Exploring Geography

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Chapter 1

• Exploring Geography

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1.1

• The Study of Geography

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What is Geography?

• The study of the earths physical features and
  the living things humans, animals, and plants
  that inhabit the earth
• Geographers look at where all of these elements
  are located and how they relate to one another.

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Elements of Geography

• Geographers are specialists who describe the
  earths physical and human features and the
  interactions of people, places, and environments.
• They also search for patterns in these features
  and interactions, seeking to explain how and why
  they exist or occur
• EX why volcanoes erupt, analyze a citys location

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Elements of Geography

• In their work, geographers consider the following
  (5 Themes)
• What is the location of a place?
• What is the character of a place?
• How are places similar to and different from
  other places?
• How do people, goods, and ideas move between
  places?
• How do people interact with the natural
  environment of a place?

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The World in Spatial Terms (Location)

• What is location?
• Specific place on the earth
• Absolute Location
• Exact spot at which the place is found on the
  globe
• How do we determine this?
• How does the equator divide the earth?
• Into hemispheres (2 halves Northern and
  Southern)
• How does Prime Meridian divide earth
• Into hemispheres (2 halves East and West)
• Cross to form a grid system
• Relative Location
• Most people utilize this method to locate
  something
• EX St. Louis is located near the confluence of
  the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers

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Latitude, Longitude, Location

• Latitude
• Also called parallels
• Circle earth parallel to equator
• Measure distance North or South of equator
• Go from 0 to 90 degrees North and South
• Tropic of Cancer Capricorn (23.5 degrees north
  and south)

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Latitude, Longitude, Location

• Longitude
• Also called meridians
• Circle earth from pole to pole
• Measure distances east or west of starting line,
  which lies at 0 degrees and is called Prime
  Meridian
• Line of longitude that runs through Greenwich,
  England

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Places and Regions

• Place particular space with physical and human
  meaning
• Each place has its own unique characteristics
• To interpret the earths complexity, geographers
  often group places into regions, or areas united
  by specific factors
• Defining characteristics
• Physical soil type, vegetation, river systems,
  and climate
• Human factors language, religion, cultural
  traditions, forms of govt and trade networks

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Places and Regions

• 3 types of Regions
• Formal
• Defined by common characteristics (crops grown)
• Functional
• Central place and the surrounding area linked to
  it, maybe by a highway system
• Metropolitan areas such as LA and NY
• Perceptual
• Defined by popular feelings and images rather
  than by objective data
• Heartland

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Movements

• Places do not exist in isolation
• They have different characteristics, so it would
  make sense that people, goods, and ideas will
  move between them
• Called cultural diffusion
• Example from book???
• New Orleans

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Human-Environment Interaction

• They also examine how people shape the world
• How they settle the earth, form societies, and
  create permanent features
• Ongoing movement of people, goods, and ideas is a
  common theme in geography
• Some changes intentional some are accidental

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Environment Society

• Human-environment interaction, or the study of
  the interrelationship between people and their
  physical environment, is yet another theme of
  geographers.
• They examine the ways people use their
  environment, how and why they have changed it,
  and what consequences result from these changes.
• Can the physical environment affect human
  activities?
• Yes mountains, deserts

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The Uses of Geography

• Can provide insight into how physical features
  and living things developed in the past
• Interpret present-day trends to plan for future
  needs
• Is a site suitable for human habitation
• Trends in populations trends can help planners
  decide where to build
• Helps determine where to locate shopping malls,
  fire station, police stations, etc.

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1.2

• Changes Within the Earth

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PhysicalCharacteristics

• Geology
• Study of earths physical structure and history
• How old?
• 4.6 Billion years
• Continually changing..

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Physical Characteristics

• Earths Layers
• Core
• Center of earth
• Inner Outer
• Inner dense solid
• Outer molten (liquid)
• Mantle
• Around core thick layer of rock
• 1800 miles thick mostly solid
• Crust
• Surface layer
• Very thin (frosting on a cake)
• Thinnest about 5 miles (below the ocean)
• Marianas Trench

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Physical Characteristics

• Land, Air, and Water
• Lithosphere
• Soil, rock, other landforms
• Atmosphere
• Air, water, other substances above surface
• Hydrosphere
• Water in the oceans, lakes, rivers, underground
• Biosphere
• World of plants, animals, and other living things
• Physical Geography studies the ways these spheres
  operate and interact with each other and with
  people

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Physical Characteristics

• Land, Air, and Water
• Water
• 70 of earths surface covered by this
• Land
• Continents large landmasses
• 7 separate
• Asia largest
• Australia smallest
• Classified acc. to relief, or diff in elevation
  b/t highest and lowest points

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Physical Processes

• Volcanoes
• Form when magma breaks through earths crust
• On surface, molten rock is called lava
• When it flows, it produces a plateau like shield
  volcano

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Physical Processes

• Movements in the Crust
• Fold
• When rock layers bend or buckle
• Faults
• Breaks in the earths crust
• Determined by hardness of rock and strength of
  movement
• Slips
• Moves suddenly sideways, up, or down

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Understanding the Past

• Plate Tectonics
• Earths outer shell not one solid sheet of rock
• Broken into a of moving plates
• Not anchored in place, but slide over hot and
  flexible layer of mantle

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Understanding the Past

• Continental Drift
• Jigsaw Puzzle?
• People in 1600s thought so.
• Theory
• Once a single supercontinent called Pangaea
• 180 million years ago, it began to break up
• HOW?
• Fossils from different continents
• Seafloor spreading also supports this
• Seafloor not flat
• Molten moves on conveyor belts and carries
  older rocks away

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Understanding the Past

• Plate Movement
• Convection
• Circular movement caused when material is heated,
  expands and rises, then cools and falls
• Occurs beneath plates in the mantle

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Understanding the Past

• When Plates Meet
• Spreading
• Pull away from each other
• Form spreading zone
• Likely to have earthquakes, volcanoes
• Meet
• Depends on densities of plates
• Ocean plates denser than continental plates
• WHAT HAPPENS?
• Subduction, or ocean plate goes underneath

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Understanding the Past

• When Plates Meet
• 2 Oceanic Plates Collide
• Denser plate will slide beneath other
• Islands may form
• Caused tsunami in 2004
• 2 Continental Plates Collide
• Neither sinks
• HUGE collision
• Mountains formed
• Faulting
• Slip or grind past others
• San Andrea Fault