Landscapes Of Mexico And The Caribbean

Front 1

Mesa Central

Back 1

Good weather
Made up of basins
Part of Mexican Plateau
Mostly free of mountains
Mostly dry, altitude combats tropical climate

Front 2

Tehuacan Basin

Back 2

Part of Mesa Central
Maize

Front 3

Apan Basin/Valle de Apan

Back 3

Part of Mesa Central
Rich Soils, flatter lands, drainage for salts

Front 4

Valle de Mexico

Back 4

Part of Mesa Central
Zocala plaza
Floods in june-october with highly polluted water

Front 5

Mexican Basins

Back 5

most all used to be lakes, naturally drained

Front 6

Lago de Patzcuaro

Back 6

Important lake in Michoacan
Slash and burn agriculture in flatland around
Purepecha people
Chinampas

Front 7

Lago de Chapala

Back 7

main source of water for Guadalajara, drained quite a bit
largest inland lake in Mexico
important waterway for migratory birds
Heavily polluted because of Tanneries in Leon

Front 8

Neo-volcanic axis

Back 8

reason why we have lakes in Mexico

Front 9

Rio Laja

Back 9

Comes down from north, meets up with Rio Lerma
decent-sized

Front 10

Rio Lerma

Back 10

Pretty dry
no water downstream due to human damming and consumption

Front 11

Laguna Cuitzeo

Back 11

3rd largest lake in Mexico
Water source for Morelia
High sediments
shrinks and grows over time

Front 12

agricultural importance of former lake beds

Back 12

very healthy soils
mollisols: high potassium, calcium, phosphorus, low in nitrogen

Front 13

lake retraction

Back 13

combination of natural and human factors
more farmland but less water to irrigate

Front 14

Mexico City

Back 14

eastern Mesa Central
1/4 of Mexico's population live here
center of manufacturing, especially furniture
modern city

Front 15

Urban sprawl and industrialization of Mexico City

Back 15

former ecology of basin destroyed
atmospheric inversions cause pollution to hang over city (known as la nata)

Front 16

El Caracol

Back 16

run off collected at the bottom of Lake Texcoco to produce salt

Front 17

Mesoamerican Highlands

Back 17

Lots of indigenous groups iin Tzintuzntza (Tarascan), Tula (Toltec), Hidalgo, Cholula (Tlaxcalatecan)

Front 18

Teotihuacan

Back 18

avenue of the dead
pyramid of the moon
pyramid of the sun

Front 19

Cacaxtla, Tlaxcala

Back 19

Situ murals (lots of blue)
contemporary to Teotihuacan
strong Mayan influence

Front 20

Ancient connections of Mexico

Back 20

Aztecs brought Mexico to contemporary greatness

Front 21

Lake Texcoco

Back 21

Tenochtitlan and Tlatelolco were established on this lake
Temple Mayor Tenochtitlan in the center
found ruins when building the subway system

Front 22

Chapultepec causeway

Back 22

important land b/c of aqueduct that brings water from a spring to the island city
surrounded by mountains
brackish and high mineral and salt content
not useable for agriculture or consumption
dike to keep the fresh water spring from the brackish water

Front 23

relocation of the Rio Cuautitlan

Back 23

poor surrounding farm land
good land at the mouth of Teopotxotlan, but did not have much water so Aztecs built a channel between the 2 rivers to relocate the water (aqueduct)

Front 24

Chinapas

Back 24

the artificial islands in the southern basin of Mexico
swampy, low-lying lake between islands that are very fertile
mostly flowers grown

Front 25

Huejotla Bridge

Back 25

between Texcoco and Champingo, East of Mexico City
contains remains of an Aztec bridge that was built sometime in the 1400s

Front 26

Atlixco Valley, Puebla

Back 26

Mexico’s bread basket at one point – major wheat production
Spanish introduction of the ard allowed for area to be cultivated
continuous cultivation led to erosion

Front 27

Haciendas

Back 27

inland, not coastal
Spanish plantations
all kinds of crops sold to local markets only
scarce capital
family owned

