GEOG 100

Physical Geography
Welcome to GEOG 100: Physical Geography!

• Syllabus

• Canvas

• Course Expectations
Geography

• Term comes from “geo” – earth and

“graphien” – to write
• Literally means to “describe the earth”

• 2 Main Branches: Physical and

Human
Branches of Geography
THE FIVE THEMES OF GEOGRAPHY
• Location

• Place

• Human Environment Interaction

• Movement (Migration)

• Region
“Where”

• Where are you from? El Centro? The

Imperial Valley? California? The Southwest?
America? Mexico?… all of these places?

• The answer depends on who is asking

• Places have connotations

Location

• Absolute location: exact geographic coordinates … 32.8° N, 115.5°W

Location
• Relative location: with reference to other regions or locations

• Can we define regions on campus?

Space

• Geometric: Lines, Grids, and Degrees

• Defines areal extents… units
• Measurement
• Location
• Spatial…
 Place

• Space with layers of social meaning

• Answers the question of where?
• Campus… safety, familiarity, and function
Territory
• Space under control (borders)
• Space of action, power, and consequences
• Lines of inclusion and exclusion
• Territory can be place
Sense of Place

• We perceive information from and about places

• Perceptions overlap with values, forming attitudes
• Attitudes overlap, forming cultural stance/world
view
• One’s surroundings become context for emotion
Physical Geography is all about landscapes!
• Systems and processes in spheres of the Earth
• Lead to landscape change over time and space
Sphere’s of the Erath

• Atmosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Lithosphere
• Cryosphere
• Biosphere
Sphere’s Interact
• Multiple spheres are involved in the landscape
Earth is in the “Sweet Spot”

• Liquid water!!!
Relief

• Measuring vertical distance

• Highest Point – Mt. Everest
• Lowest Point – Mariana Trench
 Great Circles

• Shortest distance is a straight line

• Factor N/S as well as E/W
Geographic Grid & Location

• Locations are found using a

geographical grid called latitude &
longitude

• On a map, the grid is similar to an

algebraic grid

• Made of interconnecting circles

 Latitude
• Horizontal Lines: Latitude (Parallels)
- Lines of latitude run east and west

- They are parallel to one another

- Point of reference is the equator

- A location’s latitude describes how far north or

south it is from the equator
- Min 0°,
-Max is 90°N or S
Important Parallels

• Arctic Circle
• Antarctic Circle
• Equator
• Tropic of Cancer
• Tropic of Capricorn
 Longitude

• Vertical Lines: Longitude (Meridians)

- Lines of longitude run north and south
- They converge at the poles

- Point of reference is the Prime Meridian:

established in 1851, Royal Observatory in
Greenwich. In 1884 it was voted as the
international standard.

- A location’s longitude
describes how far east
or west it is from the PM

-Min 0°, Max 180°E or W

The Grid
Latitude and Longitude
-Latitude and Longitude are measured in degrees (°).

-For latitude, each degree is about 69 miles (111 km) apart.

-At the equator, longitude degrees are also about 69 miles apart but proceed to get closer
together as they grow near the poles.

-Degrees(°) can be further subdivided into minutes(‘) and seconds(‘‘)

-There are 60 minutes in every degree, and 60 seconds in every minute.

-Using degrees, minutes, and seconds, a location can be pinpointed on Earth within 100 ft.
(30.5 m).
Earth’s Rotation

• Speed is fastest at the Equator

• Speed is slowest at the poles

What have we learned?

• Angular distance! • Long = 0 – 180 degrees E or

W of Prime Meridian
• Lat = 0 – 90 degrees N or
S of Equator • Lines are called Meridians
• Lines are parallel, that’s • Every Meridian goes from the
why they are called N pole to the S pole
Parallels • Physical distance between
• Distance of lines gets meridians is smaller as you
shorter as you get higher get higher in latitude

• The Geographic Grid defines our location!

 Earth Sun Relationship:
Seasons and Seasonality

• The Earth’s axis is tilted at 23.5 degrees…

• Makes days get longer in summer and

shorter in winter

• Affects the amount/angle of insolation (solar

radiation)

• Means more for places at high latitudes

Basic Earth-Sun Relationships
• The Sun is about 110 x larger than Earth

• At any given time ½ of the Earth is always illuminated by the Sun

Circle of Illumination
The World at Night
Insolation – Electromagnetic Energy

• The Sun constantly emits huge quantities

of energy… this is the energy that
inherently drives Earth’s Systems!

• The energy that hits the Earth and

provides us with light and heat is called:

Insolation

• The total amount of energy coming to

Earth is the same at all latitudes

• Why are the poles cold?

 Diffusion

• Because of Earth’s curved surface,

energy that hits the poles is diffused
over a larger ground area. Energy at the
equator is more concentrated.
 Seasons & the Sub Solar Point (SSP)

• Concentrated Energy = SSP

(Intersection of the Plane of the
Ecliptic)

• The SSP migrates north when the

North Pole is oriented towards the
Sun

• The SSP migrates south when the

South Pole is oriented towards the
Sun
Important Lines of Latitude (Parallels)

• Specific lines of latitude mark specific geometric

relations with the Sun

• 0° Equator

• 23.5° N – Tropic of Cancer

• 23.5° S – Tropic of Capricorn

• 66.5° N – Arctic Circle

• 66.5° S – Antarctic Circle

 Solstice vs. Equinox

• A solstice marks the day when the SSP (Plane

of the Ecliptic) reaches its most northerly and
southerly position.

