Chapter 1: The Nature of Physical Geography

1.4 - What Are Some Important Earth Cycles?

A fundamental principle of all natural sciences is that energy and matter can be neither created nor destroyed, but only transferred from one form to another - the First Law of Thermodynamics. A second principle is that energy and matter tend to become dispersed into a more uniform spatial distribution - the Second Law of Thermodynamics. A) What is cycled and moved in the atmosphere? Atmospheric processes involve the redistribution of energy and matter from one part of the atmosphere to another. B) How are matter and energy moved in the hydrosphere? Many processes in the Earth occur as part of a cycle, a term that describes the movement of matter and energy between different sites in Earth's surface, subsurface, and atmosphere. The most important of these is the hydrophilic cycle, which involves local-to-global-scale storage and circulation of eater and associated energy near Earth's Surface. C) How does the rock cycle affect materials of the lithosphere? The rock cycle, described the movement of matter and energy on and below Earth's surface at timescales form second to billions of years, involving such processes as erosion, burial, melting, and uplift of mountains. D) What cycles and processes are important in the biosphere?

1.10 - How Do We Use Maps and Photographs?

A) How much area do maps portray? We use the general term scale to describe how much area the map shoes. More specifically, scale is the ration of the distance on a map to the actual distance (in the same unit) on Earth. B) How are maps made? Originally, topographic maps were produced by sending a team of surveyors out in the field and having them map the area, drawing lines on paper maps, and taking notes. Today, such maps can be produces directly from laser and radar measurements from orbiting spacecraft or from pairs of photographs taken from slightly different perspectives. C) How can maps be used for reporting information? In most cases, we use existing maps, and mark on the maps the location of things we observe, such as the locations of glacial features or certain types of trees. neither case, this type of map actually produces new knowledge and is therefore a form or primary data. D) How can maps be used to analyze and interpret the environment? A preexisting map that is used for providing the input for answering some other question is known as a secondary data source.

1.5 - How Do Earth's Four Spheres Interact?

A) What are some examples of energy and matter exchanges between two spheres? the fours spheres interact in complex and sometimes unanticipated ways. B) To what extent do humans influence interactions between the spheres? Some consequences of human impacts are not felt immediately but only appear much later, after the activity has continued for many years.

1.3 - How Do Natural Systems Operate?

A) What are the four spheres of Earth? Earth consists of hour overlapping spheres - the atmosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere - each of which interacts with the other three spheres. The atmosphere is a mix of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gas that surround Earth's surface, gradually diminishing in concentration out to a distance of approximately 100 kilometres, the approximate edge of outer space. The biosphere includes all types of life, including humans, and all of the places it can exist on above, and below Earth's surface. The hydrosphere is water in oceans, glaciers, lakes streams, wetlands, groundwater, moisture in soil, and clouds. The lithosphere refers generally to the soil upper part of the Earth, including Earth's crust. Water, air, and life extend down into the lithosphere, so the boundary between the soil Earth and other spheres is not distinct, and the four sphere overlap. B) What are open and closed systems? There are tow main types of systems: An open system allows matter and energy to move into and out of the system. An closed system does not exchange matter, or perhaps even energy, with its surroundings. C) How do Earth systems operate?

1.11 - How Do We Use Global Positioning Systems and Remote Sensing?

A) What is GPS? GPS provides the accurate position on Earth's surface including latitude,, longitude, elevation, and even how fast we are traveling. This information comes from a series of satellites orbiting Earth that send radio signals to ground-based receivers, like the ones on our dashboards, or in our phones or handheld GPS. B) How do we us GPS to study geographic features? Geographers employ tow types of GPS devices, the familiar handheld GPS and the Differential GPS (DGPS). C) What is remote sensing? The term remote sensing refers to techniques used to collect data or images form a distance, including the processing of such data, and the remote construction of maps using these techniques. Remote sensing can be carried out using a helicopter, airplane, drone, satellite, balloon, ship, or other vehicle, or it can be performed with instruments fixed on the land surface. These are two general types of remote-sensing systems: passive and active systems. D) What types of remote sensing are used by geographers? Geographers use a variety of remote-sensing techniques, measuring various types of energy, to study Earth's atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Geographers also document and investigate patterns in land use, vegetation cover, erosion rates, extent of pollution, ocean temperatures, and atmospheric water content and circulation.

