The
geography of TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
cover a wide and far reaching scope. Occupying about 7% of the total water and land area of the U.S., it is the second largest state after
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, and is the southernmost part of the
Great PlainsThe Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
, which end in the south against the folded
Sierra Madre OrientalThe Sierra Madre Oriental is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico, spanning 1000 km from Coahuila south through Nuevo León, southwest Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Querétaro, and Hidalgo to northern Puebla, where it joins with the east-west running Eje Volcánico Transversal of central...
of
MexicoThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
.
TexasTexas is the second-largest U.S. state in both area and population, and the largest state in the contiguous United States.The name had wide usage among native Americans, meaning "friends" or "allies"...
is in the south-central part of the United States of America, and is considered to form part of the U.S. South and also part of the U.S. Southwest.
The
Rio GrandeThe Rio Grande is a river that forms part of the border between the United States and Mexico. At long, it is the fourth-longest river system in the United States...
,
Red RiverThis page is about the tributary of the Mississippi River; for the tributary of Lake Winnipeg, see the Red River of the North.
The Red River, or sometimes The Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers located in the United States of America. The...
and
Sabine RiverThe Sabine River is a river, 555 miles long, in the U.S. states of Texas and Louisiana. In its lower course, it forms part of the boundary between the two states and empties into Sabine Lake, an estuary of the Gulf of Mexico. The river formed part of the United States-Mexican international...
all provide natural state lines where Texas borders
OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
on the north,
LouisianaThe State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
and
ArkansasArkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquin name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares a border with six states, with its eastern border largely defined by the Mississippi River. Its diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the...
on the east, and
New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
and the
MexicanThe United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
states of Chihuahua,
CoahuilaCoahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , is one of Mexico's 31 component states. It is located in the north of the country.To the north, Coahuila accounts for a stretch of the U.S. - Mexico border, adjacent to the U.S...
,
Nuevo LeónNuevo León is a state located in northeastern Mexico. It borders the states of Tamaulipas to the north and east and San Luis Potosí to the south, and Coahuila to the west. To the north, Nuevo León accounts for a 15 kilometer stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the U.S...
, and
TamaulipasTamaulipas is one of the 31 states of Mexico and is located in the central-northeastern part of the Mexican federation. It borders the the U.S. state of Texas to the north, the Gulf of Mexico to the east, Veracruz to the south, San Luis Potosí to the southwest, and Nuevo León to the west...
to the south.
AustinAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
, the state capital, is farther south than all other US state capitals except
HonoluluHonolulu is the capital of and the most populous census-designated place in the U.S. state of Hawaii. Although Honolulu refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and the county are consolidated, known as the City and County of Honolulu, and the city and...
.
By residents, the state is generally divided into
North TexasNorth Texas is a distinct cultural and geographic area forming the central-northeastern section of the U.S. state of Texas. North Texas is generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, and north of Waco...
,
East TexasEast Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U.S. state of Texas.According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone...
, Central Texas,
South TexasSouth Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of, or beginning at, San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region...
,
West TexasWest Texas is a region in the southwestern United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
(and sometimes the
PanhandleThe Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by the state of New Mexico to the west and the state of Oklahoma to the north and east...
), but according to the
Texas Almanac, Texas has four major physical regions: Gulf Coastal Plains, Interior Lowlands, Great Plains, and Basin and Range Province. This has been cited as the difference between
human geography-Scope:Human geography broadly differs from physical geography in that it has a greater focus on studying intangible or abstract patterns surrounding human activity and is more receptive to qualitative research methodologies. It encompasses human, political, cultural, social and economic aspects of...
and
physical geographyPhysical geography is one of the three major subfields of geography, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography...
, although the fact that Texas was granted (and retains to this day)
the prerogative to divide into as many as five U.S. statesTexas divisionism is a mainly historical movement that advocates the division of the U.S. state of Texas into as many as five states, a prerogative guaranteed to Texas as a condition of the former Republic of Texas joining the Union in 1845....
may be a historical motive for Texans defining their state as containing exactly five regions.
Some regions in Texas are more associated with the South than the Southwest (primarily
East TexasEast Texas is a distinct geographic and ecological area in the U.S. state of Texas.According to the Handbook of Texas, the East Texas area "may be separated from the rest of Texas roughly by a line extending from the Red River in north central Lamar County southwestward to east central Limestone...
, Central Texas, and
North TexasNorth Texas is a distinct cultural and geographic area forming the central-northeastern section of the U.S. state of Texas. North Texas is generally considered to include the area south of Oklahoma, east of Abilene, and north of Waco...
), while other regions share more similarities with the Southwest (primarily far
West TexasWest Texas is a region in the southwestern United States that primarily encompasses the arid and semi-arid lands in the western portion of the state of Texas....
and
South TexasSouth Texas is a region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of, or beginning at, San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande River, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of this region is about 3.7 million. The southern portion of this region...