Front 28

1910-1917: Revolution

Back 28

Zapata in the South, Pancho Villa in the North
successful, led to land reform

Front 29

Plaze de Tres Culturas aka Tlalteloco

Back 29

ancient pyramid, historic church, and modern building
very unstable due to unstable Mexican land

Front 30

el Bajio

Back 30

area around Mesa Central
Home to Purepecha

Front 31

Eastern Mesa Central

Back 31

Alexco and Bajio area important for farming (they were former lake beds)
agriculture and ranching up the east

Front 32

Slamanca, Guanajuato

Back 32

heart of Mexico
sombreros
charros

Front 33

Tequila, Jalisco

Back 33

Agave, official tequila, has to come from certain places, and this is one
Maguey is another name for agave

Front 34

Alhondiaga in Guanajuato

Back 34

old granary
Father Hidalgo (led movement for independence) chased to this building by government, killed

Front 35

Political Parties of Mexico

Back 35

PRI: Partido Revolucionario Institucional
PAN: Partido Acción Nacional
PRD: Partido de la Revolución Democrática

Front 36

Acapulco

Back 36

important port during Spanish colonization
Spanish brought food from Asia

Front 37

Guerrero

Back 37

coastal region very arid
Acapulco-->important port during Spanish colonization, used as a port

Front 38

Michoacan

Back 38

Open churches
Morelia is capital
Mix of races

Front 39

Purepecha people

Back 39

One of few that resisted Aztec conquest
Tarascanos by Spanish
disgusting rituals involving blood

Front 40

Pulqueria

Back 40

only prehispanic alcohol
related to gods

Front 41

Mesa del Norte

Back 41

region often overlooked
one of the most biologically diverse areas in world
bounded by Sierra Madre
rough topography
prevailing winds from east, more vegetation on this side

Front 42

Barranca de Cobre, Chihuahua

Back 42

mountainous region that gets its character from rivers rather than the movement of the Earth
down cutting by rivers formed lots of canyons

Front 43

Aridoamerica

Back 43

includes Mesa del Norte
dry lands of North America
very little rainfall

Front 44

Agriculture of Northern Mexico

Back 44

very little farming since it is a deset
large haciendas in this area

Front 45

Umila Valley, Chihuahua

Back 45

indigenous people; the Raramuri or Tarahuamara cultivate this area

Front 46

Ixleros

Back 46

people who harvest resources then sell them on the street

Front 47

Veta Grande

Back 47

huge silver discovery by Spaniards
Basques established mines
used arrastra technique for extracting minerals

Front 48

Iron

Back 48

Mined to make vehicles and other products
Cerro de Mercado in Durango used to be a huge producer
steel mills located east of mines

Front 49

Pollution in Monterrey

Back 49

mining of limestone for cement causes white powder

Front 50

people of Mexico

Back 50

still highly urbanized in north although it is desert land
middle-aged population growing, causing unsustainable social security

Front 51

Northwest Mexico

Back 51

one of hottest, driest places in North America
fault line in this region gives character to land
a lot of gold, mostly in Sonora

Front 52

Deserts

Back 52

very little water, stored in cacti
fragile landscapes with little change
during right time of year, lots of vegetation
further north, less rainfall (Chihuahuan and Sonoran Deserts)
during winter, winds blow from land out to water, results in dry land mass
cold fronts carry scattered rain
July/august peak in rain
landscape changes rapidly

Front 53

Sonora

Back 53

Opata and Seri people
significant Jaguar population
strong Catholic presence
eastern part very traditional
copper, zinc, lead

Front 54

Bahia de Kino

Back 54

coastal area, very attractive
mostly second homes for wealthy Mexicans
fishing and shrimping area
water from the Sierra Madre leaves sediments and fresh water along coast

Front 55

Green revolution

Back 55

improve global food supplies
major effort by Mexico to grow wheat and corn, due to water depletion, did not work out

Front 56

Presa Plutarco Elias Calles

Back 56

foothills flanking the Sierra Madres; includes a number of rivers and reservoirs