SAVITRIBAI PHULE PUNE UNIVERSITY

F.Y.B.SC. (PATTERN 2019)

SEMESTER I- PAPER II

(GG.112) INTRODUCTION TO PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

(GEOGRAPHY OF ATMOSPHERE AND HYDROSPHERE)

UNIT 4 : INTRODUCTION TO THE HYDROSPHERE

PRESENTED BY,
P. P. WAGHERE
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN GEOGRAPHY
KES, ARTS, COMMERCE AND SCIENCE COLLEGE, KALWAN (MANUR)
TAL. KALWAN, DIST. NASHIK.
 Unit 4: Introduction to the Hydrosphere

Hydrosphere, discontinuous layer of water at or near

Earth’s surface. It includes all liquid and frozen surface
waters, ground water held in soil and rock, and atmospheric water
vapour.
 Water is the most abundant substance at the surface of Earth.
About 1.4 billion cubic km (326 million cubic miles) of water in
liquid and frozen form make up the oceans, lakes,
streams, glaciers, and groundwater's found there. It is this
enormous volume of water, in its various manifestations, that
forms the discontinuous layer, enclosing much of the terrestrial
surface, known as the hydrosphere.
 Central to any discussion of the hydrosphere is the concept of
the water cycle (or hydrologic cycle). This cycle consists of a
group of reservoirs containing water, the processes by which
water is transferred from one reservoir to another (or
transformed from one state to another), and the rates of transfer
associated with such processes.
 These transfer paths penetrate the entire hydrosphere, extending
upward to about 15 km (9 miles) in Earth’s atmosphere and
downward to depths on the order of 5 km (3 miles) in its crust.
Hydrological cycle
Definition
Water cycle, also called hydrologic cycle, cycle that involves
the continuous circulation of water in the Earth atmosphere system.
Of the many processes involved in the water cycle, the most
important are evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation,
and runoff. Although the total amount of water within the cycle
remains essentially constant, its distribution among the various
processes is continually changing.
 A brief treatment of the water cycle follows.
1. Evaporation, one of the major processes in the cycle, is the
transfer of water from the surface of the Earth to the atmosphere. By
evaporation, water in the liquid state is transferred to the gaseous, or
vapour, state.
• This transfer occurs when some molecules in a water mass have
attained sufficient kinetic energy to eject themselves from the
water surface. The main factors affecting evaporation
are temperature, humidity, wind speed, and solar radiation.
• The direct measurement of evaporation, though desirable, is
difficult and possible only at point locations. The principal source
of water vapour is the oceans, but evaporation also occurs in
soils, snow, and ice. Evaporation from snow and ice, the direct
conversion from solid to vapour, is known as sublimation.
• Transpiration is the evaporation of water through minute pores, or
stomata, in the leaves of plants. For practical purposes,
transpiration and the evaporation from all water, soils, snow, ice,
vegetation, and other surfaces are lumped together and
called evapotranspiration, or total evaporation.
• Water vapour is the primary form of atmospheric moisture.
Although its storage in the atmosphere is comparatively small,
water vapour is extremely important in forming the moisture
supply for dew, frost, fog, clouds, and precipitation. Practically
all water vapour in the atmosphere is confined to
the troposphere (the region below 6 to 8 miles [10 to 13 km]
altitude).
• The transition process from the vapour state to the liquid state is
called condensation.
• Condensation may take place as soon as the air contains more
water vapour than it can receive from a free water surface
through evaporation at the prevailing temperature. This condition
occurs as the consequence of either cooling or the mixing of air
masses of different temperatures. By condensation, water vapour
in the atmosphere is released to form precipitation.
• Precipitation that falls to the Earth is distributed in four main ways:
some is returned to the atmosphere by evaporation, some may be
intercepted by vegetation and then evaporated from the surface of
leaves, some percolates into the soil by infiltration, and the
remainder flows directly as surface runoff into the sea.
• Some of the infiltrated precipitation may later percolate into
streams as groundwater runoff. Direct measurement of runoff is
made by stream gauges and plotted against time on hydrographs.
• Most groundwater is derived from precipitation that
has percolated through the soil. Groundwater flow rates, compared
with those of surface water, are very slow and variable, ranging
from a few millimetres to a few metres a day.
• Groundwater movement is studied by tracer techniques and remote
sensing. Ice also plays a role in the water cycle. Ice and snow on
the Earth’s surface occur in various forms such as frost, sea ice,
and glacier ice. When soil moisture freezes, ice also occurs beneath
the Earth’s surface, forming permafrost in tundra climates.
• About 18,000 years ago glaciers and ice caps covered
approximately one-third of the Earth’s land surface. Today about
12 percent of the land surface remains covered by ice masses.
b) General Structure of Ocean Floor
Oceanic land-forms (Submarine Relief)
There are mountains, basins, plateaus, ridges, canyons and
trenches beneath the ocean water too. These relief features found
on the ocean floor are called Submarine Relief.
 The ocean basins are broadly divided into four major
subdivisions. They are;
1) Continental Shelf
2) Continental Slope
3) Abyssal Plains
4) The ocean deeps/ Submarine trenches
1. Continental Shelf
• There is no clear or well-defined line separating oceans from the
continent. In fact, continents do not end abruptly at the shoreline.
• They slope seaward from coast to a point where the slope
becomes very steep.
• This shallow submerged extension of the continent is called as
the Continental Shelf.
• The depth usually ranges from 120 to 370 meters from the
surface water.
• Their width also varies from a few kilometers to more than 100
kilometers.
• This variation can be seen even in the context of the Indian
peninsula. The continental shelf of the western coast of India is
much wider than that of the eastern coast.
• Continental shelves are much narrow or absent in some
