II.

Physical Geography

Alabama covers 135,765 sq km (52,419 sq mi), including 2,476 sq km (956 sq mi) of inland water and 1,344 sq km (519 sq mi) of coastal water over which the state has jurisdiction. It is the 30th largest state in the Union. Roughly rectangular in shape, Alabama has a maximum distance north to south of 533 km (331 mi) and a maximum distance east to west of 338 km (210 mi). The mean elevation is about 150 m (500 ft).

A.

Natural Regions

From plateaus and uplands in the northeastern section of the state, the land slopes gradually southward across forested ridges, rolling prairie, and fertile valleys to the delta of the Mobile River on an arm of the Gulf of Mexico. Alabama can be divided into five natural regions: the Appalachian Plateaus, the Ridge and Valley province, the Piedmont, the Interior Low Plateau, and the Gulf Coastal Plain. The Appalachian Plateaus, the Ridge and Valley province, and the Piedmont together make up part of the vast Appalachian Region, or Appalachian Highland.

The Appalachian Region, in Alabama, extends across much of the northern half of the state in a northeast-southwest direction. The northwestern part of the region is the Cumberland Plateau, which is one of the Appalachian Plateaus. It is an almost level sandstone upland that averages about 400 m (about 1,300 ft) above sea level and is drained by the Tennessee and Black Warrior rivers. The Ridge and Valley province is made up of sandstone ridges paralleled by fertile limestone valleys. The ridges impose a distinctive northeast-southwest trend on the local pattern of rivers, railroads, and highways. The meandering Coosa River is the main stream of the Ridge and Valley province. Southeast of the Coosa lie the rugged Talladega Mountains, which rise to 733 m (2,405 ft) above sea level at Cheaha Mountain, Alabama’s highest point. Between the Talladega Mountains and the Georgia state line on the east is the Piedmont Plateau, a large area with numerous low hills and ridges.

The Interior Low Plateau extends southward into northern Alabama from Tennessee. It is a limestone region that is made up of low uplands and broad valleys. The region is drained by the Tennessee River.

The Gulf of Mexico portion of the Coastal Plain covers the remainder of the state. Sedimentary rocks, much younger than those of the Appalachian Region, underlie the Gulf Coastal Plain. The plain is by no means flat. Parallel bands of low, generally forested hills and ridges stretch across the plain from east to west. The ridges usually have a steep northern slope and a more gentle southern slope. They are separated by broad level lowlands, including the well-known Black Belt, which is a gently rolling prairie, 40 to 80 km (25 to 50 mi) wide, that extends across the state into Mississippi. The Black Belt, named for its fertile dark-colored soils, is one of the major agricultural regions of Alabama. In the extreme southwest, near the Gulf of Mexico, the plain becomes very flat and swampy. The southeastern part of the plain is a flat area, dotted with pine forests. Extensive areas of these forests have been cleared to provide excellent farming lands.

B.

Rivers and Lakes

Most of Alabama drains southward to the Gulf of Mexico. The principal rivers in the western half of the state are the Tombigbee and its chief tributary, the Black Warrior. Much of eastern and central Alabama is drained by the Alabama River and its headstreams, the Coosa and the Tallapoosa. The Tombigbee and Alabama unite north of Mobile to form the Mobile River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico through Mobile Bay. The Mobile is roughly paralleled by the Tensaw River, which extends from the Mobile just below the junction of the Alabama and Tombigbee to the bay. The marshy floodplain between the two rivers is intersected by many meandering channels.

Southeastern Alabama is drained by three major rivers, which all flow into the gulf. They are the Chattahoochee, which forms the southern part of the Alabama-Georgia state line, the Choctawhatchee, and the Conecuh. In the north the Tennessee River flows westward in a great bend across almost the entire width of the state before turning northward to join the Ohio River in Kentucky. The Tennessee is the most important river in northern Alabama and forms a section of a vast inland waterway system.

There are no large natural lakes in Alabama. However, the state has several large reservoirs, including Wheeler Lake on the Tennessee River and R. L. Harris Reservoir on the Tallapoosa River. Also on the Tennessee and also part of the TVA system are Wilson Lake and Guntersville and Pickwick lakes, which lie partly in other states. Guntersville Lake is the largest in the state. Martin Lake is on the Tallapoosa River, and Weiss Reservoir (partly in Georgia) and Logan Martin, Lay, Mitchell, and Jordan lakes are on the Coosa River. Holt and Warrior reservoirs and Lakes Lewis Smith and Bankhead are on the Black Warrior River or its tributaries, and Miller’s Ferry Reservoir is on the Alabama River. Lakes Harding and Eufaula and West Point Lake lie on the Chattahoochee River, on the Alabama-Georgia state line.

C.

Coastline

Alabama’s coastline on the gulf is short, measuring 85 km (53 mi) from the Mississippi state line to the Perdido River on the Florida state line. When all of the indentations along the coast are measured, the state’s shoreline is 977 km (607 mi) long. It includes the shores of Mobile Bay, an inlet 56 km (35 mi) long at the mouth of the Mobile River. Barrier beaches partly block the entrance to the bay, leaving narrow openings on either side of Dauphin Island. Dauphin and other islands along Alabama’s coast west of Mobile Bay are separated from the mainland by Mississippi Sound.

D.

