Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia 27. (töredék) [antikvár]

FUNK WAGNALLS NEW ENCYCLOPEDIAVERMONT, one oi the New England slates of the U.S., bordered on the N by Québec Province, Canada; on the E by New Hampshire; on the S by Massachusetts; and on the W by New York. The W bank of the Connecticut R. forms the E boundary, and part of the W boundary runs through Lake Champlain,Vermont entered the Union on March 4, 1791, as the 14th state. (From 1777 to 1791 Vermont had been an independent republic.) Its economy was chiefly agricultural until the 20th century, when manufacturing became the leading sector. Tourism Is also economically important, and the state is known for its many ski areas. Presidents Chester A. Arthur and Calvin Coolidge were born In Vermont. The name of the state is derived from the French words vert ("green") and mont ("mountain"), and Vermont is known as the Green Mountain State.LAND AND RESOURCES Vermont, with an area of 24,900 sq km (9614 sq mi), is the 43d largest state in the U.S.; 4.9% of its land area is owned by the federal government. The state is roughly rectangular in shape, and Its extreme dimensions are about 255 km (about 160 mi) from N to S and about 135 km (about 85 mi) from E to W. Elevations range from 29 m (95 ft), at Lake Champlain in the NW, to 1339 m (4393 ft), atop Mt. Mansfield in the N; the mean elevation is about 305 m (1000 ft). Physical Geography. Vermont is topographically the most diverse of the New England states, and it is the only one without a seacoast. The stale has five distinct landform regions. In NE Vermont is the While Mountains region, a high, wild, and rugged granite area closely related to New Hampshire's adjacent White Mts. The average base elevation Is about 365 m (about 1200 ft), and isolated mountains, called monadnocks, rise to more than 1006 m (3300 ft). The sparsely populated region has many swift-flowing streams.In E Vermont is the New England Upland, which extends S into Massachusetts. It is mostly hilly land deeply cut by fast-flowing streams. The upland is underlaid by complex metamor-phic rocks, with occasional granite mountains, such as Mt Asculney in Windsor and Spruce Mt. In Groton, rising above ihe hilltops. Fertile lowlands are in the E, along the Connecticut R.The Green Mountains region of central Vermont is composed of a complexly folded N to S mountain system. North of Rutland, the Green Mts. consist of two roughly parallel ridges, and to the S, where ancient rocks are exposed, the mountains almost form a flat plateau, with streams such as the West and Deerfleld rivers running through deep valleys.The Champlain Valley region, in the NW, is a relatively flat area underlaid by sedimentary rocks, mainly sandstones and limestones. Isolated summits, such as Snake Ml. in Addison, rise to more than 305 m (1000 ft). The general flatness, combined with soils that are stone free and less acidic than in the rest of ihe slate, makes the region well suited for agriculture.The Taconic Mountains region in SW Vermont is geologically complex. The rocks are generally metamorphic and are associated wilh ihe state's important slate and marble bells. The highest summit is Mt. Equinox, towering above the town of Manchester, which lies in the narrow Valley of Vermont; this valley is sometimes considered a distinct region separating the Taconic Mountains and the Green Mountains regions.Like most of New England, Vermont is generally covered wilh thin glacial till soils, typically acidic and relatively infertile. In the Champlain Valley and some other smaller lowlands, however, no longer extant glacial lakes have left clay sediments that provide isolated pockets of belter farmland. At the base of the Green Mts. are some striking glacial deltas, ihe best examples being in South Hinesburg and in Bristol.7