THE LITHOSPHERE:

It is the outer most solid layer of the earth.

It provides platform to most earthly life forms. The solid rock of
lithosphere bears a shallow layer of soil in which nutrient
elements become available to the organisms.
The lithosphere and its structure, is studied under
Geomorphology.
 THE ATMOSPHERE:
It is the gaseous layer that surrounds the earth. It also supplies
vital elements- carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen-that are
needed to sustain life forms. Atmosphere and all atmospheric
phenomenon are studied under climatology.
THE HYDROSPHERE:
It is the liquid realm, principally the mass of water in oceans.
 It also includes the solid ice of the mountains and continental
glaciers.
 In atmosphere the water is found as vapors and ice crystals. In
lithosphere the water is found in the upper most layers of soil
and underground water. It is studied under Oceanography
THE BIOSPHERE:
 It encompasses all the living organisms of the earth. Life
forms on earth utilize the gases of atmosphere, water of
hydrosphere and nutrients of lithosphere. Hence it is
dependent on all other three great realms
Meet the Sun
 The Sun is a yellow dwarf star at the center of our solar
system. Earth and all other objects in our solar system orbit
around the Sun due to gravity – it contains over 98% of all
mass in the solar system and so exerts a strong gravitational
pull.
 Like other stars, the Sun is a dense ball of gas that creates
energy through nuclear fusion reactions in the core, creating
helium atoms from hydrogen atoms.
 The Sun radiates different forms of energy, including
ultraviolet, infrared, and light energy, out into space.
 Light and heat energy from the Sun warm our planet and make
life possible.
 Distance between the Sun and Earth: One AU, (150
million kilometers), represents the average distance from
the Sun to the Earth.

 It would take an airliner more than 20 years to fly that

distance — and that's just a one-way ticket. (That's
traveling at about 644 kilometers per hour.

 Light takes 8 minutes from sun to reach the earth.

 Age: about 4.6 billion years old – the same as Earth and other
planets that formed within our solar system

 Average temperature: varies from 5,600 ℃ (surface) to 15

million ℃ (core)
 The Sun is a glowing, spinning ball of very hot gases,
primarily hydrogen (92.1%) and helium (7.9%). Trace
amounts of other elements (0.1%), such as oxygen, carbon,
nitrogen, silicon, magnesium, neon, iron, and sulfur are also
present (NASA).

The planets
 The inner planets — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars — are
about the size of grains of sand on a football field scale.
Main Asteroid Belt:

The majority of known asteroids orbit within the asteroid belt

between Mars and Jupiter. The belt is estimated to contain
between 1.1 and 1.9 million asteroids larger than 1 kilometer
(0.6 miles) in diameter, and millions of smaller ones.

Early in the history of the solar system, the gravity of newly

formed Jupiter brought an end to the formation of planetary
bodies in this region and caused the small bodies to collide
with one another, fragmenting them into the asteroids we
observe today.
A donut-shaped region of icy bodies beyond the orbit of
Neptune. There may be millions of these icy objects,
collectively referred to as Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) or
trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), in this distant region of our
solar system.
 Similar to the asteroid belt, the Kuiper Belt is a region of
leftovers from the solar system's early history.

 The Kuiper Belt shouldn't be confused with the Oort Cloud,

which is a much more distant region of icy, comet-like bodies
that surrounds the solar system, including the Kuiper Belt.

 Both the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Belt are thought to be
sources of comets
The Oort cloud, sometimes called the Öpik–Oort cloud, is
theorized to be a vast cloud of icy planetesimals surrounding the
Sun at distances ranging from 2,000 to 100,000 AU
The fifth-largest planet in our solar system is Earth. Only 29% of
the earth’s surface, is made up of continents and islands, island,
with around 71% of the planet’s surface being covered in
water.

The only planet in our solar system where all the necessary
conditions for life to exist are present is Earth. The earth’s
climate is just right—not too hot or too cold.

There is water, oxygen, and temperature on Earth. Our planet’s

air, water, and temperature are in the right quantities to support
life.
Geodesy is the science of measuring and monitoring the size
and shape of the Earth, including its gravity field, and
determining the location of points on the Earth’s surface.
As you know that the earth has two types of motions,
namely rotation and revolution. Rotation is the movement of
the earth on its axis. The movement of the earth around the sun
in a fixed path or orbit is called Revolution.

The axis of the earth which is an imaginary line, makes an

angle of 66½° with its orbital plane. plane formed by the
orbit is known as the orbital plane.
Rotation of earth

Day and Night –circle of illumination

Coriolis Force
Tides
Shaping of earth
Pattern of ocean currents and atmospheric winds
 Earth revolves in orbit around the sun in 365 days, 6
hours, 9 minutes with reference to the stars, at a
speed ranging from 29.29 to 30.29 km/s.

 30 km/s = 107991.36069114 km/h.

Effect of Revolution on the Earth

 It causes seasons.
 It causes aphelion and perihelion.
o Aphelion is when the earth is far from the sun.
o Perihelion is when the earth is near the sun.
 It causes different length in days and nights. During
revolution.
 The length of days and night are NOT equal all over the
planet.
 Equinox

 On 21st March and September 23rd, direct rays of the sun fall
on the equator. At this position, the whole earth experiences
equal days and equal nights. This is called an equinox.

 On 23rd September, it is autumn season [season after summer

and before the beginning of winter] in the northern hemisphere
and spring season [season after winter and before the
beginning of summer] in the southern hemisphere.

 The opposite is the case on 21st March, when it is spring in the

northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere.
 On 21st June, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the
sun. The rays of the sun fall directly on the Tropic of Cancer.
As a result, these areas receive more heat.
 The areas near the poles receive less heat as the rays of the sun
are slanting.
 The north pole is inclined towards the sun and the places
beyond the Arctic Circle experience continuous daylight for
about six months.
 Since a large portion of the northern hemisphere is getting
intense light from the sun, it is summer in the regions north of
the equator. The longest day and the shortest night at these
places occur on 21st June.

 At this time in the southern hemisphere all these conditions are

reversed. It is winter season there. The nights are longer than
the days. This position of the earth is called the summer
solstice.
 On 22nd December, the Tropic of Capricorn receives direct
rays of the sun as the south pole tilts towards it.
 As the sun’s rays fall vertically at the Tropic of
Capricorn (23½° s), a larger portion of the southern
hemisphere gets maximum solar radiation. Therefore, it is
summer in the southern hemisphere with longer days and
shorter nights.
 The reverse happens in the northern hemisphere. This position
of the earth is called the winter solstice.
Thus, you find that there are days and nights and
changes in the seasons because of the rotation and
revolution of the earth respectively.
 A NASA satellite instrument, CERES, took some images in 2004
and 2005. The images are measurements of the Earth’s albedo—
the amount of solar radiation reflected from Earth back into
space.

 The CERES images show a radical difference in albedo between

the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, as well as between the
December and June solstices.

 The Southern Hemisphere reflects a tremendous amount of

radiation during the December solstice (top image), while the
Northern Hemisphere reflects more radiation in June
 According to CERES, the amount of solar energy
received at the North Pole is 30% higher during the
summer solstice than the amount of solar energy
received at the Equator.

 CERES- Cloudsand Earth’s Radiant Energy System

LATITUDES:

 Latitude is the angular distance of a point on the earth’s

surface, measured in degrees from the center of the earth.
 Lines of latitude run north and south parallel to the equator,
with positive numbers representing the northern hemisphere,
negative numbers representing the southern hemisphere.
 Equator represent 0 degree
 As the earth is slightly flattened at the poles, the linear
distance of a degree of latitude at the pole is a little longer than
that at the equator.
LONGITUDES:

 Longitude is an angular distance, measured in degrees along

the equator east or west of the Prime (or First) Meridian.
 Lines of longitude run east and west parallel to the prime
meridian,
 positive numbers representing the eastern hemisphere and
negative numbers representing the western hemisphere
 with the prime meridian representing 0 degrees longitude.
 As the parallels of latitude become shorter poleward, so the
meridians of longitude, which converge at the poles, enclose a
narrower space.
 Equator at 0 degrees,
 Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees south
 Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees north,
 Antarctic Circle at 66.5 degrees south,
 Arctic Circle at 66.5 degrees north,
 South Pole at 90 degrees south and
 North Pole at 90 degrees north
 The densest planet in the Solar System
 5th largest
 3rd from sun
 Has a layered structure.
i. Crust
ii. Mantle
iii. Core
 The stratified nature of earth is explained in the Gaseous and
Nebular hypothesis of Immanuel Kant and Laplace
 In the beginning earth was formed from a cloud of gases and
dust particles – Nebula.

 Gradually nebula started cooling and condensed into solid

forms. – Nebular accretion process.
 By this process the denser materials sank down and settled at
the centre, and the lighter material got arranged according to
their densities they stood at the surface. – DENSITY
DIFFERENTIATION
 Denser Iron and Nickel went into the centre and
lighter silicate materials got arranged progressively
outward.
 This process is also called as GRAVITY COLLAPSE

 Gravitational collapse is the contraction of an

astronomical object due to the influence of its own
gravity, which tends to draw matter inward toward
the center
Crust - the crust is the outermost solid shell of earth
Lightest, Coolest and Solid layer

i. Continental crust
ii. Oceanic crust

Continental crust and ocean crust are different segments having

varied composition.
Ocean crust is not a continuation/ submerged extension of the
continental crust.
Continental crust Ocean crust
Lighter Denser
Thicker - 30 to 60 / 50 – 80km Thinner 3 to4 5 to 6km
Mostly made up of Non Ferrous Mostly made up of Ferrous
magnesium silicates Magnesium silicates
Made up of Granite, diorite Basalt, Gabbro
Andesitic rocks
Relatively more acidic More basic
Density 2.5 Density 3.5
 Why the density increases ?

 Increase of pressure.
 Composition of materials

 Increase in density is partially because of an increase in the

pressure – pressure excreted by the weight of overlying rocks.
 With the increase in depth, the composition of rocks and
minerals varies.
 The outer layers is made up of lighter silicates
Quartz and feldspar

As we go deeper into the mantle there are denser silicates –

Olivine
Inside the core there are heavier metals – Nickel & Iron
This arrangement of denser materials deeper inside is probably
due to NEBULAR ACCRETION / GRAVITY COLLAPSE
Mainly 2 sources of heat
1. Residual heat ( heat inside the core )
2. Radio active disintegration ( Upper mantle )

Residual heat is the primordial which was trapped deep

inside.
The temperature inside the planet is not evenly distributed.
For the first few kilometers earth warms at a rate of 2 to 3
degree Celsius/mtr
Tectonically active zones – zones of mountain
building,volcanism,subduction have a temperature more
than 1000 degree Celsius
 Inside the mantle temperature may reach – 1500 to
2000 degree Celsius
 At the core mantle boundary @ 2900km temperature
exceed -3000 degree Celsius.
 Interior of core – 4000 to 50000 dc
Composition
 Interior of earth is highly heterogeneous and stratified.
 Stratification is related to NEBULAR ACCRETION.

 There are 2 ways of studying the interior.

1. On the basis of COMPOSITION
2. On the basis of MECHANICAL PROPERTY –
relative rigidity
Continental crust Oceanic crust
Contain Non ferrous magnesium Ferrous magnesium silicates
silicates Amphiboline and pyroxene ( Iron rich)
Quartz, feldspar – felsic mineral (Iron – BASIC
poor ) - ACIDIC
Greater thickness allows the continent Less depth of ocean crust – less
to carry different rocks and minerals at variation in the mineral and rock
different depths. composition.

Upper layers are relatively more felsic

and the lower layers are less felsic -
Lower crust is more aligned towards
the Mafic characters of the oceanic
crust.
There is a distinct variation in the
composition of rocks above and below
the continental crust.
 2nd layer of earth from the surface
 Extends up to 2900 km from the surface
 Hold approximately 84% of the entire volume of the crust and
around 60% of the mass.

Upper mantle 350 to 400 km 4 to

4.5

Middlemantle 700 to 900km 5 to

6

transition

Lower mantle Upto 2900 km 7 to 9

 Mantle is dominated OLIVINE mineral and its variants like
PEROVSKITE and SPINEL
 It is a Ferro Magnesium silicate with rich iron and
Magnesium.
 Olivine is exclusively found in mantle.

 Peridotite is an important rock fond in the Upper mantle,

which is a mixture of Olivine, Perovskite and Spinel.
 Mantle has a depth of 2900 km, through out this depth, the
density of mantle increases continuously.

 The type of lava coming out the surface depends on the depth
from where the lava is sourced.

 The mineral composition of lava depends on the mineral

composition of the source.

 The maximum recorded depth of the source of a volcano is

CORE – MATLE BOUNDARY
Core is divided into 2

o Outer core 2900 – 4500

o Inner core 4500 and beyond
o Recent findings of another layer inside core – Inner- inner core
mostly consisting of dense metallic minerals.
o Outer core – density - 11
o Inner core – density - 13.5

o Average density of the core is 11.5

 Outer core has more silicate impurities, which can lower the
melting point of the rocks.
 Outer core is so hot to be in plasma state – plasma state with
free electrons. And these portions of the outer core is moving
around the iron rich inner core.

 Be like a self sustaining dynamo – responsible for earths

magnetism – geomagnetism
CRUST – Upper crust & Lower crust - CONRAD
DISCONTINUITY
(Upper crust – contain light Felsic minerals
Lower crust - dense Mafic minerasl )
 Found at a depth of 15 to 30km

 CRUST – MANTLE – Mohorovicic/Moho discontinuity

 Moho is deeper under continent than ocean.
Repetti discontinuity/Birch
 Between upper mantle and lower mantle
 At a depth of 700 to 900km

Guttenberg discontinuity – between mantle and core

 At a depth of 2900 km

Lehman discontinuity – solid inner core and liquid outer

core. At a depth of 5100km
Lithosphere:
The top most solid layer is called lithosphere. It is up to 100 km deep
including crust and some portion of upper mantle.

Aesthenosphere:
It is the second SEMI MOLTEN layer under lithosphere. It stretches
from 100 km to 400km. It is also present in upper mantle.

Mesosphere: It is an intermediate layer lying from 400km to 700km in

depth.

Pyrosphere: It includes semi solid lower mantle and outer liquid core.
Because of very high temperature it gets its name. ‘Pyros’ means fire.

Barrysphere: It is the inner most solid core of the earth stretching from
5150km to 6371km.
Lithosphere

 Outer most mechanical layer

 Thickness is 100 km
 Contain entire crust and some portions of upper mantle
 It include continent and ocean crust.
 It is relatively hard, cold and brittle
 brittle- can be broken if we apply pressure
 Lithosphere is broken into a number of segments –
lithospheric plates.

 Lithospheric plates floats over the dense aesthenosphere.

 Aesthenosphere is generally solid, but it has a very unique
property. – SEMI MOLTEN STATE
 It is solid but it is capable of losing rigidity and it can flow
under sustained stress.

 Its like a rubber block, if pressure is applied it will get

compressed and when the pressure is released it can come
back to the previous state. – character of Olivine mineral.
Aesthenosphere – at a depth of 100 to 400 km there are
greater concentration of radio active elements.
Radio active disintegration produces huge amount of heat
energy.

It produces the convective motions with in the upper mantle.

As a result of these motions in the aesthenosphere, the overlying
plates start moving. –plate motions.
 Here the light continental and oceanic crust act as
a part of lithosphere and floats over denser
Aesthenosphere.

Edward SUESS MODEL Plate tectonic model


Continental – SiAl Lithosphere – Continental
crust and oceanic crust +
Upper part of mantle
Oceanic crust - SiMa Aesthenosphere –
Remaining parts of upper
mantle.
Direct sources
1. Study of rocks and sediments from mines/ drilling sites
2. Study of volcanic rocks
3. Meteorite study
4. Trench – eg Mariana – challenger deep
5. South sandwich trench – Atlantic ocean
Indirect sources
1. Gravity study
2. Density study
3. Seismic wave analysis

Based on mathematical analysis and conclusions

 The properties of the wave is correlated with the properties of
the medium.
 The speed and the path of mechanical wave depends on the
nature of the medium they propagate.

 Which implies, if we can record the behavior of the waves, we

can infer the nature of the medium through which the wave
pass.

 So the seismic studies are considered as confirmatory studies

of the interior of earth.
 Broadly three types of waves are generated during an
earthquake-
 Primary (P) waves
 Secondary (S) waves
 Surface waves
Primary waves (P)
 Waves are longitudinal waves. The motion (oscillation) of
particles is in the direction of the propagation of the wave.

 These waves are the fastest of the three and are detected first.

 They have the shortest wavelength and highest frequency.

 They can travel in solid, liquid and gaseous medium.

 Their velocity depends on shear strength or elasticity of the
material.

 Their speed is almost double the speed of S – Waves.

 Secondary waves: (S)

 They are transverse waves i.e. the motion (Oscillation)

of the particles is perpendicular to the direction of the
propagation of the waves.
 They are slower than P –waves.
 They have relatively longer wavelength and lower
frequency than P – waves.
 These waves can travel only in solid medium.
 Similar to water ripples or light waves.
Surface waves:
 They are the slowest and are detected quite late.
 They travel only in upper layer or earth surface.
 Generally affect the surface of the Earth only and die out at
smaller depth.
 Develop in the immediate neighborhood of the epicenter.
 They cause displacement of rocks, and hence, the collapse of
structures occurs.
 They are the most destructive of the three waves.
 Surface waves are of two types – the one travelling in upper crust
are called LOVE waves and the one travelling in lower crust are
called RAYLEIGH waves.
 Recoded last on the seismograph
 Velocity of the seismic wave is positively correlated
with the density of the medium.
 High the density, higher will be the velocity.

Iron aluminum water gas

Upper crust and lower crust

 upper crust – more light felsic materials low density – waves

are slow.
 Lower crust – rocks are more mafic – relatively denser than
upper crust – seismic waves attain velocity.

Continent an ocean floor –

 Continental crust is composed of lighter silicates quarts and
feldspar – oceanic crust is composed of amphibolies and
pyroxene minerals –denser, so seismic wave is relatively faster
in ocean crust
 Lithosphere and aesthenosphere

 lighter, solid

 Denser, semi molten

 If the mechanical property is considered, velocity of P&S waves,

have to decrease.
 And if the density factor is considered, Aesthenosphere is more
dense, so the wave velocity have to increase

 The net result = wave velocity increases lightly.

 Generally, shallow focused earthquakes are considered for the
seismic analysis.

 Seismic waves just after the earthquake, travel through the

upper crust.
 Initially the velocity of P&S is less than 5km/sec –
corresponds to the Upper felsic Granite, diorite layers.
They are called as Pg & Sg waves

 After 15 Kms, ( CONRAD ) the velocity of P&S waves,

increases - 6km/sec
 When P&S waves crosses the MOHO at 35km, there is a
sudden increase in the velocity is expected. 7 km/sec.
 At Lithosphere – Aesthenosphere boundary, 100km,
there is an initial drop in the velocity, from 7.8km to 7.3kms –
this fall in the velocity of P&S is associated with the fall in the
AESTHENOSPHERIC RIGIDITY
 After MOHO discontinuity, the P&S waves get an
acceleration but in Aesthenosphere, the velocity drops due to
the semi molten character of aesthenosphere. – LOW
VELOCITY ZONE in mantle.
 With increasing depth in mantle the waves pick up the speed
as the rigidity and density kept on increasing. >8km/sec
 The inner mantle is called as HIGH VELOCITY ZONE
 When the waves passes through layers of different density, the
P&S waves refract and bends.

 P&S waves bends outward, when there is an increase in the

density and bends inward when there is a drop in the density.
 The bending path is an indication of the density of the layers.
 S – WAVES
 Shadow zone
 Beyond 103 degree S waves completely disappear. – S waves
can not propagate through the fluid medium of outer core.

 Based on the mathematical calculation, the depth at which the

S wave fails to penetrate is calculated as 2900km from the
surface. ( mantle –core boundary )
 P - WAVES
 The P wave has a different set of pattern, unlike the S wave,
the P continue to propagate but with a sharp refraction
outward.
 P waves finally emerges at 143. with a shadow zone.

 Why do the S WAVES has a larger shadow zone than P wave

?
Questions

 Regarding the origin of continents and oceans

 Regarding the formations of fold mountains
 Question of earthquakes
 Question of volcanoes
 Question of island arcs

 Permanency of oceans and continent - Harold Jeffrey
 Oceans and continents have existed ever as today

 The views of Harold Jeffrey was challenged by American Geologist

Frank B Taylor 1908. by postulating the first continental drift
hypothesis

 2 large continents were there

1. Laurasia
2. Gondwanaland
Separated by a sea – Tethys
Continent started to move against each other has accumulate the
sediments of Tethys and uplifted it to form the fold mountains of
Europe and Asia.
 Movements of the continents was attributed to the
gravitational pull of Moon and Sun.
 Continents floats over the ocean due to the rotation of earth.

 But Taylors idea was not became popular because it was in

abstract form and not much convincing
 Wegener was drawn to this idea because of the
puzzling questions he had in his mind.

 How could tropical ferns have grown in London, Paris,

Bonn and even in Greenland?
 Why are the coal belts found in extremely cold regions
of tundra?
 How are glacial evidences found in tropical regions of
Brazil, Indian peninsula, Australia and Congo basin.
While pondering over these points he came up with two
possibilities:

I. The climatic zones might have shifted from one

region to another while the continents stayed at their
places.
II. If the climatic zones stayed stationary but the
continents changed their places.
 As it was difficult for the climatic belts to shift as
they are controlled by the position of the sun i.e. tilt
of the earth, it appeared more probable that the
land masses were shifted.
 Objective was to reconstruct the climatic
history of the planet..
 He borrowed the ideas of Edward Suess-

 Continent - SiAl - lighter

 Oceasn – SiMa – denser

 SiAl float over light SiMa.

 All the present day continents were joined together in the
southern hemisphere – Pangaea
 Surrounded by a vast ocean – Panthalasa
 Between 200 – 180 million years ago Pangaea broke into 2

1. North Laurasia / Angaraland

2. Gondwana land

Tethys came into exist in between.

 Shape of coastlines of Eastern south America and western Africa
 Structural evidences of coastlines - South America and Western
Africa
 Similarities of Eastern Africa and Madagascar
 Similarities in the distribution of coalfields located
 Unique distribution pattern of Paleozoic and Mesozoic fossils older
than 280 million years.
 Palaeo climatic evidences
 Similarity of landforms found in Madagascar and southern western
Ghats
 Behaviour of lemming – great suicide of Lemming
 Evdences of apparent wandering of poles – glacial evidences
Jig saw” fit- Wegener was struck by the geographical similarity
between the opposite coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. The outlines
of the two coasts appears to be the detached portion of the other
i.e. The east coast of north and South America can be exactly fit
into the left coast of Africa and Europe.
 Structural similarities - In the age, formation and composition
of rocks on either sides of South Atlantic ocean.

Rocks of Eastern Brazil & Rocks along the Gulf of Guinia

Borborema of brazil has similarities with Rocks of Guinia,

Nigeria, Ghana etc…
Rocks of Patagonian Plateau has similarities with Angola
islands.

Similarities in the distribution of rock type – Northern Canada

and western Greenland.
 Similarities of coal field and the type of coal distribution on
either sides of the Atlantic ocean.

 Appalachian mountains – Newfoundland –Nova scotia -

Pennine Mountains of UK North western Scandinavia.
 Similar Fossil remains of animals are found on both coasts
of the Atlantic. This cannot be possible if the two landmasses
were not joined as it quite impossible for these animals to
swim across the Atlantic.

 Mesosaurs – shallow water reptile

 Lystosores – land reptiles 200 to 150 million
 Glossopteris – Ferns of tropics years ago
 Cynognanthus – Land reptile

Palaeo climatic evidences -
 Related the distribution of coal fields and Glacial
remains
Condition of coal formation –
Was there in Northern Canada, Britain, Germany, Siberia etc…

A large stretch of Asia, Africa has glacial evidences.

Thalcher in Odisha – Glacial Striation mark.

Durban – South Africa has Glacial till deposits

Countries that located in the tropics – No good quality coal fields.

Bulk of the worlds coal fields are located in
1. North America
2. Siberia
3. Germany
4. France

Past location of all the continents.

Madagascar and south western Ghats

 The rocks of the southern western Ghats – wayanad and other

parts of the Ghats has similarities with the rocks of
Madagascar.

 Similarities in the Fish species found in Madagascar an south

western Ghats.
Rocks of Scotland and Scandinavia
Behavior of Lemming
Lemmings are rat like creatures in Europe

They have a migratory pattern during severe winters.

Migrates from western Siberia to western Norway coast and they
jump off to Atlantic. – GREAT SUICIDE OF LEMMING

Migratory instinct of lemming from Europe to North America

 Evidences of apparent wandering of North pole

 Not in Gemagnetic terms, and this was based on the

glacial evidences.
 Wagener challenged the established ideas of a Geologist -
Permanency of oceans and continent - Harold Jeffrey
 Idea of Pangaea was correct – but he didn’t explain the
formation of Pangaea
 The basic concept he had borrowed from Edward suess – Si
Al – SiMa concept is incorrect.
 Ideas about the formation of mountains, earthquake an
volcanoes was incorrect. – plate tectonics
◦ driving mechanism of continents was criticized.
1. Gravitational pull of sun an moon – gravity force
2. Rotation of earth – Pole fleeing force
Evidences put forth by wagener were correct, but he
failed to explain the driving mechanism of the
continents – what caused the continents to move
 Edward suess – SiAl – SiMa concept of continents and oceans
 Taylors concept of continental rift – 1908
 Continental rift theory of Wagener – 1912

 Theory was rejected.

 Alexander Du-Toit South African Geologist

 Wrote about Our wandering continents.
 Alexander DuToit Accepted the ideas put forward by wagener,
 He confirmed the existence of Laurasia and Gondwana land.
 19th centry – the concept of SiAl –SiMa – Edwards suess
 1908 – works of Taylor
 1912 – continental drift theory of Alfread wagener
 1928 – 29 – Arthur Holms – Convection crrent hypothesis
 1930s – Alexander Du toit – confirmed the existence of
Laurasia and Gondwanaland.
 Earths interior is hot.- due to radio active dis
integration
 The energy is continuously transferred through the
process of conduction and convection.

 Radio active decay – Heat energy – Melting of mantle

rocks – heat conduction by these molten rocks –
excess heat is passed through the process of
convection cells.

 Internal heat is not uniformly distributed, that

demands the convection cells
 The circulation of molten rocks through convection
cells with RISING – DIVERGING – SINKING limbs.
 Arthur holms further said, these convective
cells with huge molten magma impact the
features on the earth surface.

Earth quake, volcanism etc…

 During the second world war, the world witnessed, large scale
ocean floor mapping and researches
 Marie Tharp was a prominent contributor into this
 Marie Tharp established the ocean floor with a lot of features
in it.

 Harry Hess combined the concept of Covectional current

theory of Arthur Holms and the contributions of Marie Tharp
and other researchers.
 1960s the concept of sea floor spreading came up – sea floor
can break and grow.
 He was ale to explain how do the oeans are forming, and the
associated volcanism on the ocean floor.
 Mid ocean ridges – MOR are continuous chain of volcanic
mountain fond at the breaking sites of ocean floors.
 Mid ocean ridges have Axial rift valleys with Normal fault de
to stretching of tensile force.
 Ocean floor is made p of Dense Basalt rocks
 The rocks fond along the MOR are younger and the age of the
rocks progressively increases when we move towards the
continents.
 Rocks found in the continents are older than oceanic rocks,
 Rocks with age of 3 billion and more can be seen in
continents, but oceanic rocks with more than 280 million years
cant be seen anywhere in the ocean.
 Canadian shield 3.5 billion years.

 Though the rocks found at the ocean floor is younger than the rocks
found at the continents, if we trace back the history, it is the ocean
floor that originated earlier than continents.

What is the mystery of missing ocean rocks ?

it is the trench – where the ocean floor subduct.

Ocean trenches are structural depressions where the ocean floor sinks,
sediments at the ocean floor accumulate, crust deformation of ocean
floor, where broken parts of sea mounts, Guyots etc.. Can be seen
 According to H.Hess, the rising limb of convection under
the ocean floor can break the floor and come out with
huge amount of magma and create Mid Ocean Ridges.
 The diverging limb of the convection cell an pull the
oceans apart creating an axial rift valley with volcanism

 With every subsequent eruptions the older rocks are being

pushed away from the centre of the MOR and the new
lava accumulate at the MOR RESULTING YOUNGER
ROCKS AT the MOR
 Harry hess also found, where ever the convection cells are
subsiding, it pushes the ocean floor underneath the continents
and subduction takes place.

 Zone of subduction is the zone of trenches where the oceanic

sediments get accumulated and plastered on the continental
blocks

 The convection – subduction process had destroyed the older

ocean floors,
 NO OECAN FLOOR OLDER THAN MEZOSOIC ERA
 Convective cells under the ocean floors are massive systems.
 Harry Hess didn’t mention about the existence of convective
cells under the continents.
 the ocean floor is spreading at a differential rate- some places
the rate of spreading is so fast, and some places the rate of
spreading is slow.
 PTT is based on the concepts of Convectional current theory
of Arthur Holms and Sea floor spreading theory of Harry
Hess.

 Convection current theory talks about – there is heat energy

generation inside the mantle from the site of radio active
disintegration-heat is not uniformly distributed inside the
mantle- there are mechanism for heat transferlike conduction ,
convection..

 Shallow –intermediate – deep convections in the mantle

 This convection systems are identified as the reason behind
the movements of continents rather than the gravitational pull
of sun/moon or the rotation of earth.

 Harry Hess mentioned about the convection cells – these are

the reasons behind the movements of ocean floor and relaltes
sea floor spreading.
 PTT is the most updated interpretation of the mechanism in
the mantle and their related impacts on the surface.
 It is a collection of contributions given by various scholars
• Alfread wagener
• Arther Holms
• Harry hess
• Tuzo wilson
• Le Picheon

• 2 Most important contributions were given by Arther Holms

& Harry Hess.
• and Wagener who postulated the most revolutionary idea.
 PTT rejected the concept of Edward Suess – SiAl – SiMa –
floating concept.
 PTT is based on the mechanical properties of earths interior
Lithosphere
Asthenosphere
Mesosphere
 The term Plates was coined by Tuzo Wilson.

 Plates can be Continental

 Oceanic
 Or both continental and oceanic
 The brittle, broken lithospheric plates moves over the Semi
molten Aesthenosphere.
( the concept of continents moves over ocean floor is wrong)
 both continents an oceans moves as a part of Lithosphere.
 The boundary of the plates were marked on the basis of the
seismic events.
 It followed the seismic distribution patterns.
 The credit for identifying the plate boundaries was given to Le
Pichon, who was working in a project World Wide Standard
Seismic Network
 Plates are generally classified as
1. Major plates
2. Minor plates
3. Micro plates

Major plates – Pacific, Eurasia, Africa, North America, South

America, Indo Autralia, Antarctica
Minor plates –
Nasca,Cocos,Juan de Fuca ( Pacific)
Scotia, Arabian , Burma Caribbean etc..
Micro
Adriatic, victoria ,Tonga plates, Panama plates et…
 As the plates lies over the semi molten asthenosphere, it
moves according to the convection cells that are developing in
the upper mantle.
 The interactions are of 3 types

 Convergence/ collision / destructive

 Divergence / constructive
 Conservative/transform

 All the second order landforms over oceans or continents are a

result of Plate movements.
 Consequences of Rising – diverging – subsiding limbs of
convection cells that are developing under the lithosphere.
 Harry Hess in his theory had mentioned about the diverging
convection cells are the reasons behind Sea floor spreading.

 Lets start the divergence discussion by placing ivergent cells

under the continents.
 A divergent boundary develop with some localized cracks
associated with Localized mantle plume.
 The crack always appear with 3 arms called Triple junction

 As the process develop, one Arm of the triple junction
gradually become inactive – Failed Arm/ Aulocogen and the
remaining two arms become active.

 Numerous such TJ develops that ultimately leads to the split of

lithospheric plates.

 Afar triple Junction East Africa - African rift valley (

Aulocogen)
 Narmada triple junction India – Arabian rift – Narmada rift
(Aulocogen) – western coastal rift.
1. Continent with a divergent limb
2. Stage of Domal Upliftment – continental lithosphere bends
upwards. - Ethiopian upliftment in East Africa
3. Stage of continental thinning and stretching

4. Cracks become deeper as Deep Rift valleys – some LAKES

may develop– East African rift valley
– L.Tanganika, L. Malawi L.Nyasa, L Edward, L. Rudolf
and L. Albert

5. Continental lithosphere breaks apart. Narrow channel of

water develop between 2 separated blocks - RED SEA –
INFANT OCEAN

6. New crustal formation starts at the broken space through

continuous Under water volcanism. – that pumps huge
volume of Basaltic Lava & Widens the oceans – Atlantic
ocean
The separated continental blocks are – Rich in Granite,
diorite
Ocean floor Rich in Basalt and Iron rich.

If the diverging limb is still active – the narrow channel of sea

widens –
Each movements of the diverging oceanic lithosphere – result a
linear crack and through that – it a series of under water
volcanism and SEA FLOOR SPREADING may take place.

Result the formation of Mid ocean ridges along the divergent

zones.
 Development of diverging limbs of convection and the process
of continental breaking might have caused the Pangae to break
and form Laurasia-Gondwanaland-Tethys narrow channel of
sea etc… uring the Mezosoic era.
 And later on how gondwana land and Laurasia broken and
created the present day continents and ocean basins in
between.
 Also called as collision boundary.
 The underlying convection – Converging and
Sinking.
 Greater compressive force would come in to picture

 Convergence are mainly 3 types

 Continent vs Continent
 Ocean vs Continent
 Ocean vs Ocean
 When there is huge compression takes place, one
of the converging ocean slab sinks down under
the other. Sinking slab

 When 2 ocean plates collide, the denser plate will

get pushed under the lighter plate. A gap will e
created – Trench

 Eg Mariana Trench, paific plate subduct under

philipines
 Subducting plate bends and a series of fracture
develops
 Sediments in the suducting plate get accumulate
over the eges of the other Plate.
 The accumulate sediment is called as
ACCRETIONARY WEDGE
 The subducting slab moves towards Mantle – get exposed
to high temperature Magma – rocks in the subducting
slab start to melt.

 This molten magma along with greater steam try to come

out by creating a series of fractures in the upper lying
light ocean plate.

 Create a hole an come out with huge explosive eruption.

 A series of isolated volcanic eruption can be seen on the
surface.
 The lava coming out after the melting of
oceanic basalt rock, would be ANDESITIC or
RHYOLITIC
Andesitic lava Basaltic lava

Melting of ocean crust made up of Came out from mantle, where the
basaltic rock major rock is Peridotite.

Silica rich and Acidic Silica poor – Basic

Viscous lava Lava is more fluidic

Causes explosive volcanic eruption Causes calm and fissure eruption.

Fond in MOR Archipelago / Island arcs

 The denser Basalt – Iron rich ocean slab collide with
Lighter Granite – silica rich continental plate.
 Denser ocean plate always subduct.
 All the sediments, crushed rocks, fossils of marine organism
etc… get accumulated on the edges of continental block.
 It will plastered at the edges an create a new, more complex
accretionary wedge.
 More complex, contain ocean sediments, inderwater volcanic
landforms, crushed parts of continental rocks etc…
 As the compressive accelerates this accreted sediments get
folded and result the formation of Fold mountains like Rockies
and Andes.
 the western cordilleras
 The subducting block undergoes melting – molten ocean slab
along with steam creates patches on the continental
lithosphere.

 Come out with more silica rich more viscous lava. With great
explosive eruptions.

 Batholiths formation near the subducting zone

Jig saw” fit- Wegener was struck by the geographical similarity
between the opposite coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. The outlines
of the two coasts appears to be the detached portion of the other
i.e. The east coast of north and South America can be exactly fit
into the left coast of Africa and Europe.
 Structural similarities - In the age, formation and composition
of rocks on either sides of South Atlantic ocean.

Rocks of Eastern Brazil & Rocks along the Gulf of Guinia

Borborema of brazil has similarities with Rocks of Guinia,

Nigeria, Ghana etc…
Rocks of Patagonian Plateau has similarities with Angola
islands.

Similarities in the distribution of rock type – Northern Canada

and western Greenland.
 Similarities of coal field and the type of coal distribution on
either sides of the Atlantic ocean.

 Appalachian mountains – Newfoundland –Nova scotia -

Pennine Mountains of UK North western Scandinavia.
 Similar Fossil remains of animals are found on both coasts
of the Atlantic. This cannot be possible if the two landmasses
were not joined as it quite impossible for these animals to
swim across the Atlantic.

 Mesosaurs – shallow water reptile

 Lystosores – land reptiles 200 to 150 million
 Glossopteris – Ferns of tropics years ago
 Cynognanthus – Land reptile

Palaeo climatic evidences -
 Related the distribution of coal fields and Glacial
remains
Condition of coal formation –
Was there in Northern Canada, Britain, Germany, Siberia etc…

A large stretch of Asia, Africa has glacial evidences.

Thalcher in Odisha – Glacial Striation mark.

Durban – South Africa has Glacial till deposits

Countries that located in the tropics – No good quality coal fields.

Bulk of the worlds coal fields are located in
1. North America
2. Siberia
3. Germany
4. France

Past location of all the continents.

Madagascar and south western Ghats

 The rocks of the southern western Ghats – wayanad and other

parts of the Ghats has similarities with the rocks of
Madagascar.

 Similarities in the Fish species found in Madagascar an south

western Ghats.
 Evidences related to sea floor spreading – Harry Hess
 Mid ocean ridges – areas of sea floor spreading –
Developments of Axial Rift Valley
 Pattern of distribution of Rocks of different ages across the
oceans.
 Geomagnetic evidences imprinted on parallel rock bands.
 World wide seismic network mapping was conducted to
identify the areas prone to earthquakes.

 The presence of Wadati Benioff zone.

 Shallow – deep intermediate focused earthquakes

 Major reason behind these tremors are inferred as plate

tectonics.

 And these are taking place at the site of plate margins

 In geology, hotspots are volcanic locales thought to be fed by
underlying mantle that is anomalously hot compared with the
surrounding mantle.
 These are localised volcanic eruptions located away from the
plate margins
 Vertical columns of rising magma from the core mantle
boundary – Mantle plumes.
 Lava associated with such volcanoes are coming from deep
mantle.
 Basalt lava
 Highly mafic lava
 Silica content is the least
 Lava is extremely fluid

 Such eruptions can create a chain of islands on the moving

plates.
 Where the hotspots remain static and the plate moves.
 Volcanoes created by the hot spots are BASALTIC –
Hawaiian, ReUnion, Emperor islands. (Hotspot volcanic
Islands)
 Volcanoes created by the plate subductions are
Andesitic/Rhyolitic – Kurle, Japan, Philippines.
(Archipelagoes)
 By analysing the alignment of Hotspot volcanic islands like
Emperor- Mid way islands – Hawaiian group of islands, we
can trace the direction of the pacific plates drift

 Northward – North westward – northwestward -

Geodetic Plate Motion
 Geodesy, the science of measuring the Earth's shape and
positions on it, allows the measurement of plate motion
directly using GPS, the Global Positioning System. This
network of satellites is more stable than the Earth's surface, so
when a whole continent moves somewhere at a few
centimeters per year, GPS can tell.
 Driving mechanism of plates are associated with the mantle
convections. – Arthur Holmes - which are caused by
 Residual internal heat
 Radio active decay
What are the direct forces involved in the movements
?

1. Push force from Mid Ocean Ridges (MOR)

2. Plate drag force
3. Slab Gravity pull force
 The most scientific theory regarding the Continental drift
 Proven by evidences
 Driving mechanism explained by the theory is convincing
 PTT is incomplete
 Why mantle convection cells develop and disappear some
places ?
 Why hotspots are developing ?
 The rate of sea floor spreading at the mid ocean areas and the
rate of destruction of plates at the site of subductions are not
equal. – construction at MOR and Destruction at subduction
site is not equal.
 One major assumption of the theory is questionable – No
change in the surface area of earth
 Growing earth / expanding earth hypothesis

 Expanding Earth and Static Universe: Two Papers of

1935 - Halm
 Volcanicity refers to the processes by which magma, ash,
and gas are erupted from the Earth’s surface. This
geological phenomenon is caused by the movement of magma
from the Earth’s mantle to the surface, where it is expelled as
lava, ash, and gas.
 Residual heat
 Radio active disintegration
 Mid Ocean cracks – MOR
 Subduction of plates at the convergent margins


< 40 % 45 - 55 55 - 65 65 <
Ultra mafic Mafic Intermediate Felsic
Highly fluid Fluid Thick lava Very thick lava
Deep Mantle Mantle Melting of Ocean Granite
floor
Pure Basalt Basic lava Intermediately Highly viscous
cidic lava
Quiet eruption Violent eruptions Very violent
eruptions
MOR, Hot spot At the subduction Always at the
volcanoes margins subduction
margins
Granite/ diorite Lava
 Granite and diorites are formed due to the cooling and
solidification of highly viscous magma that are rich in silica
 Forms intrusive/ plutonic igneous rocks
 Batholith, laccolith,phacolith etc…
Andesitic lava

Contain high silica

Viscous but not as Granite magma
The can create extrusive eruptions and results formation of
extrusive volcanic landforms
With explosive volcanic eruptions

Volcanic island arcs at the subduction zones

Archipelagoes etc…
Basaltic lava
Contain less silica
Because of basalt's low silica content, it has a low viscosity
(resistance to flow). Therefore, basaltic lava can flow quickly
and easily move >20 km from a vent.

The low viscosity typically allows volcanic gases to escape

without generating enormous eruption columns. Basaltic lava
fountains and fissure eruptions

They can create an eruption both at the continents and ocean

floors
forms extrusive landforms.

Huge outpourings of lava called "flood basalts" are found on

many continents. The Columbia River basalts,
MOR
Hotspot islands
Flood basalt plateaus in the continents
 Hot spot Basaltic lava at the Ocean floor result, central vent
type – circular/ semi circular eruptions. – CONICAL HILLS,
which leads to the formation of Oceanic islands – Re union
island, Iceland, Hawaiian

 HOT SPOT volcanic eruptions at the continents, forms cracks

and result spreading and floating of lava into an extensive
area. – LAVA SHEETS extensive basaltic lava plateaus
 Eg- Deccan plateau
 patagonia
 colorado
Even though all magmas originate from similar mantle
rocks, and start out as similar magma, other things, like
partial melting and crystallization processes like magmatic
differentiation, can change the chemistry of the magma.
This explains the wide variety of igneous rocks that are
found all over Earth.

Because the mantle is composed of many different

minerals, it does not melt uniformly. As minerals with
lower melting points turn into liquid magma, those with
higher melting points remain as solid crystals. This is
known as partial melting. As magma slowly rises and cools
into solid rock, it undergoes physical and chemical
changes in a process called magmatic differentiation.
 According to Bowen’s Reaction Series, each mineral has a
unique melting and crystallization temperature. Since most
rocks are made of many different minerals, when they start to
melt, some minerals begin melting sooner than others and
creates magma with a different composition than the original
mantle material.
 The most important example occurs as magma is
generated from mantle rocks (peridotite) is ultramafic,
low in silicates and high in iron and magnesium.

 When peridotite begins to melt, the silica-rich portions

melt first due to their lower melting point. If this
continues, the magma becomes increasingly silica-rich,
turning ultramafic mantle into mafic magma, and mafic
mantle into intermediate magma. The magma rises to the
surface because it is more buoyant than the mantle.
 At the Mid ocean ridges, Peridotite undergoes partial melting
and forms Basalt lava. MOR eruptions are of Basaltic
 At Ocean Continent margins, ocean – ocean margins
subduction of denser basalt rich ocean floor causes the Basalt
to undergo Partial melting – Andesitic lava.
At the site of plate subduction, when the oceanic plate subduct,
some of the continental rocks – andesite subduct and Melt along
with the sinking oceanic plate.

When Andesite melt – Leads to the formation of Granite.

Since Granite lava is highly viscous – because of its high siliaca

content, it wont come out and it settle there itself underneath the
surface – creating huge granitic rock formations

Batholith, lapolith phacoliths etc…- intrusive/ plutonic igneous

rocks.
 When these massive batholiths join together and forms
huge granitic formations under the surface.- CRATON

 Cratons are the core foundation stones for large

mountains or parts of continents.

 When weathering and erosion removes the overlying

sediments, the massive Cratons are getting exposed.-
CRATONIC SHIELD.

 Brazilian highlans,
 Katanga highlns.
 All the cratonic regions are known for their metallic
reserves
 Metallic minerals like
 Intrusive landforms - Magma while thrusting its way up to the
surface may cool and solidify within the crust as plutonic
rocks.

 Extrusive landforms - Magmas that reach the surface and

solidify, form extrusive landforms.

 Rocks formed by either plutonic or volcanic activity are called

igneous rocks
 Sills
 Dykes
 Liths – igneous intrusions on larger scale.

i. Laccolith
ii. Lopolith
iii. Phacolith
iv. Batholith
Extrusive landforms

1. COMPOSITE CONES

 Most volcanoes have this kind of cone.

 Built by - Several eruptions of lava, ashes and other
volcanic materials (come out through conduit from the
main conduit from magma chamber/reservoir) which
forms lot of layers and increase the height.

 Mt. Etna
 Mt. Stromboli (Light house of Mediterranean)
 Mt. Vesuvius
 2. basalt formations

 Lava plateaus over the continents

 Dome development in the ocean floor
THE DISTRIBUTION OF VOLCANOES IN THE WORLD

 Volcanoes are mostly located in intensely folded or faulted

regions
Active volcanoes – 500
Dormant and extinct volcanoes – 1000s
 Occurrence – Costal mountain ranges, off-shore islands and in
the midst of oceans, but there are few in the interiors of
continents.
Pacific Region
 Greatest concentration – circum pacific region (Pacific ring of
fire) – Includes 2/3rd world’s volcanoes.
 Western pacific – chain starts from Aleutian Islands, Japan
extending in south up to Philippines,
 Eastern pacific – Starting from Andes to Central America
Mexico and right up to Alaska.
Atlantic
 Few volcanoes

 Many dormant or extinct

 Example – Madeira, Ascension, St. Helena, Cape verda

Island. And Canary Island

Mediterranean
 In alpine folds – Vesuvius, Etna, Stromboli and Aegean
Islands
Earthquakes
An earthquake is the shaking or trembling of the earth’s
surface, caused by the sudden movement of a part of the
earth’s crust. They result from the sudden release of energy in
the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves or earthquake
waves.
Focus
The place of origin of an earthquake inside the earth.

Epicenter
Point on the earth’s surface vertically above the focus.
Maximum damage is caused at the epicenter.

Isoseismic Line
A line connecting all points on the surface of the earth
where the intensity is the same.
 shallow earthquakes is the sudden release The immediate
cause of most of stress along a fault, or fracture in the
earth’s crust.

 Most earthquakes are causally related to compressional or

tension stresses built up at the margins of the huge moving
lithospheric plates.
 Natural
 Anthropogenic
1.Plate tectonics
 Convection cells in the Aesthenosphere
 Mantle plumes
 Continental drifting
 Mid oceanic ridge volcanism
 Accummulation of strong compressive force at the C+C
margins
 Scrapping of the ocean floor
 Andesitic explosive volcanic eruptions
 Bending and fractures at suducting plate
 Wadati – Benioff zone
2.Volcanic eruptions
3.Landslides
4.Meteorite impact
5.Under water landslides
6.Avalanches
Human Induced Earthquakes
 Deep mining

 Underground nuclear tests

 Reservoir induced seismicity (RIS) Koyna earthquake of

December 11, 1967 – warna dam -Maharashtra
 Extraction of fossil fuels

 Groundwater extraction

 Unscientific ways of urbanisation

 Earthquake waves are basically of two types — body
waves and surface waves.
 Body waves are generated due to the release of energy at the focus and
move in all directions travelling through the body of the earth. Hence,
the name body waves.
 The body waves interact with the surface rocks and generate new set of
waves called surface waves. These waves move along the surface.
 The velocity of waves changes as they travel through materials with
different elasticity (stiffness) (Generally density with few exceptions).
 The more elastic the material is, the higher is the velocity. Their
direction also changes as they reflect or refract when coming across
materials with different densities.
 There are two types of body waves. They are called P and S-waves.
 Also called as the longitudinal or compressional waves.
 Similar to sound waves.
 Particles of the medium vibrate along the direction of
propagation of the wave.
 P-waves move faster and are the first to arrive at the
surface.
 These waves are of high frequency.
 They can travel in all mediums.
 Velocity of P waves in Solids > Liquids > Gases.
 Their velocity depends on shear strength or elasticity of the
material.
 Also called as transverse or distortional waves.
 Similar to water ripples or light waves.
 S-waves arrive at the surface with some time lag.
 A secondary wave cannot pass through liquids or gases.
 These waves are of high frequency waves.
 Travel at varying velocities (proportional to shear strength)
through the solid part of the Earth’s crust, mantle
 Also called as long period waves.
 They are low frequency, long wavelength
 Generally affect the surface of the Earth only and die out at
smaller depth.
 Develop in the immediate neighborhood of the epicenter.
 They cause displacement of rocks, and hence, the collapse of
structures occurs.
 These waves are the most destructive.
 Recoded last on the seismograph.
 Shallow focus earthquake: These earthquakes occur
from the surface to the depth of 70km, they occur in all
seismic belts and produce the largest percentage of
earthquakes.

