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Topography
New Jersey, though one of the smaller states, has a varied topography.
In the northwestern part a section
comprising about one-fifth of the area of the state is known as the
Highlands and Kitatinny Valley. This region is traversed by several
low mountain ridges extending northeasterly across the state with
valleys and rolling hills between. The highest of these ranges is the
Kittatinny, which rises from the banks of the Delaware River at the
famous Delaware Water Gap. To the east the region is studded with
numerous lakes, some of the largest being Lakes Hopatcong, Mohawk and
Greenwood. Elevations up to 1,800 feet above sea level are found in
the Kittatinny Mountains near the New York State line.
South and east of the Highlands is a region
of about equal area known as the Red Sandstone Plain, or the Piedmont
of New Jersey. It is generally hilly in its northwestern part,
becoming rolling and then flat toward the south and southeast. At its
northern corner are the Palisades, cliffs which rise abruptly from
the Hudson River to heights of 200 to 500 feet. The seacoast section
extends from Sandy Hook to Cape May, a distance of about 125 miles.
This area is characterized by long stretches of sandy beaches,
occupied largely by summer resorts. Tidewater marshes become numerous
toward the south.
In the southern interior a region known as the Pine
Barrens is covered with scrubby forest of pine and some oak. The land
is low and partly swampy. Here are found the large cranberry bogs of
New Jersey. In fact, most of the state that lies south of a line
connecting Jersey City and Trenton is low and flat with few
elevations higher than 100 feet, these being mainly in Monmouth
County.
About 30 percent of the area of New Jersey drains into the Delaware
River and Delaware Bay, which forms the western boundary. Nearly half
of Sussex County, in the northwest, drains northward through the
Wallkill River into the Hudson River. The remainder of the state
drains directly into the Atlantic Ocean through the Passaic,
Hackensack and Raritan Rivers in the north, and a number of small
rivers and streams in the south.
Over the southern interior the soil changes from
sandy near the coast to clay and marl in the western part. However,
there is no steady transition, the soil change being affected mostly
by alternating stretches of the different soils and combinations of
them.
In the most productive sections in the southwestern part,
light-to-medium sandy loams predominate. Immense quantities of garden
truck for commercial canning, especially tomatoes, are grown in
Cumberland, Salem, Gloucester, Camden and western Burlington
Counties.
The extreme length of the state is 166 miles and its greatest width
only about 65 miles. The difference in climate is quite marked
between the southern tip at Cape May and the northern extremity in
the Kittatinny Mountains.
The former locality is almost surrounded by water and is fairly well
removed from the influence of the frequent storms that cross the
Great Lakes region and move out the St. Lawrence Valley. The northern
extremity is well within the zone of influence of these storms and,
in addition, lies at elevations rising from 800 to 1,800 feet. The
influence of these high elevations on the temperature is
considerable. The differences between these two localities are
particularly marked in winter, Cape May having a normal January
temperature about the same as that of southwestern Virginia, while
that of Layton, in the extreme northwest, is similar to that of
northern Ohio. Since the prevailing winds are mostly offshore, the
ocean influence does not have full effect.
