Download north central plains basin and range great

The Regions of Texas (Mix and Match)
NORTH CENTRAL
PLAINS
BASIN AND
RANGE
GREAT
PLAINS
GULF COASTAL
PLAINS
Original Graphics
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Regions of Texas
Page 1
The Regions of Texas (Quick Reference)
The Great Plains region
includes the Llano Estacado, the
Panhandle, Edwards Plateau,
Toyah Basin, and the Llano Uplift.
It is bordered on the east by the
Caprock Escarpment in the
panhandle and by the Balcones
Fault to the southeast.
The North Central Plains is
bound by the Caprock Escarpment
to the west, the Edwards Plateau
to the south, and the Eastern
Cross Timbers to the east. This
area includes the cities of
Abilene, Wichita Falls, Fort Worth,
Grand Prairie, and Dallas.
Cities in this region include Austin, San
Angelo, Midland, Odessa, Lubbock, and Amarillo.
The Hill Country is a popular name for the area of
hills along the Balcones Escarpment and is
a transitional area between the Great Plains and
the Coastal Plains.
With about 35 to 50 inches annual rainfall,
gently rolling to hilly forested land is part of a
larger pine-hardwood forest of oaks, hickories,
elm, and gum trees. Soils vary from coarse sands
to tight clays or red-bed clays and shales.
With about 15 to 31 inches annual rainfall,
the southern end of the Great Plains are gently
rolling plains of shrub and grassland.
The Coastal Plains includes the barrier
islands off the coast of Texas. This region
stretches from Paris to San Antonio to Del Rio.
This region has about 20 to 58 inches annual
rainfall making a wide variety of vegetation
plentiful. The area is a nearly level, drained plain
dissected by streams and rivers flowing into
estuaries and marshes. Sand, dunes, grasslands
and salt marshes make up the areas nearest to the
sea. The Mountains and Basins region is in
extreme western Texas, west of the Pecos
River beginning with the Davis Mountains on the
east and the Rio Grande to its west and south.
The region is the only part of Texas
regarded as mountainous and includes seven
named peaks in elevation greater than 8,000 feet.
With less than 12 inches annual rainfall, this
region includes sand hills, desert valleys, wooded
mountain slopes and desert grasslands.
The vegetation diversity includes at least
268 grass species and 447 species of woody plants.
Adapted from wikipedia.com/geography of texas
®SAISD Social Studies Department
Reproduction rights granted only if copyright information remains intact.
Regions of Texas
Page 2
The Regions of Texas (Mix and Match)
Panhandle
Plains
The northernmost area of Texas is called the Panhandle. This
region has mostly flat, grassy land or plains. Sometimes this
land is also called the Llano Estacado or “Staked Plains.” The
land is mostly treeless and is on a high, flat plateau.
South
Texas
Plains
This region has plains and brush country that stretches from
the edges of the Hill Country into the subtropical regions of
the Lower Rio Grande valley. Much of the area is dry and
covered with grasses and thorny brush such as mesquite and
prickly pear cacti.
Gulf Coast
This region stretches along the Gulf of Mexico for hundreds of
miles. Near the gulf waters you can see marshes, barrier
islands, estuaries (where salty sea water and fresh river water
meet), and bays. As you travel west, you can see prairies and
grasslands.
Piney
Woods
This East Texas region is primarily a thick forest of pines. The
terrain is rolling with lower, wetter bottomlands that grow
hardwood trees such as elm, mesquite and ash. This region is
home to a variety of plants and animals that like woodlands
and shorelines.
Prairies
and Lakes
This region is in north central and central Texas. The land is
gently rolling to hilly. This region is sometimes called “cross
timbers” because these patches of treed areas cross strips of
prairie grassland.
Big Bend
Country
West Texas has wide-open spaces with rugged plateaus and
desert mountains. The plateaus have short grasses and brush.
The desert area is part of the great Chihuahuan Desert of
Mexico. The only mountains in Texas are found here.
Hill
Country
This region is located in Central Texas. The land is rolling to
hilly grassland. It sits on the Edwards Plateau. A plateau is
high, flat land. There are many springs and some steep canyons
in this area. There are also hidden, underground lakes in the
Edwards Aquifer.
Original Graphics - Information adapted from: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/kids/about_texas/regions/
®SAISD Social Studies Department
Reproduction rights granted only if copyright information remains intact.
Regions of Texas
Page 3