 Intermediate focus earthquake: They occur between

70 and 300km below the surface of the earth.

 Deep focus earthquake: They occur in the range of

300 to 700km of depth.
 Both the intermediate and deep focus earthquakes are limited
in number and distribution.

 The energy released by an earthquake decreases with

increase in depth. Hence most of the large and destructive
earthquakes have shallow focus.
CONSEQUENCES OF EARTHQUAKES

 Rise and subsidence of land surface.

 Enormous Damage to property.
 Loss of human and animal life.
 Devastating fires, floods and landslides.
 Flash floods. Many a times due to earthquake the dams
and embankments gets ruptured and causes flash floods
resulting in loss of life and property.
 Changes in the river course – teesta river 1787
 Tsunamis.
 Soil liquifaction
 Soil liquefaction occurs when a cohesionless saturated or
partially saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness
in response to an applied stress such as shaking during an
earthquake or other sudden change in stress condition, in
which material that is ordinarily a solid behaves like a liquid.
 The seismic waves travelling through the ocean and sea water
results into high sea waves which are known as tsunamis.
 ‘Tsunami’ is a Japanese term which has been universally
adopted to describe a large seismically generated sea wave.
 These waves are responsible for causing considerable
destruction in certain coastal areas where submarine
earthquakes occur.
Pre – conditions for Tsunami:

 There should be a vertical displacement of the water. i.e.

during earthquake the crust should move vertically. That’s why
Tsunamis are originated near oceanic trenches where plates are
being subducted.

 In Atlantic Ocean, a number of earthquakes occur on Mid –

Oceanic ridge but since there is no sudden vertical movement,
Tsunamis are not formed.

 Tsunamis can also be triggered if seamounts break. This can

cause vertical displacement of water.
 Earth’s major earthquakes occur mainly in belts coinciding
with the margins of tectonic plates.

 Circum-Pacific Belt, which affects many populated coastal

regions around the Pacific Ocean—for example, those of New
Zealand, New Guinea, Japan, the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and
the western coasts of North and South America.
 The Alpine Belt (Himalayas and Alps). The energy released in
earthquakes from this belt is about 15 percent of the world
total. The mid-world mountain belt (Alpine Belt) extends
parallel to the equator from Mexico across the Atlantic Ocean,
the Mediterranean Sea from Alpine-Caucasus ranges’ to the
Caspian, Himalayan mountains and the adjoining lands. This
zone has folded mountains, large depressions and active
volcanoes.

 Mid ocean ridges —including those inthe Atlantic Ocean,

Pacific ocean and the western Indian Ocean—and along the
 Rift valleys of East Africa.
 Old crustal blocs – old and exposed parts of the cratons.
 Earth quake may come through the reactivation of some old
fractures and fault lines.

Peninsular plateaus of India are not devoid of earthquakes

 Latur earthquake 1993 eastern maharashtra

 Bhuj earthquake 2001
 The energy from an earthquake travels through Earth in
vibrations called seismic waves.

 Scientists can measure these seismic waves on instruments

called seismometers.
 The earthquake events are scaled either according to the magnitude
or intensity of the shock.
 The magnitude scale is known as the Richter scale. The magnitude
relates to the energy released during the quake. The magnitude is
expressed in absolute numbers, 0-10.

 Because of the limitations of all the magnitude scales, a new more

uniformly applicable extension of the magnitude scale, known as
moment magnitude, or Mw, was developed. In particular, for
very large earthquakes, moment magnitude gives the most reliable
estimate of earthquake size.
 The intensity scale is named after Mercalli, an Italian
seismologist. The intensity scale takes into account the visible
damage caused by the event. The range of intensity scale is
from 1-12.

 The Mercalli Scale = observable earthquake damage.

 I- V on the Mercalli scale would represent a small amount of
observable damage. As the level rises toward the larger
numbers, the amount of damage increases considerably.

 From a scientific standpoint, the magnitude scale is based

on seismic records while the Mercalli is based on
observable data which can be subjective.

 Thus, the magnitude scale is considered scientifically more

objective and therefore more accurate.
 India in 1964 has developed a modified merally intensity scale
 MSK – 64 ( medvedev – sponheuer – Karnik)
Earthquake in India
 India is one of the highly earthquake affected countries
because of the presence of technically active young fold
mountains - Himalaya.
 India has been divided into four seismic zones (II, III, IV,
and V) based on scientific inputs relating to seismicity,
earthquakes occurred in the past and tectonic setup of the
region.
 Earth quake zonation in india is done by BIS
 Monitoring nodal agency – National centre for seismology
 Isostasy means – a mechanical stability between the
upstanding parts and low lying basins on a rotating earth.
 First proposed by an American Geologist Dutton – 1859

 Principle of balance that explain How landforms,continents

and ocean maintain the equilibrium.
 Pierry bouguer at an expedition in Andes in 1735 found some
anomalies in the gravitational attraction of Mt Chimarazo.
 The gravitational pull was much smaller than that to be
expected from the mass represented by the montain.

 Similar discrepancies were also found in Himalaya.

 Arch deacon prat was referred to condct an investigation

 Himalaya was also not exerting the gravitational pull,
according to its enormous mass
 Possible views -

 The himalayas are made up of bubbles

 The density of the rocks of the mountains would be low-
which an affect the total weight of the mountain.
 Rocks of Himalaya has low density so their attraction is also
low.

 Isostasy principle by sir George Airy & Arch

Deacon Pratt.
Landforms on the earth surface like mountain, plateau plain
etc…maintain a balance by themselves.

The gravitational study conducted by Prat at Kaliana and Kalianpur

and Himalaya and the rock studies conducted at Himalaya an
neighboring plain and fond that

The density of each higher part is less than a lower part.

Mountain < plateau < plain < Ocean floor

This means – there is an inverse relationship between the height of the

relief and density.
 According to Pratt there is a level of Compensation.
 There is a level of compensation above which, the density of
landforms differ but there is no change in density below this
level.
 Density does not change with in one column. It changes from
One column to other.

 Prats concept says – uniform depth with varying density.

 Equal surface area must underlie equal mass along the line of
compensation.
 Column A B C D
 All the column have equal surface area at the line of
compensation. but there is difference in their height.
 Both the column must have equal mass along this line.

For that
 The density of A should be less than density of B,

 So that, the weight of both the column will remain equal at the
line of compensation.
 Pratt says bigger the column lesser the density and smaller the
column greater the density.

 According to Pratt the different relief features are standing

only because of the fact that , their respective mass is equal
along the line of compensation.

 According to pratt, the density varies only in the lithosphere,

not in the Barrysphere or pyrosphere.

 Prats concept was based on the LOW OF COMPENSATION

 According to airy, the crust of lighter material is floating in the
substratum of denser materials - SiAl is Floating in SiMa.

 The Himalayas is floating in the denser magma.

 According to him, Himalayas are not only a surface

phenomenon .
 Himalayas are floating in the denser magma, with maximum
portions sunk in the magma. – principles of floatation.
 If we apply the concept of floatation for a height of 8848 mts,
it has to have a root of around 9 times more in length than the
height of Himalaya.

 Roughly 80000m. 80 km of the crust.

 If the land column above the substratum is larger, its greater

part would be submerged in the substratum. And if the land
column is low its smaller part would be submerged.

 According to Airy, the density of the land – mountains,

plateau, plain doesn’t change according to depth.
 Uniform density with varying thickness.

 The continents are made up of rocks having uniform density

but their thickness or length varies from place to place.
 The continents are made up of mountains plateaus plains
depression basins etc… each of these landforms are of
varying thickness.

 These landforms sunk at varying depth depending on their

length.
 Plate tectonics accept the floatation principle of isostasy
 With some important modifications
 Isostasy theory says – each block is floating independent of
the other block.-movement of one block will not affect the
movement of the other block.
 But tectonics says – the balancing mechanism is not individual
and it is interdependent.
 Earth is like a stretched membrane.
 The disturbance or imbalance in one block will influence the
other block too.
 Eg- water bed like movements.
 The floatation and balancing is because of the behavior of olivine.
 When olivine is pushed/ pressed down – it will move to other part of
the aesthenosphere and a relative upliftment can be expected there.
 When the pressure is removed, the olivine in the mantle flows back
and the place rises, an the other one sinks to create the balance. –
isostatic rebound at the site of unloading

 Though the old mountains are undergoing severe weathering and

erosion, they are not yet flattened completely

 Weathering- erosion – unloading –olivine flows back – uplift--

 Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic
rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after
the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last
glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression.

 Post-glacial rebound and isostatic depression are phases

of glacial isostasy

 The direct raising effects of post-glacial rebound are readily

apparent in parts of Northern Eurasia, Northern
America, Patagonia, and Antarctica.
 Any changes on the surface like
1. Deforestation

2. Mining

3. Quarrying

4. Building constructions

5. Reservoir

will alter the distribution of weight on the earth surface, - when

there is a change comes in the weight of the crustal features, an
isostatic rebalancing is expected.
1. Upstanding old mountains-
despite the higher rate of weathering and erosion, the old
mountains still standing high.
Eg -Scandinavian regions of northern Europe uplift at a rate of
around 1 foot/ annum. – Post pliestocene melting of ice sheet
2. The melting of Arctic an Antarctic ice sheets may trigger
some isostatic readjustment under the mantle, - which
eventually may leads to some disturbances over the crust.
3. Large scale human activities – urbanisation , Clearing of
forest ,Construction of reservoirs etc can trigger earthquakes
andsome kinds of surface readjustments.
 A generally massive and usually steep-sided, raised portion of
the Earth's surface. Mountains can occur as single peaks or as
part of a long chain.

 Block mountain
 Fold mountain
 Volcanic mountain
 Residual mountains
 Mountains as escarpments – edges of plateaus
 Block Mountains are formed due to faults in the
crust, which are planes where rocks have moved past each
other, generating "block mountains". A mountain can be
formed when the rocks on one side of a fault rise relative to
the other. Block mountains, or horsts, are raised blocks.
 Vosges of France
 Black forest Germany
 Western Ghats
Fold mountains
 These are uplifted marine sediments
 Unique to earth in our known solar system
 Forms as parallel series of folds.
 Stratovolcanoes (composite volcanoes) are tall
conical mountains composed of lava flows and tephra in
alternate layers
 Residual mountains are old mountain undergoing
different rates of erosions.
 Mountains at the stage of disintegration.
Mountains as edges of a plateau

 -- escarpments like western Ghats

 Rajmahal hills of chotanagpur plateau.
 The concept of fold mountain and their formations are
mentioned by various scholars.

Harold Jeffery –

 Thermal Contraction Model of Harold Jeffrey. He proposed

mountains as the wrinkles on the Earth surface
formed when the crust was cooling and contracting.
 Continental drift idea of Taylor –

 According to him there were two land masses during creta-

ceous period. 145-65 million years ago
Lauratia and Gondwanaland were located near the north and
south poles respectively.
He further assumed that the continents were made of sial
which was practically absent in the oceanic crust. According to
Taylor continents moved towards the equator and collie to
form the fold mountains.
Wagener's idea of continental drift

 Continental mass made up of SiAl while floating over denser

Ocean made up of SiMa wiped out the sediments on the ocean
floor and resulted the formation of an accumulated marine
sediments.
 Geosynclines are areas of relatively long, narrow, and shallow
structural bends / basins bordered by rigid masses of
continents in both sides.
 These are shallow water bodies with huge sedimentation
deposition from surrounding areas.

 They are NOT

A trench
A rift valley
An erosional valley

 Structural bends due to some

Endogenic forces
 Proposed by Hall and Dana to explain about Fold mountain
formation.

 Mystery of Marine sediments in the continental mountains of

Himalaya, Andes,Tianshan, Hindukush etc…

 These site might have been occupied by a Long Narrow,

Shallow ocean. And later on got developed to a long narrow
mountains like Himalaya.

 But after Plate tectonics the concept is now considered to be

obsolete.
 Important features of Geosynclines

1. They are long narrow shallow depressions

2. Characterized by gradual sedimentation and subsidence.
3. The nature, pattern of the geosynclines have not remained
the same throughout the geological history – the location,
size, shape an extend. Due to earth movements.
4. Mobile zones of water
5. Generally bordered by two rigid masses – Forelands.
 Dana studied the fold mountains, and postulated the sediments of
the fold mountains are of marine origin.
 The sedimentary rocks were deposited in long, Narrow and shallow
seas.
 Defined the geosynclines for the first time –
LONG,NARROW,SHALLOW AND SINKING BEDS OF
SEAS.

 Hall opined the rocks of fold mountains were deposited in shallow

seas.
 The beds of geosynclines are subjected to subsidence due to
continuous sedimentation, but the depth of water in the geosynclines
remains the same.
 According to Hall and Dana the geosynclines had mobile
sinking floor that subsides under the weight of accumulating
sediments.
 Shallow ocean depression between the two rigid land mass
subsides and subsequently another shallow floor will develop.
 The concept of the shallow sinking floor was used to explain
why there are shallow layers of sediment layers in the fold
mountains.
 The beds of geosynclines are subjected to gradual subsidence
because of their gradual sedimentation.
 The form and shape of geosynclines changes with changing
environmental conditions.
1. Geosynclines can be between two landmasses.
2. In front of a mountain or plateau – indo gangetic depression
3. Margins of the continents
4. In front of a river mouth

Irrespective of their location there will be sedimentation and

subsidence
 H. Stille presented a significant classification of geosynclines.

 He divided the earth’s crust into two major divisions called

Cratons and Ortho-geosyncline.

 Cratons are further sub-divided into hochkraton (stable

continental crust) and fiefkraton (stable oceanic crust).

 Ortho-geosyncline are also subdivided into

1. Miogeosynclines and
2. Eugeosynclines.
 EUGEOSYNCLINES are characterized by intermittent
volcanic activity during the process of sedimentation,
whereas MIOGEOSYNCLINES have low volcanic activity.
 The two classes are found side by side separated by a
GEANTICLINE in the middle

 He called the deep water sediments as Flysch

 These larger and deeper geosynclines can have volcanic rocks
called OPHIOLITES – Formation part of volcanic rocks were
not explained.
 Attempted to classify the geosynclines size, location and
evolutionary history.
1. Mono geosynclines – Long narrow but shallow water tracts.
 Situated with in a continent or along the border

 They passes through a single cycle of sedimentation and

mountain building
 Eg. Appalachian

2. Poly geosynclines – relatively long and wider water bodies.

Exist for long time
Undergoes multiple -stages of upliftments.
Eg – Rocky and Ural
3. Meso Geosynclines
Very long narrow and mobile ocean basins covered by
continents in all sides.
Eg. Tethys Geosynclines – Mediterranean sea is the remnant of
TETHYS

 But none of the these concepts explained how the fold

mountains formed from geosynclines.
 Geosynclines are long, deep and narrow water body.
 He postulated that the position of the present day fold
mountains were previously occupied by oceanic tracts.
(geosynclines)
 Geosynclines occupied as mobile zones of water between rigid
masses.

 He located 4 ancient geosynclines

1. Rockies geosynclines
2. Ural geosynclines
3. Tethys Geosynclines
4. And circum pacific Geosynclines.
 According to Haug , there were systematic sedimentation in
the geosynclines.
 Marginal areas of the geosynclines had shallow water because
of the accumulation of sediments and the finest sediments got
deposited at the central parts of the geosynclines.
 The sediments were squeezed and folded into mountain ranges
due to compressive forces coming from the margins of the
geosynclines.

 But the concept of haug was questioned

 German geologist Kober presented his concept in his book
DER BAU DER ERDE.
 Kober not only tried to explain the origin of mountain building
but also tried to explain various aspects of mountain building.

I. The mountain building process starts with the geosynclines

explained by Hall& Dana.
 Geosynclines with in the continent with mobile sinking floor.

II. Either side of the Geosynclines was bordered with

CRATOGENS – hard and rigid continental blocks.
III. There are a series of stages through which a Geosynclines
transform into a Fold mountian.

1. Geosynclinal stage – sediments with mobile sinking floor

2. Stage of lithogenesis – the sediments get compacted and
form Sedimentary rocks
3. Stage of tectogenesis – stage of internal changes with in the
rocks
the rocks may develop cracks, fault , volcanic features-
results ophiolite formation
IV. Orogeneti stage- The fold mountain forms with the
upliftment of sediments.
 According to Kober, the Geosynclinal sediments got uplifted
because of the compressive force associated with the
CRATOGENS.
 COMPRESSIVE FORCE with in the cratogen is coming
from the thermal contraction process explained by Harold
Jeffry.
 When the superheated expanded earth surface cools, due to
radiative heat loss – the earth surface start to contract.
 When the surface cracks filled with sediments start to contract
due to the compressive force produced by the thermal
contraction, the sediments get uplifted and formed the fold
mountains.
 According to Kober there are two ways the compressive force
action and formation of fold mountains.
1. Weak & Moderate Compressive force.
The sediments at the edges of the geosynclines get squeezed
slowly and get uplifted in to fold mountains.
Here the central part of the geosynclines is called as –
Median mass

Median mass can be a plateau,depression,plain etc..

Eg Tibetan plateau
 Carpathian – Hungary plains – Caucus mountain
II. Strong compressive force
When strong compressive forces are acting, the Geosynclinal sediments get
accumulated and creates a series of folds with alternative ups and downs.
 Results the formation of parallel mountains.
 Here there is no Median mass formation.

 Kunlunshan montain
 Karakoram
 Ladak
 Zaskar
 Himadri
 Himachal
 Shiwalik
V. Glyptogenesis stage
 The residual stage of mountain

 Where, weathering and erosion takes the role.

 Aravally, Eastern Ghats, Appalachian etc…

Geosynclinal concepts were rejected and the new theory of plate
tectonics came up with a more convincing explanation for the
formation of Fold mountains.

FOLD mountains are the result of Lithospheric plate

collission/convergences.

Fold mountains are the uplifted accretionary wedges associated

with the subduction/under thrusting of one plate below the other
plate.
 Ocean vs continents.

 Denser ocean plate collide with lighter continental plate –

accumulation of oceanic sediments – accretionary wedge-
subduction of the ocean plate upliftment and compaction of
accretionary wedges-

 Rockies, Andes mountains -

 Continent vs continent

 Collision of the lighter continental plates.

 Underthrusting – greater compressive force
 Himalayan ranges
 Ocean vs ocean
 collission of equal density ocean plate,
 May result unedrwater fold mountains – but no fold mountains
have emerged of this kind.
  Appalachian - Around 480 million years ago
 Aravally - 1.8 billion years ago
 Ural - between 250 and 300 million years ago

online-pdf-no-copy.com
 Landforms are a consequences of the interaction between the
endogenic forces and exogenic forces

 Landform analysis in the field of geomorphology started with

Exogenic studies in 1850s.
 Endogenic studies were actively started during and post world
period
 First comprehensive theory regarding the evolution of
landforms was given by an American Geomorphologist- WM.
Davis
 He tried to bring out a theory which
gives a more comprehensive
explanation regarding the origin
evolution and the future end of
landforms

 But in reality he did not explain the

process associated with Endogenic
forces.

 It was considered as a Historical

approach of land form studies.
Davis was highly influenced by 2 scholars.

I. James Hutton – the cyclical concept in geology was

put forward by Hutton 1785. – cyclical nature of
earth history.

II. Charles Darwin

I. James Hutton - Proponent of Uniformitarianism -

- PRESENT IS THE KEY TO THEPAST -

Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or

the Uniformitarian Principle, is the assumption that

THE SAME NATURAL LAWS AND PROCESSES THAT

OPERATE IN OUR PRESENT-DAY SCIENTIFIC
OBSERVATIONS HAVE ALWAYS OPERATED IN THE
UNIVERSE IN THE PAST AND APPLY EVERYWHERE IN
THE UNIVERSE
 The geological processes that operate today, also operated in
the geological past also but with varying pace and intensity.
 This concept became the basis of all historical studies
 Where the present was used to unlock the past.
 According to this principle, everything is running in a cycle
– there is no start – and there is no End.

 The last sentence of James Hutton's Theory of the

Earth concludes, 'The result, therefore, of our present
enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning, - no
prospect of an end. ' (Hutton 1788.)

 This was one of the basic concept of WM Davis theory.

II. Darvins idea of evolution of life

 There is no catastrophic beginning for anything, everything

require a process and evolution to develop.

 Davis borrowed the concept and stated

 Just as how life forms evolved the landforms are also

evolved slowly and gradually.
WM Davis was the first geomorphologist to present a
general theory on landform development.

 His theory was a culmination of a series of concept proponed

by himself
1. Complete cycle of river life
2. Geographical cycle
3. Slope evolution
Davis postulated the concept of Geographical cycle/ cycle of
erosion in 1899 to give a genetic classification and systematic
description of landforms.
Objectives of Davisian model of geographical cycle &
General theory of landform development

 To provide a basis for a systematic description and genetic

classification of landforms.

 In a uniform external condition, Landform changes in an

orderly manner as processes operate through time.
 Geographical cycle is a period of time, during which an
uplifted landmass undergoes its transformation by the
process of land sculpture ending into a low featureless
plain or peneplain. _ peneplane.

 Davis says – three factors – STRUCTURE,

PROCESS AND STAGES play an important role in
the origin an development of landforms of a
particular place. TRIOS OF DAVIS
Lithological and structural characters
 Type of rock –
 Mineral composition

 Porous, non porous

 Permeable/impermeable
 Texture – hard or soft

 Formation of cracks, joints etc…

 All the operations and mechanisms operating on the
landforms.
 the action of exogenic forces on the landforms – weathering –
erosion processes
 Agents of erosion acting on rocks.
 Weathering – erosion- deposition

Landform is a product of process – endogenic & exogenic

 Landform is a product of process

 All the operations and mechanisms that are acting on the land
forms

Endogenetic force
1. Plate tectonics, volcanism etc…
Exogenetic force –
1. Weathering and erosion

But Davis did not explain the endogenic force in detail

 Stands for TIME
 Landform changes as the human life evolves
 Changes are
 Sequential
 Gradual
 Progressive
 And predictable
The credit for incorporating TIME in landform studies goes to
DAVIS.

He focused more on the TIME aspect rather than the other

two.
I. Landforms are the evolved products of the interactions of
endogenetic forces originating from with in the earths
interiors and exogenetic forces originating within the
atmosphere.
II. Evolution of landforms take place in an orderly manner -
systematic development through time in response to an
environmental change.
III. Streams erode their valleys rapidly downward until the
graded condition is achieved.
IV. There is a short period rapid rate of upliftment in landmass.
V. Erosion does not start until the upliftment is complete./
upliftment and erosion do not go hand in hand.
 Cycle begins with the upliftment of landforms
 There is a rapid rate of upliftment of a homogenous surface
with in a short period of time. ( preparatory stage of cycle)
 In the graph UC denotes – UPPER CURVE – Represent the
hilltops or the crest of water divide – absolute relief from
mean sea level.
 LC- lover curve stands for valley floor lowest relief from
mean sea level.

 The horizontal line indicate Time

 Vertical line indicate Altitude.
 AC denotes – Maximum absolute relief
 BC denotes – initial average relief.
 Initial relief is defined as the difference between Upper curve/
summits of water divide and valley floor of a landmass.

 ADG line denotes BASE LEVEL of erosion which represent

the sea level.
 No river cant erode beyond ADG/BASELEEVEL.
 BASE LEVEL IS THE LIMIT OF MAXIMUM VERTICAL
EROSION by the river.
 The upliftment of the landmass stops after attaining C.

 As the upliftment phase complete (the preparatory stage of

land form evolution) not included in the cycle.
 Now Erosion starts, and the whole cycle passes through –

1. Youth
2. Mature
3. Old stages
 Erosion starts after the completion of upliftment
 Rivers engage in active erosion. – vertical erosion and
headward erosion
 Vertical erosion lead to valley deepening
 Headward erosion leads to the valley lengthening.
 Summits of the water divides are not affected by this mode of
erosion.
 Headward erosion leads to the STREAM LENGTHENIG–

 Because of the steep slopes and steep channel gradients, rivers

actively deepens their basins through POTHOLE driling.
 And deepen their valleys – VALLEY DEEPENING
Youth stage is characterized by Rapid rate of vertical erosion
and valley deepening.

1. The channel gradients is very steep

2. Steep channel gradients increases the velocity and kinetic
energy of the river flow.
3. Increased channel gradients and flow velocity increases the
transporting capacity of the river.
4. High transporting capacity allows rivers to carry huge
boulders. (deepen the valley floor)
5. Lower curve falls rapidly because of the increased rate of
vertical erosion.
 But the Upper curve (summits of water divide)remains the
same – because the erosion is not affecting the summits.

 Here the relative relief continue to increase till the end of

youth stage. And maximum relative relief is attained at the end
of the youth stage.
 Absolute height – CF remains constant – water divide summits
are not affected by erosion - lateral erosion is insignificant.
 Upper curve representing summits of water divide is not
affected by erosion.
 Lower curve falls rapidly because of active vertical erosion –
done by swift flowing river - valley deepening
 Active vertical erosion and valley deepening increases the
relative relief
 Valleys are V shaped, characterized by convex valley side
slopes.
 River results deep gorges.
 Here the summits of the water divides are also eroded (active
lateral erosion)
 Erosion of the water divides causes a fall in the Upper
curve - so there is a marked fall in the absolute relief.
 Because of a substantial drop in the channel gradients, flow
velocity and carrying capacity the Vertical erosion is
remarkably reduced
 Thus absolute relief and relative relief continue to
decrease.
 Mature stage is marked by active lateral erosion and well
integrated drainage network
 Active lateral erosion leads to valley widening, which
transforms the V shaped valleys of the youthful stage into
wide valleys with uniform valley sides.
 There is rapid rate of decrease in Absolute relief as well as
Relative relief.
( active lateral erosion with No Vertical erosion)

 Characterized by almost absence of vertical erosion and valley

deepening

 But lateral erosion continue to exist and the summits of the

water divide are eroded rapidly.
 Upper curve falls rapidly
 The valley become almost flat
 The entire landscape is dominate by graded valley sides with
1. Extensive flood plains
2. Meanders
3. Monadnocks
4. Undulating plains with extreme low relief

 Ultimately leads to the development of featureless

PENEPLAIN.
 WM Davis got world wide recognition for the theory and
geomorphologists throughout the world applied the concept of
Davis in their investigations.

 It was in prominence since 1899 to 1950

 Davis model was simple and applicable
 Presentation of the theory was highly appreciated because of
its simplistic language but with great command in the concept.
 Theory was based on careful field observation. USA
 Came after a long gap after Hutten’s cyclical nature of earth
history.
 Davis incorporated the concept of Base level and genetic
classification of river valleys, the concept of graded streams of
GK Gilbert etc..
 Model can be used to predict the future development and
historical evolution of landforms.
 According to plate tectonics upliftment and mountain building
process is very slow and not like what explained by Davis –
RAPID RATE OF UPLIFTMENT OF SHORT DURATION.
 Davis concept of Upliftment and Erosion is incorrect- erosion
starts only after the completion of upliftment
But he later accepted he did it deliberately to make the concept
simple.
Erosion is insignificant at the time of upliftment
 Davisian model demands long time of crustal stability for the
completion of the cycle of erosion – such eventless long
period is tectonically not acceptable.
 Davis explanation – if tectonic activity comes in between
one cycle of erosion stops and a fresh cycle will start after
the tectonic disturbances.
 Walther Penk criticised Davis model – for giving more
emphasis of time. Davis stands for time dependent model of
landform development whereas Penk stands for Time
independent model of landform development.
 AN Strahler, JT Hack and RJ Chorley have rejected the
davisian cycle of historical evolution of landforms.
 They proposed the dynamic equilibrium theory of
landform development
 Dynamic equilibrium theory is a non cyclical explanation of
landform development.

 Though in the beginning Davis said Landform is a product of

Structure, process and stages (time) he gave more emphasis
on stages/time
Davisian concept of Grade in terms of ability to work and the
work that need to be done was criticized.

 Davis said in the initial stage the available energy is more than
needed to transport the sediments.
 Thus the river utilized this excess energy to erode the valley.
 As the river valley deepened, the sediment supply for
transportation increased.
 and now the available energy and required energy for sediment
transportation become equal. And reaches in an equilibrium
 But criticics said the equilibrium concept was not
explained in detail.
 Landform development is sequential in all the places. Youth
stage landforms may see in some mature stage.
 He failed to address the role of vegetation in the in the process
of landform development.
 Greater focus was given to role of erosion but little focus was
given to eposition.
DIE MORPHOLOGISCHE ANALYSE 1924
 Penk’s cycle of erosion
or
Morphological systems
or
Morphological analysis of landscape
development
 Walther Penk rejected the Davisian model of geographical
cycle based on time dependent series of landform
development.
 And presented his own idea – Morphological
system/Morphological analysis

 He kept away the cyclical concept of evolution of landforms

 Penk : THE LANDFORMS OF A GIVEN REGION ARE

RELATED TO THE TECTONIC ACTIVITY OF THAT
REGION.
The landforms reflects the ratio between the intensity of
endogenetic processes and the magnitude of displacement of
materials by exogenetic processes

The rate of upliftment – endogenic force

vs
The rate of erosion and removal of materials – exogenic

(diastrophic process – endogenetic related slower upliftment)

Objectives

 To explain the landform development on the basis of exogenic

processes and morphologial characteristics.

 To present a time independent model of landscape

development.
1. The morphological characteristics of any region of the earth
surface is the result of competition between crustal
movements and denudation process.
2. Landscape development is time independent
3. Tectonic movements can be explained by observing the
characteristics of the landscape.
4. Upliftment and erosion always coexist
Penk presented the development of landforms without
mentioning about stages/ time

Instead of that he used a term

ENTWICKLEUNG = DEVELOPMENT
 The initial upliftment begins with regional updoming and the
landform development passes through the following 3
PHASES

1. AUFSTEIGENDE ENTWICKLEUNG -
Phase of waxing – accelerating rate of landform
development
2. GLEICHFORMIGE ENTWICKLEUNG - Uniform
development of landforms (Sub phases – A,B,C)
3. ABSTEIGENDE ENTWICKLEUNG - Wanning
development of landforms - lowering
 Landscape development begins with the upliftment of
primarumpf – initial landscape with low height/featureless
plain/ featureless broad landscape.

Varying rate of upliftment take place in primarumpf

 In the beginning the rate of upliftment was so slow and
gradual and thereafter the rate of upliftment got accelerated.
i. Aufsteigende entwickelung
(phase of waxing – accelerated rate of landform development)

The initial upliftment of landforms starts slowly from the

Primarumpf. In the beginning it was slow, but later it gain pace
and shows an accelerated rate of upliftment.

Because of the upliftment and consequent increase in channel

gradient – flow velocity of the rivers increases – fast flowing
river with high kinetic energy degrade the valley floor – through
vertical erosion / vertical down cutting.
 Active down cutting and valley deepening results in the
formation of deep and narrow V shaped valleys
 As the rate of upliftment continue to increase the absolute
height of the relief increases.
 The altitude of divide summit as well as the valley bottom
continue to increase as the rate of upliftment far exceeds the
rate of vertical erosion.
 Due to this high rate of upliftment, the channel gradient
become steeper – and streams actively undercut the valley
floor.
 Thus both absolute height (maximum relief) and
relative relief increases.
ii. Gleichformige Entwickelung
(Uniform development of landform)

This phase is subdivided into 3 – A,B,C on the basis of rate of

upliftment and degradation.
Phase A – characterized by accelerated rate of upliftment.

Absolute height still increase – because the rate of erosion of

the summit is still less than the rate of upliftment.

Upliftment of divide summit > Erosion at the divide summit

Altitude of both summits and valley floor continue to

increase but at a relatively lower rate than in the phase of
Aufsteigende / WAXING phase.
 Maximum altitude is attained but relative relief remain
constant, Because of the rate of valley deepening equals the
rate of lowering of the divide summits.

 So this phase is known as phase of uniform development.

 Due to uniform rate of valley deepening and lowering of
divide summit.

# Valley deepening = Erosion at the divide summit #

Phase B

 Absolute relief neither increase nor decrease because, here the

upliftment is equal to lowering of the summits due to erosion.

#Upliftment of divide summit = Erosion of divide summit#

 Relative relief also remain constant because, the rate of

erosion at the summit is equal to the rate of valley deepening.

# Rate of erosion at the valley summit = rate of valley

deepening#
 The slopes of valley sides are still straight –because of slope
replacement.
 This phase is characterized by constant absolute and relative
relief
Phase C
 Upliftment of the land stops completely
 Absolute relief or altitude of the summit start decreasing
continuously – because of absence of upliftment and
continued erosion of summits.

#NO UPLIFTMENT – EROSION AT THE SUMMIT ACTIVE#

 Relative relief remain constant –because the rate of lowering

at the mountain summit is equal to the rate of degradation
at the valley floor.
Absteigende entwickelung – phase of wanning

Development of landscape during which the Landscape is

progressively dominated by lateral erosion and consequent
valley widening and marked decrease in the rate of valley
deepening through vertical down cutting.

This phase is marked by progressive decline of landforms.

Absolute relief decline remarkably because of total absence of

upliftment and continued erosion at the divide summit.
 The continued erosion at the divide summits results in the
decrease of relative relief.

 Because, erosion at the summit decreases its altitude, this

reduces the kinetic energy of streams that leads to a lower rate
of down cutting.

 Slope replacement of the valley slope sides still continue

 The upper most segment maintain its steep angle in spite of

continuous lowering of ridge crest. This slope is called as
Gravity slope or Boschungen.
 The lower segment of valley side is called as wash slope or
Haldenhang.

 Continued erosion of gravity slope leads to the formation of

Inselberg.

 Gradually the inselberg also undergoes erosion and the whole

landscape will be dominated by a series of concave wash slope
– Haldenhang - this phase is called as Endrmpf.
1. Penks model was originally written in German and published
after his death.
2. In the beginning it was not correctly interpreted by the
English translators.

3. It was severely criticized in USA

4. Penk’s system of parallel retreat was the major area of
criticism.
5. Earlier translation of penk’s work revealed that he believed
in parallel retreat – but later updates says he believed in
slope replacement, where in each upper slope unit of hill
slope is replaced by a lower slope unit of gentler slope.
 Penks concept of slope development and weathering surely
deserve appreciation.
 Penk denied any climatic control of geomorphic processes
other than glaciations , believing that tectonics alone
determined landform assemblage.
 Penks concept of slope development and weathering processes
are of much geomorphological significance.
 DAVIS PENCK
Davis cycle, landforms are the result landforms are the result of the ratio
of Davis trios which are the structure, between the intensity of endogenic and
process, and stages exogenic forces.
Erosion cycle starts only after the Upliftment and erosional act
upliftment of landform stoped. simultaneously in the Penck cycle.
three stages in the Davis Cycle of there are five stages in the Penck Cycle
erosion namely youth, mature, and of erosion namely Primarumpf,
old stage. Aufsteigende, Gleichforminge,
Absteigende, and Endrumpf.
The end product of the Davis Cycle is The end product of the Penck cycle is
Peneplain. Pedeplain

Davis's cycle of landform Penck cycle of erosion is not time-

development is time-dependent. dependent.

landform development is in form of landform development is in form of

"slope decline"; for example "V" "slope replacement" where a free face
shaped valley gets converted to a "U" slope and convex slope get replaced to
shaped valley and then a featureless rectilinear slopes, rectilinear slopes get
peneplain. replaced with concave slope.
Historical approach of landform Rejected historical approach of
analysis landform analysis

Time dependent model Reject the concept of cycle

Stage based evolution of landforms Rejected evolution of the landforms.

Stages are sequential Three phases are not sequential

Open system approach

Unidirectional Not unidirectional

Future prediction of landforms Non predictable

 Slope is the segment of inclination
 They are the facets of inclination of
landforms
 Types of slope

I. Slope based on the process

1. Endogenic slope
internal slope
due to internal volcanic activities or tetnoc
activities
1. Exogenic slope
caused by exogenic agents weathering,
erosion
II. Slope based on location

1. Intrusive slopes
2. Extrusive slopes
III. Types of denudation slope

 Erosion slope – slope development ue to

degradation of land
 Depositional slopes- slope development due
to Aggraation
IV. Slope on the basis of Angle

Convex slope – slopes on which the slope angle decreases with

increasing height
Slope angle is always acute
Concave slope
 The slope angle increases with height
Rectilinear slope
 Slope angle remain constant with height.
Scarp face slope

 A type of rectilinear slop, where the slope angle remain 90

degree.
landform around us is a mixture of different types of slope.

Convex – concave - scarp slope – concave

There are different approaches in slope study

 Different schools have interpreted slope forming factors

differently.

 More erosion – steeper the slope

 Same rate of erosion – convex slope
 Same rate of erosion – concave slope
 Deposition of materials make the slope more concave
 Davis approach of slope study
 Structure-stage- time based analysis of slopes
 Adopt cyclical approach of slope study

 Slope is a function of time

 Youth – convex slope

 Mature - rectilinear slope
 Old – concave slope

Least bothered about Endogenic process that affect the slope

development.
Focus is the exogenic process – time dependent model.
 Penck model
 Slope is a function of Process,Rocks lithology And structure
 More comprehensive and accommodative analysis of slope
development
 No slope is a function of only a single process.
 Slopes are polygenetic – involved by 3 or 4 processes.
 Different processes altogether can lead to the creation of one
slope.
 Process generally are very slow.
 In process studies of slope there are two streams

I. TIME
 Earlier process approach of slope study was time independent –
penck
 Penck’s analysis of slope was time independent. But scholars like JT
Hack and Schuum opined time is important in slope analysis.

II. CLIMATE ROLE

 Penck opined – climate is very important.
 Peltier and Budgel opines – every climate creates its own landforms
and slopes.

 Unique landforms is also called as Diagnostic landforms

 Pediment – arid climatic landform
 Inselberg arid
 V shaped valley – river created landforms
 I shaped valley – River
 U shaped valley – Glacier.
 Climate is not important.
LC kings idea.
Climatic uniformitarianism
 Same landforms can be created in different climates.

 V shaped valley created by a river can be seen in wet, arid

semi arid climates.
 SLOPE DECLINE MODEL / DOWN WASTING
MODEL

 Part of historical approach

 Landform or slope evolved according to the passage of stages/
time

 Every stage has its own characteristic slopes

 Youth – convex
 Mature – rectilinear slope
 Old – concave
Davis mechanism of slope evolution is
SLOPE DELINE or DOWN WASTING MODEL

 Where a steep slope evolves into gentle slope with time.

 And the slope evolution happens from

TOP TO BOTTOM
And according to this approach, every stage has its own slope.
A mountain passes through

Youth mature and old stages

It evolves from convex to rectilinear to concave slopes.

Youth stage – steep slopes

Old stage – gentle slope – Concave slope.

As time passes, the slope evolve from – top to bottom

Convex to rectilinear.
SLOPE REPLACEMENT MODEL
 Time independent model
 Slopes are a function of the endogenic and exogenic processes.
 Penk had considered
 Role of rocks
 Role of structure of mountain
 Role of initial slope
 Penks dea of slope replacement was considered as slope
retreat or parallel retreat or back wasting model.
 But latest translation mentioned it as SLOPE
REPLACEMNT.
 According to slope replacement model slope development
happens from bottom to top.
 Changes are time independent
 Steep slopes are replaced by gentle slopes from below
 The gentle slope grow at the expense of the steep slopes.
 In the initial slope replacement, the landforms was able
to maintain the height.
 Second phase of replacement the height of the
mountain may get affected.
 Hugh altitudinal mountains become low mountains
from bottom to top.

 Initial ABCD slope is replaced by

 A-B1,B1-C1,C1-D1
 A-B2,B2-C2,C2-2 …
 The altitude of the mountain may not get changed in the initial
phase of slope replacement.
 Both older and younger landform an produce steeper slopes.
slope reduction or redution of the gradient of the slope is not
necessary with time.
 River does not perform the role of erosion. Rivers are only
transportation agents.
 Instead of the Davisian model of river erosion – river
transportation here the rivers are only transporting agents.
 Mountain slope get exposed to high rate of expansion and
contraction/ chemical dis integration/ disintegrations caused
by biological agents- thus the rock start its active weathering
and get disintegrate into minute rock fragments and grains.
 In the penckian model the river flows through the valley
bottom an remove the weathered load from bottom.
 When the weathered load is transported by the rivers, the
overlying load will fall down.
 Which is called as BASAL SAPPING.
 The weathering of the mountain slope is affected by various
factors
1. Type of rocks
2. Expansion and contraction of rocks
3. Biological agents/chemical agents
 For Penck, river is only a transporting agent. Perform the role
of removal of sediments from the base of the slope.
 The type of slope depends on the type of integrations between
Endogenic and exogenic forces.

 If the upliftment caused by endogenic force is active over

erosion – convex slopes will be created. – phase of waxing
 If the rate of upliftment is equal to rate of erosion, then –
slopes are straight –rectilinear slopes. Phase of uniform
development
 If the rate of erosion is more than the rate of upliftment –
concave slopes will e produced. – phase of wanning
 Slope retreat model
Parallel retreat model
Back wasting model
Theory of pediplanation
Epigene cycle of erosion.
 Popular as the Armchair Geographer.
 Belongs to south africa
 And published his model of slope development in 1940s
 Combined the concepts of Davis, Penck and others and
presented his model.
 Combined the role of stage,cycle,evoltion of Davis with the
bottom – up Changes of Penck.
 Cycle and stages of Davis
 Basal sapping and bottom top slope development of Penck

 In LC Kings moel thereis an additional concept – the vertical
steep scarp face. – idea borrowed from A. Woods model.
 Brrowed davis Normal cycle of erosion but applied it
differently – LC King normal ycle was based on semi Arid
lands of Africa.- the Savannahs.
 LC king explains the slope changes happens through 2 ways
1. Scarp retreat
2. Pediplanation
the above processes operate as

1. Steep sided slopes are replaced by gentle slopes of below.

2. The slope angle and slope length do not change except the
Bottom one.
3. The slopes remain parallel
4. The lower most slope become gentle and elongated, but not
at the cost of the other overlying slopes.
1. The final slope, which is very gentle and elongated is called
as – Pediplain.

The initial slope is A-B-C-D

Slope retreat from bottom –top
No change occurs in the height of the landform for a
longer time.
BC parallel to B1-C1,B2 –C2 , B3-C3
CD parallel to C1-D1,C2-D2,C3-D3
DAVIS PENCK LC KING
Evolution based – Slope is function of Clubbed the works of
stages / time interactions between Davis-Penk-woods
endogenic and
exogenic processes.
Slope changes Exogenic- role of Normal cycle of
according to time weathering an role of savannah – dry land –
Youth – convex river ( transportation) faster retreat of model
Mature – rectilinear – basal sapping
Old - concave
Slope decline/down Bottom to top Ideas of stage, cycle
wasting model Gentle slopes change.
replacing steep slopes.
Historical approach Waxing phase – River –basal sapping
convex slope Slope development
Uniform development from bottom – top
–rectilinear slope
Wanning phase –
concave
Slope replacement. Scarp face – woods is
necessary, with
uniform rate of
removal of sediments.
 Denudation chronology means, reconstruction of denudation
history of a given region.
Based on historical or chronological approach.

 The primary goal of this approach is to reconstruct the

denudation history of a region – denudation chronology
 This method was popular in British school of geomorphology

 The landforms were studied and their age were identified and
made a sequential arrangement of landforms in terms of their
age.
 Denudation chronology was widely used by WM Davis,
 This method is an example of Macro geomorphology study.
 It has some limitations of gross generalization.
 The almost plain topographical surfaces, having undulating
ground surface and remnant low relief caused by dynamic
actions of denudation processes and cutting across geological
formations and structures are called as Erosion surface.

 Erosion or planation surface are very old landforms which are

the basis of developing the denudation chronology of a place.

 They are old hard resistant features that preserve

the imprints of past processes (like old
manuscripts – called palimpsest)using which the
geological history of a place can be reconstructed.
 Both denudation chronology and erosional surface studies are
based on the principles of UNIFORMITARIANISM.
 And are relevant in Historical reconstruction of landforms.
Features of an Ideal erosion surfaces
 Flat or near flat erosion plains, formed very close to the base
level – peneplain, pediplains, plains of marine erosion etc…
 Extensive surface of planation
 Flat hard rocky terrain

 Erosion surface may have different types of rocks, but there

wont be much relief differences.
 Most of the erosion surfaces are much eroded, deformed,
submerged under water or covered under sediments.
 The quaternary ice age had destroyed much of the erosional
surfaces.

 So for the historical reconstruction of the geological past, we

have very limited erosional surfaces are available.

 Eg Adi Ronduck hills US

 Bundelkhan regions
 parts of telungana plateau
 Uaipur regions of Aravally.
 Identification techniques of erosional surface

 In reality identifying erosional surface are not that easy

 Much of the surfaces are modified,
deformed,destroyed,submerged and are not accessible.
 The technique of identifying erosional surface – analysing the
height of the topography above sea level
 If a certain height is most commonly repeated – it must e an
erosional surface.

 HEIGHT CORRELATION TECHNIQUES are used to

identify erosional surface

 Spot height
 Altimetric frequency curve
 Profiling techniques
1. SPOT HEIGHT
 Find out the height of a terrain at a regular interval.

 Plot it on a frequency table

 The most frequently repeating altitude will be height of

Erosion surface.

Height frequency
50 35
100 202
150 15
200 5
2. ALTIMETRIC FREQUENCY CURVE

When the spot heights are analyzed by plotting a histogram.

PROFILE TECHNIQUE
cross section of a topography at a regular interval is taken and
the cross sections are depicted graphically.

Which ever height have the maximum overlap and are relatively
flat – erosional surface
Types of profiles

 Serial profile – separate lines are used one after another

 Superimposed profile – all the lines are depicted together.
 Projected profile – projections of the relief features can be
seen.
 Composite profile – only the higher most points are shown
 Landforms are the complex features on land and with in the
earth crust.

1. Caused by Endogenic forces and exogenic processes

2. Other factors like
 Rock type

 Type of slope

 Role of altitude

3. Climatic factors
4. Time
5. Plate tectonics
6. Isostatic changes
7. Anthropogenic factors.
 Study of landforms that are created by river flow – channel
morphology
 Channel – narrow and swift flowing stream
 Morpho – shapes
 Logy – study
 River valleys – the narrow depression through which the river
is flowing

 River profile – it is the description about the river from its

source to its mouth.
 source – glacier, aquifers, lakes etc…
 When they originate from the source – rivulets
 Based on the velocity of the water flow, river profile is divided
into 3 stages

1. Upper course - Youth

2. Middle course - Mature
3. Lower course - Old
 River in its mountain course
 Steep slope gradient
 High velocity flow
 More rocky substances in the flow
 Greater abrasion of the valley floor
 Rolling rocks – grind the floor – leads to vertical erosion –
valley deepening
 V – shaped valleys will be created
 Starts from the foothills of the mountains- where the river
enters into the plains -
 More tributaries joints with the river
 Low slope gradient makes the flow slow, more water get into
the system, more suspended sediments.
 Suspended sediments with in the water creates lateral abrasion
and resulted valley widening
 Vertical erosion is passive.
 V shaped valleys – transformed into U shaped valley
 Low slope gradient makes the flow slow, more water get into
the system, more suspended sediments.
 Maximum volume of water
 Increased load of suspended sediments
 Velocity of the flow is so low.
 Vertical erosion is absent, lateral erosion at a lower phase.
 More suspended particles – lateral erosion
 U shaped valley of middle course get turned into Discordant
valley.
1. Channel geometry – river valley and its description
2. Channel fluid dynamics – flowing water
3. Hydraulic geometry- the sediments carried
Channel depth – channel depth varies from place to place, but
the deepest point is considered as VALLEY DEPTH
Deepest parts of the river floor is called as – River bed.

The angle river bed makes with the river valley is called as the
Transverse slope
 If the transverse slope is > 45 degree – steep river
valley.
 If the transverse slope is <45 degree – gentle
valley.

 Transverse slope of the river decreases as we move

from Upper course to Lower course.

V shape valley – U shaped valley – DISCORDANT

Channel width

 If the river water flows its full capacity or more than 80% -
FULL BANK FLOW
 If the river water flow is less than its 80% of the full capacity,
- UNDERBANK FLOW.
 If the water flows above the full capacity – OVER BANK
FLOW- FLOODS.
 So Full bank flow is considered as DANGER MARK.
River beds

 River beds are mainly 2 types

 Rocky river bed – bare rocky surface without alluvial

deposition – appears in the upper course
 Alluvial river bed - more alluvial deposition – rocky surface
is not visible. – appears in the middle and lower course.
Channel slope

1. Transverse slope
2. Longitudinal slope.

Transverse slope is the angle that the river bed makes

with the valley slope.
Longitudinal slope

 The angle measured between the source and mouth of a river.

 Hire the altitude of the source – higher will be the slope angle
– longitudinal slope will be low.
 Lower the altitude of the source – lower will be the slope
angle – longitudinal slope will be low.
 Higher the source of the river – higher will be the longitudinal
slope.
 Higher the longitudinal slope, higher will be the velocity of
the river flow.
 Higher the velocity of river flow, river can carry more
sediments , more rocky materials.
 Which can accelerate, vertical erosion.
 Higher the vertical erosion, higher will be the depth of the
river floor.
 So higher the source of the river – deeper will be river bed.
 So longitudinal slope determines the depth of the river bed.

