Geography of Georgia (U.S. state)
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| Map of Georgia elevations | |
| Area | |
| Total | 154,077 km² 59,411 sq mi (153,870 km²) |
| Land | 9,158,960 km² 3,536,294 sq mi (9,158,960 km²) |
| Water | 854 sq mi[1] |
| Latitude | 30° 21′ N to 35° N |
| Longitude | 80° 50′ W to 85° 36′ W |
| Borders | |
| Florida | |
| South Carolina | |
| Alabama | |
| Tennessee | |
| North Carolina | |
| Coastlines | 100 miles [2] |
The geography of Georgia describes a state in the Southeastern United States in North America. The Golden Isles of Georgia lie off the coast of the state. The main geographical features include mountains such as the Ridge-and-valley Appalachians in the northwest, the Blue Ridge Mountains in the northeast, the Piedmont plateau in the central portion of the state and Coastal Plain in the south. The highest area in Georgia is Brasstown Bald which is 1,458m (4,784 ft) above sea level, while the lowest is at sea level, at the Atlantic Ocean. Georgia is located at approximately 33° N 83.5° W. The state has a total area of 154,077 km² (57,906 sq mi) and the geographic center is located in Twiggs County .[3]
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[edit] Physical geography
[edit] Geological development
The oldest known rock found in Georgia comes from the Precambrian Proterozoic era and is about 1 to 1.3 billion years old and is found in the Piedmont Plateau and Blue Ridge mountain regions. Approximately 1 billion years ago a metamorphic change occurred during the an event called the Grenville Orogeny and caused the rocks, which were originally sediment, to compress into a form of rock called gneiss due to heat and pressure. Around 630 million years ago the Grenville mountains began to erode carrying sediments from streams to the sea. The gneiss formed from these sediments created the marble, metaconglomerate, phyllite, quartzite, schist, and slate found in the Blue Ridge and Piedmont areas.
Three separate orogeny events impacted the eastern portion of North America during the Paleozoic. From these orogeny came folding, faulting, and igneous intrusions in the Piedmont, the Blue Ridge, the Valley and Ridge and the Appalachian Plateau.[4]
[edit] Rocks and soils
[edit] Ridge and Valley
Georgia's Ridge and Valley consists of limestone, sandstone, chert, mudstone and shale as well as many other types of rocks. Much of the land in the area is heavily forested as forests cover almost half of the region.[5]
[edit] Blue Ridge
The Blue Ridge region of Georgia includes igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary geology; the main types of rocks in the area are gneiss, slate and saprolite. The soils of the Broad Basin are mostly loamy or clayey Ultiso.[5]
[edit] Piedmont
The rocks of the Piedmont are made up of Precambrian and Paleozoic metamorphic and igneous rocks and the soils are of a finer texture than those found on the coastal plain. Some specific types of rock in the Piedmont are schist, gneiss, and phyllite among others.[5]
[edit] Coastal Plain
Georgia's coastal plain is made up of sedimentary rock dating from the Late Cretaceous to Holocene periods.[6] The primary natural mineral resource in the area is kaolin.[7]
[edit] Georgia Mountains Region
The Georgia Mountains Region are part of the Blue Ridge Mountains and begin in the northeast corner of Georgia. Brasstown Bald, the highest mountain in Georgia at 4,784 feet (1,458 m) above mean sea level[8], is part of the chain and sits in an area known as Wolfpen Ridge.[9] Other mountains in Georgia include Arabia Mountain, Big Bald Mountain, Black Mountain, and Blood Mountain among many others.
[edit] Rivers and lakes
Several major rivers run through the state of Georgia. Some of them are the Altamaha River, the Savannah River, and the Suwannee River. The Chattahoochee River is Georgia's longest, at 436 miles (702 km). [10]
Lake Lanier is the largest lake in Georgia followed by Lake Oconee as the second largest. Other lakes in the state include Lake Acworth, Lake Allatoona, Lake Blackshear, and Walter F. George Lake.