). The
upper PanhandleA panhandle or salient is an informal geographic term for an elongated tail-like protrusion of a geo-political entity, such as an administrative division or a sovereign state that extends into another such entity as a peninsula extends into the sea. The former "folksy" term derives from the...
is considered by many to have more in common with parts of the
plains MidwestThe Midwestern United States is one of the four geographic regions within the United States of America that are officially recognized by the United States Census Bureau....
than either the South or Southwest. The size of Texas prohibits easy categorization of the entire state wholly in any recognized region of the United States; geographic, economic, and even cultural diversity between regions of the state preclude treating Texas as a region in its own right.
Climate
ContinentalContinental climate is a climate that is characterized by winter temperatures cold enough to support a fixed period of snow cover each year, and relatively moderate precipitation occurring mostly in summer, although east coast areas may show an even distribution of precipitation.Regions containing...
,
MountainMountain climate is a crude geographical term used for the kind of climate in the mountains and generally in the high country. It is often contrasted to the climate of the cloudy, lowland area surrounding or near the same mountains....
, and
Modified MarineThe subtropics are the geographical zone of the Earth immediately north and south of the tropical zone, which is bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, at latitudes 23.5°N and 23.5°S...
are the three major
climatic typesClimate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and numerous other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time...
of Texas, with no distinguishable boundaries. Modified Marine, or subtropical, dominates the majority of the state. Texas has an annual
precipitationIn meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that is deposited on the Earth's surface. The main forms of precipitation include rain, snow, ice pellets, and graupel...
range from in
Jasper CountyJasper County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 35,604. Its county seat is Jasper. Jasper County is named for William Jasper, an American Revolutionary War hero.-Geography:According to the U.S...
, East Texas, to in
El PasoEl Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and part of the American Southwest. According to the United States Census Bureau's 2006 population estimates, the city had a population of 606,913. It is the sixth-largest city in Texas and the 22nd-largest city in...
. The record high of was reached at
SeymourSeymour is a city in and the county seat of Baylor County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,908 as of the 2000 Census.-Geography:Seymour is located at ....
on August 12, 1936, and
MonahansMonahans is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, Texas, United States. A very small portion of the city extends into Winkler County. The population was 6,821 at the 2000 census.-History:...
on June 28, 1994. The low also ties at in
TuliaTulia is a city in, and county seat of, Swisher County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,117 at the 2000 census; in the 2005 census estimate, it had fallen to 4,714. The city is at the junction of U.S...
on February 12, 1899, and
SeminoleSeminole is a city in and the county seat of Gaines County in west Texas, United States. The population was 5,910 at the 2000 census. It is the birthplace of Country music singers Larry Gatlin and Tanya Tucker...
on February 8, 1933.
Physical geography
Texas covers a total area of 268,581 mi
2. The longest straight line distance is from the northwest corner of the panhandle to the Rio Grande just below
BrownsvilleBrownsville is a city in and the county seat of Cameron County, Texas, United States. Brownsville is the 15th largest city in the state of Texas and the 129th largest in the United States. The population was 139,722 at the 2000 census...
, 801 mi. The largest continental state is so expansive that
El PasoEl Paso is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and part of the American Southwest. According to the United States Census Bureau's 2006 population estimates, the city had a population of 606,913. It is the sixth-largest city in Texas and the 22nd-largest city in...
,in the western corner of the state, is closer to
San Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego , named after Saint Didacus , is the second-largest city in California and the ninth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The US Census Bureau estimates the city's population at 1,279,329 as of 2008...
than to
BeaumontBeaumont is a city in and county seat of Jefferson County, Texas, United States, within the Beaumont–Port Arthur Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city's population was 113,866 at the 2000 census. With Port Arthur and Orange, it forms the Golden Triangle, a major industrial area on the Gulf...
, near the Louisiana state line; Beaumont, in turn, is closer to
Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida, and is the county seat of Duval County. Since 1968, as a result of the consolidation of the city and county government, and a corresponding expansion of the city limits to include almost the entire county, Jacksonville became the...
than it is to El Paso.
TexarkanaTexarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States. It effectively functions as one half of a city which crosses a state line — the other half, the city of Texarkana, Arkansas, lies on the other side of State Line Avenue. The population of the city is 34,782 at the 2000 census...
, in the northeastern corner of the state, is about the same distance from Chicago, Illinois as it is to El Paso, and
DalhartDalhart is a city in Dallam and Hartley counties in the U.S. state of Texas, and the county seat of Dallam County. The population was 7,237 at the 2000 census. Founded in 1901, Dalhart is named for its location on the border of Dallam and Hartley counties. Dalhart sits at the intersection of U.S...
, in the northwestern corner of the state, is closer to the state capitals of
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
,
ColoradoColorado is a U.S. state located in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States of America. It may also be considered to be part of the Western and Southwestern regions of the United States. Colorado entered statehood in 1876 and was nicknamed the “Centennial State”...
,
New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
,
OklahomaOklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,617,316 residents in 2007 and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
and
WyomingWyoming is a state in the Western United States. The majority of the state is dominated by the mountain ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountain West, while the easternmost section of the state includes part of a high elevation prairie region known as the High Plains. While the tenth largest...
than it is to
AustinAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
, its own state capital.