continents, particularly where Fold Mountains run parallel or
close to the coast.
• The shallow water over the shelf enables sunlight to penetrate
through the water to the bottom and encourages the growth of
microscopic plants and animals called planktons, which are the
food for fishes.
• Continental Shelves are of greater importance to man. They are
the sources of fishes, minerals including sand and gravel, etc.
• A large quantity of world’s petroleum and natural gas are obtained
from the shelves.
• Coral reefs are also common on continental shelves.
• One of the striking features of the continental shelf is the presence
of submarine canyons which extend to the continental slope.
• These canyons are ‘steep-sided valleys’ cut into the floor of the
seas.
• They are very similar to the gorges found on the continents.
• One of the reasons for the formation of the submarine canyon is
the underwater landslide.
• The continental shelf is generally considered to be territorial
water extents of the nations to which it adjoins.
2. Continental Slope
• The continuous sloping portion of the continental margin,
seaward of the continental shelf and extending down to the deep
sea floor of the abyssal plain, is known as Continental Slope.
• It extends between the depths of 180m to 3600m.
• They have very little deposits of sediments on them due to their
steepness and increasing distance from the land.
• Sea life is also far less here than on the shelf.
• The base of the continental slope will have deposits of sediments.
This belt of sedimentary deposits forms the Continental Rise.
3. Abyssal Plain
• Abyssal plains are the extremely flat and featureless plains of the
deep ocean floor.
• Abyssal plains are considered as the levelest areas on the earth.
• They cover a major portion of the ocean floors between the
depths of 3000m to 6000m.
• Abyssal plains are as irregular as the continental plains with
submarine plateaus, hills, guyots, and seamounts.
• The floor of the abyssal plain is covered by sediments.
• The sediments which are formed from the remains of living things
are called Oozes.
• Oozes can be seen in those seas which favour an abundant growth
of organisms.
• Another type of sediments is red clay which is of volcanic origin
or made up of tiny particles brought by wind and rivers.
 Some relief feature seen on abyssal plains are:
a. Submarine Ridges
• The oceanic mountains are called as submarine ridges.
• They are linear belts occurring near the middle of the oceans and are
also called mid-oceanic ridges.
• The oceanic ridge is the site of frequent earthquakes.
• Volcanism is common in ocean ridges and it produces many relief
features.
• The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the largest continuous submerged
mountain ridge which runs from north to south in the Atlantic
Ocean.
• At some places, the peaks rise above the sea surface to form Islands.
b. Seamounts and Guyots
• Submerged volcanoes with sharp tops are called as Seamounts.
• Sometimes they rise above the sea as isolated islands.
• Hawaii and Tahiti Islands are such exposed tops of volcanoes.
• Seamount with a flattened top are called as Guyots or
Tablemounts.
4. The Ocean Deeps/ Submarine Trenches
• The ocean deeps are the deepest part of the ocean.
• They are generally called submarine trenches.
• These trenches are not always located in the middle of the ocean
basins. They may be very close or parallel to the continents
bordered by Fold Mountains.
• They are usually found adjacent to the areas of volcanic and
earthquake activity.
• Great earthquakes and tsunamis are born in them.
• The Pacific Ocean has the largest number of trenches.
• The Mariana trench in the Pacific Ocean is the deepest known
part of the world.
c) Movements of ocean water: Waves, Tides and
Ocean Currents
Movements of ocean water: The classification
• You all know that the ocean water is never still. There are
different types of movements of ocean water under the influence
of different physical characteristics like temperature, salinity,
density, etc. Movements of ocean water are also affected
by external forces like the sun, moon and the winds.
• The major movements of the ocean waters can be classified into
three. They are: 1) Waves
2) Tides
3) Ocean Currents
• Waves and the ocean currents are horizontal movements of ocean
waters while the tide is a kind of vertical movement of the ocean
water.
1) Waves
• Waves are nothing but the oscillatory movements that result in
the rise and fall of water surface.
• Waves are a kind of horizontal movements of the ocean water.
• They are actually the energy, not the water as such, which moves
across the ocean surface.
• This energy for the waves is provided by the wind.
• In a wave, the movement of each water particle is in a circular
manner.
• A wave has two major parts: the raised part is called as
the crest while the low-point is called as the trough.
2) Tides
• Tide are the periodical rise and fall of the sea levels, once or twice
a day, caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces
exerted by the sun, the moon and the rotation of the earth.
• They are a vertical movement of water and are different from
movements of ocean water caused by meteorological effects like
the winds and atmospheric pressure changes.
• The water movements which are caused by the meteorological
effects like the said above are called as surges and they are not
regular like tides.
• The moon’s gravitational pull to a great extent is the major cause
of the occurrence of tides (the moon’s gravitational attraction is
more effective on the earth than that of the sun).
• Sun’s gravitational pull and the centrifugal force due to the
rotation of earth are the other forces which act along with the
moon’s gravitational pull.
• The highest tides in the world occur in the Bay of Fundi in
Canada.
• When the tide is channeled between islands or into bays and
estuaries, they are termed as Tidal Currents.
• The regular interval between two high or two low tides is 12
hours 25 minutes.
FLOW TIDE AND EBB TIDE
 A flow tide or a flood tide is a rising tide or incoming tide which
results in a high tide. It is thus the time period between a low tide
and a high tide (i.e., the rising time).
 Ebb Tide is the receding or outgoing tide. It is the period between
high tide and low tide during which water flows away from the
shore.
Types of Tides
