The way mainland North America is located relative to other continents determines not only its climatic conditions, but also its population, economic structure and specialization in the global distribution of ore. The countries located on its territory are rich in natural resources that are important for international trade.
Geography and climate
Mainland North America is washed by three oceans: the Arctic, Atlantic and Pacific. Each of these oceans, its currents and the air masses forming above it, have great significance on climatic conditions not only in coastal areas, but also in the interior of the continent.
There are three large countries on the mainland - Canada, the USA and Mexico. There are also a large number of island states and territories dependent on the United States. In Canada, there is the extreme northern point not only of this country, but of the entire continent. It's about Cape Murchison. It is located on the Butia Peninsula in the Canadian Arctic. The cape got its name after the scientist Rene Murchison. This man was the first to explore the peninsula.
The way the continent of North America is located relative to others, determined the history of its discovery, description, study and subsequent development. Today, among scholars, the view has been established that the continent's discoverers were descendants of a group of Vikings expelled from their settlement in Iceland.
Geological map of North America
Scientists divide the continent into three large geological regions, the borders of which largely coincide with the state borders of countries located on the mainland.
The first and most geologically oldest province is located in Canada. What is it called? This is a “Canadian shield” located in the far north of the continent. It was built in the ancient Precambrian era, which affected the geological diversity of these lands. The way the mainland North America is located relative to others is due, inter alia, to the features of its formation in the ancient era.
Due to this geological feature, Canada is one of the most diverse countries in terms of minerals. In the Arctic state there are large deposits of nickel, gold, lead, molybdenum and, most importantly, uranium. And, recently discovered in the Arctic territories, diamond deposits make the country one of the largest suppliers of this raw material to the international market.
An important feature of the geology of Canada is the presence of the Sudbury ore basin in the province of Ontario, formed as a result of a meteorite impact on the surface of the earth. This region is very rich in metal ores, which creates an anomaly in its vicinity, which is called the Temagami Magnetic Anomaly.
Geological provinces in the United States are similar to Canadian ones. The only exceptions are anomalous zones resembling meteorite craters.
Central America
How mainland North America is located relative to others is easy to determine by looking at the map. If America is separated from its western neighbor, Eurasia, by the relatively narrow Bering Strait, then it is not separated from its southern neighbor, except for the artificial Panama Canal.
Central American states do not have a high level of economic development and are therefore extremely susceptible to the negative consequences of natural disasters that quite often occur in the region.
Among the most common natural disasters, it is worth mentioning hurricanes forming over the Atlantic and moving west and south. Both the coastal states of the USA and the island states of Central America will inevitably fall under their blow.
Seismic activity
The second important feature of the continent’s structure is the large number of seismically active zones, as a result of which destructive earthquakes occur on the continent, the victims of which are many thousands of inhabitants of the developing countries of the Caribbean.
The most significant earthquake of all that occurred in the United States was the Great Alaskan Earthquake, which occurred in March 1964. It was a disaster catastrophic in its consequences, the consequences of which were felt on the territory of fifty thousand square kilometers. Immediately after the tremors, numerous landslides, mudflows and landslides followed, blocking mountain roads and obstructing the passage of rescue equipment to places where it was so necessary.
In addition, the way mainland North America is located gives the states of the continent clear strategic advantages in relations with overseas neighbors.