The geographic center of Texas is about northeast of
BradyThe name Brady in Ireland is derived from the Irish name Mac Bradaigh meaning 'spirited'. So the anglicised form should be MacBrady, the prefix Mac, however, has seldom if ever been used in modern times; the modern use of the prefix O instead of Mac with this name is erroneous. This Sept was based...
in northern McCulloch County.
Guadalupe PeakGuadalupe Peak is the highest point in Texas, with an elevation of . It is located in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, part of the Guadalupe Mountains range in southeastern New Mexico and West Texas. The mountain is about east of El Paso and about southwest of Carlsbad, New Mexico...
, at above
sea levelMean sea level is the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation.- Measurement :...
is the highest point in Texas. The lowest being sea level where Texas meets the Gulf of Mexico. Texas has five state forests and 120
state parkState parks are parks or other protected areas of the United States and in Mexico for an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreation, or other reason, and under the administration of the government of a U.S. state or one of the states of Mexico. State...
s for a total over . There are 3,700 named streams and 15 major river systems flowing through of Texas. Eventually emptying into seven major
estuariesAn estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries are thus subject to both marine influences, such as tides, waves, and the influx of saline water; and riverine influences, such as flows of...
, these rivers support over 212 reservoirs.
With 10
climatic regionsThe Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by the Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself notably in 1918 and 1936...
, 14
soil regionsAgricultural soil science is a branch of soil science that deals with the study of edaphic conditions as they relate to the production of food and fiber. In this context, it is also a constituent of the field of Agronomy.-History:...
, and 11 distinct
ecological regionsAn ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area smaller than a "realm" or "ecozone". Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural communities and species...
, regional classification becomes problematic with differences in soils, topography, geology, rainfall, and plant and animal communities.
Gulf Coastal Plains
The
Gulf Coastal PlainsThe Texas Coastal Bend refers to the flat area of land along the Texas coast. It is home to many cities including Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Port Lavaca, Galveston, Victoria, and Houston. The Coastal Bend includes the barrier islands of Texas and the Laguna Madre...
stretches from the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United...
inland to the
Balcones FaultThe Balcones Fault Zone is a tensional structural system in Texas that runs approximately from the southwest part of the state near Del Rio, Texas to the north central region near Waco, Texas along Interstate 35. The Balcones Fault zone is made up of many smaller features, including normal faults,...
and the
Eastern Cross TimbersThe term Cross Timbers is used to describe a fairly narrow strip of land in the United States that runs from southeastern Kansas across Central Oklahoma to Central Texas...
. This large area stretches from the cities of
ParisParis is a city located 98 miles northeast of the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex in Lamar County, Texas, in the United States. It is situated in East Texas, specifically Northeast Texas, at the western edge of the Piney Woods. Physiographically, these regions are part of the . In 1900, 9,358 people...
to
San AntonioSan Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventh-largest city in the United States. The city is characteristic of other Southwest urban centers in which there are sparsely populated areas and a low density rate outside of the city. It was the fourth-fastest growing...
to
Del RioDel Rio is a border city in and the county seat of Val Verde County, Texas, United States.. Del Rio is connected with Ciudad Acuña via the Lake Amistad Dam International Crossing and Del Río-Ciudad Acuña International Bridge. Del Rio is also home to Laughlin Air Force Base, the busiest pilot...
but shows a large variety in vegetation. With about 20 to over 58 inches (508-1,480 mm) annual rainfall, this is a nearly level, drained plain dissected by streams and rivers flowing into estuaries and
marshIn geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland which is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, and other herbaceous plants. Woody plants will be low-growing shrubs. A marsh is different from a swamp,...
es. Windblown sands and dunes, grasslands, oak mottes and salt marshes make up the seaward areas.
National ParkA national park is a reserve of natural or semi-natural land, declared or owned by a national government, set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, and protected from most development...
s include Big Thicket National Preserve,
Padre Island National SeashorePadre Island National Seashore is a National Seashore located on Padre Island off the coast of South Texas. In contrast to South Padre Island , PINS is located on North Padre Island and consists of a long beach where nature is preserved...
and the
Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic SitePalo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park near Brownsville, Texas preserves the ground of the May 8 1846, Battle of Palo Alto. It was the first major conflict in a border dispute that soon precipitated the Mexican-American War. The United States Army victory here made the invasion of Mexico...
.
Interior Lowlands
The Interior Lowlands are bounded by the
Caprock EscarpmentThe Caprock Escarpment is a geographical transition point in Texas between the High Plains/Llano Estacado to the west and the North Central Plains to the east. The escarpment stretches around 320 km south-southwest from the northeast corner of the Texas Panhandle near the Oklahoma border...
to the west, the
Edwards PlateauThe Edwards Plateau is a region of west-central Texas which is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the Pecos River and Chihuahuan Desert to the west. San Angelo, Austin, San Antonio and Del Rio roughly outline the area...
to the south, and the Eastern Cross Timbers to the east. This area includes the North Central Plains around the cities of
AbileneAbilene is a city in Taylor and Jones counties in the central part of the U.S. state of Texas. The population is about 120,000 in 2008. It is the principal city of the Abilene Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a 2006 estimated population of 158,063. It is the county seat of Taylor County...
and
Wichita FallsWichita Falls is a city in the state of Texas and the county seat of Wichita County, Texas, United States. Wichita Falls is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay and Wichita counties. According to the U.S...
