CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
UNIVERSE & ORIGIN
The origin of the Universe is unknown — it is the
ultimate mystery of this whole story OF UNIVERSE. The
laws of physics which applied in the beginning are not
clear, so it is hard to guess where it might have come from.
There are several theories of how the Universe began. But
the one most acceptable and plausible is BIGBANG
THEORY. The Universe is what we can see from Earth -
sometimes called the observable Universe. The Universe is
just a tiny part of the Cosmos. It is because the Cosmos
inflated that the Universe seems flat. Space in the
Macrocosms might have been curved, so that, for example,
the angles in a triangle did not add up to 180 degrees. But
as the tiny region, which would eventually become the
Universe was expanded, this curvature was almost entirely
flattened out, in the same way as the curvature of the
surface of a soccer ball would be flattened out if you blew
it up to the size of the Earth. We use the word
Macrocosm0s to mean “everything there is”. We will see
that the Cosmos and the Universe are just small parts of
the Macrocosmos. cosmic inflation removes vast parts of
the total universe from our observable horizon, most
cosmologists accept that it is impossible to observe the
whole continuum and may use the expression our universe,
referring to only that which is knowable by human beings
in particular. In cosmological terms, the universe is thought
to be a finite or infinite space-time continuum in which all
matter and energy exist. Some scientists hypothesize that
the universe may be part of a system of many other
universes, known as the multiverse.
MULTIVERSE
There is some speculation that
multiple universes exist in a higher-level
multiverse (also known as a megaverse),
our universe being one of those
universes. For example, matter that falls
into a black hole in our universe could emerge as a Big
Bang, starting another universe. However, all such ideas
are currently untestable and cannot be regarded as anything
more than speculation..
BIG BANG THEORY:
It explains how everything we see today was created
by a single point of matter.The Big Bang was the
beginning of space and time, as many physicists believe
today. Note that this is only a theory and has not yet
been proven, but several key observations have been
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made that support it. In the beginning of our time frame,
all of the matter that exists today in the universe was
packed into a single point in
space-time, known as a
singularity.
A singularity is a point that
has infinite density and is infinitely
small. At one moment, all of this
matter exploded outward in what
is called a Big Bang. This matter
has been expanding and forming different structures like
galaxies and other celestial bodies ever since. Depending
on the average density of matter and energy in the universe,
it will either keep on expanding forever or it will be
gravitationally slowed down and will eventually collapse back
on itself in a “Big Crunch”. Currently the evidence
suggests not only that there is insufficient mass/energy to
cause a recollapse, but that the expansion of the universe
seems to be accelerating and will
accelerate for eternity.Up until
the 1920s, it was believed that
UNIVERSE was static and
everlasting. But until Edwin
Hubble came along. In 1929,
Edwin Hubble made a
monumental observation that
changed the course of astronomy.
He discovered that galaxies far away from us have a red
shift. This means that they are moving away from us and
thus, must have been closer together at some point; and
so, ultimately they must have existed in one point in space,
a singularity. According to the Big Bang, the universe
emerged from an extremely dense and hot state (bottom).
Since then, space itself has expanded with the passage of
time, carrying the galaxies with it. A fundamental aspect
of the Big Bang can be seen today in the observation that
the farther away from us galaxies are, the faster they move
away from us. The Big Bang is the scientific theory that
the universe emerged from a tremendously dense and hot
state about 13.7 billion years ago. The theory is based on
the observations indicating the expansion of space (in
accord with the Robertson-Walker model of general
relativity) as indicated by the Hubble redshift theory,
which can be explained by DOPPLER’S EFFECT.
Hubble’s law is the statement in physical cosmology
that the redshift in light coming from distant galaxies is
proportional to their distance. The law was first formulated
by Edwin Hubble and Milton Humason.
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 How the pioneers of cosmology found the
information necessary to prove the Big Bang with only a
telescope and a spectrograph?
DOPPLER’S EFFECT proves the expansion of
the universe. The Doppler effect, named after Christian
Andreas Doppler, is the apparent change in frequency
and wavelength of a wave that is perceived by an observer
moving relative to the source of the waves. The Doppler
effect produces different types of shift in respect to the
waves and their frequency. The shorter the wavelength of
light, the more blue shifted it is, and the longer the
wavelength, the more red shifted it is. These shifts are used
by modern-day cosmologists to determine whether an object
in space is heading towards or away from us. Many of the
objects seen in the night sky, the average stars, nebulas
and galaxies, emit light that becomes red shifted as it flies
towards us. This was first seen by Edwin Hubble in the
1920s. At the time, the popular theory of the universe was
that it was a static entity. However, this newfound fact,
that many objects were heading away from us, seen in all
directions, pointed to one theory, that the universe was
expanding. It was also found that the farther one delves
into the midst of space, the quicker the objects are receding
from us.
• Cosmology The astrophysical study of the history,
structure, and dynamics of the universe.
• Astronomy the scientific study of matter in outer
space, especially the positions, dimensions, distribution,
motion, composition, energy, and evolution of celestial
bodies and phenomena
• Astrophysics The part of astronomy that deals
principally with the physics of the universe, including
luminosity, density, temperature, and the chemical
composition of stars, galaxies, and the interstellar
• Big Bang is the theory of cosmology in which the
expansion of the universe is presumed to have begun
with a primeval explosion (referred to as the “Big
Bang”).
• Ptolemy (ca.100-ca.170): Ptolemy believed the planets
and Sun to orbit the Earth in the order Mercury,
Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This system
became known as the Ptolemaic system
• Nicolas Copernicus, (1473-1543) Polish astronomer
who advanced the theory that the Earth and other
planets revolve around the Sun (the “heliocentric”
theory). This was highly controversial at the time, since
the prevailing Ptolemaic model held that the Earth
was the center of the universe, and all objects,
including the sun, circle it. The Ptolemaic model had
been widely accepted in Europe for 1000 years when
Copernicus proposed his model. (It should be noted,
however, that the heliocentric idea was first put forth
by Aristarcus of Samos in the 3rd century B.C., a
fact known to Copernicus but long ignored by others
prior to him).
• EUD: Exploration of the Universe Division, located
at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The scientists,
programmers and technicians working here study the
astrophysics of objects which emit cosmic ray, x-ray
and gamma-ray radiation.
• Galaxy: A component of our universe made up of
gas and a large number (usually more than a million)
of stars held together by gravity.
• GalileoGalilei,(1564-1642):An Italian scientist, Galileo
was renowned for his epoch making contribution to
physics, astronomy, and scientific philosophy. He is
regarded as the chief founder of modern science. He
developed the telescope, with which he found craters
on the Moon and discovered the largest moons of
Jupiter. Galileo was condemned by the Catholic
Church for his view of the cosmos based on the
theory of Copernicus.
• Edwin Hubble,(1889-1953):American astronomer
whose observations proved that galaxies are “island
universes”, not nebulae inside our own galaxy. His
greatest discovery, called “Hubble’s Law”, was the
linear relationship between a galaxy’s distance and the
speed with which it is moving. The Hubble Space
Telescope is named in his honor.
• Nebula (pl.nebulae): A diffuse mass of interstellar
dust and gas
• Implosion: A violent inward collapse. An inward
explosion
• WMAP (Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe)
A NASA satellite designed to detect fluctuations in
the cosmic microwave background. From its initial
results published in Feb 2003, astronomers pinpointed
the age of the universe, its geometry, and when the
first stars appeared.
TIMELINE OF COSMOLOGY:
The timeline of cosmology lists the sequence of
cosmological theories and discoveries in chronological order.
The most modern developments follow the scientific
development of the discipline of physical cosmology.
Š c500 onwards - Several astronomers propose a Sun-
centered Universe, including Aryabhata, Bhaskara I,
Ibn al-Shatir, and Copernicus
Š 2nd century - Ptolemy proposes an Earth-centred
Universe, with the Sun and planets revolving around
the Earth
Š 1687 - Sir Isaac Newton’s laws describe large-scale
motion throughout the universe
Š 1791 - Erasmus Darwin pens the first description of
a cyclical expanding and contracting universe
Š 1905 - Albert Einstein publishes the Special Theory
of Relativity, positing that space and time are not
separate continuums
Š 1915 - Albert Einstein publishes the General Theory
of Relativity, showing that an energy density warps
 spacetime
Š 1922 - Alexander Friedmann finds a solution to the
Einstein field equations which suggests a general
expansion of space
Š 1929 - Edwin Hubble demonstrates the linear redshift-
distance relation and thus shows the expansion of the
universe
Š 1948 - Ralph Alpher, Hans Bethe(“in absentia”), and
George Gamow examine element synthesis in a rapidly
expanding and cooling universe and suggest that the
elements were produced by rapid neutron capture
Š 1948 - Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold, and Fred
Hoyle propose steady state cosmologies based on the
perfect cosmological principle
Š 1950 - Fred Hoyle derisively coins the term “Big
Bang”.
Š 1963 - Fred Hoyle and Jayant Narlikar show that the
steady state theory can explain the isotropy of the
universe because deviations from isotropy and
homogeneity decay exponentially in time
Š 1965 - Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, astronomers
at Bell Labs discover the 2.7 K microwave background
radiation, which earns them the 1978 Nobel Prize in
Physics. Robert Dicke, James Peebles, Peter Roll and
David Todd Wilkinson interpret it as relic from the
big bang.
Š 1966 - Stephen Hawking and George Ellis show that
any plausible general relativistic cosmology is singular
Š 1967 - Andrei Sakharov presents the requirements for
baryogenesis, a baryon-antibaryon asymmetry in the
universe
Š 1990 - Preliminary results from NASA’s COBE mission
confirm the cosmic microwave background radiation
is an isotropic blackbody to an astonishing one part
in 105 precision, thus eliminating the possibility of an
integrated starlight model proposed for the background
by steady state enthusiasts.
Š 1998 - Adam Riess, Saul Perlmutter and others discover
the cosmic acceleration in observations of Type Ia
supernovae providing the first evidence for a non-zero
cosmological constant. This is confirmed by
measurements of the cosmic microwave background
radiation by the BOOMERanG experime
Š 2003 - NASA’s WMAP takes more detailed pictures
of the cosmic microwave background radiation than
were obtained by the BOOMERanG experiment. The
image can be interpreted to indicate that the universe
is 13.7 billion years old (within one percent error) and
confirm that the Lambda-CDM model and the
inflationary theory are correct.
Š 2006 - The long-awaited three-year WMAP results are
released, confirming previous analysis, correcting
several points, and including polarization data
SNIPPETS
• HUBBLE’S LAW is considered the first
observational basis for the expanding space
paradigm and today serves as one of the most often
cited pieces of evidence in support of the Big Bang
• The observed expansion of the universe (Hubble’s law)
began — calculated to be 13.7 billion (1.37 × 1010)
years ago (±2%).
• The composition of primordial matter through
nucleosynthesis( as explained by BIG BANG) was
predicted by the Alpher-Bethe-Gamow theory.
• NASA’s Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe
(WMAP) project estimates the age of the universe to
be: (13.7 ± 0.2) × 109 years.
• Dark matter : Dark matter is matter that does not
emit or reflect enough electromagnetic radiation (such as
light, X-rays and so on) to be detected directly, but
whose presence may be inferred from its gravitational
effects on visible matter.
• The composition of dark matter is unknown, but may
include new elementary particles such as WIMPs and
axions, ordinary and heavy neutrinos, dwarf stars and
planets collectively called MACHOs, and clouds of
nonluminous gas.
CELESTIAL BODIES
GALAXIES: Galaxies are MAGNANIMOUS
systems of stars and interstellar matter. Galaxies are
located in the billions all throughout the universe and
contain many MILLIONS of stars; these numbers range
from the millions to the trillions. A typical galaxy is
100,000 light-years in diameter. There are four different
types of galaxies the universe contains—or the only four
types that have been discovered: spiral, irregular,
lenticular and elliptical.
Spiral galaxies, like *our own Milky Way, have two
main parts to them: the main, flat disk in the center, with
the younger generations of stars arranged in a spiral pattern
emerging from the central disk. Our galaxy, the Milky Way,
has several of these arms spiraling outward from the central
disk: arms such as the Orion Arm, in which we are located,
the Sagittarius Arm and more.
Lenticular galaxies in effect spiral galaxies without
any arms emerging from the center. They appear to be
simply flat disks in the sky. The reason why these galaxies
have not become spiral is because all of the interstellar
matter they had in the beginning was used up. Therefore,
Lenticular Galaxies are mostly if not fully composed of
the older generations of stars.
Elliptical Galaxies usually appear to be either
strangely circular or highly eccentric in shape. The galaxies
often seem to be just large masses of stars without a
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
common center because the stars in these types of
galaxies do not rotate together as a group. Elliptical
Galaxies, as Lenticular ones, have little interstellar
matter to create new stars with and are, again,
composed of mostly older generation stars.
Irregular Galaxies, as their name suggests, have no
particular shapes as the spiral or Lenticular Galaxies do.
This is due to the many neighboring celestial objects that
exert a gravitational pull on these galaxies making them
irregular. Some galaxies float through space by themselves
and are lonely wanderers. But many galaxies occur in large
groups in which they create large gravitational fields that
alter the galaxies’ appearances. The numbers of galaxies in
a cluster could range from a few to a dozen to several
thousand.
• Our Milky Way galaxy: The Milky Way (a translation
of the Latin Via Lactea, in turn derived from the
Greek Galaxia Kuklos) is the galaxy in which the Earth
is found. When viewed from the Earth and its
environs, it appears in the night sky as a hazy band
of white light (hence “milky”) across the celestial
sphere, formed by stars within the disc of its namesake
galaxy. It is also simply known as the Galaxy, as the
Earth’s solar system is a part of it. The Milky Way
appears brightest in the direction of Sagittarius, where
the galactic center lies. Our galaxy is a part of cluster
of 13 other galaxies called LOCAL GROUP.
• Andromeda Galaxy: The Andromeda Galaxy (also
known as Messier Object 31, M31, or NGC 224; older
texts often call it the Andromeda Nebula) is a giant
spiral galaxy in the Local Group, together with the
Milky Way galaxy. It is at a distance of approximately
2.9 million light years or 900 kpc, in the direction of
the constellation Andromeda.With a mass of about
1.5 times more than the Milky Way, it is the dominant
galaxy of the Local Group, which consists of about
30 small galaxies plus three large spirals: Andromeda,
Milky Way and M33.
• The two nearest galaxies to our home galaxy are
LARGE MAGELLANIC CLOUD and SMALL
MAGELLANIC CLOUD.
• A system of galaxies containing from a few to a few
thousand-member galaxies which are all gravitationally
bound to each other are called cluster of galaxies.
• Cluster of galaxies typically organized in to distinct
shapes are called constellations and are named
according to such shapes and geometric figures. There
are 88 constellations identified so far. HYDRA is the
largest, crux is the smallest constellation. The
brightest stars within a constellation is named from
the name of the constellation it self, using Greek
alphabet and Latin genitive form for the constellation.
For Example alphe urse majoris is the brightest
star in Ursa Major constellation.
ASTERIODS: An asteroid is a small, solid object in our
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Solar System, orbiting the Sun. An asteroid is an
example of a minor planet (or planetoid). These
minor planets are much smaller than the small
planets such as Mercury or Mars. It is believed
that most asteroids are remnants of the
protoplanetary disc. The incorporation of these
remnants into the planets during the formation of
the Solar System was prevented by large
gravitational perturbations induced by Jupiter.
Some asteroids have moons. The vast majority of
the asteroids are within the main asteroid belt, with
elliptical orbits between those of Mars and Jupiter.
There are two OTHER main groups of asteroids
in our solar system.
One of these groups is called the Near Earth
Asteroids :
These rocks, while orbiting the sun, often are in close
proximity to the Earth and there have been some fears
that possible collisions may occur, but so far nothing on
any great scale has taken place in the past decade or so.
So these asteroids rarely cause any disturbances or worry
among people and the likelihood for an asteroid to impact
the earth is very small. The other group is called the Trojan
Asteroids. These pieces of rock and debris orbit Jupiter
and are usually either a little ahead or a little behind the
planet in its orbit.
• Johann Bode popularized a relationship giving
planetary distances from the Sun, which became
known as “Bode’s law”; predicted an undiscovered
planet between Mars and Jupiter, where the asteroids
were later found
• In the last years of the 18th century, Baron Franz
Xaver von Zach organized a group of 24 astronomers
to search the sky for the “missing planet” predicted
at about 2.8 AU from the Sun by the Titius-Bode
law, partly as a consequence of the discovery, by Sir
William Herschel in 1781, of the planet Uranus at
the distance “predicted” by the law.
• The first asteroid, Ceres, was not discovered by a
member of the group, but rather by accident in 1801
by Giuseppe Piazzi director, at the time, of the
observatory of Palermo, in Sicily. Piazzi named it after
Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture
• Three other asteroids (Pallas, Juno, Vesta) were
discovered over the next few years.
• The three most important groups of near-Earth
asteroids are the Apollos, Amors, and the Atens.
• NASA is planning to launch the Dawn Mission in
2007, which will orbit both Ceres and Vesta in 2011-
2015.It has been suggested that asteroids might be
used in the future as a source of materials which may
be rare or exhausted on earth (asteroid mining).
NEBULA :
Nebulas are magnificently beautiful celestial clouds
composed mostly of hydrogen gas and interstellar dust
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
particles. Many nebulas throughout the universe exist
in galaxies. There are many types of nebulas; more
specifically, four main types. The categories are
Planetary, Diffuse, Supernova Remnants and Dark
Nebulas. There are also nebulas under the category
Herbig-Haro. These types are very bright and small.
This effect is due to jets of gas and other particles, which
are expelled by a star during its stages of formation.
Planetary Nebulas, as their name suggests, resemble
planets. In actuality, however, these nebulas are the
shells of star material a red giant sheds during its death
stages (when it transforms into a white dwarf star). Since
these red giants shed
layers, or clouds of gas
and other material, this
goes along with the
definition of a nebula.
COMETS :
A comet is
basically a ball of ice
and dust that looks like
a star with a tail. Some
comets do not have
tails, looking like hazy,
round spots of light.
Comets are believed to
originate in a cloud (the Oort cloud) at large distances
from the sun consisting of debris left over from the
condensation of the solar nebula; the outer edges of
such nebulae are cool enough that water exists in a
solid (rather than gaseous) state. Asteroids originate via
a different process, but very old comets which have
lost all their volatile materials may come to resemble
asteroids. Most comets have three parts: a nucleus, a
head (coma), and a tail. The comets in our solar system
usually have very long orbits and spend most of this
time away from the sun. During these periods, comets
appear to be just simple heaps of rock, dust and ice
traveling through the cosmos. But when a comet is
traveling towards and near the sun, it has several clear
parts: the nucleus, coma, hydrogen cloud, dust tail and
ion tail. Many comets in our solar system often have
huge orbits; some even exceed the orbit of Pluto. Today,
most comets are located outside our solar system in
part of the original cloud of dust and gas that has
remained virtually untouched for billions of years. These
regions are referred to as the Oort cloud and the Kuiper
Belt. The total number of comets within this belt was
estimated as a trillion.
• The Oort Cloud was first theorized by the Dutch
astronomer Jan Oort in 1950.
• The Kuiper Belt is a region first theorized by the
Dutch-American astronomer Gerard Kuiper in 1951.
Kuiper conjectured that a belt of comets probably
existed outside the orbit of Neptune within the range
of 30 to 50 astronomical units (2.8 to 4.6 billion miles)
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
from the sun
• Collisions and perturbations by the planets of our
solar system are believed to be the reasons for the
ejection of bodies from this belt.
• Comet Halley or Halley’s Comet (its official
designation is 1P/Halley). Its next appearance is due
in 2061.
• The second comet to be discovered to have a periodic
orbit was Comet Encke.
METEORS AND METEORITES
A meteor is the visible path of a meteoroid that
enters the Earth’s (or another body’s) atmosphere,
commonly called a shooting star or falling star. It is
probably a piece of remnant piece of comets, which
are scattered in interplanetary spaces. They give off a
streak of bright light when it burns up in Earth’s
atmosphere
Meteorite:
A meteorite is an extraterrestrial body that survives
its impact with the Earth’s atmosphere without being
destroyed. While in space it is called a meteoroid. When
it enters the atmosphere, air resistance causes the body to
heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball, also known
as a meteor or shooting star.
• A very bright meteor may be called a fireball or
bolide. The International Meteor Organization
defines fireballs as being meteors of magnitude -3
or brighter.
• A meteor striking the Earth or other object is called
Meteorite and may produce an impact called crater.
Ex Baringer crater near flag staff
• Molten terrestrial material “splashed” from such a
crater can cool and solidify into an object known as a
tektite.
• The only known examples of meteorites that didn’t
fall on Earth are Heat Shield Rock, which was found
on Mars, and two tiny fragments of asteroids that were
found among the samples collected on the Moon by
Apollo 12 (1969) and Apollo 15 (1971) astronauts.
• Meteor shower can be seen when Earth passes
through a trail of dust left by any comet in
interplanetary spaces.
• Leonid Shower was a meteor shower, which
originated in the constellation LEO and actually
caused by the dust of comet Temple turtle.
THE STARRY WORLD
STARS : Scientifically, stars are defined as self-
gravitating spheres of plasma in hydrostatic equilibrium,
which generate their own energy through the process of
nuclear fusion. Stars are not spread uniformly across the
universe, but are typically grouped into galaxies. A typical
galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars. The energy
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
produced by stars radiates into space as electromagnetic
radiation, as a stream of neutrinos* from the star’s core,
and as a stream of particles from the star’s outer layers
(its stellar wind). The peak frequency of the light depends
on the temperature of the outer layers of the star.
Besides the emitted visible light, the ultraviolet and
infrared components are typically far from negligible.
The apparent brightness of a star is measured by its
apparent magnitude. Stellar astronomy is the study of
stars and the phenomena exhibited by the various
forms/developmental stages of stars There are many
types of stars ranging from the very small and dense, to
the very large and hot. All have different properties as
well and are categorized into four main groups: Dwarfs,
Giants, Binary stars and Neutron stars.
* Neutrino: A fundamental particle produced in
massive numbers by the nuclear reactions in stars.
Dwarf stars are classified in four groups: red,
yellow, white and brown dwarfs. Red dwarfs are small,
somewhat cool stars; yellow dwarfs are relatively small and
not very hot, like our sun. These stars are very common
throughout our universe. White dwarfs are small, very hot
and very dense stars; their sizes are close to that of Earth.
White dwarfs are mainly composed of carbon and are the
remnants of a Red Giant that has lost its outer layers
during the final stages of its life. Brown dwarfs are stars
that do not have enough mass to continue nuclear fusion
within the core.
Giant stars: There are three main categories of giants:
red, blue and super-giants. A Red giant is a star that
has expanded from its original size in the last stages of its
life. If they become cooler and are usually orange in color.
Blue giants are also very large and very massive, but unlike
red giants, they are very hot as well. Super-giants are
extremely large stars, sometimes the size of our solar
system. These stars are rare in the universe and they die in
the form of a cataclysmic explosion called a supernova
and result in the formation of a black hole.
Neutron stars form in the aftermath of a supernova
explosion. They are extremely dense and very small, about
5-16 kilometers in diameter. The reason why they do not
become black holes is because the star they formed from
was not massive enough to create such an effect. Pulsars
are also neutron stars, only they spin very rapidly and
emit short but strong bursts of energy. If one notices
a pulsar in the night sky, it will look like an ordinary star
that is simply flashing.
A Binary star system is one that contains two stars
orbiting around a common center of mass larger than
theirs. An eclipsing binary system is one that contains a
large star and a smaller star orbiting it. This type of system
produces either a brightening or occluding effect, depending
on whether the smaller star enhances the larger star’s
brightness or occludes it; this depends on the position of
the smaller star in its orbit.
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An X-Ray binary system is made up of a normal,
living star and a collapsed star, which could be a white
dwarf, a black hole or a neutron star. If these two stars
are close enough to each other, the collapsed star will begin
to suck material away from the normal one. As the
matter is sucked into the white dwarf, black hole or
neutron star, an immense amount of heat is produced,
which results in the emissions of x-rays.
Pulsar: A rotating Neutron star, which generates
regular pulses of radiation. Pulsars were discovered by
observations at radio wavelengths but have since been
observed at optical, X-ray, and gamma-ray energies.
Nova (plural: novae): A star that experiences a
sudden outburst of radiant energy, temporarily increasing
its luminosity by hundreds to thousands of times before
fading back to its original luminosity
SUPERNOVA (PLURAL : SUPERNOVAE)
(a) The death explosion of a massive star, resulting in a
sharp increase in brightness followed by a gradual
fading. At peak light output, these types of supernova
explosions (called Type II supernovae) can outshine
a galaxy. The outer layers of the exploding star are
blasted out in a radioactive cloud. This expanding
cloud, visible long after the initial explosion fades from
view, forms a supernova remnant (SNR).
(b) The explosion of a white dwarf, which has
accumulated enough material from a companion star
to achieve a mass equal to the *Chandrasekhar limit.
These types of supernovae (called Type Ia) have
approximately the same intrinsic brightness, and can
be used to determine distances.
• Chandrasekhar limit A limit, which mandates that no white
dwarf (a collapsed, degenerate star) can be more massive than
about 1.4 solar masses. Any degenerate object more massive
must inevitably collapse into a neutron star
Black hole: Black hole formation owes some thing
to supernova. A black hole is the result of the collapse
of a very massive star. A supernova, however, does not
always lead to the formation of a black hole. White dwarfs
and neutron stars are the products of these explosions as
well. A black hole is only created when the star is
extremely massive and large called super giants. Under
normal conditions, a star will burn hydrogen fuel,
converting it into helium. During the last stages of the
star’s life, when the hydrogen fuel runs out, the star begins
to burn helium into a heavier element. These elements that
are burned, other than hydrogen, create an imbalance
between the gravitational forces and the nuclear forces that
under normal conditions keep the star stable. Due to this
imbalance, gravity takes over and the star begins to collapse
upon itself until it reaches a point of infinite density and
infinitely small size, in other words, a singularity. This
singularity, now known as a black hole, creates a massive
gravitational effect unlike any other. This effect is so great,
that even light cannot escape its gravitational pull.
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
A black hole also has an event horizon, the Way.
boundary of the black hole from where anything can • The smallest known star undergoing fusion in its
be pulled in with enormous gravitational pull. core is AB Doradus C, a companion to AB
QUASARS are enormously bright object at the edge Doradus A, which has a mass only 93 times that
of our universe, which emits massive amounts of energy. of Jupiter.
In an optical telescope, they appear point-like, similar to • High mass stars powerfully illuminate the clouds
stars, from which they derive their name (quasar = from which they formed. One example of such a
quasi-stellar). Quasars are thought to be the most distant nebula is the Orion Nebula.
objects yet discovered by mankind. The name quasar is • A black dwarf constitutes the remains of a Sun-
short for the term: ‘quasi stellar radio source.’ The sized star, which has evolved to a white dwarf and
reason why this celestial body has this full name is subsequently cooled down such that it only emits black
because the method at first used to discover these objects body radiation.
involved a relationship between radio-sources and
The sun: The Sun is the closest star to Earth. The
optical-sources. Astronomers have discovered that
strong gravitational pull of the Sun holds Earth and the
Quasars are enormously red shifted. What this means
other planets in the solar system in orbit. The Sun’s light
is that as the universe is expanding, the light waves from
and heat influence all of the objects in the solar system
a Quasar are being stretched. The more the red shift,
and allow life to exist on Earth. The Sun is an average
the farther they are away. Hence, the farther they are
star its size, age, and temperature fall in about the middle
away, the longer it takes for its light to reach us. So
of the ranges of these properties for all stars. Astronomers
Quasars basically give scientists a view of the early,
believe that the Sun is about 4.6 billion years old and will
primordial universe. Quasars produce enormous amounts
keep shining for about another 7 billion years.
of energy. These values can be as much as 100 galaxies
Mean distance from
combined. Quasars also can be as bright as a trillion of
Earth : 149.6×10 6 km(92.95×10 6
our suns. In other words, in one second, a Quasar produces
mi)(8.31 minutes at the speed
enough power to satisfy the electrical needs of earth for
of light)
the next billion years. The reason for this amazing power
Visual brightness (V) : “26.8m
and illumination is because in the center of a Quasar there
Absolute magnitude : 4.8m
may be a super-massive black hole with many stars
Spectral classification : G2V
surrounding it. Current theories hold that quasars are one
Orbital characteristics
type of AGN.
Mean distance from the
Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) Milky Way core : ~2.5×1017 km(26,000-28,000
light-years)
A class of galaxies, which spew massive amounts of
Galactic period : 2.25-2.50×108 a
energy from their centers, far more than ordinary galaxies.
Velocity : 217 km/s orbit around the
Many astronomers believe super massive black holes may
center of the Galaxy, 20 km/s
lie at the center of these galaxies and power their explosive
relative to average velocity of
energy output.
other stars in stellar
Quasi-Stellar Source (QSS) neighborhood
Sometimes also called quasi-stellar object (QSO); A Physical characteristics
stellar-appearing object of very large red shift that is a Mean diameter : 1.392×10 6 km(109 Earth
strong source of radio waves; presumed to be extragalactic diameters)
and highly luminous. Circumference : 4.373×10 6 km(342 Earth
diameters)
• A star generates energy through nuclear fusion and Oblation : 9×10"6
therefore emits light. Surface area : 6.09×1012 km²(11,900 Earths)
• All stars except the Sun appear as shining points in Volume : 1.41×10 18 km³(1,300,000
the nighttime sky that twinkle because of the effect Earths)
of the Earth’s atmosphere and their distance from us. Mass : 1.988 435×1030 kg(332,946
• The nearest star to the Earth, apart from the Sun, is Earths)
Proxima Centauri, which is 39.9 trillion kilometers, Density : 1.408 g/cm³
or 4.2 light years away (light from Proxima Centauri Surface gravity : 273.95 m s-2(27.9 g)
takes 4.2 years to reach Earth).
IN SIDE THE SUN
• Astronomers estimate that there are at least 70
sextillion (70×1021) stars in the known universe. That Core :
is 70 000 000 000 000 000 000 000, or 230 billion
The core of the Sun is considered to extend from
times as much as the 300 billion in our own Milky
the center to about 0.2 solar radii. It has a density of up
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU 7
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
to 150,000 kg/m (150 times the density of water on
3
During a total solar eclipse, the sun’s atmosphere is
Earth) and a temperature of close to 13,600,000 Kelvins more apparent to the eye.The parts of the Sun above
(by contrast, the surface of the Sun is close to 5,785 the photosphere are referred to collectively as the solar
Kelvins (1/2350th of the core)). Through most of the atmosphere. They can be viewed with telescopes operating
Sun’s life energy is produced by nuclear fusion through across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio through visible
a series of steps called the p-p (proton-proton) chain; this light to gamma rays, and comprise five principal zones:
process converts hydrogen into helium. The core is the only
The Chromosphere, the Transition region, the
location in the Sun that produces an appreciable amount
Corona, and the Heliosphere.
of heat via fusion: the rest of the star is heated by energy
that is transferred outward from the core. All of the The Heliosphere, which may be considered the
energy produced by tenuous outer atmosphere of the Sun, extends outward past
fusion in the core must the orbit of Pluto to the heliopause, where it forms a sharp
travel through many shock front boundary with the interstellar medium. The
successive layers to the Chromosphere, the Transition region, and Corona are
solar photosphere much hotter than the surface of the Sun; the reason why
before it escapes into is not yet known.
space as sunlight or The Chromosphere : The coolest layer of the Sun
kinetic energy of is a temperature minimum region about 500 km above the
particles. photosphere, with a temperature of about 4,000 K.Above
Radiation zone : the temperature minimum layer is a thin layer about
2,000 km thick, dominated by a spectrum of emission and
From about 0.2 to about 0.7 solar radii, solar
absorption lines. It is called the chromosphere from the Greek
material is hot and dense enough that thermal radiation
root chroma, meaning color, because the chromosphere
is sufficient to transfer the intense heat of the core
is visible as a colored flash at the beginning and end of
outward.
total eclipses of the Sun. The temperature in the
Escape velocity from
chromosphere increases gradually with altitude, ranging up
the Surface : 617.54 km/s (55 Earths)
to around 100,000 K near the top.
Surface temperature : 5785 K
Temperature of corona : 5 MK Transition region :Above the chromosphere is a
Core temperature : ~13.6 MK transition region in which the temperature rises rapidly from
Luminosity (Lsol) : 3.827×1026 W~3.75×1028 lm around 100,000 K to coronal temperatures closer to one
(~98 lm/W efficacy) million K. The increase is because of a phase transition as
helium within the region becomes fully ionized by the high
STRUCTURE OF THE SUN
temperatures.
Convection zone :
The corona:It is the extended outer atmosphere of
From about 0.7 solar radii to the Sun’s visible surface, the Sun, which is much larger in volume than the Sun itself.
the material in the Sun is not dense enough or hot enough The corona merges smoothly with the solar wind that fills
to transfer the heat energy of the interior outward via the solar system and heliosphere. The dark linesin the corona
radiation. As a result, thermal convection occurs as thermal are called FRAUNHOFER LINES.
columns carry hot material to the surface (photosphere)
The heliosphere:It extends from approximately 20
of the Sun. Once the material cools off at the surface, it
solar radii (0.1 AU) to the outer fringes of the solar system.
plunges back downward to the base of the convection zone,
to receive more heat from the top of the radiative zone. SOLAR ACTIVITY :
Convective overshoot is thought to occur at the base of
Sunspots : When observing the Sun with appropriate
the convection zone, carrying turbulent downflows into the
filtration, the most immediately visible features are usually
outer layers of the radiative zone.
its sunspots, which are well-defined surface areas that
Photosphere : appear darker than their surroundings because of lower
temperatures. Sunspots are regions of intense magnetic
The visible surface of the Sun, the photosphere, is
activity where convection is inhibited by strong magnetic
the layer below which the Sun becomes opaque to visible
fields, reducing energy transport from the hot interior to
light. Above the photosphere visible sunlight is free to
the surface.
propagate into space, and its energy escapes the Sun entirely.
The change in opacity is because of the decreasing overall Solar cycle : The number of sunspots visible on the
particle density: the photosphere is actually tens to hundreds Sun is not constant, but varies over a 10-12 year cycle
of kilometers thick. known as the Solar cycle. The solar cycle has a great
influence on space weather, and seems also to have a strong
Atmosphere :
influence on the Earth’s climate. Solar minima tend to be

