Great Basin section

This article is about the United States physiographic section. For the much larger hydrological subregion for which this area is named, see Great Basin. For the similar-sized WWF ecoregion, see Great Basin shrub steppe.
Great Basin section
physiographic region
The Great Basin physiographic section (22a) is bordered by the Pacific Mountain (23) and Rocky Mountain (18) divisions; the Columbia Plateau (20) and Colorado Plateau (21) provinces; and the Sonoran Desert (22b) and Mexican Highland (22d) sections.
Location western United States
Area 170,000 sq mi (440,298 km2)
Biome Central Basin and Range ecoregion

The Great Basin section is a physiographic area which extends into the Colorado River watershed on the southeast (including the Las Vegas Valley and northwest corner of Arizona), as well as into the watersheds of the Klamath River (northwest) and Sacramento River (west).[1] The largest section of the Basin and Range Province was originally defined as two sections in 1917 (the northwest was the Oregon lakes section).[2][3]

The Great Basin section's northern border in Nevada is a portion of the Great Basin Divide, the southern border extends into the Mojave Desert, and the western border is primarily the Sierra escarpment. Small portions of the section extend into the Northern Basin and Range (ecoregion) and the Sonoran Desert Level III EPA ecoregions.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ "Physiographic Regions". United States Geological Survey. 2003-04-17. Retrieved 2008-01-30.
  2. ↑ Fenneman, Nevin M. (January 1917). "Physiographic Subdivision of the United States". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 3 (1): 17–22. doi:10.1073/pnas.3.1.17. OCLC 43473694. PMC 1091163. PMID 16586678. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "Automated IFSAR Terrain Analysis System". Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DOD), Information Sciences Office. 31 August 2001. Retrieved 5 October 2010.
  4. ↑ Fenneman, Nevin Melancthon (1931). Physiography of western United States. McGraw-Hill. OCLC 487636.
  5. ↑ Fenneman, Nevin Melancthon (1938). Physiography of eastern United States. McGraw-Hill. OCLC 487628.