Landforms of the North Atlantic Coast - Fine Art Print Map
The intricate coastline of the North Atlantic region reflects recent glacial landforms and relatively minor sea level changes across a
wide and flat continental shelf whose outline is much smoother. The
Saint Lawrence River Valley, in contrast, is a fundamental boundary in
the tectonic history of North America. The Laurentian Shield north and
west of the river is the ancient North American core. The Appalachian
uplands to the south and east arrived much later in successive waves.
The Hudson and Connecticut River Valleys are remnants of these
developments.
The sequence of Montreal Hills poking up out of the Saint Lawrence
Valley (in the center of this map) is a fascinating footnote in the
geologic history of the area. These local curiosities turn out to be one end of a
long sequence, somewhat obscured by New England's mountain topography, and most
of them under the ocean. The line extends past the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
toward West Africa. The North American Plate moved across a fixed plume of molten rock coming up from the mantle. Yellowstone and Hawaii
are related examples of the process.
Included on the map: All of New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and
Maine. Also, all of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island,
and quite a bit of New Jersey and Quebec, as well as a small portion
of Ontario, Newfoundland, and Labrador.
Dimensions: All dimensions are approzimate