[edit] Islands
Georgia has thirteen barrier islands off of its coast. Four of these islands are known as The Golden Isles. The largest of these islands is Cumberland Island in Camden County.[11] The island is inhabited and is only accessible by boat. Some of the next largest islands are St. Simon's Island in Glynn County as the second largest[12]; Ossabaw Island, twenty miles (32 km) south of Savannah, is the third largest of the islands and Sapelo Island, sixty miles south of Savannah, is the fourth.[13][14] The smallest of the islands is Jekyll Island in Glynn County.[15]
[edit] Climate
The majority of Georgia is primarily a humid subtropical climate tempered somewhat by occasional polar air masses in the winter. Hot and humid summers are typical, except at the highest elevations. The entire state, including the north Georgia mountains, receives moderate to heavy precipitation, which varies from 45 inches (1143 mm) in central Georgia[16] to approximately 75 inches (1905 mm) around the Northeast part of the state[17]. The degree to which the weather of a certain area of Georgia is subtropical depends not just on the latitude, but also on how close it is to the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico and the altitude. This is especially true in the mountainous areas in the northern part of the state, which are further away from ocean waters and can be up to 4500 feet (1350 m) or higher above sea level.
In spite of having moderate weather compared to many other states, Georgia has occasional extreme weather. The highest temperature ever recorded is 112 °F (44.4 °C)[18], while the lowest ever recorded is -17 °F (-27.2 °C).[19] Georgia is one of the leading states in incidents of tornadoes. The areas closest to the Florida border get the same small F0 and F1 tornadoes associated with summer afternoon thunderstorms. However, it is very uncommon for tornadoes to become severe (over F3). As it is on the Atlantic coast, Georgia is also vulnerable to hurricanes, although the Georgia coastline only rarely experiences a direct hurricane strike. More common are hurricanes which strike the Florida panhandle, weaken over land, and bring strong tropical storm winds and heavy rain to the Georgia interior, as well as hurricanes that come close to the Georgia coastline, brushing the coast on their recurvature on the way up to hit the Carolinas.
In 2006 and 2007, however, Georgia has had severe droughts, especially in 2007. Temperatures over 100 degrees have been recorded.
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[edit] Political and human geography
Georgia is made up of more than 500 cities[20] in 159 counties within 13 congressional districts. The map to the right shows the county boundaries for all 159 counties in Georgia.
[edit] Natural resources
[edit] Agriculture and water
Georgia has almost eight million acres (32,000 km²) of prime farmland while over 60% of the land is made up of pine forests.[21] Due to the great number of forested areas in the state Georgia produces more lumber and pulpwood than any other state east of the Mississippi river; from these forests come 74.4 percent of the U.S's resins and turpentines and over half of the world's supply.[21] Both the agricultural areas and the waters of Georgia have created a thriving environment for hunting, fishing and game.[21]
Georgia has 70,150 miles (112,900 km) of streams and rivers, 425,000 acres (1,720 km²) of lakes, and approximately 4,500,000 acres (18,200 km²) of freshwater wetlands.[21]
[edit] Geological resources
The state of Georgia has much in the way of geological resources. Among these resources are marble, many types of minerals, manganese, iron ore, copper, coal, oil, clays, stone, kaolin, sand and gravel.[21]
[edit] References
- ^ wetstates.html, Accessed October 4, 2007
- ^ Georgia.org, Accessed October 7, 2007
- ^ USGS.gov, Accessed May 25, 2007
- ^ New Georgia Encyclopedia: Geologic History of Georgia: Overview Accessed, May 22, 2007
- ^ a b c Georgia Ecoregion Descriptions, Accessed November 23, 2007
- ^ A Tapestry of Time and Terrain: The Coastal Plain, Accessed November 25, 2007
- ^ Kaolin, Accessed November 25, 2007
- ^ Georgia's Named Summits Accessed October 3, 2007
- ^ Georgia Summits Above 4,000 Feet Accessed October 3, 2007
- ^ Carl Vinson Institute of Government Chattahoochee River, Accessed September 27, 2007
- ^ Cumberland Island, Accessed November 25, 2007
- ^ St. Simon's Island, Accessed November 25, 2007
- ^ Ossabaw Island Accessed, November 25, 2007
- ^ Sapelo Island, Accessed November 25, 2007
- ^ Jekyll Island, Accessed November 25, 2007
- ^ Monthly Averages for Macon, GA The Weather Channel.
- ^ Monthly Averages for Clayton, GA The Weather Channel.
- ^ Each state's high temperature record USA Today, last updated August 2006.
- ^ Each state's low temperature record USA Today, last updated August 2006
- ^ Government and Laws of Georgia: Overview Accessed November 25, 2007
- ^ a b c d e Georgia's Natural Resources, Accessed November 26, 2007
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