Seen at a glance on a topographic map, the United States appears roughly divided into a jagged mountainous West, a rolling central prairie, and an East both muscled by the Appalachians and soothed by the coastal plain. The great forces of tectonic movements, glaciations, and lava flows have shaped these major stages. This detailed physical map of the United States illustrates the wide range of land cover, including forests, grasslands, row crops, bare soil, and wetlands. Published in October 2006 as one half of a two-map set with a political map of the United States.