8 srivenraman@gmail.com
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
correlated with colder temperatures, and longer than
average solar cycles tend to be correlated with hotter
temperatures. In the 17th century, the solar cycle appears
to have stopped entirely for several decades; very few
sunspots were observed during this period. During this
era, which is known as the Maunder minimum or Little
Ice Age, Europe experienced very cold temperatures.
Solar flare : It is a violent explosion in the Sun’s
atmosphere with an energy equivalent to a billion megaton
nuclear bombs, traveling at about 1 million km per hour.
Solar flares take place in the solar corona and chromosphere,
heating plasma to tens of millions of kelvins and
accelerating the resulting electrons, protons and heavier ions
to near the speed of light. They produce electromagnetic
radiation across the electromagnetic spectrum at all
wavelengths from long-wave radio to the shortest wavelength
Gamma rays. Most flares occur around sunspots, where
intense magnetic fields emerge from the Sun’s surface into
the corona.
A solar wind is a stream of charged particles (i.e., a
plasma) which are ejected from the upper atmosphere of
a star. When originating from stars other than the Earth’s
Sun, it is sometimes called a stellar wind.It consists mostly
of high-energy electrons and protons (about 1 keV) that
are able to escape the star’s gravity in part because of the
high temperature of the corona and the high kinetic energy
particles gain through a process that is not well understood
at this time. Many phenomena are directly related to the
solar wind, including: geomagnetic storms that can knock
out power grids on Earth, auroras, why the tail of a comet
always points away from the Sun, and the formation of
distant stars.
solar constant is the amount of incoming solar
radiation per unit area, measured on the outer surface of
Earth’s atmosphere, in a plane perpendicular to the rays. It
is measured by satellite to be roughly 1366 watts per square
metre.Thus, for the whole Earth, with a cross section of
127,400,000 km², the power is 1.740×1017 W. The solar
constant is not quite constant
VAN ALLEN RADIATION BELT
Solar activity has several effects on the Earth and its
surroundings. Because the Earth has a magnetic field,
charged particles from the solar wind cannot impact the
atmosphere directly, but are instead deflected by the
magnetic field and aggregate to form the Van Allen belts.
The Van Allen Radiation Belt is a torus of energetic
charged particles (plasma) around Earth, trapped by Earth’s
magnetic field. The Van Allen belts are closely related to
the poles where particles strike the upper atmosphere and
fluoresce.The Van Allen belts consist of an inner belt
composed primarily of protons and an outer belt composed
mostly of electrons. Radiation within the Van Allen belts
can occasionally damage satellites passing through them.The
Van Allen belts form arcs around the Earth with their tips
near the north and south poles. The most energetic particles
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
can ‘leak out’ of the belts and strike the Earth’s upper
atmosphere, causing a bright streak of light that sweeps
the sky, known by name aurorae borealis in the northern
hemisphere and aurorae australis in the southern
hemisphere.
• Apastron : The point of greatest separation between
two stars, which are in orbit around each other. (In
case of Binary stars) Opposite of periastron
• Cataclysmic variable (CV) : Binary star systems with
one white dwarf star and one normal star, in close orbit
about each other. Material from the normal star falls
onto the white dwarf, creating a burst of X-rays.
• Cepheid variables are a type of variable stars, which
exhibits a regular pattern of changing brightness as a
function of time. The period of the pulsation pattern
is directly related to the star’s intrinsic brightness. Thus,
Cepheid variables are a powerful tool for determining
distances in modern astronomy
• S.Chandrasekhar, (1910-1995) Indian astrophysicist
renowned for creating theoretical models of white
dwarf stars, among other achievements. His equations
explained the underlying physics behind the creation
of white dwarfs, neutron stars and other compact
objects. Chandra X–ray Observatory (CXO) One
of NASA’s Great Observatories in Earth orbit,
launched in July 1999, and named after S.
Chandrasekhar. It was previously named the Advanced
X-ray Astrophysics Facility (AXAF).
• Evolved star: A star near the end of its lifetime when
most of its fuel has been used up. This period of the
star’s life is characterized by loss of mass from its surface
in the form of a stellar wind.
• Flux : A measure of the amount of energy given off by
an astronomical object over a fixed amount of time and
area. Because the energy is measured per time and area,
flux measurements make it easy for astronomers to
compare the relative energy output of objects with very
different sizes or ages.
• Hawking radiation (S.W. Hawking; 1973) :A theory
first proposed by British physicist Stephen Hawking,
that due to a combination of properties of quantum
mechanics and gravity, under certain conditions black
holes can seem to emit radiation.
• Hawking temperature: The temperature inferred for a
black hole based on the Hawking radiation detected from
it.
• Spörer’s law states that ‘as the sunspot cycle
progresses, the number of sunspots increases and they
move closer to the equator of the Sun.
• Most of solar flares occur around sunspots, where
intense magnetic fields emerge from the Sun’s surface
into the corona.
• The Schwabe solar cycle or Schwabe-Wolf cycle is the
eleven-year cycle of solar activity of the sun by way of
solar spots,solar flares etc.
• Spörer’s law predicts the variation of sunspot latitudes
during a solar cycle. It was discovered by English
astronomer Richard Christopher Carrington around 1861.
Carrington’s work was refined by German astronomer
Gustav Spörer.
9
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
PLANETARY SYSTEM
A planetary system consists of the various non-stellar
objects orbiting a star such as planets, moons, asteroids,
meteoroids, comets, and cosmic dust. The Sun and its
planetary system, which includes Earth, is known as
the Solar System.
ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION
Planetary systems around sun-like stars are
generally believed to form as part of the same process
which results in star formation. Some early theories
involved another star passing extremely close to the sun,
and drawing material out from it which then coalesced
to form the planets. However, the probability of such a
near collision is now known to be far too low to make
this a viable model. Accepted theories today argue that
planetary systems form from a solar nebula.Some
planetary systems are very unlike our own, however:
planetary systems around pulsars have been inferred
from slight variations in the period of the pulses of
electromagnetic radiation. Pulsars are formed in violent
supernova explosions, and a normal planetary system
could not possibly survive such a blast - planets would
either evaporate, or the sudden loss of most of the mass
of the central star would see them escape the
gravitational hold of the star. One theory is that existing
stellar companions were almost entirely evaporated by
the supernova blast, leaving behind planet-sized bodies.
Alternatively, planets may somehow form in the
accretion disk surrounding pulsars.
™ Solar System - The Sun and its planetary system,
the first such system discovered
™ PSR 1257+12 - the first extrasolar planetary system
discovered, the first pulsar planetary system discovered,
the first multi exoplanet system discovered, the first
multi planet system with a pulsar discovered
™ Upsilon Andromedae - the first multiplanet extrasolar
planetary system discovered around a main sequence
star, found to be so in April 1999
™ PSR B1620-26 - the first multistar planetary system
discovered
™ 55 Cancri - the largest extra solar planetary system
discovered (4 planets, as of August 2004, along with
a distant stellar companion)
™ Gliese 876 - the first system around a red dwarf star
and the first discovered to be in an orbital resonance
™ HD 69830 - found to have three Neptune-mass
planets and an asteroid belt, all within 1 AU
™ 2M1207 - the first imaged system and the first brown
dwarf system with a planet discovered
10
™ Cha 110913 - the first substellar/planetary system
discovered
SOLAR SYSTEM :
Major features of the Solar System are: The Sun, the
eight planets, the asteroid belt containing the dwarf planet
Ceres, outermost there is the dwarf planet Pluto (the dwarf
planet Eris not shown), and a comet.
The Solar System or solar system comprises the Sun
and the retinue of celestial objects gravitationally bound
to it: the eight planets, their 162 known moons, three
currently identified dwarf planets and their four known
moons, and thousands of small bodies. This last category
includes asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and interplanetary
dust.
The principal component of the Solar System is the
Sun a main sequence G2 star that contains 99.86% of the
system’s known mass and dominates it gravitationally.
Because of its large mass, the Sun has an interior
density high enough to sustain nuclear fusion, releasing
enormous amounts of energy, most of which is radiated
into space in the form of electromagnetic radiation,
including visible light.
The Sun’s two largest orbiting bodies, Jupiter and
Saturn, account for more than 90% of the system’s
remaining mass. (The currently hypothetical Oort cloud,
should its existence be confirmed, would also hold a
substantial percentage).
In broad terms, the charted regions of the Solar
System consist of the Sun, four rocky bodies close to it
called the terrestrial planets, an inner belt of rocky asteroids,
four gas giant planets, and an outer belt of small, icy bodies
known as the Kuiper belt.
In order of their distances from the Sun, the planets
are Mercury ( ), Venus ( ), Earth ( ), Mars ( ), Jupiter
( ), Saturn ( ), Uranus ( ), and Neptune ( ). All
planets but two are in turn orbited by natural satellites
(usually termed “moons” after Earth’s Moon), and every
planet past the asteroid belt is encircled by planetary rings
of dust and other particles. The planets, with the exception
of Earth, are named after gods and goddesses from Greco-
Roman mythology.
From 1930 to 2006, Pluto ( ), the largest known
Kuiper belt object, was considered the Solar System’s ninth
planet. However, in 2006 the International Astronomical
Union (IAU) created an official definition of the term
“planet”.
Under this definition, Pluto is reclassified as a dwarf
planet, and there are eight planets in the Solar System.
In addition to Pluto, the IAU currently recognizes two
other dwarf planets: Ceres ( ) , the largest object in the
asteroid belt, and Eris, which lies beyond the Kuiper belt
srivenraman@gmail.com
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
in a region called the scattered disc. Of the known dwarf
planets, only Ceres has no moons.
LAYOUT :
Most objects in orbit round the Sun lie within the
same shallow plane, called the ecliptic, which is roughly
parallel to the Sun’s equator.
The planets lie very close to the ecliptic, while comets
and kuiper belt objects often lie at significant angles to it.
All of the planets, and most other objects, also orbit with
the Sun’s rotation in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed
from a point above the Sun’s north pole.
There is a direct relationship between how far away a
planet is from the Sun, and how quickly it orbits. Mercury,
with the smallest orbital circumference, travels the fastest,
while Neptune, being much farther from the Sun, travels
more slowly.
A planet’s distance from the Sun varies in the course
of its year. Its closest approach to the Sun is known as its
perihelion, while its farthest point from the Sun is called
its aphelion.
Though planets follow nearly circular orbits, with
perihelions roughly equal to their aphelions, many comets,
asteroids and objects of the Kuiper belt follow highly
elliptical orbits, with large differences between perihelion
and aphelion.
Astronomers most often measure distances within the
solar system in astronomical units, or AU. One AU is the
average distance between the Earth and the Sun, or roughly
149 598 000 km (93,000,000 mi).
Informally, the Solar System is sometimes divided into
separate “zones”; the first zone, known as the inner Solar
System, comprises the inner planets and the main asteroid
belt.
The outer solar system is sometimes defined as
everything beyond the asteroids; however, it is also the name
often given to the region beyond Neptune, with the gas
giants as a separate “middle zone.
Planets, dwarf planets, and small solar system bodies
In a decision passed by the International Astronomical
Union General Assembly on August 24, 2006, the objects
in the Solar System were divided into three separate groups:
planets, dwarf planets and small solar system bodies.
Under this classification, a planet is any body in orbit
around the Sun that a) has enough mass to form itself
into a spherical shape and b) has cleared its immediate
neighborhood of all smaller objects. Eight objects in the
Solar System currently meet this definition; they are
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune.
Dwarf planet is a newly defined classification for
astronomical objects. The key difference between planets
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
and dwarf planets is that while both are required to
orbit the Sun and be of large enough mass that their
own gravity pulls them into a nearly round shape,
dwarf planets are not required to clear their
neighborhood of other celestial bodies. Three objects
in the solar system are currently included in this
category; they are Pluto (formerly considered a planet),
the asteroid Ceres, and the scattered disc object Eris.
The IAU will begin evaluating other known objects
to see if they fit within the definition of dwarf planets.
The most likely candidates are some of the larger asteroids
and several Trans-Neptunian Objects such as Sedna, Orcus,
and Quaoar.
The remainder of the objects in the Solar System were
classified as small solar system bodies. A small solar
system body (SSSB) is a term defined in 2006 by the
International Astronomical Union to describe Solar System
objects which are neither planets nor dwarf planets.
All other objects ... orbiting the Sun shall be referred to
collectively as “Small Solar System Bodies” .... These currently include
most of the Solar System asteroids, most Trans-Neptunian Objects
(TNOs), comets, and other small bodies.
AGE
Using radiometric dating, scientists can estimate that
the solar system is 4.6 billion years old.
The oldest rocks on Earth are approximately 3.9 billion
years old. Rocks this old are rare, as the Earth’s surface is
constantly being reshaped by erosion, volcanism and plate
tectonics.
To estimate the age of the solar system scientists must
use meteorites, which were formed during the early
condensation of the solar nebula. The oldest meteorites
(such as the Canyon Diablo meteorite) are found to have
an age of 4.6 billion years, hence the solar system must be
at least 4.6 billion years old.
The current hypothesis of Solar System formation is
the nebular hypothesis, first proposed in 1755 by Immanuel
Kant and independently formulated by Pierre-Simon
Laplace.
Inner planets :
The four inner or terrestrial planets are characterised
by their dense, rocky composition, few or no moons, and
lack of ring systems.
They are composed largely of minerals with high
melting points such as silicates to form the planets’ solid
crusts and semi-liquid mantles, and metallic dust grains such
as iron, which forms their cores.
Three of the four inner planets have atmospheres. All
have impact craters, and all but one possess tectonic surface
11
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
features, such as rift valleys and volcanoes.
The term inner planet should not be confused with
inferior planet, which designates those planets which are
closer to the Sun than the Earth is (i.e. Mercury and Venus).
THE FOUR INNER PLANETS ARE
Mercury :
Mercury (0.4 AU), the closest planet to the Sun, is
also the least massive of the planets, at only 0.055 Earth
masses.
Mercury has a very thin atmosphere consisting of
atoms blasted off its surface by the solar wind. Because
Mercury is so hot, these atoms quickly escape into space.
Thus in contrast to the Earth and Venus whose
atmospheres are stable, Mercury’s atmosphere is constantly
being replenished.
Mercury is surrounded by an extremely small amount
of helium, hydrogen, oxygen, and sodium. This envelope
of gases is so thin that the greatest possible atmospheric
pressure (force exerted by the weight of gases) on Mercury
would be about 0.000000000002 kgf/cm² (0.00000000003
psi or 0.2 µPa).
The atmospheric pressure on the Earth is about 1.03
kgf/cm² (14.7 psi or 101 kPa). It has no natural satellite.
Its relatively large iron core and thin mantle have not
yet been adequately explained. Hypotheses include that its
outer layers were stripped off by a giant impact, and that
it was prevented from fully accreting by the Sun’s gravity.
The MESSENGER probe should aid in resolving this
issue when it arrives in Mercury’s orbit in 2011.
Venus :
Venus (0.7 AU), the first truly terrestrial planet, is of
comparable mass to the Earth (0.815 Earth masses), and,
like Earth, possesses a thick silicate mantle around an iron
core, as well as a substantial atmosphere and evidence of
one-time internal geological activity, such as volcanoes.
However, it is much drier than Earth and its
atmosphere is 90 times as dense and is composed
overwhelmingly (96.5%) of carbon dioxide.
Unlike Earth, evidence suggests that Venus’s crust is
not divided into tectonic plates but instead comprises a
single very thick rind.]
Venus has no natural satellite.
It is the hottest planet, despite being farther from the
sun than Mercury, with temperatures reaching more than
400 degrees Celsius. This is most likely because of the
amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Earth
The largest and densest of the inner planets, Earth
(1 AU) is also the only one to demonstrate unequivocal
12
evidence of current geological activity.
Earth is the only planet known to have life. Its
liquid hydrosphere, unique among the terrestrials, is
probably the reason Earth is also the only planet where
multi-plate tectonics has been observed, because water
acts as a lubricant for subduction.]
Its atmosphere is radically different from the other
terrestrials, having been altered by the presence of life
to contain 21 percent free oxygen.
Its satellite, the Moon, is sometimes considered a
terrestrial planet in a co-orbit with its partner, because
its orbit around the Sun never actually loops back on
itself when observed from above.
The Moon possesses many features in common
with other terrestrial planets, though it lacks an iron
core.
Mars
Mars (1.5 AU), at only 0.107 Earth masses, is less
massive than either Earth or Venus. It possesses a
tenuous atmosphere of carbon dioxide.
Its surface, peppered with vast volcanoes and rift
valleys such as Valles Marineris, shows that it was once
geologically active and recent evidence suggests this may
have been true until very recently.
Mars possesses two tiny moons (Deimos and
Phobos) thought to be captured asteroids.
Asteroid belt :
Asteroids are mostly small solar system bodies that
are composed in significant part of rocky, non-volatile
minerals.
The main asteroid belt occupies the orbit between
Mars and Jupiter, between 2.3 and 3.3 AU from the Sun.
It is thought to be the remnants of a small
terrestrial planet that failed to coalesce because of the
gravitational interference of Jupiter.
Asteroids range in size from hundreds of
kilometers to as small as dust. All asteroids save the
largest, Ceres, are classified as small solar system bodies;
however, a number of other asteroids, such as Vesta
and Hygeia, could potentially be reclassed as dwarf
planets if it can be conclusively shown that they are
spherical.
The asteroid belt contains tens of thousands - and
potentially millions - of objects over one kilometre in
diameter.
However, despite their large numbers, the total
mass of the main belt is unlikely to be more than a
thousandth of that of the Earth
In contrast to its various depictions in science
fiction, the main belt is very sparsely populated;
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
spacecraft routinely pass through without incident.
Asteroids with a diameter of less than 50 m are called
meteoroids.
Ceres :
Ceres (2.77 AU) is the largest astronomical body
in the asteroid belt and the only known dwarf planet in
this region.
It has a diameter of slightly under 1000 km, large
enough for its own gravity to pull it into a spherical shape.
Ceres was considered a planet when it was discovered
in the nineteenth century, but was reclassified as an asteroid
as further observation revealed additional asteroids. It has
since been again reclassified as a dwarf planet.
Asteroid groups :
Asteroids in the main belt are subdivided into asteroid
groups and families based on their specific orbital
characteristics.
Asteroid moons are asteroids that orbit larger asteroids.
They are not as clearly distinguished as planetary moons,
sometimes being almost as large as their partners.
The asteroid belt also contains main-belt comets which
may have been the source of Earth’s water.
Trojan asteroids are located in either of Jupiter’s L4
or L5 points, (gravitationally stable regions leading and
trailing a planet in its orbit) though the term is also
sometimes used for asteroids in any other planetary
Lagrange point as well.
The inner solar system is also dusted with rogue
asteroids, many of which cross the orbits of the inner
planets.
Outer planets :
The four outer planets, or gas giants, (sometimes
called Jovian planets) are so large they collectively make
up 99 percent of the mass known to orbit the Sun.
Jupiter and Saturn are true giants, at 318 and 95 Earth
masses, respectively, and composed largely of hydrogen and
helium.
Uranus and Neptune are both substantially smaller,
being only 14 and 17 Earth masses, respectively.
Their atmospheres contain a smaller percentage of
hydrogen and helium, and a higher percentage of “ices”,
such as water, ammonia and methane.
For this reason some astronomers suggested that
they belong in their own category, “Uranian planets,”
or “ice giants.”
All four of the gas giants exhibit orbital debris rings,
although only the ring system of Saturn is easily observable
from Earth.
The term outer planet should not be confused with
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
superior planet, which designates those planets which
lie outside Earth’s orbit (thus consisting of the outer
planets plus Mars).
Jupiter :
Jupiter (5.2 AU), at 318 Earth masses, is 2.5 times
the mass of all the other planets put together. Its
composition of largely hydrogen and helium is not very
different from that of the Sun, and the planet has been
described as a “failed star”.
Jupiter’s strong internal heat creates a number of semi-
permanent features in its atmosphere, such as cloud bands
and the Great Red Spot.
The four largest of its 63 satellites, Ganymede,
Callisto, Io, and Europa (the Galilean satellites) share
elements in common with the terrestrial planets, such as
volcanism and internal heating. Ganymede, the largest
satellite in the Solar System, has a diameter larger than
Mercury.
Saturn :
Saturn (9.5 AU), famous for its extensive ring system,
has many qualities in common with Jupiter, including its
atmospheric composition, though it is far less massive, being
only 95 Earth masses.
Two of its 56 moons, Titan and Enceladus, show signs
of geological activity, though they are largely made of ice.
Titan, like Ganymede, is larger than Mercury; it is
also the only satellite in the solar system with a
substantial atmosphere, similar in composition to that of
the atmosphere of the early Earth.
Uranus :
Uranus (19.6 AU) at 14 Earth masses, is the lightest
of the outer planets. Uniquely among the planets, it orbits
the Sun on its side; its axial tilt lies at over ninety degrees
to the ecliptic.
Its core is remarkably cold (compared with the other
gas giants; it is still several thousand degrees Celsius) and
radiates very little heat into space.
Uranus has 27 satellites, the largest being Titania,
Oberon, Umbriel, Ariel and Miranda.
Neptune :
Neptune (30 AU), though slightly smaller than Uranus,
it is denser and slightly more massive, at 17 Earth masses, and
radiates more internal heat than Uranus, but not as much as
Jupiter or Saturn.
Its peculiar ring system is composed of a number of
dense “arcs” of material separated by gaps.
Neptune has 13 moons. The largest, Triton, is
geologically active, with geysers of liquid nitrogen, and is
the only large satellite to revolve around its host planet
in a prograde (clockwise) motion.
13
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Kuiper belt :
The area beyond Neptune, often referred to as the
outer solar system or simply the “trans-Neptunian region”,
is still largely unexplored.
This region’s first formation, which actually begins
inside the orbit of Neptune, is the Kuiper belt, a great
ring of debris, similar to the asteroid belt but composed
mainly of ice and far greater in extent, which lies between
30 and 50 AU from the Sun.
This region is thought to be the place of origin for
short-period comets, such as Halley’s comet.
Though it is composed mainly of small solar system
bodies, many of the largest Kuiper belt objects could soon
be reclassified as dwarf planets.
There are estimated to be over 100,000 Kuiper belt
objects with a diameter greater than 50 km; however, the
total mass of the Kuiper belt is relatively low, perhaps barely
equalling the mass of the Earth.
Many Kuiper belt objects have multiple satellites and
most have orbits that take them outside the plane of the
ecliptic.
Pluto and Charon :
Pluto (39 AU average), is the largest known object in
the Kuiper belt and was previously accepted as the smallest
planet in the Solar System.
In 2006, it was reclassified as a dwarf planet by the
Astronomers Congress organized by the International
Astronomers Union (IAU).
Pluto has a relatively eccentric orbit inclined 17 degrees
to the ecliptic plane and ranging from 29.7 AU from the
Sun at perihelion (within the orbit of Neptune) to 49.5 AU
at aphelion.
Prior to the 2006 redefinitions, Charon was considered
a moon of Pluto, but in light of the redefinition it is
unclear whether Charon will continue to be classified as a
moon of Pluto or as a dwarf planet itself.
Charon does not exactly orbit Pluto in a traditional
sense; Charon is about one-tenth the mass of Pluto and
the center of gravity of the pair is not within Pluto.
Both bodies orbit a barycenter of gravity above the
surface of Pluto (in empty space), making Pluto-Charon a
binary system. Two much smaller moons, Nix and Hydra,
orbit Pluto and Charon.
Those Kuiper belt objects which, like Pluto, possess a
3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune (ie, they orbit twice
for every three Neptunian orbits) are called Plutinos.
Other Kuiper belt objects have different resonant
orbits (2:1, 4:7, 3:5 etc) and are grouped accordingly.
The remaining Kuiper belt objects, in more “classical”
orbits, are classified as Cubewanos, after the first of their
14
kind to be discovered, 1992 QB1.
Comets :
Comets are small solar system bodies (usually only
a few kilometres across) composed largely of volatile
ices, which possess highly eccentric orbits, generally
having a perihelion within the orbit of the inner planets
and an aphelion far beyond Pluto.
When a comet approaches the Sun, its icy surface
begins to sublimate, or boil away, creating a coma; a long
tail of gas and dust which is often visible with the naked
eye.
There are two basic types of comet: short-period
comets, with orbits less than 200 years, and long-period
comets, with orbits lasting thousands of years.
Short-period comets are believed to originate in the
Kuiper belt, while long period comets, such as Hale-Bopp
are believed to originate in the Oort Cloud.
Some comets with hyperbolic orbits may originate
outside the solar system. Old comets that have had most
of their volatiles driven out by solar warming are often
categorized as asteroids.
Centaurs are icy comet-like bodies that have less-
eccentric orbits so that they remain in the region between
Jupiter and Neptune.
The first centaur to be discovered, 2060 Chiron, has
been called a comet since it has been shown to develop a
coma just as comets do when they approach the sun.]
Scattered disc :
Overlapping the Kuiper belt but extending much
further outwards is the scattered disc.
Scattered disc objects are believed to have been
originally native to the Kuiper belt, but were ejected into
erratic orbits in the outer fringes by the gravitational
influence of Neptune’s outward migration.
Most scattered disc objects have perihelia within the
Kuiper belt but aphelia as far as 150 AU from the Sun.
Their orbits are also highly inclined to the ecliptic plane,
and are often almost perpendicular to it.
Some astronomers, such as Kuiper belt co-discoverer
David Jewitt, consider the scattered disc to be merely
another region of the Kuiper belt, and describe scattered
disc objects as “scattered Kuiper belt objects.
Eris :
Eris (68 AU average) is the largest known scattered
disc object and was the cause of the most recent debate
about what constitutes a planet since it is at least 5% larger
than Pluto with an estimated diameter of 2400 km
(1500 mi).
It is now the largest of the known dwarf planets.It
has one moon, Dysnomia.
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
The object has many similarities with Pluto: its orbit
is highly eccentric, with a perihelion of 38.2 AU
(roughly Pluto’s distance from the Sun) and an aphelion
of 97.6 AU, and is steeply inclined to the ecliptic plane,
at 44 degrees, more so than any known object in the
solar system except the newly-discovered object 2004
XR190 (also known as “Buffy”) and is believed to consist
largely of rock and ice.
Farthest regions :
The point at which the solar system ends and
interstellar space begins is not precisely defined, since its
outer boundaries are delineated by two separate forces: the
solar wind and the Sun’s gravity.
The solar wind extends to a point roughly 130 AU
from the Sun, whereupon it surrenders to the surrounding
environment of the interstellar medium.
It is generally accepted, however, that the Sun’s gravity
holds sway to the Oort cloud. This great mass of up to a
trillion icy objects, currently hypothetical, is believed to be
the source for all long-period comets and to surround the
solar system like a shell from 50,000 to 100,000 AU beyond
the Sun, or almost a quarter the distance to the next star
system.
The vast majority of the solar system, therefore, is
completely unknown; however, recent observations of both
the solar system and other star systems have led to an
increased understanding of what is or may be lying at its
outer edge.
Sedna :
Sedna is a large, reddish Pluto-like object with a
gigantic, highly elliptical orbit that takes it from about 76
AU at perihelion to 928 AU at aphelion and takes 12,050
years to complete.
Mike Brown, who discovered the object in 2003,
asserts that it cannot be part of the scattered disc or the
Kuiper Belt as it has too distant a perihelion to have been
affected by Neptune’s migration.
He and other astronomers consider it to be the first
in an entirely new population, one which also may include
the object 2000 CR105, which has a perihelion of 45 AU,
an aphelion of 415 AU, and an orbital period of 3420
years.
Sedna is very likely a dwarf planet, though its shape
has yet to be determined with certainty.
Heliopause :
The heliosphere expands outward in a great bubble
to about 95 AU, or three times the orbit of Pluto.
The edge of this bubble is known as the termination
shock; the point at which the solar wind collides with the
opposing winds of the interstellar medium.
Here the wind slows, condenses and becomes more
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
turbulent, forming a great oval structure known as the
heliosheath that looks and behaves very much like a comet’s
tail; extending outward for a further 40 AU at its stellar-
windward side, but tailing many times that distance in
the opposite direction.
The outer boundary of the sheath, the heliopause,
is the point at which the solar wind finally terminates,
and one enters the environment of interstellar space.
Beyond the heliopause, at around 230 AU, lies the
bow shock, a plasma “wake” left by the Sun as it travels
through the Milky Way.
Galactic context
The solar system is located in the Milky Way
galaxy, a barred spiral galaxy with a diameter estimated
at about 100,000 light years containing approximately
200 billion stars.
Our Sun resides in one of the Milky Way’s outer
spiral arms, known as the Orion Arm or Local Spur.
The immediate galactic neighborhood of the solar
system is known as the Local Fluff, an area of dense cloud
in an otherwise sparse region known as the Local Bubble,
an hourglass-shaped cavity in the interstellar medium
roughly 300 light-years across.
The bubble is suffused with high-temperature plasma
that suggests it is the product of several recent supernovae.
Estimates place the solar system at between 25,000
and 28,000 light years from the galactic center. Its speed is
about 220 kilometres per second, and it completes one
revolution every 226 million years.
The apex of solar motion—that is, the direction in
which the Sun is heading—is near the current location of
the bright star Vega. At the galactic location of the solar
system, the escape velocity with regard to the gravity of
the Milky Way is about 1000 km/s.
Presumed location of the solar system within our
galaxy
Discovery and exploration
The first exploration of the solar system was
conducted by telescope, with astronomers learning that the
Moon and other planets possessed such Earthlike features
as craters, ice caps, and seasons.
Galileo Galilei was the first to discover physical details
about the individual bodies of the Solar System. He
discovered that the Moon was cratered, that the Sun was
marked with sunspots, and that Jupiter had four satellites
in orbit around it.
Christiaan Huygens followed on from Galileo’s
discoveries by discovering Saturn’s moon Titan and the
shape of the rings of Saturn.
Giovanni Domenico Cassini later discovered four more
15
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
moons of Saturn, the Cassini division in Saturn’s rings,
and the Great Red Spot of Jupiter.
In 1682, Edmund Halley realised that repeated
sightings of a comet were in fact recording the same
object, returning regularly once every 75-6 years. This
proved once and for all that comets were not
atmospheric phenomena, as had been previously
thought, and was the first evidence that anything other
than the planets orbited the Sun.
In 1781, William Herschel was looking for binary
stars in the constellation of Taurus when he observed
what he thought was a new comet. In fact, its orbit
revealed that it was a new planet, Uranus, the first ever
discovered.
In 1801, Giuseppe Piazzi discoverd Ceres, a small
world between Mars and Jupiter that was initially considered
a new planet. However, subsequent discoveries of thousands
of other small worlds in the same region led to their
eventual separate reclassification: asteroids.
In 1846, discrepancies in the orbit of Uranus led many
to suspect a large planet must be tugging at it from farther
out. Urbain Le Verrier’s calculations eventually led to the
discovery of Neptune.
Further discrepancies in the orbits of the planets led
Percival Lowell to conclude yet another planet, “Planet X”
must still be out there. After his death, his Lowell
Observatory conducted a search, which ultimately led to
Clyde Tombaugh’s discovery of Pluto in 1930.
Pluto was, however, found to be too small to have
disrupted the orbits of the outer planets, and its discovery
was therefore coincidental. Like Ceres, it was initially
considered to be a planet, but after the discovery of many
other similarly sized objects in its vicinity it was eventually
reclassified as a Kuiper belt object.
In 1992, astronomers David Jewitt of the University
of Hawaii and Jane Luu of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology discovered 1992 QB1, the first object found
beyond Neptune in 62 years. This object proved to be
the first of a new population, which came to be known as
the Kuiper Belt; an icy analogue to the asteroid belt of
which such objects as Pluto and Charon were deemed a
part.
Many of the largest of these objects, such as Chaos,
Quaoar, Varuna and Ixion, where discovered by astronomer
Mike Brown.
In 2005, Mike Brown announced the discovery of Eris,
a Scattered disc object larger than Pluto and the largest
object discovered in the solar system since Neptune.
Observations by spacecraft
Since the start of the space age, a great deal of
exploration has been performed by unmanned space
missions that have been organized and executed by various
16
space agencies.
The first probe to land on another solar system
body was the Soviet Union’s Luna 2 probe, which
impacted on the Moon in 1959.
Since then, increasingly distant planets have been
reached, with probes landing on Venus in 1965, Mars in
1976, the asteroid 433 Eros in 2001, and Saturn’s moon
Titan in 2005. Spacecraft have also made close approaches
to other planets: Mariner 10 passed Mercury in 1973.
The first probe to explore the outer planets was Pioneer
10, which flew by Jupiter in 1973. Pioneer 11 was the first
to visit Saturn, in 1979.
The Voyager probes performed a grand tour of the
outer planets following their launch in 1977, with both
probes passing Jupiter in 1979 and Saturn in 1980 – 1981.
Voyager 2 then went on to make close approaches to Uranus
in 1986 and Neptune in 1989.
The Voyager probes are now far beyond Neptune’s
orbit, and astronomers anticipate that they will encounter
the heliopause which defines the outer edge of the solar
system in the next few years.
No Kuiper belt object has been visited by a man-made
spacecraft. Launched in 19 January 2006, the New Horizons
is currently enroute to becoming the first man-made
spacecraft to explore this area. This unmanned mission is
scheduled to fly by Pluto in July 2015. Should it prove
feasible, the mission will then be extended to observe a
number of other Kuiper belt objects.
Following is a list of solar system objects by orbit,
ordered by increasing distance from the Sun. Most named
objects in this list have a diameter of 500 km or more.
The Sun, a spectral class G2V star . The inner solar
system and the terrestrial planets
Mercury
Mercury - crosser asteroids
Venus
Venusosser asteroids
Venus’ quasi-satellite
Earth
Moon (Luna)
Possible Kordylewski Cloud
Near-Earth asteroids
Earth-crosser asteroids
Earth’s quasi-satellites
Mars
Deimos
Phobos
Mars trojans
Mars-crosser asteroids
Asteroid belt and surrounds
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt
Asteroids in the Main Asteroid Belt, between
the orbits of Mars and Jupiter
Pallas, Juno,Vesta
All the spheroidal bodies have some polar
flattening due to the centrifugal force from their rotation,
but a characteristic feature of the “irregular”-shaped
bodies is that there is a significant difference in the
length of their two equatorial diameters.

Jupiter Satellites Exagram range

Io -Europa -Ganymede -Callisto Objects of mass between 1015 kg to 1018 kg (1 to
Jupiter’s trojan asteroids 1000 Exagrams (Eg) ). These objects are not spherical
Saturn Petagram range
Tethys -Dione -Rhea -Titan ---apetus -Enceladus Objects of mass between 1012 kg to 1015 kg (less
Mimas -Hyperion - than 1000 Petagrams (Pg) ). A few of the smallest of the
Uranus irregular satellites of the gas planets are listed here, as
well as the largest near-Earth asteroids due to unusual
Ariel -Umbriel -Miranda -Titania -Oberon
interest for their nearness. (See also: list of NEAs by
Neptune distance from Sun.) Other NEOs that are not asteroids
Triton -Nereid -Proteus - (e. g. inner-solar-system comets) are almost always less
Trans-Neptunian objects beyond the orbit of massive than 1 Pg.
Neptune Teragram range
Kuiper belt objects (KBOs) Objects of mass between 109 kg to 1012 kg (less
Pluto, a dwarf planet and plutino than 1000 Teragrams (Tg) ). Currently all the bodies
Charon -Nix -Hydra -Plutinos -90482 Orcus - listed here are Near-Earth asteroids (See also: list of
Twotino NEAs by distance from Sun.)
Scattered disc objects Gigagram range
Eris, a dwarf planet Objects of mass between 106 kg to 109 kg (less
Dysnomia than 1000 Gigagrams (Gg) ). Currently all the objects
( Sedna (possibly inner Oort Cloud) listed here are Near-Earth asteroids (See also: list of
The solar system also contains: NEAs by distance from Sun.)
Comets (icy bodies with eccentric orbits).
periodic comets
non-periodic comets
Small objects, including:
Meteoroids
Dust, including interstellar dust.
Helium Focusing Cone, around the Sun.
Planets size by mass.
Following is a list of solar system objects more
massive than 1021 kilograms (one Yottagram [Yg]).
Even the least massive of these objects is an
approximate sphere. Eris, a new trans-Neptunian
object, is larger than Pluto but has an undetermined
mass. An estimate is listed.
Zettagram range
Objects of mass between 1018 kg to 1021 kg (1
to 1000 Zettagrams (Zg) ). The larger objects in this
range, such as Tethys, 1 Ceres, and Mimas, have
relaxed to an equilibrium oblate spheroid due to their
gravity, while the less massive (e. g. Amalthea and
Janus) are roughly rounded, but not spherical, dubbed
“irregular”.

VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU 17

 18
PLANETARY FACT SHEET
MERCURY VENUS EARTH MOON MARS JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE PLUTO
Mass (1024kg) 0.330 4.87 5.97 0.073 0.642 1899 568 86.8 102 0.0125
Diameter (km) 4879 12,104 12,756 3475 6794 142,984 120,536 51,118 49,528 2390
Density (kg/m3) 5427 5243 5515 3340 3933 1326 687 1270 1638 1750
2
Gravity (m/s ) 3.7 8.9 9.8 1.6 3.7 23.1 9.0 8.7 11.0 0.6
Escape Velocity (km/s) 4.3 10.4 11.2 2.4 5.0 59.5 35.5 21.3 23.5 1.1
Rotation Period (hours) 1407.6 -5832.5 23.9 655.7 24.6 9.9 10.7 -17.2 16.1 -153.3
Length of Day (hours) 4222.6 2802.0 24.0 708.7 24.7 9.9 10.7 17.2 16.1 153.3
Distance from Sun (106 km) 57.9 108.2 149.6 0.384* 227.9 778.6 1433.5 2872.5 4495.1 5870.0
Perihelion (106 km) 46.0 107.5 147.1 0.363* 206.6 740.5 1352.6 2741.3 4444.5 4435.0
6
Aphelion (10 km) 69.8 108.9 152.1 0.406* 249.2 816.6 1514.5 3003.6 4545.7 7304.3
Orbital Period (days) 88.0 224.7 365.2 27.3 687.0 4331 10,747 30,589 59,800 90,588
Orbital Velocity (km/s) 47.9 35.0 29.8 1.0 24.1 13.1 9.7 6.8 5.4 4.7
Orbital Inclination (degrees) 7.0 3.4 0.0 5.1 1.9 1.3 2.5 0.8 1.8 17.2
Orbital Eccentricity 0.205 0.007 0.017 0.055 0.094 0.049 0.057 0.046 0.011 0.244
Axial Tilt (degrees) 0.01 177.4 23.5 6.7 25.2 3.1 26.7 97.8 28.3 122.5
CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY

Mean Temperature (C) 167 464 15 -20 -65 -110 -140 -195 -200 -225
Surface Pressure (bars) 0 92 1 0 0.01 Unknown* Unknown* Unknown* Unknown* 0
Number of Moons 0 0 1 0 2 63 56 27 13 3
Ring System? No No No No No Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Global Magnetic Field? Yes No Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown

srivenraman@gmail.com
MERCURY VENUS EARTH MOON MARS JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE
PLUTO
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Astronomical symbols are symbols used to represent various celestial objects, theoretical constructs and observational
events in astronomy. The symbols listed here are commonly used by professional and amateur astronomers.

PLANETS
Name symbol Unicode image Represented by image

Mercury U+263F Mercury's winged helmet and caduceus

Venus ♀ U+2640 Venus' hand mirror

Earth U+2295 globe with equator and a meridian

Mars ♂ U+2642 Mars' shield and spear

Jupiter U+2643 Jupiter's thunderbolt or eagle

Saturn U+2644 Saturn's sickle or scythe

From a symbol for platinum, a combination of the symbols for

Uranus
Mars and the Sun

Neptune U+2646 Neptune's trident

DWARF PLANETS
Name symbol Unicode image Represented by image

Ceres Handle-down sickle; cf. the handle-up sickle symbol of Saturn

Pluto U+2647 PL monogram for Pluto and Percival Lowell

Eris No symbol Unlikely to gain an official symbol

ASTEROIDS
Name symbol Unicode image Represented by image

2 Pallas Modified symbol for female?

3 Juno Peacock (totem of Juno).

4 Vesta Hearth or fire-altar.

5 Astraea Anchor (inverted), or possibly scales of justice.

6 Hebe Cup

7 Iris Rainbow with star under it (asteroid means star-like)

8 Flora Stylised flower

9 Metis Eye, with star above it (Asteroid means star-like)

10 Hygeia Rod of Asclepius

OTHER CELESTIAL BODIES

Name symbol Unicode image Represented by image

Sun U+2609 Solar symbol

Moon U+263D A crescent moon

VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU 19

 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
OTHER SYMBOLS
Name symbol Unicode image Represented by image
comet U+2604
ascending node U+260A
descending node U+260B
conjunction U+260C
opposition U+260D

ZODIAC Traditional Hindu astrology has a siderial coordinate

zodiac system with twelve signs. The names of the Hindu
The term zodiac (from Greek MEANING”circle of zodiacal signs, or râúis, are similar to Graeco-Babylonian
little animals) denotes several places where a circle of twelve signs, apparently as a result of Indo-Greek contact:
animals occurs. Indo-European cultures developed a
meca “ram” (Aries)
zodiac of twelve signs associated with a yearly cycle and
with constellations of stars that lie along the apparent path v[cabha “bull” (Taurus)
of the Sun across the heavens (the ecliptic). Likewise in mithuna “a pair” (Gemini)
Chinese astrology, months and years pass through a cycle karka “crab” (Cancer)
of twelve animals that imply certain fortunes or misfortunes
siCha “lion” (Leo)
related to events occurring within those signs.
kanyâ “girl” (Virgo)
Below are the Roman names of the signs of the
zodiac (with the ecliptic longitudes of their first points tula, from tulâ “balance” (Libra)
Wheel of the zodiac: 6th century mosaic pavement âli “scorpion” (Scorpius), also kaurpi, loaned from
adapting Greek-Byzantine elements from a synagogue, Beit the Greek
Alpha, Israel kâr muka, câpa, dhanus “bow, arc”, câpin
™ Aries (0°) “armed with a bow” (Sagittarius)
™ Taurus (30°) eGa, m[ga “antelope”, also makara “sea-monster”
(Capricornus)
™ Gemini (60°)
kumbha “pitcher, water-pot” (Aquarius)
™ Cancer (90°)
matsya “fish”, also jhaca, timi, mîna after
™ Leo (120°)
specific kinds of fish (Pisces)
™ Virgo (150°)
™ Libra (180°)
™ Scorpius (210°)
™ Sagittarius (240°)
™ Capricornus (270°)
™ Aquarius (300°)
™ Pisces (330°)

20 srivenraman@gmail.com
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
The dates can vary by as much as 2 days from year to year, depending on the cycle of leap years.

Astronomical units of length : century.

Astronomers use a number of different length units Light-year
for different objects. The length unit used is typically 1 light year
determined by two criteria: International units
the unit should create manageable numbers 9.461×1015 m = 9.461×1012 km
the unit should be easily derivable from observation 9.461×1018 mm = 94.607×1024 Å
The distances are closely related to the cosmic 63.241×10 AU3
= 1 LY
distance ladder.
US customary / Imperial units :
Units used for various astronomical distances 372.47×1015 in = 31.039×1015 ft
Astronomical Range : Typical Units 10.346×1015 yd = 5.879×1012 mi
Distances to satellites : kilometres A light-year or lightyear, symbol ly, is the distance light
Planetary distances : astronomical units travels in vacuum in one Julian year. Units related to the
Distances to nearby stars : light years, or parsecs light year are the light-minute and light-second, the
Distances at the galactic scale: kiloparsecs distance light travels in a vacuum in one minute and one
second, respectively. Since the speed of light is defined
Distances to nearby galaxies : megaparsecs as 299,792,458 metres per second, a light-second is exactly
The distances to distant galaxies are typically not 299,792,458 m in length and a light-minute is exactly
quoted in distance units at all, but rather in terms of 17,987,547,480 m. In contrast to the light-year, the lengths
redshift. The reasons for this are that converting redshift of the light-minute and light-second are fixed with 100%
to distance requires knowledge of the Hubble constant precision.
which was not accurately measured until the early 21st Distances measured in fractions of a light-year usually
involve objects within a star system.One astronomical
unit (the distance from the Sun to the Earth) is 1.58 ×
10-5 light-years.

VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU 21

 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
The most distant space probe, Voyager 1, was 1.50 of the most ancient and standard methods of determining
× 10-3 light-years away from Earth in September 2004. It stellar distances. The parallax of a star is half of the
took Voyager 27 years to cover that distance. angular distance a star appears to move against the
One kilolight-year, abbreviated “kly”, is one thousand celestial sphere compared to the orbit of the Earth
light-years, or 307 parsecs. Kilolight-years are typically used around the Sun (see the diagram at right). Equivalently, it
to measure distances between parts of a galaxy. is the angle subtended at a star by the radius of the
Earth’s orbit. One parsec is defined to be the distance from
The Galaxy is about 98 kilolight-years across.
the Earth to a star that has a parallax of 1 arcsecond. It
One megalight-year, abbreviated “Mly”, is one million is, therefore, approximately:
light-years, or 306,601 parsecs. Megalight-years are typically
360 × 60 × 60/(2ð) = 206,264.8062 AU
used to measure distances between neighboring galaxies
and galaxy clusters.
One gigalight-year, abbreviation “Gly”, is one billion
light-years — one of the largest distance measures used.
One gigalight-year equals 306.601 million parsecs, or
roughly one-thirteenth the distance to the horizon of the
observable universe (dictated by the cosmic background
radiation). Gigalight-years are typically used to measure
distances to supergalactic structures, such as clusters of
quasars or the Great Wall.
The Triangulum Galaxy (M33), at a little under 2.6
megalight-years away, is the most distant object visible to
the naked eye.
The particle horizon (observable part) of the
universe has a radius of about 13 gigalight-years.
Astronomical unit
1 astronomical unit =
International units
149.598×109 m = 149.598×106 km
149.598×1012 mm = 1.496×1021 Å
1 AU = 15.813×10"6 LY
US customary / Imperial units
5.89×1012 in = 490.807×109 ft
163.602×109 yd = 92.956×106 mi
The astronomical unit (AU or au or a.u. or sometimes
ua) is a unit of length. It is approximately equal to the 3.085 677 58 × 1016 m
mean distance between the Earth and Sun. The currently 1.917 351 16 × 1013 miles
accepted value of the AU is 149 597 870 691 ± 30 metres
3.261630751 light years
(about 150 million kilometres or 93 million miles).
Miscellaneous facts
Reflected sunlight from the Moon’s surface takes 1.2
Parsec
seconds to travel the 4.04 × 10"8 light years to Earth.
1 parsec =
It takes approximately 8.31 minutes for light to travel
International units from the Sun to the Earth (a distance of 1.58 × 10"5 light-
30.857×1015 m = 30.857×1012 km years).
30.857×1018 mm = 308.568×1024 Å The most distant space probe, Voyager 1, was 13
206.265×10 AU
3
= 3.262 LY light hours (only 1.5 × 10"3 light years) away from Earth
in September 2004. It took Voyager 27 years to cover that
US customary / Imperial units
distance.
1.215×1018 in = 101.236×1015 ft
The nearest known star (other than the Sun), Proxima
33.745×1015 yd = 19.174×1012 mi Centauri is 4.22 light years away.
The parsec (symbol pc) is a unit of length used in Continuing at the speed above, it would take Voyager
astronomy. It stands for “parallax of one arc second”. 18000 years to cover a single light year, and 76000 years
It is based on the method of trigonometric parallax, one to cover the distance to Proxima Centauri.

22 srivenraman@gmail.com
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
The center of our galaxy, the Milky Way, is about STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH
8 kiloparsecs (26,000 light years) away. The Galaxy is about
100,000 light years across.
The Earth is an oblate spheroid. It is composed of
The Triangulum Galaxy (M33), at 3.14 million light
a number of different layers as determined by deep drilling
years away, is the most distant object visible to the naked
and seismic evidence.
eye.
These layers are:
The nearest large galaxy cluster, the Virgo Cluster,
is about 60 million light years away. The core, which is approximately 7000 kilometers in
diameter (3500 kilometers in radius) and is located at the
The particle horizon (observable part) of the
Earth’s center. The mantle, which surrounds the core and
universe has a radius of about 46 billion light years, but
has a thickness of 2900 kilometers.
light from the edge of the observable universe was emitted
only 13.7 billion years ago (the age of the universe). The The crust floats on top of the mantle. It is composed
figures differ because distant objects have continued to of basalt rich oceanic crust and granitic rich continental
recede from us due to cosmological expansion (see crust.
Hubble’s law). The structure of the interiors
In the Disney movie Toy Story one character was Our knowledge of the interiors of the earth, , is
named Buzz Lightyear. Buzz referring to Buzz Aldrin - derived from analyses of earthquake waves and the way
one of the first men on the moon, and Lightyear referring they behave. Several kinds of wave motions (P and S
to astronomical distance
The symbol “ua” is recommended by the Bureau
International des Poids et Mesures , but in the United
States and other anglophone countries the reverse usage
is more common. The International Astronomical Union
recommends “au” and international standard ISO 31-1
uses “AU”.

waves) produced by the earthquakes called as body waves

because they travel through the solid body of the earth.
Body waves are distinguished from surface waves, which move
along the free upper crust of the earth. Surface waves are
of two types; they travel more or less together, but with
different motions. When an earthquake occurs,
seismographs near the epicenter(the point on the Earth’s
surface that is directly above the point where an earthquake or
other underground explosion originates. The epicenter is directly above
the hypocenter, the actual location of the energy release inside
the earth) out to about 90° distance, are able to record both
P and S waves, but those at a greater distance no longer
detect the S wave. This is due to the fact that shear waves
cannot pass through liquids. This was how Oldham proved
that the Earth had a liquid outer core in contrast to the
surrounding mantle, which is solid. The Moon has been
proven by seismic testing to have a solid core, because it
conducts shear waves.
In addition, the two types of seismic wave behave
differently, depending on the material. Compress ional P
waves will travel and refract through both fluid and solid

VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU 23

 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
materials. Shear S waves, however, cannot travel through
fluids like air or water. Fluids cannot support the side-to-
side particle motion that makes S waves. The seismic waves
bend as they travel through different densities. The paths
curve because the different rock types found at different
depths and different densities change the speed at which
the waves travel.So in the core and therefore, P waves are
not directly received in a zone, known as shadow zone,
between 1030 and 1430 distant from the focus. Also, S waves
are not received there because they do not travel through
the liquid core. Only surface waves are received in this
shadow zone. Beyond 1430 only P waves passing through
the core and surface waves traveling along the surface are
received.The waves travel at different rates from a common
source. So the time interval between their arrival at the
recording station will also vary. Based on these observations,
the earth’s interior has been divided into three layers –
crust, mantle and core.
Cross-section of the whole Earth, showing the
complexity of paths of earthquake waves. The paths curve
because the different rock types found at different depths
change the speed at which the waves travel. Solid lines
marked P are compressional waves; dashed lines marked S
are shear waves. S waves do not travel through the core
but may be converted to compressional waves (marked K)
24
on entering the core (PKP, SKS). Waves may be reflected
at the surface (PP, PPP, SS).
The core
The core was the first internal structural element to
be identified. It was discovered in 1906 by R.D. Oldham.
The core is composed principally of iron, with about 10
percent alloy of oxygen or sulfur or nickel, or perhaps
some combination of these three elements. It is composed
of two layers: the outer and inner cores, composed
mainly of heavy metallic NIFE {Nickel+Ferrum
(iron)}. It accounts for 32% of the mass and 16% of
volume of the planet Earth. This layer is also called
BARY SPHERE. The outer core is liquid and has a
density of about 11 grams per cubic centimeter. It
surrounds the inner core and has an average thickness of
about 2250 kilometers. The outer core is presumed to be
liquid because it does not transmit shear (S) waves and
because the velocity of compressional (P) waves that pass
through it is sharply reduced. The core is composed mostly
of iron (Fe) and is so hot that the outer core is molten,
with about 10% sulphur (S).
The inner core is solid with a density of about 13
grams per cubic centimeter and a radius of about 1220
kilometers. The inner core is considered to be solid because
of the reduced velocity of P waves passing through it. The
sulphur present in the core keeps it so hot that the outer
core becomes molten and the inner core is under such
extreme pressure that it remains solid. Convection and the
release of heat from the Earth’s core drives further
convection in the mantle and Convection in the mantle
drives plate tectonic motions of the sea floor and
continents.
Data from earthquake waves, rotations and inertia of
the whole Earth, magnetic-field dynamo theory, and
laboratory experiments on melting and alloying of iron all
contribute to the identification of the composition of the
inner and outer core.
THE MANTLE
The mantle is almost 2900 kilometers thick and
comprises about 83 % of the Earth’s volume. Most of the
Earth’s mass is in the mantle, which is composed of iron
(Fe), magnesium (Mg), aluminum (Al), silicon (Si), and
oxygen (O) silicate compounds. At over 1000 degrees C,
the mantle is solid but can deform slowly in a plastic
manner.
The P waves make abrupt drop in velocity at the
mantle-core boundary, whereas S wave terminates at the
mantle-core boundary Thus making a plane of
discontinuous surface between the core and the mantle
known as Gutenberg discontinuity.
Based on the behavior of seismic waves, mantle is
sub-divided into two major parts the upper mantle and the
lower mantle.
The upper mantle exists from the base of the crust
downward to a depth of about 670 kilometers. The entire
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
layer account for the 83% of volume and 68% of the The continental crust is 20 to 70 kilometers thick
mass of the earth. and composed mainly of lighter granite.The density of
This region of the Earth’s interior is thought to be continental crust is about 2.7 grams per cubic centimeter.
composed of peridotite, an ultramafic rock made up of It is thinnest in areas like the Rift Valleys of East Africa
the minerals olivine and pyroxene. and in an area known as the Basin and Range Province in the
western United States.Continental crust is thickest beneath
Asthenosphere: The top layer of the upper mantle,
mountain ranges and extends into the mantle. Both of these
100 to 200 kilometers below surface, is called the
asthenosphere. Scientific studies suggest that this layer has
physical properties that are different from the rest of the
upper mantle.
The rocks in this upper portion of the mantle are
more rigid and brittle because of cooler temperatures and
lower pressures. Below the upper mantle is the lower
mantle that extends from 670 to 2900 kilometers below
the Earth’s surface. This layer is hot and plastic. The higher
pressure in this layer causes the formation of minerals that
are different from those of the upper mantle.
Lithosphere is a layer that includes the crust and the
upper most portion of the asthenosphere. This layer is crust types are composed of numerous tectonic plates
about 100 kilometers thick and has the ability to glide over that float on top of the mantle. Convection currents within
the rest of the upper mantle. Because of increasing the mantle cause these plates to move slowly across the
temperature and pressure, deeper portions of the Asthenosphere.
lithosphere are capable of plastic flow over geologic time. Figure: Structure of the Earth’s crust and top most
The lithosphere is also the zone of earthquakes, layer of the upper mantle. The lithosphere consists of the
mountain building, volcanoes, and continental drift. oceanic crust, continental crust, and uppermost mantle.
CRUST : Beneath the lithosphere is the asthenosphere. This layer,
which is also part of the upper mantle, extends to a depth
The topmost part of the lithosphere consists of crust. of about 200 kilometers. Sedimentary deposits are
This material is cool, rigid, and brittle. The crust is commonly found at the boundaries between the continental
distinguished from the mantle by the presence of abrupt and oceanic crust.
change in the velocity of seismic waves.
This corresponds to the abrupt change in rigidity of
Depth
the rock from crust to mantle. The change in rigidity in Layer
turn is due to change in mineral composition or in physical Kilometers Miles
state of the rocks. Lithosphere (locally varies
0–60 0–37
The P waves near the surface travel at about 6 km between 5 and 200 km)
per second and this velocity increases gradually or abruptly ... Crust (locally varies
to the base of the crust, where it is 7 km per second. 0–35 0–22
between 5 and 70 km)
The surface of sudden increase in wave velocity, which
... Uppermost part of
separates the crust above from the mantle below, is the 35–60 22–37
mantle
Mohorovicic discontinuity, also called Moho discontinuity
or M discontinuity. It is named after the Yugoslav 35–2890 22–1790 Mantle
seismologist, Mohorovicic, who first recognised the 100–700 62–435 ... Asthenosphere
discontinuity in 1909.
2890–5100 1790–3160 Outer core
Two types of crust can be identified: continental
5100–6378 3160–3954 Inner core
crust. And oceanic crust, both of these types of crust
are less dense than the rock found in the underlying upper
mantle layer. These layers consist of lighter SIAL
(Silica+Aluminium) and denser SIMA
(silica=magnesium) respectively. The continental crust
is covered by SIAL AND oceanic crust covered by
SIMA.
Ocean crust is thin and measures between 5 to 10
kilometers thick. It is also composed of basalt and has a
density of about 3.0 grams per cubic centimeter.

VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU 25

 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
ISOSTACY
One interesting property of the continental and
oceanic crust is that these tectonic plates have the ability
to rise and sink. This phenomenon, known as isostacy,
occurs because the crust floats on top of the mantle like ice
cubes in water. When large amounts of sediment are
deposited on a particular region, the immense weight of
the new sediment may cause the crust below to sink.
Similarly, when large amounts of material are eroded away
from a region, the land may rise to compensate. An analogy
may be made with an iceberg - it always floats with a
certain proportion of its mass below the surface of the
water. If more ice is added to the top of the iceberg, the
iceberg will sink lower in the water. If a layer of ice is
somehow sliced off the top of the iceberg, the remaining
iceberg will rise. Similarly, the Earth’s lithosphere “floats”
in the asthenosphere. In the other words, isostasy is the
principle observed by Archimedes where he saw that when
an object was immersed, an amount of water equal in
volume to that of the object was displaced. On a geological
scale, isostasy can be observed where the Earth’s strong
lithosphere exerts stress on the weaker asthenosphere
which, over geological time flows laterally such that
the load of the lithosphere is accommodated by height
adjustments.
When the Earth’s crust gains weight due to mountain
building or glaciation, it deforms and sinks deeper into the
mantle. If the weight is removed, the crust becomes more
buoyant and floats higher in the mantle.
ISOSTASY AND PLATE TECTONICS
When continental plates collide, the continental crust
may thicken at their edges in the collision. If this happens,
much of the thickened crust may move downwards rather
than up as with the iceberg analogy. The idea of continental
collisions building mountains “up” is therefore rather a
simplification. Instead, the crust thickens and the upper part
of the thickened crust may become a mountain range.
ISOSTASY AND GLACIAL REBOUND
This process explains recent changes in the height of
sea level in coastal areas of eastern and northern Canada
and Scandinavia. Some locations in these regions of the
world have seen sea-level rise by as much as one meter
over the last one hundred years. This rise is caused by
26
isostatic rebound. Both of these areas where covered by
massive glacial ice sheets about 10,000 years ago. The
weight of the ice sheets pushed the crust deeper into the
mantle. Now that the ice is gone, these areas are slowly
increasing in height to some new equilibrium level.
Figure : The addition of glacial ice on the Earth’s surface
causes the crust to deform and sink (a).When the ice melts, isostatic
rebound occurs and the crust rises to its former position before
glaciation (b and c). A similar process occurs with mountain building
and mountain erosion.
When a certain area of lithosphere reaches the state
of isostasy, it is said to be in isostatic equilibrium. Certain
areas (such as the Himalayas) are not in isostatic
equilibrium, which has forced researchers to identify other
reasons to explain their topographic heights (in the case
of the Himalaya, by proposing that their elevation is being
“propped-up” by the force of the impacting Indian plate).
ROCK SYSTEMS
Igneous rocks
• Igneous rocks (Granites). Igneous rocks are formed
by the crystallisation of a magma. The difference
between granites and basalts is in silica content and
their rates of cooling. A basalt is about 53% SiO2,
whereas granite is 73%.
o Intrusive, slowly cooled inside the crust. (Plutonic
rock = formed in the earth). Large crystals.
• Granite. (Continental crust) Density 2.7-2.8. High
silica content (acidic). = quartz + mica + K-feldspar
in solid solution. 60% orthoclase and plagioclase
fledspars + 25% quartz + 5% darker minerals (biotite,
hornblende). Color from flesh to black. Crystals
intermingled. Hard, rigid, tough. Granitic rock is much
less common on the other terrestrial planets, a fact
having to do with the fractionation (where early
crystallizing minerals separate fromt he rest of a
magma), a process that takes place uniquely on earth,
due to the prevalence of plate tectonics.
ƒ Granodiorite. An intermediate form between
granite and diorite.
ƒ Diorite. High silica content (acidic)
ƒ Gabbro. Density? Medium silica content.
(intermediate). Similar to granite = quartz +
feldspar + pyroxene + amphibole + mica +
olivene. A layer of gabbro is found in the ocean
crust, unerneath the basalt layer (0.5-2.5km), from
2.5 to 6.3 km deep. The lunar highlands have many
gabbros (made largely of potassium feldspar - also
known as plagioclase)
ƒ Peridotite.
o Extrusive. cooled rapidly at the surface. Small crystals.
ƒ Rhyolite. Medium silica content (intermediate). A
fine-grained volcanic rock of granitic composition.
ƒ Dacite.
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
ƒ Andesite. (Volcanic arcs) Density >2.8. Low silica
content (basic) = sodium feldspar + amphibole.
Dark, dense.
ƒ Basalt. (Ocean crust) Density 2.9. Low silica
content. (basic). Dark, dense. = olivene + pyroxene
+ Ca-Feldspar in solid solution. Basaltic rocks
(gabbro & basalt) are made up of feldspars and
other minerals common in planetary crusts. They
have been identified as major surface rocks on the
dark lunar planes and much of Mars, Venus and
the asteroid Vesta.
• Pyroclastic rocks: debris ejected by volcanoes
o Tuff is made of compacted debris from old
volcanic ash showers.
o Volcanic breccia is composed of angular mineral
fragments embedded in a matrix, the product of
explosive eruptions.
o Ignimbrites are sheets of coalesced fine particles
which once flowed at high speed, extremely hot,
fluid avalanches.
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
• Clastic sedimentary rocks consist of rock and
mineral grains derived from the chemical and
mechanical breakdown (weathering) of pre-existing
rock. They contain rock fragments and more
commonly, particles of quartz and feldspar. Clastic
rocks are further classified on the basis of grain size.
Underneath each rock type, the Wentworth Scale of
particle sizes is shown.
o Conglomerates (> 2mm) consolidated gravel
ƒ Boulder (>256mm)
ƒ Cobble (65-256 mm)
ƒ Pebble (4-64 mm)
ƒ Granule (2-4 mm)
o Sandstones (0.062-2 mm) consolidated sand
ƒ Very coarse (1.0 - 2.0 mm)
ƒ Coarse (0.5 - 1 mm)
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
ƒ Medium (0.25 - 0.5 mm)
ƒ Fine (0.125 - 0.25 mm)
ƒ Very fine (0.0625 - 0.125 mm)
o Shales (<0.0062 mm) consolidated mud, rich in
organic matter.
ƒ Silt (0.0039 - 0.0625 mm)
ƒ Clay (0.0002 - 0.0039 mm)
ƒ Argillite. A sedimentary rock, composed of clay
particles which have been hardened and
cemented.
ƒ Illite (muscovite). K2Al4(Si6Al2)O20(OH)4. is
a sedimentary fine-grained rock, equivalent to
ordinari mica (muscovite).
ƒ Colloid (<0.0002 mm)
• Chemical sedimentary rocks are formed either from
minerals that precipitate directly from aqeous (water)
solutions or from the accumulation of fossilised
remains of organisms which become limestone.
o Gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O)
o Anhydrite (CaSO4)
o Halite (NaCl) salt
o Limestone (CaCO3)
Metamorphic rocks
Metamorphic rocks have been chemically altered by heat,
pressure and deformation, while buried deep in the earth’s
crust. These rocks show changes in mineral composition
or texture or both. This area of rock classification is highly
specialised and complex.
• Slates are foliated rocks representing low-grade
metamorphic alteration of shales (laminated clay).
o Argillite is a mudstone, much hardened by pressure.
• Schists are foliated medium-grade metamorphic rock
with parallel layers, vertical to the direction of
compaction..
• Gneiss are banded rocks consisting of alternating
layers of quartz and feldspar, of high metamorphic
grade.
• Quartzites represent metamorphosed sandstone.
o Greywacke is a severely hardened sandstone with mica
27
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
and feldspar, sometimes containing fossils.
o Chert is a siliceous rock deposited chemically,
often common among greywacke.
• Marble is metamorphosed limestone, just
recrystallised.
Metamorphic rock may be of sedimentary origin or
stem from igneous rocks. Rocks formed under high
temperatures (basalt, gabbro) are less sensitive to
metamorphosis than those solidified at low temperatures
(quartz & felspar minerals). The following are causes
of metamorphism:
• Pressure from sinking deeper while overlaid by
other sediments.
• Pressure from continental collision and consequent
folding and overthrusting of the crust (dynamo
metamorphism).
• Temperature from sinking deeper, into warmer
layers of the crust (metamorphism).
• Temperature from igneous hot lava running nearby,
either overhead or from intrusions (contact or
thermal metamorphism).
• Temperature from steam escaping from hot vents.
• Repetitive metamorphism (polymetamorphism).
IMPORTANT PLAINS OF THE WORLD
In geography, a plain is a large area of land with
relatively low relief. Plains may be more suitable for farming
than plateaus or mountains. An alluvial plain is a landform
formed by the deposition of alluvial soil over a long period
of time by a river coming from the mountains.
List of famous plains:
Australian Plains
Canterbury Plains, New Zealand
Great Plains, USA
Indo-Gangetic plain
Kanto plain, Japan
Nullarbor Plain, Australia
Khuzestan Plain, Iran
Mazandaran Plain, Iran
Pannonian Plain, Central Europe
Salisbury Plain, England
Alexis Leigh Plain, USA
Indo-Gangetic plain
The Indo-Gangetic Plain is a rich, fertile and
ancient land encompassing most of northern and eastern
India, the most populous parts of Pakistan, and virtually
all of Bangladesh.
It is one of the most populated areas on Earth,
home to over 850 million people, more than every other
continent.The Plains get their names from the rivers
Ganges and Indus.In social and economic terms, the
Indo-Gangetic Plain is the most important region of
India. The plain is a great alluvial crescent stretching
from the Indus River system in Pakistan to the Punjab
Plain (in both Pakistan and India) and the Haryana
28
Plain to the delta of the Ganga (or Ganges) in
Bangladesh (where it is called the Padma).
Two narrow terrain belts, collectively known as
the Terai, constitute the northern boundary of the Indo-
Gangetic Plain. Where the foothills of the Himalayas
encounter the plain, small hills known locally as ghar
(meaning house in Hindi) have been formed by coarse
sands and pebbles deposited by mountain streams.
Groundwater from these areas flows on the surface
where the plains begin and converts large areas along
the rivers into swamps. The southern boundary of the
plain begins along the edge of the Great Indian Desert
in the state of Rajasthan and continues east along the
base of the hills of the Central Highlands to the Bay of
Bengal.
The hills, varying in elevation from 300 to 1,200
meters, lie on a general east-west axis.The Central
Highlands are divided into northern and southern parts.
The northern part is centered on the Aravalli Range of
eastern Rajasthan. In the northern part of the state of
Madhya Pradesh, the Malwa Plateau comprises the
southern part of the Central Highlands and merges with
the Vindhya Range to the south. The main rivers that
flow through the southern part of the plain—the
Narmada, the Tapti, and the Mahanadi—which delineate
North India from South India.
The Indo-Gangetic Plain is divided into two
drainage basins by the Delhi Ridge; the western part
consists of the Punjab Plain and the Haryana Plain,
and the eastern part consists of the Ganga-Brahmaputra
drainage systems.
This divide is only 300 meters above sea level,
contributing to the perception that the Indo-Gangetic
Plain appears to be continuous between the two
drainage basins.
The Punjab Plain is centered in the land between
five rivers: the Jhelum, the Chenab, the Ravi, the Beas,
and the Sutlej. (The name Punjab comes from the
Sanskrit pancha ab , meaning five waters or rivers.)
The middle Ganga plain extends from the Yamuna
River in the west to the state of West Bengal in the
east. The lower Ganga and the Assam Valley are more
lush and verdant than the middle Ganga.
The lower Ganga is centered in West Bengal from
which it flows into Bangladesh and, after joining the
Jamuna (as the lower reaches of the Brahmaputra are
known in Bangladesh), forms the delta of the Ganga.
The Brahmaputra (meaning son of Brahma) rises
in Tibet (China’s Xizang Autonomous Region) as the
Yarlung Zangbo River, flows through Arunachal
Pradesh and Assam, and then crosses into
Bangladesh.Average annual rainfall increases moving
west to east from approximately 600 millimeters in the
Punjab Plain to 1,500 millimeters around the lower
Ganga and Brahmaputra. Indo-Gangetic Plain
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
MOUNTAINS
A mountain is a landform that extends above the
surrounding terrain in a limited area.A mountain is
generally higher and steeper than a hill, but there is
considerable overlap, and usage often depends on local
custom.
Mountains cover 54% of Asia, 36% of North
America, 25% of Europe, 22% of South America, 17%
of Australia, and 3% of Africa. As a whole, 24% of the
Earth’s land mass is mountainous. Also, 1 in 10 people
live in mountainous regions. All the world’s major rivers
are fed from mountain sources.
Mountains are generally given as heights above
mean sea level. The Himalayas average 5 km above sea
level, whilst the Andes average 4 km. Most other
mountain ranges average 2-2.5 km.
The highest mountain on Earth is Everest, 8,848 m,
set in the world’s most significant mountain range, the
Himalaya.
Other definitions of height are possible. The peak that
is farthest from the center of the Earth is Chimborazo
in Ecuador. At 6,267 m above sea level it is not even
the tallest peak in the Andes, the Earth bulges at the
equator and Chimborazo is very close to the equator, it
is 2,150 m further away from the Earth’s centre than
Everest.
The peak that rises farthest from its base is Mauna
Kea on Hawaii, whose peak is over 9,000 m above its
base on the floor of the Pacific Ocean.Even though
Everest is the highest mountain on Earth today, there
have been much taller mountains in the past. During
the Precambrian era, the Canadian Shield once had
enormous mountains 12,000 m in height that are now
eroded down into rolling hills.The tallest known
mountain in the solar system is Olympus Mons, located
on Mars with 26 km altitude.
Characteristics
The altitude of mountains means that the tops exist
in higher cold layers of the atmosphere. They are
consequently often subject to glaciation and erosion through
frost action. This produces the classic mountain peak shape.
Some mountains have glacial lakes, created by melting
glaciers; for example, there are an estimated 3,000 in
Bhutan.
At very high altitudes, there is less oxygen in the
air, and less protection against solar radiation (UV).
Acute mountain sickness (caused by hypoxia - a lack
of oxygen in the blood) affects over half of lowlanders
who spend more than a few hours above 3,500 metres.
Despite some biological adaptation by peoples
who have lived on mountains for hundreds or thousands
of years, babies’ average birthweight is reduced by 100
grams for every 1,000-metre gain in altitude. Thus, many
stores lining the many mountain ranges known to cause
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
these sicknesses provide oxygen tanks and higher SPF
sunscreens.
Geology
A mountain is usually produced by the movement
of lithospheric plates, either orogenic movement or
epeirogenic movement.
The compressional forces, isostatic uplift and
intrusion of igneous matter forces surface rock upwards,
creating a landform higher than the surrounding features.
The height of the feature makes it either a hill or, if higher
and steeper, a mountain.
The major mountains tend to occur in long linear arcs,
indicating tectonic plate boundaries and activity. Mountain
creation tends to occur in discrete periods, each referred
to as an orogeny.
Two types of mountain are formed depending on
how the rock reacts to the tectonic forces – block
mountains or fold mountains.
The compressional forces in continental collisions
may cause the compressed region to thicken, so the
upper surface is forced upwards. In order to balance
the weight, much of the compressed rock is forced
downwards, producing deep “mountain roots”.
Mountains therefore form downwards as well as
upwards .However, in some continental collisions part
of one continent may simply override part of the others,
crumpling in the process.
Some isolated mountains were produced by
volcanoes, including many apparently small islands that
reach a great height above the ocean floor.
Block mountains are created when large areas are
widely broken up by faults creating large vertical
displacements. This occurence is fairly common. The
uplifted blocks are block mountains or horsts. The
intervening dropped blocks are termed graben: these can
be small or form extensive rift valley systems. This form
of landscape can be seen in East Africa, the Vosges, the
Basin and Range province of Western North America
and the Rhine valley.
Where rock does not fault it folds, either
symmetrically or asymmetrically. The upfolds are
anticlines and the downfolds are synclines; in
asymmetric folding there may also be recumbent and
overturned folds. The Jura mountains are an example
of folding.
Grasslands
Savanna
A savana or savannah is a grassland with widely
spaced trees, and occurs in several types of biomes.
In savannas, grasses and trees are co-dominant
vegetation types, with trees and grasses often alternating
in dominance over time. The herbaceous layer is usually
a mixture of grasses and herbs with trees and shrubs
scattered individually or in small clumps.
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Savannas are frequently seen as a transitional zone,
occurring between forest or woodland regions and
grassland or desert regions.
Savannas are targets of regular fires. Most savannas
experience fire at least twice a decade and annual fires are
common in many savanna types. These fires are usually
confined to the herbaceous layer and do little long term
damage to mature trees.
However these fires do serve to either kill or suppress
tree seedlings, thus preventing the establishment of a
continuous tree canopy which would prevent further grass
growth. Browsing animals such as elephants, antelope and
deer also play an important role in supressing tree growth
in savannas.
Savannas appear to be the result of human use of
fire. For example Native Americans created subtropical
savannas by periodic burning in some areas of the US
southeastern coast where fire-resistant Longleaf Pine was
the dominant species.
Aboriginal burning appears to have been responsible
for the widespread occurance of savanna in tropical
Australia and New Guinea and savannas in India are a
creation of human fire use .With the removal or lateration
of traditional burning regimes many savannas are being
replaced by forest and shrub thickets with little herbaceous
layer.
Although the term savanna is believed to have
originally come from an Amerindian word describing “land
which is without trees but with much grass either tall or
short” (Oviedo y Valdes, 1535), by the late 1800s it was
used to mean “land with both grass and trees”. It now
refers to land with grass and either scattered trees, or an
open canopy of trees. Savannah, Georgia is named after
such an area.
Savanna ecoregions are of several different types:
Tropical and subtropical savannas are classified
with tropical and subtropical grasslands and shrublands
as the tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and
shrublands biome. The savannas of Africa, including the
Serengeti, famous for its wildlife, are typical of this type.
Temperate savannas are mid-latitude savannas with
wetter summers and drier winters. They are classified with
temperate savannas and shrublands as the temperate
grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome.
Mediterranean savannas are mid-latitude savannas in
Mediterranean climate regions, with mild, rainy winters and
hot, dry summers, part of the Mediterranean forests,
woodlands, and shrub biome. The oak tree savannas of
California, part of the California chaparral and
woodlands ecoregion, fall into this category.
Flooded savannas are savannas that are flooded
seasonally or year-round. They are classified with
flooded savannas as the flooded grasslands and savannas
biome, which occurs mostly in the tropics and
subtropics.
30
Montane savannas are high-altitude savannas,
located in a few spots around the world’s high mountain
regions, part of the montane grasslands and shrublands
biome. The highland savannas of the Angolan scarp
savanna and woodlands ecoregion are an example.
Steppe
In physical geography, a steppe pronounced in
English as step, is a plain without trees (apart from
those near rivers and lakes);
It is similar to a prairie, although a prairie is
generally considered as being dominated by tall grasses,
while short grasses are said to be the norm in the steppe.
It may be semi-desert, or covered with grass or shrubs,
or both depending on the season and latitude.
The term is also used to denote the climate
encountered in regions too dry to support a forest, but
not dry enough to be a desert.
The soil is considered too moist to be a desert, but
too dry to support normal forest life. The climate of mid-
latitude steppes can be summarized by hot summers and
cold winters, averaging 250-500 mm (10-20 inches) of rain
or equivalent in snowfall per year.
In tropical locations, necessary rainfall to separate
steppes from true deserts may be as half again as much
due to greater evapotranspiration.
Plant life is usually greater than one foot tall, including
the blue grama and buffalo grass, cacti, sagebrush,
speargrass, and other small relatives of the sunflower.
Animal life includes the Corsac Fox, Mongolian Gerbil,
Saiga Antelope, Northern Lynx, and the Saker Falcon.
The world’s largest zone of steppes, often referred to
as “the Great Steppe”, is found in central Russia and
neighbouring countries in Central Asia. The Pontic steppe
stretches from the Ukraine in the west to the Ural
Mountains and the Caspian Sea. To the east of the
Caspian Sea, the steppes extend through Turkmenistan,
Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to the Altai, Koppet Dag
and Tian Shan ranges. To the north, on the eastern side
of the Urals, is the forested West Siberian Plain taiga,
extending nearly as far as the Arctic Ocean.
Other regions of steppes include transition zones
between savanna and severe desert such as the Sahel that
fringes the true Sahara or similar semi-arid lands that fringe
the Thar desert of the Indian subcontinent or the more
severe deserts of Australia.
Another large steppe area is located in the central
United States and western Canada. The High Plains steppe
is the westernmost part of the Great Plains region. A
significant steppe, noteworthy for not grading into
desert, is the Sertão of northeastern Brazil.
Some steppes are to be found in transition zones
between zones of Mediterranean climate and desert,
such as Tijuana, Baja California, and in places cut off
from adequate moisture due to rainshadow effects such
as Zaragoza, Spain.
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Prairie
Prairie refers to an area of land of low topographic
relief that historically supported grasses and herbs, with
few trees, and having generally a mesic (moderate or
temperate) climate.
Lands typically referred to as “prairie” tend to be in
North America. The term encompassed much of the area
referred to as the Great Plains (constituted by most or all
of the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,
Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming and
Montana), and sizeable parts of the states of Indiana,
Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In
Canada, prairie occupied vast areas of Manitoba,
Saskatchewan, and Alberta.
French explorers called these areas pririe, from the
French word for “meadow” (or)Medium grass areas.
The shortgrass area can be considered to be a steppe.
Grazing by animals such as the American Bison
and Prairie dogs also helped maintain the original
prairie ecology. Small areas of prairies also exist in
eastern North America, and it is possible that these
were created by Native Americans by periodic burning.
One such area was along the southeastern shore of Lake
Erie in what is now Pennsylvania and New York;
another was between Seneca Lake and Cayuga Lake in
present New York.
Prairies are considered part of the temperate
grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists,
based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and
grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the
dominant vegetation type. Other temperate grasslands
regions include the Pampas of Argentina, and the
steppes of Russia and Ukraine.
Veld
The term Veld, or Veldt, refers primarily (but not
exclusively) to the wide open rural spaces of South
Africa or southern Africa and in particular to certain
flatter areas or districts covered in grass or low scrub.
The word comes from the Afrikaans and Dutch
languages, and is also found in some dialects of Low
German and means, literally, ‘field’ The term ‘veld’, in Low
German usage, is used to mean a place which is
generally overgrown or has gone fallow, such as a
thicket or a field which has become overgrown from
lack of maintenance. It also generally has similar
connotations as in Afrikaans and Dutch.
By extension, the veld can be compared to ‘the
boondocks’ or those places ‘beyond the black stump’ in
Australia.
Highveld and Lowveld
Much of the interior of southern Africa consists of
a high plateau known as the Highveld. These higher, cooler
areas (generally more than 5000 ft [1524m] above sea level)
are characterized by flat or gently undulating terrain,
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grasslands and a modified tropical or subtropical
climate. In some areas there is a distinct escarpment
bordering the plateau, while in others the boundary is
not obvious.
Some surrounding, lower areas are known as
lowveld and are generally hotter and less intensively
cultivated. Before the middle of the 20th century much
of the Lowveld was home to the Tse Tse Fly, which
transmits Sleeping Sickness. These areas used to be
known as ‘fever country’ and were avoided by mounted
travellers, owing to the susceptibility of horses to a form
of the disease.
Coastal plain
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 (about 800 km).
Some well-known coastal plains
The Illawarra Plains, Australia, The Israeli Coastal
Plain, The Atlantic Coastal Plain, United States
Ridge :
A ridge is a geological feature that features a
continuous elevational crest for some distance. Ridges
are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending
on size. There are several main types of ridges:
Dendritic ridge: In a typical plateau terrain, the
stream drainage valleys will leave intervening ridges.
These are by far the most common ridges. These ridges
usually represent slightly harder rock, but not always
— they are often simply because there were larger joint
spaces where the valleys formed, or other chance
occurrences. This type of ridge is generally somewhat
random in orientation, often changing direction
frequently, often with knobs at intervals on the ridge
top.
Stratigraphic ridge: In places such as the Ridge-
and-valley Appalachians, very long, very even, very
straight ridges are formed due to the fact that they’re
the uneroded remaining edges of the more resistant
strata that were folded laterally. Similar ridges have
formed in places such as the Black Hills, where the
ridges form concentric circles around the igneous core.
Sometimes these ridges are called “hogback ridges”.
Oceanic spreading ridge: In tectonic spreading
zones around the world, such as at the Mid-Atlantic
Ridge, the volcanic activity forming new plate boundary
forms volcanic ridges at the spreading zone. Isostatic
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
settling and erosion gradually reduce the elevations
moving away from the zone.
Crater ridges: Large meteorite strikes typically form
large impact craters bordered by circular ridges.
Volcanic caldera ridges: Large volcanoes often leave
collapsed central calderas that are bordered by circular
ridges.
Thrust fault ridges: Thrust faults often form
escarpments. Sometimes the tops of the escarpments form
not plateaus, but slope back so that the edges of the
escarpments form ridges.
Dune ridges: In areas of large-scale dune activity,
certain types of dunes result in sand ridges.
Moraines and eskers: Glacial activity may leave ridges
in the form of moraines and eskers. An arête is a thin
ridge of rock that is formed by glaciers.
Valley
A valley (in Scotland, a glen) is a landform, which
can range from a few square miles (square kilometers)
to hundreds or even thousands of square miles in area.
It is typically a low-lying area of land, surrounded
by higher areas such as mountains or hills. It can also
be seen as a path between two mountains, or a
depression in a single mountain.
Valleys are formed by numerous geographical
processes. Glacial valleys, which are usually U- rather than
V-shaped, were formed tens of thousands of years ago
(most likely during the last Ice Age) by the massive erosive
power of glaciers.
Several glacial valleys can be found in the English
Lake District and many can be found in Alpine
countries. Rift valleys, such as the Great Rift Valley,
are formed by the expansion of the Earth’s crust due to
tectonic activity beneath the Earth’s surface.
Valleys are, however, most commonly formed by
fluvial activity (the action of running water, such as rivers),
which erodes the landscape
Usually the bottom of a main valley is broad -
independent of the U or V shape.
It ranges from about 1 to 5 km and is filled with
mountain sediments. The shape of the floor can be rather
horizontal, similar to a flat cylinder, or terraced. Side valleys
are rather V than U-shaped;
Predominant are places on terraces or Alluvial fans if
they exist.
The villages of the primary valleys, however, have
to consider mainly the danger of possible floodings.
Hollows :
A hollow is loose name for a valley in the earth. It
is commonly used in New England, Missouri and
western Pennsylvania to describe such geographic
features. Hollows may be formed by river valleys such
as Mansfield Hollow or they may be relatively dry
32
clefts with a notch-like characteristic in that they have
a height of land and consequent water divide in their
bases.
A hollow such as this is Boston Hollow. Tourists
in Europe can further visit a lot of Karst, Stalactite and
Ice Hollows (e.g. in Slovenia and Austria).
Famous valleys California Central Valley (United
States), Copper Canyon, Danube Valley (Eastern Europe,
Wachau, Iron Gate), Death Valley (United States), Grand
Canyon (United States), Great Rift Valley (from Jordan to
the Red Sea and Lake Victoria), Indus Valley (Pakistan),
Loire Valley with its famous castles (France), Napa Valley
(United States), Upper Rhine Valley (an old graben system)
(France), Rhone Valley from the Matterhorn to Grenoble
and Lyon (France), Shenandoah Valley (United States),
Sonoma Valley, California, USA, Valley of the Kings
(Egypt), San Fernando Valley (United States), Santa Clara
Valley, perhaps better known as “Silicon Valley” (United
States).
The largest valley in our solar system is the Valles
Marineris formation on Mars. The Valles (which were
first detected in 1877 by Schiaparelli) are a huge canyon
system, 4,500 x 600 km in area and up to 8 km in depth.
These enormous dimensions are 4-8 times greater than
those of the American “Grand Canyon”.
River delta :
A delta is a landform where the mouth of a river
flows into an ocean, sea, desert, estuary or lake, building
outwards (as a deltaic deposit) from sediment carried by
the river and deposited as the water current is dissipated.
Deltaic deposits of larger, heavily-laden rivers are
characterized by the river channel dividing into multiple
streams (distributaries), these divide and come together
again to form a maze of active and inactive channels. A
related notion is estuaries, which are another type of river
mouth.
A deposit at the mouth of a river usually roughly
triangular in shape. The triangular shape and the increased
width at the base are due to blocking of the river mouth
by silt, with resulting continual formation of distributaries
at angles to the original course.
Herodotus the great historian used this term for
the Nile river delta because the sediment deposit at its
mouth had the shape of upper-case Greek letter Delta:
Ä.
Where delta formation is river-dominated and less
subject to tidal or wave action, a delta may take on a
multi-lobed shape which resembles a bird’s foot. The
Mississippi Delta is an example of this type.
The most famous delta is that of the Nile River,
and it is this delta from which the term is derived,
because the Nile delta has a very characteristic
triangular shape, like the (upper-case) Greek letter delta
(Ä).
Other rivers with notable deltas include the
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Amazon, the Ganges/Brahmaputra combination (this
delta spans most of Bangladesh and West Bengal), the
Niger, the Mississippi, the Sacramento-San Joaquin, the
Rhine, the Rhône, the Danube, the Ebro, the Volga, the
Lena, the Tigris-Euphrates, the Indus, the Krishna-
Godavari, the Kaveri, the Ayeyarwady, and the Mekong.
In rare cases the river delta is located inside a large
valley and is called an inverted river delta. Sometimes a
river will divide into multiple branches in an inland area,
only to rejoin and continue to the sea; such an area is
known as an inland delta, and often occur on former lake
beds. The Niger Inland Delta is the most notable
example. These rock formations, which sometimes
contain coal, cap the thick series of sedimentary rocks
of the Allegheny Plateau in eastern North America.
List of deltas
Camargue (Rhône River Delta), Colorado River
Delta, Danube Delta, Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, Indus
River Delta, Lena Delta, Mekong Delta, Mississippi
River Delta, Niger Inland Delta (inland delta), Niger
River Delta (Oil Rivers), Nile Delta, Okavango Delta
(inland delta), Paraná Delta, Pearl River Delta, Rio
Grande Valley, Rhine-Meuse-Scheldt Delta, Sacramento
River Delta, Volga Delta, Yangtze River Delta, Yukon
Delta.
Oxbow lake
An oxbow lake is a type of lake which is formed
when a wide meander from a stream or a river is cut
off to form a lake. They are called oxbow lakes due to
the distinctive curved shape that results from this
process. In Australia, an oxbow lake is called a
billabong.
When a river reaches a low-lying plain in its final
course to the sea or a lake, it meanders widely.
Deposition occurs on the convex bank because of the
‘slack water’, or water at low velocity. In contrast, both
lateral erosion and undercutting occur on the concave
bank where the stream’s velocity is the highest.
Continuous erosion of a concave bank and deposition
on the convex bank of a meandering river cause the
formation of a very pronounced meander with two
concave banks getting closer. The narrow neck of land
between the two neighbouring concave banks is finally
cut through, either by lateral erosion of the two concave
banks or by the strong currents of a flood. When this
happens, a new straighter river channel is created and
an abandoned meander loop, called a cut-off, is formed.
When deposition finally seals off the cut-off from the
river channel, an oxbow lake is formed.
Examples
The Reelfoot Lake in west Tennessee is an oxbow
lake formed when the Mississippi River changed course
following the New Madrid Earthquake of 1811–1812.
There are many oxbow lakes alongside the Mississippi
River and its tributaries. The largest oxbow lake in
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North America, Lake Chicot (located near Lake Village,
Arkansas), was originally part of the Arkansas River.
Cuckmere Haven in Sussex, England contains a
widely meandering river with many oxbow lakes, often
referred to in physical geography textbooks.
River :
A river is a large natural waterway. The source of
a river may be a lake, a spring, or a collection of small
streams, known as headwaters.
From their source, all rivers flow downhill, typically
terminating in the ocean. The mouth, or lower end, of a
river is known as its base level.
Rivers that carry large amounts of sediment develop
conspicuous deltas at their mouths. Rivers whose mouths
are in saline tidal waters may form estuaries.
There are different stages of river course.
Youthful river - a river with a steep gradient that
has very few tributaries and flows quickly. Its channels
erode deeper rather than wider.
Mature river - a river with a gradient that is less
steep than those of youthful rivers and flows more
slowly than youthful rivers. A mature river is fed by
many tributaries and has more discharge than a youthful
river. Its channels erode wider rather than deeper.
Old river - a river with a low gradient and low
erosive energy. Old rivers are characterized by flood
plains.
Rejuvenated river - a river with a gradient that is
raised by the earth’s movement.
Where a river descends quickly over sloped
topography,as rapids with whitewater or even waterfalls
occur. Rapids are often used for recreational purposes.
Rivers begin at their source in higher ground, either
rising from a spring, forming from glacial meltwater, flowing
from a body of water such as a lake, or simply from damp,
boggy places where the soil is waterlogged.
They end at their base level where they flow into a
larger body of water, the sea, a lake, or as a tributary
to another (usually larger) river.
In arid areas rivers sometimes end by losing water
to evaporation and percolation into dry, porous material
such as sand, soil, or pervious rock. The area drained
by a river and its tributaries is called its watershed,
catchment basin or drainage basin. (Watershed is also
used however to mean a boundary between drainage
basins.)
Starting at the mouth of the river and following it
upstream as it branches again and again, the resulting
river network forms a dendritic (tree-like) structure.
Rivers have been important historically in
determining political boundaries. For example, the
Danube was a longstanding border of the Roman
Empire, and today forms most of the border between
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Bulgaria and Romania.
The Mississippi in North America, and the Rhine
in Europe, are major east-west boundaries in those
continents. The Orange River forms the boundary
between various provinces and countries along its route
in Africa.
The world’s ten longest rivers
It is difficult to measure the length of a river, the
more precise the measurement, the longer the river will
seem. Also, it is difficult to determine where a river begins
or ends, as very often, upstream rivers are formed by
seasonal streams, swamps, or changing lakes.
These are average measurements.
Nile (6,690 km), Amazon (6,452 km), Mississippi-
Missouri (6,270 km), Yangtze (Chang Jiang) (6,245 km),
Yenisey-Angara (5,550 km), Huang He (Yellow) (5,464 km),
Ob-Irtysh (5,410 km), Amur (4,410 km), Congo (4,380 km),
Lena (4,260 km).
Well-known rivers (in alphabetic order)
1. The Amazon River, the largest river in the world (in
terms of volume and water cubic metres/second)
2. The American River, the site of Sutter’s Mill
3 Amu Darya, the longest river in central Asia
4. The Amur, the principal river of eastern Siberia and
the border between Russia and China
5. The Arkansas River, a major tributary of the Mississippi
River
6. The Arno, the river that runs through Florence
7. The Arvandrud (Shatt al-Arab), the river that borders
Iran and Iraq
8. The Brahmaputra, the principal river in northeast India
and Tibet
9. The Chao Phraya, the principal river of Thailand
10. The River Clyde, which runs through Glasgow
11. The Colorado River (in Argentina)
12. The Colorado River (in the United States), the principal
river of the American Southwest
13. The Columbia River, the principal river of the Pacific
Northwest
14. The Congo, the principal river of central Africa
15. The Danube, the principal river of central and
southeastern Europe
16. Río de la Plata, the widest river in the world
17. The Ebro, a river in northwestern Spain
18. The Elbe, a major German river, running through
the city of Hamburg
19. The Euphrates, one of the twin principal rivers of
Anatolia (Turkey) and Mesopotamia (Iraq)
20. The Ganga, the principal river of India
21. Han-gang, the river that runs through Seoul
22. The Helmand River, the principal river of Afghanistan
34
23. The Huang He (or Yellow River), one of the principal
rivers of China
24. The Hudson River, the principal river of New York
25. The Indus River, the principal river of Pakistan
26. The River Jordan, the principal river of Israel Karun,
the principal navigable river of southern Iran
27. The River Kaveri, the principal river of South India
28. The Lena, the principal river of northeastern Siberia
29. The Mackenzie River, the longest river in Canada
30. The Magdalena, the principal river of Colombia
31. The Main, a river in Germany
32. The Mekong, a principal river of Southeast Asia
33. The River Mersey, the river on which sits the
English city of Liverpool
34. The Maas, the principal river of the southern
provinces of the Netherlands and eastern Belgium
35. The Mississippi River, the principal river of the
central and southern United States The Missouri
River, one of the principal rivers of the Great Plains
36. The Murray River, the principal river of
southeastern Australia
37. The Niagara River, the river which flows between
Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and which flows over
the Niagara Escarpment (better known as Niagara
Falls)
38. The Niger, the principal river of west Africa
39. The Nile, the longest river in the world, principal
to Egypt and northeastern Africa
40. The Ob, a large river of Siberia
41. The Oder, a major river in Central Europe
42. The Ohio River, the largest river between the
Mississippi and the Appalachian Mountains
43. The Orinoco, the principal river of Venezuela The Rio
Grande, the river that forms part of the border
between the United States and Mexico
44. The Saint Lawrence River, which drains the Great
Lakes
45. The Sava, which flows through four countries—
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina(making
its northern border) and Serbia—and was therefore
one of the symbols of former Yugoslavia
46. The Savannah River, a major river in the
southeastern United States, forming most of the
border between the states of Georgia and South
Carolina
47. The Seine, the river that runs through Paris
48. The Segura, a river in southeastern Spain
49. The River Severn, the longest river in Great Britain
50. Shinano-gawa, the longest river in Japan
51. The Snake River, the largest tributary of the
Columbia River in Washington
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
52. The Susquehanna River, the principal river of
Pennsylvania and the Chesapeake Bay
53. Tajo, the largest river in the Iberian Peninsula
54. The River Tay, the largest river in Scotland
55. The Tennessee River, an important tributary of the
Mississippi that flows through Eastern/Western
Tennessee, Northern Alabama, and Kentucky
56. The Thames, the river that runs through London
57. The Tiber, the river that runs through Rome
58. The Tigris, one of the twin principal rivers of Anatolia
(Turkey) and Mesopotamia (Iraq)
59. Tonegawa, one of the largest rivers in Japan
60. The Vistula, the principal river of Poland
61. The Vltava, the river that runs through Prague
62. The Volga River, the principal river of Russia
63. The Wabash River, the principal river of Indiana
64. The Yangtze (Chang Jiang), the longest river in
China
65. The Yenisei, a large river in Siberia
66. The Yukon, the principal river of Alaska and the
Yukon Territory
67. The Zambezi, the principal river of southeastern
Africa
The 16 current Decade Volcanoes
• Avachinsky-Koryaksky, Kamchatka, Russia
• Colima, Mexico
• Mount Etna, Italy
• Galeras, Colombia
• Mauna Loa, Hawai»i, USA
• Merapi, Indonesia
• Nyiragongo, Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Mount Rainier, Washington, USA
• Sakurajima, Japan
• Santamaria/Santiaguito, Guatemala
• Santorini, Greece
• Taal Volcano, Philippines
• Teide, Canary Islands, Spain
• Ulawun, Papua New Guinea
• Mount Unzen, Japan
• Vesuvius, Italy
Effect of Volcanoes
Large, explosive volcanic eruptions inject water
vapor (H2O), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2),
hydrogen chloride (HCl), hydrogen fluoride (HF) and
ash (pulverized rock and pumice) into the stratosphere
to heights of 10-20 miles above the Earth’s surface.
The most significant impacts from these injections
come from the conversion of sulphur dioxide to
sulphuric acid (H2SO4), which condenses rapidly in the
stratosphere to form fine sulfate aerosols.
The aerosols increase the Earth’s albedo—its
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
reflection of radiation from the Sun back into space -
and thus cool the Earth’s lower atmosphere or
troposphere; however, they also absorb heat radiated
up from the Earth, thereby warming the stratosphere.
Several eruptions during the past century have
caused a decline in the average temperature at the
Earth’s surface of up to half a degree (Fahrenheit scale)
for periods of one to three years. The sulphate aerosols
also promote complex chemical reactions on their
surfaces that alter chlorine and nitrogen chemical species
in the stratosphere. This effect, together with increased
stratospheric chlorine levels from chlorofluorocarbon
pollution, generates chlorine monoxide (ClO), which
destroys ozone (O3).
As the aerosols grow and coagulate, they settle
down into the upper troposphere where they serve as
nuclei for cirrus clouds and further modify the Earth’s
radiation balance. Most of the hydrogen chloride (HCl)
and hydrogen fluoride (HF) are dissolved in water
droplets in the eruption cloud and quickly fall to the
ground as acid rain.
Gas emissions from volcanoes are a natural
contributor to acid rain. Volcanic activity releases about
130 to 230 teragrams (145 million to 255 million short
tons) of carbon dioxide each year.
Pacific Ring of Fire
The Pacific Ring of Fire is a zone of frequent
earthquakes and volcanic eruptions encircling the basin of
the Pacific Ocean. In a 40,000 km horseshoe shape, it is
associated with a nearly continuous series of oceanic
trenches, island arcs, and volcanic mountain ranges and/
or plate movements. It is sometimes called the circum-
Pacific belt or the circum-Pacific seismic belt.
90% of the world’s earthquakes and 81% of the
world’s largest earthquakes occur along the Ring of Fire.
The next most seismic region (5–6% of earthquakes and
17% of the world’s largest earthquakes) is the Alpide
belt which extends from Java to Sumatra through the
Himalayas, the Mediterranean, and out into the Atlantic.
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the third most
prominent earthquake belt.
Countries of the Pacific Ring of Fire
• Argentina • Belize • Bolivia • Brazil • Brunei •
Canada • Colombia • Chile • Costa Rica • Ecuador •
East Timor • El Salvador • Micronesia • Fiji • Guatemala
• Honduras • Indonesia • Japan • Kiribati • Malaysia •
Mexico • New Zealand • Nicaragua • Palau •
Papua New Guinea • Panama • Peru • Philippines •
Russia • Samoa • Solomon Islands • Tonga • Tuvalu •
United States •
Volcanoes of the Pacific Ring of Fire
• Mount Baker • Mount Bulusan •
Cold Bay Volcano • Concepción • Volcán de Fuego •
Mount Fuji • Galeras • Mount Hood • Krakatoa •
Mayon Volcano • Mount Merapi • Momotombo •
35
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Novarupta • Paricutín • Pico de Orizaba •
Mount Pinatubo • Popocatépetl • Mount Shasta •
Mount Rainier • Mount Ruapehu • Nevado del Ruiz •
Mount St. Helens • Mount Tambora • Mount Taranaki
• Tungurahua • Mount Usu •
DESERT :
In geography, a desert is a landscape form or region
that receives very little precipitation. The English,
French (désert), Italian (deserto), all come from the Latin
deserta. This name is derived from the old Egyptian
language, from the word deshert, meaning the ‘red land’
that bordered the black land (kemet) in the nile valley
from the east and the west.
Generally deserts are defined as areas that receive
an average annual precipitation of less than 250 mm
(10 inches).
Desert is a vague term, the use of ‘dryland’, and
its subdivisions of hyper arid, arid, semiarid and dry-
subhumid, is to be preferred, and is approved by the
United Nations.
Deserts cover at least one-fifth of the Earth’s land
surface. Deserts are very arid (dry) and can have high
temperatures in excess of 50°C. Even though the desert
is very hot in the day, it is extremely cold at night.
Sand dunes called ergs and stony surfaces called
Reg or hamada surfaces compose a minority of desert
surfaces. Exposures of rocky terrain are typical, and
reflect minimal soil development and sparseness of
vegetation. Bottom lands may be salt-covered flats.
Eolian (wind-driven) processes are major factors
in shaping desert landscapes. Cold deserts (also known
as polar deserts) have similar features but the main form
of precipation is snow rather than rain.
The largest cold desert is Antarctica (composed
of about 98 percent thick continental ice sheet and 2
percent barren rock). The largest hot desert is the
Sahara.
Types of desert
Most classifications rely on some combination of
the number of days of rainfall, the total amount of
annual rainfall, temperature, humidity, or other factors.
However, lack of rainfall alone can’t provide an
accurate description of what a desert is. For example,
Phoenix, Arizona receives less than 250 millimeters (10
inches) of precipitation per year, and is immediately
recognized as being located in a desert.
The North Slope of Alaska’s Brooks Range also
receives less than 250 millimeters of precipitation per year,
but is not generally recognized as a desert region.
Cold deserts can be covered in snow; such locations
don’t receive much precipitation, and what does fall
remains frozen as snow pack; these are more commonly
referred to as tundra if a short season of above-freezing
temperatures is experienced, or as an ice cap if the
36
temperature remains below freezing year-round,
rendering the land almost completely lifeless.
Montane deserts
Montane deserts are arid places with a very high
altitude; the most prominent example is found north of
the Himalaya, in parts of the Kunlun Mountains and
the Tibetan Plateau. Many locations within this category
have elevations exceeding 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) and
the thermal regime can be hemiboreal. These places
owe their profound aridity (the average annual
precipitation is often less than 40mm) to being very far
from the nearest available sources of moisture. Deserts
are normally cold.
Desert features
Sand covers only about 20 percent of Earth’s
deserts. Most of the sand is in sand sheets and sand
seas—vast regions of undulating dunes resembling ocean
waves “frozen” in an instant of time. In general, there
are 6 forms of deserts:
Mountain and basin deserts;
Hamada deserts, which comprise of plateaux
landforms;
Regs which consist of rock pavements;
Ergs which are formed by sand seas;
Intermontane Basins; and
Badlands which are located at the margins of arid
lands comprising of clay-rich soil.
Nearly all desert surfaces are plains where eolian
deflation—removal of fine-grained material by the
wind—has exposed loose gravels consisting
predominantly of pebbles but with occasional cobbles.
The remaining surfaces of arid lands are composed
of exposed bedrock outcrops, desert soils, and fluvial
deposits including alluvial fans, playas, desert lakes, and
oases. Bedrock outcrops commonly occur as small
mountains surrounded by extensive erosional plains.
There are several different types of dunes. Barchan
dunes are produced by strong winds blowing across a
level surface and are crescent-shaped. Longitudinal or
seif dunes are dunes that are parallel to a strong wind
that blows in one general direction. Transverse dunes
run at a right angle to the constant wind direction. Star
dunes are star-shaped and have several ridges that spread
out around a point.
Oases are vegetated areas moistened by springs,
wells, or by irrigation. Many are artificial. Oases are
often the only places in deserts that support crops and
permanent habitation.
Vegetation
Most desert plants are drought- or salt-tolerant, such
as xerophytes.Some store water in their leaves, roots,
and stems. Other desert plants have long tap roots that
penetrate to the water table if present. The stems and
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
leaves of some plants lower the surface velocity of sand- La Guajira Desert – in northern Colombia and some
carrying winds and protect the ground from erosion. of northwestern Venezuela.
Deserts typically have a plant cover that is sparse Atacama – desert in Chile. The driest desert on
but enormously diverse. The Sonoran Desert of the Earth.
American Southwest has the most complex desert List of deserts by area :
vegetation on Earth. The giant saguaro cacti provide
This is a list of deserts in the world ordered by
nests for desert birds and serve as “trees” of the desert.
area. It includes all deserts with an area greater than 50
Although cacti are often thought of as characteristic 000 km² (19 300 square miles).
desert plants, other types of plants have adapted well
Deserts over 50 000 km² :
to the arid environment. They include the pea and
Rank Desert’s Name Country/Countries
sunflower families. Cold deserts have grasses and shrubs
1 Antarctic Desert N/A
as dominant vegetation.
2 Sahara Desert Egypt, Libya, Chad,
LIST OF DESERTS Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria.
Africa : 3 Arabian Desert Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq,
1. Sahara – in northern Africa. The world’s largest Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab
desert after Antarctica. Emirates, Oman and Yemen.
4 Gobi Desert Mongolia
2. Kalahari – desert in southern Africa.
5 Patagonian Desert Argentina
3. Namib – desert in southern Africa. 6 Great Victoria Desert Australia
Antarctica : 7 Great Bassin Desert United States
Antarctica The interior of the continent is the 8 Chihuahuan Desert Mexico and United States
world’s largest desert. 9 Great Sandy Desert Australia
10 Kara-Kum Desert Turkmenistan
Asia :
11 Sonoran Desert United States and Mexico
Gobi – desert of Mongolia, Taklamakan – desert in 12 Kyzyl Kum Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
China, Ordos – desert of China, Kara Kum – deserts in 13 Taklamakan or
Central Asia, Kyzyl Kum – Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, Takla Makan Desert People’s Republic of China
Thar-Cholistan desert in India and Pakistan. 14 Kalahari Desert Botswana, Namibia and
Australia : South Africa
Gibson Desert – central Australia, Great Sandy Desert 14 Kavir or Dasht-e
– northwestern Australia, Great Victoria Desert – central Kavir Desert Iran
Australia, Simpson Desert – central Australia, Little 14 Syrian Desert Syria, Jordan and Iraq
Sandy Desert – central Australia, Strzelecki Desert – 15 Thar or Great
southcentral Australia, Tanami Desert – northern Indian Desert India and Pakistan
Australia, Western Desert – western Australia. 16 Gibson Desert Australia
Europe : 17 Simpson Desert Australia
18 Atacama Desert Chile
Hálendi – Iceland Europes largest desert. 19 Namib Desert Namibia
Bledowska Desert – Lesser Poland Voivodeship, 20 Mojave Desert United States
Poland
Sea
Middle East:
A sea is a large expanse of saline water connected
Arabian Desert — a vast desert complex on
with an ocean, or a large, usually saline, lake that lacks a
Arabian Peninsula comprising Al-Dahna Desert, Empty
natural outlet such as the Caspian Sea and the Dead
Quarter, Nefud Desert and other deserts.
Sea. The term is used colloquially as synonymous with
Dasht-e Kavir – central Iran. ocean, as in the tropical sea or down to the sea shore,
Dasht-e Lut – southeastern Iran. or even sea water referring to water of the ocean. Large
Judean Desert – eastern Israel and West Bank. lakes are sometimes referred to as inland seas, such as
Negev – southern Israel the Great Lakes. Many seas are marginal seas, in which
currents are caused by ocean winds; others are
Desert of Sin / Zin Desert (Bible usage) – Sinai mediterranean seas, in which currents are caused by
Peninsula. differences in salinity and temperature.
North America: The International Hydrographic Organization
Mojave desert, Great Basin desert, Sonoran desert, (IHO) is the world authority when it comes to defining
Chihuahuan desert. seas. The current defining document is the Special
South America: publication S-23, Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition,

VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU 37

 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
1953. The second edition dated back to 1937, and the
first to 1928. A fourth edition draft was published in
1986 but so far several naming disputes (such as the
one over the Sea of Japan) have prevented its
ratification.
LIST OF SEAS
Atlantic Ocean
Mediterranean Sea on the coast of Antalya, Turkey
at sunset, Baffin Bay, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Bay of
Fundy, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Sargasso Sea,
North Sea, Baltic Sea, Central Baltic Sea, Gulf of Bothnia,
Bay of Bothnia, Bothnian Sea, Gulf of Finland, Sea of
the Hebrides , Irish Sea, Celtic Sea, Mediterranean Sea,
Adriatic Sea, Aegean Sea, Mirtoon Sea, Sea of Crete,
Thracian Sea, Alboran Sea, Marmara Sea, Black Sea,
Sea of Azov, Catalan Sea, Ionian Sea Ligurian Sea,
Tyrrhenian Sea, Gulf of Sidra, Sea of Marmara, Bay of
Biscay, Gulf of Guinea.
Arctic Ocean
Hudson Bay, James Bay, Barents Sea, Kara Sea,
Beaufort Sea, Amundsen Gulf, Greenland Sea, Norwegian
Sea, Chukchi Sea, Laptev Sea, East Siberian Sea, White Sea,
Lincoln Sea, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Persian
Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal,
Andaman Sea, Timor Sea.
Pacific Ocean
Chilean Sea, Bering Sea, Gulf of Alaska, Salish Sea,
Sea of Cortez (Gulf of California), Sea of Okhotsk, Sea
of Japan, Seto Inland Sea, East China Sea, South China
Sea, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, Bohol Sea (Mindanao Sea)
Philippine Sea, Camotes Sea, Flores Sea, Banda Sea, Arafura
Sea, Timor Sea, Tasman Sea, Yellow Sea, Bohai Sea, Coral
Sea, Gulf of Carpentaria, Bismarck Sea, Solomon Sea,
Ceram Sea, Halmahera Sea, Molucca Sea, Savu Sea, Java
Sea, Gulf of Thailand.
Southern Ocean
Weddell Sea, Ross Sea, Great Australian Bight, Gulf
Saint Vincent, Spencer Gulf, Scotia Sea, Amundsen Sea,
Bellingshausen Sea, Davis Sea.
Landlocked seas
Aral Sea, Caspian Sea, Dead Sea, Sea of Galilee,
Salton Sea, Great Salt Lake.
Ambiguous terminology
Some bodies of water that are called “seas” are
not actually seas; there are also some seas that are not
called “seas”. The following is an incomplete list of
such potentially confusing names.
The Sea of Galilee is a small freshwater lake with
a natural outlet, which is properly called Lake Tiberias
or Lake Kinneret on modern Israeli maps, but its archaic
name remains in use.
The Sea of Cortez is more commonly known as
the Gulf of California. The Persian Gulf is a sea.
38
Extraterrestrial seas :
Lunar maria are vast basaltic plains on the Moon
that were thought to be bodies of water by early
astronomers, who referred to them as “seas”.
Liquid water may have existed on the surface of
Mars in the distant past, and several basins on Mars
have been proposed as dry sea beds. The largest is
Vastitas Borealis; others include Hellas Planitia and
Argyre Planitia.
Liquid water is thought to be present under the
surface of several moons, most notably Europa.
Liquid hydrocarbons are thought to be present on
the surface of Titan, though it may be more accurate to
describe them as “lakes” rather than “seas”.
Lake
A lake is a body of water or other liquid of
considerable size surrounded entirely by land. The vast
majority of lakes on Earth are fresh water, and most lie in
the Northern Hemisphere at higher latitudes.
In ecology the environment of a lake is referred to
as lacustrine. Large lakes are occasionally referred to
as “inland seas” and small seas are occasionally referred
to as lakes. Many lakes are artificial and are constructed
for hydro-electric power supply, recreational purposes,
industrial use, agricultural use, or domestic water
supply.
Origin of natural lakes :
Geologically speaking, most lakes are young. The
natural results of erosion will tend to wear away one of
the basin sides containing the lake, such as the shores
of Lake Baikal in Russia which is estimated to be 25–
30 million years old. There are a number of natural
processes that can form lakes. A recent tectonic uplift
of a mountain range can create bowl-shaped depressions
that accumulate water and form lakes. The advance and
retreat of glaciers can scrape depressions in the surface
where lakes accumulate; such lakes are common in
Scandinavia, Siberia and Canada. Lakes can also form
by means of landslides or by glacial blockages. An
example of the latter occurred during the last ice age in
the state of Washington, when a huge lake formed
behind a glacial flow; when the ice retreated, the result
was an immense flood that created the Dry Falls at Sun
Lakes, Washington.
Salt lakes (also called saline lakes) can form where
there is no natural outlet or where the water evaporates
rapidly, and the drainage surface of the water table has
a higher than normal salt content. Examples of salt lakes
include Great Salt Lake, the Caspian Sea and the Dead
Sea.
Small, crescent-shaped lakes called oxbow lakes can
form in river valleys as the result of meandering. The slow-
moving river forms a sinuous shape as the outer side of
bends are eroded away more rapidly than the inner
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side.
CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Lake Vostok is an subglacial lake in Antarctica,
possibly the largest in the world. The pressure from
ice and the internal chemical composition means that
if the lake were drilled into, it may result in a fissure
which would spray in a similar fashion to a geyser.
Some lakes, such as Lake Baikal and Lake
Tanganyika lie along continental rift zones, and are
created by the crust’s subsidence as two plates are
pulled apart. These lakes are the oldest and deepest in
the world, and may be destined over millions of years
to become oceans. The Red Sea is thought to have
originated as a rift valley lake.
Crater Lake in Oregon is a lake located within the
caldera of Mount Mazama. The caldera was created in a
massive volcanic eruption that lead to the subsidence of
Mount Mazama around 4860 BC. Since that time, all
eruptions on Mazama have been confined to the caldera.
Some lakes, such as Lake Jackson come into
existence as a result of sinkhole activity.
Types of lakes
Periglacial: Part of the lake’s margin is formed by
an ice sheet, ice cap or glacier, the ice having obstructed
the natural drainage of the land.
Subglacial: A lake which is permanently covered
by ice. They can occur under glaciers and ice caps or
ice sheets. There are many such lakes, but Lake Vostok
in Antarctica is by far the largest. They are kept liquid
because the overlying ice acts as a thermal insulator
retaining energy introduced to its underside by friction,
water percolating through crevasses, by the pressure
from the mass of the ice sheet above or by geothermal
heating below.
Artificial, also called a reservoir: A lake created
by flooding land behind a dam, by human excavation,
or by the flooding of an open pit mine. Some of the
world’s largest lakes are reservoirs. Husain Sagar is a
reservoir in India built in 1562.
Endorheic, also called terminal or closed: A lake
which has no significant outflow, either through rivers,
or underground diffusion. Any water within an
endorheic basin leaves the system only through
evaporation. These lakes are most common in desert
locations, such as Lake Eyre in central Australia or the
Aral Sea in central Asia.
Meromictic: A lake which has layers of water which
do not intermix. The deepest layer of water in such a
lake does not contain any dissolved oxygen. The layers
of sediment at the bottom of a meromictic lake remain
relatively undisturbed because there are no living
organisms to stir them up.
Oxbow: A lake which is formed when a wide
meander from a stream or a river is cut off to form a
lake. They are called oxbow lakes due to the distinctive
curved shape that results from this process.
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
Rift lakes: A lake which forms as a result of
subsidence along a geological fault in the Earth’s
tectonic plates. Some examples are the Rift Valley lakes
of eastern Africa.
Underground: A lake which is formed under the
surface of the Earth’s crust. Such a lake may be associated
with caves and aquifers and springs. The crater lake of
Volcán Irazú, Costa Rica.
Crater: A lake which forms in volcanic calderas
or craters after the volcano has been inactive for some
time. Water in these types of lakes may be fresh, or
highly acidic, and may contain various dissolved
minerals. Some also have geothermal activity, especially
if the volcano is merely dormant rather than extinct.
Former: A lake which is no longer in existence.
Such lakes include prehistoric lakes, and lakes which
have permanently dried up through evaporation or
human intervention. Owens Lake in California is an
example of a former lake. Former lakes are a common
feature of the Basin and Range area of south-western
North America.
Shrunken: Closely related to former lakes, a
shrunken lake is one which has drastically decreased
in size over geological time. Lake Agassiz is a good
example of a shrunken lake, which covered much of
central North America. Some notable remnants of this
lake are Lake Winnipeg, and Lake Winnipegosis.
Limnology : Limnology is the study of inland
bodies of water and related ecosystems.a
™ Some lakes can also disappear seasonally; they are
called intermittent lakes and are typical of karstic
terrain. A prime example of this is Lake Cerknica
in Slovenia.
Extraterrestrial lakes :
At present the surface of the planet Mars is too
cold and has too little atmospheric pressure to permit
pooling of liquid water on the surface.However geologic
evidence appears to confirm that ancient lakes once
formed on the surface. It is also possible that volcanic
activity on Mars will occasionally melt the subsurface
ice, forming large lakes. Under current conditions this
water will quickly evaporate or freeze unless insulated
in some manner, such as by a coating of volcanic ash.
Jupiter’s small moon Io is volcanically active due
to tidal stresses, and as a result sulfur deposits have
accumulated on the surface. Some photographs taken during
the Galileo mission appear to show lakes of liquid sulfur
on the surface.
There are dark basaltic plains on the Moon, similar
to lunar maria but smaller, that are called lacus
(singular lacus, Latin for “lake”). They were once
thought by early astronomers to be literal lakes.
39
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Notable lakes : 6. North America - Lake Superior
The largest lake in the world by surface area is 7. South America - Lake Titicaca, which is also the
the Caspian Sea. With a surface area of 394,299 km², it highest navigable body of water on Earth at 3,821
has a surface area greater than the next six largest lakes m above sea level.
combined. Note: Lake Maracaibo can be considered as the largest
The deepest lake is Lake Baikal in Siberia, with a lake in South America. It however lies at sea level with a
bottom at 1,637 m (5,371 ft.) and is the world’s largest relatively wide opening to sea, so it is better described as a
freshwater lake by volume. bay.
The world’s oldest lake is Lake Baikal, followed Trivia :
by Lake Tanganyika (Tanzania). Finland is known as The Land of the Thousand
The world’s highest lake is Lhagba Pool in Tibet Lakes (actually there are 187,888 lakes in Finland, of
at 6,368 m. which 60,000 are large). Minnesota is known as The
Land of Ten Thousand Lakes. The license plate of the
The world’s lowest lake is the Dead Sea, currently Canadian province of Manitoba used to claim “100,000
(2005) 418 m (1,371 ft.) below sea level. It is also one of lakes” as a direct upmanship on neighboring Minnesota.
the lakes with highest salt concentration.
The Great Lakes of North America originated in
The largest freshwater lake by surface area, and the ice age.
third largest by volume, is Lake Superior with a surface
area of 82,414 km². However, Lake Huron and Lake Over 60% of the world’s lakes are in Canada; this
Michigan form a single hydrological system with surface is because of the deranged drainage system that
area 117,350 km², sometimes designated Lake Michigan- dominates the country.
Huron. All these are part of the Great Lakes of North List of world’s largest lakes Position
America. Name and location
The highest navigable lake is Lake Titicaca, at 1. Caspian Sea, [1] Azerbaijan-Russia-Kazakhstan-
3,821 m above sea level. It is also the largest freshwater Turkmenistan-Iran
(and second largest overall) lake in South America. 2. Superior, U.S.-Canada
The largest freshwater-lake island is Manitoulin 3. Victoria, Kenya-Tanzania-Uganda
Island on Lake Huron, with a surface area of 2,766 km². 4. Huron, U.S.-Canada
Lake Manitou, located on Manitoulin Island, is the 5. Michigan, U.S.
largest lake on a freshwater-lake island. 6. Tanganyika, Tanzania-Congo
7. Baikal,[2] Russia
The largest lake located on an island is Nettilling 8. Great Bear Lake, Canada
Lake on Baffin Island. 9. Nyasa, Malawi-Mozambique-Tanzania
The largest lake in the world that drains naturally 10. Great Slave Lake, Canada
in two directions is Wollaston Lake. 11. Erie, U.S.-Canada
Lake Toba on the island of Sumatra is located in 12. Winnipeg, Canada
what is probably the largest resurgent caldera on Earth. 13. Ontario, U.S.-Canada
The largest lake located completely within the 14. Balkhash, Kazakhstan
boundaries of a single city is Lake Wanapitei in the 15. Ladoga, Russia
city of Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Before the 16. Aral Sea,[3] Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan
current city boundaries came into effect in 2001, this 17. Onega, Russia
status was held by Lake Ramsey, also in Sudbury. 18. Titicaca, Bolivia-Peru
19. Nicaragua, Nicaragua
Lake Enriquillo is the only saltwater lake in the 20. Athabaska, Canada
world inhabited by crocodiles. 21. Turkana, Kenya
Largest by continent 22. Reindeer Lake, Canada
The largest lakes (surface area) by continent are: 23. Eyre, South Australia
1. Africa - Lake Victoria, also the second largest 24. Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan
freshwater lake on Earth. It is one of the Great Lakes 25. Urmia, Iran
of Africa. 26. Torrens, South Australia
27. Vänern, Sweden
2. Antarctica - Lake Vostok (subglacial)
28. Winnipegosis, Canada
3. Asia - Caspian Sea, also the largest on Earth. 29. Albert, Uganda
4. Australia - Lake Eyre 30. Nettilling, Baffin Island, Canada
5. Europe - Lake Ladoga, followed by Lake Onega, 31. Nipigon, Canada
both located in northwestern Russia. 32. Manitoba, Canada

40 srivenraman@gmail.com
33. Great Salt Lake, U.S.
CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY surrounded by water. Very small islands such as
34. Kioga, Uganda emergent land features on atolls are called islets. A key
or cay is another name for a relatively small island or
By continent
islet. An island in a river or lake is called an eyot.
™ Africa - Lake Victoria There are two main types of islands: continental
™ Antarctica - Lake Vostok (Subglacial lake) islands and oceanic islands. There are also artificial islands.
™ Asia - Caspian Sea A grouping of related islands is called an archipelago.
™ Australia - Lake Eyre
Also, when defining islands as pieces of land that are
™ Central America -Lake Nicaragua (second largest
completely surrounded by water, narrow bodies of water
in Latin America, first in Central America)
like rivers and canals are generally left out of
™ Europe - Lake Ladoga
consideration. For instance, in France the Canal du
™ North America - Lake Superior
Midi connects the Garonne river to the Mediterranean
™ South America - Lake Maracaibo
Sea, thereby completing a continuous water connection
List of world’s deepest lakes from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.
1. Baikal Siberia, Russia So technically, the land mass that includes the
2. Tanganyika Africa Iberian Peninsula and the part of France that is south
(Tanzania,Zaire & of the Garonne River and the Canal du Midi is
Zambia) completely surrounded by water. However, generally
cases such as these are not considered islands.
3. Caspian Sea Iran and Russia
Other examples of such coast-to-coast
4. Nyasa Africa (Mozambique,
watersystems that are not considered to cut a land mass
Tanzania & Malawi) in two are the Caledonian and Forth and Clyde canals
5. Issyk Kul Kyrgizstan, Central Asia in Scotland and the Volga-Baltic Waterway in Russia.
6. Great Slave Northwest This also helps explain why Africa-Eurasia can be
Territories, Canada seen as one continuous landmass (and thus technically
7. Crater Oregon, U.S.A. the biggest island): generally the Suez Canal is not seen
as something that divides the land mass in two.
8. Matano Indonesia
TYPES OF ISLANDS :
9. Hornindalsvatnet Norway
Continental islands
10. Toba Indonesia
Continental islands are bodies of land that lie on
10. Sarez Tajikistan the continental shelf of a continent. Examples include
12. Tahoe California & Greenland and Sable Island off North America; Barbados
Nevada, U.S.A. and Trinidad off South America; Sicily off Europe; Sumatra
13. Argentino Argentina and Java off Asia; and New Guinea and Tasmania off
Australia.
14. Chelan Washington, U.S.A.
A special type of continental island is the
15. Kivu Congo
microcontinental island, which results when a continent
(Democratic Republic), is rifted. Examples are Madagascar off Africa; the
Rwanda Kerguelen Islands; and some of the Seychelles.
16. Quesnel British Columbia, Another subtype is an island or bar formed by
Canada deposition of sediment where a water current loses
17. Hauroko New Zealand some of its carrying capacity. An example is barrier
islands, which are accumulations of sand deposited by
18. Adams British Columbia,
sea currents on the continental shelf. Another example
Canada
is islands in river deltas or in large rivers. While some
19. Poso Indonesia are transitory and may disappear if the volume or speed
20. Mjosa Norway of the current changes, others are stable and long-lived.
By continent Oceanic islands
Africa - Tanganyika, Antarctica - Vostok (Subglacial Oceanic islands are ones that do not sit on
lake) , Asia - Baikal , Australia - St Clair (200 m.), Central continental shelves. They are volcanic in origin. One
America - Nicaragua, Europe -Hornindalsvatnet, North type of oceanic island is found in a volcanic island arc.
America - Great Slave Lake, South America - Argentino. These islands arise from volcanoes where the subduction
Island : of one plate under another is occurring. Examples
include the Mariana Islands, the Aleutian Islands,
An island or isle is any piece of land that is completely
Republic of Mauritius and most of Tonga in the Pacific
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU 41
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Ocean. Some of the Lesser Antilles and the South 7 Honshû 225,800 Japan
Sandwich Islands are the only Atlantic Ocean examples. 8 Great Britain 218,595 United Kingdom
Another type of oceanic island occurs where an 9 Victoria Island 217,291 Canada
oceanic rift reaches the surface. There are two examples: 10 Ellesmere Island Canada
Iceland, which is the world’s largest volcanic island, and 11 Sulawesi 180,681 Indonesia
Jan Mayen — both are in the Atlantic. 12 South Island
Wake Island is a volcanic island that has become of New Zealand145,836 New Zealand
an atoll.A third type of oceanic island is formed over
13 Java 138,794 Indonesia
volcanic hotspots.An example is the Hawaiian Islands,
14 North Island of
from Hawaii to Kure, which then extends beneath the
sea surface in a more northerly direction as the New Zealand 111,583 New Zealand
Emperor Seamounts. Another chain with similar 15 Luzon 109,965 Philippines
orientation is the Tuamotu Archipelago; its older, 16 Newfoundland 108,860 Canada
northerly trend is the Line Islands. The southernmost 17 Cuba main island 105,806 Cuba
chain is the Austral Islands, with its northerly trending 18 Iceland main island 101,826 Iceland
part the atolls in the nation of Tuvalu. Tristan da Cunha 19 Mindanao 97,530 Philippines
is an example of a hotspot volcano in the Atlantic
20 Ireland 81,638 Republic of Ireland
Ocean. Another hot spot in the Atlantic is the island of
Surtsey, which was formed in 1963. and United
Kingdom
An atoll is an island formed from a coral reef that
has grown on an eroded and submerged volcanic island.
The reef rises to the surface of the water and forms a
new island. Atolls are typically ring-shaped with a central
lagoon. Examples include the Maldives in the Indian Ocean
and Line Islands in the Pacific.
List of Islands by Area
This is a list of islands in the world ordered by area.
It includes all islands with an area greater than 2,500 km²
(970 square miles). For comparison, continental landmasses
are also shown.
Continental land masses
These figures are rough approximations only.
Rank Continent Area(km²) Area(sq mi)
1 Africa-Eurasia 84,000,000 32,000,000
2 The Americas 41,000,000 16,000,000
3 Antarctica 13,000,000 5,000,000
4 Australia 7,600,000 2,900,000
Note: Australia, at 7,600,000 km², is considered to be a
continental landmass, rather than an island. Australia is
much larger than Greenland, the largest island.
Islands over 2,500 km²
Rank Island’s Name Area Country/
(km²) Countries
1 Greenland 2,130,800 Greenland, a self-
governed territory of
Denmark
2 New Guinea 785,753 Indonesia and Papua
New Guinea
3 Borneo 748,168 Brunei, Indonesia
and Malaysia
4 Madagascar 587,713 Madagascar
5 Baffin Island 507,451 Canada
6 Sumatra 443,066 Indonesia

42 srivenraman@gmail.com
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
EARTH REVOLUTION AND ROTATION
Earth, the third planet of our solar system revolves
around the Sun once every 365 1/4 days. The orbit of
the Earth around the sun is called Earth revolution. This
celestial motion takes 365 1/4 days to complete one cycle.
Further, the Earth’s orbit around the sun is not circular,
but elliptical .An elliptical orbit causes the Earth’s distance
from the sun to vary annually. However, this phenomenon
does not cause the seasons! This annual variation in the
distance from the sun does influence the amount of solar
radiation intercepted by the Earth by approximately 6%.
The elliptical orbit of the earth varies from 91.5 million
miles on January 3 called “perihelion”, to 94.5 million
miles on July 4 called “aphelion” for an average earth-
sun distance of 93 million miles. The elliptical path causes
only small variations in the amount of solar radiation
reaching the earth.
Figure: Earth’s elliptical orbit
The Earth rotates at a uniform rate on its axis once
every 24 hours. The term Earth rotation refers to the
spinning of the Earth on its axis. One rotation takes exactly
twenty-four hours and is called a mean solar day. Turning
in an eastward direction the Sun “rises” in the east and
seemingly “travels” toward the west during the day. The
Sun isn’t actually moving, it’s the eastward rotation towards
the morning Sun that makes it appear that way. The Earth
then rotates in the opposite direction to the apparent path
of the Sun. Looking down from the North Pole yields a
counterclockwise direction. From over the South Pole a
clockwise direction of rotation occurs.
Axial Tilt: The Earth’s axis is not perpendicular to
the plane of the ecliptic, but inclined at a fixed angle of
23.5°. Moreover, the northern end of
the Earth’s axis always points to the
same place in space (North Star/
polar star). The axis is tilted in the
same direction throughout a year;
however, as the Earth orbits the Sun,
the hemisphere (half part of earth)
tilted away from the Sun will gradually come to be tilted
towards the Sun, and vice versa. This effect is the main
cause of the seasons. Whichever hemisphere is currently
tilted toward the Sun experiences more hours of sunlight
each day, and the sunlight at midday also strikes the ground
at an angle nearer the vertical and thus delivers more heat
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
are some of the factors influencing the seasonal
pheniomena.
PARALLELISM:
As a result of Earth’s axis tilt of 23 1/2 degrees
from being perpendicular to the
plane of the ecliptic, the axis of
rotation remains pointing in the
same direction as it revolves
around the Sun, pointing toward
the star Polaris. As a result, the
Earth’s axis of rotation remains
parallel to its previous position as
it orbits the sun, a property called
“parallelism”.
Axis Tilt and Solar Altitude
The constant tilt and parallelism causes changes in the
angle that a beam of light makes with respect to a point
on Earth during the year, called the “sun angle”. The most
intense incoming solar radiation occurs where the sun’s rays
strike the Earth at the highest angle. As the sun angle
decreases, the beam of light is spread over a larger area
and decreases in intensity. During the summer months the
Earth is inclined toward the Sun yielding high sun angles.
During the winter, the Earth is oriented away from the
Sun creating low sun angles. The tilt of the Earth and its
impact on sun angle is the reason the Northern and
Southern Hemisphere have opposite
seasons. Summer occurs when a
hemisphere is tipped toward the Sun
and winter when it is tipped away
from the Sun.
Path length and Insolation :
The distance that a beam of light travels greatly
affects the amount of solar energy that ultimately
reaches the Earth. The Earth-Sun distance only varies
by about 3 million miles compared to an average
distance of about 93 million miles over the year. A more
significant impact on insolation is the thickness of the
atmosphere on depletion of a beam of light. As the
amount of atmosphere through which the beam passes
increases, the greater the chance for reflection and
scattering of light, thus reducing insolation at the surface.
Due to the curvature of the Earth, a beam of light
striking the Equator passes through less atmosphere than
43
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
one at a higher latitude.
Tropic of Capricorn.
The Earth’s axis always remains pointing in the
Continuing to March 20th or 21st (i.e. Spring
same direction as it revolves around the sun. As a result,
Equinox) the Earth has positioned itself similar to that
the solar angle varies at a given place throughout the
which occurs in September, only on the other side of
year. The variation in sun angle is the prime cause of
the Sun. Once again tangent rays strike at the North
our seasons. The orientation of the Earth with respect
and South poles, and the perpendicular rays of the Sun
to the Sun also determines the length of day. Together,
strike the Equator at noon . All places have equal day
the sun angle and day length determine the total amount
length (12 hours day;12 hours of night) as the circle of
of solar radiation incident at the Earth.. The annual
illumination cuts all latitudes in half.
change in the relative position of the Earth’s axis in
relationship to the sun causes the height of the sun (solar So over the course of a year, the Sun’s rays are
altitude) to vary in our skies. The total variation in only perpendicular to the surface (directly over head)
maximum solar altitude for any location on the Earth at places between 23 1/2o north and south. Places
over a one year period is 47° (2 x 23.5 = 47). For between the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn experience
example, at 50° North maximum solar altitude varies two times when the Sun is directly over head over the
from 63.5° on the summer solstice to 16.5° on the winter course of a year. The sun angle does not vary much for
solstice . Maximum solar height at the equator goes places between 23 1/2 north and south, a larger range
o

from 66.5° above the northern end of the horizon during in sun angle occurs poleward of these latitudes. The
the summer solstice, to directly overhead on the fall greater the variation in sun angle, the greater the
equinox, and then down to 66.5° above the southern variation in surface heating.
end of the horizon during the summer solstice
On about June 21st or June 22nd the Northern
hemisphere is tipped toward the sun. At noon, the subsolar
point, or place where the sun lies directly overhead at noon,
is located at 23 1/2o north latitude. This date is known as
the summer solstice, the longest day of the year for places
located north of Tropic of Cancer. The 23 1/2o parallel
was so named because it is during the astrological sign
Cancer when the Sun’s rays strike at their highest angle of
the year north of this line. The North pole tips into the
Sun and tangent rays strike at the Arctic and Antarctic
Circles. (A tangent ray is one that meets a curve or surface
in a single point). This creates a 24 hour period of daylight
(“polar day”) for places located poleward of 66 1/2o north. Day length and seasons
We find the South Pole tipped away from the Sun, sending Day length is determined by the length of time the
places poleward of 66 1/2o south into 24 hours of darkness Sun is above the horizon. Day length changes through
(“polar night”). the year as the orientation of the Earth to the Sun
On Sept 22nd or 23rd, the Earth has moved around changes. The circle of illumination is the imaginary
the Sun such that the poles are neither pointing toward or circle that separate day from night.
away from the sun. On this day, the Sun is directly overhead Figure shows two extreme cases, the December and
0 degrees, the equator, at noon. Tangent rays strike at the June solstices. Note during December that more of a
poles. It is the autumnal equinox and all places experience given latitude in the Southern hemisphere is exposed to
12 hours of day light and 12 hours of darkness. the Sun. This is the longest day of the year for those
The winter solstice occurs on December 21st or living poleward of the Equator. In June the opposite
22nd when the Earth has oriented itself so the North occurs with longer day length in the Northern
Pole is facing away from, and the
March DECEMBER SEPTEMBER
South Pole into the Sun. Again, EQUINOX SOLSTICE EQUINOX
JUNE SOLSTICE
tangent rays strike at the Arctic
Date March 21 December 22 Sept. 23 June 21
and Antarctic circles. Places
Subsolar
poleward of 66 1/2o north are in Point
0o 23 1/2o S 0o 23 1/2o N
the grips of the cold, polar night. Tangent North and South Arctic and Antarctic North and South Arctic and Antarctic
Places poleward of 66 1/2o south Rays Poles Circles Poles Circles
experience the 24 hour polar day. 24 hours of darkness 12 hour day length 24 hours of darkness
The Sun lies directly over 23 1/2o 12 hour day
at North Pole; 24 everywhere at South Pole; 24
Day length hours day light at hours day light at
south. Occurring during the length everywhere
South Pole; 12 hours North Pole; 12 hours
astrological sign of Capricorn, 23 day light at Equator day light at Equator
1/2o south latitude is called the
44 srivenraman@gmail.com
 LATITUDE
CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY where the sun may be seen directly overhead
Latitude, usually denoted symbolically by the (midsummer and midwinter respectively). Note that the
latitude of is equal to the axial tilt.
Greek letter phi, , gives the location of a place on
NOTABLE PARALLELS
Earth north or south of the Equator.
Parallel Description
Latitude is an angular measurement in degrees 49th parallel north Part of the border between the
(marked with °) ranging from 0° at the Equator to 90° United States and Canada, from
at the poles (90° N for the North Pole or 90° S for the Washington to western Minnesota.
South Pole). The distance between the successive 45th parallel north The border between Vermont and
Latitudes, always corresponds to exactly sixty nautical Quebec.
miles or about 111 km (69 statute miles, each of 5280 42nd parallel north The border between California and
feet). Oregon.
Circles of latitude 41st parallel north Parts of the borders of Colorado,
All locations of a given latitude are collectively Utah, Wyoming, and Nebraska.
referred to as a circle of latitude or line of latitude or parallel, 40th parallel north The line originally chosen for the
because they are coplanar, and all such planes are Mason-Dixon Line, but the line was
parallel to the Equator. moved several miles south to avoid
bisecting the city of Philadelphia.
Lines of latitude other than the Equator are
39° 432 19.922163N Mason-Dixon line
approximately small circles on the surface of the Earth;
38th parallel north Boundary between the Soviet and
they are not geodesics since the shortest route between
American occupation zones in Korea
two points at the same latitude involves moving farther
in 1945.
away from, then towards, the equator ( great circle).
37th parallel north North-south border between Utah &
A specific latitude may then be combined with a Arizona, and Colorado & New
specific longitude to give a precise position on the Mexico respectively.
Earth’s surface . 33rd parallel north The border between Louisiana and
Circle of latitude Arkansas
On the Earth, a circle of latitude or parallel is an 30th parallel north ?
imaginary east-west circle that connects all locations with 28th parallel north Boundary between Baja California
a given latitude. and Baja California Sur in Mexico.
The position on the circle of latitude is given by the 22° 19' 35.6736" N Boundary Street - Boundary between
longitude. Each is perpendicular to all meridians at the Kowloon and New Kowloon of
intersection points. New Territories
17th parallel north Division between Republic of
Those parallels closer to the poles are smaller than Vietnam (South Vietnam) and
those at or near the Equator. Democratic Republic of Vietnam
For a low latitude a circle of latitude can be said to (North Vietnam) during the Vietnam
be a line around the Earth, while at a high latitude it is a war.
circle around a pole. 45th parallel south ?
MAJOR LATITUDES 60th parallel south Area south of which is considered
Equator Antarctica for the purposes of the
Antarctic Treaty System (see map)
The equator is the circle that is equidistant from both
the North Pole and South Pole. It splits the Earth into the Important named circles of latitude
Northern Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. Four lines of latitude are named because of the role
Arctic and Antarctic Circles they play in the geometrical relationship with the Earth
and the Sun:
The Arctic Circle represents the southernmost location
in the Northern Hemisphere where it is possible to have a • Arctic Circle — 66° 332 393 N
day without a sunrise (see midnight sun). • Tropic of Cancer — 23° 262 223 N
Respectively, the Antarctic Circle represents the • Tropic of Capricorn — 23° 262 223 S
northernmost location in the Southern Hemisphere where • Antarctic Circle — 66° 332 393 S
it is possible to have a day without a sunrise. Only at latitudes between the Tropics is it possible
The latitude plus the axial tilt is equal to 90°. for the sun to be at the zenith. Only north of the Arctic
Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn Circle or south of the Antarctic Circle is the midnight sun
The Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn possible.
represent the northernmost and southernmost locations The reason that these lines have the values that they

VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU 45

 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
do lies in the axial tilt of the Earth with respect to the
sun, which is 23° 262 223 .
The Arctic Circle & Tropic of Cancer and the
Antarctic Circle and Tropic of Capricorn are colatitudes
since the sum of their angles is 90°.
Longitude
Longitude, sometimes denoted by the Greek letter
ë (lambda), describes the location of a place on
Earth east or west of a north-south line called the Prime
Meridian.
Longitude is given as an angular measurement
ranging from 0° at the Prime Meridian to +180°
eastward and “180° westward.
In 1884, the International Meridian Conference
adopted the Greenwich meridian as the universal prime
meridian or zero point of longitude.
Each degree of longitude is further sub-divided into
60 minutes, each of which divided into 60 seconds. A
longitude is thus specified as 23° 272 30" E. For high
accuracy, the seconds are specified with a decimal fraction.
An alternative representation uses degrees and minutes,
where parts of a minute are expressed as a decimal fraction,
thus: 23° 27.5002 E. Degrees may also be expressed as a
decimal number: 23.45833° E. Sometimes, the West/East
suffix is replaced by a negative sign for West.
A specific longitude may then be combined with
a specific latitude to give a precise position on the
Earth’s surface.
As opposed to a degree of latitude, which always
corresponds to exactly sixty nautical miles or about 111
km (69 statute miles, each of 5280 feet), a degree of
longitude corresponds to a distance that varies from 0
to 111 km.
It is 111 km times the cosine of the latitude, when
the distance is laid out on a circle of constant latitude.
Longitude at a point may be determined by calculating
the time difference between that at its location and
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Since there are 24
hours in a day and 360 degrees in a circle, the sun moves
across the sky at a rate of 15 degrees per hour (360°/24
hours = 15° per hour).
So if the time zone a person is in is three hours ahead
of UTC then that person is near 45° longitude (3 hours ×
15° per hour = 45°).
A line of constant longitude is a meridian, and half
of a great circle
Time zones
A time zone is a region of the Earth that has adopted
the same standard time, usually referred to as the local
time. Most adjacent time zones are exactly one hour apart,
and by convention compute their local time as an offset
from Greenwich Mean Time.(where 00 prime meridian starts)
Standard time zones can be defined by geometrically
46
subdividing the Earth’s spheroid into 24 lunes (wedge-
shaped sections), bordered by meridians each 15° of
longitude apart. The local time in neighbouring zones is
then exactly one hour different.
However, political and geographical practicalities
can result in irregularly-shaped zones that follow
political boundaries or that change their time seasonally
(as with daylight saving time), as well as being subject
to occasional redefinition as political conditions change.
Standard time zones
Originally, time zones based their time on
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT, also called UT1), the
mean solar time at longitude 0° (the Prime Meridian).
But as a mean solar time, GMT is defined by the
rotation of the Earth, which is not constant in rate. So,
the rate of atomic clocks was annually changed or
steered to closely match GMT.
SNIPPETS
• In terms of the largest number of time zones, Russia
is first, with eleven time zones, including Kaliningrad
on the Baltic Sea. The United States is tied with
Canada for second with six time zones. If the
possessions of the United Kingdom, the United States
and France are included it increases the number of
time zones in each. Taking into account overseas
territories and possessions, France is the largest, with
over twelve time zones, the United States has nine
time zones, and the United Kingdom has over eight
time zones.
• In terms of area, China is the largest country with
only one time zone (UTC+8), although before the
Chinese Civil War in 1949 China was separated into
five time zones. China also has the widest spanning
time zone.
• Stations in Antarctica generally keep the time of their
supply bases, thus both the Amundsen-Scott South
Pole Station (U.S.) and McMurdo Station (U.S.) use
New Zealand time (UTC+12 southern winter,
UTC+13 southern summer).
• The 27° latitude passes back and forth across time
zones in South Asia. Pakistan: +5, India +5:30, Nepal
+5:45, India (Sikkim) +5:30, China +8:00, Bhutan
+6:00, India (Arunachal Pradesh) +5:30, Myanmar
+6:30. This switching was more odd in 2002, when
Pakistan enabled Daylight Saving Time. Thus from
west to east, time zones were: +6:00, +5:30, +5:45,
+5:30, +8:00, +6:00, +5:30 and +6:30.
• Because the earliest and latest time zones are 26 hours
apart, any given calendar date exists at some point on
the globe for 50 hours. For example, April 11 begins
in time zone UTC+14 at 10:00 UTC April 10, and
ends in time zone UTC-12 at 12:00 UTC April 12.
• There are numerous places where several time zones
meet, for instance at the tri-country border of Finland,
Norway and Russia.
srivenraman@gmail.com
•
CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
There are about 39 time zones instead of 24 (as
popularly believed). This is due to fractional hour
offsets and zones with offsets larger than 12 hours
near the International Date Line. Some micronations
may use offsets that are not recognized by all
authorities.
• The largest time gap along a political border is the
3.5 hour gap along the border of China (UTC +8)
and Afghanistan (UTC+4:30).
• One of the most unusual time zones is the Australian
Central Western Time zone (CWST), which is in effect
in a small strip of Western Australia from the border
of South Australia west to just before Caiguna. It is
8¾ hours ahead of UTC (UTC+8:45) and covers an
area of about 35,000 km², larger than Belgium, but
has a population of about 200. Although unofficial,
it is universally respected in the area. See Time in
Australia.
Prime Meridian
The Prime Meridian, also known as the
International Meridian or Greenwich Meridian, is the
meridian (line of longitude) passing through the Royal
Greenwich Observatory, Greenwich, England — it is the
meridian at which longitude is defined to be 0 degrees.
The prime meridian, and the opposite 180th meridian (at
180° longitude), which the International Date Line generally
follows, separate the Eastern and Western Hemispheres.
Heading south from the North Pole, the Prime
Meridian passes through the following countries:
• United Kingdom (The most northernly land on the
meridian is the shore (53°45’34"N) southeast of the
Sand-le-Mere caravan park east of Kingston upon
Hull, England.) ,France ,Spain ,Algeria ,Mali ,Burkina
Faso, Togo Ghana ,Antarctica to the South Pole
The zero meridian used by satellite navigation systems
(on the WGS84 datum) is 102.5 metres (336.3 feet) to the
east of the line marked at Greenwich.
International Date Line
The International Date Line (IDL), also known as
just the Date Line, is an imaginary line on the surface of
the Earth opposite the Prime Meridian which offsets the
date as one travels east or west across it.
Roughly along 180° longitude, with diversions to pass
around some territories and island groups, it corresponds
to the time zone boundary separating +12 and -12 hours
GMT (UT1).
For the most part, the International Date Line follows
the meridian of 180° longitude, roughly down the middle
of the Pacific Ocean. However, because the date to the
east of the line is one day earlier than that to the west of
the line, the line deviates to pass around the far east of
Russia and various island groups in the Pacific, no country
wanting to have, at least during ordinary daytime hours, its
citizens functioning on two different dates. Thus, the two
largest deviations from this meridian both occur to keep
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
the date line from crossing nations internally.
In the north, the date line swings to the east through
Bering Strait and then west past the Aleutian Islands in
order to keep Alaska (part of the United States) and Russia
on opposite sides of the line and their territories due
north and south of each other in concert with the date
of the rest of each respective country.
In the central Pacific, the date line was moved in
1995 to extend around, rather than through, the islands
of the Republic of Kiribati. As a British colony, Kiribati
was centered in the Gilbert Islands, just west of the
International Dateline. Upon independence in 1979, the new
republic acquired the Phoenix and Line Islands from the
United States and the country found itself straddling the
date line. Government offices on opposite sides of the line
could only communicate on the four days of the week when
both sides experienced weekdays simultaneously. A
consequence of this time zone revision was that Kiribati,
by virtue of its easternmost possession, uninhabited
Caroline Atoll at 150°25’W, started on its territory the year
2000 before any other country on earth, a feature which
the Kiribati government capitalized upon as a potential
tourist draw. However, even into the 21st century, many
mapmakers are not aware of this Kiribati dateline shift
and continue to represent the International Date as a
straight line in the Kiribati area.
In the South Pacific, the dateline swings east such that
various islands administered by New Zealand (which lies
west of 180°) are on the same date with New Zealand.
The International Date Line can cause confusion
among airline travelers. The most troublesome situation
usually occurs with short journeys from west to east. For
example, to travel from Tonga to Samoa by air takes
approximately two hours, but involves crossing the
international date line, causing the passenger to arrive the
day before they left. This often causes confusion in travel
schedules.
If someone circumnavigates the globe in an airplane
from east to west (the same direction as Magellan), he
should subtract one hour for every 15° of longitude
crossed, losing 24 hours for one circuit of the globe. But
24 hours are added when crossing the International Date
Line (from east to west). The International Date Line must
therefore be observed in conjunction with earth’s time
zones: the net adjustment to one’s watch is zero. If one
crosses the date line at precisely midnight, going westward,
one skips an entire day; while going eastward, one repeats
the entire day.
47
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
The motion of the air is not directly north and
south but is affected by the momentum the air has as it
moves away from the equator. The reason has to do
with momentum and how fast a location on or above
the Earth moves relative to the Earth’s axis.
Your speed relative to the Earth’s axis depends on
your location. Someone standing on the equator is
moving much faster than someone standing on a 45°

latitude line. In the graphic (left) the person at the

position on the equator arrives at the yellow line sooner
than the other two. Someone standing on a pole is not
moving at all (except that he or she would be slowly
spinning). The speed of the rotation is great enough to
cause you to weigh one pound less at the equator than
you would at the north or south pole.
The momentum the air has as it travels around the
earth is conserved, which means as the air that’s over
the equator starts moving toward one of the poles, it
keeps its eastward motion constant. The Earth below
the air, however, moves slower as that air travels toward
the poles. The result is that the air moves faster and
faster in an easterly direction (relative to the Earth’s
surface below) the farther it moves from the equator.
In addition, with the three-cell circulations
mentioned previously, the regions around 30° N/S and
50°-60° N/S are areas where temperature changes are
the greatest. As the difference in temperature between
the two locations increase, the strength of the wind
increases. Therefore, the regions around 30° N/S and
50°-60° N/S are also regions where the wind, in the
upper atmosphere, is the strongest.
The 50°-60° N/S region is where the polar jet
located with the subtropical jet located around 30°N.
Jet streams vary in height of four to eight miles and
can reach speeds of more than 275 mph. The actual
appearance of jet streams result from the complex
interaction between many variables - such as the location
of high and low pressure systems, warm and cold air,
and seasonal changes. They meander around the globe,
dipping and rising in altitude/latitude, splitting at times
and forming eddies, and even disappearing altogether
to appear somewhere else.
Jet streams also “follow the sun” in that as the
sun’s elevation increases each day in the spring, the jet
streams shifts north moving into Canada by Summer.
As Autumn approaches and the sun’s elevation
decreases, the jet stream moves south into the United
States helping to bring cooler air to the country.
48 srivenraman@gmail.com
 EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE
CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Earth’s atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding
the planet Earth and retained by the Earth’s gravity.
It contains roughly 78% nitrogen and 21% oxygen
0.97% argon and carbon dioxide 0.04% trace amounts of
other gases, and water vapor.
This mixture of gases is commonly known as air.
The atmosphere protects life on Earth by absorbing
ultraviolet solar radiation and reducing temperature extremes
between day and night.
Three-quarters of the atmosphere’s mass is within
11 km of the planetary surface.
In the United States, persons who travel above an
altitude of 50.0 miles (80.5 km) are designated as
astronauts.
An altitude of 120 km (75 mi or 400,000 ft) marks
the boundary where atmospheric effects become noticeable
during re-entry.
The Karman line, at 100 km (62 mi), is also
frequently used as the boundary between atmosphere
and space.
The average temperature of the atmosphere at the
surface of earth is 14 °C.
Pressure
Atmospheric pressure is a direct result of the
weight of the air. This means that air pressure varies
with location and time, because the amount (and weight)
of air above the earth varies with location and time.
Atmospheric pressure drops by 50% at an altitude of
about 5 km (equivalently, about 50% of the total
atmospheric mass is within the lowest 5 km). The
average atmospheric pressure, at sea level, is about 101.3
kilopascals (about 14.7 pounds per square inch).
Thickness of the atmosphere
Even at heights of 1000 km and above, the
atmosphere is still present (as can be seen for example by
the effects of atmospheric drag on satellites).
However:57.8% of the atmosphere by mass is below
the summit of Mount Everest.
72% of the atmosphere by mass is below the common
cruising altitude of commercial airliners (about 10000 m
or 33000 ft).
99.99999% of the atmosphere by mass is below the
highest X-15 plane flight on August 22, 1963, which
reached an altitude of 354,300 ft or 108 km.
Therefore, most of the atmosphere (99.9999%) by
mass is below 100 km, although in the rarefied region above
this there are auroras and other atmospheric effects.
Composition
Heterosphere
Below the turbopause at an altitude of about 100
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
km, the Earth’s atmosphere has a more-or-less uniform
composition (apart from water vapor) as described above;
this constitutes the homosphere.However, above about 100
km, the Earth’s atmosphere begins to have a composition
which varies with altitude. This is essentially because, in
the absence of mixing, the density of a gas falls off
exponentially with increasing altitude, but at a rate which
depends on the molar mass. Thus higher mass constituents,
such as oxygen and nitrogen, fall off more quickly than
lighter constituents such as helium, molecular hydrogen, and
atomic hydrogen. Thus there is a layer, called the
heterosphere, in which the earth’s atmosphere has varying
composition. As the altitude increases, the atmosphere is
dominated successively by helium, molecular hydrogen, and
atomic hydrogen. The precise altitude of the heterosphere
and the layers it contains varies significantly with
temperature.
* The mean molar mass of air is 28.97 g/mol
Density and mass
The density of air at sea level is about 1.2 kg/m3.
The atmospheric density decreases as the altitude
increases.
This variation can be approximately modeled using the
barometric formula. More sophisticated models are used
by meteorologists and space agencies to predict weather
and orbital decay of satellites.
The average mass of the atmosphere is about 5,000
trillion metric tons.
According to the National Center for Atmospheric
Research, The mean mass of water vapor is estimated as
1.27×1016 kg and the dry air mass as 5.1352 ±0.0003×1018
kg.
By mass, the composition of the atmosphere is
75.523% nitrogen, 23.133% oxygen, 1.288% argon, 0.053%
carbon dioxide, 0.001267% neon, 0.00029% methane,
0.00033% krypton, 0.000724% helium, and 0.0000038 %
hydrogen.
Temperature and the atmospheric layers
The temperature of the Earth’s atmosphere varies
with altitude; the mathematical relationship between
temperature and altitude varies between the different
atmospheric layers OF THE ATMOSPHERE.
Troposphere: From the Greek word “tropos”
meaning to turn or mix.
The troposphere has a great deal of vertical mixing
due to solar heating at the surface. This heating warms air
masses, which then rise to release latent heat as sensible
heat that further uplifts the air mass. This process
continues until all water vapor is removed. In the
troposphere, on average, temperature decreases with
height due to expansive cooling.
stratosphere: from Earth’s surface to the top of the
stratosphere (50km) is just under 1% of Earth’s radius
49
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
The Troposphere of atmospheric temparature
is the lowermost Temperatures decrease at middle latitudes from
portion of Earth’s approx. +17°C at sea level to approx. -52°C at the
atmosphere. It is the beginning of the tropopause.
densest layer of the
At the poles, the troposphere is thinner and the
atmosphere and
temperature only decreases to -45 °C, while at the equator
contains approximately
the temperature at the top of the troposphere can reach -
75% of the mass of the
75 °C.
atmosphere and almost
all the water vapor and The tropopause:
aerosol. The tropopause is the boundary region between the
The troposphere troposphere and the stratosphere.
extends from the Earth’s Measuring the temperature change with height
surface up to the through the troposphere and the stratosphere identifies
tropopause where the the location of the tropopause.
stratosphere begins. In the troposphere, temperature decreases with
The depth of the altitude. In the stratosphere, however, the temperature
troposphere is greatest in
the tropics (about 16km)
and smallest at the poles
(about 8km).
The lower part,
where friction on the
Earth’s surface influences
with air flow, is the
planetary boundary layer
or peploshere which is 2
km deep on average,
dependent on the
landform, and which is
separated from the rest increases with altitude.
of the tropospere by the The region of the atmosphere where the lapse rate
capping inversion layer. changes from positive (in the troposphere) to negative (in
The troposphere is the stratosphere), is defined as the tropopause.
the most turbulent part stratosphere: The stratosphere is a layer of Earth’s
of the atmosphere and is atmosphere that is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers
the part of the higher up and cooler layers farther down.
atmosphere in which This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth’s
most weather surface, which is cooler higher up and warmer farther down. The
phenomena are seen. stratosphere is situated between about 10 km and 50 km
Generally, jet aircraft fly altitude above the surface at moderate latitudes, while at the poles
just above the it starts at about 8 km altitude.
troposphere to avoid
The stratosphere is layered in temperature because it
turbulence.
is heated from above by absorption of ultraviolet radiation
In the troposphere from the Sun.
the temperature
Within this layer, temperature increases as altitude increases;
decreases with height at
the top of the stratosphere has a temperature of about
an average rate of 6.4
270 K, about the same as the ground level temperature.
°C for every 1 km
This top is called the stratopause, above which temperature
increase in height. This
again decreases with height.
decrease in temperature
is caused by adiabatic The vertical stratification, with warmer layers above
cooling –( as air rises, the and cooler layers below, makes the stratosphere
atmospheric pressure falls and dynamically stable: there is no regular convection and
so the air expands). This is associated turbulence in this part of the atmosphere.
called normal lapse rate The heating is caused by an ozone layer that

50 srivenraman@gmail.com
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
absorbs solar ultraviolet radiation, heating the upper
layers of the stratosphere.
Commercial airliners typically cruise at an altitude
near 10 km in temperate latitudes, in the lower reaches
of the stratosphere. This is to avoid atmospheric
turbulence from the convection in the troposphere.
Turbulence experienced in the cruise phase of
flight is often caused by convective overshoot from the
troposphere below. Similarly, most gliders soar on thermal
plumes that rise through the troposphere above warm
patches of ground; these plumes end at the base of the
stratosphere, setting a limit to how high gliders can fly in
most partsof the world. (Some gliders do fly higher, using
wave lift from mountain ranges to lift them into the
stratosphere.)
The stratosphere is a region of intense interactions
among radiative, dynamical, and chemical processes, in
which horizontal mixing of gaseous components proceeds
much more rapidly than vertical mixing.
An interesting feature of stratospheric circulation is
the quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) in the tropical
latitudes, which is driven by gravity waves that are
convectively generated in the troposphere
The QBO induces a secondary circulation that is
important for the global stratospheric transport of tracers
such as ozone or water vapor.In northern hemispheric winter,
sudden stratospheric warmings can often be observed which
are caused by the absorption of Rossby waves in the
stratosphere.
The stratopause is the level of the atmosphere
which is the boundary between two layers, stratosphere
and the mesosphere. In the stratosphere the temperature
increases with altitude, and the stratopause is the section
where a maximum in the temperature occurs.This
occurs not only on Earth, but on other planets with an
atmosphere as well.
On Earth, the stratopause is 50 to 55 km high above
the earths surface. The atmospheric pressure is around 1/
1000th of the pressure at sea level.
Mesosphere
The mesosphere (from the Greek words mesos = middle
and sphaira = ball) is the layer of the Earth’s atmosphere
that is directly above the stratosphere and directly below
the thermosphere.
The mesosphere is located about 50-80/85km above
Earth’s surface. Within this layer, temperature decreases with
increasing altitude.
The main dynamical features in this region are the
atmospheric tides which are driven by momentum
propagating upwards from the lower atmosphere and
extending into the lower thermosphere.
Because it lies between the maximum altitude for most
aircraft and the minimum altitude for most spacecraft, this region
of the atmosphere has only been accessed through the use of
sounding rockets. As a result the region is one of the most
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
poorly understood in the atmosphere. This has led the
mesosphere and the lower thermosphere to be jokingly
referred to by scientists as the ignorosphere.
Temperatures in the upper mesosphere fall as low
as -100°C (-146°F or 173 K) varying according to latitude
and season.
Millions of meteors burn up daily in the mesosphere
as a result of collisions with the gas particles contained
there, leading to a high concentration of iron and other
metal atoms. The collisions almost always create enough
heat to burn the falling objects long before they reach
the ground.The stratosphere and mesosphere are
referred to as the middle atmosphere.
This is also around the same altitude as the
turbopause, below which different chemical species are well
mixed due to turbulent eddies. Above this level the scale
heights of different chemical species will differ.
Noctilucent clouds of thin layers are located in
the mesosphere.Their presence can be attributed to the
meteoric dust which act as a nucleus for ice crystals
when some amount of traces of water vapour are carried
up by convection currents and making up some clouds.
MESOPAUSE: The mesopause, at an altitude of
about 80-85 km, separates the mesosphere from the
thermosphere—the second-outermost layer of the Earth’s
atmosphere. Noctilucent clouds with the increasing altitude.
This is also around the same altitude as the
turbopause*, below which different chemical species are well
mixed due to turbulent eddies. Above this level the scale
heights of different chemical species will differ.
*Turbopause:The turbopause marks the altitude in
the Earth’s atmosphere below which turbulent mixing
dominates. The region below the turbopause is known as
the homosphere, where the chemical constituents are well
mixed and display identical height distributions; in other
words, the chemical composition of the atmosphere remains
constant in this region.
The region above the turbopause is the heterosphere,
where molecular diffusion dominates and the chemical
composition of the atmosphere varies according to
chemical species.The turbopause lies near the
mesopause, at the intersection of the mesosphere and
the thermosphere, at an altitude of roughly 100 km.
Thermosphere:
The thermosphere is the layer of the earth’s
atmosphere directly above the mesosphere and directly
below the exosphere. Within this layer, ultraviolet
radiation causes ionization. It is the fourth atmospheric
layer from earth.
The thermosphere, named from the Greek (thermos)
for heat, begins about 85 km above the earth. At these
high altitudes, the residual atmospheric gases sort into
strata according to molecular mass .
Thermospheric temperatures increase with altitude
due to absorption of highly energetic solar radiation by
51
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
the small amount of residual oxygen still present. outer space. The main gases within the exosphere are
Temperatures are highly dependent on solar the lightest gases, mainly hydrogen and helium, with
activity, and can rise to 2,000°C. Radiation causes the some atomic oxygen near the exobase.
air particles in this layer to become electrically charged , The atmosphere in this layer is sufficiently
enabling radio waves to bounce off and be received rarefied for satellites to orbit the Earth, although they
beyond the horizon. still receive some atmospheric drag.
Even though the temperature is so high, one will Exobase, also called the critical level, the lowest
not feel warm in the thermosphere due to lack of altitude of the exosphere, is defined in one of two ways:
atmospheric density. A normal thermometer would read The height above which there are negligible
significantly below 0°C. This is due to the distance atmospheric collisions between the particles and The
between the present molecules. height above which the constituent atoms are on purely
The MIR and International space stations have ballistic trajectories.
stable orbits within the upper part of the thermosphere,
between 320 and 380 kilometers.
The Northern Lights also occur in the upper
thermosphere.
Thermopause
The Thermopause is the atmospheric boundary of
Earth’s energy system, located at the top of the
thermosphere.
Below this, the atmosphere is defined to be active
on the insolation received, due to the increased presence
of heavier gases such as monoatomic oxygen.
The solar constant is thus expressed at the thermopause.
Beyond (above) this, the exosphere describes the
thinnest remainder of atmospheric particles with large
mean free path, mostly hydrogen and helium.
The exact altitude varies by the energy inputs of
location, time of day, solar flux, season, etc. and can be between
500-1000 km high at a given place and time. because of
these,a portion of the magnetosphere dips below this
layer as well.
Althought these are all named layers of the
atmosphere, the pressure is so negligible that the chiefly-
used definitions of outer space are actually below this
altitude.
Orbiting satellites do not experience significant
atmospheric heating, but their orbits do decay over time,
depending on orbital altitude. Space missions such as
the ISS, space shuttle, and Soyuz operate under this layer.
Atmosphere diagram showing the exosphere and
other layers. The layers are not to scale: from Earth’s
surface to the top of the stratosphere (50km) is just
under 1% of Earth’s radius.
The Exosphere
Exosphere is the uppermost layer of the
atmosphere.
On Earth, its lower boundary at the edge of the
thermosphere is estimated to be 500 km to 1000 km
above the Earth’s surface, and its upper boundary at
about 10,000 km.
It is only from the exosphere that atmospheric gases,
atoms, and molecules can, to any appreciable extent, escape into

52 srivenraman@gmail.com
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
EARLY HISTORY OF THE EARTH Approximate origin time of the major plant and
animal groups
Scientists believe the Earth began its life about 4.6
Organism Group Time of Origin
billion years ago. The Earth formed as cosmic dust lumped
together to form larger and larger particles until 150 million Marine Invertebrates 570 Million Years Ago
years had passed. At about 4.4 billion years, the young
Earth had a mass similar to the mass it has today. The Fish 505 Million Years Ago
continents probably began forming about 4.2 billion years
ago as the Earth continued to cool. The cooling also Land Plants 438 Million Years Ago
resulted in the release of gases from the lithosphere, much
of which formed the Earth’s early atmosphere. Most of Amphibians 408 Million Years Ago
the Earth’s early atmosphere was created in the first one
Reptiles 320 Million Years Ago
million years after solidification (4.4 billion years ago).
Carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water vapor dominated this Mammals 208 Million Years Ago
early atmosphere. Table below describes the three major
stages of development of the atmosphere Flowering Plants 140 Million Years Ago

Name of Stage Duration of Stage Main Constituents of the
(Billions of Years Ago) Atmosphere
Early Atmosphere 4.4 to 4.0 H2O, hydrogen cyanide (HCN),
ammonia (NH3), methane
(CH4), sulfur, iodine, bromine,
chlorine, argon
Secondary 4.0 to 3.3 At 4.0 billion H2O, CO2, and
Atmosphere nitrogen (N) dominant. Cooling
of the atmosphere causes
precipitation and the
development of the oceans.
By 3.0 billion CO2, H2O, N2
dominant. O2 begins to
accumulate.
Living Atmosphere 3.3 to Present N2 - 78%, O2 - 21%, Argon -
0.9%, CO2 - 0.036%
Dominant Processes and Features
Lighter gases like hydrogen and
helium escaped to space.
All water was held in the atmosphere
as vapor because of high temperatures.
Continued release of gases from the
lithosphere.
Water vapor clouds common in the
lower atmosphere.
Chemosynthetic bacteria appear on the
Earth at 3.6 billion. Life begins to
modify the atmosphere.
Development, evolution and growth of
life increases the quantity of oxygen in
the atmosphere from <1% to 21%.
500 million years ago concentration of
atmospheric oxygen levels off.
Humans begin modifying the
concentrations of some gases in the
atmosphere beginning around the year
1700.

Evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere

As the Earth continued to cool, the water vapor
found in the atmosphere condensed to form the oceans
and other fresh water bodies on the continents. Oxygen
began accumulating in the atmosphere through photo-
dissociation of 02 from water, and by way of
photosynthesis. At about 450 million years ago, there was
enough oxygen in the atmosphere to allow for the
development of a stratospheric ozone layer that was thick
enough to keep terrestrial life protected from ultraviolet
radiation. As a result, terrestrial life began its development
and expansion at this time.
The Natural Spheres:
From the standpoint of Physical Geography, the
Earth can be seen to be composed of four principal
components:
1) Lithosphere - describes the solid inorganic portion
of the Earth (composed of rocks, minerals and
elements). It can be regarded as the outer surface
and interior of the solid Earth. On the surface of
the Earth, the lithosphere is composed of three main
types of rocks:
2) Atmosphere - is the vast gaseous envelope of air that
surrounds the Earth. Its boundaries are not easily
defined. The atmosphere contains a complex system
of gases and suspended particles that behave in many

VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU 53

 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
ways like fluids. Many of its constituents are process of photosynthesis. In respiration, oxygen is
derived from the Earth by way of chemical and combined with glucose to chemically release energy for
biochemical reactions. metabolism. The products of this reaction are water and
3) Hydrosphere - describes the waters of the Earth carbon dioxide.
(see the hydrologic cycle). Water exists on the Earth The next most abundant gas in the atmosphere is
in various stores, including the atmosphere, oceans, water vapor
lakes, rivers, soils, glaciers, and groundwater. The highest concentrations of water vapor are found
4) Biosphere - consists of all living things, plant and near the equator over the oceans and tropical rain forests.
animal. This zone is characterized by life in profusion, Water vapor has several very important functional roles on
diversity, and ingenious complexity. Cycling of matter our planet:
in this sphere involves not only metabolic reactions • It redistributes heat energy on the Earth through
in organisms, but also many abiotic chemical reactions. latent heat energy exchange.
All of these spheres are interrelated to each other by
• The condensation of water vapor creates
dynamic interactions, like biogeochemical cycling,
precipitation that falls to the Earth’s surface providing
that move and exchange both matter and energy
needed fresh water for plants and animals.
between the four components.
• It helps warm the Earth’s atmosphere through the
greenhouse effect.
Gas Name Chemical Formula Percent Volume
The fifth most abundant gas in the atmosphere is
Nitrogen N2 78.08%
carbon dioxide. . The volume of this gas has increased
Oxygen O2 20.95% by over 25 % in the last three hundred years. This increase
*Water H2O 0 to 4% is primarily due to human induced burning for fossil fuels,
deforestation, and other forms of land-use change. Some
Argon Ar 0.93%
scientists believe that this increase is causing global
*Carbon warming through an enhancement of the greenhouse
CO2 0.0360%
Dioxide effect. Carbon dioxide is also exchanged between the
Neon Ne 0.0018% atmosphere and life through the processes of
photosynthesis and respiration.
Helium He 0.0005%
Methane is a very strong greenhouse gas.The primary
*Methane CH4 0.00017% sources for the additional methane added to the atmosphere
Hydrogen H2 0.00005% (in order of importance) are: rice cultivation; domestic
*Nitrous grazing animals; termites; landfills; coal mining; and, oil and
N2O 0.00003% gas extraction. Anaerobic conditions associated with rice
Oxide
paddy flooding results in the formation of methane gas.
*Ozone O3 0.000004% Grazing animals release methane to the environment as a
result of herbaceous digestion.
Atmospheric Composition The Layered Atmosphere
Nitrogen and oxygen are the main components of The Earth’s atmosphere contains several different
the atmosphere by volume. Together these two gases make layers that can be defined according to air temperature.
up approximately 99 % of the dry atmosphere. The atmosphere contains four different layers.
Nitrogen is removed from the atmosphere and Troposphere.
deposited at the Earth’s surface mainly by specialized
The first the layer is called troposphere.
nitrogen fixing bacteria, and by way of lightning through
precipitation. The addition of this nitrogen to the Earth’s Depth of this layer varies from about 8 to 16
surface soils and various water bodies supplies much needed kilometers.
nutrition for plant growth. Nitrogen returns to the Greatest depths occur at the tropics where warm
atmosphere primarily through biomass combustion and temperatures causes vertical expansion of the lower
denitrification. atmosphere.
Oxygen is exchanged between the atmosphere and life From the tropics to the Earth’s polar regions the
through the processes of photosynthesis and respiration. troposphere becomes gradually thinner
Photosynthesis produces oxygen when carbon dioxide The depth of this layer at the poles is roughly half as
and water are chemically converted into glucose with the thick when compared to the tropics. Average depth of the
help of sunlight. troposphere is approximately 11 kilometers as About 80
% of the total mass of the atmosphere is contained in
troposphere.
Respiration in humans and animals is a the opposite
It is also the layer where the majority of our weather
54 srivenraman@gmail.com
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
occurs Maximum air temperature also occurs near the
Earth’s surface in this layer.
With increasing height, air temperature drops
uniformly with altitude at a rate of approximately 6.5°
Celsius per 1000 meters. This phenomenon is commonly
called the Environmental Lapse Rate.
At an average temperature of -56.5° Celsius, the top
of the troposphere is reached. At the upper edge of the
troposphere is a narrow transition zone known as the
tropopause.
Stratosphere: Above the tropopause is the
stratosphere. This layer extends from an average altitude
of 11 to 50 kilometers above the Earth’s surface.
This stratosphere contains about 19.9 % of the total
mass found in the atmosphere. Very little weather occurs
in the stratosphere.
Occasionally, the top portions of thunderstorms
breach this layer. The lower portion of the stratosphere is
also influenced by the polar jet stream and subtropical
jet stream
In the first 9 kilometers of the stratosphere,
temperature remains constant with height. A zone with
constant temperature in the atmosphere is called an
isothermal layer
From an altitude of 20 to 50 kilometers, temperature
increases with an increase in altitude. The higher
temperatures found in this region of the stratosphere
occurs because of a localized concentration of ozone gas
molecules. These molecules absorb ultraviolet sunlight
creating heat energy that warms the stratosphere.
Ozone is primarily found in the atmosphere at varying
concentrations between the altitudes of 10 to 50 kilometers.
This layer of ozone is also called the ozone layer .
The ozone layer is important to organisms at the
Earth’s surface as it protects them from the harmful effects
of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. Without the ozone layer
life could not exist on the Earth’s surface.
Mesosphere: Separating the mesosphere from the
stratosphere is transition zone called the stratopause. In
the mesosphere, the atmosphere reaches its coldest
temperatures (about -90° Celsius) at a height of
approximately 80 kilometers. At the top of the mesosphere
is another transition zone known as the mesopause.
Thermosphere: The last atmospheric layer has an
altitude greater than 80 kilometers and is called the
thermosphere
Temperatures in this layer can be as high as 1200° C.
These high temperatures are generated from the absorption
of intense solar radiation by oxygen molecules (O2).
The air in the thermosphere is extremely thin with
individual gas molecules being separated from each other
by large distances. Consequently, measuring the temperature
of thermosphere with a thermometer is a very difficult
process.
Thermometers measure the temperature of bodies via
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
the movement of heat energy. Normally, this process
takes a few minutes for the conductive transfer of kinetic
energy from countless molecules in the body of a
substance to the expanding liquid inside the
thermometer. In the thermosphere, our thermometer
would lose more heat energy from radioactive emission
then what it would gain from making occasional contact
with extremely hot gas molecules.
The Ozone Layer
The ozone layer is a region of concentration of the
ozone molecule (O3) in the Earth’s atmosphere. The layer
sits at an altitude of about 10-50 kilometers, with a
maximum concentration in the stratosphere at an altitude
of approximately 25 kilometers. In recent years, scientists
have measured a seasonal thinning of the ozone layer
primarily at the South Pole. This phenomenon is being
called the ozone hole.
The ozone layer naturally shields Earth’s life from the
harmful effects of the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
A severe decrease in the concentration of ozone in the
ozone layer could lead to the following harmful effects:
An increase in the incidence of skin cancer
(ultraviolet radiation can destroy acids in DNA).
A large increase in cataracts and sun burning.
Suppression of immune systems in organisms.
Adverse impact on crops and animals.
Reduction in the growth of phytoplankton found in
the Earth’s oceans.
Cooling of the Earth’s stratosphere and possibly some
surface climatic effect.
Ozone is created naturally in the stratosphere by the
combining of atomic oxygen (O) with molecular oxygen
(O2). This process is activated by sunlight. Ozone is
destroyed naturally by the absorption of ultraviolet
radiation,
O3 + UV >>> O2 + O and by the collision of ozone
with other atmospheric atoms and molecules.
O3 + O >>> 2O2
O3 + O3 >>> 3O2
Human activities are altering the amount of
stratospheric O3. The main agent responsible for this
destruction was human-made chlorofluorocarbons or
CFCs. First produced by General Motors Corporation
in 1928, CFCs were created as a replacement to the toxic
refrigerant ammonia. CFCs have also been used as a
propellant in spray cans, cleaner for electronics, sterilant
for hospital equipment, and to produce the bubbles in
Styrofoam. CFCs are cheap to produce and are very stable
compounds, lasting up to 200 years in the atmosphere.
By 1988, some 320,000 metric tons of CFCs were used
worldwide.
Ozone depletion mechanism
CFCs created at the Earth’s surface drift slowly upward
to the stratosphere where ultraviolet radiation from the sun
55
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
causes their decomposition and the release of chlorine
(Cl). Chlorine in turn attacks the molecules of ozone
chemically converting them into oxygen molecules
Cl + O3 >>> ClO + O2
ClO + O = Cl + O2
A single chlorine atom removes about 100,000 ozone
molecules before it is taken out of operation by other
substances. Chlorine is removed from the stratosphere by
two chemical reactions:
ClO + NO2 >>> ClONO2
CH4 + Cl >>> HCl + CH3
Normally, these two reactions would quickly neutralize
the chlorine released into the stratosphere. However, the
presence of polar stratospheric clouds, rich in nitrogen,
and sunlight a series of reactions which prolongs the
reactive life of chlorine in the atmosphere. Interestingly,
these polar stratospheric clouds require very cold air
(approximately -85° Celsius) for their formation.
Stratospheric air of this temperature occurs normally
every year above Antarctica in the winter and early spring
months. Destruction of the ozone begins in Antarctica in
the spring as this region moves from 24 hours of night to
24 hours of day. These clouds are less frequent in the Arctic
stratosphere because winter cooling of the air in the
stratosphere is less severe.
Conservation
In 1987, a number of nations around the world met
to begin formulating a global plan, known as the Montreal
Protocol, to reduce and eliminate the use of CFCs.
Since 1987, the plan has been amended in 1990 and
1992 to quicken the schedule of production and
consumption reductions. By 1996, 161 countries were
participating in the Protocol. The Montreal Protocol called
for a 100 % reduction in the creation and use of CFCs by
January 1, 1996 in the world’s more developed countries.
Less developed countries have until January 1, 2010 to stop
their production and consumption of these dangerous
chemicals.
Atmospheric Pressure
Air is a tangible material substance and as a result
has mass. Any object with mass is influenced by the
universal force known as gravity. Gravity shapes and
influences all atmospheric processes. It causes the density
and pressure of air to decrease exponentially as one moves
away from the surface of the Earth.
Measuring Atmospheric Pressure
Any instrument that measures air pressure is called
a barometer.The most common type barometer used in
homes is the aneroid barometer.
For climatological and meteorological purposes,
standard sea-level pressure is said to be 76.0 cm or 29.92
inches or 1013.2 millibars. Scientists often use the
kilopascal (kPa) as their preferred unit for measuring
pressure. 1 kilopascal is equal to 10 millibars. Another
56
unit of force sometimes used by scientists to measure
atmospheric pressure is the newton. One millibar equals
100 newtons per square meter (N/m2).
Atmospheric Pressure at the Earth’s Surface.
During the winter months (December to February),
areas of high pressure develop over central Asia (Siberian
High), off the coast California (Hawaiian High), central
North America (Canadian High), over Spain and
northwest Africa extending into the subtropical North
Atlantic (Azores High), and over the oceans in the
Southern Hemisphere at the subtropics. Areas of low
pressure occur just south of the Aleutian Islands (Aleutian
Low), at the southern tip of Greenland (Iceland Low),
and latitudes 50 to 80° South.
During the summer months (June to August), a
number of dominant winter pressure systems disappear.
Gone are the Siberian High over central Asia and the
dominant low pressure systems near the Aleutian Islands
and at the southern tip of Greenland. The Hawaiian and
Azores High intensify and expand northward into their
relative ocean basins. High pressure systems over the
subtropical oceans in Southern Hemisphere also intensity
and expand to the north. New areas of dominant high
pressure develop over Australia and Antarctica (South Polar
High). Regions of low-pressure form over central Asia and
southwest Asia (Asiatic Low). These pressure systems are
responsible for the summer monsoon rains of Asia.
Atmospheric Effects on Incoming Solar Radiation
Three atmospheric processes modify the solar radiation
passing through our atmosphere destined to the Earth’s
surface.
a) Scattering
The process of scattering occurs when small particles
and gas molecules diffuse part of the incoming solar
radiation in random directions without any alteration to
the wavelength of the electromagnetic energy.
Scattering does, however, reduce the amount of
incoming radiation reaching the Earth’s surface. A
significant proportion of scattered short-wave solar
radiation is redirected back to space.
The amount of scattering that takes place is dependent
on two factors: wavelength of the incoming radiation and
the size of the scattering particle or gas molecule. In the
Earth’s atmosphere, the presence of a large number of
particles with a size of about 0.5 microns results in shorter
wavelengths being preferentially scattered.
This factor also causes our sky to look blue because
this color corresponds to those wavelengths that are best
diffused. If scattering did not occur in our atmosphere the
daylight sky would be black.
b) Absorption
If intercepted, some gases and particles in the
atmosphere have the ability to absorb incoming
insolation.
Absorption is defined as a process in which solar
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
radiation is retained by a substance and converted into
heat energy. The creation of heat energy also causes
the substance to emit its own radiation.
In general, the absorption of solar radiation by
substances in the Earth’s atmosphere results in temperatures
that get no higher than 1800° Celsius.
According to Wien’s Law, bodies with temperatures
at this level or lower would emit their radiation in the long
wave band. Further, this emission of radiation is in all
directions so a sizable proportion of this energy is lost to
space.
c) Reflection :
Reflection is a process where sunlight is redirect by
180° after it strikes an atmospheric particle. This redirection
causes a 100 % loss of the insolation.
Most of the reflection in our atmosphere occurs in
clouds when light is intercepted by particles of liquid and
frozen water. The reflectivity of a cloud can range from
40 to 90 %.
Sunlight reaching the Earth’s surface unmodified by
any of the above atmospheric processes is termed direct
solar radiation.
Solar radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface after it
was altered by the process of scattering is called diffused
solar radiation.
Not all of the direct and diffused radiation available
at the Earth’s surface is used to do work (photosynthesis,
creation of sensible heat, evaporation, etc.). As in the
atmosphere, some of the radiation received at the Earth’s
surface is redirected back to space by reflection.
The reflectivity or albedo of the Earth’s surface
varies with the type of material that covers it. For example,
fresh snow can reflect up to 95 % of the insolation that
reaches it surface. Some other surface type reflectivities are:
Dry sand 35 to 45 %
Broadleaf deciduous forest 5 to 10 %
Needle leaf coniferous forest 10 to 20 %
Grass type vegetation 15 to 25 %
Reflectivity of the surface is often described by the
term surface albedo. The Earth’s average albedo,
reflectance from both the atmosphere and the surface, is
about 30 %.
Global modification of incoming solar radiation by
atmospheric and surface processes.
Global Heat Balance:
Heat Fluxes: From 0 - 30° latitude North and South
incoming solar radiation exceeds outgoing terrestrial
radiation and a surplus
of energy exists. The
reverse holds true from
30 - 90° latitude North
and South and these
regions have a deficit of
energy.
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Surplus energy at low latitudes and a deficit at
high latitudes results in energy transfer from the equator
to the poles. It is this meridional transport of energy
that causes atmospheric and oceanic circulation.
If there were no energy transfer the poles would
be 25° Celsius.
The redistribution of energy across the Earth’s
surface is accomplished primarily through three processes:
sensible heat flux, latent heat flux, and surface heat
flux into oceans.
Sensible heat flux is the process where heat energy
is transferred from the Earth’s surface to the atmosphere
by conduction and convection. This energy is then moved
from the tropics to the poles by advection, creating
atmospheric circulation. As a result, atmospheric circulation
moves warm tropical air to the Polar Regions and cold air
from the poles to the equator.
Latent heat flux moves energy globally when solid
and liquid water is converted into vapor. This vapor is often
moved by atmospheric circulation vertically and horizontally
to cooler locations where it is condensed as rain or is
deposited as snow releasing the heat energy stored within
it. Finally, large quantities of radiation energy are transferred
into the Earth’s tropical oceans. The energy enters these
water bodies at the surface when absorbed radiation is
converted into heat energy. The warmed surface water is
then transferred downward into the water column by
conduction and convection. Horizontal transfer of this heat
energy from the equator to the poles is accomplished by
ocean currents.
Surface energy: The following equation describes the
partitioning of heat energy at the Earth’s surface: Q* = H
(Sensible heat) + L (Latent heat) + S (Surface heat
flux into soil or water)
The Concept of atmospheric Temperature:
Temperature Scales
A number of measurement scales have been invented
to measure temperature. The following TABLE describes
important temperatures for the three dominant scales in
use today.
Temperature of absolute zero, the ice point of water,
and the stream point of water using various temperature
measurement scales.
Measurement Steam Point of Ice Point of Absolute
Scale Water Water Zero
Fahrenheit 212 32 -
460
Celsius 100 0 -
273
Kelvin 373 273 0
The most commonly used scale for measuring
temperature is the Celsius system. The Celsius scale was
developed in 1742 by the Swedish astronomer Anders
Celsius. In this system, the melting point of ice was
given a value of 0, the boiling point of water is 100, and
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
absolute zero is -273.
The Fahrenheit system is a temperature scale that
is used exclusively in the United States. This system
was created by German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit in
1714. In this scale, the melting point of ice has a value
of 32, water boils at 212, and absolute zero has a
temperature of -460.
The Kelvin scale was proposed by British physicist
Lord Kelvin in 1848. This system is often used by scientists
because its temperature readings begin at absolute zero and
due to the fact that this scale is proportional to the amount
of heat energy found in an object. The Kelvin scale assigns
a value of 273 for the melting temperature of ice, while
the boiling point of water occurs at 373.
Measurement of Air Temperature
A thermometer is a device that is used to measure
temperature.
Thermometers consist of a sealed hollow glass tube
filled with some type of liquid. Thermometers measure
temperature by the change in the volume of the liquid
as it responds to the addition or loss of heat energy
from the environment immediately outside its surface.
When heat is added, the liquid inside the thermometer
expands. Cooling cause the liquid to contract.
Meteorological thermometers are often filled with
either alcohol or mercury. Alcohol thermometers are
favored in very cold environments because of this liquid’s
low freezing point (-112° Celsius).
By international agreement, the nations of the world
have decided to measure temperature in a similar fashion.
This standardization is important for the accurate generation
of weather maps and forecasts, both of which depend on
having data determined in a uniform way.
Temperature measurements are determined by
thermometers designed and approved by the World
Meteorological Organization, Geneva. These instruments
are housed in specially designed instrument shelters that
allow for the standardization of measurements taken
anywhere on the earth.
Daily and Annual Cycles of Global Temperature
Daily Cycles of Air Temperature
At the Earth’s surface quantities of insolation and
net radiation undergo daily cycles of change because the
planet rotates on its polar axis once every 24 hours.
Insolation is usually the main positive component
making up net radiation. Variations in net radiation are
primarily responsible for the particular patterns of rising
and falling air temperature over a 24-hour period.
Annual Cycle of Air Temperature
As the Earth revolves around the sun, locations on
the surface may under go seasonal changes in air
temperature because of annual variations in the intensity
of net radiation.
Variations in net radiation are primarily controlled
58
by changes in the intensity and duration of received
solar insolation, which are driven by variations in day
length and angle of incidence.
Global Surface Temperature Distribution
If the Earth was a homogeneous body without the
present land/ocean distribution, its temperature distribution
would be strictly latitudinal as seen in the following figure.
However, the Earth is more complex than this being
composed of a mosaic of land and water. This mosaic
causes latitudinal zonation of temperature to be disrupted
spatially.
The following two factors are important in influencing
the distribution of temperature on the Earth’s surface:
The latitude of the location determines how much
solar radiation is received. Latitude influences the angle of
incidence and duration of day length.
Surface properties - surfaces with high albedo absorb
less incident radiation. In general, land absorbs less
insolation that water because of its lighter color.
Even if two surfaces have the same albedo, a surface’s
specific heat determines the amount of heat energy
required for a specific rise in temperature per unit mass.
The specific heat of water is some five times greater
than that of rock and the land surface As a result, water
requires the input of large amounts of energy to cause a
rise in its temperature
Substance Specific Heat
Water 1.00
Air 0.24
Granite 0.19
Sand 0.19
Iron 0.11
Mainly because of specific heat, land surfaces behave
quite differently from water surfaces. In general, the surface
of any extensive deep body of water heats more slowly
and cools more slowly than the surface of a large land
body.
Other factors influencing the way land and water
surfaces heat and cool include:
Solar radiation warms an extensive layer in water on
land just the immediate surface is heated. Water is easily
mixed by the process of convection.
Evaporation of water removes energy from water’s
surface and substantially decreases it’s temperature.
Temperature distribution patterns for an average
January and July
In January,
Much of the terrestrial areas of the Northern
Hemisphere are below freezing.
Some notable Northern Hemisphere cold-spots
include the area around Baffin Island Canada,
Greenland, Siberia, and the Plateau of Tibet.
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Temperatures over oceans tend to be hotter because of
the water’s ability to hold heat energy.
In the Southern Hemisphere, temperatures over the
major landmasses are generally greater than 20° Celsius with
localized hot spots in west-central Australia, the Kalahari
Desert in Africa, and the plains of Bolivia, Paraguay, and
Argentina. Subtropical oceans are often warmer than
landmass areas near the equator.
At this latitude, land areas receive less incoming solar
radiation because of the daily convective development of
cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds.
In the mid-latitudes, oceans are often cooler than
landmass areas at similar latitudes. Terrestrial areas are
warmer because of the rapid heating of land surfaces under
frequently clear skies.
Antarctica remains cold and below zero degrees
Celsius due to the presence of permanent glacial ice which
reflects much of the solar radiation received back to space.
In July,
The Northern Hemisphere is experiencing its summer
season because the North Pole is now tilted towards the
sun.
Some conspicuous hot spots include the south-central
United States, Arizona and northwest Mexico, northern
Africa, the Middle East, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.
Temperature over oceans tend to be relatively cooler
because of the land’s ability to heat quickly. Two terrestrial
areas of cooler temperatures include Greenland and the
Plateau of Tibet. In these regions, most of the incoming
solar radiation is sent back to space because of the presence
of reflective ice and snow.
In the Southern Hemisphere, temperatures over the
major landmasses are generally cooler than ocean surfaces
at the same latitude.
Antarctica is bitterly cold because it is experiencing
total darkness. Note that Antarctica is much colder than
the Arctic was during its winter season.
The Arctic consists mainly of ocean. During the
summer, this surface is able to absorb considerable
quantities of sunlight, which is then converted into heat
energy. The heat stored in the ocean is carried over into
the winter season.
Antarctica has a surface composed primarily of snow
and ice. This surface absorbs only a small amount of the
solar radiation during the summer. So it never really heats
up. As a result, the amount of heat energy stored into the
winter season is minimal.
Forces Acting to Create Wind
Wind can be defined simply as air in motion. This
motion can be in any direction, but in most cases the
horizontal component of wind flow greatly exceeds the
flow that occurs vertically.
Wind develops as a result of spatial differences in
atmospheric pressure. Generally, these differences occur
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
because of uneven absorption of solar radiation at the
Earth’s surface . Wind speed tends to be at its greatest
during the daytime when the greatest spatial extremes in
atmospheric temperature and pressure exist
Formation of wind as a result of localized
temperature differences.
Wind is often described by two characteristics:
Wind speed and wind direction.
Wind speed is the velocity attained by a mass of air
traveling horizontally through the atmosphere. Wind speed
is often measured with an anemometer in kilometers per
hour (kmph), miles per hour (mph), knots, or meters per
second (mps).
Wind direction is measured as the direction from
where a wind comes from. For example, a southerly wind
comes from the south and blows to the north. Direction
is measured by an instrument called a wind vane.
Both of these instruments are positioned in the
atmospheric environment at a standard distance of 10
meters above the ground surface.
Wind speed can also be measured without the aid
of instruments using the Beaufort wind scale. This
descriptive scale was originally developed by Admiral Beaufort
of the British Navy in the first decade of the 17th century.
The purpose for this system was to allow mariners to
determine wind speed from simple observations. The
Beaufort system has undergone several modifications to
standardize its measurement scale and to allow for its use
on land.
Users of this scale look for specific effects of the
wind on the environment to determine speed.
Winds are named according to the compass direction
of their source. Thus, a wind from the north blowing
toward the south is called a northerly wind. Following
Figure describes the sixteen principal bearings of wind
direction. Most meteorological observations report wind
direction using one of these sixteen bearings
*Wind compass describing the sixteen principal
bearings used to measure wind direction. This compass is
based on the 360 degrees found in a circle.
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Horizontally, at the Earth’s surface wind always
blows from areas of high pressure to areas of low
pressure (vertically, winds move from areas of low
pressure to areas of high pressure), usually at speeds
determined by the rate of air pressure change between
pressure centers.
This situation is comparable to someone skiing down
a hill. The skier will of course move from the top of the
hill to the bottom of the hill, with the speed of their
descent controlled by the gradient or steepness of the slope.
Likewise, wind speed is a function of the steepness or
gradient of atmospheric air pressure found between high
and low pressure systems.
When expressed scientifically, pressure change over a
unit distance is called pressure gradient force, and the
greater this forces the faster the winds will blow.
On weather maps, pressure is indicated by drawing
isolines of pressure, called isobars, at regular 4 millibar
intervals (e.g., 996 mb, 1000 mb, 1004 mb, etc.).
If the isobars are closely spaced, we can expect the
pressure gradient force to be great, and wind speed to be
high.
In areas where the isobars are spaced widely apart,
the pressure gradient is low and light winds normally exist.
Driving Forces of wind
Wind is the result of a limited number of
accelerating and decelerating forces, and that the action
of these forces is controlled by specific fundamental natural
laws.
Sir Isaac Newton formulated these laws as several
laws of motion. The first law suggests that an object
that is stationary will remain stationary, and an object
in motion will stay in motion as long as no opposing
force is put on the object..
Newton’s second law of motion suggests that the
force put on an object equals its mass multiplied by the
60
acceleration produced. The term force in this law refers
to the total or net effect of all the forces acting on an
object. Mathematically, this law is written as:
Force = Mass x Acceleration
Or
Acceleration = Force/Mass
From this natural law of motion we can see that the
acceleration of an object is directly proportional to the net
force pushing or pulling that body and inversely
proportional to the mass of the body.
Pressure gradient force is the primary force
influencing the formation of wind from local to global
scales. This force is determined by the spatial pattern of
atmospheric pressure at any given moment in time.
The diagram displays the relative relationship
between pressure gradient and wind speed. This
relationship is linear and positive. As a result,
quadrupling the pressure gradient increases wind speed
by a factor of four. This is what we would expect
according to Newton’s second law of motion, assuming
the mass of the wind is unchanged.
Coriolis force: The rotation of the Earth creates
another force, termed Coriolis force, which acts upon wind
and other objects in motion in very predictable ways.
According to Newton’s first law of motion, air will
remain moving in a straight line unless it is influenced
by an unbalancing force. The consequence of Coriolis
force opposing pressure gradient acceleration is that the
moving air changes direction.
Instead of wind blowing directly from high to low
pressure, the rotation of the Earth causes wind to be
deflected off course.
In the Northern Hemisphere, wind is deflected
to the right of its path, while in the Southern
Hemisphere it is deflected to the left.
However the magnitude of the Coriolis force varies
with the velocity and the latitude of the object.
Coriolis force is absent at the equator, and its strength
increases as one approaches either pole. Furthermore,
an increase in wind speed also results in a stronger
Coriolis force, and thus in greater deflection of the
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wind.
CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Coriolis force only acts on air when it has been sent
into motion by pressure gradient force. Finally, Coriolis
force only influences wind direction and never wind
speed
Centripetal acceleration is the force that can act on
moving air. It acts only on air that is flowing around centers
of circulation.
Centripetal acceleration is also another force that can
influence the direction of wind. Centripetal acceleration
creates a force directed at right angles to the flow of the
wind and inwards towards the centers of rotation (e.g., low
and high pressure centers).
This force produces a circular pattern of flow around
centers of high and low pressure.
Centripetal acceleration is much more important for
circulations smaller than the mid-latitude cyclone.
The other force that can influence moving air is
frictional deceleration. Friction can exert an influence on
wind only after the air is in motion.
Frictional drag acts in a direction opposite to the path
of motion causing the moving air to decelerate (According
to Newton’s first and second laws of motion). Frictional
effects are limited to the lower one kilometer above the
Earth’s surface.
Geotropic Wind
Air under the influence of both the pressure gradient
force and Coriolis force tends to move parallel to isobars
in conditions where friction is low (1000 meters above the
surface of the Earth) and isobars are straight. Winds of
this type are usually called geostrophic winds.
Geostrophic winds come about because pressure
gradient force and Coriolis force come into balance after
the air begins to move.
A geostrophic wind flows parallel to the isobars. In
this model of wind flow in the Northern Hemisphere, wind
begins as a flow of air perpendicular to the isobars
(measured in millibars) under the primary influence of
the pressure gradient force (PGF).
As the movement begins, the Coriolis force (CF)
begins to influence the moving air causing it to deflect to
the right of its path. This deflection continues until the
pressure gradient force and Coriolis force are opposite
and in balance with each other.
Finally, Buy Ballot’s Law states that when you stand
with your back to a geotropic wind in the Northern
Hemisphere the center of low pressure will be to your left
and the high pressure to your right. The opposite is true
for the Southern Hemisphere.
Gradient Wind
Wind above the Earth’s surface does not always travel
in straight lines. In many cases winds flow around the
curved isobars of a high (anticyclone) or low (cyclone)
pressure center. A wind that blows around curved
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
isobars above the level of friction is called a gradient
wind.
Gradient winds are slightly more complex than
geotropic winds because they include the action of yet
another physical force. This force is known as centripetal
force and it is always directed toward the center of rotation.
Around a low, the gradient wind consists of the
pressure gradient force and centripetal force acting
toward the center of rotation, while Coriolis force acts
away from the center of the low.
In a high pressure center, the Coriolis and centripetal
forces are directed toward the center of the high, while
the pressure gradient force is directed outward.
The following figure describes the forces that
produce gradient winds around high and low pressure
centers
Circulation patterns of high and low pressure
systems in the North and South Hemisphere.
Local and Regional Wind Systems
Winds blow because of differences in atmospheric
pressure. Pressure gradients may develop on a local to
a global scale because of differences in the heating and
cooling of the Earth’s surface. Heating and cooling cycles
that develop daily or annually can create several common
local or regional thermal wind systems.
Sea and Land Breezes
Sea and land breezes are types of thermal
circulation systems that develop at the interface of land
and ocean.
At this interface, the dissimilar heating and cooling
characteristics of land and water initiate the development
of an atmospheric pressure gradient, which causes the air
in these areas to flow.
During the daytime land heats up much faster than
water as it receives solar radiation from the sun. The
warmer air over the land then begins to expand and rise
forming a thermal low.
At the same time, the air over the ocean becomes a
cool high because of water’s slower rate of heating.
Air begins to flow as soon as there is a significant
difference in air temperature and pressure across the
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
land to sea gradient.
The development of this pressure gradient causes the
heavier cooler air over the ocean to move toward the land
and to replace the air rising in the thermal low.
This localized airflow system is called a sea breeze.
Sea breeze usually begins in midmorning and reaches
its maximum strength in the later afternoon when the
greatest temperature and pressure contrasts exist. It dies
down at sunset when air temperature and pressure once
again become similar across the two surfaces.
At sunset, the land surface stops receiving radiation
from the sun. As night continues the land surface begins
losing heat energy at a much faster rate than the water
surface. After a few hours, air temperature and pressure
contrasts begin to develop between the land and ocean
surfaces.
The land surface being cooler than the water becomes
a thermal high-pressure area. The ocean becomes a warm
thermal low. Wind flow now moves from the land to the
open ocean. This type of localized air flow is called a land
breeze
Mountain and Valley Breezes
Mountain and valley breezes are common in regions
with great topographic relief.
A valley breeze develops during the day as the sun
heats the land surface and air at the valley bottom and
sides. As the air heats it becomes less dense and buoyant
and begins to flow gently up the valley sides. Vertical ascent
of the air rising along the sides of the mountain is usually
limited by the presence of a temperature inversion layer.
When the ascending air currents encounter the inversion
they are forced to move horizontally and then back down
to the valley floor. This creates a self-contained circulation
system.
If conditions are right, the rising air can condense
and form into cumuliform clouds. During the night, the
air along the mountain slopes begins to cool quickly because
of long wave radiation loss. As the air cools, it becomes
more dense and begins to flow down slope causing a
mountain breeze. Convergence of the draining air occurs
at the valley floor and forces the air to move vertically
upward. The upward movement is usually limited by the
presence of a temperature inversion, which forces the
air to begin moving horizontally. This horizontal movement
completes the circulation cell system.
In narrowing terrain, mountain winds can accelerate
in speed because of the venturi effect. Such winds can
attain speeds as high has 150 kilometers per hour.
Monsoon Winds
Monsoons are regional scale wind systems that
predictably change direction with the passing of the seasons.
Like land/sea breezes, these wind systems are created by
the temperature contrasts that exist between the surfaces
of land and ocean. However, monsoons are different
from land/sea breezes both spatially and temporally.
62
Monsoons occur over distances of thousands of
kilometers, and their two dominant patterns of wind flow
act over an annual time scale.
During the summer, monsoon winds blow from the
cooler ocean surfaces onto the warmer continents.
In the summer, the continents become much warmer
than the oceans because of a number of factors.
These factors include:
Specific heat differences between land and water.
Greater evaporation over water surfaces.
Subsurface mixing in ocean basins, which
redistributes heat energy through a deeper layer.
Precipitation is normally associated with the summer
monsoons. Onshore winds blowing inland from the warm
ocean are very high in humidity, and slight cooling of these
air masses causes condensation and rain.
In some cases, this precipitation can be greatly
intensified by orographic uplift(Mountain elevations).
Some highland areas in Asia receive more than 10 meters
of rain during the summer months.
In the winter, the wind patterns reverse, as the ocean
surfaces are now warmer. With little solar energy available,
the continents begin cooling rapidly as long wave radiation
is emitted to space. The ocean surface retains its heat
energy longer because of water’s high specific heat and
subsurface mixing. The winter monsoons bring clear
dry weather and winds that flow from land to sea.
Atmospheric Circulation
Planetary rotation would cause the development
of three circulation cells in each hemisphere rather than
one. These three circulation cells are known as the:
Hadley cell; Ferrell cell; and Polar cell.
In this circulation pattern, the equator remains the
warmest location on the Earth. This area of greater heat
acts as zone of thermal lows known as the intertropical
convergence zone (ITCZ).
The Intertropical Convergence Zone draws in surface
air from the subtropics. When this subtropical air reaches
the equator, it rises into the upper atmosphere because of
convergence and convection.
It attains a maximum vertical altitude of about 14
kilometers (top of the troposphere), and then begins
flowing horizontally to the North and South Poles. Coriolis
force causes the deflection of this moving air in the upper
atmosphere, and by about 30° of latitude the air begins to
flow zonally from west to east. This zonal flow is known
as the subtropical jet stream.
The zonal flow also causes the accumulation of air in
the upper atmosphere as it is no longer flowing
meridionally. To compensate for this accumulation, some
of the air in the upper atmosphere sinks back to the
surface creating the subtropical high pressure zone.
From this zone, the surface air travels in two
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
directions. A portion of the air moves back toward the
equator completing the circulation system known as the
Hadley cell.
This moving air is also deflected by the Coriolis
effect to create the Northeast Trades (right deflection)
and Southeast Trades (left deflection).
The surface air moving towards the poles from the
subtropical high zone is also deflected by Coriolis
acceleration producing the Westerlies. Between the latitudes
of 30 to 60° North and South, upper air winds blow
generally towards the poles.
Once again, Coriolis force deflects this wind to
cause it to flow west to east forming the polar jet stream
at roughly 60° North and South.
On the Earth’s surface at 60° North and South
latitude, the subtropical Westerlies collide with cold
air traveling from the poles. This collision results in
frontal uplift and the creation of the sub polar lows or
mid-latitude cyclones.
A small portion of this lifted air is sent back into
the Ferrell cell after it reaches the top of the
troposphere. Most of this lifted air is directed to the
polar vortex where it moves downward to create the
polar high.
Actual Global Surface Circulation
The circulation patterns are seen differ somewhat
from the three-cell model particularly in recent past.
The actual surface circulation for the Earth as
determined from 39 years of record is as follows.
These differences are caused primarily by two
factors. First, the Earth’s surface is not composed of
uniform materials. The two surface materials that
dominate are water and land. These two materials
behave differently in terms of heating and cooling
causing latitudinal pressure zones to be less uniform.
The other factor influencing actual circulation patterns
is elevation. Elevation tends to cause pressure centers to
become intensified when altitude is increased. This is
especially true of high-pressure systems
The formation of intertropical convergence zone is
the result of solar heating and the convergence of the
trade winds
In January, the intertropical convergence zone is
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
found south of the equator. During this time period,
the Southern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun and
receives higher inputs of short-wave radiation..
During July, the intertropical convergence
zone (ITCZ) is generally found north of the
equator. This shift in position occurs because the
altitude of the sun is now higher in the Northern
Hemisphere.
The more intense July sun causes land areas
of Northern Africa and Asia rapidly warm
creating the Asiatic Low, which becomes part of
the ITCZ.
In the winter months, the intertropical
convergence zone is pushed south by the development
of an intense high-pressure system over central Asia.
The extreme movement of the ITCZ in this part of the
world also helps to intensify the development of a
regional winds system called the Asian monsoon.
The subtropical high-pressure zone does not form
a uniform area of high pressure stretching around the world
in reality. Instead, the system consists of several localized
anticyclonic cells of high pressure.
These systems are located roughly at about 20 to 30°
of latitude. The subtropical high-pressure systems develop
because of the presence of descending air currents from
the Hadley cell.
These systems intensify over the ocean during the
summer or high sun season. During this season, the air
over the ocean bodies remains relatively cool because of
the slower heating of water relative to land surfaces. Over
land, intensification takes place in the winter months. At
this time, land cools off quickly, relative to ocean, forming
large cold continental air masses.
The sub polar lows form a continuous zone of low
pressure in the Southern Hemisphere at a latitude of
between 50 and 70°.
The intensity of the sub polar lows varies with
season.
This zone is most intense during Southern
Hemisphere summer At this time, greater differences in
temperature exist between air masses found either side of
this zone.
North of sub polar low belt, summer heating warms
subtropical air masses. South of the zone, the ice-covered
surface of Antarctica reflects much of the incoming solar
radiation back to space. As a consequence, air masses
above Antarctica remain cold because very little heating of
the ground surface takes place. The meeting of the warm
subtropical and cold polar air masses at the sub polar low
zone enhances frontal uplift and the formation of intense
low-pressure systems.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the sub polar lows do
not form a continuous belt circling the globe. Instead,
they exist as localized cyclonic centers of low pressure.
In the Northern Hemisphere winter, these
63
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
pressure centers are intense and located over the oceans
just to the south of Greenland and the Aleutian Islands.
These areas of low pressure are responsible for
spawning many mid-latitude cyclones.
The development of the sub polar lows in summer
only occurs weakly over Greenland and Baffin Island,
Canada), unlike the Southern Hemisphere. The reason for
this phenomenon is that considerable heating of the Earth’s
surface occurs from 60 to 90° North. As a result, cold
polar air masses generally do not form.
Upper Air Winds and the Jet Streams
The polar jet stream is formed by the deflection of
upper air winds by coriolis acceleration.
It resembles a stream of water moving west to east
and has an altitude of about 10 kilometers.
Its airflow is intensified by the strong temperature
and pressure gradient that develops when cold air from
the poles meets warm air from the tropics.
Wind velocity is highest in the core of the polar jet
stream where speeds can be as high as 300 kilometers per
hour.
The jet stream core is surrounded by slower moving
air that has an average velocity of 130 kilometers per hour
in winter and 65 kilometers per hour in summer.
Polar front: Associated with the polar jet stream is
the polar front. At this zone, massive exchanges of
energy occur in the form of storms known as the mid-
latitude cyclones.
The shape and position of waves in the polar jet
stream determine the location and the intensity of the mid-
latitude cyclones.
In general, mid-latitude cyclones form beneath polar
jet stream troughs.
The subtropical jet stream is located approximately
13 kilometers above the subtropical high-pressure zone.
THE DAILY PRESSURE LEVELS
The most basic change in pressure is the twice
daily rise and fall in due to the heating from the sun.
Each day, around 4 a.m./p.m. the pressure is at its
lowest and near its peak around 10 a.m./p.m. The
magnitude of the daily cycle are greatest near the
equator decreasing toward the poles.
On top of the daily fluctuations are the larger
pressure changes as a result of the migrating weather
systems. These weather systems are identified by the
blue H’s and red L’s seen on weather maps. The H’s
represent the location of the area of highest pressure.
The L’s represent the position of the lowest pressure.
The FALL of the barometer (decreasing pressure)
In very hot weather, the fall of the barometer
denotes thunder. Otherwise, the sudden falling of the
barometer denotes high wind. In frosty weather, the fall
of the barometer denotes thaw.
64
If wet weather happens soon after the fall of the
barometer, expect but little of it.
In wet weather if the barometer falls expect much
wet.
In fair weather, if the barometer falls much and
remains low, expect much wet in a few days, and
probably wind.
The barometer sinks lowest of all for wind and
rain together; next to that wind, (except it be an east or
north-east wind).
The RISE of the barometer (increasing pressure)
In winter, the rise of the barometer presages frost.
In frosty weather, the rise of the barometer presages
snow If fair weather happens soon after the rise of the
barometer, expect but little of it.
In wet weather, if the mercury rises high and
remains so, expect continued fine weather in a day or
two.
In wet weather, if the mercury rises suddenly very
high, fine weather will not last long.
The barometer rises highest of all for north and
east winds; for all other winds it sinks.
The barometer UNSETTLED (unsteady pressure)
If the motion of the mercury be unsettled, expect
unsettled weather.
If it stand at “MUCH RAIN” and rises to
“CHANGEABLE” expect fair weather of short
continuance.
If it stand at “FAIR” and fall to “CHANGEABLE”,
expect foul weather.
Its motion upwards, indicates the approach of fine
weather; its motion downwards, indicates the approach
of foul weather.
These pressure observations hold true for many
other locations as well but not all of them. Storms that
occur in England, located near the end of the Gulf
Stream, bring large pressure changes. In the United
States, the largest pressure changes associated with
storms will generally occur in Alaska and northern half
of the continental U.S. In the tropics, except for tropical
cyclones, there is very little day-to-day pressure change
and none of the rules apply.
srivenraman@gmail.com
 THE HYDROSPHERE
CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
The Hydrologic Cycle:
The hydrologic cycle is a conceptual model that
describes the storage and movement Water moves from
one reservoir to another by way of processes like
evaporation, condensation, precipitation, deposition,
runoff, infiltration, sublimation, transpiration, melting,
and groundwater flow.
The oceans supply most of the evaporated water
found in the atmosphere. Of this evaporated water, only
91 % of it is returned to the ocean basins by way of
precipitation.
The remaining 9 % is transported to areas over
landmasses where climatological factors induce the
formation of precipitation.
The resulting imbalance between rates of evaporation
and precipitation over land and ocean is corrected by runoff
and groundwater flow to the oceans.
The planetary water supply is dominated by the oceans.
Approximately 97 % of all the water on the Earth is in
the oceans. The other 3 % is held as freshwater in glaciers
and icecaps, groundwater, lakes, soil, the atmosphere, and
within life.
Water is continually cycled between its various
reservoirs. This cycling occurs through the processes of
evaporation, condensation, precipitation, deposition,
runoff, infiltration, sublimation, transpiration, melting,
and groundwater flow.
On average water is renewed in rivers once every 16
days.
Water in the atmosphere is completely replaced once
every 8 days.
Slower rates of replacement occur in large lakes,
glaciers, ocean bodies and groundwater.
Replacement in these reservoirs can take from
hundreds to thousands of years.
Some of these resources (especially groundwater) are
being used by humans at rates that far exceed their renewal
times.
This type of resource use is making this type of water
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
effectively nonrenewable.
Reservoir Average Residence Time
Glaciers 20 to 100 years
Seasonal Snow Cover 2 to 6 months
Soil Moisture 1 to 2 months
Groundwater: Shallow 100 to 200 years
Groundwater: Deep 10,000 years
Lakes 50 to 100 years
Rivers 2 to 6 m
Atmospheric Humidity:
The water vapor CONTENT of the atmosphere is
called Humidity.
The amount of humidity found in air varies because
of a number of factors. Two important factors are
evaporation and condensation.
At the water/atmosphere interface over our planet’s
oceans large amounts of liquid water are evaporated into
atmospheric water vapor. This process is mainly caused by
absorption of solar radiation and the subsequent generation
of heat at the ocean’s surface.
In our atmosphere, water vapor is converted back
into liquid form when air masses lose heat energy and cool.
This process is responsible for the development of most
clouds and also produces the rain that falls to the Earth’s
surface.
Scientists have developed a number of different
measures of atmospheric humidity such as mixing ratio,
saturation mixing ratio, and relative humidity.
Mixing ratio is a measure that refers to the mass
of a specific gas component relative to the mass of the
remaining gaseous components for a sample of air.
When used to measure humidity mixing ratio would
measure the mass of water vapor relative to the mass of
all of the other gases.
In meteorological measurements, mixing ratio is
usually expressed in grams of water vapor per kilogram
of dry air.
Saturation mixing ratio refers to the mass of water
vapor that can be held in a kilogram of dry air at saturation.
Saturation can be generally defined as the condition
where any addition of water vapor to a mass of air leads
to the condensation of liquid water or the deposition of
ice at a given temperature and pressure.
The warmer air has a higher saturation-mixing ratio
than cooler air at a constant atmospheric pressure. It is
65
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
important to note that this relationship between
temperature and water vapor content in the air is not
linear but exponential.
In other words, for each 10° increase in temperature,
saturation mixing ratio increases by a larger quantity.
The most commonly used measure of humidity is
relative humidity.
Relative humidity can be simply defined as the
amount of water in the air relative to the saturation amount
the air can hold at a given temperature multiplied by 100.
Air with a relative humidity of 50 % contains a half
of the water vapor it could hold at a particular temperature.
The following illustration describes how relative
humidity changes in a parcel of air with an increase in air
temperature. At 10° Celsius, a parcel of dry air weighing
one kilogram can hold a maximum of 7.76 grams of water
vapor. In this state, the parcel of air would be at saturation
and its relative humidity would be 100 %. Increasing the
temperature of this parcel, without adding or removing any
water, would increase its ability to hold water vapor.
According to Table, a 10 degree Celsius rise in temperature
would increase the saturation-mixing ratio of this parcel
of air to 14.85 grams. Since no water has been added or
removed, the actual amount of water in the parcel would
remain 7.76 grams. This quantity is known as the mixing
ratio. Dividing the mixing ratio by the saturation mixing
ratio and then multiplying this number by 100 determines
the relative humidity of the parcel of air (7.76/14.85 x
100 = 52 %). At a temperature of 20° Celsius, relative
humidity would be 52 %. Raising the temperature of the
parcel of air by another 10° Celsius would again lower its
relative humidity. In this state, the actual mixing ratio would
still be 7.76 grams, while the saturation mixing ratio would
increase to 27.69 grams. Relative humidity would drop to
28 % at a temperature of 30° Celsius (7.76/27.69 x 100 =
28 %).
Measuring Humidity
Humidity can be measured using a variety of
instruments. Relative humidity is often determined using a
sling psychrometer or a hair hygrometer.
A sling psychrometer is a device that consists of
two thermometers joined to a piece of plastic or metal.
One of the thermometers, called the wet-bulb
thermometer, has small cloth hood (wick) that is pulled
over the reservoir bulb. The other thermometer has no
hood and is called the dry-bulb thermometer.
Hair hygrometers work on the fact that hair changes
its length when humidity varies. This device usually consists
of a number of human or horse hairs connected to a
mechanical lever system. When humidity increases the
length of the hairs becomes longer. This change in length
is then transmitted and magnified by the lever system into
a measurement of relative humidity.
Humidity is also measured on a global scale using
remotely placed satellites. These satellites are able to detect
66
the concentration of water in the troposphere at
altitudes between 4 and 12 kilometers. Satellites that can
measure water vapor have sensors that are sensitive to
infrared radiation. Water vapor specifically absorbs and
re-radiates radiation in this spectral band. Satellite water
vapor imagery plays an important role in monitoring
climate conditions (like the formation of
thunderstorms) and in the development of future
weather forecasts.
Dew Point and Frost Point
Associated with relative humidity is dew point (if
the dew point is below freezing, it is referred to as the
frost point). Dew point is the temperature at which
water vapor saturates from an air mass into liquid or
solid usually forming rain, snow, frost, or dew.
Dew point normally occurs when a mass of air
has a relative humidity of 100 %. This happens in the
atmosphere as a result of cooling through a number of
different processes.
Condensation, Freezing, and Deposition
The three processes of phase change of water
within the atmosphere are:
Condensation - water moving from a vapor to a
liquid state.
Freezing - water moving from a liquid to a solid
state.
Deposition - water moving from a vapor to a solid
state.
For a phase change to occur heat energy must be
added to or removed from water molecules.
The formation of water droplets and ice crystals
takes place when the water in the atmosphere is cooled.
As air containing water vapor cools, the relative
humidity of the air parcel increases until the dew or
frost point is reached.
At dew point (relative humidity = 100 %) water
begins to condense into droplets. If 100 % relative
humidity is reached below 0° Celsius deposition occurs
and ice crystals form.
Formation of water droplets and ice crystals also
requires a surface for condensation, freezing, or
deposition. In the atmosphere, these surfaces are
microscopic particles of dust, smoke, and salt commonly
called condensation nuclei.
Deposition nuclei, six sided particles, are needed
for the formation of ice crystals.
If there is a deficiency of nuclei, super-saturation
can result and condensation, freezing, or deposition can
only occur with a relative humidity that is greater than
100 %
Cloud Formation Processes
Condensation or deposition of water above the
Earth’s surface creates clouds.
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
In general, clouds develop in any air mass that
becomes saturated (relative humidity becomes 100 %).
Saturation can occur by way of atmospheric mechanisms
that cause the temperature of an air mass to be cooled to
its dew point or frost point.
The following mechanisms or processes can achieve
this outcome causing clouds to develop:
(1). Orographic uplift occurs when air is forced to rise
because of the physical presence of elevated land. As
the parcel raises it cools as a result of adiabatic
expansion at a rate of approximately 10° Celsius per
1000 meters until saturation. The development of
clouds and resulting heavy quantities of precipitation
along the west coast of Canada are mainly due to
this process.
(2). Convectional lifting is associated with surface heating
of the air at the ground surface. If enough heating
occurs, the mass of air becomes warmer and lighter
than the air in the surrounding environment, and just
like a hot air balloon it begins to rise, expand, and
cool. When sufficient cooling has taken place
saturation occurs forming clouds. This process is
active in the interior of continents and near the
equator forming cumulus clouds and or
cumulonimbus clouds (thunderstorms). The rain that
is associated with the development of thunderstorm
clouds is delivered in large amounts over short periods
of time in extremely localized areas.
(3). Convergence or frontal lifting takes place when two
masses of air come together. In most cases, the two
air masses have different temperature and moisture
characteristics. One of the air masses is usually warm
and moist, while the other is cold and dry. The leading
edge of the latter air mass acts as an inclined wall or
front causing the moist warm air to be lifted. Of
course the lifting causes the warm moist air mass to
cool due to expansion resulting in saturation. This
cloud formation mechanism is common at the mid-
latitudes where cyclones form along the polar front
and near the equator where the trade winds meet at
the intertropical convergence zone.
(4). Radiative cooling occurs when the sun is no longer
supplying the ground and overlying air with energy
derived from solar insolation (e.g., night). Instead, the
surface of the Earth now begins to lose energy in the
form of long wave radiation, which causes the ground
and air above it to cool. The clouds that result from
this type of cooling take the form of surface fog.
These causes of cloud development do not always act
in a singular fashion. It is possible to get combinations of
all four types, such as when convection and orographic
uplift cause summer afternoon cloud development and
showers in the mountains.
Precipitation and Fog
Precipitation can be defined as any liquid or solid
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
aqueous deposit that forms in a saturated atmosphere
(relative humidity equals 100 %) and falls from clouds to
the ground surface.
A necessary initial requirement for this process is
the presence of both condensation nuclei and deposition
nuclei. While deposition nuclei form ice crystals at
temperatures just below zero degrees Celsius,
condensation nuclei can remain liquid (super cooled)
to temperatures as low as -40° Celsius depending on
size. Because of this phenomenon, cold clouds can
contain both ice crystals and super cooled water
droplets.
The relative proportion of these two types of
particles determines whether snow crystals grow to a size
to overcome atmospheric updrafts.
The following list describes the various types of
precipitation that can form in the atmosphere:
Rain is any liquid deposit that falls from the
atmosphere to the surface and has a diameter greater than
0.5 millimeters. The maximum size of a raindrop is about
5 millimeters. Beyond this size inter-molecular cohesive
forces become too weak to hold the mass of water together
as a single drop.
Freezing rain takes place when falling liquid water
droplets encounter a surface with a temperature below 0°
Celsius. Upon contact with this surface, the rain quickly
turns into ice. Another important condition required for
freezing rain is that the atmosphere where rain develops
must be above freezing. A situation where warm air is found
on top of cold air is called a temperature inversion.
Temperature inversions are not the common state of the
lower atmosphere. Usually, air temperature decreases with
an increase in altitude in the troposphere. In the mid-
latitudes, we often find temperature inversions developing
along the moving front edge of a cold air mass that is
overtaking warmer air. This condition causes the less dense
warm air to be pushed up and over the more dense cold
air.
Ice pellets or sleet are transparent or translucent
spheres of frozen water. They have a diameter smaller than
5 millimeters. This form of precipitation develops first
as raindrops in a relatively warm atmosphere where
the temperature is above freezing. These raindrops then
descend into a colder lower layer of the atmosphere
where freezing temperatures occur. In this layer, the
cold temperatures cause the raindrops to freeze into
ice pellets during their transit to the ground surface.
Similar to freezing rain, an air temperature inversion is
required for the formation of ice pellets.
Snow is a type of precipitation common to the mid
and high latitudes snow develops when water vapor deposits
itself (skipping the liquid phase) directly on a six-sided
(hexagon) deposition nuclei as a solid crystals, at
temperatures below freezing. The unique form of
snowflakes occurs because ice crystal growth is most
rapid at the six points associated with geometric shape
67
 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
of the deposition nuclei. These points are more directly
exposed to the atmosphere and consequently convert
more water vapor into ice. Snow is usually generated
by frontal lifting associated with mid-latitude cyclones.
Snowfall can occur in the fall, winter, and spring months
when atmospheric temperatures can drop below
freezing. Much of the ground surface of North America
can be covered with snow for several months during a
typical year
Snow pellets or graupel are spherical white bits of
ice that have a diameter less than 5 millimeters. Snow pellets
develop when super cooled droplets freeze onto the surface
of falling snowflakes. Snow pellets usually fall for only a
brief period of time when a precipitation event changes
from ice pellets to snow.
Hail is a type of frozen precipitation that is more
than 5 millimeters in diameter. Hailstones often have
concentric shells of ice alternating between those with a
white cloudy appearance and those that are clear. The
cloudy white shells contain partially melted snowflakes that
freeze onto the surface of the growing hailstone. The clear
shells develop when liquid water freezes to the hailstone
surface. Strong updrafts in mature thunderstorm clouds
provide the mechanism for hail formation. These updrafts
move hailstone embryos (often large frozen raindrops)
upward through the storm cloud where they encounter
layers of ice crystals, snow, and super cooled rain Each
encounter causes the hailstone to grow larger in size as
ice, snow, and rain accretes to the surface. Hailstones can
grow very large in size when they are carried upward by
more than one updraft. When the hailstone becomes too
heavy to be supported by updrafts, it begins falling under
the influence of gravity. Descending hailstones can lose a
significant amount of their mass because of melting as
they encounter the warm air found in between the cloud
base and the Earth’s surface. Small hailstones often melt
completely before they reach the ground.
Fog :
Fog is simply a cloud of minute water droplets that
exists at ground level. Fog develops when the air at ground
level is cooled enough to cause saturation (relative humidity
equals 100 %). Meteorologists have a very specific
definition to determine if fog exists. This definition
suggests that fog is occurring when the visibility of the
atmosphere, near the Earth’s surface, becomes less than
1 kilometer. Fog can be created by a variety of
processes:
Radiation fog or ground fog, is produced by near
surface cooling of the atmosphere due to long wave
radiation emission. This particular type of fog is normally
quite shallow and develops during the evening hours.
Shortly after sunrise the radiation fog disappears because
of surface heating due to the absorption of solar radiation.
Upslope fog is created when air flows over higher
topography. When the air is forced to rise in altitude
because of the topographic barrier, it is cooled by
68
adiabatic expansion. This type of fog is often found
forming on the windward slopes of hills or mountains.
Advection fog is generated when air flows over a
surface with a different temperature. Warm air advection
can produce fog if it flows over a cold surface. The contact
cooling associated with this process causes saturation to
occur in a relatively thin layer of air immediately above
the ground surface.
Evaporation fog is a specific type of advection fog.
It occurs when you get cold air advancing over warm water
or warm, moist land surfaces. In this situation, fog forms
as water from the surface evaporates into the cold air and
then saturates (Figure 8f-6). This type of fog can also be
called steam fog or sea smoke.
Frontal fog is a type of fog that is associated with
weather fronts, particularly warm fronts. In this situation,
rain descending into the colder air ahead of the warm front
can increase the quantity of water vapor in this atmosphere
through evaporation. Fog then forms when the quantity
of water in the atmosphere ahead of the front reaches
saturation (relative humidity equals 100 %).
Global Distribution of Precipitation
The Global Precipitation Climatology Project
(GPCP) was established by the World Climate Research
Program (WCRP) in 1986 with the goal of providing
monthly mean precipitation data on a global scale.
The GPCP has accomplished this by combining
infrared and microwave satellite estimates of precipitation
with rain gauge data from more than 30,000 stations.
Infrared precipitation measurements are obtained
from GOES (United States), GMS (Japan) and Meteosat
(European Community) geostationary satellites and
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) operational polar orbiting satellites. Microwave
estimates are obtained from the U.S. Defense
Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites using
the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I).
Together these data sets will be used to validate general
circulation and climate models, study the global hydrological
cycle and diagnose the variability of the global climate
system.
The average annual precipitation of the entire
surface of our planet is estimated to be about 1050
millimeters per year or approximately 88 millimeters per
month.
However the actual values vary spatially from less than
10 millimeters per month or to a maximum of more than
300 millimeters per month depending on location. The
reasons for these patterns are as follows:
The deserts in the subtropical regions occur because
these areas do not contain any mechanism for lifting air
masses. In fact, these areas are dominated by subsiding air
that results from global circulation patterns. Continental
areas tend to be dry because of their distance from
moisture sources.
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Polar areas are dry because cold air cannot hold ‘Acid Rain’ in 1872.
as much moisture as warm air. In the 1960s, the problems associated with acid
Areas near the equator achieve high rainfall amounts deposition became an international problem when
because constant solar heating encourages convection, and fishermen noticed declines in fish numbers and diversity
global circulation patterns cause northern and southern air in many lakes throughout North America and Europe.
masses to converge here causing frontal lifting. Acid Rain Formation
Mid-latitudes experience cyclonic activity and Acid Rain can form as a result of two processes.
frontal lifting when polar and subtropical air masses In some cases, hydrochloric acid can be expelled
meet at the polar front. Further, the air masses in this directly into the atmosphere.
region generally move from West to East, causing levels
More commonly it is due to secondary pollutants
of precipitation to decrease East of source regions.
that form from the oxidation of nitrogen oxides (NOx)
Mountain ranges near water sources can receive or sulfur dioxide (SO2) gases that are released into the
high rainfalls because of orographic uplift, if and only atmosphere.
if the prevailing winds are in their favor. This can also
Reactions at the Earth’s surface or within the
result in a sharp reduction in rainfall in regions adjacent
atmosphere can convert these pollutants into nitric acid
or on the leeward slopes of these areas. This
or sulfuric acid.
phenomenon is commonly known as the rain shadow
effect. Acid precipitation formation can also take place
at the Earth’s surface when nitrogen oxides and sulfur
Acid Precipitation
dioxide settle on the landscape and interact with dew
The term acid precipitation is used to specifically or frost.
describe wet forms of acid pollution that can be found in
Emissions of sulfur dioxide are responsible for 60-
rain, sleet, snow, fog, and cloud vapor.
70 % of the acid deposition that occurs globally. More
An acid can be defined as any substance that when than 90 % of the sulfur in the atmosphere is of human
dissolved in water dissociates to yield corrosive hydrogen origin. The main sources of sulfur include:
ions. The acidity of substances dissolved in water is
Coal burning - coal typically contains 2-3 % sulfur
commonly measured in terms of pH (defined as the
so when it is burned sulfur dioxide is liberated.
negative logarithm of the concentration of hydrogen ions).
The smelting of metal sulfide ores to obtain the
According to this measurement scale solutions with
pure metals. Metals such as zinc, nickel, and copper
RecordpHs less than 7 are described as being
Location acidic,
Amount (mm) whileDate
a pH
are all commonly obtained in this manner.
1-year Rainfall greater than 7.0 is considered
Cherrapundi, India alkaline.
26,470 1861
Volcanic eruptions - although this is not a
1-month Rainfall Precipitation
Cherrapundi,normally
India has a pH
9300between 5.01861to 5.6
(July)
widespread problem, a volcanic eruption can add a lot
because of natural atmospheric reactions involving carbon
Average Annual Rainfall Mt. Waialeale, Hawaii, USA 11,680 of sulfur to the atmosphere in a regional area.
dioxide.
Ocean spray.
24 hr. Rainfall ForBelouve,
comparison,
La Reuniondistilled
Island water,
1350pure of any other
Feb 28,
stub stances, would have a pH of 7.0. Precipitation is
1964 After being released into the atmosphere, sulfur
Lowest Annual Average
considered to be
Arica, acidic when its pH falls
Chile 0.8 below 5.6 (which dioxide can either be deposited on the Earth’s surface
Rainfall in the form of dry deposition or it can undergo the
is 25 times more acidic than pure distilled water).
Greatest 1 Month following reactions to produce acids that are
Tamarack, California, USA 9910 1911 (Jan)
Snowfall In the 17th century, scientists noted the ill effects that
incorporated into the products of wet deposition:
industry
Greatest Snowfall Single and acidic pollution was having on vegetation and
Feb 13-19,
Mt. Shasta, California, USA 4800 SO2 + H2O »»» H2SO3
Storm people. However, the term acid rain was first 1959 used two
centuries later when Angus Smith published a book called H2SO3 + 1/2O2 »»» H2SO4
Precipitation extreme weather records.

