Coastal plain

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In geography, a coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features. One of the world's longest coastal plains is located in western South America. The southeastern coastal plain of North America is notable for its species diversity. The coastal plain of North America extends northwards from the Gulf of Mexico along the Lower Mississippi River to the Ohio River, which is a distance of about 500 miles (circa 800 km). During the Cretaceous age, the central area of the United States was covered by a shallow sea, which disappeared as the land rose. Large fossilized aquatic birds called Hesperornis and Ichthyornis, found in western Kansas, indicate that the shallow sea was rife with fish. The coastal plain lying alongside the lower Mississippi River may be associated with the shallow sea which had existed 100 million years ago.

Some well-known coastal plains

The Illawarra Plains, Australia
The Israeli Coastal Plain
The Atlantic Coastal Plain, United States

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