• Occurs once a year in both the northern and

southern hemispheres

• An equinox occurs when the SSP (Plane of

the Ecliptic) is located at the Equator

• Occurs twice a year as the SSP migrates

north and south
Seasons
1 Revolution (Year)

• 365.25 days
 December Solstice (winter)

• December 21st/22nd

• Shortest day of the year in

the NH

• Arctic Circle receives 24

hours of darkness

• Antarctic Circle receives 24

of daylight

• The SSP is located at the

Tropic of Capricorn

• Sun appears directly

overhead at 23.5° S
 March Equinox (Spring)

• March 21st

• All latitudes receive 12

hours of daylight and 12
hours of darkness

• The SSP is located at the

Equator

• The Sun appears directly

overhead at the 0°
 June Solstice (summer)

• June 21st/22nd

• Longest day of the year in the NH

• Arctic Circle receives 24 hours of

daylight

• Antarctic Circle receives 24 of darkness

• The SSP is located at the Tropic of

Cancer

• Sun appears directly overhead at 23.5°

N
 September Equinox (fall)

• September 21st

• All latitudes receive 12 hours

of daylight and 12 hours of
darkness

• The SSP is located at the

Equator

• The Sun appears directly

overhead at the 0°
Sun Dial
1:00 am on a Saint Petersburg July night
Tropical Areas
Time zones

• People like it when the sun rises in the morning

and sets in the evening

• The World has 24 time zones to stagger the Earth’s

rotation around the Sun

• What would California be like if we had to live on

New York Time? On Beijing Time???
Time Zones of the World
Time Zones of North America
Time zones can get complicated…
Finding Locations on Earth

• How has it been done in the past?

• Mental maps and local knowledge

• Latitude and Longitude: coordinate system used to

describe locations on Earth

• Global Positioning System

Maps

• A map is a two-dimensional or flat-scale model of Earth’s

surface, or a portion of it.

• Cartography is the science of mapmaking.

• Maps serve two purposes…

1. As a reference tool to identify an object’s absolute and relative
location.
2. As a communications tool to convey the distribution of human
activities or physical features.
Early Mapmaking

• Earliest maps were reference tools—simple

navigation devices to show a traveler how to get
from Point A to Point B.

• First world map prepared by Eratosthenes(276–

194 B.C.)
• Improvements to world map later made by
Ptolemy.

• After Ptolemy, advancements in cartography

primarily made outside of Europe by Chinese and
Islamic world.
• Mapmaking revived during the Age of Exploration and
Discovery.
Early Map
Eratosthenes’s World Map
Ptolemy's World Map
MAP BY ORTELIUS, 1571
 Maps
• Displaying a 3D Spheroid
(Earth) on a 2D surface

• limited amount of detail…

• Choose projections
carefully!!!
Mercator Projection
Robinson Projection
Goode’s Interrupted Projection
Maps
• All maps are distorted
• A globe is always the best… 3D to 3D

• 2 major map projections

• Conformal – less distortion with shape
• Equivalent – less distortion with size
Maps
• Conformal Projection
• Shapes of land masses are correct
• Size is exaggerated near the poles

• The Mercator Projection

Conformal Projections
Maps
• Equivalent Projection
• Size is correct
• Shape is distorted

• Mid latitudes are most

accurate
• Albers Equal-Area
Projection
 Map Scale

• Scale is the ratio of the real world to that of a given map

• Representative Fraction
• 1:24,000 (unitless)

• Verbal Scale
• “1 inch represents 1 mile”

• Bar Scale
Large Scale vs. Small Scale

• Large Scale • Small Scale

• Shows less area • Shows more area
• Large amount of detail • Small amount of detail
• Denominator in representative • Denominator in representative
fraction is small number fraction is a big number
• 1 : 24,000 • 1 : 10,000,000
• Looks “zoomed in” • Looks “zoomed out”
Which one is large scale?
Which one is small scale?
North America Lawrence, Kansas
Isolines
• Lines of equal value

• Commonly used isolines:

• Isobars – air pressure
• Isotherms – air temperature
• Isohyets – precipitation
• Isopachs – sedimentary thickness

• Contour lines – elevation

Contour Lines

• Point elevations

• Determine where contours would lay,

between known elevation points

• Draw elevation contours

Thematic Maps

• Any map that is focused on showing

differences in a dataset, or among
datasets

• Population density
• Agricultural productivity
• Poverty
• Tree cover
One Area – 4 Themes
Digital Technology
• Remote sensing
• Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Maps are Created for a Purpose!
What have we learned?

• Scale is the relationship between the Earth’s surface and the map

• Maps are based on the Geographic Grid

• Map projections have issues

• Maps are made by people, and reflect all of their issues