3221: Landscape Features - Revision history

2607:F598:B76B:840:E8AE:FCE5:6E3F:3E18: /* Table of regions */

2026-04-21T18:19:52Z

‎Table of regions

38.172.117.70 at 02:53, 16 April 2026

2026-04-16T02:53:20Z

Mirror Spock: consistency

2026-03-22T04:35:03Z

consistency

Mirror Spock: `&` ~~> `and`

2026-03-22T04:32:15Z

`&` ~~> `and`

Mirror Spock: Added missing states

2026-03-21T23:42:11Z

Added missing states

Mirror Spock: Added TN

2026-03-21T04:39:46Z

Added TN

2405:DA40:136E:E00:2D17:8035:88A8:5662: /* Explanation */ moved 3141 reference to the title text part

2026-03-21T00:59:15Z

‎Explanation: moved 3141 reference to the title text part

2603:800C:1200:596A:285F:707C:70:BA29: /* Explanation */ extraneous; no need for parens

2026-03-20T18:35:55Z

‎Explanation: extraneous; no need for parens

2603:800C:1200:596A:285F:707C:70:BA29: /* Table of regions */ ce

2026-03-20T18:30:53Z

‎Table of regions: ce

2603:800C:1200:596A:285F:707C:70:BA29: /* Table of regions */ ce

2026-03-20T18:29:18Z

‎Table of regions: ce

@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 ! Explanation
 |-
-| Adirondack Mountains
+| {{w|Adirondack Mountains}}
 | ???
 | The Adirondack Mountains are made of billion-year-old rock but were uplifted relatively recently, within the last 5–10 million years. They are still rising today despite being far from any plate boundary, forming a dome with no clear tectonic cause.
@@ Line 33: / Line 33: @@
 | During the {{w|Last Glacial Period}}, this area was covered by {{w|Laurentide Ice Sheet|an ice sheet}} that left its marks on the landscape, in the form of {{w|moraines}}, {{w|eskers}}, {{w|glacial erratics}}, etc. This is most notable in Wisconsin where bluffs were formed due to the glacier movement.
 |-
-| Appalachian Mountains
+| {{w|Appalachian Mountains}}
 | continents colliding
 | {{w|Geology of the Appalachians|The Appalachian Mountains formed roughly 480 to 300 million years ago}} through a series of continent-continent collisions, culminating in the assembly of the supercontinent Pangaea. The primary collision involved ancestral North America (Laurentia) crashing into Gondwana (Africa/South America), resulting in a Himalayan-scale mountain range.

@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
 | West Coast
 | a plate tectonic speedrun
-| Most likely a reference to the significant tectonic activity on the western coast of the US, caused by the collisions of the {{w|Juan de Fuca plate}}, {{w|Pacific plate}}, and the {{w|North American plate}}, as part of the {{w|Ring of Fire}}.
+| Most likely a reference to the significant tectonic activity on the western coast of the US, caused by the collisions of the {{w|Juan de Fuca plate}}, {{w|Pacific plate}}, and the {{w|North American plate}}, as part of the {{w|Ring of Fire}}. Could also be a reference to [[2061: Tectonics Game]].
 |-
 | Southwest Desert

@@ Line 136: / Line 136: @@
 * Ohio: glaciers, rivers
 * Oklahoma: farming, geology
-* Oregon: a plate tectonics speedrun, volcanoes, mega floods, a supervolcano, geology
+* Oregon: a plate tectonics speedrun, volcanoes, megafloods, a supervolcano, geology
 * Pennsylvania: glaciers, rivers, continents colliding, farming
 * Rhode Island: glaciers
@@ Line 146: / Line 146: @@
 * Vermont: glaciers
 * Virginia: continents colliding, farming
-* Washington: Mega floods, a plate tectonics speedrun
+* Washington: megafloods, a plate tectonics speedrun
 * West Virginia: rivers, continents colliding
 * Wisconsin: glaciers, rivers

