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TEXAS

ECOREGIONS

Effects of Weathering,

Erosion and Deposition

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  • Ecoregion - a major ecosystem with distinctive geography, characteristic plants and animals.

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    • Smaller than a biome

What is an Ecoregion?

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FACTORS AFFECTING OUR ECOREGIONS:

  1. Weathering – chemical and physical breakdown of rocks into sediment
  2. Erosion – the movement of sediment from one place to another
  3. Deposition – the placement of sediment after being carried from place of origin

Click here to watch the study jams video on weathering and erosion

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1. PINEY WOODS

  • Due to abundant precipitation and abundant vegetation that holds the soil in place, there is very little soil erosion.

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PINEY WOODS

Caddo Lake

Athens

Tyler

Palestine

Rusk

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2. OAK WOOD & PRAIRIES

  • Has gently rolling hills and lightly wooded plains.

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  • Trees and grasses prevent large amounts of soil erosion due to water and wind.

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3. BLACKLAND PRAIRIE

  • These areas have nutrient-rich soils and receive good amounts of rainfall through the year.

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  • If the land is clear-cut of natural vegetation for construction, nutrients can easily be eroded.

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Oak Woods, Prairies & Blackland Prairies

Waco, Dallas, Lake Dallas, Killeen, College Station, Huntsville

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4. GULF COAST PRAIRIES

  • Wave action causes weathering,

erosion and deposition along the Texas Coastline.

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  • Sediments are weathered and eroded along beaches and carried out into the ocean to form sandbars and islands.

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Gulf Coast Prairies and Marshes

Padre Island

Brownsville

Houston

Corpus Christi

Galveston

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5. COASTAL SAND PLAIN

  • Soil in the region is primarily sand-based.

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  • Catastrophic events such as hurricanes can increase wave erosion and deposition here and in the Gulf Coastal Plain.

Click here to watch beach erosion

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6. SOUTH TEXAS BRUSH COUNTRY

  • The area is known as

“Brush Country” due to the shorter trees and many shrubs.

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  • Rocky, dry soil cannot support grasses, and trees can thrive because of their deeper root system.

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South Texas Brush Country�

Laredo, San Antonio

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7. EDWARDS PLATEAU

  • Erosion has left most of the region

lined with limestone rock layers.

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  • Rainwater mixes with carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and soils to form carbonic acid, which acts to dissolve away limestone.

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  • Many caves such as Innerspace caverns and Natural Bridge Caverns are found in this region.

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8. LLANO UPLIFT

  • The soil is not as prone to flooding because it allows water to infiltrate very easily.

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  • The region is described as rough, hilly

terrain.

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  • Enchanted Rock - Exfoliation has caused the rock to “peel” in sheets. This was caused by contracting and expanding during heating and cooling in the temperature.

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Edwards Plateau / Llano Uplift�

Austin

Bastrop

San Marcos

Round-Rock

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9. ROLLING PLAINS

  • Soils in this area are most fertile

and sought after for crop production.

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  • Periods of drought and then

sudden increase in rainfall

causes large amounts of erosion

and deplete the soil of nutrients.

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10. HIGH PLAINS

  • “Texas Panhandle”- Largest and most

completely flat areas of it size in the world!

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  • The region extends to the Palo Duro Canyon - the nation’s 2nd largest canyon.

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Panhandle Plains

Amarillo, Wichita Falls, Lubbock, Abilene

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11. TRANS PECOS

  • Rain does not fall evenly over the area.“Desert portion” of Texas.

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  • The weathered bedrock in this area have a large amount of calcium.

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  • Home of the tallest mountain in Texas, Guadalupe Peak. Elevation is 8,749 feet.

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Trans Pecos�

El Paso, Midland, Odessa