, the Western Cross Timbers to the west of
Fort WorthFort Worth is the seventeenth-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city within the state of Texas. Located in and a cultural gateway into the American West, the city covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, and Denton counties, serving as the county seat for Tarrant...
, the Grand Prairie, and the Eastern Cross Timbers to the east of
DallasDallas , with a population of 1,279,910, is the third-largest city in Texas and the 8th-largest in the United States. The city is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2009 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of...
. With about annual rainfall, gently rolling to hilly forested land is part of a larger pine-hardwood forest of
oakAn oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 400 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
s,
hickoriesTrees in the genus Carya are commonly known as Hickory. The genus includes 17–19 species of deciduous trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts...
,
elmElm leaves are alternate, with simple, single- or, most commonly, doubly-serrate margins, usually asymmetric at the base and acuminate at the apex. The genus is hermaphroditic, having perfect flowers which, being wind-pollinated, are apetalous. The fruit is a round wind-dispersed samara...
and
gumEucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia. There are more than 700 species of Eucalyptus, mostly native to Australia, and a very small number are found in adjacent parts of New Guinea and Indonesia...
trees. Soils vary from coarse sands to tight clays or red-bed clays and shales. The only National Park in this region is
Lake Meredith National Recreation AreaLake Meredith National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area located about 30 miles north of Amarillo, Texas, in the Texas Panhandle...
.
Great Plains
The
Great PlainsThe Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
include the
Llano EstacadoLlano Estacado is a region in the southwestern United States that encompasses parts of eastern New Mexico and northwestern Texas, including the South Plains and parts of the Texas Panhandle. One of the largest mesas or tablelands on the North American continent, the elevation rises from in the...
, the
PanhandleThe Texas Panhandle is a region of the U.S. state of Texas consisting of the northernmost 26 counties in the state. The panhandle is a rectangular area bordered by the state of New Mexico to the west and the state of Oklahoma to the north and east...
,
Edwards PlateauThe Edwards Plateau is a region of west-central Texas which is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the Pecos River and Chihuahuan Desert to the west. San Angelo, Austin, San Antonio and Del Rio roughly outline the area...
, Toyah Basin, and the
Llano UpliftThe Llano Uplift is a roughly circular geologic dome of Precambrian rock, primarily granite, in Central Texas in the United States. It is located in the eastern region of the Edwards Plateau, west of the Texas Hill Country...
. It is bordered on the east by the
Caprock EscarpmentThe Caprock Escarpment is a geographical transition point in Texas between the High Plains/Llano Estacado to the west and the North Central Plains to the east. The escarpment stretches around 320 km south-southwest from the northeast corner of the Texas Panhandle near the Oklahoma border...
in the panhandle and by the
Balcones FaultThe Balcones Fault Zone is a tensional structural system in Texas that runs approximately from the southwest part of the state near Del Rio, Texas to the north central region near Waco, Texas along Interstate 35. The Balcones Fault zone is made up of many smaller features, including normal faults,...
to the southeast. Cities in this region include
AustinAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
,
San AngeloSan Angelo is a city in and the county seat of Tom Green County, Texas, United States, in West Central Texas. As of 2009 according to an estimate published by the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total population of 91,880....
,
MidlandMidland is a city in and the county seat of Midland County, located on the Southern Plains of the western area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small portion of the city extends into Martin County. As of 2008, the population of Midland was 106,561. It is the principal city of the Midland, Texas...
and
OdessaOdessa is a city in Ector and Midland counties in the U.S. state of Texas. It is located primarily in Ector County, of which it is the county seat. Odessa's population was 96,943 at the 2000 census. It is the principal city of the Odessa, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of...
,
LubbockLubbock is an American city in the state of Texas. Located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, it is the county seat of Lubbock County, and the home of Texas Tech University. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the city population was 199,564,...
, and
AmarilloAmarillo is the 14th-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas, the largest in the Texas Panhandle, and the seat of Potter County. A portion of the city extends into Randall County. The population was 173,627 at the 2000 census. The Amarillo metropolitan area has an estimated population of...
. The
Hill CountryThe Texas Hill Country is a region of Central Texas, USA, that features rolling, somewhat rugged, hills that consist primarily of limestone. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located north of Fredericksburg...
is a popular name for the area of hills along the Balcones Escarpment and is a transitional area between the
Great PlainsThe Great Plains are the broad expanse of prairie and steppe which lie west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...
and the
Gulf Coastal PlainsThe Texas Coastal Bend refers to the flat area of land along the Texas coast. It is home to many cities including Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Kingsville, Port Lavaca, Galveston, Victoria, and Houston. The Coastal Bend includes the barrier islands of Texas and the Laguna Madre...