 Himalayan and peninsular rivers.

Transverse slope

Vertical erosion and valley deepening influences the depth

of the river bed.
The angle made by the river bed with the valley slope is
called as – Transverse slope.

Vertical erosion is influence by the longitudinal slope.

So, higher the longitudinal slope, deeper will be the river
bed. Deeper the river bed, higher the transverse slope.

Transverse slope is determined by longitudinal slope.

Line or curve of lowest elevation with in a valley.
Under international law, a thalweg is taken to be the middle of
the primary navigable channel of a waterway that defines the
boundary line between entities such as states, nations.

Demarcated by dividing the river channel into a number of

individual segments, and find out the deepest points. And
connect them to find the valley thawed.
 Velocity of flow
Water in the
river
Discharge of
water
 Velocity of the river – can be calculated by putting and object
in the river.

 Velocity of water flow is more towards the centre of the river

channel – where the lateral friction from the banks is absent.
 And the average is taken as the velocity of the river flow.
 Discharge – volume of water.
 It is the volume of water a river drains into the sea or oceans in
a unit time.

 Discharge of river is measured in Cusecs.

 Channel type
Hydraulic
geometry
Channel
pattern
Sediment
load
Channel type

Effluent channel – Perennial river – water is there throughout

the year.
Seen in humid regions

Influent channel- Rain fed rivers – water can be seen only in

limited seasons.
Seen in Arid regions.
Channel pattern
It talks about the shape of the river channel.

1. Non sinuous channel – straight channel flow - stable

2. Sinuous channel – meandering channel flow – unstable
Sediment load

The sediments river carries from the source up to the mouth

causes several processes while flowing along with the water.

1. Abrasion
2. Hydraulic action
3. Dissolution
4. Attrition
 Abrasion – the process of scraping the floor and sidewalls.

 Hydraulic action – its direct collision of water with the side

rocks.

 Dissolution – water dissolve minerals in the rocks

 Attrition – process in which the sediments collide with each

other.
 Dissolved
 Suspended
 Bed sediments/ bed load
 Movements of bed sediments –
Sediments rolling over the floor is called as Traction.
 Due to the greater friction exerted by the rolling gravels.

 When small rock pieces jump and fall on the river floor – it is
called as Saltation.
 Landforms
Features created
by river flow
Geographical
phenomenon
Erosional landforms

 Meandering
 River avulsion
Meanders formation.

 Observed in the middle and lower course

 Develop according to the direction of the wind with respect to
river flow.

 Develops where the wind and water flow is perpendicular to

each other.
Four stages of meander formation

1. Development of an oblique channel

2. Erosion due to hydraulic action
3. Deposition of sediments on the opposite side.
4. Development of depositional banks adjacent to erosional
banks.
 The curvature of the meander increases with time.
 The tendency of meandering – sinuosity

 Sinuosity index = actual length of the river / air length of the

river

 Sinuosity index increases when the real length of the river is

greater than air length.
 As the time passes the sinuosity index of the streams
increases.

 Older the river – more wind action – more erosion and

deposition on the banks of the river – river meanders –
senousity index increases.

 Senousity index is <1 = river is straight

 Sinuosity index = 1.05 to 1.5 = stream at mild
meandering
 If senousity index is greater than 2.5 = rivers at maximum
curves/ maximum wider meanders.

 When the necks of the meanders break and merges with the
other bank, and river creates a shorter path- straight line path.

 The other area will get completely cut off from the stream
flow. – Oxbow lake
OXBOW LAKE FORMATION

 High sinuousity index

 Banks get close to each other
 Greater cohesive force causes erosion and merging
 New channel develop
 A C shaped structure will get CUT OFF from the main
channel
 Oxbow lakes develop only when there is a greater senousity
index prevail.
River avulsion

 It is the branching out of a stream from the main

channel.

Pre-conditions for river avulsion

 Presence of softer rocks on the banks
 High velocity flow of water
 High volume of water
 Senousity index always remain = >2

 Yamuna and river Gagghar avulsion

Depositional landforms

 Alluvial fans
 Alluvial cones
 Delta
Delta

 Depositional landforms formed at the mouth of the river

 Fan shaped – triangular formations.
 Lower course or old stage.
Lower course –
 The lowest velocity
 Lowest rate of erosion / no erosion
 Water is almost static
 Sediments wont create any traction or saltation, rather than
they will get accumulated.

 Sediment load will get accumulated and an island like

structures will be created
Multiple layers of accumulation of bed sediments –
sediment bar
 Distributaries are created when there is an obstruction
comes in the passage.
Deltas

1. Static delta – undisturbed deltas

2. Modified delta – disturbed by sea waves.

1.a. Static deltas are mainly 2 types

1.b. Arcuate delta and birdfoot delta

Static delta

 Arcuate delta- are created when the river and

distributaries are in the same direction –
almost 95% of deltas in the world.

 Sundarbans, mekong, amazon deltas

Bird foot delta

 Created where the flow of the river and its

distributaries are perpendicular to each other.

 Occurs when the river take a fluvial bend near the

mouth.

 Eg- river Mississippi – bird foot delta.

Modified delta

 Cuspate delta – deltas modified by waves –

forms a triangle shaped formation in the
mouth.

 Tree like delta – truncated delta

Himalayan vs peninsular rivers.

Himalaya – steep sided slopes – greater slope

gradient – high velocity stream – more
sediments – larger deltas.
Economic activities
 Riverbanks are regions of high fertile alluvial soil
 Economic activities in the river banks - Agriculture.
 Human settlements
 Ganga river – Uttarpradesh has a fixed course – that makes Ganga
highly stable river – that attract most population since ancient times.
 Kosi river of Bihar - highly unstable- frequent floods – that makes
Kosi river banks not suitable for settlements.

 Meandering/ sinuous rivers – unstable rivers

 Non meandering non sinuous – stable channels
 Over flow and frequent shifts of river makes the banks
vulnerable
Navigation purpose
 St. Lawrence river North America
 River Rhine Europe
 Not all the rivers are navigable

 River has to be wider, deep and slow flow.

Flood management

Construction of dams in the outskirts of the urban centers.

To protect the city from flooding

 Calculate the water discharge before the dam

 Calculate the sustainable discharge after the dam.

 Need to calculate the depth and width of the river

 Have to assess the carrying capacity of the river near by the

settlement region.
Total discharge before the dam – sustainable discharge after
the dam = amount of water need to be stored inside the dam.

Channel morphology helps us to manage the rivers properly.

 Before the construction of Hirakud Dam, Mahanadi was called
the sorrow of Odisha
 According to D.K.C. Jones, is the process of utilizing
geomorphic knowledge to address issues related to land use,
resource management, and environmental planning

 Branch of geomorphology that deals with practical application

of geomorphology in human life.

 Geohydrology
 Mineral exploration and Geomorphology
 How geomorphology help us to determine the water resource
of a region.
 Based on 2 factors

1. Regions of heavy precipitation

2. The presence of porous rocks

With in a depth of 60 meters from the outer surface, normally we

have enough amount of porous rocks which is underlained by
Non porous- impermeable rocks
Porousity of rocks
 Porousity of the rock is inversely proportional to the
density of the rock.
 The inter-particle space makes the rock to accommodate water.
 Rocks with inter particle space – porous
 Rocks without interparticle space – non porous
Sedimentary – porous
Igneous – semi porous
Metamorphic – non porous

Presence of groundwater can be analysed by studying the

surface rocks. And can be reached to a conclusion weather a
place is suitable for agriculture, human settlements.
 Indogenetic plain – Sedimentary rocks – High porosity of
rocks – more ground water resources – ideal location for
agriculture

 Deccan plateau – lava plateau – igneous and metamorphic

rocks – generally semi porous -non porous – low ground water
levels – agriculture is not developed as it is in the gangetic
plains.
 Due to developments of tertiary service sectors, especially in
the south Indian states, there is a large scale migration of
population from different parts of the country towards south
Indian cities like Chennai, Bengaluru,Cochin, Vishakhapatnam
etc..
 There is no major rivers, and rainfall distribution is low with
non porous rocks – No sufficient water to support the over
crowding population.

Rock structure determines the presence of groundwater

 Porous rocks - Sandstone, limestone, gypsum

 Non porous rocks - Granite,slate and marble.

 Generally some minerals are found only in some specific
rocks.

 So understanding the rock structure give us some clues

regarding the presence of minerals in a particular region.

 Metallic minerals – source is interior of earth.

regions that are having/had active volcanism will be having
the presence of high amount of metallic minerals.
 Volcanic lava – acidic lava
basic lava
 Acidic lava has high silica content – Felsic rocks
 Basic lava – metallic mineral – maffic rocks.

 Maffic rocks are mainly seen in pre- Cambrian volcanic

activity.

 Precambrian time covers the vast bulk of the Earth's history,

starting with the planet's creation about 4.5 billion years ago
and ending with the emergence of complex, multi celled life-
forms almost four billion years later.
 Igneous rocks generally have high presence of maffic minerals
–
 Where ever we have maffic igneous rocks – there must be the
presence of high concentration of metallic minerals.

 Where can we find the presence of maffic igneous rocks ?

 Highly eroded cratonic shields/ plateaus

 Shield – Maffic rocks – high concentration of metallic
minerals.
 Eg- Canadian shield
 Oil and natural gas ?

 Most of the oil and natural gas in land is found in the regions
high tectonic activity.
Why is oil usually found in deserts and arctic areas?

Plate tectonics determines the location of oil and gas reservoirs

and is the best key we have to understanding why deserts and
arctic areas seem to hold the largest hydrocarbon reserves on
earth.

Oil and gas result mostly from the rapid burial of dead
microorganisms in environments where oxygen is so scarce that
they do not decompose. This lack of oxygen enables them to
maintain their hydrogen-carbon bonds, a necessary ingredient
for the production of oil and gas.
 Earth behaves like a giant bar magnet
 A giant di-pole
 Having 2 poles - north and south
 Discovered by William Gilbert during the discovering some
magnetic rocks
Lodestones.

Lodestones are naturally magnetized pieces of the mineral

magnetite. They are naturally occurring magnets, which can
attract iron
 Earths magnetic pole is reverse of its geographic poles.

 What is geographic North and South pole ?

The earths rotational axis intersects the surface.

 Presently Magnetic south pole is located near geographic north
pole.
 And magnetic north pole is located near the geographic south
pole.
 Earth's magnetic North Pole moves in loops of up to 80 km
per day. But its actual location, an average of all these loops, is
also moving at forward speed of around 45 kilometers a year
[Source: NOAA].

 South pole – Near Alaska

 North pole – Memurdo sound , Antarctica.
 From 1831 to 2021, the pole wandered a total of about1,100
kilometers [source: NASA]. The magnetic South Pole moves
in a similar fashion. Every once in a while, the two poles
completely flip locations.
 The geographic pole do not coincide with magnetic pole.
 The angle between Geographic and magnetic axis is called
magnetic declination. Almost 10 to 11 degree variation.

 Magnetic compass points the magnetic poles not the true north
and south poles. Hence travelers using magnetic compass
needs DECLINATION CORRECTIONS.
Earlier views
 There is an embedded bar magnet inside the earth. With
North and south poles – this idea is proven wrong.
 because such a magnet cannot maintain the magnetic
properties inside at an increased temperature.


 Earth’s magnetism is a product of the internal mechanism
inside the core.

 Outer core is molten

 Inner core is solid

 The molten outer core has loose electrons that spins around the
iron nickel rich inner core.
 These moving electrons generate the magnetic field.
 This mechanism is called as GEO DYNAMO EFFECT.
 The magnetic filed is extended more than 36000 km above the
earth surface.
 This magnetic field protect earth from the harmful Gamma
rays and solar winds.
 They causes the light displays in the poles

 Aurora borealis
 And aurora Australis

 It develops, when the magnetic field interact with the solar

winds/ charged particles coming out from the sun.
 Magnetic field interacts with solar winds and form Van Allen
Belt around the planet.
 The magnetic needle of the compass is always aligned along
the magnetic lines of force. And therefore the magnetic needle
will have some inclination with the horizontal plain.
 It is called as the dip angle.

 The dip angle of the compass is almost equal to the latitude of

a place.

 Angle of declination and angle of dip are two important

properties of earths magnetic field,
 Earth has its own magnetic field around which is a product of
the core dynamism.
 Earth surface and interior has magnetic rocks, which attain the
magnetic properties from earths magnetic field at the time of
their solidification.
 Such rocks can preserve this magnetic properties until they
melt again. – they are called as Fossil magnet.
 Rocks like Nickel, Iron Manganese can acquire magnetism
 Magnetism inside any substance is the consequence of
alignment of electrons.
 Every substance have electrons that spins, If the spin of
electrons is random that wont make the substance to act like a
magnet.

 If the electrons are made to align in a particular direction, then

it acts like a magnet.

 This alignment take place when a molten, semi molten, heated

at curie temperature rock is exposed to an external magnetic
field.
 External magnetic field forces the electrons to get aligned in
one direction. And when the rock cools and solidify, the
alignment of electrons will get imprinted in it. And it behaves
like a magnet.

 And the rocks preserve this alignment of electrons for millions

of years.

 The rocks preserve the magnetic strength, declination angle,

direction of magnetic North – south poles of the location
where they are solidified.
 Such rocks are called as fossil magnet. And the study of these
magnetism is called as palaeo magnetism.
Magnetic anomaly studies and evidences of crustal
dynamism

 The rocks found on the earth ocean floor – basalt has high
magnetic properties. But the magnetic strength, the magnetic
dip angle preserved by these rocks ,alignment of Minerals, do
not match where they are now discovered.
 This is because of the rocks might have migrated from some
other locations but they but still they preserve the records of
the magnetism at the place of their origin-solidification.
The wandering north pole hypothesis

 A. Wagener was the first person who mentioned about polar

wandering.
 This observation was based on the evidences of glacial
deposits.

 North pole was near equator – during silurian times,

 Tertiary period it shifted to 51 degree north latitude.
 During Silurian period South pole was North west of
Madagascar
 Carboniferous period Near Durban
 Tertiary period 53 degree south of African continent.

 Wagner plotted a polar wandering map – that shows the curves

through which the poles were wandering.

 And he reached a conclusion, it is not the poles are moving, it

is the continents that moved by keeping North and south pole
static.
Wandering North pole hypothesis/ apparent north pole
migration hypothesis

It was Patrik blackett who studied about the polar migration of

the magnetic poles for over 200 million years. And reached the
same conclusion of Alfread wagener – it is not the poles but the
continents moved.
Patterns of reverse polarity band of rocks on either sides
of Mid Atlantic Ridge.

1950 – 1960 witnessed large scale ocean floor mapping – MOR,

trenches, subduction zones rocks of different ages were
identified.

They also identified reverse polarity basalt rocks on either sides

of Mid ocean ridges.

Harrie hess was not ale to answer the question of reverse

polarity on either sides of the magnetic pole.
 Later in 1960s Vine an Mathews of Prinston university were
able to reveal the concept.

 They connected the concepts of Earths polarity does reverse.

 It was not as the north polar region move to south and south
polar region move towards north.

 It is because of Magnetic flipping

 It is because of the poles strength weakens and the reverse

polarity develops.
Last one million years earth had witnessed some major flips.

 Gilbert reversal
 Gomas normal
 Brunhes Matu Yama reversal –

 The Brunhes–Matuyama reversal, named after Bernard

Brunhes and Motonori Matuyama, approximately 781,000
years ago, when the Earth's magnetic field last
underwent reversal.
 .
 Estimations vary as to the abruptness of the reversal.

 A 2004 paper estimated that it took over several thousand

years;
 2010 paper estimated that it occurred more quickly,perhaps
within a human lifetime;
 2019 paper estimated that the reversal lasted 22,000 years
 Vine and Mathew opined SEA FLOOR SPREADING
occurred when the poles were flipping.

 Basaltic lava from the MOR comes out and cools and solidify
by acquiring the existing magnetic polarity.
 Then if the magnetic polarity reverse, the new basaltic lava
ejecting out will acquire the magnetic properties of the new
magnetic poles.

online-pdf-no-copy.com
 Landforms are a consequences of the interaction between the
endogenic forces and exogenic forces

 Landform analysis in the field of geomorphology started with

Exogenic studies in 1850s.
 Endogenic studies were actively started during and post world
period
 First comprehensive theory regarding the evolution of
landforms was given by an American Geomorphologist- WM.
Davis
 He tried to bring out a theory which
gives a more comprehensive
explanation regarding the origin
evolution and the future end of
landforms

 But in reality he did not explain the

process associated with Endogenic
forces.

 It was considered as a Historical

approach of land form studies.
Davis was highly influenced by 2 scholars.

I. James Hutton – the cyclical concept in geology was

put forward by Hutton 1785. – cyclical nature of
earth history.

II. Charles Darwin

I. James Hutton - Proponent of Uniformitarianism -

- PRESENT IS THE KEY TO THEPAST -

Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or

the Uniformitarian Principle, is the assumption that

THE SAME NATURAL LAWS AND PROCESSES THAT

OPERATE IN OUR PRESENT-DAY SCIENTIFIC
OBSERVATIONS HAVE ALWAYS OPERATED IN THE
UNIVERSE IN THE PAST AND APPLY EVERYWHERE IN
THE UNIVERSE
 The geological processes that operate today, also operated in
the geological past also but with varying pace and intensity.
 This concept became the basis of all historical studies
 Where the present was used to unlock the past.
 According to this principle, everything is running in a cycle
– there is no start – and there is no End.

 The last sentence of James Hutton's Theory of the

Earth concludes, 'The result, therefore, of our present
enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning, - no
prospect of an end. ' (Hutton 1788.)

 This was one of the basic concept of WM Davis theory.

II. Darvins idea of evolution of life

 There is no catastrophic beginning for anything, everything

require a process and evolution to develop.

 Davis borrowed the concept and stated

 Just as how life forms evolved the landforms are also

evolved slowly and gradually.
WM Davis was the first geomorphologist to present a
general theory on landform development.

 His theory was a culmination of a series of concept proponed

by himself
1. Complete cycle of river life
2. Geographical cycle
3. Slope evolution
Davis postulated the concept of Geographical cycle/ cycle of
erosion in 1899 to give a genetic classification and systematic
description of landforms.
Objectives of Davisian model of geographical cycle &
General theory of landform development

 To provide a basis for a systematic description and genetic

classification of landforms.

 In a uniform external condition, Landform changes in an

orderly manner as processes operate through time.
 Geographical cycle is a period of time, during which an
uplifted landmass undergoes its transformation by the
process of land sculpture ending into a low featureless
plain or peneplain. _ peneplane.

 Davis says – three factors – STRUCTURE,

PROCESS AND STAGES play an important role in
the origin an development of landforms of a
particular place. TRIOS OF DAVIS
Lithological and structural characters
 Type of rock –
 Mineral composition

 Porous, non porous

 Permeable/impermeable
 Texture – hard or soft

 Formation of cracks, joints etc…

 All the operations and mechanisms operating on the
landforms.
 the action of exogenic forces on the landforms – weathering –
erosion processes
 Agents of erosion acting on rocks.
 Weathering – erosion- deposition

Landform is a product of process – endogenic & exogenic

 Landform is a product of process

 All the operations and mechanisms that are acting on the land
forms

Endogenetic force
1. Plate tectonics, volcanism etc…
Exogenetic force –
1. Weathering and erosion

But Davis did not explain the endogenic force in detail

 Stands for TIME
 Landform changes as the human life evolves
 Changes are
 Sequential
 Gradual
 Progressive
 And predictable
The credit for incorporating TIME in landform studies goes to
DAVIS.

He focused more on the TIME aspect rather than the other

two.
I. Landforms are the evolved products of the interactions of
endogenetic forces originating from with in the earths
interiors and exogenetic forces originating within the
atmosphere.
II. Evolution of landforms take place in an orderly manner -
systematic development through time in response to an
environmental change.
III. Streams erode their valleys rapidly downward until the
graded condition is achieved.
IV. There is a short period rapid rate of upliftment in landmass.
V. Erosion does not start until the upliftment is complete./
upliftment and erosion do not go hand in hand.
 Cycle begins with the upliftment of landforms
 There is a rapid rate of upliftment of a homogenous surface
with in a short period of time. ( preparatory stage of cycle)
 In the graph UC denotes – UPPER CURVE – Represent the
hilltops or the crest of water divide – absolute relief from
mean sea level.
 LC- lover curve stands for valley floor lowest relief from
mean sea level.

 The horizontal line indicate Time

 Vertical line indicate Altitude.
 AC denotes – Maximum absolute relief
 BC denotes – initial average relief.
 Initial relief is defined as the difference between Upper curve/
summits of water divide and valley floor of a landmass.

 ADG line denotes BASE LEVEL of erosion which represent

the sea level.
 No river cant erode beyond ADG/BASELEEVEL.
 BASE LEVEL IS THE LIMIT OF MAXIMUM VERTICAL
EROSION by the river.
 The upliftment of the landmass stops after attaining C.

 As the upliftment phase complete (the preparatory stage of

land form evolution) not included in the cycle.
 Now Erosion starts, and the whole cycle passes through –

1. Youth
2. Mature
3. Old stages
 Erosion starts after the completion of upliftment
 Rivers engage in active erosion. – vertical erosion and
headward erosion
 Vertical erosion lead to valley deepening
 Headward erosion leads to the valley lengthening.
 Summits of the water divides are not affected by this mode of
erosion.
 Headward erosion leads to the STREAM LENGTHENIG–

 Because of the steep slopes and steep channel gradients, rivers

actively deepens their basins through POTHOLE driling.
 And deepen their valleys – VALLEY DEEPENING
Youth stage is characterized by Rapid rate of vertical erosion
and valley deepening.

1. The channel gradients is very steep

2. Steep channel gradients increases the velocity and kinetic
energy of the river flow.
3. Increased channel gradients and flow velocity increases the
transporting capacity of the river.
4. High transporting capacity allows rivers to carry huge
boulders. (deepen the valley floor)
5. Lower curve falls rapidly because of the increased rate of
vertical erosion.
 But the Upper curve (summits of water divide)remains the
same – because the erosion is not affecting the summits.

 Here the relative relief continue to increase till the end of

youth stage. And maximum relative relief is attained at the end
of the youth stage.
 Absolute height – CF remains constant – water divide summits
are not affected by erosion - lateral erosion is insignificant.
 Upper curve representing summits of water divide is not
affected by erosion.
 Lower curve falls rapidly because of active vertical erosion –
done by swift flowing river - valley deepening
 Active vertical erosion and valley deepening increases the
relative relief
 Valleys are V shaped, characterized by convex valley side
slopes.
 River results deep gorges.
 Here the summits of the water divides are also eroded (active
lateral erosion)
 Erosion of the water divides causes a fall in the Upper
curve - so there is a marked fall in the absolute relief.
 Because of a substantial drop in the channel gradients, flow
velocity and carrying capacity the Vertical erosion is
remarkably reduced
 Thus absolute relief and relative relief continue to
decrease.
 Mature stage is marked by active lateral erosion and well
integrated drainage network
 Active lateral erosion leads to valley widening, which
transforms the V shaped valleys of the youthful stage into
wide valleys with uniform valley sides.
 There is rapid rate of decrease in Absolute relief as well as
Relative relief.
( active lateral erosion with No Vertical erosion)

 Characterized by almost absence of vertical erosion and valley

deepening

 But lateral erosion continue to exist and the summits of the

water divide are eroded rapidly.
 Upper curve falls rapidly
 The valley become almost flat
 The entire landscape is dominate by graded valley sides with
1. Extensive flood plains
2. Meanders
3. Monadnocks
4. Undulating plains with extreme low relief

 Ultimately leads to the development of featureless

PENEPLAIN.
 WM Davis got world wide recognition for the theory and
geomorphologists throughout the world applied the concept of
Davis in their investigations.

 It was in prominence since 1899 to 1950

 Davis model was simple and applicable
 Presentation of the theory was highly appreciated because of
its simplistic language but with great command in the concept.
 Theory was based on careful field observation. USA
 Came after a long gap after Hutten’s cyclical nature of earth
history.
 Davis incorporated the concept of Base level and genetic
classification of river valleys, the concept of graded streams of
GK Gilbert etc..
 Model can be used to predict the future development and
historical evolution of landforms.
 According to plate tectonics upliftment and mountain building
process is very slow and not like what explained by Davis –
RAPID RATE OF UPLIFTMENT OF SHORT DURATION.
 Davis concept of Upliftment and Erosion is incorrect- erosion
starts only after the completion of upliftment
But he later accepted he did it deliberately to make the concept
simple.
Erosion is insignificant at the time of upliftment
 Davisian model demands long time of crustal stability for the
completion of the cycle of erosion – such eventless long
period is tectonically not acceptable.
 Davis explanation – if tectonic activity comes in between
one cycle of erosion stops and a fresh cycle will start after
the tectonic disturbances.
 Walther Penk criticised Davis model – for giving more
emphasis of time. Davis stands for time dependent model of
landform development whereas Penk stands for Time
independent model of landform development.
 AN Strahler, JT Hack and RJ Chorley have rejected the
davisian cycle of historical evolution of landforms.
 They proposed the dynamic equilibrium theory of
landform development
 Dynamic equilibrium theory is a non cyclical explanation of
landform development.

 Though in the beginning Davis said Landform is a product of

Structure, process and stages (time) he gave more emphasis
on stages/time
Davisian concept of Grade in terms of ability to work and the
work that need to be done was criticized.

 Davis said in the initial stage the available energy is more than
needed to transport the sediments.
 Thus the river utilized this excess energy to erode the valley.
 As the river valley deepened, the sediment supply for
transportation increased.
 and now the available energy and required energy for sediment
transportation become equal. And reaches in an equilibrium
 But criticics said the equilibrium concept was not
explained in detail.
 Isostasy means – a mechanical stability between the
upstanding parts and low lying basins on a rotating earth.
 First proposed by an American Geologist Dutton – 1859

 Principle of balance that explain How landforms,continents

and ocean maintain the equilibrium.
 Pierry bouguer at an expedition in Andes in 1735 found some
anomalies in the gravitational attraction of Mt Chimarazo.
 The gravitational pull was much smaller than that to be
expected from the mass represented by the montain.

 Similar discrepancies were also found in Himalaya.

 Arch deacon prat was referred to condct an investigation

 Himalaya was also not exerting the gravitational pull,
according to its enormous mass
 Possible views -

 The himalayas are made up of bubbles

 The density of the rocks of the mountains would be low-
which an affect the total weight of the mountain.
 Rocks of Himalaya has low density so their attraction is also
low.

 Isostasy principle by sir George Airy & Arch

Deacon Pratt.
Landforms on the earth surface like mountain, plateau plain
etc…maintain a balance by themselves.

The gravitational study conducted by Prat at Kaliana and Kalianpur

and Himalaya and the rock studies conducted at Himalaya an
neighboring plain and fond that

The density of each higher part is less than a lower part.

Mountain < plateau < plain < Ocean floor

This means – there is an inverse relationship between the height of the

relief and density.
 According to Pratt there is a level of Compensation.
 There is a level of compensation above which, the density of
landforms differ but there is no change in density below this
level.
 Density does not change with in one column. It changes from
One column to other.

 Prats concept says – uniform depth with varying density.

 Equal surface area must underlie equal mass along the line of
compensation.
 Column A B C D
 All the column have equal surface area at the line of
compensation. but there is difference in their height.
 Both the column must have equal mass along this line.

For that
 The density of A should be less than density of B,

 So that, the weight of both the column will remain equal at the
line of compensation.
 Pratt says bigger the column lesser the density and smaller the
column greater the density.

 According to Pratt the different relief features are standing

only because of the fact that , their respective mass is equal
along the line of compensation.

 According to pratt, the density varies only in the lithosphere,

not in the Barrysphere or pyrosphere.

 Prats concept was based on the LOW OF COMPENSATION

 According to airy, the crust of lighter material is floating in the
substratum of denser materials - SiAl is Floating in SiMa.

 The Himalayas is floating in the denser magma.

 According to him, Himalayas are not only a surface

phenomenon .
 Himalayas are floating in the denser magma, with maximum
portions sunk in the magma. – principles of floatation.
 If we apply the concept of floatation for a height of 8848 mts,
it has to have a root of around 9 times more in length than the
height of Himalaya.

 Roughly 80000m. 80 km of the crust.

 If the land column above the substratum is larger, its greater

part would be submerged in the substratum. And if the land
column is low its smaller part would be submerged.

 According to Airy, the density of the land – mountains,

plateau, plain doesn’t change according to depth.
 Uniform density with varying thickness.

 The continents are made up of rocks having uniform density

but their thickness or length varies from place to place.
 The continents are made up of mountains plateaus plains
depression basins etc… each of these landforms are of
varying thickness.

 These landforms sunk at varying depth depending on their

length.
online-pdf-no-copy.com
atmosphere
 Weather
• The state of atmosphere at any given time denoting the short
term variations of atmosphere in terms of
temperature,pressure,wind,moisure,cloudiness,precipitation
and visibility.

• Highly variable
• Constantly changing
• Weather elements are not independent, they are closely related
with each other.
 Climate
• It is the sum total of the variety of weather conditions of an
area
• Its an average of weather conditions.
• the world meteorological organization has suggested a
standard period of 31 years for calculating the climate average.
atmosphere
• The envelope of gases surrounding the earth is called the
atmosphere.
• It is held around the planet, because of the gravity.
• It forms a protective boundary between the outer space and the
biosphere.
• About 97% of air is concentrated below 29km

• They are a product of progress through volcanic eruptions, hot

springs, chemical breakdowns of solid matter and
redistribution from biosphere
 General characteristics

• Integral part of the earth

• Origin of atmosphere is a part of the evolution of earth
• Air is a mixture of gases that is odorless, colorless and
tasteless and blended so thoroughly that it acts like a single
gas.
• It is mobile, elastic and compressible.
• Although air is not as dense as land or water it has a weight.
And the weight it exert on the surface is called as Air
pressure.
• The standard, or near-average, atmospheric
pressure at sea level on the Earth is 1013.25
millibars, standard atmosphere - atm 1.

• The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a

unit of pressure defined as 1013.25 mb. It is
sometimes used as a reference pressure or
standard pressure.
Evolution of atmosphere
Atmosphere went through 3 different stages of evolution.

• Nebular accretion- out gasing

• Degassing process – volcanic eruption
• Emergence of life an related development.
• As the earth was evolving from a cloud of dust particles called
as Nebula.
• Nebula started accreting -contracting and solidifying.
• Materials in the nebula got arranged according to their density.
• Denser materials sank into the interiors and lighter materials
got stratified above that.
DENSITY DIFFERENCIATION/ GRAVITY COLLAPSE.

The lighter gas particles started coming out and created the
primordial atmosphere of earth. Which was dominated by
Hydrogen and helium.
EARTH WITNESSED SEVERE SOLAR WINDS
Solar wind blasted the primary atmosphere – dominated
by Hydrogen and helium
 Slowly the earth’s interior became active,
• Nuclear fission – in the interior resulted a molten outer core
which started its convective circular motions around the solid
inner core

• This geodynamic effect has resulted the formation of Earth’s

Magnetic field.
• This property of earth for having a magnetic field
Geomagnetism
• Because of the presence of magnetic field, the charged
particles that are coming out from the sun are deflected
towards the poles rather than hitting the earth directly

• When this charged particles enters earth’s polar atmosphere, it

interacts with polar ionosphere
• This interaction results emission of energy in the light
spectrum
• Aurora Borealis , Aurora Australis
• Aurora are produced by solar winds not because of Incoming
solar radiation

• Earths magnetic field deflects the charged particles – solar

winds from reaching the planet surface.
 Phase of DEGASING

• The gases that had been trapped inside the earth started
coming out through series of volcanic eruptions. – Degassing
• The major gases were Carbon di oxide, Nitrogen and
Watervapour.
• Probably this atmosphere was consisting of
Water vapor 60- 70%
Carbon di oxide 10-15%
Nitrogen – 8 to 10%
Sulpher compounds.
• The water went on to atmosphere and condensed and create
dense clouds and resulted heavy long standing rainfall.
• CO2 got dissolved in the rainwater and got accumulated in the
oceans.
 Oxygen ? – photosynthesis

• The source of oxygen was the cyanobacteria and then green

plants.
• Photo synthesis is considered as the source of oxygen.
 Composition of atmosphere

1. Gases
2. Watervapour
3. Dust particles
4. Pollen grains
5. Bacteria and other micro organisms
Volume of Gases in dry air
Nitrogen and oxygen make up around 99% atmospheric gases
(Lower atmosphere)
The lower atmosphere up to 80km from the surface, where there
is Uniform mixing of gases can be seen is called as
HOMOSPHERE.
GREEN HOUSE GASES
• Much of the major components are not making any significant
changes in the weather and climatic elements.

• CO2 – 0.03%
• Water vapor
• Dust particles plays important role in climate.
• Ozone
 Water vapor

• Varies from 0.02% in the cold and dry polar region to 4%in the
lower humid tropics
• Absorb both incoming solar radiation an out going terrestrial
radiation.
• Water vapor is the source of all the clouds and precipitation
• 90% of water vapor is present with in 6 km from the surface.
• Important component of atmospheric energy transfer
• Vapor releases energy into the atmosphere in the form of latent
heat of condensation.
• The moisture holding capacity of the air is directly connected
with the temperature.
• Water vapor in the atmosphere is expressed mainly in three
ways

• Absolute humidity
• Relative humidity
• Specific humidity
 Dust particles
• All the solid particles present in the air

• Sources

• Volcanic dust
• Meteor dust
• Sea salt
• Smoke and soot
• Pollen and various organisms lifted by winds.
• Dust particle absorb a part of incoming solar radiation and
reflect some amount back to space and scatter the incoming
radiation.
• Selective scattering of radiation produces different hues in the
sky.
• Dust particles are Hygroscopic nuclei / conensation nuclei – a
major factor for the formation of clouds.
• Concentration is more in the subtropics and temperate belt.
 Structure of atmosphere

• Atmosphere is a mixture of different gases.

• Gases that are blended thoroughly and behave like a single
gas.
• Atmosphere has no Molecular segregation – segregation of
gases according to their molecular weight.
 Structured base on 3 factors.

1. Density
2. Composition
3. Vertical distribution of temperature
CLASSIFICATION BASED ON COMPOSITION OF GASES

According to its composition, broadly it is divided into two

layers –
I. Homosphere
II. Heterosphere.
 Homosphere:

• It extends from the earth’s surface up to the altitude of 80km.

• Even though the atmosphere rapidly decreases in density with
increasing altitude, the composition of the gases remains
uniform in the homosphere.

• The exceptions in the homosphere are the concentration of

Ozone (O3) in stratosphere from almost 19-50 km and
variation of water vapour and dust particles in the lower
atmosphere.

• This uniform composition was attained approximately 600

million years ago.
 Heterosphere:

• The gases in this layer are not evenly mixed. It begins over 80
km and extends upto 10,000 km.
• Here the air is highly rarified –
• Molecular atomic segregation is prevailing

• however, for all scientific purposes the upper limit of

atmosphere is taken as 480km as earth’s gravitational pull
becomes negligible after it.

• The atmosphere above it is called exosphere and it contains

individual atoms of light gases like hydrogen, helium etc.
Density based stratification
Division of atmosphere – vertical Temperature
distribution
Source of heat – Solar radiation
Incoming short wave solar radiation. INSOLATION
• The Gamma, X rays are largely lost in the
space – and the negligible amount of Gamma
and Xrays are deflected by earths magnetic
field.

• Micro waves and Radio waves are weak the

get absorbed in the outer atmosphere.
• So the major rays that earths atmosphere
intercept is

1. Ultra violet – 53 – 55%

2. Visible spectrum. 43- 45%
3. Infrared. – 3 to 7%
• UV rays are partially absorbed by the OUTER IONOSPHERE
and the OZONE LAYER. 99%

• So the lower atmosphere receives mainly Visible spectrum and

IR.

• Water vapor absorb a part of Infra red radiation.

• Visible spectrum 0.4 to 0.7 microns – atmosphere is not

capable to absorb the visible spectrum.
• Upper layers of atmosphere is heated by UV
• Stratosphere is heated by UV

• Troposphere – very negligible amount of shortwave IR is

absorbed by the water vapor.
Visible spectrum - Not get absorbed.

So Troposphere is heated by The Long wave Out going

Terrestrial radiation.
• These long wave terrestrial radiation are absorbed by Green
house gases present in the lower troposphere.
Troposphere:

• It is the lower most layer of atmosphere.

• It extends up to 18km at equator, 13 km at mid latitude and about
8km at poles.
• It contains approximately 90% of the total mass of the
atmosphere.
• The entire weather phenomenon takes place in this layer. It
contains all the water vapour, dust particles, clouds etc.
• In troposphere the temperature decreases with increase in height.
• The average rate of decrease of temperature with height is
called normal lapse rate and it is equal to 6.5 degree C/km. the
rate of decrease of temperature is not constant everywhere.
• The minimum temperature attained in this layer is -57 degree
C.
• Tropopause: It is the top most layer of troposphere. It acts as a
boundary between troposphere and stratosphere. This layer is
marked by constant temperatures.
Stratosphere
• It lies above the troposphere and extends uniformly across the
globe up to 50km.
• In this layer the temperature increases with increase in height.
The temperature varies from -57 to 0 oC.
• This layer is characterized with the presence of Ozonosphere.
Ozone is highly reactive oxygen molecule made up of three
atoms.
• Ozone absorbs the high frequency ultra violet radiations.
• Because of this absorption the temperature of the layer increases.
• Ultra violet rays are highly harmful for living organism including
plants, animals as well as humans. Absorbing these radiations
ozone layers makes a protective layer around us.
 What is the ozone layer?

• The ozone layer is a region of high ozone concentration in the

stratosphere.
• The ozone layer acts as an invisible shield and protects us from
harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
• In particular, the ozone layer protects us from the UV
radiation, known as UV-B, which causes sunburn.
• Long-term exposure to high levels of UV-B threatens human
health and damages most animals, plants and microbes, so the
ozone layer protects all life on Earth.
How is ozone produced
• Ozone is being produced and destroyed all the time. Sun
produces UV-A,UV-B and UV C variants of UVs
• When UV-C light reaches the stratosphere, it is completely
absorbed by oxygen molecules and never reaches the Earth's
surface.
• UV-C splits oxygen molecules into oxygen atoms. These
single atoms then react with other oxygen molecules to
produce ozone. So, these reactions increase the amount of
ozone in the stratosphere.
How does ozone protect us from UV-B?

• Ozone absorbs UV-B radiation from the sun.

• When an ozone molecule absorbs UV-B, it comes apart into an
oxygen molecule (O2) and a separate oxygen atom (O).
• Later, the two components can reform the ozone molecule
(O3).
• By absorbing UV-B in the stratosphere, the ozone layer
prevents harmful levels of this radiation from reaching Earth’s
surface.
• When undisturbed, the balance between the natural processes
of ozone production and destruction maintains a consistent
ozone concentration in the stratosphere. Unfortunately, we,
humans do not leave this natural process undisturbed…
How do these chemicals deplete ozone?

• When a CFC molecule reaches the stratosphere, it eventually

absorbs UV radiation, causing it to decompose and release its
chlorine atoms.

• One chlorine atom can destroy up to 100,000 ozone molecules.

Too many of these chlorine and bromine reactions disrupt the
delicate chemical balance that maintains the ozone layer,
causing ozone to be destroyed faster than it is created.
https://ozone.unep.org/
Mesosphere:
• The mesosphere extends from 50 – 80 km.
• The temperature again decreases in this layer and reaches its
minimum mark averaging -90oC. Although this temperature
can vary.
• The homogenous layer extends up to the mesosphere.
• At the upper boundary of mesosphere there exists a layer of
ions extending in the other layer.
• This layer of ions or charged particles is helpful in reflecting
the radio waves and helps in telecommunication.
Thermosphere:
• This is a region extending from 80km to 480km.
• It contains the functional ionosphere.
• The temperature rises very sharply in this layer as the gas
molecules absorbs the short-wave radiations coming from the
sun.
• The temperature can reach as high as 1200o C, but despite
such high temperature the thermosphere is not as ‘hot’ as we
expect it to be.
• As the density of air is so low in this layer, the energy is not
easily transferred; hence the hotness is not felt.
Ionosphere

• This is the zone containing charged particles called ions. It lies

from upper mesosphere to thermosphere.
• The charged particles are ionized by absorption of cosmic
rays, gamma rays, Xrays and shorter wavelengths of
ultraviolet rays.
• It is in this layer that incoming space vehicles and meteorites
begin to heat due to friction.
• Above this layer i.e. above 480km, atomic oxygen is prevalent
and beyond that helium hydrogen atoms predominate.
• It is also known for its auroral displays, such as the “northern
lights” that develop when charged atomic particles from the
Sun are trapped by the magnetic field of Earth near the poles.
In the ionosphere, these particles “excite” the nitrogen
molecules and oxygen atoms, causing them to emit light
online-pdf-no-copy.com
The part of the sun’s radiation which reaches the earth is
called Insolation. It is the amount of solar energy reaching
the earth’s surface per unit time per sq. cm.

Insolation is measured with the help of Pyranometer

Plank – a German scientist said
Every single object in the universe by virtue of its temperature,
emit some radiation
PLANK was talking about the IR spectrum.

IR short wave- IR long wave

Wavelength of the radiation is inversely proportional to its

temperature

Higher the temperature- shorter the wavelength

Lower the temperature – longer the wavelength
 Human eyes can see the Visible spectrum
 Cosmic Gamma rays are filtered by Ionosphere
 99% of UV rays are filtered by Ozone layer
 Maximum spectrum received by the earth surface is Visible
spectrum
 Among the solar spectrum, only the Infrared causes the
heating effect
 When the IR is coming directly from the sun- Short
wave IR

 Earth’s terrestrial radiation/ Reradiation – Longwave IR

Variability in Insolation

The amount of Insolation received on any date at a place on

earth is influenced by the following factors:

i. Angle of inclination of the sun’s rays/Altitude of the Sun

ii. Solar cycle
iii. Varying distance from the sun – Aphelion – Peri helion
iv. Length of the day - tilted revolution – seasons
v. Transparency of the atmosphere
vi. Configuration of land in terms of its aspect.
i. The higher the latitude the less is the angle they make with the
surface of the earth resulting in slant sun rays.
ii. The area covered by vertical rays are always less than the slant
rays. HIGH INSOLATION
iii. Greater depth of the atmosphere - Produced by the slanting path
The transparency of the atmosphere depends upon
 water vapor content – 0 to 4%

 cloud cover and its thickness- reflect insolation

 dust particles etc.

 They reflect, absorb or transmit insolation. Thick cloud

hinders the solar radiation to reach the earth's surface.
The configuration of land in terms of its aspect
Spatial Distribution of Insolation

Maximum insolation is received over the subtropical deserts,

where the cloudiness is the least.

Generally, at the same latitude the insolation is more over the

continent than over the oceans.

Equator receives comparatively less insolation than the

tropics.

In winter, the middle and higher latitudes receive less radiation

than in summer.
 The atmosphere is largely transparent to short wave solar
radiation

 Within the troposphere water vapor, ozone and other gases

absorb much of the near infrared radiation

 Very small-suspended particles in the troposphere scatter

visible spectrum. This process adds color to the sky. The red
color of the rising and the setting sun and the blue color of the
sky are the result of scattering of light within the atmosphere.
Albedo

Albedo is the reflective quality of a surface with respect to

solar radiation.
Smooth surface high albedo, whereas rough surface has low
albedo(not always)
The albedo of the earth is approximately 0.4 i.e. about 40 % of
solar radiation is reflected back into space.
Albedo is higher for a snow covered surface, and low for dark
soil.

Polar Regions – Albedo as high as 80%.

Surface Range of Albedo
Fresh Snow 0.80 to 0.90
Old/Melting Snow 0.40 to 0.80
Desert Sand 0.40
Grassland 0.25
Deciduous Trees 0.15 to 0.18
Tundra 0.2
Coniferous Forest 0.08 to 0.15

Ocean 0.07 to 0.10

1. Heat budget
2. Latitudinal heat budget
Climate change can be seen as the consequences of the
heat budget disruption
 Earth’s atmosphere is highly transparent to Shortwave solar
radiation.
 GHG are opaque to long wave radiation- they block the long
wave terrestrial radiation

 Earth will not be releasing the energy received from the sun at
the same time of its reception,
 There is a time gap between Insolation and Terrestrial
radiation – GHG ( Atmosphere effect)
Qn. What is Global warming ?What are its
impacts ?
Environmental impacts

 Rise in sea level

 Melting of polar and tropical ice caps
 Loss of habitat
 Changes in the migratory pattern of species
 Shifting of habitat – tropical species are moving towards
temperate regions
 Extinction of species

 6th mass extinction is going on – purely anthropogenic

Economic impacts

 Frequent disasters
 Loss of land/property
 Loss of agriculture
 Decreased fishing
 Increase in energy consumption
 Scarcity of resources

Social impacts
 Loss of life
 Migration
 Health hazards ; epeidemics – melting ice causes release of enormous viruses
out, which were once frozen in the ice caps.
 Latitude
 Altitude
 Duration of sunlight
 Cloud cover
 water vapor
 Different behaviors of land and water
 Prevailing Winds
 Mountain barriers
 Albedo
 air mass
 Ocean Currents
 Volcanic eruption
 Melting of icecaps
 Atmospheric Pollution
 De forestation – Afforestation
 Intensity of insolation depends on the latitude.
 Since the insolation is the prime factor that control
temperature, it is natural that the temperature varies according
to the latitude.
 Among all factors, latitude is the most important factor that
controls the distribution of temperature
Seasonal Temperature Distribution – January
 With in the troposphere, there is a continuous drop of
temperature with increase in altitude.
 The rate at which the temperature drop is called as Normal
lapse rate/ environment lapse rate 6.5 degree Celsius/km
 Decreasing density of the atmosphere with increasing altitude
is the reason behind the drop of temperature with increasing
height

 Heavy GHG are largely concentrated in the lower strata that

makes the lower atmosphere dense.
 Mount Kilimanjaro – located around 330 km from equator,
very close – but with a permanent snow cap.
 affect the duration of sunlight.
 This variation in the length of day and night is due to the
revolution of earth @ a tilted axis.
 21st March – Northern equinox – all the places in the planet
experience 12hr day and 12 hr night.
 After 21st march the northward migration of the sun causes more
duration of sunlight in the northern hemisphere and less duration of
night.
 this flow reaches its peak on 21st June, when the northern
hemisphere experience longest day and shortest night.

 In Delhi the day length is around 14hrs.

 Moscow – 17hr 33minutes etc..

Lengthy day – longer duration of sunlight – high temperature =

summer season.
Cloud cover, water vapor
Cloud cover with dual impact.
 Cloud is a good reflector of sunlight – reduces insolation –
causes a drop in the input energy an thereby affect the
temperature.
 Cloud also trap the outgoing long terrestrial infrared radiation
– blanket effect – increases the temperature. - Cloud radiative
forcing
 Water vapor presence in the atmosphere.
 When clouds are good reflectors water vapor is a good
absorber of short wave infrared radiation – reduces the input
energy .
 Water vapor act as a GHG blanket – thus block the out going
terrestrial long wave infrared radiation
 Differential heating of land and water.
 Land and water surfaces react differently to a same amount of
solar radiation.
 Difference in specific heat, continuous mixing of water etc…
affect their capacity of heating the atmosphere
 Prevailing –On shore & Off shore winds.
 Mountain barriers
 Albedo of the surface.
Air mass
Ocean currents
 Volcanic eruption – how volcanic eruption influence the
global temperature ?
 Pinatabo strato volcano – philipines – 1991
 Krakatoa – indonesia 1883
 Tambora – inonesia - 1815
General Distribution Temperature

 The highest temperatures occur over tropics and sub-tropics

(high insolation). The lowest temperatures occur in polar and
sub polar regions. in continents due to the effect of
continentality
 Diurnal and annual range of temperatures are highest in the
interiors of continents due to the effect of continentality

 Diurnal and annual range of temperatures are least in oceans

 Mountains also affect the horizontal distribution of
temperature.
Eg- Rockies and Andes stop the oceanic influence from
going inwards into North and South America
 Isotherm - An imaginary line joining places having equal
temperatures
 Do not depict the actal temperature of a region
 Effects of altitude is not considered while drawing an isotherm

characteristics of isotherms
 Generally follow the parallels
 Sudden bends at ocean – continent boundaries
 Narrow spacing
 Wide spacing
Seasonal Temperature Distribution – January
Northern Hemisphere

 The isotherms deviate to the north over the ocean and to the south over the
continent.

 An equator ward bend of the isotherms over the northern continents shows
that the landmasses are overcooled and that polar cold winds are able to
penetrate southwards, even in the interiors. It is much pronounced in the
Siberian plain.

 The presence of warm ocean currents, Gulf Stream and North Atlantic
drift, make the Northern Atlantic Ocean warmer and the isotherms show a
pole ward shift indicating that the oceans are warmer and are able to
carry high temperatures towards the pole.

