Editing Southwestern United States (section)

===Geological/topographical===
[[File:LCASMapoftheSouthwest.jpg|225px|thumb|upright=1.35|Map of the Southwestern United States as defined by the Learning Center of the American Southwest<ref name=LCASDefine/>]]
Parts of the other states make up the various areas that can be included in the Southwest, depending on the source. The Learning Center of the American Southwest (LCAS){{efn|Quote:"The Learning Center of the American Southwest is a collaboration among 48 national park units in four NPS Inventory and Monitoring Networks, three Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESUs), and several nonprofit partners. This partnership is dedicated to understanding and preserving the unique resources of the American Southwest through science and education."}} does not rely on current state boundaries, and defines the American Southwest as parts of Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.<ref name=LCASDefine>{{cite web | url=http://www.southwestlearning.org/topics/defining-southwest | publisher=Learning Center of the American Southwest | title=Defining the Southwest | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701090148/http://www.southwestlearning.org/topics/defining-southwest | archive-date=July 1, 2017 | url-status=usurped }}</ref>
From this perspective, almost all of the region's physiographical traits, geological formations, and weather are contained within a box between 26° and 38° northern latitude, and 98° 30' and 124° western longitude.<ref name=UAtsd>{{cite web | url=http://jsw.library.arizona.edu/3403/defined.html | publisher=University of Arizona | title=The Southwest Defined | editor-last=Wilder | editor-first=Joseph Carlton | access-date=July 11, 2015}}</ref>