. With about annual rainfall, the southern end of the Great Plains are gently rolling plains of shrub and grassland, and home to the dramatic
Caprock CanyonsCaprock Canyons State Park and Trailway is a Texas state park on the Caprock Escarpment in Briscoe County, Texas, United States, approximately southeast of Amarillo...
and
Palo Duro CanyonPalo Duro Canyon is a canyon system of the Caprock Escarpment in the Panhandle of Texas . As the second largest canyon in the United States, it is roughly 120 miles long and has an average width of 6 miles, but reaches a width of 20 miles at places. Its maximum depth is 800 feet...
state parks. The largest concentration of playa lakes in the world (nearly 22,000) is on the Southern High Plains of Texas and Eastern
New MexicoNew Mexico is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. Inhabited by Native American populations for many centuries, it has also been part of the Imperial Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain, part of Mexico, and a U.S. territory. Among U.S...
.
Texas's
blackland prairiesThe Texas Blackland Prairies are a temperate grassland ecoregion located in Texas that runs roughly from the Red River in North Texas to San Antonio in the south.-Setting:...
were some of the first areas farmed in Texas. Highly expansive
clayClay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired...
s with characteristic dark coloration, called the Houston Black series, occur on about 1.5 million
acreThe acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre....
s (6,000 km²) extending from north of Dallas south to San Antonio. The Professional Soil Scientists Association of Texas has recommended to the State Legislature that the Houston Black series be designated the State soil. The series was established in 1902. National Parks in this area are the
Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical ParkLyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in central Texas about 50 miles west of Austin in the Texas Hill Country. The park protects the birthplace, home, ranch and final resting place of Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States...
and the
San Antonio Missions National Historical ParkSan Antonio Missions National Historical Park preserves four of the five Spanish frontier missions in San Antonio, Texas. These outposts were established by Catholic religious orders to spread Christianity among the local natives...
.
Basin and Range Province
The Trans-Pecos Natural Region has less than annual rainfall. The most complex Natural Region, it includes Sand Hills, the Stockton Plateau, desert valleys, wooded mountain slopes and desert grasslands. The
Basin and Range ProvinceThe Basin and Range Province is a large geologic province which includes parts of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, typified by basin and range topography.-Geography:...
is in extreme western Texas, west of the
Pecos RiverThe Pecos River or Rio Pecos, as it is sometimes known in New Mexico, arises near Pecos, New Mexico, United States, and flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it empties into the Rio Grande near Del Rio...
beginning with the
Davis MountainsThe Davis Mountains are a range of mountains in West Texas, located near Fort Davis, after which they are named. They are a popular site for camping and hiking and the region includes the Davis Mountains State Park...
on the east and the
Rio GrandeThe Rio Grande is a river that forms part of the border between the United States and Mexico. At long, it is the fourth-longest river system in the United States...
to its west and south. The
Trans-PecosTrans-Pecos refers to the region of Texas and southeastern New Mexico west of the Pecos River. The portion in Texas extends roughly from Langtry, Texas, where the Pecos joins the Rio Grande in the south, to Angeles in the north, near the Texas-New Mexico border...
region is the only part of Texas regarded as mountainous and includes seven named peaks in elevation greater than . With less than annual rainfall, this region includes sand hills, desert valleys, wooded mountain slopes and desert grasslands. The vegetation diversity includes at least 268
grassGrasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns...
species and 447 species of
woody plantA woody plant is a plant that uses wood as a structural tissue. They are typically perennial plants that have their stems and larger roots reinforced with wood produced adjacent to the vascular tissues: typically the main stem and larger branches and roots are covered by a layer of thickened bark....
s. National Parks include the
Amistad National Recreation AreaAmistad National Recreation Area includes the area around the Amistad Reservoir at the confluence of the Rio Grande River, the Devils River, and the Pecos River. "Amistad" is Spanish for "friendship", as the Amistad Reservoir is located on the border with Mexico...
,
Big Bend National ParkBig Bend National Park is a national park located in the U.S. state of Texas. For more than 1,000 miles , the Rio Grande / Río Bravo forms the international boundary between Mexico and the United States, and Big Bend National Park administers approximately along that boundary.Big Bend National...
,
Chamizal National MemorialChamizal National Memorial, located in El Paso, Texas, along the United States–Mexico international border, commemorates the peaceful settlement of the Chamizal boundary dispute....
,
Fort Davis National Historic SiteFort Davis National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in unincorporated Jeff Davis County, Texas. Located within the Davis Mountains of West Texas, the historic site was established in 1961 in order to protect one of the best remaining examples of a United States Army...
,
Guadalupe Mountains National ParkGuadalupe Mountains National Park is located in the Guadalupe Mountains of West Texas and contains Guadalupe Peak, the highest point in Texas at in elevation. It also contains El Capitan, long used as a landmark by people traveling along the old route later followed by the Butterfield Overland...
, and the
Rio Grande Wild and Scenic RiverThe Rio Grande Wild and Scenic River protects a 196 mile portion of the Rio Grande in Texas. Parts of Brewster, Terrell, and Val Verde counties are included in this section of the river....