 Mid-latitudes western margins of the continents are warmer than their

eastern counterparts - effect of westerly on shore planetary winds.
Northern hemisphere

 Over the northern continents, a pole ward bend of the

isotherms indicates that the landmasses are overheated and
the hot tropical winds are able to go far into the northern
interiors.
 The isotherms over the northern oceans show an equator ward
shift indicating that the oceans are cooler and are able to carry
the moderating effect into tropical interiors.
Southern Hemisphere

 The effect of the ocean is well pronounced in the southern

hemisphere. Here the isotherms are more or less parallel to the
latitudes and the variation in temperature is more gradual than
in the northern hemisphere.

 The thermal equator lies to the south of geographical equator

 The gradient becomes regular over the southern hemisphere
but shows a slight bend towards the equator at the edges of
continents.
During July, it is summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the
southern hemisphere.
 Troposphere – temperature decreases with increase in altitude.

 Stratosphere – isothermal characters in the lower regions and

then temperature increases with increase in altitude – Ozone
layer and UV radiation – photochemical action.
 Temperature inversion – a reversal of the normal behavior of
temperature in the troposphere, in which the normal lapse rate
is inverted/ temperature increases with increase in altitude.
Temperature inversion can happen at any layers.

1. Surface inversion/ lower troposphere

2. Upper troposphere inversion
3. Upper atmosphere
 Long nights – more duration of night allows more radiation to
escape the lower atmosphere.
 Clear skies - which allow unobstructed escape of radiation.
 Calm and stable air - so that there is no vertical mixing at
lower levels.
 Dry air – moist air absorb Outgoing terrestrial radiation , that
obstruct the temperature inversion process
Elahi Furniture
Dry air
 Air drainage mechanism – air at the hill tops cool quickly,
and become dense – it moves down towards the valley bottom
( mountain breeze ) and uplift the warm valley air and settle
close to the ground.
 Ice covered surface – reflects more radiation – air which is
close to the surface remain cool and air upper atmosphere
remains warm
i. Temperature Inversion in Intermontane Valley (Air
Drainage Type of Inversion)
ii. Ground Inversion (Surface Temperature Inversion)
iii. Frontal Inversion (Advectional type of Temperature
Inversion )
iv. marine inversion
Ground inversion/ surface inversion
 A ground inversion develops when air is cooled by contact
with a colder surface until it becomes cooler than the
overlying atmosphere;
 this occurs most often on clear nights, when the ground cools
off rapidly by radiation.
 If the temperature of surface air drops below its dew point, fog
may result.
 This kind of temperature inversion is very common in the
higher latitudes.
 Frontal Inversion (Advectional Inversion )

 when a cold air mass undercuts a warm air mass and lifts it
aloft; the front between the two air masses then has warm air
above and cold air below.
 This kind of inversion has considerable slope, whereas other
inversions are nearly horizontal. In addition, humidity may be
high, and clouds may be present immediately above it.
 This occurs when cool, moist air that originates over the ocean
is blown onto land by our prevailing winds.
 The cool temperature of this air makes it denser.
 Marine Inversions occur in places near large bodies of water,
especially in the spring when the water is the most chilly.
 This cold air is then blown inland under the warmer air that is
over the land, thus creating an inversion
2. Upper troposphere inversion

Subsidence Inversion (Upper Surface Temperature Inversion)

When a widespread layer of air descends, it is compressed and
heated by the resulting increase in atmospheric pressure.

The air at higher altitudes becomes warmer than at lower

altitudes, producing a temperature inversion.

It is very common over the northern continents in winter (dry

atmosphere) and over the subtropical oceans; these regions
generally have subsiding air because they are located under large
high-pressure centers.
3. Upper atmospheric inversion

a) Stratosphere – Ozone – UV photo chemical reactions

b) Thermosphere – Absorption of UV radiation by ionosphere

The occurrence of fog:
 There develop clouds in contact with the ground (fog) with visibility
usually restricted to less than 1km.

 In the urban areas, the fog mixed with smoke takes the shape of
smog. While fog is injurious to crops, the smog is considered a
health hazard.

 In 1952, about 4000 people died of smog in London.

 Breathing problems, asthma, and bronchitis, etc. are common

problems in Delhi and big cities of northern India during the winter
season.
 Road accidents: Visibility may be greatly reduced below the
inversion due to the accumulation of dust and smoke
particles.
 Damage of crops: the winter crops like wheat, barley,
mustard, vegetables, chilies, potato, etc. are seriously
damaged.
 Vegetation: Orchards are closely influenced by the inversion
of temperature. The lower valleys of Alps Mountains are
almost without settlements, while the upper slopes are
inhabited.
 Clouds: In regions where a pronounced low-level inversion is
present, convective clouds can not grow high enough to
produce showers.
 Diurnal Variations: Inversions also affect diurnal variations
in temperature. Diurnal variations tend to be very small.
 Due to inversion of temperature, air pollutants such as dust
particles and smoke do not disperse in the valley bottoms.

 For instance, coffee growers of Brazil and apple growers and

hoteliers of mountain states of Himalayas in India avoid lower
slopes.
The weight of a column of air contained in a unit area from the
mean sea level to the top of the atmosphere is called the
atmospheric pressure

Varies both horizontally as well as vertically, in fact the vertical

pressure gradients is greater than horizontal pressure gradients.
 The differences in atmospheric pressure causes the movement
of air from high pressure to low pressure, setting the air in
motion.

 Air in horizontal motion is wind. The wind redistributes the

heat and moisture across latitudes, thereby, maintaining a
constant temperature for the planet as a whole.
I. Pressure gradient force
II. Frictional force
III. Coriolis force
IV. Gravity
 Pressure gradient is a term to describe the difference in air
pressure between two points in the atmosphere or on the
surface of the earth.

1. Vertical pressure gradients

2. Horizontal pressure gradients
There is a vertical balance of forces
Pressure gradient force and gravity are equal
So no vertical acceleration.
 Horizontal pressure gradients make the air to move – Wind

 Horizontal pressure gradients are the main driving force of the wind
 It appears due to the difference in the distribution of Horizontal
pressure in a given distance.

 Pressure gradient force is inversely proportional to the spacing of

isobars.
 PGF is always perpendicular to isobars

 Closely spaced isobars indicate – strong pressure gradient

force.
 The Coriolis force has a huge impact on the weather. It's the
power that spins cyclones and anticyclones, and it also affects
the direction of trade winds and ocean currents.

 It is an inertial force that acts on objects with velocity – that

are in motion

 Coriolis force is directly proportional to angle of latitude. –

Maximum at the poles and minimum at the equator.
 If there are horizontal lines of isobars.

 Pressure gradient force is always perpendicular to isobars.

 Air starts its horizontal movement from HP to LP Isobars.
 The velocity of wind is mainly depends on the gradients in the
pressure distribution- isobars.
 High the pressure gradient = higher will be the velocity
 Low the pressure gradient, lower will be the velocity of winds.
 Coriolis force is perpendicular to the pressure gradient
force.

 When the isobars are straight, with no friction, the pressure

gradient force will be balance by the coriolis force.
 As a result the wind blows horizontally perpendicular to the
pressure gradient force.
 When it is perpendicular to PGF, it will be parallel to Isobars.
online-pdf-no-copy.com
 Atmospheric air circulation is very complex
 We have some model to approach the atmospheric
circulations.

1. Unicellular model/ Hadley and Halley model

2. Tri cellular models
3. Plamen’s model
4. Global computerized simulation model
 Also called as uni-cellular model

 Circulation on a Non rotating earth with uniform solid

surface
 The equatorial regions are heated more than the polar
regions
 In response to this great temperature gradients between
equator an polar region, two severe convective cells
develop from the equator, moves towards north and south
from equator.
 At the poles the cold and dense air sinks creating a subsiding
region of High pressure.
 Polar high pressure North and south

 After sinking the cold and dense air moves towards the
equator. And complete the circulation.
 Halleys model was improved by George Hadley
 Incorporated the effect of rotation of the earth.
 He applied the effect of carioles force in the moving cells.
 Deflection towards right in the north and left in the southern
hemisphere.
 With north easterly and south easterly trade winds at the
surface and counter flow of air in south westerly and north
westerly in the southern hemisphere.
 Hadley’s circulation had a single cell. Starting from the
equator diverging at the equatorial atmosphere and sinking in
the polar regions. And surface flow towards the equator.
 Ferrell improved the Hadley's rotational earth model with 3
interlocking cells from equator towards the pole.
 He kept the idea of Homogenous land surface
 But the earth is rotating

Tri cellular model

1. Hadley cell
2. Ferrell cell
3. Polar cell
 Warm air rises from the equator
 Cools and bifurcate at the equatorial upper atmosphere
 Moves towards north and south from the equator
 Comes under the influence of Coriolis deflection – subsides at
30 degree latitudes of both hemisphere.
 At the same time the Polar, extremely cold and dense polar air
subsides at the poles moves towards the mid latitudes
 Meets the air that flows towards mid latitudes from the
subtropical latitudes (30 to 35)
 The winds coming from the polar region and the subtropics
converge and rises at the mid latitudes (60 – 65)
 Branches out towards back to subtropics and Polar regions.
 The southward branch make a subsidence at subtropics and
complete the circuit
 And the northward moving branch make a subsidence at the
polar region, thus completing the circulation.

 Hadley – tropical cell

 Ferrell cell – mid latitudinal
 Polar polar region
 Equator – hot air convect and rises creates a vacuum –
equatorial low pressure belt.
 Rising air cools and become dense and bifurcate towards north
and south from the equator
 Coriolis deflection makes the air to subside at 30 to 35 degrees
North & South. Subtropical high pressure
 Air diverge from subtropics towards equatorial low Trade
winds.
 Mid latitudinal branch moves towards sub polar as Westerly
 Polar air moves towards midlats as Polar easterly
 Coverges with westerlies and ascend – sub polar low
pressure
 Equatorial low pressure ( thermal )
 Polar high pressure ( thermal )

 Sub tropical high pressure ( dynamic )

 Sub polar low pressure ( dynamic )
 Ferrell integrated the rotational aspect in the model which was
there in Hadleys model
 Presented three inter locking system of air circulation
 This model better explain the formation of sub tropical deserts
and the rain fall patterns of the mid latitudes – rising air –
rainfall – taiga forest.
 The upper level branches transport energy from equator
towards mid latitudes
 Lower layer movements – trade winds bring moisture
containing air and causes heavy rainfall at the equatorial
region.
 It neglect the longitudinal variations in the air movements –
( the Indian monsoon )
 Homogenous surface - the pressure patterns are incorrect
 More generalized and not specific- it explains only the major
winds and the local winds are left without explaining. Loo,
Harmatan, chinook etc…
 Ferrell model consider Upper troposphere winds as part of this
circulation, but there are other winds Upper troposphere
westerly, Jet stream Polar vortex. These cells are rather
shallow.
 Ferrell model explain the energy transfer is across the latitudes
– parallel to longitudes, but in reality these are not an
important components of atmospheric energy transfer.

 This model doesn’t include the latitudinal vertical cells like

Walker cell
Palmen’s model
 Horizontal interactions of wave in the sub polar region
 Where two contrasting air mass meets with each other
 Their interaction is not like a smooth movement explained by
Ferrell, rather it is more complex system of interactions of
winds.

 The convergence of polar easterlies and westerly take place at

different levels
 Studies of the general circulation can be carried out by using
high speed super computers.
 These models are a set of mathematical equations that
represent the laws governing the behavior of atmosphere.
 Such dynamic models are called General circulation models
GCM.
 This model collects real time weather conditions like
temperature, humidity, wind direction and predict the next
possible development in the atmosphere.
 UKMET Unified Model – weather prediction model
developed by UK met office
 Environment Canada's Global Environmental Multiscale
Model

 IMD uses Monsoon Mission Climate Forecast System.

(MMCFS) model for preparing operational forecast of rainfall
and temperature along with statistical models.
Distribution of pressure belt in the gloe can be explained by
using different models.

1. Unicellular model
2. Ferrell model
3. Cellular patterns of pressure belts
 Uni cellular model is a thermal model of
atmospheric pressure belts

 Equatorial low pressure

 Polar high pressure belt
 Tricellular model/ Ferrel model

 3 celled model of atmospheric pressure.

 7 pressure belts.
 Combine both thermal and dynamic factors
 Both the models are examples for zonal
(Latitudinal) pressure patterns on the globe with
homogenous surface.
 It takes the zonal pattern of pressure belts but with some
changes.

 Cellular pattern of atmospheric pressure distribution take the

land water distribution into consideration.
 If we had uniform surface, the pressure belts might have run
like the Ferrell model.
High pressure belt of North pole an south pole are permanent
pressure belts – because of extreme low temperature conditions
through out the year.

Sub polar low pressure belt of south also remain permanent –

because of uniform ocean surface of the southern hemisphere.

But the other pressure belts have breaks due to land water
distributions.
 Relatively more uniform temperature conditions in the north
and south pole both the pressure belts are permanent.
 Uniform surface condition in the sub polar regions form a
continuous sub polar low pressure belt.
 Equator is constantly warm through out the year, there is no
major changes in the temperature conditions so the Equatorial
low pressure is also continuous
1. Polar High pressure (N)
2. Polar High pressure(S)
3. Sub Polar low pressure (S)
4. Equatorial low pressure belt
Sub polar low pressure belt – (N)
 Encounter alternative bands of land and water
 Different behavior of land and water in different seasons cause
breaks in the sub polar low pressure belt.

1. Islandic low
2. Aleutian low are permanent through out the year. (pacific
and Atlantic) ocean keeps a uniform temperature conditions
through out the year.
Sub tropical high pressure belt North

 Breaks at the land water junction

 Sets permanent high pressure zones in the ocean

1. Hawaiian high
2. Azores high
Sub tropical high pressure belt of south

1. South pacific high pressure

2. South Atlantic high pressure
3. Mascarane high

These are more stable and permanent through out the year.
Pressure belts are seasonal over the land.

Sub polar low pressure belt N – during winter

1. Canadian high
2. Siberian high
Sub tropical high pressure N

During summer interior land records extreme high temperature

conditions
Causes the development of

1. Colorado/ Californian low pressure.

2. Sahara low pressure
3. Tibetan low pressure
During winter these low pressure, dis appear.
Sub tropical high pressure belt of S

Australian landmass during summer records high temperature

and causes the development of Australian low pressure belt
Local pressure belts

1. Baltic low – Europe

2. Great lakes low - develops during winter season in the
bands of sub polar low pressure belt
SUMMERY

1. Polar high pressure (N) Permanent

2. Polar high pressure belt (S) Permanent
3. Sub polar low pressure belt (S) permanent
4. Sub polar low pressure (N) Breaks
5. Sub tropical high pressure (N) breaks
6. Sub tropical high pressure (S) breaks
7. Equatorial low pressure belt - Permanent
Permanent oceanic pressure belts

 Aleutian low
 Islandic low
 Hawaiian high
 Azores high
 South pacific high
 South Atlantic high
 Mascarane high
 Winter active pressure belts
 Canadian high
 Siberian high
 Baltic low
 Great lakes low

Summer active pressure belts

 Colorado low
 Sahara low
 Tibetan low
 Australian low

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 Surface winds
1. Planetary winds
2. Local winds
3. Seasonal winds/regional winds

 Upper troposphere winds

 Winds – Horizontal movement of air from High pressure to
low pressure due to pressure gradient force.

Forces affecting the moving air

1. Pressure gradient force (generating force)
2. Carioles force ( deflective)
3. Frictional force (resistance)
4. Gravity ( pulling force)
Surface winds

 Planetary winds
 Regional winds
 Local winds
 Winds that flow throughout the year from one latitude to
another latitude because of latitudinal differences in the air
pressure are called planetary winds.

1. Trade winds
2. Westerly
3. Polar easterlies
 Blows from Sub tropical High pressure to Equatorial low
pressure belt.
 Trade = track – winds that moves permanently in a same
direction.
 Carioles force deflect the winds towards right in the north and
west in the southern hemisphere.
 ON-SHORE for the eastern coastal regions of the continents
and OFF-SHORE for the western coastal regions of the
continents.
 Brings moisture containing air from the tropical oceans and
produces a rainy conditions on the eastern coastal margins of
the continents.
 Result a wet equatorial climate
 By the time trade winds reaches the central and western sides
of the continents they are devoid of moisture and produces a
drying impacts on the continents. DRY TRADES.
 Leads to the developments of hot deserts in the western
margins of the continents.
 TRADE WIND DESERTS.
 ITCZ – Inter tropical convergent zone- where the trade
winds meet.
 Generally near the equator where the trade winds of the
Northern and Southern Hemispheres come together.
DOLDRUMS

 A narrow zone, located at the equatorial low pressure belt,

where trade winds meet.
 Better developed on the oceanic atmosphere than the
continents.
 Area of calm – No winds- Bounded by towering convection of
trade winds in north and south
 Mid latitudinal winds
 Blowing from Sub tropical High pressure to Sub polar low
pressure
 Moves from the hot and dry (continents) / warm and wet (
oceans) subtropics towards cool Sub polar low pressure belts.
 More powerful in southern hemisphere than the north.

Roaring 40s
Furious 50s
Shrieking 60s
Screaming 70s
 Northern westerlies are less powerful, influenced by the land
and water distribution and friction excreted by land reduces
the velocity of the winds.

 ON-SHORE for the western coast and OFF – SHORE for the
eastern parts of the midlatitudinal regions.

 ON SHORE westerlies are associated with heavy rainfall in

the western sides of the continents.
 And by the time they reaches the central parts of the
continents westerlies become dry.
 They are OFF SHORE for the eastern coastal regions.
 On shore westerlies can produce good rainfall when they are
associated with a north south running mountain range at the
ON SHORE coastal regions.
North America.

 Northern California , Oregon, Washington receives heavy rain

fall from on shore westerly.
 After Rockies they are dry, but the available moisture allows
them to produce temperate cyclones. Produces light rainfall
which can support the taiga forest of Canada.
South America
 Western Chile experience good rainfall from the same.

 By the time they reaches the eastern slopes of Andes,

westerlies are dry causes the development of Patagonian Cold
deserts in Argentina.
Westerlies in Eurasia
 ON SHORE for the western Europe.
 No north south running mountains here
 Westerlies don’t bring much rain fall as it was in north and
south America.
 Westerlies extends the Modifying effect of Warm Atlantic
ocean into the interior parts of Europe and makes Europe
SNOWFREE during severe winter.
 North Atlantic drift effect towards the interior Europe
Blanket of Europe
 Westerlies by the time they reach at the central Asian region
become very dry and aid the arid climatic developments and
development of Cold deserts in the multitudes – GOBI,
TURKMENISTAN,KAZAK

 In the higher mid latitudes- westerlies causes

FRONTOGENESIS- after meeting with the contrasting Polar
easterlies. And results temperate cyclone developments.
 This develop light rainfall in the mid latitudes and they
support the Taiga forests of Northern Russia.
 Central part of Canada and central part of Russia are known
for Taiga forest
 Pine varieties of trees in pure stand support the Paper
industries and Lumbering industries in Russia and Canada.

In the mid latitudes, westerlies are aiding the developments of

 Cold deserts ( southern mid latitudes)
 Temperate grass lands ( transition zone )
 Taiga/boreal forest ( northern mid latitudes)
 Unlike trade winds, off shore westerlies wont be generating
deserts, because here the mechanism are influenced by
WARM OCEAN CURRENTS and Regional
MONSOONAL developments.
 Blows from extremely cold and dry Polar high pressure belts
to Sub polar low pressure belts.
 Meets with the warm and wet air mass carried by westerlies in
the mid latitudes,
 Develop temperate cyclones – source of Rainfall for the mid
latitudes.
 Climate is best developed in the surrounding regions of
Mediterranean.

1. Central California
2. Central Chile
3. Cape town – southern Africa
4. Perth of Australia
5. New Zealand
6. Northern part of Africa.
 Mediterranean climatic regions comes under OFF SHORE
TRADE winds during summer AND ON SHORE
WESTERLIES during winter.

 Off shore trade – dry – desert like climate – dry summers

 On shore westerlies brings moisture containing winds
produces rainfall in winter season. Moist rainy winters

 Latitudes comes alternatively under dry trade and warm wet

westerlies.

LAND OF WINTER RAINFALL – MEDITERRANEAN.

Dry warm summer with off-shore trades

 In summer when the sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer,

the belt of influence of the Westerly is shifted a little pole
wards , thus the region comes under OFF-SHORE TRADE
WINDS –
 Rain bearing winds are therefore not likely to reach the
Mediterranean lands.
Rainfall in winter with on-shore Westerlies

 In winter when the PRESSURE BELT SHIFT

EQUATORWARD and the WESTERLY SETS ON-SHORE
towards the western margins of the continent.

 In the northern hemisphere, the prevailing on-shore Westerly

bring much cyclonic rain from the Atlantic.

The rain comes in heavy showers and only on a few days with
bright sunny periods between them.
Vegetation

 Trees are with thick bark

 Mixed forest with Deciduous and evergreen conifers
 Bushes
 Xerophytes
 Grape cultivation
 Wine industries.
Local periodic winds

 Land and sea breeze.

 Mountain and valley breeze.

Regional winds

 Monsoon winds
Local winds are winds that blows in local and regional
levels.

1. Cold winds
2. Hot and warm winds
Cold winds - mountain descending winds

Mistral – alps – Rhone valley

 They originate on the Alps and move over France towards the
Mediterranean Sea through the Rhone valley.
 They are very cold, dry and high velocity winds.
 They bring down temperature below freezing point in areas of
their influence.
 People in these areas protect their orchards and gardens by
growing thick hedges and build their houses facing the
Mediterranean sea.
Bora
 A cold winter wind that occurs in eastern Europe is called the
“Bora.”
 The Bora blows from the Alps down to the Adriatic Coast.

Gregale

A Mediterranean wind that can occur during times when a low-

pressure area moves through the area to the south of Malta and
causes a strong, cool, northeasterly wind to affect the island.
Polar winds

Blizzard
 blizzard is a severe snowstorm characterized by strong
sustained winds and low visibility, lasting for a prolonged
period of time—typically at least three or four hours.
Buran winds

 buran wind blows across eastern Asia, specifically Xinjiang,

Siberia, and Kazakhstan.
Warm and dry winds

Fohn type winds- Lee ward side winds.

 Hot and dry winds.
 Rises the temperature
 Alps to plains
Sirocco type winds

Blows out from Saharan hot and dry lands

Hot and dusty wind
Crosses Atlantic to Italy
Rings moisture containing air from Mediterranean.
Causes orographic rainfall in Italy
Red rain – blood rain.
Known by different names
Gibili – libya
Khamsin - Egypt
Dr. wind/ Harmatan

 Blows from hot and dry Sahara towards warm and humid
equatorial Africa
 Reduces the excess moisture and brings a comfortable weather
condition.
 Brick fielder – Australia

Loo – Iran afghan Pakistan region to northern plains

 In summer
 Causes heat waves

 Can rise the temperature 3 to 4 degree very easily

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Ferrell's tri meridional cells are shallow and are not up to the
tropopause. They ceases to operate beyond certain height in the
troposphere.

The pressure patterns in the upper troposphere is

Strong high pressure condition in the equator and low

pressure condition at the polar region.

There is a strong pressure gradients exist between equator

and polar region.
 This makes the large scale movements of wind from equator to
polar regions at great speed.

 The pressure distribution in the upper troposphere is almost

parallel to latitudes.
 Isobars are following the west to east trends.

 When a huge volume of winds start moving from equator

towards polar regions, it comes under the strong deflective
Carioles force. This makes them to flow horizontally
perpendicular to pressure gradient force.
 And the high velocity winds run parallel to isobars.
 And sets a flow pattern from west to east in both hemisphere.

Called as UPPER TROPOSPHERIC WESTERLIES.

 This mechanism is called as GEOSTROPHIC balancing.

 Geostrophic winds
 When the winds are moving around the globe, in high velocity,
the conservation of angular momentum forces them to
meander very sharply in the high latitudes.

 The zig zag flow of the geostrophic winds are associate with
the mid an high latitudes beyond 50 to 55 degrees.

 The meandering geostrophic winds are called as ROSSBY

WAVES.
Rossby formation

 The formation of rossby waves is due to their vorticity and

conservation of angular momentum.

 Vorticity is the amount of spin possessed by a rotating

body
 The moving winds on the earth surface possess tendency of
vorticity that is 0 at the equator and maximum towards the
poles.
How the pressure cells are developing aloft ?

 Every freely moving wind will have high pressure condition in

its right hand side and low pressure condition in its left hand
side – Northern hemisphere.

 Every freely moving wind will have high pressure condition in

its left hand side and low pressure condition in its right hand
side – southern hemisphere
 The rossby loops lead to the formation of some pressure cells
in the upper tropospheric westerlies.


 Low pressure and high pressure cells alternatively

 Rossby bends which is open towards equator will have

High pressure centers,
 Rossby loops that are open for the polar regions will have
Low pressure centers in the upper atmosphere.
 These rossby loops of HP and LP causes regional divergence
and convergence of air aloft.
 The converging air at the rossby centre subside into surface
and result a HP anti cyclonic conditions on the surface.
 The diverging Rossby centers demand air current from the
corresponding regions in the surface. Creating Low pressure
depression on the surface.

 These alternative development of HP & LP on the surface

result regional Cyclonic and anti cyclonic developments in the
air.
 The meandering bends are so sharp at the same time the
velocity of winds are also strong.
 That makes the wind to bend and sometimes they align
straight because of the high velocity – that disrupt the angular
momentum- and again bend.

 This alternative straight line path and bending occurs in the

high latitude at an interval of 10 to 15 days.
 This common sequence of changes is called as INDEX
CYCLE OF rossby waves.
 Along with the Ferrell pressure belts and seasonal temporary
pressure cells in the continents, now there are additional
pressure cells are created by the effect of Rossby pressure
cells aloft.
 Now there are alternative high pressure cells and low pressure
cells develop in the mid latitudes because of the upper
troposphere Rossby cell formation.
 That influence mid latitudinal cyclonic depressions, their
associated weather phenomenon.

 The low pressure development at the temperate latitudes

causes the development of temperate cyclones.
 The rainfall distribution through out the year is a feature of
high midlatitdes.
 This High pressure and Low pressure centers switch at an
interval of 10 to 15 days according to the bending and
straightening behavior of the rossby waves.
 So there are alternative spells of drought and rainfall is
possible.
 Jet streams are bands of strong wind that generally blow from
west to east all across the globe. They impact weather, air
travel and many other things that take place in our atmosphere.

 Upper tropospheric
 West to east in north and southern hemisphere
 They are a part of the upper tropospheric westerlies.

 Bands of strong winds speed ranging from 300 to 400 with in

the upper tropospheric westerlies.
 Develop at the margins of tri meridionals cells
 The edges of Hadley- Ferrell & Ferrell and polar cells generate
an additional pressure gradients in the westerly bands.

 At the sub polar region 60 to 65 degree latitudes, they are

embedded inside the Rossby waves.
 Jet streams formed at the sub polar belt is called as Polar jet
streams.
Classification of jet streams

1. Sub tropical jet streams

2. Polar jet streams
3. Tropical easterly jet streams
4. Somali jet streams
Sub tropical jet streams
 Forms where Hadley and Ferrell cells are meeting
 Between the latitudes of 30 to 35 degrees
 Play a major role in the development – onset and withdrawal
of Indian monsoon system.
 Brings the western disturbance extra tropical cyclones towards
north western states of India.
Polar jets
 Forms at the Convecting edges of Ferrell and Polar cells in the
mid latitudes.
 60 to 65 degree
 Get along with the Rossby waves of the high latitudes.
 Extend the influence of Rossby pressure cells on the upper
mid latitudes.
 Influence the development and movement of Temperate
cyclones.
Tropical easterly jet streams

Develops in the Tibetan plateau during the northern summers.

Convect from the Tibet and cross the subcontinent in Allahabad
Mangalore alignment crosses the equator, make the subsidence
at the high pressure regions in the Mascarane High

Take a major role in the sustenance of monsoon winds towards

India.
Somali jet
 A low-level southwesterly jet over the Arabian Sea in the
summer months, off the coast of Somalia.

It is the northern branch of a cross-equatorial flow, giving rise

to a major supply of moisture in support of the Asian summer
monsoon
The Somali jet is an important feature of the South Asian
monsoon, contributing significantly to enhanced rainfall
online-pdf-no-copy.com
A tropical cyclone is a rapid rotating storm originating over tropical
oceans rotating inward to an area of low atmospheric pressure, a
depression which involve a closed circulation of air.
Favorable Conditions for Tropical Cyclone

 Large sea surface with temperature higher than 27° C

 An atmosphere which cools fast enough with altitude, such that it
is potentially unstable to moist convection
 Presence of the Coriolis force enough to create a cyclonic
vortex.. A minimum distance of 500km from equator
 A convectional trigger – normally provided by ITCZ
 Weak vertical wind shear
 A pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic
circulation
 Upper divergence above the sea level system
 Continuous supply of Moisture - Latent heat of condensation
Suitable source of sensible and latent heat

 Warm water with temperature more than 26 degrees preferably

27 degree C. this ensure sufficient evaporation and source of
moisture

 Depth of warm water 60 to 70metres minimum

Minimal vertical wind shear

 Tropical cyclone forms only when the win is uniform at most

heights through the troposphere.
 It is the absence of this condition that inhibits the tropical
cyclone developments near Hawaii – North easterly trade
winds
 Monsoon winds inhibits the tropical cyclone tendencies of
Indian ocean.
 Due to centripetal acceleration (centripetal force pulling
towards the center is countered by an opposing force called
centrifugal force), the air in the vortex is forced to form a
region of calmness called an eye at the center of the cyclone.
The inner surface of the vortex forms the eye wall, the most
violent region of the cyclone
Structure of a tropical cyclone
Eye

A roughly circular area of comparatively light winds and fair

weather found at the center of a severe tropical cyclone

 The eye is the region of lowest surface pressure and warmest

temperatures (in the upper levels) – the eye temperature
may be 10°C warmer or more at an altitude of 12 km than
the surrounding environment, but only 0-2°C warmer at
the surface in the tropical cyclone.
 Eyes are regions of light air subsidence

 There is little or no precipitation and sometimes blue sky or

stars can be seen.
 Eyes range in size from 8 km to over 200 km across, but most
are approximately 30-60 km in diameter.
Eye wall
 The eye is surrounded by the “eye wall”, the roughly circular
ring of deep convection, which is the area of highest surface
winds in the tropical cyclone.
 These are bands of liquid water which has been condensed
after the convection
There are three divisions in the vertical structure of tropical
cyclones.

 The lowest layer, extending up to 3 km and known as the

inflow layer, is responsible for driving the storm. Here the
movement of air is cyclonic.
 The middle layer, extending from 3 km to 7 km, is where
the main cyclonic storm takes place.
 The outflow layer lies above 7 km. The maximum outflow is
found at 12 km and above. The movement of air
is anticyclonic in nature.
 South-east Caribbean region where they are called hurricanes.
 Philippines islands, eastern China where they are called
typhoons.
 Japan - Typhu
 Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea where they are called T.
cyclones.
 Around south-east African coast and Madagascar-Mauritius
islands. Tropical Cyclones
 North-west Australia willy willy
 About 65 per cent of Tropical cyclonic activity occurs between
10° and 20° latitude.
 These cyclones start with a westward movement —- This is
because the earth is rotating from west to east and the zone of
cyclone formation is under the influence of easterlies ( trade
winds)
 Turn northwards around 20° latitude — Coriolis force deflects
the path towards right.
 They turn further north-eastwards around 25° latitude —
Coriolis force deflects it further towards the right.
 .
 Eastwards around 30° latitude — Because of westerly winds.

 They then lose energy and subside — Ocean water at 30 °

latitude is not warm enough to sustain a cyclone. Also
increasing wind shear due to Sub tropical subsidence = high
pressure doesn’t facilitate the formation of cyclonic vortex
 The depth of warm water (26-27°C) should extend for 60-70
m from surface of the ocean/sea

 This condition prevails only in the western sides of the ocean

 The cold ocean currents lower the surface temperatures of

the eastern parts of the tropical oceans making them unfit for
the breeding of cyclonic storms.
 The cyclone warnings are issued to state government officials
in four stages.
 The First Stage warning known as "PRE CYCLONE
WATCH" issued 72 hours in advance contains early warning
about the development of a cyclonic disturbance in the north
Indian Ocean.
 This early warning bulletin is issued by the Director General
of Meteorology - addressed to the Cabinet Secretary and
other senior officers of the Government of India including the
Chief Secretaries of concerned maritime states.
The Second Stage warning known as "CYCLONE ALERT" is
issued at least 48 hrs. in advance.

 Information on the location

 Intensity of the storm

 likely direction of its movement

 coastal districts likely to experience adverse weather

 Advice to fishermen, general public, media and disaster

managers
 The Third Stage warning known as "CYCLONE
WARNING" issued at least 24 hours in advance of the
expected commencement of adverse weather over the coastal
areas. Landfall point is forecast at this stage.

 3 hourly interval giving the latest position of cyclone and its

intensity, likely point and time of landfall, associated heavy
rainfall, strong wind and storm surge along with their impact
and advice to general public, media, fishermen and disaster
managers.
 The Fourth Stage of warning known as "POST LANDFALL
OUTLOOK“
 12 hours in advance of expected time of landfall.
 It gives likely direction of movement of the cyclone after its
landfall and adverse weather likely to be experienced in the
interior areas.
"Fleet Forecast" for Indian Navy
 Coastal Bulletins for Indian coastal areas covering up to 75 km
from the coast line
 sea area bulletins for the sea areas beyond 75 km

 The general public, the coastal residents and fishermen are warned
through State Government officials
 broadcast of warnings through All India Radio and National
Television (Doordarshan) telecast programmes in national and
regional hook-up.
 A system of warning dissemination for fishermen through World
Space Digital Based radio receivers is being planned.
It is issued by the IMD whose objective is to alert people ahead of severe or
hazardous weather which has the potential to cause damage, widespread
disruption or danger to life.

Warnings are updated daily.

The IMD uses 4 color codes are:

 Green (All is well): No advisory is issued.

 Yellow (Be Aware): Yellow indicates severely bad weather spanning across
several days. It also suggests that the weather could change for the worse,
causing disruption in day-to-day activities.

 Orange/Amber (Be prepared): The orange alert is issued as a warning

of extremely bad weather with the potential of disruption in commute with road
and rail closures, and interruption of power supply.

 Red (Take Action): When the extremely bad weather conditions are certainly
going to disrupt travel and power and have significant risk to life, the red alert
is issued.
An air mass is a large volume of air in the atmosphere that is
mostly uniform in temperature and moisture. Air masses can
extend thousands of kilometers in any direction, and can reach
from ground level to the stratosphere—16 kilometers into the
atmosphere.

Based on the horizontal gradients of temperature and humidity

air masses are differentiated from one another.

Warm air mass , cold air mass etc…

Uniform temperature, humidity conditions prevails horizontally,
where as vertical distribution of temperature and humidity varies
according to the height.
Favorable conditions of formation

 An extensive homogenous surface -

 Uniform temperature and humidity condition
 Areas of High pressure condition
 Stable atmospheric condition
Preferred regions of air mass formation

 Arctic region
 Antarctic regions
 Siberian high regions
 Canadian interiors
 Hawaiian high
 Azores high regions
Classification based on source region
1. Continent (c)
2. Ocean (o)
Possible combinations
Based on latitude
Continental Arctic – c A
1. Arctic (A) Maritime Arctic – m A
2. Polar ( sub polar region ) (P) Continental Equator – c E
3. Tropical (T) Maritime Equator - m E
4. Equatorial (E) Continental Polar – c P
5. Antarctic (AA) Maritime Polar - m P
Continental tropic – c T
Maritime Tropical - m T
WELL DEVELOPED AIR MASSES

 Continental Arctic air mass – Ex cold & dry

 Continental Antarctic air mass – ex cold & dry
 Continental polar air mass – Cold & dry ( Siberian Canada)
 Maritime polar (weak) because of Aleutian /Icelandic lows
 Maritime tropical air mass – warm & moist
 Continental tropic – hot & dry ,seasonal, not stable in summer
sub tropics
online-pdf-no-copy.com
An air mass is a large volume of air in the atmosphere that is
mostly uniform in temperature and moisture. Air masses can
extend thousands of kilometers in any direction, and can reach
from ground level to the stratosphere—16 kilometers into the
atmosphere.

Based on the horizontal gradients of temperature and humidity

air masses are differentiated from one another.

Warm air mass , cold air mass etc…

Uniform temperature, humidity conditions prevails horizontally,
where as vertical distribution of temperature and humidity varies
according to the height.
Favorable conditions of formation

 An extensive homogenous surface -

 Uniform temperature and humidity condition
 Areas of High pressure condition
 Stable atmospheric condition
Preferred regions of air mass formation

 Arctic region
 Antarctic regions
 Siberian high regions
 Canadian interiors
 Hawaiian high
 Azores high regions
Classification based on source region
1. Continent (c)
2. Ocean (o)
Possible combinations
Based on latitude
Continental Arctic – c A
1. Arctic (A) Maritime Arctic – m A
2. Polar ( sub polar region ) (P) Continental Equator – c E
3. Tropical (T) Maritime Equator - m E
4. Equatorial (E) Continental Polar – c P
5. Antarctic (AA) Maritime Polar - m P
Continental tropic – c T
Maritime Tropical - m T
WELL DEVELOPED AIR MASSES

 Continental Arctic air mass – Ex cold & dry

 Continental Antarctic air mass – ex cold & dry
 Continental polar air mass – Cold & dry ( Siberian Canada)
 Maritime polar (weak) because of Aleutian /Icelandic lows
 Maritime tropical air mass – warm & moist
 Continental tropic – hot & dry ,seasonal, not stable in summer
sub tropics
Air mass modifications are mainly in 3 ways

1. Lower air turbulence

2. Physical movement of the air mass from source to
other regions
3. Interactions with other air masses
1. Lower air turbulence

Air mixing from the ground ,interactions with the surface.

Surface modify the temperature, humidity, pressure
conditions of the air mass

Cool/warm, moist or dry in relation to the surface.

2. Air mass in transit

When air mass moves over a relatively warmer surface,

it will be a cooler air mass for the respective surface.

Continental polar air mass moves towards a more cooler region

c P to Arctic region
c P is in relation to the arctic surface, the continental polar air
mass is warmer. No convection – stable
 When an air mass moves over a relatively warmer surface,

 Air mass is cool compared with the temperature of the surface.

Continental polar to mid latitudinal ocean surface.

 Surface air start interacting with it.

 Air rises from the surface.
 Surface convections develop – air mass become unstable.
Practical examples

continental Arctic air mass is moving over pacific ocean.

c A (ex cold and dry ) moves over mid latitudinal pacific

Cold arctic come in contact with relatively warm ocean,

Thermal gradients from surface to lower portions of sirmass.
convect air into the Arctic air mass.

Convecting air brings moisture – condensation- arctic fog

formation.
 In winter, cold Canadian air mass moves towards the Great
lakes,

 Canadian air mass- c P – Cold and dry.

 Great lakes warm and wet

c P ku
Cool and unstable.

Appalachian -Lake effect.

Heavy rain – Chicago & Detroit
3. Air mass modification- interaction with other air
masses

Zone of interaction between 2 air mass – FRONT

FRONTS

 Fronts are a typical feature of the mid-latitudinal weather – 35- 65

degrees North and South of equator. 2 TO 3 KM
 Front is a 3D boundary zone formed between two converging air
masses with different physical properties ( temperature, humidity,
density etc..)
 The process of formation of a front is known as Frontogenesis
(war between two air masses), and dissipation of a front is
known as Frontolysis (one of the air masses win against the
other).

 Frontogenesis involves convergence of two distinct air

masses. Frontolysis involves overriding of one of the air mass
by another.
Characters of a front

 Transitional boundary between two contrasting air mass

 10 to 15 km height
 1000s of km length
 Narrow strip
 Entire height of troposphere.

 All fronts are associated with rain clouds and instability in the
air
Types of fronts

1. Stationary front
2. Cold front
3. Warm front
4. Occlusion front
STATIONARY FRONT

 A stationary front forms when a cold front or warm front stops

moving. This happens when two masses of air are pushing
against each other, but neither is powerful enough to move the
other.

 Cumulonimbus clouds are formed. Overrunning of warm air

along such a front causes frontal precipitation.
Cold front

It is a front in which the cold air is moving towards the warm air
zone. As the cold air mass is dense, it remains on the ground.
The cold air mass forcibly uplifts the warm and less dense air
mass.
 In such a situation, the transition zone between the two is a
cold front.
 Cold front moves up to twice as quickly as warm fronts.
Warm front
It is a sloping frontal surface along which active movement of
warm air over cold air takes place (warm air mass is too weak to
beat the cold air mass).
 As the warm air moves up the slope, it condenses and causes
precipitation but, unlike a cold front, the temperature and
wind direction changes are gradual.

 Such fronts cause moderate to gentle precipitation over a

large area, over several hours.

 The passage of warm front is marked by rise in temperature,

pressure and change in weather.
Occluded front

 A process by which the cold front of a rotating low-pressure

system catches up the warm front, so that the warm air
between them is forced upwards.

 Such a front is formed when a cold air mass overtakes a warm

air mass and goes underneath it.

 Frontolysis begin when warm sector diminishes and the cold

air mass completely undertakes the warm sector on ground.
 Temperate cyclones, also called as extra tropical cyclones or
wave cyclones or simply depressions are atmospheric
disturbances having low pressure in the center and increasing
pressure outward.

 The convergence of the cold front and the warm front in the
temperate latitude cyclones conducive for the development of
mid-latitude cyclone.
 The development and strengthening of a mid-latitude ware
cyclone id known as cyclogenesis. They move
counterclockwise in the Northern hemisphere and clockwise in
the southern hemisphere.

 The temperate cyclonic motion is generated by the pressure

gradient force, the coriolis force, and the surface friction force.
The temperate cyclone takes 3-10 days to complete its cycle
from birth, maturity, and death.
 ORIGINE OF TEMPERATE CYCLONES:-

 The first attempt was made by Fitzroy in the year 1863 in this
precarious field. He postulated that extra tropical or temperate
cyclones originated because of the convergence of two
opposing air masses of contrasting physical properties i.e.
temperature, pressure, density and humidity.

 .
 The Polar Front Theory was propounded by Bjerkines in 1918.
it deals with the stages of development of temperate cyclones.
 Bjerknes, a cyclone originates through the following six
stages.
 Stage I:- Involves the convergence of two air masses of
contrasting physical properties and directions. Initially , the air
masses move parallel to each other and a stationary front is
formed. This is called initial stage.

 Stage II:- is also called as ‘incipient stage’ during which the

warn and cold air masses penetrate into the territories of each
other and thus a wave-line front is formed.
 Stage III:- is the mature stage when the cyclone is fully
developed and isobars become almost circular.

 Stage IV:- warm sector is narrowed in extent due to the

advancement of cold front

 Stage V:- starts with the occlusion of cyclone when the

advancing clod front finally overtakes the warm front and an
occluded front is formed.
 Stage VI:- warm sector completely disappears , occluded front
is eliminated and ultimately cyclone dies out.
 The most modern approaches explain the development of low
pressure with the help of BAROCCININC THEORY.

 In the midlatitudes the development of low pressure centres is

associated with UPPER TROPOSPHERIC ROSSBY
WAVES and are associated with CONVERGENCE OF
CONTRASTING AIRMASS
 Lower troposphere witness the meeting of two contrasting air
masses.
 At the upper troposphere, the upper tropospheric westerlies
develop Rossby waves. Which can trigger developments of
alternate bands of HP and LP on the surface air.

 Closed isobars develops around the LP centres.

 Air from both the adjacent air masses get around the LP
 Carioles force deflects the incoming winds in the air mass.
 Sets a counter clockwise motion around the LP. In northern
hemisphere.
Structure of the rotator system

1. Warm front – advancing wall of warm airmass

2. Warm sector – region of warm airmass
3. Cold front – advancing wall of cold airmass
4. Cold sector – region of cold airmass
 Warm air mass pushes the warm front. And cold air mass
advances through cold front around the LP
 In the circulatory system Cold front advances from behind &
move faster than the warm front.
Weather conditions associated with the temperate cyclonic
development

 If one need to observe all the development associated with

temperate cyclone, one has to stand in the COLD SECTOR.

 Cold sector – low temperature conditions with stable air.

 Advancing warm air mass with a slanting wall of warm front.
 Arrival of warm front, is associated with a rise in the
atmospheric temperature. more humid air will be advancing
 Warm air rises – cools and start condensing
 Condensation produces nimbo stratus clouds – produces light
and extensive rainfall, larger area.

 As the warm front advances the region will come in the warm
air mass. Rain disappear- sky become clear.
 Gradually as the cold front is advancing from behind the
region will come under the arrival of cold air mass.

 Cold front – sudden drop of temperature – more air rises-

more moisture condenses – thick cumulonimbus cloud will be
created.
 Heavy short duration rainfall can be expected.

 As the air mass and front advances the region will come under
cold sector. And the rain disappear after a heavy spell .
 Cold front catches up with the warm front – warm air mass get
uplifted and complete surface and the lower troposphere will
be under the coverage of cold air mass- cold sector – Occluded
front develop.

 This low pressure condition exist for 10 to 15 days. As the

rossby cell cycle.
Movement of temperate cyclone

Develop in the westerly wind belt.

Generate both over land and water
Moves west to east
Develop throughout the year but more intense and frequent in
winter season, when the temperature contrast between tropics
and polar regions are maximum.

Temperate cyclones LOW PRESSURE centres can also be

triggered by regional low pressure cells.
Favourable regions
 Aleutian low
 Icelandic low
 Great Lakes low(Alberta low)
 Baltic Sea low
 Barnet sea low.

 Global warming and climate change related development

extends the regions of temperate cyclones into the lower mid
latitudes.
 Tropical cyclone Temperate cyclone

Forms only over oceanic Forms both oceanic and

atmosphere continental atmosphere

Movement and meeting of

Thermal in origin contrasting air mass.
Upper tropospheric Rossby
Occurs between the latitudes 4 35 to 65 degree north and south
to 30 degree north and south

Frontal system is absent Frontogenesis is the reason

 Season – late summer to early Develops throughout the year-
winter most occurs during the winter
season
Heavy rainfall – short span of time Light rainfall – for 2 to 3 weeks
Wind speed – 100 to 250 km/hour 30 to 150 km per hour wind speed
Highly destructive Less destructive
Lifespan one week 2 to 3 weeks of time.
Uniform distribution of Temperature varies at different
temperature towards the centre. sectors.
Energy is derived from latent heat Energy derived from density
of condensation differences between the air mass.
Centre – eye No eye development
Normally driven by trade Driven by westerly jet
winds streams
Mainly cumulo nimbus cloud Nimbo stratus ,cumulonimbus
clouds
Size – small 100 – 500 km 300 to 2000 size
 When 2 cyclones operate close to each other, they tend to start
rotating around a common point.
 Gradually the smaller cyclone merges with larger one
 The cyclone warnings are issued to state government officials
in four stages.
 The First Stage warning known as "PRE CYCLONE
WATCH" issued 72 hours in advance contains early warning
about the development of a cyclonic disturbance in the north
Indian Ocean.
 This early warning bulletin is issued by the Director General
of Meteorology - addressed to the Cabinet Secretary and
other senior officers of the Government of India including the
Chief Secretaries of concerned maritime states.
The Second Stage warning known as "CYCLONE ALERT" is
issued at least 48 hrs. in advance.

 Information on the location

 Intensity of the storm

 likely direction of its movement

 coastal districts likely to experience adverse weather

 Advice to fishermen, general public, media and disaster

managers
 The Third Stage warning known as "CYCLONE
WARNING" issued at least 24 hours in advance of the
expected commencement of adverse weather over the coastal
areas. Landfall point is forecast at this stage.

 3 hourly interval giving the latest position of cyclone and its

intensity, likely point and time of landfall, associated heavy
rainfall, strong wind and storm surge along with their impact
and advice to general public, media, fishermen and disaster
managers.
 The Fourth Stage of warning known as "POST LANDFALL
OUTLOOK“
 12 hours in advance of expected time of landfall.
 It gives likely direction of movement of the cyclone after its
landfall and adverse weather likely to be experienced in the
interior areas.
"Fleet Forecast" for Indian Navy
 Coastal Bulletins for Indian coastal areas covering up to 75 km
from the coast line
 sea area bulletins for the sea areas beyond 75 km

 The general public, the coastal residents and fishermen are warned
through State Government officials
 broadcast of warnings through All India Radio and National
Television (Doordarshan) telecast programmes in national and
regional hook-up.
 A system of warning dissemination for fishermen through World
Space Digital Based radio receivers is being planned.
It is issued by the IMD whose objective is to alert people ahead of severe or
hazardous weather which has the potential to cause damage, widespread
disruption or danger to life.

Warnings are updated daily.

The IMD uses 4 color codes are:

 Green (All is well): No advisory is issued.

 Yellow (Be Aware): Yellow indicates severely bad weather spanning across
several days. It also suggests that the weather could change for the worse,
causing disruption in day-to-day activities.

 Orange/Amber (Be prepared): The orange alert is issued as a warning

of extremely bad weather with the potential of disruption in commute with road
and rail closures, and interruption of power supply.

