Visualizing Physical Geography: The Earth As A Rotating Planet

Visualizing Physical Geography
by Alan Strahler and Zeeya Merali
Chapter 1
The Earth as a Rotating Planet

Copyright © 2008 John Wiley and Sons Publishers Inc.
Chapter Overview
The Shape of the Earth
The Earth’s Rotation
The Geographic Grid
Map Projections
Global Time
The Earth’s Revolution Around the Sun

The Earth is round

The Earth is not a perfect sphere
• Equatorial diameter slightly greater than polar diameter
• Earth is an oblate ellipsoid–slightly flattened
• The geoid exaggerates small departures from spherical

Earth rotates on its axis: Axis: an imaginary
straight line through the
•Counterclockwise at North Pole center of the Earth
around which the Earth
•Left to right (eastward) at Equator rotates
•One rotation is a solar day (24 hours)
Poles: the two points on

the Earth’s surface
where the axis of
rotation emerges

Environmental Effects of the Earth’s Rotation:
•Day and night
•Fluctuating air temperature
•Coriolis Effect
•Tides

The Geographic Grid
Parallels and Meridians
Geographic grid: network of parallels and meridians used to fix location
on the Earth
Parallel: east-west circle on Meridian: north-south line on the

the Earth’s surface, lying on a Earth’s surface, connecting the
plane parallel to the equator poles

The Geographic Grid
Parallels and Meridians
Equator: Parallel of latitude lying midway between the Earth’s poles; it is
designated latitude 0º
• Longest parallel of latitude Longitude: arc of a
• Midway between poles parallel between
• Fundamental reference line for measuring position the prime meridian
and a given point
Latitude: arc of a on the globe
meridian between the
equator and a given
point on the globe

The Geographic Grid
Latitude and Longitude
Latitude is measured north and

south of the equator, up to 90º
Longitude is measured east and
west of the Prime Meridian—
meridian that passes through
Greenwich, England—up to 180º

Map Projections
Many types of maps, for many different purposes

Map Projections
1:50,000
Map Scale 1 unit of map
distance=50,000 units
Scale fraction: a ratio of distance on the
that tells how to convert Earth
distance on the map to
true distance on the
Earth

Map Projections
Map projection: a system of parallels and meridians
representing the Earth’s curved surface drawn on a flat surface
• Curved surface cannot be projected onto a flat sheet without distortion
• Each map projection has a specific purpose
• Each projection has advantages and drawbacks

Map Projections
Mercator projection: map projection with horizontal parallels and
vertical meridians
• Invented 1569 by Gerardus Mercator
• Used for navigation
• Scale increases from equator to poles
• Straight line on the map is a line of constant compass bearing
• Straight line on a Mercator projection not the shortest distance between two points

Map Projections
Goode Projection: Equal-area map projection often used
to display information such as climate or soil type
• Shows true sizes of regions on Earth’s surface
• Distorts shapes of places, especially high latitudes and at edges of map

Map Projections
Polar projection: map projection centered on Earth’s North or

South Pole
• Used for maps of polar regions
• Scale increases outward
• Shows only one hemisphere

Global Time
Standard Time: time system based on the local time of a
standard meridian and applied to belts of longitude extending
roughly 7 ½ º on either side of the meridian
Time zones: zones
or belts within which
standard time is
applied

Global Time
World Time Zones

Global Time
International Date Line
•180th meridian
•Moving west across the date line: advance calendar one day
•Moving east across date line: set calendar back one day
•No change in clock time when crossing date line

Global Time
Daylight Saving Time: clocks set ahead one hour

Not observed in all locations

Earth’s Revolution Around the Sun
Earth revolves around the sun every 365.242 days
• Orbit is an ellipse
• Leap year corrects for the extra quarter day
• Orbit is counterclockwise
• Perihelion: point in orbit when Earth is closest to Sun
• Aphelion: point in orbit when Earth is farthest from Sun

Tilt of the Earth’s Axis
Earth has seasons because of the tilt of the axis.
Plane of the Ecliptic: plane of the
Earth’s orbit around the Sun
• Axis aims toward Polaris
(North Star)
• Axis tilted at an angle of

23 ½ ° from a right angle to
plane of the ecliptic

The Four Seasons
Earth’s axis tilted toward North Star throughout Earth’s orbit.
• December 22: N hemisphere tilted away from the sun at the maximum angle
• June 21: N hemisphere tilted toward the sun at the maximum angle

The Four Seasons Circle of illumination: separates day
hemisphere from night hemisphere
Equinox: time when

Winter solstice:
subsolar point falls on
solstice occurring on
equator and circle of
December 21 or 22,
illumination passes through
when the subsolar
Summer solstice: both poles
point is at 23 1/2° S;
solstice occurring on
December Solstice
June 21 or 22, when
the subsolar point is
at 23 1/2° N; June
Solstice

Equinox Conditions
• Circle of illumination
passes through both
poles
• Subsolar point at
equator
• Day and night of equal
length everywhere on
the globe
•Occurs twice per year
• Vernal Equinox:
March 21
• Autumnal Equinox:
September 23 Subsolar point: point on the Earth’s surface
where the sun is directly overhead at noon
Solstice Conditions
• Circle of illumination grazes Arctic and Antarctic Circles
• June Solstice: north pole has 24 hours of daylight; daylength increases from equator to
north pole
• December Solstice: south pole has 24 hours of daylight; daylength increases from
equator to south pole


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Visualizing Physical Geography

by Alan Strahler and Zeeya Merali