) protect the mainland from erosion;

3) block saltwater from entering the marsh during storms;

4) home to thousands of birds, turtles, fish, and shellfish

Before and After Katrina

9. Cheniers

Cheniers: ridges of high ground in the coastal marsh that run paralles to the coastline; composed of shell and sand; remnants of Gulf of Mexico beaches; 4 to 5 feet high and several yards wide

Example: Pecan Island and Holly Beach

Chenier is French for “place of oaks”; live oaks thrive on them

Significance of a chenier: people live on them because they do not flood; protect coastal marshes from hurricanes

Other Land Forms

Rocks:

All native rock in Louisiana is sedimentary rock; sediment compressed into rock

Louisiana rock formed between 2 and 66 million years ago

Hills

After Gulf Coastal Plain formed, geologic forces caused the land to push upward forming mountains which eroded away the forming hills

Salt Domes

Reminders of the ancient sea that once covered Louisiana

  Parts of the sea dried up leaving a layer of salt and other minerals exposed

  Salt was covered by sediment and now lies about 10 miles below the ground

The weight exerted so much downward pressure that in some places the salt squeezed upward like toothpaste in tall vertical columns called salt domes

Louisiana has hundreds of salt domes

They appear as wooded hills about 2 miles in diameter

  Example: Five Islands: Jefferson Island, Avery Island, Weeks Island, Cote Blanche, and Belle Isle

    North Louisiana, salt domes do not protrude above the earth’s surface; salt appears as a white sandy crust

   Salt mining is an important industry

  Mine shafts are dug into salt domes and the hard rock-like salt is mined and brought to the surface for crushing

  2nd largest salt mine in world is Belle Isle

  Salt Domes were once used as storage for oil

Salt Dome Locations

Salt Dome

Salt Dome

Aquifers

Aquifer: underground water reservoirAs sediment deposits slowly build up

the land, freshwater sometimes becomes trapped between two layers of sediment.

Water Table: depth in the ground at which water is located

We are now drawing out more water that is being replaced by nature.

North Louisiana is facing a problem of the falling water table of the Sparta Aquifer

Sparta Aquifer

Avery Island Salt Dome