 Red (Take Action): When the extremely bad weather conditions are certainly
going to disrupt travel and power and have significant risk to life, the red alert
is issued.
CYCLONE MANAGEMENT

 Naming of tropical cyclones

 Observation of wind speed
 Tracking the low pressure system
 Forecasting
 Prelandfall evacuation alerts
 Post cyclonic interventions etc…
Evaporation
 Evaporation is a process by which water is transformed from
liquid to gaseous state.
 Availability of water surface
 Temperature.
 Humidity.
 Area of evaporating surface.
 Wind speed A high wind speed removes the saturated air
from the evaporating surface thus accelerate evaporation.
 Air Pressure: Evaporation is also affected by the atmospheric
pressure exerted on the evaporating surface. Lower pressure
over open surface of the liquid results in a higher rate of
evaporation.
 Composition of water: Evaporation is inversely proportional
to salinity of water.
 Rate of evaporation is always greater over fresh water than
over salt water.

 Under similar conditions, ocean water evaporates about 5%

more slower than fresh water.

 Increasing water salinity reduces evaporation since the

dissolved salt ions lower the free energy of the water
molecules, i.e., reduce the water activity, and hence reduce
the saturation vapor pressure above the saline water at a
given water temperature
 Water vapor absorbs radiation—both incoming and terrestrial.
It thus plays a crucial role in the earth’s heat budget.

 The amount of water vapor present decides the quantity of

latent energy stored up in the atmosphere for development of
storms and cyclones.
Absolute Humidity

 The actual amount of the water vapor present in the

atmosphere is known as the absolute humidity.

 It is the weight of water vapor per unit volume of air and is

expressed in terms of grams per cubic meter.

 The ability of the air to hold water vapor depends entirely on

its temperature
Specific Humidity

 It is expressed as the weight of water vapor per unit weight of

air.
 Since it is measured in units of weight (usually grams per
kilogram)

Absolute humidity and specific humilities are not good

measures of rainfall predictability.
Relative Humidity

 The percentage of moisture present in the atmosphere as

compared to its full capacity at a given temperature is
known as the relative humidity.

 With the change of air temperature, the capacity to retain

moisture increases or decreases and the relative humidity is
also affected.
 Actual moisture in the air / full capacity of air
 Air containing moisture to its full capacity at a given
temperature is said to be ‘saturated’.

 At this temperature, the air cannot hold any additional amount

of moisture. Thus, relative humidity of the saturated air
is 100%.

 If the air has half the amount of moisture that it can carry, then
it is unsaturated and its relative humidity is only 50%
 Relative humidity can be changed in either of the two
ways—

1. By adding moisture through evaporation (by increasing

absolute humidity): if moisture is added by evaporation, the
relative humidity will increase and vice versa.
2. By changing temperature of air (by changing the
saturation point): a decrease in temperature (hence, decrease
in moisture-holding capacity/decrease in saturation point)
will cause an increase in relative humidity and vice versa.
 Water holding capacity of a column of air
 Air moisture holding capacity is function of its temperature
 Water vapor is a highly variable gas
 Water vapor holding capacity depends on the temperature of
the air
 When the air is 100 % saturated, then the total amount of
water it can hold may vary from 0.1% to 4%
 4% is the maximum amount of water vapor a column of wet
air can hold.
Dew point

 The air containing moisture to its full capacity at a given

temperature is said to be saturated.
 It means that the air at the given temperature is incapable of
holding any additional amount of moisture at that stage.
 The temperature at which saturation occurs in a given sample
of air is known as dew point.
 Dew point occurs when Relative Humidity = 100%.
 The transformation of water vapour into water droplets is
called condensation.
 Condensation is caused by the loss of heat.
 When moist air is cooled, it may reach a level when its
capacity to hold water vapour ceases (Saturation Point =
100% Relative Humidity ) Then, the excess water vapor
transforms into liquid form.
Condensation can take place in the
upper air
1. Clouds
2. Water droplets

3. Ice crystals

And on the surface.

 Dew drops, frost

 Fog , mist
Forms of Condensation

 Condensation can take place when the dew point is reached.

 When dew point temperature higher than the freezing
point.
Temperature lower than the freezing point – sublimation
 White frost – freezing can also happen

Temperature higher than freezing point

 Dew, fog, Mist and low altitudinal clouds
Dew forms on any surface where as Fog forms with in the
air.

 Radiation loss of heat

 Arrival of cold air mass
 Mountain breeze
 Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon in
which dust, smoke, and other
dry particulates suspended in air
obscure visibility and the clarity of the sky
 High clouds – above - 6 km - cirrus clouds
 Medium clouds - 3 to 6 km - stratus clouds
 Low clouds – upto 3 km - cumulus
Cirrus Clouds
 Cirrus clouds are formed at high altitudes (8- 12km).
They are thin and detached clouds having a feathery
appearance. They are always white in colour.
Cumulus Clouds
 Cumulus clouds look like cotton wool. They are generally
formed at a height of 4 -7 km. They exist in patches and can be
seen scattered here and there. They have a flat base.
Stratus Clouds
 As their name implies, these are layered clouds
covering large portions of the sky.
 These clouds are generally formed either due to loss of
heat or the mixing of air masses with different
temperatures.
Nimbus Clouds
 Nimbus clouds are black or dark gray. They form at
middle levels or very near to the surface of the earth.
 These are extremely dense and opaque to the rays of the
sun.
 Sometimes, the clouds are so low that they seem to touch
the ground.
 Nimbus clouds are shapeless masses of droplets.
Cloud with high vertical growth – Cumulo-nimbus
 Cumulonimbus is a dense, towering vertical cloud, typically
forming from water vapor condensing in the
lower troposphere that builds upward carried by
powerful buoyant air currents.

 Above the lower portions of the cumulonimbus the water

vapor becomes ice crystals, such as snow and graupel, the
interaction of which can lead to hail and
to lightning formation, respectively.
 The process of continuous condensation in free air helps the
condensed particles to grow in size.
 When the resistance of the air fails to hold them against the
force of gravity, they fall on to the earth’s surface.

 So after the condensation of water vapor, the release of

moisture is known as precipitation. This may take place in
liquid or solid form.

 Precipitation refers to all forms of water that fall to the

earth from the atmosphere.
Rainfall
Precipitation in the form of drops of water is called rainfall,
when the drop size is more than 5 mm.
 Drizzle is light rainfall with drop size being less than 0.5 mm
 It is called virga when raindrops evaporate before reaching the
earth while passing through dry air.
 When the temperature is lower than the 0° C, precipitation
takes place in the form of fine flakes of snow and is
called snowfall
 Sleet is frozen raindrops and refrozen melted snow-water.
When a layer of air with the temperature above freezing point
overlies a subfreezing layer near the ground, precipitation
takes place in the form of sleet.
 Raindrops, which leave the warmer air, encounter the colder
air below. As a result, they solidify and reach the ground as
small pellets of ice.
 Sometimes, drops of rain after being released by the clouds
being uplifted by the high convection from the surface.
Cools and more amount of moisture is added on the
surface of the frozen droplets.

 These are formed by the rainwater passing through the colder

layers. Hailstones have several concentric layers of ice one
over the other.
 Water vapor – Condenses – Clouds- Precipitation.

Water vapor rises- cools (adiabatic cooling)

Adiabatic cooling can be achieved by

 Convectional upliftment
 Orographic upliftment
 Frontal upliftment
Clouds to precipitation

 Depending on the climatic conditions there are two processes

associated with this mechanism.

Bergeron process
Langmuir Simpson process
 Saturation vapor pressure – amount of additional water
vapor required to make an air saturated.

 Objects with extreme low temperature and its surrounding

air will be super contracted ( vapor holding pores are less) so,
this air can be made saturated by the addition of few amount
of water vapor.
 Objects with relatively warmer temperature, air around the
object will be relatively expanded(more pores will be open) so
it need more amount of vapor to make itself saturated.
 An air which have low saturation vapor pressure will reach
saturation fast and produces rainfall.

 So the available moisture will always prefer lowest vapor

pressure environment to condense.

 Ice crystals attract more water vapor than cool water droplets.
Bergeron theory

 Occurs in temperate /Mid latitudinal pattern of precipitation.

 In cumulo nimbus with high vertical growth with temperature
below freezing point.
 Role of ice crystals as freezing nuclei in the high clouds.
 Operates in clouds with pre existing ice crystals
 Talks about snow producing clouds.
 It’s the process of ice crystal growth – as nuclei.
 Where the water vapor and water droplets condenses over ice
crystals because the saturation vapor pressure on the ice
crystal is low than in the water droplets.

 Pre existing ice crystals are necessary. And they act as a

freezing nuclei.
 Differences in vapor pressure causes water molecules to move
from cooler droplets ( high vapor pressure ) to ice crystals (
low vapor pressure )
 Cloud seeding – spraying ice crystals, silver iodide, dry ice
etc.. More water droplets and vapor get attracted towards the
ice crystal grow in size – fall as heavy snow fall.
Langmuir Simpson process

 It discuss the condensation and precipitation process of low

latitudes.
 Clouds producing rainfall
 No ice crystals

 Hygroscopic nuclei.- dust particles, salt crystals.etc..

 Tropical clouds that produces rain fall
 Water vapor
 Water droplets
 Dust particles

 Water vapor need a surface which is provided by hygroscopic

nuclei
 Warm clouds have condensation nuclei – (dust particles, salt
crystals)
 Which can attract water vapor and grow in size.
 A column of clouds water vapor, dust particles in the air – if
shaken can trigger collision between water vapor and
hygroscopic nuclei.
 More water vapor start condensing around the nuclei.
 Clouds grow in size and fall as heavy rainfall.
 As the water droplets falls down rapidly the water droplets
around in the falling rain get attracted and rain drops grow
heavy- because of wake process.

 Based on Bernoulli's principles.

 This process an cause further growth of raindrops and rain

drops grow large in size.

 Clod seeding - salt crystals – NOT FREEZING NUCLEI

online-pdf-no-copy.com
 Water vapor – Condenses – Clouds- Precipitation.

Water vapor rises- cools (adiabatic cooling)

Adiabatic cooling can be achieved by

 Convectional upliftment
 Orographic upliftment
 Frontal upliftment
Clouds to precipitation

 Depending on the climatic conditions there are two processes

associated with this mechanism.

Bergeron process
Langmuir Simpson process
 Saturation vapor pressure – amount of additional water
vapor required to make an air saturated.

 Objects with extreme low temperature and its surrounding

air will be super contracted ( vapor holding pores are less) so,
this air can be made saturated by the addition of few amount
of water vapor. 100% Relative humidity can be achieved
easily.

 Objects with relatively warmer temperature, air around the

object will be relatively expanded(more pores will be open) so
it needs more amount of vapor to make itself saturated.
 An air which have low saturation vapor pressure will reach
saturation fast and produces rainfall.

 So the available moisture will always prefer lowest vapor

pressure environment to condense.

 Ice crystals attract more water vapor than cool water

droplets.
Bergeron fiendeisen theory

 Occurs in temperate /Mid latitudinal pattern of precipitation.

 Role of ice crystals as freezing nuclei in the high clouds.
 Operates in clouds with pre existing ice crystals
 Talks about snow producing clouds.
Bergeron Fiendesen theory is based on 2 facts.
1. Co existence of water vapor ice crystals and super cooled
water droplets in cloud
2. Different values of saturation vapor pressure

In clouds where the temperature is below freezing point -5

degree to –10 degree C, there usually exist a mixture of water
vapor, ice crystals and super cooled water droplets.

Between 0 C to -40 C, water and ice co exist giving a mixed

cloud below – 40 degree C all the products are made up of ice
crystals.
 The super cooled water droplets freezes when they are
shaken or
 when they come in contact with a freezing nuclei.

 Initially the super cooled water droplets are much more

abundant than the ice crystals - a single ice crystal may be
surrounded by thousands of super cooled water droplets.
 When the ascending air currents with lower temperature -20
degrees, reaches near the clouds they collide with the cloud
and all the super cooled water droplets freeze.
 Thus a single ice crystal has the capacity to make a whole
cloud to an ice cloud,
 This is because the saturation vapor pressure over ice crystal is less
than water.
 Differences in vapor pressure causes water molecules to move from
cooler droplets ( high vapor pressure ) to ice crystals ( low vapor
pressure )

 When a column of air which is saturated, with respect to water

droplets, is super saturated with respect to an ice crystal.

 Eg – at a temperature of -10 degree C if the varying vapor pressure

makes a chunk of water vapor content around water droplets into
100% relative humidity (saturated) and 110% relative humidity for
the surrounding air of an ice crystal.
 For water droplets – water vapor content was saturated
 And for air around ice crystal – super saturated.

 Then the super saturated water vapor transform towards ice

crystals – SUBLIMATION. And deposition starts on ice
crystals.
 Cloud seeding – spraying ice crystals, silver iodide, dry ice
etc.. More water droplets and vapor get attracted towards the
ice crystal grow in size – fall as heavy snow fall.
Tropical clouds that produces rain fall is composed of

 Water vapor
 Water droplets
 Dust particles

 Water vapor need a surface which is provided by hygroscopic

nuclei
 Warm clouds have condensation nuclei – (dust particles, salt
crystals)
 Which can attract water vapor and grow in size.
 A column of clouds water vapor, dust particles in the air – if
shaken can trigger collision between water vapor and
hygroscopic nuclei.
 More water vapor start condensing around the nuclei.
 Clouds grow in size and fall as heavy rainfall.
 As the water droplets falls down rapidly the water droplets
around in the falling rain get attracted and rain drops grow
heavy- because of wake process.

 Based on Bernoulli's principles.

 This process an cause further growth of raindrops and rain

drops grow large in size.

 Cloud seeding - salt crystals – NOT FREEZING NUCLEI

 How does air rises and subside ?
 What happens to rising and subsiding air ?
 Temperature condition of static air/ background air and rising
and subsiding air.

Environmental lapse rate – Adiabatic lapse rate

 Convecting and rising air cools as it expand with height.
Expansion of air is caused by the drop in the air pressure.
Adiabatic lapse rate

 Static air cools with increase in height – moving away from

the source of heating and the varying concentration of Green
house gases. Environmental lapse rate
1. Dry adiabatic lapse rate The rate at which the temperature
of a parcel of dry air decreases as the parcel is lifted in the
atmosphere.

2. Wet adiabatic lapse rate/ Saturated adiabatic lapse rate

The adiabatic cooling rate of a rising parcel of air which is
saturated (see SATURATED AIR), and in which condensation is
taking place as it rises, so that the energy release of the latent
heat of vaporization moderates the adiabatic cooling.
There are 3 possible relationship between ELR and ALR

1. ELR > DALR >SALR

2. DALR > SALR > ELR
3. DALR >ELR > SALR
CONDITON 1
ELR > DALR >SALR

 Atmospheric condition where the static air temperature drops more

faster than the rising air temperature.
 Rapid cooling of the background air makes the rising air relatively
warmer and unstable.
 This makes the rising air to rise faster- which leads to the
developments of some violent atmospheric phenomenon like
tropical storms, tropical cyclones, tornadoes etc…

 ELR with temperature drop of 15 to 20 degree C. makes the rising

air more unstable.
 20 0

25 10

30 20

35 30

40 40

Rising air (ALR) Static air (ELR)

CONDITION 2
DALR >SALR>ELR

STATIC AIR COOLS SLOWER THAN THE RISING AIR

The pocket of rising air cools faster than the background air.
In this condition since the rising air cools faster than the
background air, it become highly stable and it wont rise.
CONDITION 3
DALR>ELR>SALR

Environmental lapse rate is greater than DALR but less than

SALR

Here the Dry adiabatic lapse rate – the temperature drop of dry
air is greater than the drop of temperature of the static air.

So the dry air become stable and wont rise.

But the Wet Adiabatic lapse rate is lower than environmental
lapse rate. – moist rising air is always warmer than the static air
in all levels. That makes the wet air more unstable- rises quickly
and generate instability in the air.
 Climate has a greater influence on the distribution of natural
vegetation soil development geomorphic processes and
landform development , socio cultural aspects etc…

 climate throughout the world is highly diverse.

1. Empirical classification
Done through analyzing the observable elements of climate –
(monthly average temperature , rainfall and other types of
precipitation) KOPPEN, THON

2. Genetic classification- classification based on analyzing the

causative factors of climate –
Insolation-albedo-temperature-land water distribution etc…
 Koppen classified the climate of the world by finding a close
relationship between the vegetation and the climate of a
particular region.

 Studying climate is become highly complex when we study it

through analysing each and every elements like temperature,
precipitation, humidity, pressure etc… or causative factors that
produce a pattern of climate like Insolation, amount of rainfall,
Albedo, land and water distribution altitude etc…
 Natural vegetation of a region is the result of the
temperature and rainfall condition of that region –
 They reflect the climate of that region- since they are
stationary.

 For establishing the facts he relied on the vegetation map

prepared by a French botanist – De Condole.
 With the help of the work of De condole, he demarcated the
boundaries of each vegetation type and studied the
temperature and precipitation of that region. – DEDUCTIVE
METHOD - reverse engineering.
 De Condole had identified 5 types of vegetations around the
world.

 Koppen related every type of vegetation with in terms of

climate .

1. MEGA THERM – WARM AND WET CLIMATE

2. MESO THERM – WARM AND HUMID
3. MICRO THERM – COOL AND HUMID
4. HEKISO THERM – VERY VERY COLD
5. XEROPHITES- PLANTS OF DRY CLIMATE
Koppen used alphabets to denote each climate type.

Mega Therm – Warm and wet climate A type

Meso therm Warm and humid C type
Micro therm Cool and humid D type
Hekiso therm Very very cold E type
Xerophites plants of dry climate B type

Usage of Alphabets was a new method in climatology.

Koppen’s classification

I. First level – Temperature based/ thermal based

classification

A -C- D- E
 A CLIMATE– temperature always > 18 °C
/Winter lowest temperature is 18 °C
 C CLIMATE – winter temperature between -3°C to 18°C
(summer will be greater than that)

 D CLIMATE – winter temperature < - 3°C and Summer

temperature > 10°C. (winter -20/-40 to 10-15-25°C) great
range of temperature.

 E CLIMATE – temperature never more than IN WINTER

°C
 Koppen divided the E type of climate into 2

 ET – Summer temperature more than 0 °C but less than

10°C. (Tundra type)
 EF – permanently frozen icecaps.
II. Second level – subdivision of A-C-D based on
seasonality of rainfall.

1. f – rainfall throughout the year

2. s – summer dry
3. w – winter dry
Climatic region based on 2nd level of classification.
Examples..
1. Equatorial climate – Af
2. Mediterranean – Cs
3. Taiga – Df
III. 3rd level of sub division
 Based on the latitudinal range of temperature with in a
division.
 Koppen subdivided C and D on the basis of latitudinal range
of temperature.

1. a – warm
2. b – cool
3. c – cooler
C a, C b, C c
D a, Db, Dc
 Mediterranean climate – C s a

 The taiga corresponds with regions of subarctic and cold

continental climate
Dfb, Dfc, and Dwd climate types
5th type of climate B TYPE
 Xerophytes climate – desert climate
 Ares that are extremely dry
 Where evaporation > precipitation.
 Severe moisture stress.

 Vegetation is not the function of rainfall but it is the function

of effectiveness of rainfall. – PRECIPITATION
EFFECTIVENESS.
 Vegetation is not a function of rainfall but a function of
RAIN - EVAPORATION LOSS
 B type of climate is subdivided based on the relationship of
evaporation and precipitation.

1. Evaporation is always greater than precipitation – DESERT

–BW
2. Evaporation is greater than precipitation, but in some month,
precipitation dominates over evaporation. B GRASS LAND (
STEPPE)
BS
B S & B W has two major variants.

 B S – TROPICAL GRASS LAND - BSh

TEMPERATE GRASS LAND – BSk

 B W -TROPIAL HOT DESERT – BWh

MID LATITUDINAL DESERTS - BWk
 Updated classification, Koppen added the tropical monsoon
climate type

Am

 And also included the topographical effects on temperature –

Highlands effect. H
 Another empirical study of climate classification.
 He was inspired from Koppens classification
 Used the vegetation analysis for deducing climate types.

 He gave equal importance to temperature and rainfall

 He used vegetation and average monthly temperature and

rainfall for the classification.

 Agreed the concept of vegetation is a function of rainfall and

temperature.
1. Precipitation efficiency index = P/E ratio.
2. Thermal efficiency index
3. Seasonal rains
P/E = 11.5 Σ( (P i / T i ) – 10) ¹⁰/⁹
Pi = Average monthly precipitation
Ti= Average monthly temperature
P/E = 11.5 Σ( (P Jan / T Jan) – 10) + ( P Feb / T Feb
– 10) + ( (P March / T March)– 10)………….. ( (P
Dec / T Dec) – 10) ¹⁰/⁹
According to the various Pi/Ti values he identified 5
types of humidity provinces.

1. A - WET
2. B - HUMID
3. C – SUB HUMID
4. D – SEMI ARID
5. E – ARID
T EI = T/E = Σ ((Temperature – 32) / 4 ) for 12 months

= Σ ( (Jan temp – 32) / 4 ) + ( (Feb temp – 32) / 4 ) +

((March temp – 32) / 4 ) + ( (April temp – 32) / 4 ) +
((May temp – 32) / 4 )…….. + ( (Dec temp – 32) / 4 )
Based on thermal efficiency index, he identified 6 thermal
provinces.

1. A-- = MEGA THERM

2. B-- = MESO THERM
3. C-- = MICRO THERM
4. D-- = TAIGA
5. E-- = TUNDRA
6. F-- = PERMA FROST
r = rainfall through out the year
s = summer dry
w = winter dry
d = dry throughout the year
Humidity Thermal Provinces Seasonal
Provinces Rainfall
A A-- r
B B-- s
C C-- w
D D-- d
E E--
F--
Thornthwaite’s climate types are a combination of 3
parameters

5 Humid provinces
6 Thermal provinces
4 Seasonal rainfall provinces

Based on the possible combinations, Thornthwaite identified 32

climate types around the world.
 Thornthwaite classification A climate type is a combination of
the three

 Equatorial rainforest = AA--r

 Tropical hot desert = EA--d
 Arctic = EF--d
 Mediterranean – CB--s
CC--s
DB--s
DC--s
 Thornthwaite modified his concept in 1948 by
keeping the basics of the concept intact.-
EMPIRICAL – VEGETATION APPROACH

1. Included transpiration loss along with evaporation

2. Give the concept of potential evapo-transpiration loss(P
E T)
3. Developed a composite index using seasonality of rains
and potential evapo-transpiration.
 According to him aridity should be calculated in conditions of
adequate availability of moistre under field saturation.

For this he gave a situation

 Pour enough water in An open field – make it saturated – and
assess how much water is evaporating.

 How much moisture will be lost, if an area gets enough

precipitation.
PET = Σ 1.6 ( 10 ti/ I )ᵃ
(Sum of 12 months)

T is monthly average temperature

I is the Heat index calculated as follow.

I = Σ(ti/5)
Developed by including seasonality of rain and PET

IM INDEX

 IM = (100 S – 60 D) / PET

S = THE TOTAL SURPLUS RAINFALL OF THE YEAR

D =THE TOTAL DEFICIT RAINFALL FOR THE YEAR

 January - February - March - April
 Rainfall and evaporation would be identified.
 Deficit or surplus would be calculated.

 All the deficit and surplus of rainfall is calculated separately

And added in the format

IM = (100 x TOTAL SURPLUS – 60 X TOTAL DEFICIT )

POTENTIAL EVAPOTRANSPIRATION
 Based on IM values Thornthwaite identified 9 types of
climates.
1. A
2. B4
3. B3 IM + ve Numbers
4. B2 areas of moisture surplus
5. B1
6. C2 BOUNDARY C2 & C1 = IM = 0
7. C1
8. D IM –ve Numbers
9. E areas of rainfall deficit
online-pdf-no-copy.com
 Glenn Thomas Trewartha published the Climate classification
in 1966.
 It is considered a modified version of the Koeppen system
of climate classification.
 Besides being ‘simple and explanatory, Trewartha’s
classification combines the basic fundamentals of the
empirical as well as the genetic classification schemes.
 He suggested some modifications to Koppens classification
to make the scheme more appropriate.
 Vegetation basis is the best method to classify the climate.
 Empirical system of classification is an ideal system of
classification of climate because of the complexities involved
in the causal based classification.
 He tried to include causal factors for climate classification
where ever it is possible.

 Trewartha was more in support of Koppens scheme than

Thornthwaite – Too mathematical and complex.
 Trewartha was in a view for geography, A generalist
appreciation of climate is enough. And not a complex
mathematical analysis.

 Though he supported the scheme of koppen, he introduced

certain new concepts and changed some existing concepts.
 He accepted the zonal pattern of climate regions. But he
suggested some changes in the boundaries of C and D.
 Introduced a transition zone between D and F
 Introduced a new zone F.

 He maintained the A climatic zone intact. With a winter lower

temperature isotherm of 18 °C
 Reduced the northern limit and brought it towards the tropics
with a WINTER MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 0 °C AN
NOT -3 °C OF KOPPEN.
 Reduced the northward limit of D and brought it towards
lower latitude.
 WINTER TEMPERATURE LESS THAN 0 °C AND
SUMMER TEMPERATURE MORE THAN 10 °C FOR
ATLEAST 4 MONTHS. ( 10 °C FOR 4+ MONTHS)

 He added a transitional zone between D & F – E CLIMATE

 THE TEMPERATURE PREFERENCE IN WINTER
LESS THAN 0 °C AND SUMMER TEMPERATURE
MORE THAN 10 °C FOR APERIOD LESS THAN 4
MONTHS.
 The E zone of Koppen is changed into F with the same
climatic criteria.

 FT – Summer temperature more than 0 °C but less than

10°C. (Tundra type)
 FF – permanently frozen icecaps.
 Trewartha changed the koppens “f” – rainfall zone into
“r”

Koppen Trewartha
f r
s s
w w
 Changed the Am Monsoon climate with a minimum dry period
of 1 months into

Am with at least 3 months of dry conditions

 TREWARTHA added the modifying effect of ocean currents
in the tropical western coast of continents.

 PRESENCE OF COLD OCEAN URRENTS AND THE

TRADE WINDS INDUCED UPWELLING OF COLD
WATER

 ALONG THE ALASKAN COAST AND coast of USHUAIA

CITY OF SOUTH AMERICA HAS THE EFFECT OF
WARM OCEAN CURRENTS.
 Trewartha added modifications to B & D climate.
 He added the modifying effect of oceans into B and D
climates.
 B type – western side of Africa is under cold ocean currents
effect- so he named it as B-O DESERT WITH OCEANIC
EFFECT.
 NAMIB DESERT IS ALSO HAS THE EFFECT OF COLD
OCEAN CURRENT – B O
 Alaskan region of North America which falls under D climate
is also under the influence of A warm ocean current – D O
 Ushuaia the southern most city also under the influence of a
warm ocean current – Brazilian. D B
 KOPPEN THORNTHWAITE TREWARTHA
PRIMARY BASIS VEGETATION VEGETATION VEGETATION
APPROACH EMPERICAL EMPERICAL EMPERICAL+ GENETIC
ANALYSIS DESCRIPTIVE MORE DESCRIPTIVE
MATHEMATICAL
INDICES MEAN 1931 MEAN MONTHLY
MONTHLY PRECIPITATION TEMPERATRE &
TEMPERATRE & EFFIIENCY INDEX MEAN MONTHLY
MEAN TEMPERATURE RAINFALL
MONTHLY EFFICIENCY
RAINFALL INDEX
1948
PRECIPITATION POTENTIAL
EFFECTIVENESS EVAPOTRANSPIR
P-E ATION
MOISTURE
INDICES.
PRECIPITATION – PRECIPITATION BASED ON OBSERVED AND
EFFECT ON EFFECTIVENESS MATHEMATIAL RECORDED
VEGETATION P–E FORMULA
OBSERVED AND
RECORDED
PRESENTATION PRESENTED FOR SO DETAILED GOOD
THE ENTIRE REPRESENTATIO DEPICTION IN
GLOBE N OF CLIMATE – WORLD MAP
NOT DEPICTED
IN WORLD MAP
APPLICATION NOT MUCH 1948 SCHEME IS NOT MUCH
APPLICATION APPLIED IN APPLICATION
OTHER THAN VARIOUS FIELDS OTHER THAN
ACADEMICS ACADEMICS

GLOBAL DETAILED BUT GLOBAL

APPLICATION NOT SUITALE APPLICATION
FOR MACRO
ANALYSIS
 Applied climatology is a branch of climatology that focuses on
the practical application of climate knowledge to various fields

 Weather predictions
 Agriculture
 Drought and flood forecasting
 Agriculture and crop planning
 Urban planning
 Designing settlements
 Climate change adaptations.
 An urban heat island occurs when a city experiences much
warmer temperatures than nearby rural areas

 Urban areas are densely populated, meaning there are a lot of

people in a small space. Urban areas are
also densely constructed, meaning buildings are constructed
very close together. When there is no more room for an urban
area to expand, engineers build upward, creating skyscrapers.

 All this construction means waste heat—and heat that escapes

insulation has nowhere to go. It lingers in and between
buildings in the UHI.
 Urban heat island is also called as urban dome
 A dome of warm conditions, dust particles, pollutants in urban
atmosphere is called as urban dome.
 Chimneys and industrial emissions
 Hot air and pollutants get released on top of the urban areas
with cooler air below the ground
 Restrict the convection
 Pollutants get accumulated
 Heat build up in the lower layers
 Entire air heats up fast and
 Huge convections cells will e created.

 Convecting air brings moisture and causes cloud bursts in the

urban centers.
Applications in Agriculture
 Understanding the patterns and trends in temperature and
precipitation can help farmers make informed decisions about
when to plant and harvest crops, as well as what types of crops
to grow.
 climate information can be used to identify areas that are
vulnerable to drought, floods, or other extreme weather events,
which can inform planning for disaster response and recovery.
 Applications in Natural Resource Management

 Climate information is also critical for natural resource

management, particularly for forests, water resources, and
wildlife. By understanding how climate patterns and trends
impact these resources, we can make informed decisions about
how to manage and protect them. For example, climate
information can be used to identify areas that are vulnerable to
wildfire, or to plan for the restoration of degraded ecosystems.
online-pdf-no-copy.com
 While there is only one global ocean, the vast body of water that
covers 71 percent of the Earth is geographically divided into
distinct named regions. The boundaries between these regions have
evolved over time for a variety of historical, cultural, geographical,
and scientific reasons.

 Historically, there are four named oceans: the Atlantic, Pacific,

Indian, and Arctic. However, a new ocean has now been recognized
as the Southern (Antarctic) as the fifth ocean. The Pacific, Atlantic,
and Indian are known as the three major oceans.
 They are source of food- fish, mammals, reptiles, salt and other
marine foodstuffs.
 The tides can be harnessed to provide power.
 Bathymetry is the study of underwater depth of ocean
floors, lake floors, or river floors. In other words,
bathymetry is the underwater equivalent to
hypsometry or topography.
I. Challenger expedition 1870s
 Used LINE SOUNDING TECHNIQUE – which is good for
smaller depth and shallow water study
 Studied about the ocean

 water salinity
 Temperature
 Density
 Biodiversity
 Ocean depth.
II. Sonar ranging techniques
 Double hull sonar – double sided mapping of
ocean floor at the same time.
 Give a more detailed information about the terrain
 Swath sonar – they are mobile sonar instruments attached
to the moving vessel.

 Controlled explosion sonar recorder –

 Provide information regarding the composition of rocks and
minerals.
III. GRAVITY STUDY

Mountains and other seafloor features have a lot of

mass, so they exert a gravitational pull on the water
above and around them; essentially, seamounts pull
more water toward their center of mass. This causes
water to pile up in small but measurable bumps on the
sea surface.
 MORE MASS = MORE GRAVITY – MORE WATER GET
ATTRACTED TOWARDS IT.

 David Sandwell of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography

and Walter Smith of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration has prepared a global data set that tells where
the ridges and valleys are by showing where the planet’s
gravity field varies.
 Ocean crust Continental crust
Basaltic rock Granite, diorite, Andesite,
Rhyolite
Denser Mafic rocks – rich in Light felsic rocks
iron and magnesium
Basic in nature Acidic rocks
Ocean crust is thinner – 2 to 5 Thicker crust 20 to 60 km
km
Ocean Relief
 As the continents, Ocean relief is largely due
to tectonic, volcanic, erosion and depositional
processes and their interactions.
 Thurman and Trujillo has classified the ocean floor
into 3

 Ocean margins
 Deep sea plain
 Mid ocean ridges
 Ocean margins

1. continental shelf
2. continental slope
3. continental rise
 The continental shelf is the extended margin of each continent
occupied by relatively shallow seas.
 It is the shallowest part of the ocean showing an average
gradient of 1° or even less.
 The shelf typically ends at a very steep slope, called the shelf
break.
 The width of the continental shelves varies from one ocean to
another
 The average width of continental shelves is about 80 km.
 Eastern pacific coast is has very narrow shelf

 On the contrary, the Siberian shelf in the Arctic Ocean, the largest
in the world, stretches to 1,500 km in width.

 The depth of the shelves also varies. It may be as shallow as 30 m

in some areas while in some areas it is as deep as 600 m.

 The continental shelves are covered with variable thicknesses of

sediments brought down by rivers, glaciers, wind, from the land and
distributed by waves and currents.
 Massive sedimentary deposits received over a long time by the
continent shelves, become the source of fossil fuels.
 Good penetration of sunlight
 Good sediment load
 Highly productive zones of the ocean
 Rich biodiversity
 Fishing zone
 Oil and natural gas

 Shoals and wider banks are present. – sedimentary

accumulation

 Grand bank, Sable bank – north America

 Dogger bank North sea.
There are 3 views on continental shelf –

1. Tectonic – because of large scale upliftment or submergence

of a portion of land. – western coast of India
2. They may have been formed by the deposition of lands
derived or river borne materials on the off-shore terrace –
eastern deltaic coast of India.
3. Shelf of coral origin -
Continental shelf geographical significance
 Their shallowness enables sunlight to penetrate through the
water, which encourages the growth of plants and
organism → now rich in plankton → fish thrive on them
→ so continental shelves are richest fishing grounds.

 E.g. – Grand banks off Newfoundland, the North Sea and the
Sunda shelf.
 Their limited depth and gentle slope keep out cold under-
currents
 It increase the height of tide.
 it sometimes hinders shipping and other marine activities
since ships can only enter and leave port on the tide.
 Ports like Southampton, London, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Hong
Kong and Singapore are located on continental shelves.
 The continental slope connects the continental shelf and the
ocean basins. It begins where the bottom of the continental
shelf sharply drops off into a steep slope.

 The depth of the slope region varies between 200 and 3,000
m.

 The slope boundary indicates the end of the continents.

Canyons and trenches are observed in this region.
 Do not carry sediments.
 Witnesses underwater landslides. Which an trigger
TURBIDITY CURRENTS.
 Slopes have deep valleys and submarine canyons.
 These are deep valleys, some comparable to the Grand
Canyon of the Colorado River.
 They are sometimes found cutting across the continental
shelves and slopes, often extending from the mouths of large
rivers. The Hudson Canyon is the best-known submarine
canyon in the world.
 Mekong
 Indus
 Congo canyons
 The continental rise is a low-relief zone of accumulated
sediments that lies between the continental slope and the
abyssal plain. It is a major part of the continental margin,
covering around 10% of the ocean floor.
 Ocean trenches are steep depressions in the deepest parts of
the ocean
 Most of trenches are located near continents. Greatest ocean
deep –

1. Mariana Trench near Guam Island (11,034 meters)

2. Mindanao deep (10,497 meters)
3. Tonga trench (9450 meters) Horizon deep ( deepest point
southern hemisphere
4. Japanese trench (8534.)
 An abyssal plain is an underwater plain on the deep ocean
floor
 Found at depths - between 3,000 meters and 6,000 meters.

 Lying generally between the foot of a continental rise and a

mid-ocean ridge, abyssal plains cover more than 60% of the
Earth's surface.
 It has extensive submarine plateaus, ridges, trenches, and
oceanic islands that rise above sea level in the midst of
oceans.
 They are generally flat and has more red clay deposits - fine
grained organically originated
 A mid-oceanic ridge is composed of two chains of mountains
separated by a large depression. They are an elongated parallel
mountain range with volcanism.
 Basalt rocks
 Location of ocean floor formation.
: It is a mountain with pointed summits, rising from the seafloor
that does not reach the surface of the ocean.
 Seamounts are volcanic in origin. These can be 3,000- 4,500
m tall.
 The Emperor seamount, an extension of the Hawaiian
Islands in the Pacific Ocean
GUYOTS

 It is a flat-topped seamount. They show evidences of

gradual subsidence through stages to become flat topped
submerged mountains. It is estimated that more than
10,000 seamounts and guyots exist in the Pacific Ocean
alone.
 pacific Atlantic Indian
Continental shelf East – shelf is Very broad. Broad shelf
missing – zone of 200 to 500km wide absence of major
plate subduction. Passive plate active subduction
And trenches activities. zones.
West – wider Well developed
continental shelf . fishing zones, Land subsidence of
Within the back arc Rich oil reserves. western India
zone of kuril,japan Gulf of Persia made
Philippines islands. the CS more wider.
 Pacific Atlantic Indian
Submarine Amur canyon ( north Hudson Indus
canyons of Japan sea) Congo Ganga
Chang ziang canyon Mississippi
near shanghai
Active ocean –
tectonically. Passive margins Active subduction
Some minor Andaman Nicrobar
Trenches Aleution trenches – minor region
Zone of ocean Kuril plates Indian plate –
floor subduction. Japan South sandwich Burma plate
Philipines plate ( Scotia plate)
Mariana PeurtoRica Java trench
British columbia trench –
Middle america (careebian plate)
Atacama
Tonga
 Pacific Atlantic Indian
Eastern pacific – n0
marginal sea Hudson Red sea
Marginal seas Labrador Bay of Bengal
Western pacific – Caribbean sea Arabian sea
Okhotsk sea, Rio de la Plata sea. Persian gulf
Mediterranean Andaman sea.
Sea of Japan North sea
East china sea Baltic sea
South china sea
 Pacific Atlantic Indian
VOLCANIC HOTSPOT HOT SPOT VOLCANIC Volcanic – Hot spot
Hawaiian island. volcanic
Midway Azores Reunion ,Mauritius
Emperor Part of Iceland
Easter islands

ARCHIPELAGO ARCHIPELAGO ARCHIPELAGO

Islands Kurile South sandwich island Andaman Nicobar
Aleutian , Japan Georgia island
Volcanic Lesser Antilles
Continental
Coral islands CONTINENTAL ISLAND CONTINENTAL CONTINNENTAL
Eastern pacific coast – Cuba , Hispaniola, Sri lanka
Vancouver island. Falkland island Madagascar
Chile coastal islands.

CORAL ISLANDS –
tropical part – soth CORALS CORALS
western equatorial Central Atlantic Maldives
region – Micronesia Lakshadweep
Melanesia, Polynesia Seychelles.
online-pdf-no-copy.com
 pacific Atlantic Indian
Continental shelf East – shelf is Very broad. Broad shelf
missing – zone of 200 to 500km wide absence of major
plate subduction. Passive plate active subduction
And trenches activities. zones.
West – wider Well developed
continental shelf . fishing zones, Land subsidence of
Within the back arc Rich oil reserves. western India
zone of kuril,japan Gulf of Persia made
Philippines islands. the CS more wider.
 Pacific Atlantic Indian
Submarine Amur canyon ( north Hudson Indus
canyons of Japan sea) Congo Ganga
Chang ziang canyon Mississippi
near shanghai
Active ocean –
tectonically. Passive margins Active subduction
Some minor Andaman Nicrobar
Trenches Aleution trenches – minor region
Zone of ocean Kuril plates Indian plate –
floor subduction. Japan South sandwich Burma plate
Philipines plate ( Scotia plate)
Mariana PeurtoRica Java trench
British columbia trench –
Middle america (careebian plate)
Atacama
Tonga
 Pacific Atlantic Indian
Eastern pacific – n0
marginal sea Hudson Red sea
Marginal seas Labrador Bay of Bengal
Western pacific – Caribbean sea Arabian sea
Okhotsk sea, Rio de la Plata sea. Persian gulf
Mediterranean Andaman sea.
Sea of Japan North sea
East china sea Baltic sea
South china sea
 Pacific Atlantic Indian
VOLCANIC HOTSPOT HOT SPOT VOLCANIC Volcanic – Hot spot
Hawaiian island. volcanic
Midway Azores Reunion ,Mauritius
Emperor Part of Iceland
Easter islands

ARCHIPELAGO ARCHIPELAGO ARCHIPELAGO

Islands Kurile South sandwich island Andaman Nicobar
Aleutian , Japan Georgia island
Volcanic Lesser Antilles
Continental
Coral islands CONTINENTAL ISLAND CONTINENTAL CONTINNENTAL
Eastern pacific coast – Cuba , Hispaniola, Sri lanka
Vancouver island. Falkland island Madagascar
Chile coastal islands.

CORAL ISLANDS –
tropical part – soth CORALS CORALS
western equatorial Central Atlantic Maldives
region – Micronesia Lakshadweep
Melanesia, Polynesia Seychelles.
 Pacific Atlantic Indian
Passive MOR system
compared to other 2.

Most active MOR system among the S shaped ridge More complex
oceans system formed at the formation
Located in the south – south eastern diverging margins of
part plates. Amsterdam ST Paul
Spotted at the very active divergent ridge
boundary zones of Pacific ocean Aligned from Iceland Kergulian Gassberg
plate. to south towards ridge are different
Mid Albatross plateau is the broader Pacific and Indian names towards south.
ocean part. ocean.
ridge Laccadive
Extends towards east – Chile rise Romanche fracture Socotra
and Galapagos rise. divides the MOR into 90 o East Ridge
Seychelles ridge
. DOLPHIN RIDGE East Madagascar
CHALLENGER RIDGE Ridge
South Madagascar
MOR system is ridge are the parts of
broken/ separated the MOR system.
and not continuous.
 Has several
branching out Ridge system divides
Wyville Thomson the ocean into
ridge several basins
East pacific ridge divides the pacific in Telegraph plateau
to BOB basin
1. ATACAMA BASIN New found land R Andaman basin
2. CHILE BASIN Para R Australian basin
3. BELLINGSHOUSEN BASIN Perth basin
4. SOUTH CENTRAL BASIN Walves R Natal basin
Sierra Leone R Mauritius basin
Subduction and trench formation is Somali basin
very active. Brazilian basin Arabian basin
Net effect = pacific is shrinking Argentina basin Oman basin
Walves basin
Angola basin
Guinean basin
Bay of Biscay basin

Romanche fracture
allows Equatorial
currents to pass
through
 Source of heat energy

 Solar radiation
 Continents
 Geothermal sources.
Horizontal temperature distribution

 Primary factor Sunlight

 Ocean circulation

 Surface pattern
 Average ocean surface temperature – 15 to 25°C
 Northern hemisphere is warmer than southern hemisphere

 Ocean surface temperature is more zonal – controlled by

Insolation – Latitudinal factors.
 REGIONAL VARIATIONS IN THE
DISTRIBUTION OF TEMPERATURE
 Warmest water is found in the sub tropics not at the equator.
 Clear sky – more insolation – high atmospheric temperature –
Anti cyclonic conditions.

 Equatorial water is relatively cooler than subtropics

 Cloudy sky – heavy precipitation – powerful upwelling of
cold water ( ekman process)
 Eastern sides of the oceans in the tropical belt is cooler an
western sides of the ocean are warmer – effect of trade wind (
off shore upwelling and on shore piling up of warm water)
 River mouths are regions of influx of fresh cool water –
mouths are cooler areas.
 Influence of warm and cold ocean currents.

 Warm current – ocean warmer

 Cold current – ocean cooler
 Partially enclosed waters in the tropics are warmer - red sea
 Midlatitdes – partially enclosed waters are cooler than
expected. Baltic

 Gulf of Persia – cooler than the latitudinal average – influx of

Euphrates and Tigris

 Gulf of Mexico – cooler - River Mississippi.

 Black sea – relatively cooler – large rivers enters – Danube

Don Dnieper

 Mediterranean is warmer – no major rivers into – tropical belt.

 Average ocean temperature- 3 to 4 °C

 Ocean surface water temperature is generally higher than

lower water. 20 – 25 °C
 Ocean bottom 3 - 4 °C
 4 °C is the temperature at which water attain its maximum
density. Beyond that water starts to expand. ( water anomalous
properties )
 Ocean bottom water is the densest with 4 °C

 Zonal variations are also expected in the vertical distribution

of temperature.
 Vertical distribution of temperature in polar region.

 Polar region surface water temperature is 0°C

 There is an increasing treand in the temperature with depth.
 Records 4°C at the ocean floor.

 DENSER WATER AT THE BOTTOM LIGHTER

WATER AT THE SURFACE.
 WATER MAXIMUM DENSITY IS ATTAINED AT 4°C.

 But polar surface water is more cooler - 0°C therefore it is

lighter and stays at the surface.
 Salinity is the dissolved salt content of a body of water.
 It is a strong contributor to conductivity and helps determine
many aspects of the chemistry of natural waters and the
biological processes within them.

 Average ocean salinity – 34.5 to 35 ppt

 Salt in the ocean comes basically from 4 sources: runoff from
the land and openings in the seafloor.

 Salinity from sub marine Volcanoes – Due to a lot of

volcanic eruptions and open vents under the ocean a lot of
salts are constantly being added.

 Salinity from runoff – Streams and rivers dissolve a lot of

chemicals and salts during their course till they reach the
ocean. The water keeps evaporating from the ocean leaving
the salts behind. This keep increasing the salinity of ocean.
 Action of cool water on the hot rocks ( rocks that are located
in high tectonic zones)
 Rocks containing different minerals get flaked out.

 Other biological activities – decomposition of dead marine

organisms.
 Average salinity of the ocean is 35 ppt

Salinity varies because of two factors

1. Variations in addition and removal of salt.

2. Variation in dilution – it talks about the addition or
withdrawal of fresh water ( most practical )

Salinity distribution is a function of degree dilution.

Variation in addition or removal of salt

Addition of salt
1. Volcanism
2. river deposits
3. Interactions of submarine rocks with water

Removal of salt
1. Salt precipitation – brine pools
2. Biological process
3. Consumed by animals
Degree of Salt dilution

Addition of fresh water

1. Rainfall
2. Glacial melt water
3. River fresh water influx
4. Cold ocean currents
5. Cold upwelling

Removal of fresh water

1. Evaporation
 At the equator, the salinity is lower than the average - 33 – 34
ppt - Heavy precipitation which adds a lot of fresh water.
 In the tropics between 20 – 35 degrees , due to high
temperature there is a lot of evaporation. Because of this
the salinity is very high 37 – 38 parts per thousand.
 Near Sub polar low-pressure belts, between 40 – 60, there is
net addition of fresh water and hence salinity is low around
33 – 34 parts per thousand.
 In polar region the salinity further reduces as polar ice is
constantly melting and adding fresh water. The salinity is
between 31 – 33 parts per thousand.
 Salinity is low at the mouth of a river.
 Salinity is low where there is continuous cold water upwelling
happens
 Low salinity is recorded near by cold ocean currents and
high salinity is recorded near warm ocean currents.
Gulf stream, Kuroshio, Alaskan currents.

 Partially enclosed seas in the tropical are generally saline

(Mediterranean), but tropical enclosed seas that have more
fresh water influx from rivers – has less salinity. Eg Black sea
 Enclosed waters in the tropics and nearby areas with dry
arid conditions have high salinity.

 Land locked seas show drastic fluctuation in salinity. Inland

lakes where evaporation is dominant can have extremely
high salinity. The highest salinity is found Lake Van of Turkey
(330 Parts per thousand.)

 Lake Van - 330

 Dead sea – 250
 Lakes at high altitudes – with glaciated water –have
high salinity.
 High altitude- low air pressure – more evaporation – salinity
increases
eg Pangong Tso lake.

 Enclosed waters in high latitudes - Low salinity

Eg Baltic sea – glacial melt water

Hudson bay – glacial melt water
Inland seas salinity
Baltic sea 7
Red sea 39
Caspian sea 180
Dead sea 250
Lake Van 330

Black sea 18
 Largely controlled by temperature pattern

 In general salinity decreases with depth. But there is no

uniform pattern in the vertical distribution of salinity.
 Tropics and mid latitudes salinity decreases – but in polar
regions salinity increases with depth.
Density of the ocean water

 Density of the ocean water is the function of Temperature and

salinity of water.

 If temperature of the water is equal then the density is

determined by salinity.

 If salinity is the same, then the density is determined by

temperature of the water.
 Based on the observation, temperature is considered as the
deciding factor of density of ocean water.
 In the tropics and mid latitudes, Thermocline and
Haloclines are two important strata in the ocean water that
separate HIGH TEMPERATURE – MORE SALINE -
LESS DENSE WATERS in the surface and LOW
TEMPERATURE – LESS SALINE – DENSE WATERS
IN THE DEEP OCEAN.

 This transition zone blocks the vertical mixing of ocean water

and keep the surface water and deep water separately.