.
This area is part of the
Chihuahuan DesertThe Chihuahuan Desert is a desert that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border. On the U.S. side it occupies the valleys and basins of central and southern New Mexico, Texas west of the Pecos River and southeastern Arizona; south of the border, it covers the northern half of the Mexican state of...
.
Geology
Texas is mostly sedimentary rocks, with east Texas underlain by a
CretaceousThe Cretaceous , Latin language for "chalky", usually abbreviated K for its German translation Kreide , is a geologic period and system from circa to million years ago . In the geologic timescale, the Cretaceous follows on the Jurassic period and is followed by the Paleogene period of the...
and younger sequence of sediments, the trace of ancient shorelines east and south until the active continental margin of the
Gulf of MexicoThe Gulf of Mexico is the ninth largest body of water in the world. Considered a smaller part of the Atlantic Ocean, it is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United...
is met. This sequence is built atop the subsided crest of the
Appalachian MountainsThe Appalachian Mountains , often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. Definitions vary on the precise boundaries of the Appalachians...
–
Ouachita MountainsThe Ouachita Mountains are a mountain range located in west central Arkansas, southeastern Oklahoma and north-east Texas. The range's subterranean roots may extend as far as central Texas, or beyond it to the current location of the Marathon Uplift...
–Marathon Mountains zone of
PennsylvanianThe Pennsylvanian is in the ICS geologic timescale the youngest subperiod or upper subsystem of the Carboniferous period. It lasted from roughly to Ma . As with most other geochronologic units, the rock beds that define the Pennsylvanian are well identified, but the exact date of the...
continental collisionContinental collision is a phenomenon of the plate tectonics of Earth that occurs at convergent boundaries. Continental collision is a variation on the fundamental process of subduction, whereby the subduction zone is destroyed, mountains produced, and two continents sutured together...
, which collapsed when rifting in
JurassicThe Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Ma to Ma, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the "Age of Reptiles". The start of the period is marked by...
time opened the Gulf of Mexico. West from this
orogenicOrogeny refers to natural mountain building, and may be studied as a tectonic structural event, as a geographical event, and a chronological event...
crest, which is buried beneath the
DallasDallas , with a population of 1,279,910, is the third-largest city in Texas and the 8th-largest in the United States. The city is the main economic center of the 12-county Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan area that according to the March 2009 U.S. Census Bureau release, had a population of...
–
WacoWaco is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas. The city has a 2008 estimated total population of 124,009. It is the 21st largest city by population in Texas, and 194th in the US...
–
AustinAustin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 15th-largest in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in the nation...
–
San AntonioSan Antonio is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventh-largest city in the United States. The city is characteristic of other Southwest urban centers in which there are sparsely populated areas and a low density rate outside of the city. It was the fourth-fastest growing...
trend, the sediments are
PermianThe Permian
[The term "Permian" was introduced into geology in 1841 by Sir Sir R. I. Murchison, president of the Geological Society of London, who identified typical strata in extensive Russian explorations undertaken with Edouard de Verneuil; Murchison asserted in 1841 that he named...]
and
TriassicThe Triassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about 251 to 199 Ma . As the first period of the Mesozoic Era, the Triassic follows the Permian and is followed by the Jurassic. Both the start and end of the Triassic are marked by major extinction events...
in age.
OilPetroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds.The term "petroleum" was first used in the treatise De Natura Fossilium, published in...
is found in the Cretaceous sediments in the east, the Permian sediments in the west, and along the Gulf coast and out on the Texas
continental shelfThe continental shelf is the extended perimeter of each continent and associated coastal plain, and was part of the continent during the glacial periods, but is undersea during interglacial periods such as the current epoch by relatively shallow seas and gulfs. The continental rise is below the...
. A few exposures of
PrecambrianThe Precambrian is an informal name for the span of time before the current Phanerozoic Eon, and is divided into several eons of the geologic timescale. It spans from the formation of Earth around 4500 Ma to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, when macroscopic hard-shelled animals first...
igneous and
metamorphic rockMetamorphic rock is the result of the transformation of an existing rock type, the protolith, in a process called metamorphism, which means "change in form". The protolith is subjected to heat and pressure causing profound physical and/or chemical change...
s are found in the central and western parts of the state, and
OligoceneThe Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present. As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
volcanic rocks are found in far west Texas, in the Big Bend area. A blanket of
MioceneThe Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene period and extends from about 23.03 to 5.33 million years before the present . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the...
sediments known as the Ogallala formation in the western high plains region is an important
aquiferAn aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
. Texas has no active or dormant volcanoes and few earthquakes, being situated far from an active plate tectonic boundary. (The Big Bend area is the most seismically active; however, the area is sparsely populated and suffers minimal damages and injuries, and no known fatalities have been attributed to a Texas earthquake.)