A. TIDES BASED ON THE FREQUENCY
 Semi-diurnal Tide: They are the most common tidal pattern,
featuring two high tides and two low tides each day.
 Diurnal Tides: Only one high tide and one low tide each day.
 Mixed Tide: Tides having variations in heights are known as
mixed tides. They generally occur along the west coast of North
America.
B. TIDES BASED ON THE SUN, THE MOON, AND THE
EARTH’S POSITIONS
1. Spring Tides: When the sun, the moon, and the earth are in a
straight line, the height of the tide will be higher than normal.
These are called as a Spring tides. They occur twice in a month-
one on the full moon (Poornima) and the other on the new moon
(Amavasya).
2. Neap Tides: Normally after seven days of a spring tide, the
sun and the moon become at a right angle to each other with
respect to the earth. Thus, the gravitational forces of the sun and
the moon tend to counteract one another. The tides during this
period will be lower than the normal which are called as the neap
tides. They also occur twice in a month- during the first quarter
moon and the last quarter moon.
Magnitude of Tides
 Perigee: When the moon’s orbit is closest to the earth, it is called
as perigee. During this period, unusually high and low tide
occur.
 Apogee: When the moon’s orbit is farthest from the earth, it is
called as apogee. Tidal ranges will be much less than the average
during this period.
 Perihelion: It is the position where the earth is closest to the sun
(around January 3rd). Unusual high and low tides occur during
this time.
 Aphelion: It is the position where the earth is farthest from the
sun (around July 4th). Tidal ranges are much less than the average
during this period.
TIDAL BORE
When the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave/ waves of
water that travel up a river or a narrow bay against the direction of
the river or bay’s current, it is called as a tidal bore. The Indian
rivers like the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus, etc. exhibits tidal bores.
INTER-TIDAL ZONE
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore and seashore and
sometimes referred to as the littoral zone, is the area that is above
water at low tide and under water at high tide (i.e., the area between
the tide-marks).
Effects of Tide:
 Tides act as a link between the port and the open sea. Some of
the major ports of the world, such as London port on the river
Thames and Kolkata port on river Hugli are located on the
rivers away from the sea coast.
 The tidal current clear away the river sediments and slows
down the growth of delta.
 It increases the depth of water which helps ships to move safely
to the ports.
 It also acts as a source for producing electricity.
Ocean Currents
• The ocean currents are the horizontal flow of a mass of water in
a fairly defined direction over great distances.
• They are just like a river flowing in an ocean.
• Ocean currents can be formed by the winds, density differences
in ocean waters due to differences in temperature and salinity,
gravity and events such as earthquakes.
• The direction of movement of an ocean current is mainly
influenced by the rotation of the earth (due to Coriolis force,
most ocean currents in northern hemisphere move in clockwise
manner and ocean currents in southern hemisphere move in an
anti-clockwise manner).
GYRE, DRIFT, AND STREAM
 Any large system of rotating ocean current, particularly those
involved with large wind movements is called as a Gyre. They
are caused by the Coriolis force.
 When the ocean water moves forward under the influence of
prevailing wind, it is called as Drift (The term ‘drift’ is also used
to refer the speed of an ocean
current which is measured
in knots). E.g. North Atlantic Drift.
 When a large mass of the ocean
water moves in a definite path
just like a large river on the
continent, it is called as a Stream.
They will have greater speed than
drifts. E.g. Gulf Stream.
Types of Ocean Currents:
Warm Ocean Currents:
 Those currents which flow from equatorial regions towards poles
which have a higher surface temperature and are called warm current.
 They bring warm waters to the cold regions.
 They are usually observed on the east coast of the continents in the
lower and middle latitudes of both hemispheres.
 In the northern hemisphere, they are also found on the west coast of
the continents in the higher latitudes (E.g. Alaska and Norwegian
Currents).
Cold Ocean Currents:
 Those currents which flow from polar regions towards equator have a
lower surface temperature and are called cold currents.
 They bring cold waters into warm areas.
 These currents are usually found on the west coast of the continents in
low and middle latitudes of both hemispheres.
 In the northern hemisphere, they are also found on the east coast in
the higher latitudes (E.g. Labrador, East Greenland and Oyashio
currents).
The ocean currents can be also classified as:
Surface Currents: They constitute about 10% of all the waters in
an ocean. These waters are occupied at the upper 400m of an ocean
or the Ekman Layer. It is the layer of the ocean water which moves
due to the stress of blowing the wind and this motion is thus called
as Ekman Transport.
Deep Water Currents: They constitute about 90% of the ocean
water. They move around the ocean basin due to variations in the
density and gravity.
Factors influencing the origin and nature of ocean currents
1. Difference in density
• As we all know, the density of sea water varies from place to place
according to its temperature and proportion of salinity.
• The density increases with an increase in salinity and decreases
with a decrease in salinity.
• But when the temperature increases, density decreases and when
the temperature decreases density increases.
• This increase and decrease in density due to the differences in
temperature and salinity causes the water to move from one place
to another.
• Such a movements of water due to the differences in density as a
function of water temperature and salinity is called as
the Thermohaline Circulation.
• In polar regions, due to a lower temperature, the waters will be of
high density. This causes the waters to sink to the bottom and then
to move towards the less dense middle and lower latitudes (or
towards the equatorial regions).
• They rise (upwelling) at the warm region and push the already
existing less dense, warm water towards the poles.