 Zones of powerful upwelling and down welling of ocean

water this stratification is broken.
Polar region

 Surface water is below freezing point.

when water freezes, it rejects all the impurities. ( BRINE
REJECTION ) and forms a layer of ice on top of the polar
waters.

All the rejected salt get settled on the ocean floor.

So in the polar regions salinity increases with depth.

Temperature also increases with depth.
 Denser water get settled on the ocean floor.
 Water attain its maximum density at 4 °C

 4 °C water occupies at the ocean floor

 0 °C less dense water occupy at the surface.
 The ocean covers nearly 71% of the Earth’s surface and is the
largest solar energy absorber.
 As a result, it plays an important role in maintaining the global
energy balance and drives atmospheric processes.

 The heat exchange processes across the ocean surface is

represented by the ocean heat budget. The ocean heat budget
consists of ocean heat gains and losses, including

 Shortwave radiation from the sun,

 long wave radiation from the ocean,
 latent heat flux,
 sensible heat flux, and heat transfer by currents.
 COMPONENTS OF OCEAN HEAT BUDGET

 Insolation Q I – ( influx )
 Radiation out flow Q R ( Radiation loss )
 Sensible heat Q-SH – heat transfer from the ocean to
atmosphere and land by Conduction and convection
 Latent heat exchange Q L –
 Biological heat exchange QB
 Geothermal energy QP
 Advection heat transfer QA
INPUT HEAT ENERGY ( positive )
 Insolation Q I – ( influx )
 Biological heat exchange QB (+/-)
 Geothermal energy QP

OUTFLUX ( negative )

 Radiation out flow Q R ( Radiation loss )

 Sensible heat Q-SH – heat transfer from the ocean to
atmosphere and land by Conduction and convection
 Latent heat exchange Q L –
 Advection heat transfer QA
Total influx - total out flux = 0
 Like the earth atmospheric system ocean is also balance the
input and out going energy efficiently.

 Hence the oceans are not getting progressively warmer or

cooler.

 Oceans are an important heat engine. That absorb excess heat

when continent is warmer and release heat when continent is
cooler
 Oceans along with the atmosphere play an important role in
inter latitudinal energy transfer.

 Helps to balance the surplus and deficit zones of energy

through ocean circulation patterns
 When the heat budget of the ocean is disrupted,

 Increase ocean temperature

 Expansion of water
 Melting of ocean ice sheets
 Water being added into the ocean
 Sea level rise.

 Dooms day glacier – west Antarctica.

 Disruption of marine heat budget is responsible for
the irreversible melting of Arctic and Antarctic ice.
 The salt budget of the oceans refers to the balance of
incoming and outgoing salt in the marine environment.

 Salinity of the ocean are based on two principles.

 Oceans have conservation of salt principle –

CONSTANCY OF THE TOTAL SALT IN THE OCEAN.

 Oceans also have CONSTANCY OF SALT

PROPORTION - FORCHHAMMER'S PRINCIPLE /
DITTMARS PRINCIPLE
 The ratio of salt in the ocean is constant. Salt content

NaCl - 78%
MgCl2 - 11%
MgSo4 - 4 %
CaSO4 – 3.5%
SOURCES OF SALT INFLUX
 Sub marine Volcanoes
 Salinity from runoff
 Action of cool water on the hot rocks
Removal of salt

 Salt Precipitation from the surface into the bottom

 Salt spraying in the coastal lines/Coastal lakes
 Biological process
 Dilution of existing salt - Influx of fresh water
 Rainfall, rivers, glacial melt water etc…dilute the incoming
salts and maintain a balance in the ocean salinity.
Biological process-

 The salt content carried by rivers into oceans CaCo3, CaSO4

are much greater in quantity, but they are effectively
consumed by the calcium absorbing organisms.

 They utilize this salt for shells and skeleton and bone
formation of the organisms.
 Sodium ions is not much in addition – source of sodium
ions – under water volcanism. But they are not removed
efficiently.

 So they have higher residents time.

 So sodium salt remain high in volume.

NaCl - 78%
MgCl2 - 11%
MgSo4 - 4 %
 Approximately oceans carry salt = 5 x 1019 kg
 The amount of salt we add is about 1 kg in comparison to 107
Kg of salt. In the oceans/ year.

Because of this it is considered negligible.

So the total salt of the ocean is considered as constant.
 There are changes at the local scale because of climatic
geomorphic and anthropogenic processes – that can impact
ocean environment and marine life.
Ocean currents
 Ocean Waves
 Ocean Currents
 Tide

Waves
 Waves in coastal
 Local
 Linked to wind
Ocean Currents – they are regional and global circulations of
ocean water
Surface and deep water currents.

Tides –
 Sun and moons gravitation
 Earths rotation
 Configuration of the coastlines- oceans
 The are global levels.
 They can also have local manifestation.
 Ocean currents are continuous movements of water in the
ocean that follow set paths, kind of like rivers in the ocean.
They can be at the water's surface or go to the deep sea.
1. Surface Currents--Surface Circulation

 These waters make up about 10% of all the water in the ocean.
 These waters are the upper 200 TO 300 meters of the ocean.
 Warm and cold ocean currents
2. Deep Water Currents--Thermohaline
Circulation.
 These waters make up the other 90% of the ocean
 These waters move around the ocean basins by density
driven forces and gravity.
 The density difference is a function of different temperatures
and salinity
 These deep waters sink into the deep ocean basins at high
latitudes where the temperatures are cold enough to cause an
increase in the density. And up well from the regions with
High temperature.
Current generating factors

 Winds – planetary winds and regional winds

 Caused by winds traction force.
 Temperature difference
Modifying factors

 Coriolis force – deflective force

 Ocean bottom relief
 Configuration of coastline.
Eg – south equatorial current - Cape of Sao Roque ( Brazil)
Cayenne current and Brazilian current.
 ROMANCHE FRACTURE allows the equatorial currents to
pass through the middle of Atlantic.

 PHILIPPINES CURRENT bifurcates into TSHUSHIMA

CURRENT AND KUROSHIO after meeting Japan.

 Iceland – deflects north Atlantic drift – IRMINGER current

towards west and the rest continue as north Atlantic drift.
Other factors influencing surface currents

 Temperature
 Salinity factors
 Mediterranean sea – almost enclosed – high salinity –
38pptdense water sinks – surface water from Atlantic enters
Mediterranean through St.of Gibraltar.
 Red sea – Water enters from Arabian sea. Throgh st. of Babel
Mandeb.
 Ocean currents from Baltic sea to north sea.

 North sea and Norwegian sea are warm and saline – due to
north Atlantic drift. It is dense and sinks.
 Baltic waters are cool, less saline, less dense – they flow out
towards north sea.
Ekman spiral movements of ocean water in sub
surface layers due to the collective actions of winds
and coriolis force.
 Winds are primary force for surface current.
 It transfer around % of their momentum to the ocean water.
 Upper layers move with the winds along with the coriolis
force.
 Subsequent layers are dragged by the layer of water above
them.
 These sub surface waters will have different rates of
deflection. Taken all together it creates a spiraling pattern in
vertical layers.
 Because of the different layers and their spiraling, the net
deflection of the water column is at 90 degrees to the direction
of winds. – EKMAN TRANSPORT.
online-pdf-no-copy.com
Ekman spiral movements of ocean water in sub
surface layers due to the collective actions of winds
and coriolis force.
 Winds are primary force for surface current.
 It transfer around 4 % of their momentum to the ocean water.
 Upper layers move with the winds along with the coriolis
force.
 Subsequent layers are dragged by the layer of water above
them.
 These sub surface waters will have different rates of
deflection. Taken all together it creates a spiraling pattern in
vertical layers.
 Because of the different layers and their spiraling, the net
deflection of the water column is at 90 degrees to the direction
of winds. – EKMAN TRANSPORT.

 North 90 degree Right

 South 90 Degree left
 As water comes under the traction caused by winds, it start to
move – comes under coriolis deflection – different angle of
deflections caused by the overlying water flow. Coriolis
effects and Ekman transport direct water to the center of the
gyre. When this happens, water piles up above normal sea
level. Thus, sea level tends to be higher in the center of ocean
basins. CENTRE WATER MOUNT.
 Since westerlies are more powerful, the ekman process caused
by westerlies push the water mount towards the tropics –
where the trade wind’s ekman pushes this water mount further
westward. And then it get established at central western part
of the ocean.
 When water get bulged at the western central part – Gravity
counteracts – it pull down the water back to the ocean floor.
when the water falls – coriolis deflective force comes into
picture and deflect the water mass towards right. – results a
clockwise pattern of flow in the entire surface water.
 The whole water will have a clock wise circulation in the
ocean ( northern hemisphere)

 The centre water mount created at the southern hemisphere

also get pulled back by gravity and when water falls from the
centre mount the coriolis force deflect them towards left.
Resulting a counter clockwise flow in the entire water.

 These spiraling water mass with in the oceans create the ocean
gyre system.
 Central water mount is well developed in the north Atlantic
ocean.
 Central water mount is the region of calm water- warm &
saline water. – this condition helps the formation of
SARGASSM – a sea weed.

 Central water mount is the region of accumulation of marine

pollutants. – North Atlantic garbage patch
Western intensification –

 Since the central water mount is created at the western central

part of the tropics, the space between the water mount and the
continent at the western sides of the ocean is relatively
narrow. That makes the western boundary current more
powerful and severe. ( funneling effect).

 Except north Indian ocean, all the other oceans have perfect
development of a gyre system.
 Northern Atlantic gyre is the smallest, and here the western
boundary current become more powerful – funneling like
effect – due to smaller distance between the central water
mass and the continents – Gulf stream.
 Though the whole part of the surface water moves are a
circulating disk, only the marginal parts of the oceans have an
observable motion in the water.

 Ocean gyre create 4 boundary currents.

1. Equatorial current
2. Western boundary current
3. Polar boundary current
4. Eastern boundary current.
 Surface ocean currents are part of the gyre system.

 Melting of polar ice sheets brings cold water into the

circulation.
 Polar boundary currents in the north is further extended
towards the polar region like North Atlantic drift –
Norwegian current.
 Kuroshio and Alaskan current.

 South polar boundary currents are not completely turns and

form east boundary current, instead they continues further east
and complete a circuit through out the globe.- WEST WIND
DRIFT.
Counter equatorial current.

 When the north equatorial current and south equatorial current

flows towards west, the warm water pile up at the western
sides of the ocean. – establish a sub surface flow towards east
and rise in the eastern side.

 This is only a shallow water flow through the subsurface

strata in the ocean water.
 North equatorial current brings warm water from the equator
towards the midlatitudes.
 Gulf stream the most powerful western boundary current
greatly impact the eastern coastal regions of US and Canada-
make warm an moist – contribute moisture to Hurricanes
 G. stream meets with cold Labrador current, form advection
fog
 Causes the mixing of nutrients – Grand banks
 North atlantic drift and Norwegian current makes the British
islands and norway coastal region warmer and more saline –
North sea.
 Make western Europe snow free – Blanket of Europe
 Cold currents of the region Canary and Benguela increases the
desiccation effect along the western coastal region.
 Namib and western Sahara deserts.
 Cormwell the counter equatorial currents
 Oyashio meets with Kuroshio – makes the Hokkaido region
more suitable for fishing, fog - but relatively small
continental shelf.

 Large-scale surfacing of the Cormwell current causes the

development of El Nino current in the eastern Pacific

 Leeuvin current – an extension of south equatorial current

towards Indian ocean - Throgh Tores straight.

 Humboldt get modified because of the ENSO effect.

  North Indian ocean has the domination of monsoon winds.
 No hemispherical development of gyre system.
 Ocean currents are greatly influenced by the reversing winds -
SW. Monsoon, NE Monsoon.
 South west monsoon drift get established during SW monsoon
and NE monsoon drift comes during North east monsoon.

 There is a counter equatorial current – Tareev current.

online-pdf-no-copy.com
 Beyond the Thermocline, there lies the 90% of the ocean
water with unique temperature an salinity conditions – they
are called WATERMASS.
 Water mass have been classified based on the depth of their
formation

 Central water mass - 0 to 1000 – above Thermocline

 Intermediate water mass - 1000 to 3000
 Deep water mass – 3000 to 4000
 Bottom water mass – 4000 and below.

 Central watrmass is not perfectly developed because of the

continues dynamism of the surface water.
 Water mass best develops in the polar regions – due to
continues brine rejection and cold water conditions.
 The polar water of the Atlantic ocean is cool and have strong
brine rejection- that makes the polar water more dense and
saline.
 This high density of water makes them to sink near the
Norwegian and northern regions.

 This sinking water in north Atlantic and south near Antarctica

forms a deep and bottom Atlantic water mass.

 North Atlantic water sinks in large quantities and they are

relatively more powerful and moves towards south through
deep waters.
 Some amount of this moving water mass make an upwelling
near Antarctica and continue towards east up to northern
Pacific through Indian ocean.

 This circulation is a part of larger vertical ocean water

movement – Thermohaline circulation.
Apart from surface currents, ocean currents may also be caused
by density differences in water masses due to temperature
(thermo) and salinity (haline) variations via a process known
as thermohaline circulation.

These currents move water masses through the deep ocean—

taking nutrients, oxygen, and heat with them.
 Density differences in ocean water contribute to a global-
scale circulation system. It includes both surface and deep
ocean currents that circulate the globe in a 1,000-year cycle.

 The global conveyor belt’s circulation is the result of two

simultaneous processes:
 warm surface currents carrying less dense water away
from the Equator toward the poles, and
 cold deep ocean currents carrying denser water away from
the poles toward the Equator.
 Why the water is sinking at the polar latitudes ?

 More dense – cold and high salinity.

 Why more saline ? Gulf stream brings saline water from the
warm equatorial regions,
+ Brine rejection.
 Gulf stream – formed as part of the north Atlantic gyre
system.
 Gyre system – temperature gradients.
 AMOC is a large system of ocean currents.
 It is the Atlantic branch of the ocean conveyor belt or Thermohaline
circulation (THC), and distributes heat and nutrients throughout the
world’s ocean basins.

 AMOC carries warm surface waters from the tropics towards the
Northern Hemisphere, where it cools and sinks.

 It then returns to the tropics and then to the South Atlantic as a

bottom current.

 From there it is distributed to all ocean basins via the Antarctic

circumpolar current/ WWD.
 According to the recently released IPCC’s Report, Atlantic
Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is losing its
stability and is very likely to decline over the 21st century.
 Global warming can cause a weakening of the major ocean
systems of the world.
 In 2021 researchers noted that a part of the Arctic’s ice called
“Last Ice Area” has also melted.
 The freshwater from the melting ice reduces the salinity and
density of the water.
 Now, the water is unable to sink as it used to and weakens the
AMOC flow.
 Gulf Stream, a part of the AMOC, is a warm current
responsible for mild climate at the Eastern coast of North
America as well as Europe. Without a proper AMOC and Gulf
Stream, Europe will be very cold.
 Modeling studies have shown that an AMOC shutdown would
cool the northern hemisphere and decrease rainfall over
Europe. It can also have an effect on the El Nino.
 AMOC collapse brings about large, markedly different
climate responses:
 a prominent cooling over the northern North Atlantic and
neighboring areas,
 sea ice increases over the Greenland-Iceland-Norwegian seas
and to the south of Greenland, and
 a significant southward rain-belt migration over the tropical
Atlantic.
 Freshwater from melting Greenland ice sheets and the Arctic
region can make circulation weaker as it is not as dense as
saltwater and doesn’t sink to the bottom.
 If we continue to drive global warming, the Gulf Stream
System will weaken further – by 34 to 45 percent by 2100
according to the latest generation of climate models.
 The Last Ice Area is located north of Greenland and in
Ellesmere Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut.
Scientists had believed this area was strong enough to
withstand global warming.

 The ‘Last Ice Area’ (LIA), located in the Arctic’s Ice north
of Greenland, has started melting earlier than what the
scientists had expected.
 The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a recurring
climate pattern involving changes in the temperature of waters
in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. On periods
ranging from about three to seven years, the surface waters
across a large swath of the tropical Pacific Ocean warm or
cool by anywhere from 1°C to 3°C, compared to normal.

 These are events defined by their wide-

ranging teleconnections. Teleconnections are large-scale,
long-lasting climate anomalies or patterns that are related to
each other and can affect much of the globe.
Normal conditions around Pacific.
PERU
 Strong off shore trade wind occurs in the eastern central
and western pacific ocean
 Large scale upwelling of cool nutrient rich water from
below.
 Support the luxuriant growth of planktons. – large fish
concentration – fishing industry develops.
 Large concentration of fish eating birds
 Bio fertilizer Guano
 Peru Ecuador lies in the subsiding regions of walker cell
 Dry anti cyclonic conditions prevail – dry arid conditions
exist in the eastern pacific coast.
PERU
 Strong off shore trade wind occurs in the eastern central
and western pacific ocean
 Large scale upwelling of cool nutrient rich water from
below.
 Support the luxuriant growth of planktons. – large fish
concentration – fishing industry develops.
 Large concentration of fish eating birds
 Bio fertilizer Guano
 Peru Ecuador lies in the subsiding regions of walker cell
 Dry anti cyclonic conditions prevail – dry arid conditions
exist in the eastern pacific coast.
WESTERN PACIFIC

 Lies at the ascending region of WALKER CELL

 Cyclonic condition prevails in the western pacific .
 Heavy rainfall in the western pacific
 Frequent typhoons occurs in the south china sea.
 Warm and wet climate prevails in and around north eastern
Australia.
 El Niño: A warming of the ocean surface, or above-average
sea surface temperatures (SST), in the central and eastern
tropical Pacific Ocean
 Weak trade winds block the upwelling of nutrient rich waters
from below.
 Warm water concentrate on eastern sides of the ocean.
 Cyclonic condition develops in the eastern side of pacific
ocean by replacing the normal high pressure conditions.
 Heavy rainfall, flooding in Peru and Ecuador
 Loss of crops, spread of epidemics.
 Decline in fishing and guano production.
 Recession in peru
 Drought conditions in the western pacific.
 Normal Cyclonic conditions of western pacific is replaced y
high pressure anti cyclonic conditions.
 Droughts prevail in north eastern Australia.
 Forest fires in Australia
 Drought conditions in Indonesia, Philippines and India.
 Reduces the possibility of hurricanes in Atlantic ocean.
 Warm winters in northern USA and Canada.
 El Niño causes the Pacific jet stream to move south and
spread further east. During winter, this leads to wetter
conditions than usual in the Southern U.S. and warmer and
drier conditions in the North.
 coral leaching
 La Niña: A cooling of the ocean surface, or below-average
sea surface temperatures (SST), in the central and eastern
tropical Pacific Ocean. Over Indonesia, rainfall tends to
increase while rainfall decreases over the central and eastern
tropical Pacific Ocean. The normal easterly winds along the
equator become even stronger. In general, the cooler the
ocean temperature anomalies, the stronger the La Niña (and
vice-versa).
 Strong trade winds along the equatorial pacific.
 Intense high pressure anti cyclonic conditions in eastern
pacific ocean.
 Extreme dry conditions /Drought in Ecuador and Peru.
 Heavy rainfall in India Indonesia and Philippines.
 Heavy rainfall in Northern Australia and surrounding regions.
 Frequent development of typhoons in South china sea.
 More cooler water in pacific-decreases the rate of convections
– makes the Hadley circulation weaker. Weak Hadley
weakens subtropical jet streams.
 Conditions are more favourable for Hurricane developments
in Western Atlantic ocean.
 More tornadoes in American landmass.
 Tropical cyclones of Western pacific – typhoons, slightly
move from western pacific to eastern Indian ocean.
 More tropical cyclones are possible in ay of Bengal and south
china sea.
 Coral bleaching
 ( coral reefs are highly sensitive to any changes in sea surface
temperature and salinity)
 El Nino Modoki is a coupled ocean-atmosphere phenomenon
in the tropical Pacific Ocean and has been shown to be quite
different from the canonical El Nino/Southern Oscillation
(ENSO) in terms of its spatial and temporal characteristics as
well as its teleconnection patterns.
 El Niño Modoki is associated with strong anomalous warming
in the central tropical Pacific and cooling in the eastern and
western tropical Pacific.
 Such zonal gradients result in anomalous two-cell Walker
Circulation over the tropical Pacific, with a wet region in the
central Pacific.

 Rainfall in central pacific and scant rainfall in western and

eastern pacific.
 El Nino modoki influences Indian summer rainfall by
inducing changes in the western pacific cyclonic circulations.
( normal tropical cyclone centers of western pacific shifts
further west towards eastern bay of Bengal.
 Rainfall anomalies are negative over southern peninsular
region ( reduced rainfall)
 Rainfall anomalies are positive over central part of India.
 A condition of abnormal cooling of water in the central
pacific with warm ocean water in the eastern and western
pacific.
 Doubling of walker cell in the pacific with subsiding limb at
the centre and rising limb at the western and eastern pacific
ocean.
 Anti cyclonic condition prevails in central pacific – with Dry
rainless conditions and rain fall occurs in the western and
eastern pacific ocean.
 Based on location

 Neritic water
 Pelagic water

 The neritic zone is the relatively shallow part of the ocean

above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately 200
meters in depth
 Pelagic zone
 The pelagic zone refers to the open, free waters away from
the shore, where marine life can swim freely in any direction
unhindered by topographical constraints
 Division of pelagic waters based on depth
 Based on the penetration of sunlight

 Photic waters – with in 200 meters

 Dysphotic zone – 200 to 1000 mts low sunlight – diffused
sunlight zone

 Aphotic zone – dark regions of the ocean.

 Found beyond 1000 meters
Significant component of the ocean floor.

 Provide information on the history of the ocean

 Can be used to study changes in ocean currents
 Can be used to study the ocean floor
 Provide information on past climates
 Can be used to study the ocean’s role in the carbon cycle
 Can be used to study the ocean’s role in the global water cycle
 Based on the location

 shallow continental shelf deposits – neritic deposits

 Deep ocean deposits – pelagic deposits
Based on the formation/ genesis

1. Terrigenous
2. Biogenous
3. Hydrogenous
4. Cosmogenous
 Terrigenous
 Continental origin
 Weathering of continental rocks.
 Deposited by rivers, glaciers, winds, action of ocean waves
 Rich in non ferrous magnesium silicates – quarts & Feldspar.

Though the Terrigenous deposits are coarse and sandy in

texture – in due course of time they disintegrate into different
types of soft mud.
1. Red mud -
2. Blue mud -
3. Green mud
 Murray has divided mud into 3 types on the basis of
colour:

 Red Mud - The reddish colour is mainly due to dominance of

iron content.

 Blue Mud -It contains 35% of calcium carbonate. It includes

the materials derived through the disintegration of rocks rich
in Iron Sulphide and organic elements.

 Green Mud - formed due to chemical weathering wherein the

colour of blue mud is changed to green mud due to reaction of
sea water.
 Mainly found on the continental shelf – neritic zone

 The fine grained mud fall down into continental slope and get
accumulated as continental rise on the lower edges of
continental slope as continental rise.

 On tectonically passive coastlines – some fine grained

Terrigenous mud also moves into the abyssal plains.
 Red mud – Brazilian & Japan continental shelf
 Blue mud is more common in the polar and mid latitudinal
waters.
Biogenous deposits.
 These are remains of the marine micro organisms
 Mix of organic and inorganic content.
 Organic matter 30 to 40%
 Most common pelagic deposits

1. Calcareous - calcium carbonate

2. Siliceous / silicaceous – silica rich
Calcareous deposits – remains of globigerina and Pteropods

 Pteropods contain high amount of calcium – 70 to 80%

Found at a depth up to 1000 meters in the shallow water in the
pelagic/ open ocean – On Mid ocean ridges, sea mounts etc…

 Globigerina – more common fond at all the depths in the

ocean
 Siliceous deposits

 Originate from planktons like Diatom and Radiolarian

Hydrogenous
 Also called as Authigenic deposits
 Source – ocean water

 Evaporates - evaporation of water leaves dissolved solids

behind. Salt – coastal lakes, salt marshes Rann of Kutch

 Precipitates - formed after the chemical reactions.

 Precipitates
 Mainly occurs in geothermal zones, where there is hot water
interacts with rocks in the ocean floor.

 Volcanism
 Geothermal vents - fractures/ breaks on the ocean floor from
which high temperature water comes out.
 Water temperature 30 to 300 degrees C and above

 White smokers - if the ejecting water temperature is 30 to

300
 Black smokers –if the water temperature is > 300 degree C
 Black smokers and white smokers interact with marine rocks
– chemical reaction causes precipitation of deposits.
 Polymetallic nodules
 Polymetallic nodules primarily consist of precipitated iron
oxy hydroxides and manganese oxides, onto which metals
such as nickel, cobalt, copper, titanium and rare earth
elements are found.
 The enormous tonnage of nodules on the seabed, and the
immense quantities of critical metals that they contain, have
made them a target for future mining operations.
 Cosmogenous
 Meteor and meteorite remains
 Get accumulated in the ocean

 Tektites compounds
 They cover < 1% of marine sediments
 Red clay, also known as either brown clay or pelagic
clay, accumulates in the deepest and most remote areas of the
ocean. It covers 38% of the ocean floor and accumulates more
slowly than any other sediment type, at only 0.1–0.5 cm/1000
yr.
 Sourced from weathering of basalt rock
 Mixture of inorganic salt, weathered basalt, undissolved
remains of marine organisms.

 Fine textured mud and silt

 High iron and aluminum content
 Distribution of marine deposits

 Globigerina - 47%
 Pteropods 0.5%
 Diatom – 12%
 Radiolarian – 3%
 Red clay 38%

online-pdf-no-copy.com
 Based on location

 Neritic water
 Pelagic water

 The neritic zone is the relatively shallow part of the ocean

above the drop-off of the continental shelf, approximately 200
meters in depth
 Pelagic zone
 The pelagic zone refers to the open, free waters away from
the shore, where marine life can swim freely in any direction
unhindered by topographical constraints
 Division of pelagic waters based on depth
 Based on the penetration of sunlight

 Photic waters – with in 200 meters

 Dysphotic zone – 200 to 1000 mts low sunlight – diffused
sunlight zone

 Aphotic zone – dark regions of the ocean.

 Found beyond 1000 meters
Significant component of the ocean floor.

 Provide information on the history of the ocean

 Can be used to study changes in ocean currents
 Can be used to study the ocean floor
 Provide information on past climates
 Can be used to study the ocean’s role in the carbon cycle
 Can be used to study the ocean’s role in the global water cycle
 Based on the location

 shallow continental shelf deposits – neritic deposits

 Deep ocean deposits – pelagic deposits
Based on the formation/ genesis

1. Terrigenous
2. Biogenous
3. Hydrogenous
4. Cosmogenous
 Terrigenous
 Continental origin
 Weathering of continental rocks.
 Deposited by rivers, glaciers, winds, action of ocean waves
 Rich in non ferrous magnesium silicates – quarts & Feldspar.

Though the Terrigenous deposits are coarse and sandy in

texture – in due course of time they disintegrate into different
types of soft mud.
1. Red mud -
2. Blue mud -
3. Green mud
 Murray has divided mud into 3 types on the basis of
colour:

 Red Mud - The reddish colour is mainly due to dominance of

iron content.

 Blue Mud -It contains 35% of calcium carbonate. It includes

the materials derived through the disintegration of rocks rich
in Iron Sulphide and organic elements.

 Green Mud - formed due to chemical weathering wherein the

colour of blue mud is changed to green mud due to reaction of
sea water.
 Mainly found on the continental shelf – neritic zone

 The fine grained mud fall down into continental slope and get
accumulated as continental rise on the lower edges of
continental slope as continental rise.

 On tectonically passive coastlines – some fine grained

Terrigenous mud also moves into the abyssal plains.
 Red mud – Brazilian & Japan continental shelf
 Blue mud is more common in the polar and mid latitudinal
waters.
Biogenous deposits.
 These are remains of the marine micro organisms
 Mix of organic and inorganic content.
 Organic matter 30 to 40%
 Most common pelagic deposits

1. Calcareous - calcium carbonate

2. Siliceous / silicaceous – silica rich
Calcareous deposits – remains of globigerina and Pteropods

 Pteropods contain high amount of calcium – 70 to 80%

Found at a depth up to 1000 meters in the shallow water in the
pelagic/ open ocean – On Mid ocean ridges, sea mounts etc…

 Globigerina – more common fond at all the depths in the

ocean
 Siliceous deposits

 Originate from planktons like Diatom and Radiolarian

Hydrogenous
 Also called as Authigenic deposits
 Source – ocean water

 Evaporates - evaporation of water leaves dissolved solids

behind. Salt – coastal lakes, salt marshes Rann of Kutch

 Precipitates - formed after the chemical reactions.

 Precipitates
 Mainly occurs in geothermal zones, where there is hot water
interacts with rocks in the ocean floor.

 Volcanism
 Geothermal vents - fractures/ breaks on the ocean floor from
which high temperature water comes out.
 Water temperature 30 to 300 degrees C and above

 White smokers - if the ejecting water temperature is 30 to

300
 Black smokers –if the water temperature is > 300 degree C
 Black smokers and white smokers interact with marine rocks
– chemical reaction causes precipitation of deposits.
 Polymetallic nodules
 Polymetallic nodules primarily consist of precipitated iron
oxy hydroxides and manganese oxides, onto which metals
such as nickel, cobalt, copper, titanium and rare earth
elements are found.
 The enormous tonnage of nodules on the seabed, and the
immense quantities of critical metals that they contain, have
made them a target for future mining operations.
 Cosmogenous
 Meteor and meteorite remains
 Get accumulated in the ocean

 Tektites compounds
 They cover < 1% of marine sediments
 Red clay, also known as either brown clay or pelagic
clay, accumulates in the deepest and most remote areas of the
ocean. It covers 38% of the ocean floor and accumulates more
slowly than any other sediment type, at only 0.1–0.5 cm/1000
yr.
 Sourced from weathering of basalt rock
 Mixture of inorganic salt, weathered basalt, undissolved
remains of marine organisms.

 Fine textured mud and silt

 High iron and aluminum content
Distribution of marine deposits

 Globigerina - 47%
 Pteropods 0.5%
 Diatom – 12%
 Radiolarian – 3%
 Red clay 38%
 Coral reefs
 Coral reefs are landforms formed by the accumulation of
calcium from marine micro organism coral polyps.
 calcareous rocks, formed from the skeletons of minute sea
animals, called polyps

 An important ocean habitats. Reefs provide a large fraction of

Earth’s biodiversity—they have been called “the rain forests
of the seas.” Scientists estimate that 25 percent of
all marine species live in and around coral reefs, making them
one of the most diverse habitats in the world.
 1. Shallow water
 Coral reefs need to grow in shallow parts of the water. The
surface of the reef shouldn’t be more than 80m from the
water surface. The Zooxanthellae need adequate sunlight for
their photosynthesis processes.
 Rarely beyond 150 mts
 Warm water 27 to 32 degrees
 Best develops with in the tropical zones
 Absent where, cold ocean currents or upwelling dominates.
 Sediment free water
 Salinity not more than 37 ppt
 Can not survive in the mouth of large rivers.
 Continuous mixing of ocean water
 Non polluted water
 Coral reefs best develop towards the ocean side
 Since they are highly sensitive to temperature salinity
pollution, coral polyps – reefs are good indicators of healthy
marine ecosystem.
 Reef ecosystem is home to around 25% of the
marine organism – rainforest of the oceans.
1. Fringing reefs
 Fringing reefs evolve and develop near the continent and
remain close to the coastline. These reefs are separated from
the coastline by small, shallow lagoons. They are the most
commonly found reefs in the world.
2. Barrier reefs
 Barrier reefs are found offshore on the continental shelf.
They usually run parallel to the coastline at some distance. A
deep and wide lagoon is located between the coastline and
the barrier reef.
3. Atolls
. They are shaped circularly or elliptically and are surrounded
by seas on all four sides and have shallow waters in the
center called a lagoon.
 Coral accumulate in circular or semi circular manner
 Lakshadweep and Maldives are atoll formations.
 Subsidence theory – charles s darwin
 Stand still theory – Dally
 Fringing reef, Barrier reefs, Atolls are actually not 3 types of
coral reefs, they are different stages of the evolution of the
oral reefs.

 Fringing reefs - these are the corals attached to the mainland

– grows outwards from the edges of the land.
 Due to some geomorphic developments, landmass start to
subside, - subsidence make the coral reefs to submerge under
water – to make the corals in shallow water coral polyps
develop reef one layer on the other continuously. – start
growing seaward.
 As the land subsides, coral pops out and grow away from the
land.
 Fringing reef become – Barrier reefs

 As the land completely subside in course of time the barrier

reefs get dethatched completely and form a circular coral reef
formation around the shallow water island at the centre.

 3 types of corals are 3 stages in the evolution process

 Evidences

 The presence of irregular coastlines at the regions or barrier

reefs and atolls.
 Submerging coastlines are irregular and not smooth
 Where as emergent coastlines are smooth.

 Submerging – emergent coastlines.

 Absence of cliff formation along the barrier reefs
 For cliff formation, a stable coastline is inevitable. Regions of
barrier reefs or atolls don’t have the presence of cliff.

 Drilling process through the reefs and observation of the

platforms indicate their shallow water existence.-later the
shallow water area got submerged.


 Analysis

 Darwin explained 3 types of coral formation at various stages

of land subsidence, not all the places of coral reefs have the
evidences of land subsidence.
Stand still theory

 Extensive studies conducted in Hawaii and Lakshadweep

showed – most coral reefs are post Pleistocene ice age
formation.

 Most of the tropical oral reefs are with in a thickness of 40

fathom
 During ice age sea level falls – due to the phenomenon of
continental confinement.

 Land cools faster and freezing occurs rapidly over the land
 Water is still above freezing point – an have active
evaporation – evaporated water moves towards the land –
condenses – precipitate- then freezes.

 So during the ice age sea level falls.

 Glacial control theory – Dally
 During ice age – sea level falls – coral reefs get exposed to the
atmosphere – polyps die- reef undergoes erosion – and
weathering – falls down – and coral platforms get eroded up
to the present sea level.

 After ice age – post Pleistocene ice age – when global

warming was active – melting started – general sea level was
rising.
 Rising water levels made the coral reefs to submerge.
 Some surviving coral polyps then started building reefs to
make them in shallow water
 Marginal regions of the shallow water zone had good supply
of nutrients – well mixed water – that made the coral reefs to
build more reef structures at the edges of these platforms. –
ATOLLS.

 Continental margins saw the growth of fringing reefs

 and elongated platforms had the growth of barrier reefs

 Summary of Dally’s concept

 Coral reef formation was a continuous process throughout the

geological history.
 Ice ages always had lowered the sea level due to continental
confinement process.
 Coral platforms get exposed to atmosphere – harmful
 The coral structure underwent erosion and that resulted in the
collapse of structure.
 Post Pleistocene – warm conditions developed- water melts –
sea level rise.

 This rising water levels made the corals to grow in pace with
the water levels.
 Observations says most of the coral reef structures have 30 to
0 fathom thickness/ vertical growth on an average.
 That is the same level of sea level rise during the post
Pleistocene age.
 But there are some coral reef structures that counts a thickness
of more than 30 to 40 fathom –
 And these coral structures are explained with the help of
subsidence theory by Darwin.
 Murrays theory
 Coral reef formation depends on the shape of the landforms

 Continental margins – fringing reef

 Elongated platforms – off the coast of continents – barrier
reefs
 Isolated platforms – underwater – sea mounts- guyots – atolls
 Agassiz theory of coral reefs

 Submarine landforms are the are the platform for coral to

build reefs.

 Wave cut platform

 Wave built platform

 Gardiner theory of coral reefs

 Gardiner discovered different species of corals –

 shallow water corals
 deep water corals and
 intermediate corals

 Some of these coral polyps can survive in deep waters without

sunlight.
 They survive without zooxanthellae – produce food by
chemosynthesis process
 These deep water coral reefs form foundation structures of
coral reefs – on which the intermediate reefs build by
intermediate corals – and above that the shallow water corals
build their structure.

 The entire coral reef structure is not a product of a single

species – it is constructed by different types of coral polyps.

 Deep sea corals - > 300 mts

 Intermediate – 150 to 300 mts
 Shallow – above 150
 Darwin Dally

Subsidence of land causes Land is stationary-

different types of coral reefs -

Sea level constant Sea level changes between ice age

and warming age.

Thickness of reef depends on the Depth is 30 to 40 fathom

rate of subsidence.

Lagoon formation is not Atoll lagoons are well explained

explained
 The physiographic evidences regarding the subsidence of land
in Darwin's theory was given by Davis.

 Darwin – Davis – Dally – 3D theory of coral reefs.

 When water is too warm, corals will expel the algae
(zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn
completely white. This is called coral bleaching. When a coral
bleaches, it is not dead. Corals can survive a bleaching event,
but they are under more stress and are subject to mortality.
 Major bleaching events in the geological past

 Devonian period – 419.2 to 358.9 MYA

 Permian period - 299 to 251 million years ago
 Pleistocene ice age - 11,650 to 2.580 million
 Recent Mass Coral Bleaching events

First Mass Bleaching:

 It occurred in 1998 when the El Niño weather pattern
caused sea surfaces in the Pacific Ocean to heat up; this
event caused 8% of the world’s coral to die.
Second Mass Bleaching:
 This event took place in 2002. In the past decade, however,
mass bleaching occurrences have become more closely
spaced in time, with the longest and most damaging
bleaching event taking place from 2014 to 2017.
Third Mass Bleaching:

 The event that took place between 2014-17 affected reefs in

Guam in the Western Pacific region, the North, South-Pacific,
and the Indian Ocean. It is also to be noted that Global
temperature in 2017, was the third highest to ever be
recorded.
Ecological Causes of Coral Bleaching
 Temperature
 Ocean acidification
 Sub aerial Exposure
 Fresh Water Dilution
 Inorganic Nutrients
 Xenobiotics : When corals are exposed to high concentrations
of chemical contaminants like copper, herbicides and oil.

 Epizootics : Pathogen induced bleaching is different from

other sorts of bleaching. (a variety of bacterial, viral, and
fungal pathogens)
The United Nations has reported that:

 70% of the Earth’s coral reefs are threatened

 20% have been destroyed with no hope for recovery,
 24% are under imminent risk of collapse, and
 an additional 26% are at risk due to longer-term threats.
 Solutions for coral bleaching

 Reduce global warming

 Reduce ocean acidification
 Reduce water contamination
 Coral cryopreservation
 Reduce eutrophication
 Adopt sustainable living
 Ocean Waves are the undulatory motion of a water
surface.
 They are water turbulence mostly in the surface water.


 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
the crest while the low-point is called the trough.
Wave crest and trough The highest point of a wave is called
crest.
The lowest point of a wave is called
trough.
It is the perpendicular distance from the
Wave height bottom of a trough to the top of a crest of a
wave.
It is the horizontal distance between two
Wavelength
successive crests.
 Most of the waves are wind-generated waves.

 traction from the wind moving over the water causes the
water to move along with the wind. If the wind speed is high
enough, the water begins to pile up and a wave is formed.

 As wind velocity increases: Wavelength, Wave period,

Height Increase.
 Water particles only travel in a small circle as a wave
passes. Wind provides energy to the waves. Wind
causes waves to travel in the ocean and the energy is
released on shorelines.
In terms of depth

 Surface waves
 Internal waves

 Surface waves
1. Shallow water waves
2. Deep water waves
Surface waves
 Winds are the primary force behind the waves
 While the wave energy is move horizontally particles move in
circulatory motion
 There is a depth where the circulatory motions of the particle
become zero wave base

 If the water is having enough depth and the wave base is

away from the ocean floor , it wont clash with the bottom
of the ocean the wave moves smoothly
 If the wave base touches the ocean floor the ocean floor exerts
greater friction in the bottom regions of the waves
 And causes the water to pile up in vertical manner and shelf
breaks as the depth of the water decreases and wave base is
highly distorted.
 If the ocean depth is deep and the wave base is not touching
the ocean floor, they are called as deep waves they are also
called as oscillatory waves - oscillatory movements that
result in the rise and fall of the water surface

 If the ocean depth is low and the bottom of the wave wave
base crashes with the ocean floor such waves are called as
shallow waves, they are also called as translator waves.

 A wave that is accompanied by substantial net movement

of the fluid in the direction of wave motion
 Shallow waves , while reaching towards the coastline collides
with the ocean floor, and wave grow vertically in size and
crashes in the floor as breakers
Internal waves
 Internal waves are generated when water moving in a layer
meets an obstacle, like a ridge. This will cause a disturbance,
creating a wave in the water.
 The dominant observed waves in Monterey Bay have been
internal tidal bores.
 These bores, driven by the sun, moon, and earth's rotation, can
be observed propagating up the canyon and onto the shelf by
observing fluctuations in water temperature. Changes in
nutrients are also observed at tidal frequencies as internal
waves travel up and down the canyon, interacting with the
near shore shelf.
Rogue waves
 Rogue waves are unusually large, unpredictable, and suddenly
appearing surface waves that can be extremely dangerous to
ships and isolated structures.

1. Tsunami waves
2. Storm surge
3. Tidal ore
4. Seiche
 Tsunami waves
 Largest waves
 Caused by tectonic, earthquakes, underwater landslides etc..
 Both the western and eastern coast of India is vulnerable to
tsunami
 Subduction zone near Indonesia
 Subduction zone Makran coast North Arabian sea are two
potential sites of tsunami waves
Storm surge
 Storm surge is the abnormal rise in seawater level during a
storm, measured as the height of the water above the normal
predicted astronomical tide. The surge is caused primarily by
a storm's winds pushing water onshore.

 Both the eastern and western coastal regions are vulnerable to
storm surges

 Strength of low pressure

 Velocity of winds
 Depth of the water in the lagoon the coast
 Presence of any submarine canyons, narrow inlets etc…create
a funneling effect.

 More than 60% of the damages are due to storm surge

 Tidal bore
Impact of Tidal Bore

 The tidal bores adversely affect the shipping and navigation in

the estuarine zone.
 Tidal bores of considerable magnitude can capsize boats and
ships of considerable size.

 Strong tidal bores disrupt fishing zones in estuaries and gulfs.

 Tidal bores have an adverse impact on the ecology of the river

mouth. The tidal-bore affected estuaries, which are the rich
feeding zones and breeding grounds of several forms of
wildlife.
Seiche
 A seiche is a standing wave in an enclosed or partially
enclosed body of water. Seiches and seiche-related
phenomena have been observed on lakes, reservoirs,
swimming pools, bays, harbors, caves and seas.

 Strong winds
 Earth quakes
 Tectonic disturbances
 Sea level rise

 Sea level rise is caused primarily by two factors related to

global warming: the added water from melting ice sheets and
glaciers, and the expansion of seawater as it warms.

 Sea level fluctuated in the geological past during ice ages and
global warming.
 Much of the sea level rise in the 20th century was associated
with the expansion of water,
 But the 21st century it is mainly due to ice sheet melting and
melting of glaciers.

 An ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of

glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than
50,000 km².
Trends and Projections:

 Between 2013 and 2022, Global mean sea-level was 4.5

mm/year and human influence was likely the main driver of
these increases since at least 1971.
 Global mean sea-level increased by 0.20m between 1901
and 2018,
 1.3 mm/ year between 1901 and 1971,
 1.9 mm/year between 1971 and 2006
 3.7 mm/year between 2006 and 2018.
IMPACTS OF SEA LEVEL RISE

 Slow down in the AMOC- global conveyor belt

 More emissions of methane and CO2
 Affect the ocean biodiversity
 Coastal Flooding
 Destruction of Coastal Biodiversity
 Dangerous Storm Surges
 Impact on Infrastructure
 Threat to Inland Life: Rising seas can contaminate soil and
groundwater with salt threatening life farther away from
coasts.
 The periodic short-term rise and fall in the sea level is known as
Tide. It is produced due to gravitational interaction of earth, sun
and moon. Since moon is closer to the earth, it has pronounced
influence on the tides. Rotation of earth also aids the tides.
 When the highest part, or crest, of the wave reaches a
particular location, high tide occurs; low tide corresponds to
the lowest part of the wave, or its trough. The difference in
height between the high tide and the low tide is called the
Tidal range.

 Movement of water caused by meteorological effects (winds

and atmospheric pressure changes) are called surges (storm
surge during cyclones).
 Gravitational pull of moon
 Gravitational pull of sun
 Rotation of earth on its axis
 Revolution of moon on its orbit around the earth

 Though the sun is 27 million times bigger than the Moon,

but since it is 390 times farther away, its Tide generating
pull is only 46% as that of the moon
Factors Controlling the Nature and Magnitude of Tides

 The movement of the moon in relation to the earth.

 Changes in position of the sun and moon in relation to the
earth.
 Uneven distribution of water over the globe.
 Irregularities in the configuration of the oceans.
spring tide

Approximately twice a month, around new moon and full

moon when the Sun, Moon, and Earth form a line (a
configuration known as a syzygy.

The tide's range is then at its maximum; this is called the

spring tide. The word, derives from the meaning "jump, burst
forth, rise etc...
Neap tide

When the Moon is at first quarter or third quarter, the Sun and
Moon are separated by 90° when viewed from the Earth, and
the solar tidal force partially cancels the Moon's. At these
points in the lunar cycle, the tide's range is at its minimum;
this is called the neap tide, or neaps. Neap is an Anglo-Saxon
word meaning "without the power"
 The tidal bulges on wide continental shelves have greater
heights.
 In the open ocean, tidal currents are relatively weak.
 When tidal bulges hit the mid-oceanic islands they
become low.
 The shape of bays and estuaries along a coastline can also
magnify the intensity of tides.
 Funnel-shaped bays greatly change tidal magnitudes.
 Example: the Bay of Fundy –– Highest tidal range.
 The large continents on the planet, however, block the
westward passage of the tidal bulges as the Earth rotates.
 Tidal patterns differ greatly from ocean to ocean and from
location to location.

 The highest tide in the World occurs in Bay of Funday

(Canada).
 The greatest tidal range in the world is found at the upper end
of the Bay of Fundy in eastern Canada, where a 15-meter
water-level fluctuation twice a day
 The highest tide in India is recorded at Okha, Gujarat.
 The United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea
Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international
agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine
and maritime activities.

 UNCLOS was adopted and signed in 1982.

 It divides marine areas into five main zones namely- Internal
Waters, Territorial Sea, Contiguous Zone, Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) and the High Seas.

 UNCLOS is the only international convention which

stipulates a framework for state jurisdiction in maritime
spaces. It provides a different legal status to different
maritime zones.
 Baseline:
 It is the low-water line along the coast as officially recognized
by the coastal state.

 Internal Waters:
 Internal waters are waters on the landward side of the baseline
from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured.
 Each coastal state has full sovereignty over its internal
waters as like its land territory. Examples of internal waters
include bays, ports, inlets, rivers and even lakes that are
connected to the sea.
 There is no right of innocent passage through internal waters.
▪ The innocent passage refers to the passing through the waters which are
not prejudicial to peace and security. However, the nations have the right
to suspend the same.
 Territorial Sea:
 The territorial sea extends seaward up to 12 nautical miles
(nm) from its baselines.
▪ (1 nautical mile = 1.85 km).
 The coastal states have sovereignty and jurisdiction over
the territorial sea. These rights extend not only on
the surface but also to the seabed, subsoil, and
even airspace.
 But the coastal states’ rights are limited by the innocent
passage through the territorial sea.
 Contiguous Zone:
 The contiguous zone extends seaward up to 24 nm from
its baselines.
 It is an intermediary zone between the territorial sea and
the EEZ.
 The coastal state has the right to both prevent and punish
infringement of fiscal, immigration, sanitary, and customs
laws within its territory and territorial sea.
 Unlike the territorial sea, the contiguous zone only gives
jurisdiction to a state on the ocean’s surface and
floor. It does not provide air rights.
 Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ):
 Each coastal State may claim an EEZ beyond and adjacent
to its territorial sea that extends seaward up to 200 nm
from its baselines.

 Within its EEZ, a coastal state has:

▪ Sovereign rights for the purpose of exploring, exploiting,
conserving and managing natural resources, whether
living or nonliving, of the seabed and subsoil.
▪ Rights to carry out activities like the production of energy
from the water, currents and wind.
 Unlike the territorial sea and the contiguous zone, the
EEZ only allows for the above-mentioned resource
rights. It does not give a coastal state the right to prohibit or
limit freedom of navigation or overflight, subject to very
limited exceptions.
  High Seas:
 The ocean surface and the water column beyond the
EEZ are referred to as the high seas.
 It is considered as “the common heritage of all mankind”
and is beyond any national jurisdiction.
 States can conduct activities in these areas as long as they
are for peaceful purposes, such as transit, marine science,
and undersea exploration.

online-pdf-no-copy.com
Biogeography
Soil

 Soil forming factors

 Soil forming process
 Soil profile
 Soil horizon
 Soil classification
 Soil degradation
 Soils of India
 Soil is the topmost layer of the continental crust having weathered particles of
rocks. The soils are the product of physical factors as well as human factors.