@@ Line 101: / Line 101: @@
 * Alabama: continents colliding, farming, rivers
 * Alaska: geology, glaciers, volcanoes
-* Arizona: water & time, volcanoes
+* Arizona: water and time, volcanoes
 * Arkansas: geology, farming, rivers
-* California: a plate tectonics speedrun, volcanoes, water & time
+* California: a plate tectonics speedrun, volcanoes, water and time
 * Colorado: volcanoes, geology, farming
 * Connecticut: glaciers
 * Delaware: farming
 * District of Columbia: either farming or plates colliding
-* Florida: farming, ongoing disputes between limestone & water
+* Florida: farming, ongoing disputes between limestone and water
 * Georgia: continents colliding, farming
 * Hawaii: volcanoes
@@ Line 127: / Line 127: @@
 * Montana: geology, glaciers
 * Nebraska: farming
-* Nevada: volcanoes, geology, water & time
+* Nevada: volcanoes, geology, water and time
 * New Hampshire: glaciers
 * New Jersey: glaciers, farming
-* New Mexico: volcanoes, geology, water & time, farming
+* New Mexico: volcanoes, geology, water and time, farming
 * New York: glaciers, ???, continents colliding
 * North Carolina: continents colliding, farming
@@ Line 142: / Line 142: @@
 * South Dakota: glaciers, farming
 * Tennessee: continents colliding, rivers
-* Texas: farming, geology, water & time
+* Texas: farming, geology, water and time
 * Utah: geology, volcanoes
 * Vermont: glaciers

@@ Line 99: / Line 99: @@
 ===Features of each state, alphabetically===
 * Alaska: geology, glaciers, volcanoes
 * Arizona: water & time, volcanoes
@@ Line 108: / Line 109: @@
 * District of Columbia: either farming or plates colliding
 * Florida: farming, ongoing disputes between limestone & water
 * Hawaii: volcanoes
 * Idaho: a super volcano, geology
@@ Line 115: / Line 117: @@
 * Kansas: farming
 * Kentucky: rivers, continents colliding
 * Maine: glaciers
 * Maryland: plates colliding, farming
@@ Line 120: / Line 123: @@
 * Michigan: glaciers
 * Minnesota: glaciers, farming, rivers
 * Missouri: farming, geology, rivers
 * Montana: geology, glaciers
@@ Line 128: / Line 132: @@
 * New Mexico: volcanoes, geology, water & time, farming
 * New York: glaciers, ???, continents colliding
 * North Dakota: glaciers, farming
 * Ohio: glaciers, rivers
@@ Line 134: / Line 139: @@
 * Pennsylvania: glaciers, rivers, continents colliding, farming
 * Rhode Island: glaciers
 * South Dakota: glaciers, farming
 * Tennessee: continents colliding, rivers

