unit 1

Cartographers

(map makers) today can make very detailed and accurate maps of the earth using photographs from satellites and much improved data collected on earth.

World Ocean

All oceans of the world are connected. Could a ship attempting to travel through all oceans do so without being stopped? What about ice? The waters beneath the ice do connect the ocean basins.

Location

Any point on the globe can be located by specifying its latitude and longitude.

Seas as Enclosed Lakes

Caspian sea and sea of Galilee

Longitude

Distance east and west of the Prime Meridian is measured in degrees from 00 to 1800.

Ocean description(continued)

Eurasia - a single continuous landmass that includes Europe and Asia - Asia includes Saudi Arabia and on political maps also includes Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines. Europe is separated from Asia by political boundaries set from the Caspian Sea north along the Ural Mountains to the Kara Sea. North America - includes Canada, U.S., Mexico and Central America down to Panama. Islands in the Arctic Ocean are included in North America on political maps. South America - includes all the countries south of Panama

Ice

Ice covers 10% of the total surface of the Earth. 4.5% is on land the remaining 5.5% is on the ocean's surface

The Southern Hemisphere

Is the half of the earth south of the equator.

Continents

Large land masses There are 6 major continental land areas: Africa Antarctica Australia Eurasia North America South America

Pacific Ocean

Largest Covers approximately one-third of the earth's surface More surface area than all the continents combined! The tallest mountain in the world is found in the Pacific Ocean: Mauna Kea of the Hawaiian Islands. Earthquakes and Tsunamis common

Maps

Maps give a two-dimensional representation to a three-dimensional object. Even flattening the carved surface of a sphere onto a 2-dimensional surface changes the way it looks.

Partially Enclosed Seas

Mediterranean sea

Parallels of latitude

Parallels of latitude are imaginary reference lines that form complete circles around the earth parallel to the equator and each other.

Arctic Ocean (Northern Ocean)

Smallest Includes waters north of the North American and Eurasian continents. It is bounded from the Pacific by the Bering Strait and from the Atlantic at about the 650 latitude (just north of Iceland). The central part of the ocean is permanently covered in about 10 feet of ice.

Ocean description

The 1955 United Nations agreement divided the landmasses according to political boundaries. Africa - continent bordered to the north by the Mediterranean Sea, to the west by the Atlantic Ocean, to the east by the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, and to the east-southwest by the Indian Ocean Antarctica - continent of the South Pole Australia - smallest of the continents - It is located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

The Equator

The Equator is a reference line drawn around the earth halfway between the north and south poles.

The International Date Line

The International Date Line is an imaginary line running mostly along the 1800 meridian.

Axis

The earth rotates daily around the axis. The north and south poles are the points where the axis enters and exits.

The primary reference lines are:

The equator (latitude) The prime meridian (longitude)

Seas

The term sea is a term of tradition and is not used consistently. Some seas are enclosed lakes. (Caspian Sea and Sea of Galilee) Some seas are partially enclosed or isolated from other sections of ocean. (Mediterranean Sea and North Sea) "The Seven Seas" and "the South Seas" are terms of ancient times or of literature and not places on maps and charts.

Section 3 Locating Points on a Globe

There are two types of reference lines used to make accurate maps and to locate points or positions on globe, map or chart of the earth.

Types of Maps

Three types of maps are used in the study of continents and ocean basins: Homolosine maps - (refer to figure 1-1 on page 2) distorts the continents as little as possible. equal-area maps - (refer to fig 2-1 page 8) appear as if globes were cut apart but each has an equal area cylindrical projection map - (refer to fig 2-2 page 8) to get a "full" map the ends would be connected (most maps used in the classroom)

Ocean Basins

World's Ocean is divided into 4 major ocean basins: Arctic Atlantic Indian Pacific There are no natural boundaries that entirely separate the 4 ocean basins. 1955 - The United Nations established the boundaries of the oceans and continents.

Meridians of longitude

are imaginary lines forming half circles passing from the North Pole to the South Pole

Degrees of latitude

are measured from an imaginary point at the center of the earth.

hemi

half

Latitude

is the distance measured in degrees from 00 to 900 north and south of the equator.

The Northern Hemisphere

is the half of the earth north of the equator.

Atlantic Ocean

2nd largest and youngest Connects the polar ocean waters Located between the continents of North and South America, Europe, Africa and Antarctica. Covers about 20% of the Earth's surface Busiest shipping ocean Crude oil and natural gas

Indian Ocean

3rd largest ocean It is surrounded by southern Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, Africa, the Malay Peninsula, the Sunda Islands, Australia and Antartica. Trade route between Africa and Asia! Petroleum extracted from Persian Gulf