 It is a complex ecosystem that has both biotic and abiotic - air- moisture-
nutrients minerals –weathered rock particles.
 It takes 200 to 400 years to form 1 cm of soil – so soil is considered as Non
renewable resource.
 The whole soil column is called as SOIL PROFILE
 This soil profile is subdivided into small layers called as SOIL HORIZON.
 The major soil studies were done by Russians in the beginning and later ion
taken by Americans – GF Marbutt.
Soil profile and soil horizon
 Russians studied about the soils and they have classified it into
different layers.
 O – organic
 A -proper soil
 B – proper soil
 C- partially decomposed/disintegrated soil
 R – parent rocks

 In a later updated version, another sub layer is also added below

A LAYER - E
 O LAYER – TOP SURFACE ORGANIC LAYER
 A-E-B – proper soil E is the layer that has elluviation of certain mineral
compounds - B is the layer where the elluviated elements getting into.
 B layer is called as ILLUVIATED LAYER
 A – E – Top soil, B is sub soil
 C layer – rocks at active stage of disintegration.
 R –Regolith / parent rock

 The thickness of soil varies from place to place and the entire layers
collectively called as – SOIL HORIZON
 Each distinct soil layer is called as SOIL HORIZON.
 E layer is a later addition with in the soil profile.
 E – ELLUVIATED horizon. From which the mineral
compounds are leaching down to B horizon.
 E – ELLUVIATED
 B – ILLUVIATED
SOIL FORMING FACTORS

 PARENT ROCK
 CLIMATE
 TOPOGRAPHY
 BIOTA
 TIME
PARENT ROCK
 In soil formation the parent rock (or parent material) normally has a
large influence on the nature of the resulting soil. Soil texture, colour ,
nutrient contents,porousity, permeability
 Parent rock can be sedimentary, igneous or metamorphic.
 Colour
 Granite – red colour
 Limestone – white-light coloured soil
 Basalt – black colour

 Texture –
 Granite – large crystals – coarse grained soil.
 Basalt – small crystals - fine grained soil
Porousity and permeability of soil
 Porousity – the capacity of a rock to hold water.
 Permeability – the ability of soils to allow the water to pass through

 Black soil with high clay content has high porousity.

 Red soil – well drained soil – high permeability.

 Soft rocks with fine grained texture – porous soil.

Eg black cotton soil
Granite – coarse grains – red soil - allow water to pass through
Topography
 Steepness of the slope of the land
 Topography also determines the temperature conditions –
which can also influence the soil development.
 Eg- podzol is a type of temperate soil, but it is also found in
Alpine mountain like Himalaya.

 Gentle slope – less erosion – more thickness in the soil

 Steep slope – more erosion – less thickness of soil. – mountain
slopes – Himalaya, western ghats etc…
Climate
 Climate is an important deciding factor of the type of weathering of
rocks.
 Physical & chemical weathering
 Leaching
 Capillary action
 Climate – weathering
 Hot and dry region – physical weathering
 Cold and dry region - physical
 Warm and humid – chemical

 Physical disintegration produces – coarse grained soil

 Chemical weathering in warm and humid regions give rise to
fine grained soil.
Climate & capillary action
 Capillary action prevails in regions where Evaporation
exceeds precipitation.
 Upward movement of water with solvable salt. Water
evaporates from the surface after leaving the salt on the
surface – salt pans on the surface – make soil more saline.
Where water fails to penetrate.
 Calcium magnesium and sodium salt.

 Saline soils – Rajasthan Punjab Gujarati belt.

Climate and leaching

 Downward movement of water along with soluable salt.

 Leaching is an active process in humid climate
 Where precipitation exceeds evaporation
 It’s a slow process in which certain minerals like
calcium/iron/aluminium etc… get mixed in the water and
percolate into sub soil.
 This process produces different types of soil.
Leaching in cold and humid region - PODSOLIZATION

 Aluminium and iron are leached by leaving silica on top soil.

 The resultant soil formation is Grey soil – PODSOL
 Himalayan regions of India has PODSOL formation.
Leaching in warm and humid regions – LATERISATION

 In hot and humid climates, silica leaches sown and the iron and
aluminium is left on the surface soil.
 Produces red coloured laterite soil

 Soils of Western ghats , eastern ghats amarkhandak plateau etc…

Laterisation
 In warm and humid regions, silica leaches down leaving iron
and aluminium on top – the alternative spells of heavy
precipitation and high temperature condition give rise to the
laterite soil.

 Rich in iron and aluminium.

 Red soil – in dry regions ( not a product of leaching, develops

due to the parent materials)
 Laterite soil – warm and humid region – leaching is the reason.
 Laterite soils are acidic in nature and not suitable for all the
crops.
 Some times laterite soil forms a hard iron pan on the surface.
In parts of Bihar and Jharkhand it is called as PATLAND.
Podzolisation
 Develops In the cold and humid regions.
 Where silica is less mobile and iron and aluminium leaches
down by leaving silica ion top soil.
 More silica accumulate on top soil.
 Soil is more acidic
 Poor in fertility

PODSOL soil.
 Develops in temperate climate – Russia Canada regions
 Himalaya regions
Biota

 Causes bio physical/ bio chemical disintegration of rocks

 Decaying of dead organism
 Humus content of the soil is determined by the collective
action of biota and bacterial actions.
 If there is more bacteria in the soil, faster. Decomposition of
dead organism will take place – less humus content.
 If there are less bacterial action, less decomposition will take
place – leave more humus content in the soil.
 Weathering by the roots of the trees – initiate the soil
formation process.
 Earthworms and other micro organisms turning up the soil.- bio
turbation.
 The presence of humus content in the soil is determined by
the bacterial action.
 Cold climatic regions less bacterial actions – less
decomposition – more humus makes the soil more fertile.

 Soils of mid-LATITUDINAL grass land – CHERNOZEM – black

earth
 This black soil from steppes is transported by the rivers like
DON,DANUBE,DNIPER ETC… drains into BLACK SEA.
 Regions with high temperature warm and humid conditions
more bacterial action – faster decomposition – less humus
content in the soil – less fertile soil forms.

 Nitrogen fixation is a process done by RHIZOBIUM. That adds

nitrogen into the soil.
Time
 Time determines the maturity of the soil – the process of formation
of horizons and profile in the soil.
 It also determine the thickness of the soil.
 It has less influence in the fertility of the soil.

 Equatorial soil is omen of the oldest in the planet.

 With well developed profiles but this soil is less fertile.

 - heavy rainfall – heavy leaching

 - available nutrients are fast absorbed by the vegetation. OXISOL
SOIL FORMING PROCESSES
 Weathering of parent rocks
Physical / chemical/biological
 Capillary action – occurs where evaporation is greater than
precipitation.- the process of movement of mineral/nutrients
along with the water towards the surface soil.
 Leaching - active where precipitation exceeds evaporation -
two types of leaching have been identified
1. Laterisation
2. Podzolisation
 Gleification – this process take place in regions with
swamp/wetlands
 Soil remain water logged for long time
 This anaerobic condition promotes bacterial action – producing
Blue green compound - POTASIUM GLAUCONITE.
 This compound develops blue green patches on the soil.
 GLEI PATCHES

 Eg – Kerala coastal region – KARRI MANNU/KARRI SOIL

 Soils found in mangrove, swamp wetlands.
Soil classification

 The early classification of soil done by Russian

 Later in the works of Russian were taken up[ by Americans.

 Soil classification
1. Based ion genesis – GS Marbutt
2. Based ion observable properties of soil.- USDA UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICTULTURE.
SOIL CLASSIFICATION – GS MARBUTT

 Based on genetic approach

 By clubbing the soil forming factors

 As climate is the most important factor Marbutt divides the soil

into

1. PED O CAL
2. PED AL FER
PED o cal are the soils of arid regions.
PED AL FER is the soils of warm and humid climate.
ZONAL SOIL
 2nd level of classification – with in the regions of PED o cal and
PED al fer climate is highly varying.
 Marbutt make a ZONAL classification with in PED O CAL & PED
AL FER – based on latitudinal basis.

INTRA ZONAL SOIL

 With in the sphere of ZOANL classes, there are other local
factors also influencing the development of a type of soil
1. Local rocks
2. Local drainage
3. Local climate
III. AZONAL SOIL
Subdivision is done where the transportation and deposition
plays an important role in the development of soil.
Ped o Cal

 Ped o cal is the soil of arid regions/dry climate, where

evaporation is greater than precipitation
 Because of the dry climatic conditions, capillary process is
very active here.
 On the basis of latitudes the Ped O cal is again divided into
ZONAL CLASSES
1. CHERNOZEM,CHESTNUT,PRIARY SOIL- TEMPERATE GRASSLAND
2. GRUMMSOL – TROPICAL GRASSLAND/SAVANNAH
3. SERROZEM – TROPICAL HOT DESERT
I. Temperate latitudes – chernozem – chestnut – PRIARY soil

 CHERNOZEM – They are found in the temperate grasslands like

steppe ,pustas Canterbury plains velds pampas
 They are found in cooler climate – so bacterial action is – that
favour more humus content – soil appears in black colour
 Due to their dry climatic conditions – soil capillary action is
more – so they contain high calcium salt ion the surface soil.
Chestnut

 In comparison with chernozem – chestnuts are found in more

drier regions.
 It contain less o=humus content compared to chernozem
 Appears in dark maroon colour.
PRIARY soil

 They are similar to chernozem, but they are MOR wet.

 It is because of the special conditions prevailing in the PRIARY
grasslands.
 Lake effect. - makes the PRIARY soil more wetter.
II. GRUMMSOL – Tropical grasslands
 GRUMMSOL is the type of soil found in tropical grasslands /
savannah climate
 They contain high amount of clay.
 Become sticky during rainy season and breaks in dry season.
 Breaking of surface soil is an adaptation of preserving water
content.
 There is active capillary action in the soil,
III. SERROZEM

These are soils of desert latitudes

Mainly found in sub Saharan region, Arabian deserts
Atacama mojave etc…
They are sandy soil
There is high accumulation of salt due to capillary action – make
the soil saline.
Ped Al Fer
Ped Al Fer is found in HUMID CLIMATES
1. PODSOL
2. LATOSOL
3. BROWN EARTH

PODSOL
Found in cool and humid climates – Taiga belt
Where iron and aluminium is leaching down leaving silica on top
soil.
Soil appears in grey colour
Acidic in nature.
Siberia, Canada regions along the coniferous regions.
Latosol

Distribution –mainly in the hot and humid regions of the tropics.

Alternative spells of hot and rainfall seasons.
Due to severe leaching – the silica content moves down, Iron
and aluminium accumulates on the top layer.
Due to the presence of iron oxides – this soil appears in red in
colour.
It lacks humus content because of high temperature – bacterial
action is more. - Low in fertility
Generally seen in mountain areas of the tropical region.
- Western ghats eastern ghats
Brown earth

Found in regions that are relatively cooler than tropics and

warmer than temperate
Here the leaching process is not active – so iron , aluminium and
silica contents is widely distributed in the soil.
Silica dominates on the top soil.
Appear brown in colour
Found in the regions of Britain.
Ped Al Fer

 Pod sol – silica remain – iron and Aluminium leaches down

 Brown earth – leaching is not active – wide distribution of
elements.
 Latosol – iron and aluminium remain on top soil – silica leaches
down.
INTRA ZONAL SOIL

 INTRA ZONAL soils are found with in zonal class.

 It is because of the local factors

 Local rocks – calci morphic

 Local drainage - hydromorphic
 Local climate – halomorphic
Hydromorphic soil

 Found in the areas of water logging – bad drainage

 Gleification is very active in these soil
 Water logging – bacterial action – produce blue green
patches (GLEI PATCHES) Release POTASIUM gloconite
 Mainly found in mangroves, wetlands coastal regions -
 Called as BOGUS SOIL
 In India hydromorphic soils are found in
 KARRI soil of Kerala, Sundarbans, terrain regions of the plains.
Halomorphic soils –dry regions

 High capillary action makes the calcium salt to come to

surface soil.
 Where the calcium salt is coming up – it is called as white
alkali – soil is called as solonchak
 Regions where sodium salt accumulates – soil is called as
Black Alkali – soil is called as Solon nests
Calci morphic soil

Soil is found where the local rocks affect the development.

Calci morphic soil develops in regions where calcium rich rocks like
limestone, chalk etc…

There are two types of soils Terra rosa and Rendzina.

Terra rosa Found along Mediterranean, appears red in colour.

Terra rosa is good for GRAPE CULTIVATIION of Mediterranean.

Rendzina – derived from chalk – appears dark in colour

Found in Britain
AZONAL soil

 AZONAL soils are developed due to the work of agents of

erosion.

 They are transported soils

 Transported by rivers, winds ,glaciers etc…

1. Alluvial soil – rivers

2. Aeolian soil – wind
3. Lithosol – Montane soil
AZONAL soil lacks horizon development- they are immature soil
but they are more fertile.
High fertility is due to the nutrients carried by the agents of
denudation and their deposition in a particular region.
Shortcomings of Marbutt classification

 The study is based on USA and it fails to represent all the soils
of tropical regions.
 Zonal types of soils are climate related, such soils are found in
other regions too.Soils found in temperate climate is also
found in tropical latitudes.
 Zonal classification represent the soil formation that
happened in past – they represent the past climate but not
the present climate.
Indian soil in Marbutt
 Laterite soil – zonal Ped Al Fer – Latosol
 Alluvial soil – AZONAL soil – carried and deposited by rivers
 Black soil – INTRA zonal soil – basalt parent rock plays an
important role.
 Red soil – INTRA zonal – parent rock plays major role
 PODSOL – Himalaya – zonal soil Ped Al Fer.
 Swampy soi – INTRA zonal – hydromorphic soil
 KARRI soil – INTRA zonal hydromorphic
n-gl.com
Biogeography
Soil classification

 The early classification of soil done by Russian

 Later in the works of Russian were taken up[ by Americans.

 Soil classification
1. Based ion genesis – GS Marbutt
2. Based ion observable properties of soil.- USDA UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICTULTURE.
SOIL CLASSIFICATION – GS MARBUTT

 Based on genetic approach

 By clubbing the soil forming factors

 As climate is the most important factor Marbutt divides the soil

into

1. PED O CAL
2. PED AL FER
PED o cal are the soils of arid regions.
PED AL FER is the soils of warm and humid climate.
ZONAL SOIL
 2nd level of classification – with in the regions of PED o cal and
PED al fer climate is highly varying.
 Marbutt make a ZONAL classification with in PED O CAL & PED
AL FER – based on latitudinal basis.

INTRA ZONAL SOIL

 With in the sphere of ZOANL classes, there are other local
factors also influencing the development of a type of soil
1. Local rocks
2. Local drainage
3. Local climate
III. AZONAL SOIL
Subdivision is done where the transportation and deposition
plays an important role in the development of soil.
Ped o Cal

 Ped o cal is the soil of arid regions/dry climate, where

evaporation is greater than precipitation
 Because of the dry climatic conditions, capillary process is
very active here.
 On the basis of latitudes the Ped O cal is again divided into
ZONAL CLASSES
1. CHERNOZEM,CHESTNUT,PRIARY SOIL- TEMPERATE GRASSLAND
2. GRUMMSOL – TROPICAL GRASSLAND/SAVANNAH
3. SERROZEM – TROPICAL HOT DESERT
I. Temperate latitudes – chernozem – chestnut – PRIARY soil

 CHERNOZEM – They are found in the temperate grasslands like

steppe ,pustas Canterbury plains velds pampas
 They are found in cooler climate – so bacterial action is – that
favour more humus content – soil appears in black colour
 Due to their dry climatic conditions – soil capillary action is
more – so they contain high calcium salt ion the surface soil.
Chestnut

 In comparison with chernozem – chestnuts are found in more

drier regions.
 It contain less o=humus content compared to chernozem
 Appears in dark maroon colour.
PRIARY soil

 They are similar to chernozem, but they are MOR wet.

 It is because of the special conditions prevailing in the PRIARY
grasslands.
 Lake effect. - makes the PRIARY soil more wetter.
II. GRUMMSOL – Tropical grasslands
 GRUMMSOL is the type of soil found in tropical grasslands /
savannah climate
 They contain high amount of clay.
 Become sticky during rainy season and breaks in dry season.
 Breaking of surface soil is an adaptation of preserving water
content.
 There is active capillary action in the soil,
III. SERROZEM

These are soils of desert latitudes

Mainly found in sub Saharan region, Arabian deserts
Atacama mojave etc…
They are sandy soil
There is high accumulation of salt due to capillary action – make
the soil saline.
Ped Al Fer
Ped Al Fer is found in HUMID CLIMATES
1. PODSOL
2. LATOSOL
3. BROWN EARTH

PODSOL
Found in cool and humid climates – Taiga belt
Where iron and aluminium is leaching down leaving silica on top
soil.
Soil appears in grey colour
Acidic in nature.
Siberia, Canada regions along the coniferous regions.
Latosol

Distribution –mainly in the hot and humid regions of the tropics.

Alternative spells of hot and rainfall seasons.
Due to severe leaching – the silica content moves down, Iron
and aluminium accumulates on the top layer.
Due to the presence of iron oxides – this soil appears in red in
colour.
It lacks humus content because of high temperature – bacterial
action is more. - Low in fertility
Generally seen in mountain areas of the tropical region.
- Western ghats eastern ghats
Brown earth

Found in regions that are relatively cooler than tropics and

warmer than temperate
Here the leaching process is not active – so iron , aluminium and
silica contents is widely distributed in the soil.
Silica dominates on the top soil.
Appear brown in colour
Found in the regions of Britain.
Ped Al Fer

 Pod sol – silica remain – iron and Aluminium leaches down

 Brown earth – leaching is not active – wide distribution of
elements.
 Latosol – iron and aluminium remain on top soil – silica leaches
down.
INTRA ZONAL SOIL

 INTRA ZONAL soils are found with in zonal class.

 It is because of the local factors

 Local rocks – calci morphic

 Local drainage - hydromorphic
 Local climate – halomorphic
Hydromorphic soil

 Found in the areas of water logging – bad drainage

 Gleification is very active in these soil
 Water logging – bacterial action – produce blue green
patches (GLEI PATCHES) Release POTASIUM glauconitic
 Mainly found in mangroves, wetlands coastal regions -
 Called as BOGUS SOIL/ Peat soil
 In India hydromorphic soils are found in
KARRI soil of Kerala, Sundarbans, terrain regions of the plains.
Halomorphic soils –dry regions

 High capillary action makes the calcium salt to come to

surface soil.
 Where the calcium salt is coming up – it is called as white
alkali – soil is called as solonchak
 Regions where sodium salt accumulates – soil is called as
Black Alkali – soil is called as Solon nests
Calci morphic soil

Soil is found where the local rocks affect the development.

Calci morphic soil develops in regions where calcium rich rocks like
limestone, chalk etc…are present.

There are two types of soils Terra rosa and Rendzina.

Terra rosa Found along Mediterranean, appears red in colour.

Terra rosa is good for GRAPE CULTIVATION of Mediterranean.

Rendzina – derived from chalk – appears dark in colour

Found in Britain
AZONAL soil

 AZONAL soils are developed due to the work of agents of

erosion.

 They are transported soils

 Transported by rivers, winds ,glaciers etc…

1. Alluvial soil – rivers

2. Aeolian soil – wind
3. Lithosol – Montane soil
AZONAL soil lacks horizon development- they are immature soil
but they are more fertile.
High fertility is due to the nutrients carried by the agents of
denudation and their deposition in a particular region.
Shortcomings of Marbutt classification

 The study is based on USA and it fails to represent all the soils
of tropical regions.
 Zonal types of soils are climate related, such soils are found in
other regions too.Soils found in temperate climate is also
found in tropical latitudes.
 Zonal classification represent the soil formation that
happened in past – they represent the past climate but not
the present climate.
Indian soil in Marbutt
 Laterite soil – zonal Ped Al Fer – Latosol
 Alluvial soil – AZONAL soil – carried and deposited by rivers
 Black soil – INTRA zonal soil – basalt parent rock plays an
important role.
 Red soil – INTRA zonal – parent rock plays major role
 PODSOL – Himalaya – zonal soil Ped Al Fer.
 Swampy soi – INTRA zonal – hydromorphic soil
 KARRI soil – INTRA zonal hydromorphic
USDA SCHEME OF
SOILCLSSIFICATION
 US department of agriculture.
 Also called as 7th approximation scheme.
 Classification is based on the observable properties of soil –
Soil texture
Soil color
Porosity and permeability
Nutrient content etc…
Soil Properties
Histosol It is the bog soil
Soil undergoes gleification
Peat/bogus Anaerobic decomposition
Hydromorphic soils of Greater bacterial action
marutt. Produce potassium glauconitic
Found in swamps , mangroves, wetlands and
coastal regions.

Oxisol Found in the equatorial region

Soil facing heavy leaching
Latosol of marbutt. Silica moves down from top soil to sub soil.
Iron and aluminum get accumulated on the
surface soil.
Ultisol Soil of the tropical region
Heavily leached
High bacterial action
Soil is acidic
Process of laterisation occurs in the soil

Heavily leached - podsolisatioin

Spodsol Found in cold and humid region
Iron an aluminum leaches down by leaving silica on top
Soil appears Grey in color .
Acidic in nature.
Vertisol Clay rich soil - found in B layer
Become sticky when it is wet
Black cotton soil And soil forms crack/ break into small segments during
Not mentioned in dry season.
Marbutt’s classification Black cotton soil
Black soil of Columbia plateau

Entisol Infant soil

Recently formed soil – carried and deposited y some
Azonal soil agents of erosion.
Lack horizon developments

InceptIsol At next stage of soil development.

Horizons are in developing stage.
Mature than ENTISOL
Mollisol One of the most fertile soils
Similar to chernozem – black earth soils of temperate region.
Less bacterial action
High hums content
Black in color

Aridsol Arid desert soil

Develops in region where evaporation > precipitation
High capillary action allows the salt accumulation on the surface
soil.

Andisol Saline alkaline soil

Soil found in Andes region
Volcanic in origin

Alfisol Degraded chernozem

Evaluation of USDA soil taxonomy
 USDA soil classification is an empirical classification – based on
observable factors.

 Local factors were given more importance in the USDA

classification.
 Unlike Marbutt, who’s focus was mainly in the soil forming factors.

 This Scheme of classification require more input data and laboratory

analysis – so it is not practically viable in all the regions of the world.
Soils of India

 Broadly India has 4 major and 4 minor soils

Alluvial soil – 42% Desert soil

Red soil – 23% Montane soil
Black soil – 14% Mangrove soil
Laterite soil - 4% Saline soil
Alluvial soil
 Azonal soil – transported and deposited by agents of erosion.
 Along the coastline it is the collective action of rivers and
waves.
 Rich and fertile soil
 Found in the river valley and along deltaic region
 Rich in potash and other micro nutrients
 Poor in phosphorus
 Support all the types of crops
Rice wheat sugar cane jute etc…
Over cultivation and sand mining along the rivers is the major
threats of the alluvial soil
Red soil
Formed from the weathering of granite and gneiss
It has a coarse texture.
Mainly found in the peninsular India.
Poor in Nitrogen, phosphorus and Humus
Mostly found in dry areas of Telungana, Andra pradesh,other dry
peninsular interiors.
Support dry crops like – millets, pluses and oil seeds, tobacco
Black soil
 Formed from the disintegration of basalt.
 Also called as regur soil
 Soil has the presence of clay content in the B horizon.
 Clay content – soil is sticky when wet and breaks into pieces
when dry.
 Soil is rich in Lime Iron Aluminum and Magnesium.
 Support water intense crops like
 Cotton and sugarcane.
 Soil facing issue of SOIL SALINISATON- because of the excess
irrigation in arid regions.
Laterite soil
 Found in hot and humid region
 Alternative spells of heavy rainfall and high temperature is the
climatic requirements
 Soil undergoes heavy leaching
 Leaching take the Silica content in the lower horizons by
leaving iron and Aluminum on the surface soil.
 Soil is poor in fertility – suitable for plantation agriculture
 Appears red in color
 Found in western hats , eastern Ghats, Amarkhanak plateau
etc…
soil problems

Soil problems are categorized as

 Soil erosion
 Soil degradation
 Soil pollution
 Faulty agricultural practies
 Soil desertification.
Soil erosion
 is the denudation or wearing away of the upper layer of soil. It
is a form of soil degradation. This natural process is caused by
the dynamic activity of erosive agents, that
is, water, ice (glaciers), snow, air (wind), plants,
and animals (including humans)
 It is highly affected in uncovered soils.
 Heavy rainfall on uncovered soil creates SPLASH EROSION
 Continued erosion may remove the entire surface –
SHEETEROSION
 RILLS may get widened and form GULLIES and RAVINES.
SOIL DEGAATION
 Degradation is referred to losing the productivity of the soil, due to

 Soil pollution - Excess use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, dumping

of household waste, industrial affluences

 Faulty agriculture – Mono culture for an extensive period.

Excess irrigation in dry climatic region make the soil more saline. –
Punjab, Haryana western UP – GREEN REVOLUTION BELTS
 Soil desertification
 Its an extreme form of soil degradation, where the soil is not fit for
cultivation.
 Soil desertification is caused by the same reasons, but at high
intensity.
Solutions
 Mulching – covering the surface soil with hay, plant remains, crop
residue etc… so that the soil get less exposure to soil erosion.
 The rate of evaporation from the surface soil can e reduced.

Agro climatic regionalisation

 Grow crops that are suitable for the climatic conditions
 Do not grow water intensive crops in ari and semi arid climatic
regions – that may need more irrigations – it can lead the soil – soil
salinisation.
 Grow drought resistant crops in the arid climates like millets, oil seed,
 Create shelterbelts – to prevent expansion of the process of
desertification.
 Growing row of trees to prevent winds
 Green belt
 Great green wall – aravalli

 The Great Green Wall of Aravalli" is a 1,600 km long and 5 km

wide green ecological corridor along Aravalli range from
Gujarat to Delhi, it will be connected to Shivalik hill range and
1.35 billion (135 crore) new native trees will be planted over 10
years to rehabilitate the forest cover in this area. To be
implemented on a concept similar to the Great Green
Wall of Sahara in Africa
Adopt Sustainable agriculture
 Practicing crop rotation- it allows different plants to grow in an area
of soil every year.
 Practice organic farming
 Zero budget natural farming
 Precision agriculture with efficient irrigation techniques
n-gl.com
Biogeography
Factors affecting the distribution of
plants and animals
 Physical factors - non living factors
 Biological factors - living factors
 Anthropogenic factors – how human being moify the physical
as well as biological factors
Physical factors – physical factors that are influencing the distribution of
life forms on the planet work collectively.
1. Sunlight
2. Temperature
3. Wind
4. Precipitation
5. Soil
6. Topography- altitude
 Sunlight –

 Photosynthesis
 Phototropism
 Diurnal rhythm of plants and animals
Temperature
 Temperature zones
Megatherm
Microtherm
Mesotherm
Hekisotherm
 Transpiration
 Metabolism
Winds

Direct
Special adaptation of plants an animals to survive in strong gusty
winds.
Indirect
Moisture transport towards land
Dispersion of seeds
Pollination
Water
 Hydrophytes – lotus, Hydrella
 Mesophytes – intermediate
 Xerophytes – arid desert conditions
 Halophytes - salinity – mangroves and other coastal plants.
 Soil
 Soure of nutrients and other minerals
 Humus content
 Source of moisture

 Agriculture and plants are highly dependent on the character of

the soil
 Where as trees are less dependent on the soil qualities.
 More dependent on climate – temperature & rainfall – equatorial
desertic
Topography -Altitude
 Altitude affect the temperature
 Lee ward and win ward sides of mountains
 Adret and ubac sides of mountains determines the amount of
Insolation and temperature.
 How do the physical factors interact andinfluence the distriution of
plants and animals

 The physical factors act collectively

 Favourable and supportive factors

 Himalaya
 Aravally
 Western ghats
 There are two important laws about how life forms are adjuste and
adapted with the conditions.

1. Shelford law
2. Leibig and Blackman law.
Shelford law of tolerance
 The distribution of plants and animals with respect to factors is best
depicted in the above diagram.
 There an optimum level of conditions for the survival. any increase or
decrease of any of the environmental factors can decrease the
population.
 The environmental factors are more sensitive in the reproductive stages.
 Life forms that are more widely distributed have wider tolerance range -
EURY TOLERANCE.
 Life forms that are distributed in small area have narrow tolerance range. –
STENO TOLERANE
 The steno type life forms are mostly specialists, and they can
dominate the ecosystem when the conditions are favorable.
 But they are the most vulnerable.
 Any slight change in the environmental factors can threaten their
existence.

 Eg Coral reefs
 Life forms that are EURY TOLERANT are generalists – they can survive
in any circumstances.
Eg. Crow, mosquito, rat etc…
Liebig's law

 Liebig's law of the minimum, often simply called Liebig's law or the law
of the minimum, is a principle developed in agricultural
science by Carl Sprengel (1840) and later popularized by Justus von
Liebig.
 It states that growth is dictated not by total resources available, but by
the scarcest resource (limiting factor). The law has also been applied
to biological populations and ecosystem models for factors such
as sunlight or mineral nutrients.
 the local yield of terrestrial plants should be limited by the nutrient
that is present in the environment in the least quantity relative to its
demands for plant growth.

 In an ecosystem, the factors that least present is the most important

and deciding factor.
 water in a Desert
 Humus content in the soil
 Sunlight in the polar regions.
BIOLOGIAL FACTORS

 The life forms and their survival is not just abundant or just absence
of the factors its about how the factors influence.

1. Physiological functioning of the organism

2. The adaptation and evolution of life forms
3. The inter relationship between the life forms.
These 3 components together constitute the iological factors.
Physiological functioning
1. Reproduction
2. Metabolism
3. Respiration
 When we add the changing environment and stimulus we get
adaptation and evolution of the species.

 Natural selection
 Survival of the fittest
 Distribution of the species
 Extinction of species.
 The inter relationship between the life forms.

 Commensalism
 Parasitism
 Mutualism
 Amensalism
 Competition & Predation
Commensalism
 It is an imbalanced type of interaction wherein one entity
benefits while the other is neither harmed nor benefited. There
are four types of commensal associations.

Parasitism
 One entity benefits from other entities and is harmed, but not
necessarily killed. The entity that is harmed is the host and the
one benefited is the parasite. When the host is killed, this type
of behavior is referred to as parasitoidism.
Mutualism
 Both species involved in the interaction are benefited. These
interactions take place in three patterns:
 Facultative mutualism – Species survive on their own under
favorable conditions
 Obligate mutualism – One species is dependent for survival on
the other
 Diffusive mutualism – One entity can live with multiple partners
Amensalism
 In this type of interaction, when one population finds itself in danger
the other population is not majorly affected. For instance, Tall and wide
plants hinder the growth of comparatively smaller plants. Some plants
even secrete substances that repress the growth of nearby plants in
order to remove competition.
Competition
 It is when populations or even an individual compete for food
resources. It is often referred to as exploitative or consumptive
competition.

Predation
 When one entity hunts another animal to suffice its nutritional
requirements, it is referred to as predation. A predator is an
entity that hunts its prey
Pattern of distribution of plants and
animals.
The pattern of distribution of plants and animal can e
studies in different ways.

1. Biome - distribution of life forms in based on climatic controls

2. Bio geographical realms – distribution is a function of the
evolutionary history of life forms and its relationship with other life
forms.
3. Ecosystem approach – distribution in terms of the relationship
between living and non living elements.
4. Gene pool study - distribution in terms of richness of life forms.
 Equatorial
 Savannah
 Monsoon

Biomes
 Tropical desert
 Mediterranean
 Temperate grassland
 Taiga/boreal
 Tundra
 Montane
Equatorial biome

The tropical rain-forest occupies low-altitude areas near the equator in

South America, Central and West Africa, and in the Indo-Malay
peninsula and New Guinea regions. Although these areas are physically
isolated, the forest growing in them shows great similarity of structure and
function. These are found in the high rain fall areas on either side of the
equator, having high temperature and high humidity and receive above
200 cm of rainfall per year. Soil is rich in humus.
It is a broad-leaved evergreen forest of dense, prolific growth and an
extremely diverse fauna and flora. The hot, wet tropical climate is highly
conducive to plant growth and there is very little seasonality which
means that the growing period extends throughout the year.
 These forests have a very rich biodiversity e.g. Brazilian tropical rain forests
have more than 300 species of trees in an area of 200 square kilometer.
Trees are tall growing up to 50 to 60 m. These forests also support epiphytes,
like vines, creepers, woody creepers and orchid etc. These forests are rich
in tree dwelling animals such as monkeys, flying squirrels, snails, centipedes,
millipedes, and many insect species are common on the forest floor. Many
snakes and mammals are adapted to live in the trees because this is where
the bulk of the foliage exists.
Savannah/ tropical grass land

 Tropical grasslands are commonly called Savannas. They occur in

eastern Africa, South America, Australia and India. Savannas form a
complex ecosystem with scattered medium size trees in grass lands.
 The savanna biome is usually associated with the tropical wet dry
climate of Africa and South America.
 Its vegetation ranges from woodland to grassland. In savanna
woodland, the trees are spaced rather widely apart because there is
not enough soil moisture during the dry season to support a full tree
cover. The woodland has an open, park like appearance. Savanna
woodland usually lies in a broad belt adjacent to equatorial rainforest.
Tropical desert
 where the air is descending, a condition least favorable for precipitation of
any kind.
 The rain-bearing Trade Winds become dry by the time they reach central-
western parts of the continents.

 On the western coasts, the presence of cold currents - desiccating effect of

Cold ocean currents.
 The off shore effects of trade winds and the related upwelling of cold water

 Xerophytes
Mediterranean

 Confined to the western portion of continental, between 30° to 45°

 The basic cause - Shifting of the wind belts.
 Mediterranean Sea has the greatest extent of this type of ‘winter rain
climate’, - Mediterranean Climate.
 central Chile.
 California (around San Francisco),
 the south-western tip of Africa - around Cape Town
 southern Australia, and south-west Australia.
 Summer Dry – off shore trade winds
 Winter wet –onshore westerly winds.

 Olive
 Grapes
 Citrus fruits
Temperate grassland

 They lie in the interiors of the continents.

 Lie in the Westerly wind belt [mid-latitudes or temperate region].
 Grasslands are practically treeless due to continentality [deep within the interiors of
the continents where rain bearing winds don’t reach].
 In Eurasia, they are called the Steppes, and stretch eastwards from the shores of the
Black Sea to the foothills of the Altai Mountains.
Taiga biome
 Found only in the northern hemisphere
 Experienced in the regions just below Arctic circle
 Located north of temperate grasslands

Rain throughout the year

Evergreen conifers
Lemburing – soft wood forest – paper industries.
Tundra
Peri glacial area
Soil moisture is largely frozen – permafrost
Lichens and mosses
Grazing
Hunting lifestyle
North America – Alaska
Canada - Inuits
Russia – chukchis , Bryats
Bio geographical realms

 Study of distribution of plants and animal in terms of their

evolutionary history- how they evolve and their distribution is
influenced by earths geological history.
 Same climate is not producing same species.

 South America - Africa and Australia is almost have similar

climate but the distribution of species vary greatly
 The taiga climate of Canada and Siberia are similar but the
species distribution is different.
 Polar climate near arctic and Antarctica produce Polar beer an
penguin separately.
 Climate is the most important factor for the distribution of life
forms especially natural vegetation.
 Where as continental drift, climate change, migration of
species and presence of barriers create a unique assemblage
of plants and animals.
 Eg-
 A lot of life forms had migrate from Eurasia to North America
through Bering str – local bridge – 10000 to 150000 years ago.
Horse, Pig etc..
 Africa to Madagascar migration – but after the separation
Madagascar has evolved a unique variety of animals.
 North and south America has different types of species distributions.
 North has large carnivores and large herbivores
 but in south America – no large carnivores it has more reptiles more
number of birds.

 This was due to the North and South America were separated and
they joined only 1 million years back.
 and the presence of the central American desert blocks the
species migration between them.
 Australia has a great variety of some primitive life forms, it has no
large carnivores
 Australia got separated from the mainland of Gondwana around
150 million years back before the evolution of large carnivores and
mammals.
 It has a separate history of biological evolution.
Biogeographical realms

 Pangaea –panthalasa – Laurasia – Gondwanaland – Americas split.

 Holo arctic(N America – Eurasia) and holotropic( rest of the

continents)
 Ne arctic – pale arctic
 Neo tropic – pale tropic
 Oriental – south east asia
 Notogian - Australia.
Transition zones in the general biogeo realms
 Mexican transition
 Patagonian transition
 Ethiopian transition
 Cape province transition
 Chinese transition
 Indo Malayan transition
 New Zealand transition
Q. Write a note on neo tropic life forms
Q.Write a note on Notogaea life forms

 Address what it is
 Write about the biomes distribution
 Separation of this land mass due to continental drift
 Evolution of some unique species

Neotropial realms
 What it is
 Important countries
 Biomes of south America and
 Mention about the different life forms
Schemes of biogeographical realms

Scheme of animals ( animal kingdom)

Scheme of plants ( Plant kingdom )
Scheme of animals

I. A WALLACE SCHEME.
 Its about Animal kingdom –
 General scheme – Antarctica and Newzealand transition
II. SCHIMIDT SCHEME
NE arctic – PALE ARCTIC AND PALE TROPIC in one class – ARCTOGEAN
NEO TROPIC – NOTOGEAN ARE SEPARATE
Biogeographically realms of India

1. Trans Himalayan – Ladak Karakorum

2. Himalayan -
3. Western dry desert – Rajasthan and kuchchh
4. Semi arid western regions
5. Northern gangetic
6. North eastern India
7. Western Ghats and coastal plains
8. Eastern Ghats and coastal plains
9. Peninsular plateau – Deccan regions
10. Islands
Gene pool centers
Gene Pools have many characteristics which differentiates its from other
biological regions.
 Gene pool centre is a climatologically homogenous area.
 There is high amount of biodiversity in a gene pool centre.
 There are sufficient resources for survival of a lot of plants and animals.
 Due to abundance of resources, the plants and animals in a gene pool survive
many rounds of ecological succession and continue to thrive. Succession
means evolution of new varieties of plants and animals due to change in
climatic conditions, soils, natural disaster etc. Consequently, many plants and
animals disappear from an ecosystem after every bout of succession. However,
the plants in the gene pool centers were resistant to ecological succession.
Hence, they continued to flourish and spread.
 There are two types of crops which have originated from gene
pools.
 Primary Crops: Primary crops are those crops which were discovered by
humans as they were found in nature. For example, tomatoes are
indigenous to Latin American forests and civilized humans started
growing them as crops, recently.
 Secondary Crops: When humans started to grow primary crops, some of
the weeds and plants infested the primary crops. These weeds and
plants also turned out to be useful. For example, Rye was initially a weed
which infested wheat crops but later it became useful too.
 The concept of gene pool centre was first given by Carl O. Sauer he
called the gene pool centers as THE CULTURAL HEARTH
 But the most modern concept of genepool centres was given by
Nicolay vavilov
Vavilov’s Gene Pool Centres
 Gene pool centres are the home of the first agriculture
 They are considered as the source of global civilization
 Such centres are very crucial for sourcing gene from the wild to deal
with agricultural crops and animal infection risks that can wipe of
species and cerops.
 They have wide genes of life forms which can help revive crops
because of certain natural resistant and risks.

 Revival of Rubber plantation in South East Asia was possile with

some disease resistant genes of rubber discovered from Amazon
 Coffee blight of Srilanka
 Potato Blight of Ireland was managed by using the wild genes of all
the plants.

 Thus gene pool centers and their management is very vital for
global food security and fight against hunger.
n-gl.com
Biogeography &
Environmental geography
Forest
 A forest is an area of land dominated by trees.
 According to FAO
Land with tree crown cover (or equivalent stocking level) of
more than 10 percent and area of more than 0.5 hectares
(ha). The trees should be able to reach a minimum height of 5
meters (m) at maturity in situ.
 Natural vegetation refers to a plant community, which has
grown naturally without human aid and has been left
undisturbed by humans for a long time. This is termed as a
virgin vegetation. Thus, cultivated crops and fruits, orchards
form part of vegetation but not natural vegetation.
 Forests are important for people's lives, homes and livelihoods and
have a crucial role to play in tackling the biodiversity and climate
crises.
 As forests are home to over 80% of terrestrial
biodiversity, including 80% of amphibians, 75% of birds and 68% of
mammals
 Forests are the largest storehouses of carbon after the oceans, as
they absorb this greenhouse gas from the air and lock it away
above and below ground.
 Dominated by trees
 Natural or manmade
 Most important ecosystem
 Water management
 Soil conservation
 Most diverse eco system services
Ecosystem services of forest

 Provisioning
 Regulatory
 Supportive
 Cultural
World forest

 Equatorial rainforest
 Savannah forest
 Mid latitudinal forest
 Taiga forest
 Mangrove forest
Equatorial rainforest
Distribution
1. Amazon basin
2. Congo river basin
3. South east Asian regions.
4. Equatorial islands pacific
 The densest forest with great biodiversity
 Largest biodiversity among the terrestrial ecosystem.
 Broad leaved – Evergreen forest
 under great threat due to urbanization, plantation, agriculture and grazing
 Oil palm plantation, rubber tea
 Conversion of forest land to grazing , agriculture purposes
 Forest fire threats.
Savannah forest

 Savannah forest include the tropical monsoon forests of India also,

 Monsoon forest is considered as the wetter savannah.
 More open and less dense compared to equatorial forest.
 Under severe pressure due to Timber, agriculture,forest fire, grazing
etc..
Midlatitdes forest

 Mixed collection of Evergreen + semi evergreen+deciduoud

 Found in USA, UK and other parts of Europe
 Midlatitudinal forests were historically lost due to faster urbanization –
industrial revolution –

 But the existing forests in US and Europe are well maintained.

Taiga forest
 Boreal/taiga/coniferous forest
 Found in Russia, Canada and Norway
 Soft wood varieties
 Used for Timer and paper industries
 Well managed forest – scientifically managed – replantation – and
rotation of tree varieties.
 Mangrove forest

 Found in the littoral zones of the coastlines

 Having great ecological significance
 Protect the coastlines from tsunami, coastal erosion , tropical
storms etc…
 Hardwood varieties – used for furniture making
The State of the World's Forests - 2022

 The biennial report carries extensive data

on global forest resources and on humans’
interaction with them, while outlining
strategies for reducing deforestation.

 FOOD & AGRICULTURAL ORGANISATION

 They cover 31 percent of the Earth’s land surface (4.06 billion ha)
but the area is shrinking, with 420 million ha of forest lost through
deforestation between 1990 and 2020.
 Forests provide habitat for 80 percent of amphibian species, 75
percent of bird species and 68 percent of mammal species, and
tropical forests contain about 60 percent of all vascular plant
species
 Climate change is a major risk factor for forest health. For example,
there are indications that the incidence and severity of forest fires
and pests are increasing.
 We are losing forest at a rate of 10 million hectare/ year
 Most of the forest loss is in tropical belts
Savannah, tropical monsoon and equatorial rainforest
Forest fire, agriculture, and other developmental projects.

 Trees and forests are major means for combating climate change.
Forests contain 662 billion tonnes of carbon, which is more than half
the global carbon stock in soils and vegetation.
 Loss of forest will impact the carbon sequestration process
 Increase in infectious diseases – zoonotic – Zika, Monkey fever, Ebola ,
Malaria, bird flue etc…
 loss of forest – habitat loss- increases human animal conflicts.
Indian forest -
 Since India has a greater variations in the temperature rainfall
humidity topographical distribution – the resultant vegetation type
are also highly variable.
 Indian forests are one of the unique forests of the world.
 India is located at the juncture of Ethiopian – African
Biogeographical realm – Indo Malayan and Chinese transition and
India itself is in Oriental realms.

 The distribution of forest in India is very closely linked to rainfall

patterns.
 FOREST TYPE RAINFALL CHARACTERS DISTRIBUTION
Wet ever green 300 to 4000 Variant of equatorial rain Western wet regions Mahogany
of
forest cm forest, western Ghats Ebony
Less diverse less dense North east India rosewood
More undergrowth Andaman Nicobars
Semi evergreen 200 to 250 More open Buffer regions of Mahogany
forest cm Evergreen to Moist evergreen forest Ebony
Deciduous variety Rosewood

Wet variant of savannah Bulk of India Sal, Mahua

forest Mango,neem
Monsoon forest 75 to 150 Dry deciduous 70 to 100 Jamun,
cm More wet 100 to 150 sheesham
Muringa etc..

Thorn forest 60 to 70 Dry open forest Semi arid Rajasthan Babool

cm Western Uttar Pradesh Keekar
Western central India
Plateau interiors
khair, cactus
Xerophytes < 40cm Cactus Desert region s
phog, babul,
Monsoon forest
 Seasonal tropical forest, also known as moist deciduous, semi-
evergreen seasonal, tropical mixed or monsoon[1] forest, typically
contains a range of tree species:

 Wet variety of tropical grassland forest.

 Dominated by deciduous trees dry deciduous and moist deciduous
 Dry deciduous is found in region with rainfall 70 to 100cm
 Moist deciduous is found with 100 to 150 cm .
 Most important varieties SAL AND TEAK
 NEEM ,MAHUA JAMUN KEEKAR,SHEESHAM, MORINGA ,JAMUN etc…
 Monsoon forest are used for TIMBER , FIRE WOOD FODER , support
LOCAL TRIBAL AN OTHER LOCAL POPULATION AND THEIR SURVIVAL.

 VALUABLE timbers of Monsoon

 TEAK SAL RED SANDERS AGARWOOD etc…

 Because of the presence of these valuable timers monsoon forests

are under great threat from illegal tree cutting and deforestation.
 So the monsoon forest are losing their ecological balance.
 Forest fire, climate change urbanization expansion of settled areas,
encroachments of forest land etc… are other threats of monsoon
forest.
Other forests of India

 Mangrove forest
 Shola forest
 Montane forest
Mangrove forest

 Grows in coastal littoral zone

 An important component of coastal ecosystem.
 Succulent leaves: Mangroves, like desert plants, store fresh water in thick
succulent leaves.
A waxy coating on the leaves seals in water and minimizes evaporation.
 Survival in Extreme Conditions: With their roots submerged in water, mangrove
trees thrive in hot, muddy, salty conditions
 Low oxygen: Underground tissue of any plant needs oxygen for respiration. But in
a mangrove environment, the oxygen in soil is limited or nil.
Hence the mangrove root system absorbs oxygen from the atmosphere.
 Mangroves have special roots for this purpose called breathing roots
or pneumatophores.
 “About 40% of world’s mangrove cover is found in South East Asia
and South Asia… India has about 3% of the total Mangrove cover in
South Asia”
 “Mangrove cover in the country has increased by 54 sq km
(1.10%) as compared to the previous assessment.”
 “The current assessment shows that mangrove cover in the country
is 4,975 sq km [(1.2 million acres)], which is 0.15% of the country’s
total geographical area.”
 MANGROVES IN INDIA:
 According to the India state of forest report,
2021, the mangrove cover in India is 4,992 sq
km, which is 0.15% of the country's total
geographical area.
 Among the states and UTs, West Bengal has
the highest percentage of area under total
Mangrove cover followed by Gujarat and
Andaman Nicobar Islands.
1. Mangrove areas of the country include the
Sunderbans Tiger Reserve,
2. Bhitarkanika,
3. Coringa, Nelapattu,
4. Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuaries,
5. Pirotan National Park and other areas.
 Sholas
 Sholas are the local name for patches of stunted tropical montane
forest found in valleys amid rolling grassland in the higher montane
regions of south India, largely in Kerala Karnataka and Tamilnadu.

 The shola-forest and grassland complex has been described as a

climatic climax vegetation with forest regeneration and expansion
restricted by climatic conditions such as frost or soil characteristics .
 Temperate broadleaved
Montane forest
 Altitudinal variations make changes in the temperature and rainfall
patterns
 2 major regions where altitude impact the distributions of vegetation
greatly
1. Himalaya
2. Highlands of Peninsular plateau

Western Ghats due to low altitudinal difference the western Ghats

and other hill areas of peninsular India has less variations in the
distribution of vegetation
Altitudinal zonation of vegetation in Himalaya
 Western Himalaya Eastern Himalaya
Relatively dry region Wet regions of Himalaya
More cooler Less cooler
More of pine trees Evergreen variety
Deodar,chir pine Bamboo, grasses
Temperate forest Tropical forest
Deforestation in India
Major factors leading deforestation

 Logging ; for making furniture and building constructions

 Household firewood needs
 Construction infrastructure developments road railways settlements etc…
 Mining in forested lands coal iron bauxite mining in central and eastern India.
 Shifting cultivation practices of tribal population in North east India central
India .
 JHUM CULTIVATION and is found in small patches in some parts of the
northeast hilly regions . The shifting cultivation is CALLED PORUH IN MADHYA
PRADESH AND BEWAR IN THE WESTERN HIMALAYAS.
India state of forest report 2021
 The India State of Forest Report 2021 provides information on forest
cover, tree cover, mangrove cover, growing stock, carbon stock in
India’s forests, forest fire monitoring, forest cover in tiger reserve
areas, above ground estimates of biomass using SAR data & climate
change hotspots in Indian forests.