• While considering the equatorial region, the high temperature in

those regions causes the water to expand. Thus, the waters in these
regions will be at a higher level than that of the middle and upper
latitudes. This also creates a gradient and results in the movement
of waters from equatorial region to middle and upper latitudes.
2. The earth’s rotation
• Earth’s rotation causes Coriolis force which deflects the air to its
right in the northern hemisphere and to its left in the southern
hemisphere Ferrel’s Law.
• Similarly, oceans water also affected by the Coriolis force and
follows the Ferrel’s Law.
• Hence, ocean currents in the
northern hemisphere move in
a clockwise (towards right)
direction and ocean currents
in southern hemisphere moves
in an anti-clockwise (towards left)
direction (In the Indian Ocean due
to the impact of the Asian monsoon,
the currents in the northern
hemisphere do not follow this
pattern of movements all time).
3. Planetary winds
• Winds can cause the surface waters of the oceans to flow in a
definite direction if the wind blow prevailingly from one
direction.
• The north-east trades winds causes the surface waters of the
Atlantic Ocean north of the equator to flow from eastern coast of
USA landmass.
• On the other hand, the south east trade wind causes the equator to
flow towards the south-eastern coasts of the South American
landmass.
4.Variation in depth
• The shallow ocean water becomes hot and light very quickly that
it causes up-rise of the warm water resulting in a downward flow
of the cold water current to occupy the place of the warm water.
As a result of this, the upward and downward movement of the
ocean water are created as currents.
5. Location of the landmass
• Both cold and warm ocean currents flow in obedience to the
transfiguration of the landmass and the topography. The landmass may
deflect the current from the direction initially taken by the current to
totally different directions.
6. Difference of evaporation
• Much evaporation occurs in the hot regions of the ocean resulting in the
decrease of water level. Comparatively cold water from the neighbouring
less hot areas of the ocean move towards the more hot areas to maintain a
balance in the ocean water.
7. Difference of temperature
• The temperatures of the ocean waters at the equator is higher and
therefore warmer and lighter than those at the tropic which in turn results
in the expansion of the water in volume and thereby the water becomes
lighter and the density also decreases. Thus, as a result of the differential
distribution of temperature, the water at the equator flows on the ocean
surface towards the poles, while the water at the poles is cold and denser
thereby moving below at the bottom of the warm and lighter current
towards the equator to fill the vacuum.