Physiographic Regions of the United States

Physiographic Regions of the lower 48 United States Courtesy of the USGS.

There are eight distinct physiographic divisions within the contential U.S., though each is composed of yet smaller physiographic subdivisions. These major divisions are the:

Laurentian Highlands (areas labelled 1)
Atlantic Plain (labelled 2 and 3)
Appalachian Highlands (labelled 4-10)
Interior Plains (labelled 11-13)
Interior Highlands (labelled 14 and 15)
Rocky Mountain System (labelled 16-19)
Intermontane Plateaus (labelled 20-22)
Pacific Mountain System (labelled 23-25)

The map below shows these divisions together with their subdivisions.

US Physiographic Regions - USGS

Table of contents

1 LAURENTIAN UPLAND
2 ATLANTIC PLAIN
3 APPALACHIAN HIGHLANDS
4 INTERIOR PLAINS
5 INTERIOR HIGHLANDS
6 ROCKY MOUNTAIN SYSTEM
7 INTERMONTANE PLATEAUS
8 PACIFIC MOUNTAIN SYSTEM
9 External Links

LAURENTIAN UPLAND
1. Superior Upland

ATLANTIC PLAIN
2. Continental Shelf (not on map)
3. Coastal Plain
3a. Embayed section
3b. Sea Island section
3c. Floridian section
3d. East Gulf Coastal Plain
3e. Mississippi Alluvial Plain
3f. West Gulf Coastal Plain

APPALACHIAN HIGHLANDS
4. Piedmont province
4a. Piedmont Upland
4b. Piedmont Lowlands

5. Blue Ridge province
5a. Northern section
5b. Southern section

6. Valley and Ridge province
6a. Tennessee section
6b. Middle section
6c. Hudson Valley

7. St. Lawrence Valley
7a. Champlain section
7b. Northern section (not on map)

8. Appalachian Plateaus province
8a. Mohawk section
8b. Catskill section
8c. Southern New York section
8d. Allegheny Mountain section
8e. Kanawha section
8f. Cumberland Plateau section
8g. Cumberland Mountain section

9. New England Province
9a. Seaboard Lowland section
9b. New England Upland section
9c. White Mountain section
9d. Green Mountain section
9e. Taconic section

10. Adirondack province

INTERIOR PLAINS
11. Interior Low Plateaus
11a. Highland Rim section
11b. Lexington Plain
11c. Nashville Basin

12. Central Lowland
12a. Eastern Lake section
12b. Western Lake section
12c. Wisconsin Driftless section
12d. Till Plains
12e. Dissected Till Plains
12f. Osage Plains

13. Great Plains province
13a. Missouri Plateau, glaciated
13b. Missouri Plateau, unglaciated
13c. Black Hills
13d. High Plains
13e. Plains Border
13f. Colorado Piedmont
13g. Raton section
13h. Pecos Valley
13i. Edwards Plateau
13j. Central Texas section

INTERIOR HIGHLANDS
14. Ozark Plateaus
14a. Springfield-Salem plateaus
14b. Boston "Mountains"

15. Ouachita province
15a. Arkansas Valley
15b. Ouachita Mountains

ROCKY MOUNTAIN SYSTEM
16. Southern Rocky Mountains
17. Wyoming Basin
18. Middle Rocky Mountains
19. Northern Rocky Mountains

INTERMONTANE PLATEAUS
20. Columbia Plateau
20a. Walla Walla Plateau
20b. Blue Mountain section
20c. Payette section
20d. Snake River Plain
20e. Harney section

21. Colorado Plateaus
21a. High Plateaus of Utah
21b. Uinta Basin
21c. Canyon Lands
21d. Navajo section
21e. Grand Canyon section
21f. Datil section

22. Basin and Range province
22a. Great Basin
22b. Sonoran Desert
22c. Salton Trough
22d. Mexican Highland
22e. Sacramento section

PACIFIC MOUNTAIN SYSTEM
23. Cascade-Sierra Mountains
23a. Northern Cascade Mountains
23b. Middle Cascade Mountains
23c. Southern Cascade Mountains
23d. Sierra Nevada

24. Pacific Border province
24a. Puget Trough
24b. Olympic Mountains
24c. Oregon Coast Range
24d. Klamath Mountains
24e. California Trough
24f. California Coast Ranges
24g. Los Angeles Ranges

25. Lower California province

Courtesy of USGS

External Links

http://tapestry.usgs.gov