科罗拉多高原
科罗拉多高原（英文：Colorado Plateau或Colorado Plateau Province）是位于美国西南部的高原之一，横跨犹他州、科罗拉多州、新墨西哥州和亚利桑那州，面积是337000平方公里，平均高度在600至3,870公尺，也是美国唯一的沙漠高原。其90%的区域都是由科罗拉多河及其支流灌溉的。
概况
[编辑]
科罗拉多高原也位于洛矶山脉的南边与瓦萨奇山脉之间与科罗拉多河中上游，科罗拉多高原主要由古生代、中生代、新生代的岩层和熔岩构成，有零星分布熔岩丘陵和火山。受科罗拉多河及其支流的冲蚀，分布多条深邃峡谷，以科罗拉多大峡谷最著名。科罗拉多高原上，气候干旱，年降水量250到500毫米之间。植被部份以干草原和半荒漠占优势，较高处有针叶林。且交通不便，经济开发程度较为落后，经济产业以旅游业、牧业为主，兼有采矿业与林业。分布著大面积的印第安人保留地。建有多处国家公园、国家纪念地和国有林区。
地形
[编辑]以落基山脉及其分支、科罗拉多大峡谷、莫戈隆边缘为界。大致分为七个区域：
参考资料
[编辑]- ^ Hawley, John W. New Mexico’s Environment, Physiographic Provinces (PDF). [2007-12-25]. （原始内容 (PDF)存档于2008-02-29）.
- Kiver, Eugene P. and David V. Harris, 1999, Geology of U.S. Parklands, Wiley, 5th ed., ISBN 0-471-33218-6
延伸阅读
[编辑]- 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.
