Plant and Animal Life (USA)

Plant and Animal Life (USA)

When early settlers from Europe approached the land that is now the USA they noticed a sweet and surprising land smell, and they understood that they were near the shore. This smell came from the great thick forest that covered all the Eastern part of the country and stretched westward. Until it met the tall grass of the prairies and the wide almost treeless plains. Forests cover the slopes of the mountains. The greatest wonder of all are the forests of sequoia and fur-trees on the North—West coast. Most of these trees are protected by law and preserved as national treasure. Numerous parks are to be found in different parts of the USA. The richest stands (насаждения) of soft wood timber are to be found on the well-watered Pacific highlands; Washington, Oregon and Northern California are the leading sources of sawmill (лесопилка) timber in the USA. The coastal margins (границы) of Alaska are good for large coniferous (хвойные) trees. But much of the interior and the north especially those parts away from the river valleys is covered with tundra. In the Eastern US the main trees are hardwoods. But valuable pine forests are found in the upper lakes region and along the gulf Atlantic plain.

However, much timber has been destroyed in the East by cutting and by fire. Now more care is taken of what remains of the former vast forests. Over a quarter of the country is still under forests.

Animal life or wild life was one of the chief resources of the USA during the earliest years of its development. Today wild life is fairly unimportant as a natural resource except for curtain fur-bearing animals and fish. In the zone of mixed forests the brown bear and the lynx are found. The forest is the home of the Virginia deer, the black bear, the grey fox, the raccoon and the opossum. The alligator is found in the South-East of the country. In deserts and semi-desert rodents (грызуны) and reptiles are found, while the tundra and taiga animals are typical of Alaska.

Fur-bearing animals are found today in some of the forested mountains and in the North and the South. They are: muskrats (ондатра), skunks (скунсы), and raccoons (еноты). In some parts of the country farms have been established where they grow animals for their fur. EX. Silver fox and mink farms (норки).

Fish caught off the Atlantic, Pacific and the gulf coast of the US are an important natural resource. Fishing also provides an important industry in the area of Great Lakes. The excellent fishing grounds situated on the coastal waters of New England (Америка – не путать с Англией!) have lots of fish such as: cod (треска), herring and mackerel. The Pacific coastal waters of Alaska are rich in salmon (лосось).

The Gold Rush that changed life so suddenly for Alaska was soon ended and although many stories about mining camps have become part of American literature, the gold from Alaska contributed less to economic progress than the fish from its waters. This fish caught in a single year ranges in value from 80 to 90 million $. Fur-bearing animals are plentiful in the forests and streams and valuable fur-seals (тюлени) inhabit the waters. Since 1910-11 Canada, Japan, Russia and the USA have agreed to control the hunting of seals.

As in many countries fishing in the US is not only a commercial undertaking, it is also a popular sport. In summer many tourists in many parts of the country try their luck in rivers and lakes.

The Minerals

The US is famous for a great number and a great variety of mineral resources. Its territory possesses over 100 kinds of various minerals. In resources of coal and natural gas, molybdenum, led and phosphorus, tungsten (вольфрам), the USA holds the 1-st place. In resources of copper, zinc, and sulphur (сера), - the 2-nd place. In resources of gold, silver, uranium, mercury and asbestos – the 3-d place.

The USA is rich in oil, iron, and various metallic ores. At the same time the country lacks a sufficient supply of some of the minerals required for modern industries. They must be imported into the country, they are: nickel, manganese (марганец), chrome, cobalt, and industrial diamonds.

Modern industry demands more and more of the nation’s mineral wealth. The total resources of coal in the USA are equal to one and a half trillion tons, and the principal deposits of coal are concentrated in the Eastern part of the country. The main producing areas in the Appalachian region. Some other less important coal deposits are to be found in the middle of the river Mississippi in the North of the great plains and in the rocky mountains.

The total reserves of oil are estimated to 5 000 million tons. The main oil-bearing area is in the southern part of the interior plains, and the gulf coast plain. Other important oil-fields are situated in the Pacific (Southern-East California), and in the rocky mountains. Less important oil-fields are: in the western Appalachians. Closely connected with oil-fields are: the deposits of natural gas.

It is believed that the greatest part of the American heavy industry depends upon 3 resources:

- Iron ore (from the lake superior area)

- Coal (from the Appalachian region)

- Transportation across the Great Lakes.

In the total resources if iron ore the US is 3-d only to India and Brasilia. The chief deposits of iron ore are concentrated in the region of Lake Superior.

There are some deposits of iron ore in the South of Appalachian but the quality is very poor here. Large deposits of non-ferrous metals are to be found on the territory to the West of the Mississippi River - zinc, copper, led and others.

Gold, silver are to be found in the Cordilleras. The main deposits of uranium are in New-Mexico. In the total resources of uranium the US is after the South African Republic and Canada. The Cordilleras and Florida contain huge deposits of phosphorus, while the gulf coastal plain possesses the world’s largest reserves of sulphur.

With the discovery of gold in California in 1849 there were the greatest mass movement of modern history. Thousands of people came to California from all over the world in search of their fortune. Largely because of the gold rush the whole continent was settled within the century. Now some old mining districts contain ghost towns which once were rich cities whose mines produced huge amount of wealth and then were suddenly exhausted. One such town is Phyolite near Death Valley. The town was born, became rich and died. All during a period of 4 years. As a whole, the USA have considerable resources of minerals for the development of industry. It is self-sufficient in coal, copper, led, phosphate, molybdenum, and some others. In terms of costs oil, coal, natural gas, uranium constitute nearly 89% of the total output of the mining industry of the USA.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04