Resources
With enormous
natural resourceNatural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity existent in various ecosystems.Natural resources are derived from the environment...
s, Texas is a major
agriculturalAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
and
industrialAn industry is the manufacturing of a good or service within a category. Although industry is a broad term for any kind of economic production, in economics and urban planning industry is a synonym for the secondary sector, which is a type of economic activity involved in the manufacturing of raw...
state. It leads all other states in such categories as oil, cattle, sheep, and cotton. Texas also produces poultry, eggs, dairy products, greenhouse and nursery products, wheat, hay, rice, sugar cane, and peanuts, and a range of fruits and vegetables.
- Asphalt
Asphalt is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits sometimes termed asphaltum...
-bearing rocks, mainly cretaceous limestones, occur in BexarBexar County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of July 1, 2008, The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population at 1,622,884, the 20th most populous county in the nation. Its county seat is San Antonio. In Spanish, "Béxar" is pronounced .Bexar County is part of the San Antonio...
, BurnetBurnet may refer to:* Living things** Plants in the genus Sanguisorba** Moths in the genus Zygaena * Places** Burnet, Texas** Burnet County, Texas* Food...
, Kinney-People:* Abbot Kinney, founder of the city of Venice, California* Alva Kinney, founder of Nebraska Consolidated Mills, now ConAgra Foods* Dick Kinney, Disney comic book artist* Edward Kinney, American luthie* Fern Kinney, American R&B and disco singer* John F...
, UvaldeUvalde may refer to:*Uvalde County - a county in south Texas*Uvalde, Texas - a city and the Uvalde County seat*Uvalde Estates - a census-designated place in Uvalde County...
, and other counties.
- Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term "opus caementicium" to describe masonry which resembled concrete and was made from crushed...
is currently produced in Bexar, Comal, Dallas, Ector, Ellis, El Paso, Harris, Hays, McLennan, Nolan, Nueces, Potter, and Tarrant counties. Historically, Texas' Portland cement output accounts for about 10% of the annual United States production.
- With an abundance of various types of clay
Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired...
s, Texas is one of the leading producers of clays.
- Bituminous coal
Bituminous coal or black coal is a relatively soft coal containing a tarlike substance called bitumen. It is of higher quality than lignite coal but of poorer quality than anthracite coal....
occurs primarily in Coleman, Eastland, Erath, Jack, McCulloch, Montague, Palo Pinto, Parker, Throckmorton, Wise, and Young counties of Texas. LigniteLignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad,is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere between coal and peat. It is considered the lowest rank of coal; it is mined in Russia, the United States, Australia and many European countries,...
, or brown coal, occurs in deposits in the Texas Coastal Plain.
- Fluorspar or fluorite
Fluorite is a halide mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF
2. It is an isometric mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. Cubic crystals up to 20 cm across have been found at Dalnegorsk, Russia...
is an important industrial mineral used in the manufacture of steelSteel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, aluminum, glassIn general Glass refers to a solid, brittle, transparent material, commonly used for windows, bottles, or eyewear. Examples of glassy materials include, but are not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovy-glass, or aluminium oxynitride. The term glass...
, and fluorocarbons. It occurs at several localities in the Trans-Pecos and Llano regions of Texas.
- Collecting gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of attractive mineral, which—when cut and polished—is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
rock and mineral specimens has proved quite profitable. AgateAgate is a microcrystalline variety of quartz , chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color...
, jasperJasper is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color. Blue is rare. This mineral breaks with a smooth surface, and is used for ornamentation or as a gemstone. It can be highly polished and is used for vases, seals, and at one time for snuff boxes. When the...
, cinnabarCinnabar, sometimes written cinnabarite, is a name applied to red mercury sulfide , or native vermillion, the common ore of mercury. The name comes from the Greek - "kinnabari" - used by Theophrastus, and was probably applied to several distinct substances. Other sources say the word comes from the...
, fluoriteFluorite is a halide mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF
2. It is an isometric mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon. Cubic crystals up to 20 cm across have been found at Dalnegorsk, Russia...
, topazTopaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al
2SiO
42. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces....
, calciteCalcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 470°C, and vaterite is even less stable....
, opalOpal is a mineraloid gel which is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl and basalt...
, petrified woodPetrified wood is a type of fossil: it consists of fossil wood where all the organic materials have been replaced with minerals , while retaining the original structure of the wood...
, and tektites are all commonly collected.
- Deposits of graphite
The mineral graphite is one of the allotropes of carbon. It was named by Abraham Gottlob Werner in 1789 from the Greek γραφειν : "to draw/write", for its use in pencils, where it is commonly called lead, as distinguished from the actual metallic element lead...
occur in the Llano region and was previously produced in Burnet County.
- Bat guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer and gunpowder ingredient due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. Superphosphate made from guano is used for aerial topdressing...
occurs in numerous caverns in the Edwards Plateau and in the Trans-Pecos region and to a more limited extent in Central Texas.
- Gypsum
Gypsum is a very soft mineral composed of calcium sulfate dihydrate, with the chemical formula CaSO
4·2H
2O.-Crystal varieties:...
is extensively developed in Texas where the main occurrences are in the Permian Basin, the Cretaceous Edwards Formation in Gillespie and Menard counties, and the Gulf Coast salt domes of Harris County and previously Brooks County.