1.9 - How Do Map Projections Influence the Portrayal of Spatial Data?

Earth is NOT Flat, so a flat map cannot portray all locations accurately. An ideal map would preserve directions, distances, shapes, and areas, but it is not possible to preserve all four of these accurately. Instead, either the shape of the features on a map, such as country outlines, is preserved or the area of features is preserved, but never both at the same time. A)What is the rationale behind map projections? A map projection is a mathematical algorithm used to represent places on a three-dimensional spherical Earth on a flat map. Some map projections attempt to preserve shapes, and are called conformal. If shapes are preserved, directions may be preserved but areas are distorted and scale will vary across the map. these imperfections get worse for maps that show larger areas. B) What are the major types of projections and what advantages does each offer? Sinusoidal projections work on this same premise. It the map can be interrupted so that areas of lesser significance for a given application are not shown, then less distortion exists in the areas that are shown. Straight. parallel lines remain so, and have their correct length. Meridians become progressively longer toward the edges of each lobe of the map. While areas are preserved, shape distortion increases near the edges of each lobe. Cylindrical projections, the globe is transformed to a flat page by projecting a globe outward onto a cylinder. The projection starts at a line, called the standard line, where the globe touches the cylinder, usually at the equator. These types of map projections have no distortion at the standard line (equator) but distortion becomes worse with increasing distance from the standard line. the resulting maps portray parallels of latitudes as straight lines with the same length as the equator (that is, distorted in length) and depicts meridians also as straight lines intersection the parallels at right angles. Conical projections involve conceptualizing a cone over the globe, usually with the apex of the cone vertically above the pole. No distortion occurs along th arc where the globe touches the cones - the standard line, usually a parallel of latitude. Planar projections, the plane onto which the map is projected touches the globe in a single point, which becomes the center of the map. Distortion increases away from this point, and any straight line from this point is a line of true direction. Again, only one full hemisphere can be shown on such a map.

1.7 - What Do Latitude and Longitude Indicate?

If the sphere did not have any markings or seams, we would need to first establish a frame or reference - a place on the sphere form which to reference the location of the X. A) How do we represent locations on a globe? Parallels - The lines are parallel to one other and remain the same distance apart, and so are called parallels. Meridians - Lines that encircle the globe from North Pole to South Pole are called meridians. Meridians do not stay the same distance apart and are not parallel. Instead, meridians are widest at the equator and converge toward each pole. Great Circles - The intersection of a plane and a sphere is a curved, circular line that encircles the sphere. If the plane is constrained to pass through the center of the sphere, we call the resulting intersection a great circle. Small circles - An imaginary plane that intersects a sphere without going through Earth's center is called a small circle. B) What are latitude and longitude? Our imaginary grid of parallels and meridians provides a precise way to indicate locations using latitude and longitude, which are expressed in degrees. Fractions of a degree are expressed as decimal degrees (e.g., 9.73^o) or as minutes and seconds, where there are 60 minutes (indicated by ') in a degree and 60 seconds (") in a minute (e.e., 9^o 43' 48"). The latitude of a location indicated its position north or south of the equator. Lines of latitude are parallels that encircle the globe east-west. the longitude of a lacation indicates its east-est position. Lines of longitude are meridians that encircle the globe north-south. Prime Meridian - a zero-degree meridian.

1.12 - How Do We Use GIS to Explore Spatial Issues?

Maps created from aerial photographes, satellite imagery, and field observations can be stored in computer databases called geographic information systems (GiS), where a variety of information can then be combines quickly and efficiently to examine relationships among the different features. A) What are geographic information systems? B) What kinds of calculations are possible with GIS? Spatial analysis is a cornerstone of geography, and GIS can evaluate the spatial distributions within the data, highlight correspondences among different variables, and automate identification of properties of spatial distributions.

