What makes one landscape a mountain and another a plateau, and how do New York's regions differ?
Explain how landscapes are classified (mountains, plateaus, plains) by elevation, relief and structure, how climate and bedrock control landscape development, and use the Reference Tables map of New York's landscape regions.
A Regents answer on landscapes: how mountains, plateaus and plains are classified by elevation, relief and rock structure, how climate (arid versus humid) and bedrock resistance shape landscape development, stream drainage patterns, and how to use the Reference Tables Generalized Landscape Regions and Bedrock Geology maps of New York, with worked exam questions.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this topic is asking
The Regents wants you to classify landscapes (mountains, plateaus, plains) by elevation, relief and structure, explain how climate and bedrock control landscape development, and use the Reference Tables Generalized Landscape Regions map of New York. The key idea is that landscapes are not classified by height alone, but by rock structure as well.
Classifying landscapes
The structure is what separates a plateau from a mountain:
- Mountains: high elevation and deformed rock (folded, faulted, tilted) or igneous and metamorphic rock from uplift; high relief. Example: the Adirondacks.
- Plateaus: high elevation but horizontal (flat-lying) sedimentary layers, cut by deep valleys; high local relief but undeformed structure. Example: the Allegheny Plateau (and the Catskills, a deeply dissected plateau).
- Plains and lowlands: low elevation and low relief, often flat-lying rock. Example: the lowlands along the Great Lakes and the Hudson.
What controls landscape development
Drainage patterns
The pattern a stream network makes also reflects the bedrock:
- A dendritic (tree-like) pattern forms on uniform, flat-lying rock.
- A trellis or rectangular pattern forms where rock resistance or fractures steer the streams.
So the shape of the drainage network is a clue to the underlying structure.
Using the New York maps
The Reference Tables include the Generalized Landscape Regions of New York State map and the Generalized Bedrock Geology map. With a location you can:
- Read its landscape region (Adirondack Mountains, Allegheny Plateau, Tug Hill Plateau, the lowlands, the Hudson-Mohawk Lowlands, the Atlantic Coastal Plain on Long Island).
- Read its bedrock type and age from the geology map (using the color/letter key tied to the geologic time scale).
Try this
Q1. State the three features used to classify a landscape. [2 points]
- Cue. Elevation, relief, and rock structure (flat-lying versus deformed).
Q2. Explain why resistant bedrock usually forms high ground. [2 points]
- Cue. Resistant rock weathers and erodes slowly, so it is worn down less and is left standing higher than weaker rock that erodes faster.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of NYSED exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
Regents (style)1 marksPart A. A landscape region has high elevation but nearly horizontal (flat-lying) rock layers and is dissected by deep stream valleys. This landscape is best classified as a (1) mountain (2) plateau (3) plain (4) coastal lowland. Justify your choice.Show worked answer →
A 1-point multiple-choice question. The answer is (2).
A plateau has high elevation but flat-lying (horizontal) rock layers; streams cut deep valleys into it, giving high relief locally but undeformed structure. Mountains (1) have high elevation and deformed (folded, faulted or tilted) or igneous/metamorphic rock; plains (3) and coastal lowlands (4) have low elevation. New York's Allegheny Plateau is the classic example. The trap is using elevation alone; the flat-lying structure is what makes it a plateau, not a mountain.
Regents (style)3 marksPart C. (a) State the two main factors that control how a landscape develops. (b) Explain why a region of resistant bedrock often stands higher than a neighboring region of weak bedrock. (c) Using the Generalized Landscape Regions map, name one mountain region and one plateau region of New York State.Show worked answer →
A 3-point extended-response question.
(a) 1 point: climate (especially the amount of water, arid versus humid) and bedrock (rock type, structure and resistance to weathering and erosion).
(b) 1 point: resistant bedrock weathers and erodes more slowly, so it is worn down less and is left standing higher than weak bedrock, which erodes faster and forms lowlands.
(c) 1 point: a mountain region such as the Adirondacks (or the Catskills, which are technically a dissected plateau); a plateau region such as the Allegheny Plateau (Appalachian Plateau). Accept any correct pairing from the map (for example Tug Hill Plateau).
Markers reward climate and bedrock as the two controls, the resistance-to-erosion reasoning, and correctly placed New York regions from the map.
Related dot points
- Distinguish physical from chemical weathering, explain the factors that control the rate of weathering (climate, surface area, rock type), and describe how weathering and other processes form soil.
A Regents answer on weathering and soil: physical (mechanical) weathering such as frost wedging versus chemical weathering such as carbonation and oxidation, how climate, surface area and rock type control the rate, why warm wet climates weather chemically faster, and how soil forms as a mix of weathered rock and organic matter, with worked exam questions.
- Identify the agents of erosion (running water, glaciers, wind, waves and gravity) and use the characteristic shapes and deposits of sediment to infer which agent transported it.
A Regents answer on erosion: the agents that transport sediment (running water, glaciers, wind, waves, gravity), why running water is the dominant agent, the tell-tale evidence each agent leaves (rounded versus angular particles, scratched and grooved bedrock, V-shaped versus U-shaped valleys, sorted versus unsorted deposits), with worked exam questions.
- Describe stream behavior and drainage patterns, and use topographic (contour) maps with the Reference Tables gradient equation to calculate gradient, determine stream flow direction and read elevations.
A Regents answer on streams and topographic maps: how stream velocity changes with gradient and discharge, the inside versus outside of meanders, reading contour lines, the rule that contour lines bend upstream (V points uphill), determining flow direction, and using the Reference Tables gradient equation, with worked exam questions and a full gradient calculation.
- Use the Reference Tables Geologic History of New York State and the bedrock map to read New York's tectonic and environmental history, including ancient mountain-building, shallow seas and the most recent glaciation.
A Regents answer on New York's geologic history: how to read the Geologic History of New York State chart and the bedrock map together, the ancient mountain-building (orogenies), the shallow seas that left marine fossils and sedimentary rock, the oldest Precambrian rock of the Adirondacks, and the last ice age that shaped today's landscape, with worked exam questions.
- Describe the layered structure of Earth's interior and explain the theory of plate tectonics, including the evidence (sea-floor spreading, matching coastlines, fossils, magnetic stripes) and the calculation of plate spreading rate.
A Regents answer on Earth's interior and plate tectonics: the crust, mantle, outer and inner core and the Reference Tables inferred properties, mantle convection as the driver, the three boundary types, the evidence for sea-floor spreading (matching coastlines, fossils, magnetic stripes, age of sea floor), and a worked spreading-rate calculation.
Sources & how we know this
- Reference Tables for Physical Setting/Earth Science (2011 edition) — New York State Education Department (2011)
- Regents Examination in Physical Setting/Earth Science — New York State Education Department (2026)