# Mountains and living deserts

Checked 7 September 2026.

## Map geography

Six mountain regions and five summit locators come from Natural Earth 5.0.0 geographic region polygons and elevation points. Their original records, indices and source archive hashes are retained in `docs/research/boundaries/us-landforms-ne10.geojson.gz`. No old elevation values were copied into lessons.

The polygon source is geographic label cartography. Its own documentation describes approximate regions: these are not surveyed landform edges, ecological boundaries or boundaries of public access. The atlas clips those regions against its Census-based U.S. state polygons so the national surface image and outlines coincide. Ranges continue into Canada beyond that cut. The clipping is a display extent, not a natural endpoint.

https://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/10m-physical-vectors/10m-physical-labels/

Natural Earth data are public domain: https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/

Mauna Loa's generalized location (19.475 N, 155.608 W) comes from the USGS volcano page. Summit circles are enlarged for readable selection. They are not hiking coordinates, summit area or elevation measurements.

https://www.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mauna-loa

The national Albers USA surface uses the existing NASA Blue Marble July 2004 imagery and Census-based state outlines. Alaska and Hawaii are moved, resized insets. General surface color is not a species or habitat classification. The regional 3D view changes map perspective; colored mountain regions do not model summit heights. See [the shared terrain sources](/licenses/TERRAIN.md).

## Desert examples

The desert course maps four **local examples**, not four invented desert boundaries. Joshua Tree's Mojave example is near Hidden Valley in its northwestern portion; its older generic park locator is farther southeast and is not used to represent Mojave vegetation. Saguaro, White Sands and Great Basin National Park are the other examples. The coordinates are rounded regional locators, not park entrances.

The Great Basin drainage polygon in Natural Earth is deliberately not used as a desert polygon. Drainage and ecological regions do not have identical definitions.

- [NPS Joshua Tree map and desert transition](https://www.nps.gov/jotr/planyourvisit/park-map-and-brochure.htm)
- [NPS Hidden Valley](https://www.nps.gov/places/hidden-valley-trailhead.htm)
- [NPS saguaro natural range](https://www.nps.gov/sagu/learn/nature/saguaro.htm)
- [NPS Chihuahuan climate and location](https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/chihuahuan-desert.htm)
- [NPS Great Basin meanings](https://www.nps.gov/grba/planyourvisit/the-great-basin.htm)

Each lesson links the primary source for its teaching claims. Height ranks preserve their geographic scope. Denali and Mount McKinley refer to the same peak; the lesson distinguishes the Indigenous name, current federal usage and the national park's name.

## Teaching images

Every image below was individually selected and visually reviewed. Images keep their complete composition; the page captions identify viewpoints, seasonal conditions and the Kīlauea foreground in the Mauna Loa image. The Chihuahuan illustration is an NPS reference map, not a photograph. Files are served locally; public pages retain the creator, license and original source link.

- [mitchell](https://www.nps.gov/places/mount-mitchell.htm) — NPS Photo / A. Armstrong. [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm).
- [brooks](https://www.nps.gov/gaar/learn/nature/index.htm) — NPS Photo. [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm).
- [mauna-loa](https://www.nps.gov/havo/learn/nature/mauna-loa.htm) — NPS Photo / J. Wei. [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm).
- [mojave](https://www.nps.gov/jotr/learn/nature/jtrees.htm) — NPS / Paul Martinez. [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm).
- [sonoran](https://www.nps.gov/sagu/learn/nature/saguaro.htm) — NPS Photo / T. Wiewel. [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm).
- [chihuahuan](https://www.nps.gov/whsa/learn/nature/chihuahuan-desert.htm) — NPS. [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm).
- [rainier](https://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm) — NPS Photo / Emily Brouwer. [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm).
- [denali](https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/historyculture/mountain-name.htm) — NPS Photo / Kent Miller. [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm).
- [great-basin-desert](https://www.nps.gov/grba/index.htm) — NPS Photo. [Public domain](https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/disclaimer.htm).
- [whitney](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Whitney_September_2009.JPG) — Cullen328. [CC BY 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0).
- [elbert](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mount_Elbert_and_horses.jpg) — David Herrera from Albuquerque, NM, Bernalillo. [CC BY 2.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0).