- Texas is the leading producer of helium
Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2, and is represented by the symbol He. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert monatomic gas that heads the noble gas group in the periodic table...
solely from the Cliffside gas field near Amarillo.
- Deposits of iron ore
Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, deep purple, to rusty red. The iron itself is usually found in the form of magnetite , hematite , goethite, limonite or...
are present in northeastern Texas as well as several in Central Texas.
- Elements of the Lanthanide
According to the IUPAC terminology, the lanthanoid series comprises the fifteen elements with atomic numbers 57 through 71, from lanthanum to lutetium. All lanthanoids are f-block elements, corresponding to the filling of the 4f electron shell, except for lutetium which is a d-block lanthanoid...
series are commonly termed rare-earth elements. Several of the rare earths have anomalous concentrations in the rhyolitic and related igneous rocks in the Trans-Pecos area of Texas. A deposit containing several rare-earth minerals was exposed at Barringer Hill in Llano County before it was covered by the waters of Lake Buchanan.
- Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the mineral calcite . The deposition of limestone strata is often a by-product and indicator of biological activity in the geologic record...
s, abundant in many parts of Texas, are used in the manufacture of lime. Plants for the production of lime are currently operating in Bexar, Bosque, Burnet, Comal, Deaf Smith, Hill, Johnson, Nueces, and Travis counties.
- Magnesium chloride
Magnesium chloride is the name for the chemical compounds with the formulas MgCl2 and its various hydrates MgCl2x. These salts are typical ionic halides, being highly soluble in water. The hydrated magnesium chloride can be extracted from brine or sea water...
, magnesium sulfateMagnesium sulfate is a chemical compound containing magnesium and sulfur, with the formula MgSO4. In its hydrated form the pH is 6.0 . It is often encountered as the heptahydrate, MgSO4·7H2O, commonly called Epsom salt. Anhydrous magnesium sulfate is used as a...
and other mineral salts are present in the Upper Permian basin and in the underlying playas of the High Plains.
- Manganese
Manganese is a chemical element, designated by the symbol Mn. It has the atomic number 25. It is found as a free element in nature , and in many minerals...
is known to occur in Precambrian rocks in Mason and Llano counties, in Val Verde County, in Jeff Davis County, and in Dickens County.
- Mica
The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. All are monoclinic with a tendency towards pseudo-hexagonal crystals and are similar in chemical composition...
is present in Precambrian pegmatite in the Llano region.
- Common opal
Opal is a mineraloid gel which is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl and basalt...
occurs on the Texas Coastal Plain.
- Salt
A salt, in chemistry, is an ionic compound, and can result from the neutralization reaction of acids and bases. Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
s occurs in large quantities in salt domes in the Texas Coastal Plain and with other evaporites in the Permian Basin of West Texas, as well as near Grand Saline, TexasGrand Saline is a city in Van Zandt County, Texas, United States. The population was 3,028 at the 2000 census. Grand Saline is the third largest city in Van Zandt County and is a part of the Greater Tyler/Longview area....
.
- Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.As the term is used by geologists, sand particles range in diameter from 0.0625 to 2 millimeters. An individual particle in this range size is termed a sand grain...
s used for industrial purposes commonly have been found in the Texas Coastal Plains, East Texas, north central Texas, and Central Texas.
- The discovery of silver
Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
in Texas has been credited by some to Franciscans who discovered and operated mines near El Paso about 1680. Documented silver production started in the late 1880s at the Presidio Mine, in Presidio County. Texas produced 32,663,405 troy ounces of silver between 1885 and 1955
- Sulfur
Sulfur or sulphur is the chemical element that has the atomic number 16. It is denoted with the symbol S. It is an abundant, multivalent non-metal. Sulfur, in its native form, is a yellow crystalline solid. In nature, it can be found as the pure element and as sulfide and sulfate minerals...
occurs in the caprocks of salt domes in the Gulf Coastal Plain, in Permian-age bedded deposits in Trans-Pecos Texas.
- In the past uranium
Uranium is a silvery-white metallic chemical element in the actinide series of the periodic table that has the symbol U and atomic number 92. Besides its 92 protons, a uranium nucleus can have between 141 and 146 neutrons. The most common uranium isotopes are U-238 and U-235 . A uranium atom has...
was produced from surface mines in Atascosa, Gonzales, Karnes, and Live Oak counties. All uranium mines are closed and Texas is no longer a producer.
See also
- U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
- Historic regions of the United States
This is a list of historic regions of the United States, defined as regions that were legal entities in the past.-Colonial era :-The Thirteen Colonies:* Province of New Hampshire* Province of Massachusetts Bay...
- List of geographical regions in Texas
- List of lakes in Texas
- List of Texas metropolitan areas
- List of Texas state parks
- List of Texas rivers
- Texas Irrigation Canals
There are many irrigation canals in Texas. The majority of large canal networks are in the Rio Grande Valley and the Gulf Coast, though smaller systems are located throughout the state. Canals provide water to dry climates to irrigate crops....
- United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
Further reading
External links