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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Several processes can result in the formation of
acid deposition.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2)
released into the atmosphere from a variety of sources
call fall to the ground simply as dry deposition.
This dry deposition can then be converted into
acids when these deposited chemicals meet water.
Most wet acid deposition forms when nitrogen
oxides (NOx) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) are converted to
nitric acid (HNO3) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) through
oxidation and dissolution. Wet deposition can also form
when ammonia gas (NH3) from natural sources is
converted into ammonium (NH4).
Some 95 % of the elevated levels of nitrogen oxides
in the atmosphere are the result of human activities.
The remaining 5 % comes from several natural
processes. The major sources of nitrogen oxides include:
Combustion of oil, coal, and gas.
Bacterial action in soil.
Forest fires.
Volcanic action.
Lightning.
Acids of nitrogen form as a result of the following
atmospheric chemical reactions:
NO + 1/2O2 »»» NO2
2NO2 + H2O »»» HNO2 + HNO3
NO2 + OH »»» HNO3
The concentrations of both nitrogen oxides and
sulfur dioxides are much lower than atmospheric carbon
dioxide, which is mainly responsible for making natural
rainwater slightly acidic.
However, these gases are much more soluble than
carbon dioxide and therefore have a much greater effect
on the pH of the precipitation.
Effects of Acid Deposition
Acid deposition influences the environment in
several different ways. In aquatic systems, acid
deposition can affect these ecosystems by lowering their
pH.
Streams, ponds, or lakes that exist on bedrock or
sediments rich in calcium and/or magnesium are
naturally buffered from the effects of acid deposition.
Aquatic systems on neutral or acidic bedrock are
normally very sensitive to acid deposition because they
lack basic compounds that buffer acidification.
In Canada, many of the water bodies found on the
granitic Canadian Shield fall in this group.
One of the most obvious effects of aquatic
acidification is high concentration of toxic heavy metals
like mercury, aluminum, and cadmium in the water
bodies. The source of these heavy metals was the soil
and bedrock surrounding the water body. Normally,
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these chemicals are found locked in clay particles,
minerals, and rocks. However, the acidification of
terrestrial soils and bedrock can cause these metals to
become soluble. Once soluble, these toxic metals are
easily leached by infiltrating water into aquatic systems
where they accumulate to toxic levels.
In the middle latitudes, many acidified aquatic
systems experience a phenomenon known as acid shock.
During the winter the acidic deposits can buildup in
the snow pack. With the arrival of spring, snow pack
begins to melt quickly and the acids are released over
a short period of time at concentrations 5 to 10 times
more acidic than rainfall. Most adult fish can survive
this shock. However, the eggs and small fry of much
spring spawning species are extremely sensitive to this
acidification.
The severity of the impact of acid deposition on
vegetation is greatly dependent on the type of soil the
plants grow in.
Similar to surface water acidification, many soils
have a natural buffering capacity and are able to
neutralize acid inputs.
In general, soils that have a lot of lime are better
at neutralizing acids than those that are made up of
siliceous sand or weathered acidic bedrock.
In less buffered soils, vegetation is effected by acid
deposition because:
Increasing acidity results in the leaching of several
important plant nutrients, including calcium, potassium,
and magnesium. Reductions in the availability of these
nutrients cause a decline in plant growth rates.
The heavy metal aluminum becomes more mobile
in acidified soils. Aluminum can damage roots and
interfere with plant uptake of other nutrients such as
magnesium and potassium.
Reductions in soil pH can cause germination of
seeds and the growth of young seedlings to be inhibited.
Many important soil organisms cannot survive is
soils below a pH of about 6.0. The death of these
organisms can inhibit decomposition and nutrient
cycling.
High concentrations of nitric acid can increase the
availability of nitrogen and reduce the availability of
other nutrients necessary for plant growth. As a result,
the plants become over-fertilized by nitrogen (a
condition known as nitrogen saturation).
Acid precipitation can cause direct damage to the
foliage on plants especially when the precipitation is in
the form of fog or cloud water, which is up to ten
times more acidic than rainfall.
Dry deposition of SO2 and NOx has been found
to affect the ability of leaves to retain water when they
are under water stress.
Acidic deposition can leach nutrients from the plant
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
tissues weakening their structure. Weakening their
structure.
The combination of these effects can lead to plants
that have reduced growth rates, flowering ability and
yields. It also makes plants more vulnerable to diseases,
insects, droughts and frosts.
The effects of acidic deposition on humans can be
as follows:
Toxic metals, such as mercury and aluminum, can
be released into the environment through the
acidification of soils. The toxic metals can then end up
in the drinking water, crops, and fish, and are then
ingested by humans through consumption. If ingested
in great quantities, these metals can have toxic effects
on human health. One metal, aluminum, is believed to
be related to the occurrence of Alzheimer’s disease.
Increased concentrations of sulfur dioxide and
oxides of nitrogen have been correlated to increased
hospital admissions for respiratory illness.
Research on children from communities that receive a
high amount of acidic pollution show increased
frequencies of chest colds, allergies, and coughs.
Evaporation and Transpiration
Water is removed from the surface of the Earth to
the atmosphere by two distinct mechanisms: evaporation
and transpiration.
Evaporation can be defined as the process where
liquid water is transformed into a gaseous state.
Evaporation can only occur when water is available.
It also requires that the humidity of the atmosphere be
less than the evaporating surface (at 100 % relative
humidity there is no more evaporation).
The evaporation process requires large amounts of
energy. For example, the evaporation of one gram of water
requires 600 calories of heat energy.
Transpiration is the process of water loss from plants
through stomata. Stomata are small openings found on
the underside of leaves that are connected to vascular plant
tissues.
In most plants, transpiration is a passive process
largely controlled by the humidity of the atmospheric
and the moisture content of the soil.
Of the transpired water passing through a plant only
1 % is used in the growth process. Transpiration also
transports nutrients from the soil into the roots and carries
them to the various cells of the plant and is used to keep
tissues from becoming overheated.
Some dry environment plants do have the ability to
open and close their stomata. This adaptation is necessary
to limit the loss of water from plant tissues. Without this
adaptation these plants would not be able to survive under
conditions of severe drought.
It is often difficult to distinguish between evaporation
VENKAT RAMAN REDROWTU
and transpiration. So we use a composite term
evapotranspiration. The rate of evapotranspiration at any
instant from the Earth’s surface is controlled by four
factors:
Energy availability: The more energy available the
greater the rate of evapotranspiration. It takes about 600
calories of heat energy to change 1 gram of liquid water
into a gas.
The humidity gradient away from the surface: The
rate and quantity of water vapor entering into the
atmosphere both become higher in drier air.
The wind speed immediately above the surface:
Many of us have observed that our gardens need more
watering on windy days compared to calm days when
temperatures are similar. This fact occurs because wind
increases the potential for evapotranspiration. The process
of evapotranspiration moves water vapor from ground or
water surfaces to an adjacent shallow layer that is only a
few centimeters thick. When this layer becomes saturated
evapotranspiration stops. However, wind can remove this
layer replacing it with drier air, which increases the potential
for evapotranspiration.
Water availability: Evapotranspiration cannot occur
if water is not available.
On a global scale, most of the evapotranspiration of
water on the Earth’s surface occurs in the subtropical
oceans.
In these areas, high quantities of solar radiation
provide the energy required to convert liquid water into a
gas.
Evapotranspiration generally exceeds precipitation on
middle and high latitude landmass areas during the summer
season.
Once again, the greater availability of solar radiation
during this time enhances the evapotranspiration process.
Oceans
Seen from space, the planet Earth appears blue
because large bodies of saline water known as the oceans
dominate the surface.
Oceans cover approximately 70.8 % or 361 million
square kilometers (139 million square miles) of Earth’s
surface with a volume of about 1370 million cubic
kilometers (329 million cubic miles).
The average depth of these extensive bodies of sea
water is about 3.8 kilometers (2.4 miles). Maximum depths
can exceed 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in a number of areas
known as ocean trenches.
The oceans contain 97 % of our planet’s available
water. The other 3 % is found in atmosphere, on the
Earth’s terrestrial surface, or in the Earth’s lithosphere in
various forms and stores as Hydrologic Cycle
Surface Percent of Area Area
Earth’s Total Square Square
Surfacea Area Kilometers Miles
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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
Earth’s Surface Area The surface area of the Atlantic Ocean is about
Covered by Land 29.2% 148,940,000 57,491,000 1.6 times greater than the terrestrial area providing
Earth’s Surface Area runoff.
Covered by Water 70.8% 361,132,000 139,397,000 Arctic Ocean
Pacific Ocean 30.5% 155,557,000 60,045,000
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest of the world’s five
Atlantic Ocean 20.8% 76,762,000 29,630,000
ocean regions, covering about 3 % of the Earth’s total
Indian Ocean 14.4% 68,556,000 26,463,000
surface area.
Southern Ocean 4.0% 20,327,000 7,846,000
Arctic Ocean 2.8% 14,056,000 5,426,000 Most of this nearly landlocked ocean region is
located north of the Arctic Circle.
Surface area of our planet covered by oceans and
continents The Arctic Ocean is connected to the Atlantic Ocean
by the Greenland Sea, and the Pacific Ocean via the Bering
The spatial distribution of ocean regions and
Strait.
continents is unevenly arranged across the Earth’s surface.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the ratio of land to ocean is The Arctic Ocean is also the shallowest ocean region
about 1 to 1.5. with an average depth of 1050 meters (3450 feet).
The ratio of land to ocean in the Southern The center of the Arctic Ocean is covered by a
Hemisphere is 1 to 4. drifting persistent icepack that has an average thickness
of about 3 meters (10 feet).
This greater abundance of ocean surface has some
fascinating effects on the environment of the southern half During the winter months, this sea ice covers much
of our planet. For example, climate of Southern of the Arctic Ocean surface.
Hemisphere locations is often more moderate when Higher temperatures in the summer months cause
compared to similar places in the Northern the icepack to seasonally shrink in extent by about 50
Hemisphere. This fact is primarily due to the presence %.
of large amounts of heat energy stored in the oceans. Indian Ocean
The International Hydrographic Organization has The Indian Ocean covers about 14 % of the Earth’s
divided and named the interconnected oceans of the world surface area.
into five main regions: Atlantic Ocean, Arctic Ocean,
This ocean region is enclosed on three sides by the
Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and the Southern Ocean
landmasses of Africa, Asia, and Australia.
or Antarctica ocean. Each one of these regions is different
from the others in some specific ways. The Indian Ocean’s southern border is open to water
exchange with the much colder Southern Ocean.
Atlantic Ocean
Average depth of the Indian Ocean is 3900 meters
The Atlantic Ocean is a relatively narrow body of
(12,800 feet). The deepest point in this ocean region occurs
water that snakes between nearly parallel continental
in the Java Trench with a depth of 7258 meters (23,812
masses covering about 21 % of the Earth’s total surface
feet) below sea level.
area.
The Indian Ocean region has relatively few islands.
This ocean body contains most of our planet’s shallow
Continental shelf areas tend to be quite narrow and not
seas, but it has relatively few islands. Some of the shallow
many shallow seas exist.
seas found in the Atlantic Ocean include the Caribbean,
Mediterranean, Baltic, Black, North, Baltic, and the Gulf Relative to the Atlantic Ocean, only a small number
of Mexico. of streams drain into the Indian Ocean.
The average depth of the Atlantic Ocean (including Consequently, the surface area of the Indian Ocean is
its adjacent seas) is about 3300 meters (10,800 feet). approximately 400 % larger than the land area supply
runoff into it.
The deepest point, 8605 meters (28,232 feet), occurs
in the Puerto Rico Trench. Some of the major rivers flowing into the Indian
Ocean include the Zambezi, Arvandrud/Shatt-al-Arab,
The Mid-Atlantic Ridge, running roughly down the
Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and the Irrawaddy.
center of this ocean region, separates the Atlantic Ocean
into two large basins. Seawater salinity ranges between 32 and 37 parts
per 1000.
Many streams empty their fresh water discharge
into the Atlantic Ocean. In fact, the Atlantic Ocean Because much of the Indian Ocean lies within the
receives more freshwater from terrestrial runoff than tropics, this basin has the warmest surface ocean
any other ocean region. temperatures.
This ocean region also drains some of the Earth’s
largest rivers including the Amazon Mississippi, St. Pacific Ocean
Lawrence, and Congo. The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean region,

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 CONCEPTS OF GEOGRAPHY
covering about 30 % of the Earth’s surface area (about
15 times the size of the United States).
The ocean floor of the Pacific is quite uniform in
depth having an average elevation of 4300 meters (14,100
feet) below sea level.
This fact makes it the deepest ocean region on
average. The Pacific Ocean is also home to the lowest
elevation on our planet. The deepest point in the
Mariana Trench lies some 10,911 meters (35,840 feet)
below sea level as recorded by the Japanese probe,
Kaiko, on March 24, 1995.
About 25,000 islands can be found in the Pacific
Ocean region. This is more than the number for the other
four ocean regions combined.
Many of these islands are actually the tops of
volcanic mountains created by the release of molten rock
from beneath the ocean floor.
Relative to the Atlantic Ocean, only a small
number of rivers add terrestrial freshwater runoff to
the Pacific Ocean.
In fact, the surface area of the Pacific is about
1000 % greater than the land area that drains into it.
Some of the major rivers flowing into this ocean region
include the Colorado, Columbia, Fraser, Mekong, Río
Grande de Santiago, San Joaquin, Shinano, Skeena,
Stikine, Xi Jiang, and Yukon.
Some of larger adjacent seas connected to the
Pacific are Celebes, Tasman, Coral, East China, Sulu,
South China, Yellow, and the Sea of Japan.
Southern Ocean or Antarctica Ocean
The Souther n Ocean surrounds Antarctica
extending to the latitude 60° South.
This ocean region occupies about 4 % of the Earth’s
surface or about 20,327,000 square kilometers (7,846,000
square miles).
Relative to the other ocean regions, the floor of
the Southern Ocean is quite deep ranging from 4000 to
5000 meters (13,100 to 16,400 feet) below sea level over
most of the area it occupies.
Continental shelf areas are very limited and are
mainly found around Antarctica. But even these areas
are quite deep with an elevation between 400 to 800
meters (1300 to 2600 feet) below sea level.
For comparison, the average depth of the
continental shelf for the entire planet is about 130 meters
(425 feet).
The Southern Ocean’s deepest point is in the South
Sandwich Trench at 7235 meters (23,3737 feet) sea level.
Seas adjacent to this ocean region include the Amundsen
Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, Ross Sea, Scotia Sea, and the
Weddell Sea.
By about September of each year, a mobile
icepack situated around Antarctic reaches its greatest
seasonal extent covering about 19 million square
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kilometers (7 million square miles). This icepack
shrinks by around 85 % six months later in March
Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Seawater
Most of the dissolved chemical constituents or salts
found in seawater have a continental origin.
These chemicals were released from continental
rocks through weathering and then carried to the oceans
by stream runoff.
Only six elements and compounds comprise about
99 % of sea salts: chlorine (Cl-), sodium (Na+), sulfur
(SO 4 -2 ), magnesium (Mg +2 ), calcium (Ca +2 ), and
potassium (K+).
The relative abundance of the major salts in
seawater are constant regardless of the ocean. Only the
amount of water in the mixture varies because of
differences between ocean basins because of regional
differences in freshwater loss (evaporation) and gain
(runoff and precipitation).
The chlorine ion makes up 55 % of the salt in
seawater.
Calculations of seawater salinity are made of the
parts per 1000 of the chlorine ion present in one
kilogram of seawater.
Typically, seawater has a salinity of 35 parts per
thousand.
Seawater freezes at a temperature that is slightly
colder than fresh water (0.0° Celsius).
The freezing temperature of seawater also varies
with the concentration of salts. More salt the lower the
initial freezing temperature.
At a salinity of 35 parts per thousand, seawater
freezes at a temperature of -1.9° Celsius.
Seawater also contains small amounts of dissolved
gases. Many of these gases are added to seawater from
the atmosphere through the constant stirring of the sea
surface by wind and waves.
The concentration of gases that can be dissolved
into seawater from the atmosphere is determined by
temperature and salinity of the water.
Increasing the temperature or salinity reduces the
amount of gas that ocean water can dissolve.
Some of the important atmospheric gases found
in seawater include: nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide
(in the form of bicarbonate HCO3), argon, helium, and
neon.
Compared to the other atmospheric gases, the
amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in saturated
seawater is unusually large.
Some gases found within seawater are also involved
in oceanic organic and inorganic processes that are
indirectly related to the atmosphere. For example,
oxygen and carbon dioxide may be temporally generated
or depleted by such processes to varying concentrations
at specific locations within the ocean.
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