Climate

Alabama has a humid subtropical climate, with short, relatively mild winters and long warm summers. Temperature differences between the coastal and inland areas, however, are small. January averages range from about 11°C (57°F) at Mobile to about 7°C (44°F) at Birmingham. July averages are in the upper 20°s C (low 80°s F) at Mobile and at Birmingham. Very low or very high temperatures are unusual. The growing season, the period between the last killing frost of spring and the first killing frost of fall, ranges from about 200 days in the north to more than 300 days in the southwest. During the summer, daytime temperatures are frequently in the upper 20°s C (mid-80°s F) or higher and afternoon thundershowers are common. In winter, mild humid air masses from the gulf alternate with cold air masses from the north. Snow occasionally falls in the north.

Rainfall is plentiful, ranging annually from about 1,350 mm (about 53 in) in the north to more than 1,730 mm (68 in) in the southwest. Most rainfall occurs in winter and early spring, but a second wet season occurs in July, owing primarily to thunderstorms. Tropical cyclones and, in some years, severe hurricanes are a threat to the coastal areas in summer. Winds, floods, and high tides accompanying the storms can cause considerable damage to crops and property.

E.

Soils

Alabama has a wide variety of soils. The most fertile are the limestone-derived loams and clays of the Tennessee Valley and of the Black Belt. Good farming soils are also found in the major river valleys and along the northern edge of the Gulf Coastal Plain. The sandy loams of the Cumberland Plateau and the southern Gulf Coastal Plain are easy to work, and good crops can be produced with the aid of fertilizers and crop rotation. In many parts of the state, however, the soils are now quite infertile, mainly because of poor farming practices over a long period of years.

F.

Plant Life

Plants grow luxuriantly throughout Alabama, because of the abundant rainfall, mild climate, and long frost-free season. Forests and woodlands cover 71 percent of the state. Hardwood species, such as chinkapin oak, tupelo, and bald cypress, which is frequently festooned with Spanish moss, are characteristic of the bottomlands of the southern river valleys. Chestnut oak, black oak, southern red oak, and species of hickory dominate the limestone valleys and uplands of the north, and species of oak and pine are frequently found in association in the northern sections of the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Appalachian Region. Most of the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Piedmont, however, lie in the vast southern pine region, where southern longleaf, shortleaf, loblolly, and slash pine are the principal species. The longleaf pine is the state tree of Alabama.

Many flowering trees, such as the magnolia, and ornamental shrubs, such as the snow wreath, are native to Alabama. Mountain laurel, huckleberries, blackberries, sumac, and mistletoe grow wild in much of the state. Cane, one of the many native grasses, forms dense thickets in the south. Goldenrod, evening primrose, hairy vetch, White Cherokee rose, black-eyed Susan, hydrangea, yellow jessamine, and other wildflowers add color to the rural landscape. The state flower is the camellia.

G.

Animal Life

Few large mammals inhabit Alabama. The black bear is found in the swampy areas in the south, and white-tailed deer live in the northwest and southwest. There are some beaver colonies in central Alabama. Raccoon, opossum, weasel, otter, and a variety of rats, mice, rabbits, and foxes are common in most parts of the state. The muskrat and the southern woodchuck are also found in Alabama.

Many species of birds have been identified in Alabama, including the bald eagle, the osprey, the northern harrier, the turkey vulture, the boat-tailed grackle, the purple gallinule, the long-billed marsh wren, and the seaside sparrow. The northern flicker, also known as the yellowhammer, is the state bird and the most common woodpecker found in Alabama. An important flyway for migratory waterfowl extends across Alabama from the Tennessee River valley to the Gulf Coast, and millions of ducks and geese winter on the bayous of the Mobile river delta and on the coastal marshes.

Alligators, the largest reptiles in the state, are found in the southern swamps. Poisonous snakes found in Alabama are the copperhead, the cottonmouth (water moccasin), the rattlesnake, and the coral snake. In addition, there are many species of nonpoisonous snakes. Other reptiles include numerous varieties of turtles and lizards. Frogs are the most common amphibian. The lakes on the Tennessee and other rivers abound in bass, crappie, bream, and catfish. Along the Gulf Coast shrimps, pompano, tarpon, mullet, red snapper, crabs, and oysters are found.

H.

Conservation

Alabama’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is responsible for control of air, water, and land pollution. It also deals with matters such as soil conservation and forest management.

H.1.

Air Quality

Air quality in most of Alabama is generally excellent. However, the federal standard for ozone is sometimes exceeded in the Birmingham metropolitan area. Air pollution problems include acid rain and toxic air pollutants such as heavy metals (lead, cadmium, mercury) and volatile organic chemicals. Most of the sulfur and nitrogen emissions that cause acid rain come from electric utilities.

H.2.

Waste Management

Alabama has been a major importer of hazardous waste, most of which has been sent to a commercial disposal facility near Emelle. A 1989 ban on hazardous waste imported from states that were unwilling or unable to undertake disposal programs was overturned in the early 1990s. In 2006 there were 13 hazardous waste sites on a national priority list for cleanup due to their severity or proximity to people. The state made progress in efforts to reduce pollution; in the period 1995–2000 it reduced the amount of toxic chemicals discharged into the environment by 29 percent. Most other states, however, achieved far more dramatic reductions than Alabama’s.

H.3.

Water Quality

Groundwater is the source of drinking water for almost half the population and is an important source of water for agriculture and industry. Much of Alabama’s groundwater is contaminated to a limited, and not unhealthful, extent. Contaminants include organic chemicals, nitrates, fluorides, brine and salt, metals, radioactive materials, and pesticides. The sources of contamination include municipal trash landfills and hazardous waste storage ponds and impoundments.