Introduction

Most questions that arise: Physical geography deals with the landforms and processes on Earth's surface, the character and processes in oceans and other bodies of water, atmospheric processes that cause weather and climate, and how these various aspects affect life, and much more. Natural hazards: Major concern in many parts of the world. The Sahara Desert: Different climate/environment - unique Water is the most important Oceans

1.13 - What Is the Role of Time in Geography?

Not everyone witnesses sunrise at the same time, because the Sun rises at different times in different locations. Some ideas from geography, especially the concept of longitude, help us understand these differences and describe time so that society can operate in a more orderly manner. A) How do we define time globally? Other measurements of time are locally based, so in the 1800s the world had to agree on an international system for defining time, based on the Prime Meridian and the International Date Line. B) How are time zones defined? The world is divided into 24 hour time zones, based loosely on longitude. This map color-codes these 24 time zones, most of which have irregular boundaries because they follow natural or political boundaries or try to keep some population center in a single zone. the boundaries between the four time zones covering the contiguous U.S. are mostly drawn along state or country boundaries or natural features. C) How do we refer to rates of events and processes? A rate is how much something changed divided by the time required for the change to occur.

1.6 - How Do We Depict Earth's Surface?

Some maps allow us to visualize the landscape and navigate across the land, whereas others permit the quantitative measurement of areas, directions, and steepness of slopes. A) How do maps help us study Earth's surface? B) How do we refer to differences in Topography?

1.1 - What is Physical Geography?

The study of spatial distributions of phenomena across the landscape, processes that created and changed those distributions, and implications for those distributions on people. Geography is both a natural and a social science A) What approach do geographers use to investigate important issues? Geographers think spatially, meaning they emphasize the setting, such as location, in addressing problems and holistically, integrating ideas from a wide variety of the natural and social sciences. In many ways, it is not what is studied that make is geography, but instead how it is studied. B) How does geography influence our lives? What is there, what its distribution is, and what processes might be occurring.

1.2 - How Do We Investigate Geographic Questions?

The types of data required to investigate each of theses problems are equally divers, but most geographers try to approach the problem in a similar, objective way, guided by spatial information and relying on various geographic tools. A) How do geographers approach problems? The conceptual basis of these questions lies in the notion that the location of something affects, and is a product of, other features or processes in both the natural and human environment, and of interactions between the natural and human environments. B) What is the difference between qualitative and quantitative data? Qualitative data include descriptive words, labels, sketches, or other images. Quantitative data involve numbers that represent measurements. C) How do we test alternative explanations? The scientific method

1.8 - What Are Some Other Coordinate Systems?

We use other systems besides latitude and longitude to describe location. These include the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) system, the State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS), and the Public Land Survey (PLSS). A) How do we use the UTM system? The UTM systme slices the nonpolar region into 60 north-south zones, each 6^o of longitude wide. the slices are numbered form 1 to 60, with numbers increasing eastward from the International Date Line. The advantage if the UTM system is that it is a "square" grid system measured in meters rather than degrees, so it is convenient for measuring direction and distance. We can specify locations using several systems, and convert from one location system to another. B) How do we describe locations using the State Plan Coordinate System? The State Plan Coordinate System (SPCS) is a third system for mapping, used only in the u>S> SPCS ignores the distortion caused by the curvature of the Earth by treating the surface as a plane, so it should only be used for smaller area like states or parts of states. As a result, the system can use X-Y coordinates to represent positions, simplifying land surveys and calculations of distance and areas. C) How do we describe location using the Public Land Survey System? PLSS is based around some initial point. From this point, a Principal Meridian extends both north and south and a Base Line extends both east and west. Beginning at the Principal Meridian, the land is subdivided into six-mile-wide, north-south strips of land called ranges. Beginning at the Base Line, the land is subdivided into six-mile-wide, east-west strips of land called townships.