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Many of these causes are summarized in a single word answer, which is overly-simplistic when trying to explain a complex landscape. A few phrases are longer, but still don't actually explain much, and some areas are just labeled "geology", which while lacking in explanatory power, is often solely responsible for some of the most striking landscape features. "Geology" is in fact poor label here, since almost all of the other causes (volcanos, glacial erosion, plate tectonics, etc.) are all elements of geology.  Randall appears to default to "geology" as the cause in areas where the landscape is largely made of metamorphic or igneous rocks (mountainous areas) instead of some alteration of base rock features via volcanos, earthquakes, etc.  However, the actual landscapes in these areas do have specific causes, as shown by the fact that the Appalachians are labeled as "continents colliding" not "geology".  Similar more detailed explanations could have been given for other areas, for instance {{w|Laramide_orogeny|"one continent sliding under another"}} for the Rocky Mountains compared to "continents colliding" for the Appalachians.
-The title text plays off the fact that a large part of geology is concerned with activity in the mantle, so explaining some geologic feature by saying "there's speculation that it's due to a mantle hotspot" does not give much information. The suggestion is that this would let a distracted geologist buy time while responding to a missed question. Many of Earth's seemingly out-of-place features (e.g., {{w|Hawaii hotspot}}, {{w|Iceland}}, the {{w|Snake River Plain}} in Idaho, etc.) form from such mantle hotspots, so it's an easy go-to explanation for many of the geological features people are often most curious about.
+The title text plays off the fact that a large part of geology is concerned with activity in the mantle, so explaining some geologic feature by saying "there's speculation that it's due to a mantle hotspot" does not give much information. The suggestion is that this would let a distracted geologist buy time while responding to a missed question. Many of Earth's seemingly out-of-place features (e.g., {{w|Hawaii hotspot}}, {{w|Iceland}}, the {{w|Snake River Plain}} in Idaho, etc.) form from such mantle hotspots, so it's an easy go-to explanation for many of the geological features people are often most curious about.  This idea was explored recently in [[3141: Mantle Model]].
 This map with subdivisions follows up on a number of prior maps representing supposed geographical splits of some conversational outcome or other, such as [[1407: Worst Hurricane]] and [[2108: Carbonated Beverage Language Map]].
@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 | Adirondack Mountains
 | ???
-| The Adirondack Mountains are made of billion-year-old rock but were uplifted relatively recently, within the last 5–10 million years. They are still rising today despite being far from any plate boundary, forming a dome with no clear tectonic cause. Thus this region is marked with a "???". A possible explanation for this behavior was suggested recently in [[3141: Mantle Model]].
+| The Adirondack Mountains are made of billion-year-old rock but were uplifted relatively recently, within the last 5–10 million years. They are still rising today despite being far from any plate boundary, forming a dome with no clear tectonic cause.
 |-
 | Most of northern conterminous U.S.

@@ Line 16: / Line 16: @@
 The title text plays off the fact that a large part of geology is concerned with activity in the mantle, so explaining some geologic feature by saying "there's speculation that it's due to a mantle hotspot" does not give much information. The suggestion is that this would let a distracted geologist buy time while responding to a missed question. Many of Earth's seemingly out-of-place features (e.g., {{w|Hawaii hotspot}}, {{w|Iceland}}, the {{w|Snake River Plain}} in Idaho, etc.) form from such mantle hotspots, so it's an easy go-to explanation for many of the geological features people are often most curious about.
-This map with subdivisions follows up on a number of prior (non-[[:Category:Bad Map Projections|cursed]]) maps representing (supposed) geographical splits of some conversational outcome or other, such as [[1407: Worst Hurricane]] and [[2108: Carbonated Beverage Language Map]].
+This map with subdivisions follows up on a number of prior maps representing supposed geographical splits of some conversational outcome or other, such as [[1407: Worst Hurricane]] and [[2108: Carbonated Beverage Language Map]].
 ===Table of regions===

@@ Line 79: / Line 79: @@
 | Southwest Desert
 | water and time
-| The sedimentary rock layers exposed in the {{w|geology of the Grand Canyon area}} range in age from about 200 million to nearly 2 billion years old. Uplift of the region started about 75 million years ago during the mountain-building event creating the Rocky Mountains. The opening of the Gulf of California around 6 million years ago enabled a large river to cut its way northeast from the gulf. The new river captured the older drainage to form the ancestral Colorado River, which started to form the Grand Canyon. Wetter climates brought upon by ice ages starting 2 million years ago greatly increased excavation of the Grand Canyon, which was nearly as deep 1.2 million years ago as it is now.
+| The sedimentary rock layers exposed in the {{w|geology of the Grand Canyon area}} range in age from about 200 million to nearly 2 billion years old. Uplift of the region started about 75 million years ago during the mountain-building event creating the Rocky Mountains. The opening of the Gulf of California around 6 million years ago enabled a large river to cut its way northeast from the gulf. The new river captured the older drainage to form the ancestral Colorado River, which started to form the Grand Canyon. Wetter climates from ice ages starting 2 million years ago greatly increased excavation of the Grand Canyon, which was nearly as deep 1.2 million years ago as it is now.
 |-
 | Northern Alaska