 Forest cover increases by 1,540 square kilometers between ISFR 2019

and ISFR 2021

 Awaits the State of forest report 2023

Forest management
Forests have great environmental & socio economic significance.
 Climate
 Carbon sinks
 Rich biodiversity
 Home of tribal population
 Dependence of local population on Minor forest produce
 Firewood
 Medicinal purpose etc…
 An estimated 100 million people derive their source of livelihood directly
from the collection and marketing of MFPs (Report of the National
Committee on Forest Rights )

 According to a World Bank estimate, the MFP economy is fragile but

supports close to 275 million people in rural India ,a significant part of which
comprises the tribal population.

 NOW 73 ITEMS ARE THERE UNDER MINOR FOREST RODUCE.

 MINOR FOREST RODUCE AND THEIR SEASON
trifed.tribal.gov.in
Seasons MFPs collected Economy

January- March Lac (resin), mahuwa, flower Over 75 per cent of tribal households in Orissa, Madhya
and tamarind Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh collect MAHUWA flower
and earn Rs.5000 a year. 3 million people are involved in
lac production

April-June Tendu leaves, sal seeds and 30 million forest dwellers depend on SEEDS, LEAVES AND
chironji RESINS FROM SAL TREES
TENDU LEAF collection provides about 90 days of
employment to 7.5 million people, a further 3 million
people are employed in bidi processing
July-September Chironji, mango, mahuwa 10 million people depend on BAMBOO for livelihood;
fruits, silk cocoons and 1,26,000 households are involved in tussar silk cultivation.
bamboo

October- Lac, kullu gum, resins used in 3 lakh person days of employment from collection of
November incense sticks GUMS.
FOREST CONSERVATION LEGISLATIONS IN
INDIA
PRE INDEENDENCE
 FOREST LAW 1865
 AMENDMENT OF 1878
 Forest Act, 1927

POST INDEENDENCE
 FOREST CONSERVATION ACT 1980
 FOREST RIGHTS ACT 2006
 FOREST CONSERVATION AMENDMENT ACT 2023
FOREST LAW 1865
 BRITISH NATIONALISED ALL THE FOREST.
 TRIBALS WERE DECLAIRED AS NON OWNERS OF THE FOREST
 ALL THE TRIBALS WERE CONSIDERED AS INVADERS AND EVICTED
FROM THEIR FOREST LAND

 IN 1878 ALL THE DEGRADED WASTELANDS WERE ALSO NATIONALISED

FOR ECOLOGICAL CONSERVATION.
 IN 1927 RITISH FOREST LAW GOT FORMALISED INTO FOREST RIGHTS ACT.
 FOREST RIGHTS ACT 1927

 1. RESERVE FROEST
 Restrict all the human activities unless permitted
 Largely for the forest conservation
 Most restricted forest
 2. PROTECTED FOREST
 Less restricted
 Activities are allowed unless prohibited
 Allows some socio economic use
3. village an community forest
 Ownership of the forest is the tribes, local Panchayaths.
POST INDEPENDENCE
Forest conservation act 1980
 Protect the forest along with its flora, fauna and other diverse
ecological components while preserving the integrity and
territory of the forests.
 Arrest the loss of forest biodiversity
 Prevent forest lands being converted into agricultural, grazing
or for any other commercial purposes and intentions.
Forest rights act 2006

 The Forest Rights Act 2006 ACCORDS LEGAL RECOGNITION TO THE

RIGHTS OF TRADITIONAL FOREST-DWELLING COMMUNITIES AND
PARTIALLY CORRECTS THE INJUSTICE CAUSED BY COLONIAL-ERA
FOREST LAWS. The earlier policies and acts – such as previous Forest
Acts 1865, 1894, 1927 prevented the local communities from using
the resources

 The act tries to recognize marginal and tribal communities’ rights

over forest lands over which they were traditionally dependent
Forest Act, 1980 Amendment bill 2023

 The Bill amends the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 to make it applicable to
certain types of land.
 Forest lands are allowed to be diverted for security consideration
 It also exempts certain types of land from the purview of the Act. These
include land within 100 km of India’s border needed for national security
projects, small roadside amenities, and public roads leading to a habitation.

 Allows eco tourism constructions.

POST INDEPENDENCE POLICY ON FOREST

FOREST POLICY 1952

Key highlights of the National Forest Policy 1952:

 A holistic but utilitarian approach to forest management as India became
independent and needed to grow its economy.
 Introduced a functional classification of forests in India, but did not
replace the forest classification from the Indian Forests Act, 1927.
 A top-down approach to forest management
 Proposed to increase forest cover to 1/3 of the total Indian landmass
 Introduction of the working plan as the guiding forest management
document at state and local levels
FOREST POLICY 1988
 The principal aim of National Forest Policy, 1988 is to ensure environmental
stability and maintenance of ecological balance including atmospheric
equilibrium which are vital for sustenance of all life forms, human, animal and
plant. The derivation of direct economic benefit must be subordinate to this
principal aim.

1. Increasing substantially the forest/tree cover in the country through

massive afforestation and social forestry programmes, especially on all
denuded, degraded and unproductive lands.
2. Meeting the requirements of fuel-wood, fodder, minor forest produce and
small timber of the rural and tribal populations.
3. Increasing the productivity of forests to meet essential national needs.
Social forestry

 A program that focus on growing and maintaining forest by local

population not only for the ecological objectives but also to meet the
social objectives of the forest.
 Social objectives – the consumption purpose

 Fire wood
 Fodder
 Fruits
 Other minor forest produce
Objectives

 Support local population with alternative livelihood

 Land water management
 It helps preserving the traditional forests from exploitation due to
population pressure.
 Social forestry is an important component of women empowerment.
Social Forestry activities have developed confidence in women, developed
awareness of their potentialities and they have developed sense of respect
in them. Woman actively participates in income generation activities such as
Social Forestry, then she can play an important role in the family affairs.

 It was intended as a democratic approach to forest conservation and

usage, maximizing land utilization for multiple purposes
 There are new methods are also introduced in social forestry

Miyavaki
 The Miyawaki Method is one of the most effective tree planting
methods for creating forest cover quickly on degraded land that has
been used for other purposes such as agriculture or construction.
 It is effective because it is based on natural reforestation principles, i.e.
using trees native to the area and replicating natural forest
regeneration processes.
Components of social forestry
Rural forestry
 Growing trees on common village lands along the road, railway river
banks.

Farm forestry
 The trees are grown as regular crops.
 More profitable way than regular agricultural crops
 Displaces regular fodder crops
 Problem of Food insecurity
 Job loss to farmers
 Farm forestry was meant for alternative income for poor farmers but
the program was hijacked by land lords.
 Farm forestry was largely timber based so the minor forest produce
was compromised
 The program became just opposite of its prescribed objectives.

URBAN FORESTRY
 Growing forest in the urban lands along the roads river banks railway
lines arks etc…
 Crops are grown along
with the trees.

 The choice of trees are

based on scientifically
determined ecological
association with the crops

 Teak is grown in western

Ghats an eastern Ghats
along with coffee - shade
loving crop
 Rice and wheat grown
along with mango
 pepper is grown along
with areca nut
 The benefits of agro forestry derive from the interactions between trees
and shrubs and crops and livestock. Agro forestry seeks to optimize
positive interactions, such as mutualism and commensalism, and to
minimize predation on crops and livestock and competition within and
between species.
 Concept wise agro forestry was more promising but implementation
was not that effective.
 Program was hijacked y timber farmers
 The selection of species was a historical wrong
 Eucalyptus was introduce in large scale an exotic species with no
natural predator
 Deplete ground water faster
 Resin from the leaves is highly inflammable and can trigger forest fire.
Bio diversity

 Biodiversity is a term used to

describe the enormous variety of
life on Earth
 It includes all the variants

 Genetic variants
 Species variants
 Habitat variants
 It is the basis of all eco system stability.
 Eco system services
 Chemical gaseous and water cycle

Types of bio diversity

1. Species biodiversity
2. Genetic biodiversity
3. Habitat biodiversity
Biodiversity loss
Natural extinctions are due to
1. Changes in temperature
2. Lack of oxygen
3. Volcanic eruption
4. Celestial impacts
5. Ice age
6. All the natural extinctions were very slow and are part of evolution
process.
 Where as anthropogenic
biodiversity losses are fast and
are not a part of evolution
process and are irreversible.
 anthropogenic extinction
anthroocene.

6th mass Extinction because of

 Habitat loss
 Hunting and poaching
 Introduction of exotic species
 Extreme climatic events
 Sea level rise
 pollution
 According to wwf living
planet index THERE WAS
A DECLINE OF 70% OF THE
SPECIES SINCE 1970
 SOME OF THE MAJOR
DECLINE WAS IN SOUTH
AMERICA ASIA AND
AFRICA
 THE RATE OF
ANTHROOGENIC
EXTINTION IS 10000 TIMES
THAN THE NATURAL RATE.
Biodiversity hotspot

 Biodiversity hotspots are regions that contain a high level of

species diversity, many endemic species (species not found
anywhere else in the world) and a significant number of
threatened or endangered species.

 Norman Myers defined the biodiversity hotspot a location

where at least 1500 varieties of endemic vascular lands and the
region has lost more than 70% of its biodiversity.
 Around the world, 36 areas qualify as biodiversity hotspots. Their
intact habitats represent just 2.5% of Earth's land surface, but they
support more than half of the world's plant species and nearly 43%
of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species as endemics.

1. Western Himalaya
2. Western Ghats
3. Eastern Himalaya and Burma
4. Nicobar and Sunderland
BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION MEASURES

1. UN CONVENTION ON BIODIVERSITY
2. CITES
3. CMS
4. RAMSAR CONVENTION ON WETLANDS
5. WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION
6. ARTAGENA
7. NAGOYA ROTOCOL
ENVIRONMENT GEOGRAHY
Principles of ecosystem
 Ecosystems are fundamental basis and fundamental unit of environment and
life forms.

 INDIVIDUAL – (group of individual) – POPULATION – (variety of

population) create COMMUNITY – (community and abiotic
components interaction creates )ECOSYSTEM – group of ecosystem
creates BIOMES – biomes ultimately creates BIOSPHERE.

 Ecosystems are the fundamental units of study

 Life on earth is possible because of the functioning of ecosystem.
1. The principles of ecosystem relationship is uncertainty and
loose relationship
 Human are not aware about what our action will result !
 So it is wise to disrupt the ecosystem the least.

There are two concepts regarding this

 Deep ecology & shallow ecology

 Deep ecology – nature is the supreme power – don’t do any

disruptions in its natural flow.
 Shallow ecology- disrupt the nature the least- be careful – it’s a
precautionary approach
2. The vibrancy of earth and its dynamism is the result of years of
adaptation and evolution.
 The present ecosystem is a product of years of refinement.
Equatorial evergreen forest
Savannah
Taiga
 So the disruption should be kept the least and with in the
threshold limit.
 Once a natural ecosystem is lost, it can not be replicated in a
human lifespan.

 Equatorial rainforest, wetlands , coral reefs etc…

3. Ecosystem operates on the principles of thermodynamics.
 Ecosystem works on the basis of how energy moves and the
pathways it adopt.
 Every function of ecosystem is related to energy exchange
 Every transfer of energy from one life form to another is only
the 10% what it gains from the previous one. Which is the basis
of the ecosystem hierarchy
 This energy transfer and the hierarchy it follows is studied
under TROPHIC PYRAMIDS –
 ENERGY PYRAMIDS CAN NEVER BE INVERTED
4. The principles of emergent properties
 An ecosystem is an association of different individual species and
abiotic components.
 Ecosystem and its characters are the final result of their association.
 And the final outcome will be different from the properties of an
individual.
 So any conservation measures that we introduce- have to be
designed for the ecosystem and not for the individual species.
 This necessitate the appreciation of natural ecosystem and its insitu
conservation
5. The principles of uniformitarianism.
 Present is the key to the past
 the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present-day
scientific observations have always operated in the universe in the past
and apply everywhere in the universe. - JAMES HUTTON

 Earth has witnessed a series of extinctions, nothing on the earth is

permanent. so there is no guarantee of human survival indefinitely.
SUMMARY OF ECOSYSTEM PRINCIPLES.

 ECOSYSTEM WORKING IS CRITICAL FOR THE LIFE ON EARTH

 IT HAS ITS LIMIT, AND THE BOUNDARIES HAVE TO BE RESPECTED.
 IT CAN HEAL ITSELF, IF THE DISRUPTIONS ARE AT LIMIT.
 ECOSYSTEM IS BEST IF LEFT NATURAL OR CLOSE TO NATURE
 ECOSYSTEMS ARE NOT FOR EVER, IT UNDERGOES EVOLTION. THAT WE
CAN NOT PREDICT.
GLOBAL ECOLOGICAL IMBALANCES

1. Disruptions of ecological niche

 (Niche - In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific
environmental condition. It describes how an organism or
population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors
and how it in turn alters those same factors)
 Some times niche get vacated
 Or overpopulation of species may cross the carrying capacity of the
niche.
2. Man animal , animal –animal conflict.
3. disruption of NATURAL ENERGY and MATERIAL FLOW.
Disruption of hydrological cycle gaseous cycle
Eg.
Reduced carbon synthesis from the atmosphere.
Eutrophication.
4. Disruption of natural food web
5. Disruption of critical ecosystem.
6. Increased climate extremities.
7.Human impact on the ecosystem
 Destruction of natural sinks and sources of materials
a) Drying up of lakes
b) Deforestation
c) Mining of coal
 Simplification of ecosystem
Elimination of some of the components from the food web
Human modify the ecosystem and makes the complex food web very linear.
Human eliminate anything that compete with him.
Elimination of weeds, carnivores, pest etc…
 The consequences of simplification, is the ultimate destruction of the
ecological niche.
n-gl.com
Indian Geography
The geological structure of a region helps in understanding
 types and character of rocks
 physical and chemical properties of soils
 availability of minerals
 surface and underground water resources.
 Based on the radiometric dating and the record of ancient life
preserved in fossils the Earth’s Geologic history is arranged in a
chronological manner with the help of the Geological Time Scale.
Rock types of India
 Archean
 Purana
 Dravidian
 Gondwana
 Aryan
Archaean 4000 to 2500 mya
 The oldest rock type found in Indian subcontinent
 Archean metamorphic
Igneous to metamorphic
 Archaean sedimentary – Dharwad rocks
 Found in south Karnataka
 Oldest sedimentary rocks of India
 Source of richest metallic minerals
Distribution
 South Karnataka – Shimoga, Chitradurg Tumkur Chikmangalore etc…
 Chotanagpur plateau – Hazaribagh, Ranchi region
 Bastar – Maharashtra
 Southern Aravalli – Udaipur
Purana ; 2500 to 541 million years ago
 These are Proterozoic formations
 Found in 2 regions
Vindhyas & Cuddapah
Sedimentary accumulation 2500 to 541 million years ago
Dravidian : upto Mid paleozoic

 Most of these rocks had washed out from the Indian subcontinent
 Remaining rocks are found in Himalayan regions
 Umaria regions of Madyapradesh.
 Not a major type of rocks in India
Gondwana : Mid paleozoic to mid Mesozoic

 These are rocks formed at the time of the Pangaea- Gondwana split
 Crack developed between the separating block
 The forested land located in the extensive Pangaea got subsided
and got covered under sediments.
 That later formed the Gondwana coal of India
 The rift valleys formed at that time are now occupied by rivers
 Damodar
 Mahanadi
 Parts of Gondwana
 Son
 Narmada and Tapi
98% of Indian coal is Gondwana coal

1. Damodar valley coal field

Raniganj
Jharia
Bokaro
2.Mahanadi valley coal fields
 Jharsuguda
 Seonath
 Barnard
3. Godavari
Vardha
Singreni.
4. Son river valley
 Bilaspur
 Singridi
5. Narmada
Tawa & Pench coal fields
Aryan rocks mid Mesozoic to
Percent
 Deccan lava rocks – late Cretaceous formations
 Himalayan rocks - tertiary formations
Denudation chronology of India
 India can be divided into 5 tectonic regions

1. Peninsular plateau- part of ancient Gondwana

2. Northern mountains – tertiary formations
3. Northern plains – largely in the Pleistocene times
4. Coastal plains – younger
5. Islands
Chronology of the events
 Archean time
 Dravidian time
 Gondwana times
 Aryan time
Archean time

 The present day subcontinent in the making

 3 proto continents that collided and fused

 Aravalli
 Singh hum
 Dharwad
 the collision and fusing of the micro continents resulted some suture
zones/ lineaments and some fold mountains in the fused continent.
 Narmada lineament
 Son lineament
 Godavari lineament
 Formations of Vindhya fold mountains
 Cuddapah sedimentary rock formations

 VINDYAN an formation – formed due to the compression of

Vindhyan sediments which was lying in the BIJAWAR SYNICLISE.
 CUDDAPAH formation – sedimentation took place – compressive
stress was absent do folding was absent.
Dravidian

 Most of the Dravidian rock remnants had been washed out.

 Remaining portions are existing in the UMARIA regions of
Madyapradesh
 Himalayan regions.
Gondwana times

 Ranges from mid Carboniferous to mid Mesozoic

 Pangaea breakup – formation of Gondwana and Laurasia
 Narmada – son – Godavari lineaments got reactivated
 Singh hum continent developed cracks at the central regions.
Along DAMODAR & MAHANADI
These region underwent linear faulting – that caused the subsidence of
some of the densely forested lands.
 Later became the coal fields of India
Aryan times ; mid Mesozoic and afterwards

 Aryan times witnessed 2 major developments

 Peninsular block and Himalayan mountain formations

PENINSULAR BLOCK
 When Indian plate was drifting over the reunion hot spot – 60 to 63
million years ago, the Cretaceous basaltic lava flow
 Resulted the Deccan lava plateau – Deccan traps
 Gujarat south Malwa western Vindhya northern western ghats
Parts of Maharashtra
Formation of western ghats
 When the Indian plate collided with the Eurasian landmass
 Severe stress caused the submergence of the western flanks of the
peninsular plateau.
 The submerged parts of the plateau became the wider continental
shelf’s of the western coasts of India
 The remaining portions of the plateau tilted eastwards and Frye
edges resulted the formation of an escarpment which later became
the western ghats.
Formation of Himalayas and associated developments

 3 major developments
 Formation of Himalaya
 Formation of a foredeep depression
 Downwarping of the eastern parts of the plateau.
Himalaya
 Collision of Indian plate with Eurasian plate and the resultant
compression of the oceanic sediments of the Tethys geosynclines
resulted a series of young folds in the northern part of the
subcontinent

Foredeep formation
 Severe compressive stress and the down thrusting of the Indian plate
resulted a depression formation south of the Himalayas.
 The Antecedent Himalayan rivers and their tributaries were directed
towards the foredeep – the sediments carried and deposited by the
Himalayan rivers filled the foredeep and created the Indo Gangetic
Brahmaputra plains

 Because of the severe compressive stress associated with the

collision of Indian and Eurasian plates, the eastern sides of the
plateau underwent DOWN WARPING
 DOWNWARPING took place at the regions located between
Chotanagpur and Meghalaya plateau.
 Meghalaya parts of the plateau got separated from the mainland
plateau
Garo raj mahal gap/ Malad gap

 As a result of this Downwarping in the eastern sides, the rivers like

Ganga and its tributaries , Brahmaputra and its tributaries got
aligned towards this gap.
 The depression created bu the Downwarping process was filled by
the alluviaum carried by Ganga and Brahmaputra and they
claimed this region as part of the Northern plains.
Marine transgression - along the peninsular block

 When the Indian plate was drifting northward, at times some of the
regions of the peninsular edges witnessed marine transgression and
related developments.
 Since the plate movements are very slow – taking millions of year as,
some of the regions remained under oceanic ecosystem for millions
of years.

 Such regions are the potential sites of – Oil and natural gas.
 Saurashtra – Mehsana shelf
 Krishna Godavari off shore shelf
 Cuttack Bengal shelf
 Shillong upper Assam shelf

 4 oil & natural gas regions of India

Saurashtra Mehsana shelf
 Barmer regions – Rajasthan
 Mehsan – Ahmedabad
 Mumbai oilfield
 Bhavnagar
 Aliabett
KG – Rawa oilfield
Shillong Assam
Digboy, Sibsagar, Dibrugarh ‘
Physiography of India

 Peninsular plateau
 Northern mountains
 Indogenetic Brahmaputra plains
 Coastal plains & islands
Peninsular plateau
 One of the oldest physiographic units in the planet
 Heavily denuded cratonic block.

 ‘Massive batholith which underwent greater erosion and

metamorphism.and get exposed on to the surface.
 Majority regions of the peninsular block remained above sea level,
so it witnessed severe erosion and became the most stable
landmass.
 For much of its geological history, it has not witnessed Any massive
tectonic events.apart front the Deccan lava flow, western ghats
formation and down warping in the eastern parts of the plateau.
 Average elevation is less than 900 mts
Aravalli
 Ancient fold mountains of the plateau region
 Extends from Palampur in gujrath up to Delhi ridge inn the north
 Runs SW to NE direction.
 Severe denudation – residual stage
Malwa plateau.
 Located in the south eastern parts of Aravalli
 Southern parts of the plateau has Basaltic lava deposits
 Dry and arid regions –
 Soil fertility is under stress- less productive
Bundelkhand
 Located north of Vindhyan range
 Exposed regions of the shield
 Arid region
 Some major rivers of the central india is cutting across the plateau
Betwa,Ken
Vindhyas
 Uplifted geosynclines – fold mountains
 Extends from Gujarat- MP-UP-Southern Bihar
 Originally Vindhya was a fold mountains but later it underwent
faulting activity in the southern side during the time – Narmada rift.
 Western Vindhyas have basalt Nhava deposits
 Source of some of the north flowing peninsular rivers – betwa ken
Chotanagpur plateau
 The mineral Ruhr of India
 Relatively more wetter than the other northern parts of the plateau.
 Because of the two branches of the monsoon winds – BOB &
Arabian
 High LATERISATION creates very hard patlands – Jharkhand regions.
 Rich in metallic minerals
 Central part has the passage of Damodar river
 Damodar rift valley – is the ancient site of submergence of a Denise
mass of forest ( Gondwana time )
 Raniganj
 Jharia
 Dhanbad
 Bokaro COAL FIELDS

 DHANBAD,Koderma Bokaro Durgapur are the famous industrial belts

of the region.

 Chotanagpur plateau is bordered by the raj mahal hills of eastern

side
 Parasnath hills in the western side and Garjat hills in the south.
 Satpura hills
 Ancient Archaean fold mountains
 Because of the Narmada and Tapi rifting the northern and southern
sides of satpura faced faulting – and became a block mountain.
 It is consisting of
 Raj pipal hills
 Panchmarhi hills
 Mahadeo hills
 Amarkhandak plateau.etc…
 Amarkhandak hills has good rainfall - radial pattern of drainage
 From which the rivers like Mahanadi
 Tapi
 Narmada & Wardha radiates out.

 Southern side is bordered by Maniktala hills

Eastern ghats

 Archean fold mountain

 The oldest mountains of India
 Under went severe weathering and erosion
 Has no major rivers to originate
 Less rainfall region
 Odisha – Utkal hills
 AP – nallamalai,palkonda,velikonda
 TN – Jawali shevroy
 Highly metamorphosed rocks – Khondolite & Charnokites
 Laterisation – rich in alumina and
iron
 Source of bauxite ores
 Coffee plantation – Arakvalley
coffee – GI TAG
WESTERN GHATS
 Escarpment along the western sides of the plateau
 Higher than eastern ghats
 Continuous range
 Water divide in the peninsular block
 Causes orographic uplift net of Arabian Sea branch of south west
monsoon
 West – zone of heavy rainfall – wet evergreen forest
 Eastern side rain shadow – dry – deciduous regions
 Mahanadi – maiden – Karnataka.
 They form the western edge of the Deccan tableland.

 Run from the Tapi valley to a little north of Kanniyakumari for a distance of
1,600 km.

 The Western Ghats are steep-sided, terraced, flat-topped hills presenting a

stepped topography facing the Arabian Sea coast.

 The Western Ghats abruptly rise as a sheer wall to an average elevation of

1,000 m from the Western Coastal Plain.

 But they slope gently on their eastern flank and hardly appear to be a
mountain when viewed from the Deccan tableland.

 South of Malabar, the Nilgiris, Anamalai, etc. present quite different

landscape due to the difference in geological structure.
The northern section
 The northern section of the Ghats from Tapi valley to a little north of
Goa is made of horizontal sheets of Deccan Trap lava
 The average height of this section of the Ghats is 1,200 m above
mean sea level, but some peaks attain more heights.
 Thal ghat and Bhor ghat are important passes which provide
passage by road and rail between the Konkan Plains in the west
and the Deccan Plateau in the east
The Middle section

 The Middle section runs from Goa up to Nilgiri hills.

 This part is made of granites and gneisses.
 This area is covered with dense forests.
 The western scarp is considerably dissected by headward erosion of
the west flowing streams.
 The average height is 1200 m but many peaks exceed 1500 m.
 The Nilgiri Hills which join the Sahyadris near the trijunction of
Karnataka, Kerala and TN, rise abruptly to over 2,000 m.
 They mark the junction of the Western Ghats with Eastern Ghats.
 Doda Betta (2,637 m) and Makurti (2,554 m) are important peaks of
this area.
The southern section

 The southern part of the Western Ghats is separated from the main Sahyadri
range by Palakkad Gap
 Pal ghat Gap it is a rift valley. This gap is used by a number of roads and
railway lines to connect the plains of Tamil Nadu with the coastal plain of
Kerala.
 It is through this gap that moist-bearing clouds of the south-west monsoon
can penetrate some distance inland, bringing rain to Mysore region.
 South of the Pal ghat Gap there is an intricate system of steep and rugged
slopes on both the eastern and western sides of the Ghats.
 Anai Mudi (2,695 m) is the highest peak in the whole of southern India.
 Southern hill complex

 Nilgiris
 Analmalai
 Palani hills
 Cardamom

 Anaimudi – 2696 mts highest point in the peninsular block.

 Divided by slime gaps in between

 Thalghat
 Bhorghat
 Palghar
 Shenkottai

 Nilgiri is the junction of Western ghats and eastern ghats

Meso regions of the peninsular plateau.

1. north central highlands

2. South central highlands
3. Eastern highlands
4. North Deccan
5. South Deccan
6. Eastern Ghats and coastal plains
7. Western Ghats and coastal plains
8. Meghalaya plateau
North central highlands
 Aravalli
 East Rajasthan highlands
 Bundelkhand plateau
South central highlands
 Malwa
 Vindhyan scarplands
 Vindhyan range and Narmada plains.
Eastern highlands
 Chota nagpur
 Bhagelkhand
 Gurjathhills
 Bastar highlands
 Mahanadi basins.

North Deccan
 Maharashtra platea
 Satpura range
South Deccan
 Karnata plateau
 Telungana plateau

Eastern Ghats and coastal plains

 Utkal plain
 Andhra coast
 coromandal coastal plains
Westernghats and coastal plains
 Maharashtra goa regions Sahyadris
 Southern hill complex
 Konkan plain canara plain and Malabar plain lat
Meghalaya plateau
 Garo, Khasi Jaintia mikir hills and Barails

 Brail is the junction between Meghalaya plateau and purvanchal

 Consisting of both the characters of the plateau and Himalayan
fold
Northern mountains
 One of the young fold mountains of the tertiary period
 2n major physiographic division of India
 It’s a result of the collision the collision between the
tectonic plates of India and Eurasia under which the
Tethys Geosynclines got compressed and became the
folds of south Asia.
Northern mountain range

1. Trans Himalaya ; North of main Himalaya

2. The main Himalaya : Nanga Parbat to namchabarva
3. Purvanchal Himalaya : Naga Patkai maniur mizo hills
 Formation Process

 The northern mountains underwent 5 stages of formation

Northward drifting of Indian Plate ; subduction of Tethys
oceanic Plate.
 Formation of Greater Himalaya
 Miocene upliftment of Middle Himalaya
 Shiwalik upliftment
 Continuous compression ; current Phase
I. Subduction and contraction of Tethys
Indian Continental late started drifting towards north
Which resulted the convergence of continent and oceanic
Plates
Accumulation of accretionary Prism : the marine sediments
at the edges of moving Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate.
II. 50 to 35 million years ago ; Oligocene times
 The continental Plates collided with huge compressive stress build u
in between.
 Along with the marine sediments, some of the hard rocks also got
compressed and deformed and folded.
 So Himalaya is not only consisting of marine originated sediments.
 Granite igneous rocks got metamorphosed under great pressure
and is also found in some Places of the Himalayas ; especially the
northern Parts.
 The great Himalaya ; CENTRAL CRYSTALLINE AXIS
III. Miocene upliftment ; Middle Himalaya
 This Phase of compressive stress was very strong
 Large marine sediments got uplifted and deformed into the
middle Himalayan ranges
 The middle Himalayan marine sediments are called as
NIMULITHS
 The strong compression developed complex features
 Not continuous highly broken displaced an deformed
 Developed isoclinals , recumbent and nappes folds

 Pirpanjal
 Dholadhar
 Nagtiba
 Massourie hills are art of Middle himalaya
IV. Shiwalik upliftment / outer Himalaya
These are the outermost edge of the Himalayan
Relatively continuous range
The shiwalik are the uliftment of fluvial deposits found at the
foothills of Middle Himalaya
V. phase Current upliftment
 Continued compressive stress
 Makes Himalaya to grow
 Tectonically unstable
 Seismic zones zone IV & V
Purvanchal Himalayas is also known as the Eastern Mountains.

 It is a sub-mountain range of Himalayas. These Himalayas lie in the

Northeast and south of Brahmaputra river.

 It includes five major hills- Patkai hills, Barail range, Manipur, Mizo, and
Naga Hills.

 The Purvanchal Mountains are composed largely of strong sandstone

 These mountains are included in the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh,

Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Mizoram.
summary of Himalaya
 Tertiary young fold alpine mountains
 Result of continent ; continent collision
 Upliftment of Tethys geosynclines sediments
 Having a total 5 phases of upliftments
 trans himalaya greater middle shiwalik
himalaya himalaya
altitude 5000 to 6000 6000 4000 1000 to 1500
composition marine + marine+ central marine fluvial deposits
volcanic rocks crystalline rocks at foothills
(o+c)
nature of the 3 ranges continuous broken and continuous
ranges karakoram highly
ladak deformed
zaskar
kailash
structure no structural steep hogback complex steep hog
uniformity structure isoclinals back structure
recumbent
nappe
REVERSE FAULT DEVELOMENTS
between the ranges
 reverse faults are faults caused
by compressive stress buildup

Main central thrust GH&MH

Main boundary thrust

MH&SHIVALIK

Himalayan front fault shivalik & plains

n-gl.com
Indian Geography
summary of Himalaya
 Tertiary young fold alpine mountains
 Result of continent ; continent collision
 Upliftment of Tethys geosynclines sediments
 Having a total 5 phases of upliftments
 trans himalaya greater middle shiwalik
himalaya himalaya
altitude 5000 to 6000 6000 4000 1000 to 1500
composition marine + marine+ central marine fluvial deposits
volcanic rocks crystalline rocks at foothills
(o+c)
nature of the 3 ranges continuous broken and continuous
ranges karakoram highly
ladak deformed
zaskar
kailash
structure no structural steep hogback complex steep hog
uniformity structure isoclinals back structure
recumbent
nappe
REVERSE FAULT DEVELOMENTS
between the ranges
 reverse faults are faults caused
by compressive stress buildup
Main central thrust GH&MH

Main boundary thrust

MH&SHIVALIK

Himalayan front fault shivalik & plains

Syntaxial bends of Himalaya

 Severe compression and collision of solid Indian block

with marine sediments made the soft marine sediments
to squeezed out and wrap the plateau.
 Purvanchal
 And sulaiman kirthar ranges
Convex bends of Main Himalayan ranges

 Shape of the Indian plateau was with two hones and bends at the
centre.

 With Delhi ridge and Meghalaya edges

 Himalayas are not water divides.
 Antecedent

Antecedent rivers.
 Himalayan rivers are older than Himalaya
 With the upliftment of mountains, these older rivers got temporarily
blocked but gradually they grinded the folded blocs through
vertical valley dredging.
 And carved their own channel by cutting down the folds.
 So the river valleys always remained low when the surrounding areas
were folding actively.
Summary of Himalayas
 Young fold mountains of tertiary period.
 Active tectonic margins –
1. Frequent seismic activity
2.Geothermal active zone ( Manikaran , Manali, Pugha valley are regions of
geothermal energy.
3. increasing height of the fold
 Antecedent drainage
 Source of major glaciers
 Swift flowing rivers
 Climatic modifications
 Rich flora and fauna
 Natural borders
 Cultural diversity.
1. GS questions

1. Differentiate the causes of landslides in the Himalayan region and

Western Ghats.
2. How will the melting of Himalayan glaciers have a far-reaching
impact on the water resources of India?
3. “The Himalayas are highly prone to landslides.” Discuss the causes
and suggest suitable measures of mitigation.
Landslide Prone Regions in India: GSI
Himalayan region
1. The Western Himalayas (Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Uttarakhand,
Himachal Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh)
2. The Eastern & North-eastern Himalayas (Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim,
and West Bengal)
3. The Naga-Arakan Mountain belt (Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and
Tripura).
 WHY HIMALAYAS ARE PRONE TO LANDSLIDES

 Tectonic boundary
 Fault lines
 Steep slopes with more height
 Unstable soft sedimentary rocks
 Young swift flowing rivers
 Cloud bursts
 Deforestation
 Agricultures
 Construction of settlements
 Infrastructure development and related slope modofocations
 Large scale mining - lime stone,- himachal Pradesh for cement factories.
 Tunnel construction
 Old mature & harder granite and gneissic rocks
 Tectonically stable
 Lesser in altitude
 Heavy rainfall
 Cloud bursts
 Laterite mining
 Deforestation
 High mineral mining
 Iron ore alumina lateritic brick
 Construction activities
 Slope modification
Northern plains of India

 Youngest physiographic division

 Fluvial aggradational plain
Himalayan and peninsular rivers
 Made up of loose sedimentary soil

Formation
1. Question is about which all rivers has created the plains
2. Formation of the depression
Different view about the formation of the
depression.

1. Sir sydney Burrard – IGP was a rift formation between northern

mountains and plateau- later filled by rivers
2. Wadia- IGP was a deep depression or furrow lying between the
peninsular block and northern mountains
3. Blanchard and blanford – Remnants of the Tethys geosynclines
4. Edward Suess suggests that A FOREDEEP was formed in frot of a
mountain crest –and the Himalayan and peninsular rivers brought
down sediments and filled the gap
5. Plate tectonics – formation of a fore deep below the fold mountains
due to the down thrusting of Indian plate under Eurasia.
Rivers responsible for the sediments
accumulation.
 Pilgrim and Pasco said
 There was a trans continental river

1. Indo brahma / shiwalik

2. Tibetan river
 both running East to west – carried and deposited huge sediments in
the foothills
 Later due to the compression and folding, the channel got modified
and the rivers got dismembered into the present day
1. Indus
2. Brahmaputra
3. Ganga
 Now the Indo Brahma / shiwalik concepts are proven wrong
 And the Igp is considered as the deposition work of Indus , Ganga
and Brahmaputra
Division of Indogangentic plains

 Geology of Indo Gangetic plain

 Depended on the nature of relief and soil structure IGP
has been divided in to 4 geological sections
1. Bhabar
2. Terai
3. Bhangar
4. Khader
 Bhabar

 A narrow belt running east west direction along the foothills of shiwalik 8
to 16 km wide from Indus to Tista
 Made up of alluvial fans consisting of large and unsorted sediments
 Rocks are highly porous so that most of the streams sinks down and flow
underground
 wider in the west Narrow in the east and
 Not suitable for agriculture
 Terai

 Tar – Wet
 15 to 30 km wide marshy land running south of Bhabar
 Marked by the re emergence of streams
 Covered by thick forest
 More extensive in the east ( eastern part of the plain receives more
rainfall than the western parts
 Most of the terai regions are now used for agriculture and settlements
Bhangar

 Composed of old alluvium of the middle Pleistocene

age
 Forms the alluvial terrace above the level of flood plain
 Contain large amount of calcareous deposits called
Kankar
Khadar

 Composed of new alluvium and forms the flood plains

along the banks
 Every year a fresh alluvial layer is added by the rivers
 Clays have less kankar
Reh or Kallar

 Comprises of barren saline drier areas of Uttarpradesh

and Haryana
Bhur

 Bhur denotes an elevated piece of land situated along

the banks of Ganga river especially in the upper Ganga
Yamuna doab – formed from the accumulation of wind
blown sand during the dry summer months
Regional division

 Trans gangetic
 Gangetic
 Assam plains

 Trans gangetic is created by the Indus and its

tributaries, it include the plains of Pakistan and
Rajasthan.

 Sindh plain
 Punjab plain
Punjab plains

 Extension of bari & Bist doab

 Foothilld of shiwaliks has features of Terai
 South of that there are fertile Khade4r formation
 Drained by some seasonal streasm called CHOS

The Chos, Water Logging and Thur

 This region is engrossed with the issue of water logging and

excessive soil salinity or Thur by the action of CHOS.
 The ‘chos’ have laid waste large area of the fertile plain.
Rajasthan plains

 Western side is Marusthali dry desertic region

 East of Marustali fluvial plains drained by LUNI, West Banas and
some small streams.- rajasthan BHAGAR
 Southern side – marine transgression – Barmer regions
 Aravalli runs NE to SW
 Fluvial plains appear east OF Aravalli also
 Transitional zone exist betwwn western dry deserts and fluvial plains –
LOESS PLAIN. – MOST fertile region but srid climatic conditions prevail
– Indira Gandhi canal is designed to irrigate this region.
 South Rajasthan parts of Gujarat – location of marine transgression.
 Barmer regions – Numerous salt lakes – PLAYAS-

 PLAYAS are dry desert lakes - parts of OASIS.

 EG- SAMBHAR Didwana, Kuchaman, Sargol
GANGA PLAINS

 Upper ganga plain

 Middle ganga plain
 Lower ganga plain
Upper Gnga plain
 Also called as Rohilkhand plain
 Western part comprises of Ganga yamuna doab
 General slope is towards south
 Depth of the alluvial deposit 1000 to 2000 mts
 Majority of the upper ganga plain is made up of
Bhangar – less fertile
Middle Ganga plain

 To the east of the upper ganga plain

 Occupies the eastern part of UP and Bihar
 This region is considered as a transitional zone between Upper
Gnaga and Lower Ganga
 Mainly drained by the Ghagra Gandak Kosi rivers
 The kankar formation is comparatively less compared to Upper
Ganga because of the replenishing khadar
Lower Ganga plain
 Includes the Kishanganj district of Bihar, entire West Bengal except
the Darjeeling mountain regions and the Bangladesh
 The northern part of the plain is made by Tista Jaldhaka and Torsa
river
 Delta formation accounts for about 2/3 of the Lower Gnga Plain
 The seaward face of the delta is characterized by large networks of
estuaries mud flats mangroves swamps sandbanks etc…
Brahmaputra plain/ Assam plain

 Also known as the Brahmaputra valley or Assam Valley or Assam

Plain as most of the Brahmaputra valley is situated in Assam.
 Bordered by lower Ganga Plain in the west and Purvanchal hills in
the east
 It is an aggradational plain built up by the depositional work of the
Brahmaputra and its tributaries.
 The innumerable tributaries of the Brahmaputra river coming from
the north form a number of alluvial fans. Consequently, the
tributaries branch out in many channels giving birth to river
meandering leading to formation of bill and ox-bow lakes.
THE COASTAL PLAINS OF INDIA
 Narrow strip of coast between the edges of the peninsular plateau
and the coastlines of India stretching from Rann of Kachchh in the
west to the Ganga Brahmaputra delta in the east.
 Western coastal plain
 Eastern coastal plain
 India has a coastline of 6100 km of mainland
+1197 Indian islands
 As India has a straight and regular coastline it does not offer many
sites for good natural harbors.
Western coastal plain

 Rann of Kuchchh to Kanniakumari

 It is made up of alluvium brought down by the short
streams originating from the Western Ghats.
 It is dotted with a large number of coves , creeks (a
narrow, sheltered waterway and a few estuaries.
 The estuaries, of the Narmada and the Tapi are the major
ones.
Kachchh peninsula

 Kachchh peninsula was an island surrounded by sea and lagoons, which

were later filled with sediments brought down by the Indus
 Due to lack of rainfall the region experience a very arid climate and
produce some arid and semi arid landscapes
 The region is flooded by Banas and Luni River during SW monsoon season
 Some of the regions along the coast are below MSL and experience
coastal water intrusion during high tides.
Kathiawar peninsula

 Lies to the south of Kuchchh

 The central part is a highland of Mandav hills from which
water radiate into different directions
 The Gir range is located towards the south of Kathiawar
peninsula, covered with dense forest
 Gir Forest National Park is a
wildlife sanctuary in Gujarat,
western India. It was
Established to protect
Asiatic lions
 The density of lions in the Gir and Greater Gir forest areas
is 15.20 individuals per 100 square kilometres according
to the last population estimation of Asiatic Lions in the Gir
landscape conducted by the Gujarat Forest
Department in June 2020.
 However, no study has been conducted to assess the
carrying capacity of the Gir and Greater Gir forest areas
The Gujarat plain

 Lies east of Kachchh and Kathiawar

 Slopes towards west formed by the rivers of Narmada
Tapi Sabarmati Mahe it includes the coastal areas of gulf
of Kambath and coastal areas of southern Gujrat
The Konkan plain

 Lies to the south of Gujrat plain

 Extends from Daman to Goa
 It has some marine erosional landforms like Cliffs, Shoals, Reefs and
Islands
 Mumabi was an Island but later reclaimed by the main land
 Thane creek of the Ulhas around Mumabi provide a natural conditions
for harbor
Karnataka coastal plain

 Goa to Mangalore
 The central parts of the plain has numerous spurs
projecting from the western Ghats
 At some places the streams originating from western
ghats makes waterfalls – sharavati makes Jog falls
Malabar plain

 Mangalore and Kanniakumari

 Much wider than Karnataka plain
 The existence of lakes,lagoons back waters, spits etc..
are some important features of Malabar plain.
 There are some shallow lagoons or inlets, locally called
as kaayal – vembanad kaayal largeset
 Vemanad lagoon joins with other lagoons through
canals makes an efficient inland water ways from the
mouth of Ponnani up to Thiruvananthapuram in the
south.
 The West Coast Canal or National Waterway No 3 is a
205-km stretch of this inland navigational route located
in Kerala and runs from Kollam to Kottapuram and was
declared a National Waterway in 1993.
 It is the first National Waterway in the country with 24-
hour navigation facilities along the entire stretch. It has
been extended to Kozhikode as per National Waterways
Act, 2016
Eastern coastal plain

East Coast of India

 Lies between the Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal.

 It extends from the Ganga delta to Kanniyakumari.
 It is marked by deltas of rivers like the Mahanadi, the
Godavari, the Krishna and the Cauvery.
 Chilka lake and the Pulicat lake (lagoon) are the
important geographical features of east coast.
Odisha - Utkal coast.

 From the southern limit of the Utkal plain, stretch

the Andhra coast.
 In the south of the Andhra plain is the Tamil Nadu coast.
 The Tamil Nadu coast and parts of Andhra coast
together are known as Coramandal Coast or Payan
Ghat
Utkal plain

 Comprises the coastal plains of Odisha

 Most prominent physiographic feature of this plain is
Chilka lake – south of Mahanadi delta
 Its area varies between 780 to 1144 sqkm during south
west monsoon season
 Chilika Lake is the largest brackish water lake and
wintering ground of the birds in the Indian subcontinent.
 As per the water bird status survey-2022 conducted in
the Chilika lake, nearly 11 lakhs water bird and wetland
dependent species visited the lake.
 Chilika is Asia's largest and world's second largest
lagoon.
 In 1981, Chilika Lake was designated the first Indian
wetland of international importance under
the Ramsar Convention.

 Major attraction at Chilika is Irrawaddy dolphins which

are often spotted off Satapada Island.
 The large Nalabana Island covering about 16 sq km in
the lagoon area was declared a bird sanctuary in
Chilikalake hosts birds migrating from thousands of miles away from
the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea, remote parts of Russia, Kirghiz
steppes of Mongolia, Central and South East Asia, Ladakh and the
Himalayas.
Thebirds find the vast mud-field and abundant fish stock here suitable to
congregate
 A total of 3,58,889 birds (97 species) were counted in
Nalabana Bird Sanctuary inside Chilika – a decrease by
65,899 from the previous year.

 The decrease is attributed to high water level and presence

of water in cultivated fields in adjoining areas.
 Water birds love to flock on large mudflats.
Water Bird Status Survey-2022

 The census was undertaken jointly by the Odisha State

Wildlife Organization, the Chilika Development Authority
(CDA) and the Bombay Natural History Society.
Andra plain

 South of Utkal plain extends upto Pulicat lake

 This lake has been barred by a long sand spit called as
sriharikota island
 Most important feature of this plain is the delta formation
of Krishna and Godawari river
 The combined delta has advances towards the sea and
extended the land for 35 km during the recent
geological past
 It is evident from the present position of Kolleru lake (
once which was a lagoon on the coastline )
 Andra plain has a straight coast and lacks good harbors
Tamilnadu plain

 Pulikat lake to kanniakumari

 Most important feature is the kaveri delta, where the
coastal plain extends up to 130 km wide
 The fertile soil and large scale irrigation has made Kaveri
delta The Granary of south India
Significance

 Large part is covered with fertile soil on which different

crops are grown
 Rice and coconut are the major crops
 Entire coast has some major and minor ports which
facilitate international trade and transport
 The sedimentary rocks found in the coast is said to
contain large deposits of mineral oil
 The sands of Kerala coast has large quantity of
monazite.
 Fishing and salt productions are other important features.
Islands of India
ANDAMAN NICOBAR & LAKSHADWEEP
ISLANDS
 Andaman and Nicobar
 Andaman and Nicobar Islands situated in the Bay of Bengal, run like a
narrow chain in the north-south direction
 Stretches a distance of about 590 km.
 The Andaman islands are divided into three main islands North,
Middle, and South.
 Andaman and Nicobar islands forms an arcuate shape – convex to the
west
 The bay of Bengal island group consists of about 572 islands.
 Two group of islets also included in the cluster.
 Labarynth islands & Ritchies archipelago
 Keeping in mind the historical significance of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands
and to honour the memory of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose,

I. Ross Islands - Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Dweep

I. Neil Island - Shaheed Dweep

II. Havelock Island - Swaraj Dweep.

 PM renamed 21 largest unnamed islands of Andaman & Nicobar Islands after

21 Param Vir Chakra awardees on 23rd January 2023
Nicobar islands

 Among the Nicobar islands, the Great Nicobar is the

largest. It is the southernmost island and is very close to
Sumatra island of Indonesia. The Car Nicobar is the
northernmost.
 Most of these islands are made of tertiary sandstone, Limestone and
shale resting on the basic volcanoes
 The Barren and Narcondam are two volcanic islands
 Some are fringed with coral reefs
 Many of them are covered with thick forest
 Most of the islands are mountainous – saddle peak largest mountain
peak North Andaman
Important channels and passages

 The Great Andaman group of islands in the north is separated

by the Ten Degree Channel from the Nicobar group in the
south.
 Duncan passage separates Little Andaman from South
Andaman.
 The Grand Channel is between the Great Nicobar islands and
the Sumatra islands of Indonesia.
 The Coco Strait is between the North Andaman islands and
the Coco Islands of Myanmar.
 Port Blair, the capital of Andaman Nicobar Islands lies in the
South Andaman.
 The Andaman and Nicobar Island has a tropical marine climate influenced by the
seasonal flow of monsoon winds.
 The region is under dense tropical rain forests. The coastal regions have mangrove
forests.
 Coconut is the staple food of the people. Fisheries, piggery is also followed.
 The Islands are also famous for the largest and rarest species of crab, the Giant Robber
Crab. It can climb the coconut trees and break the hard shell of the fruit.
 The entire region is vulnerable to earthquakes as it is in the major earthquake zone.
 The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are also known as the Emerald Islands.
 State Animal of Andaman is the dugong (sea mammal) endemic to Indo-Pacific
seacoast areas, especially to the Andaman Islands. Sea-cow is a herbivorous marine
mammal
 Ross Island -Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Dweep,
 Neil Island - Shaheed Dweep,
 Havelock Island as Swaraj Dweep.
Lakshadweep

 India’s smallest Union Territory Lakshadweep is an archipelago

consisting of 36 islands with an area of 32 sq km. It is a uni-
district Union Territory and comprises of 12 atolls, three reefs,
five submerged banks and ten inhabited islands.

 These islands were earlier known as Laccadive, Minicoy, and

Amindivi Islands.
 The name Lakshadweep was adopted on 1 November 1973
 Kavaratti is the administrative capital
 These islands are a part of Reunion Hotspot volcanism.
 The entire Lakshadweep island group is made up of coral
deposits.
 Minicoy Island, located to the south of the nine-degree
channel is the largest island among the Lakshadweep
group.
 During the medieval period, the region was ruled by the
Chera, the Chola dynasty
 The region was then ruled by the Muslim house of
Arakkal, who were vassals to the Kings of Kannur,
followed by Tipu Sultan.
 Pitti Island , also known as Pakshipitti is an important breeding place for sea
turtles and for a number of pelagic birds and it has been declared a bird
sanctuary.
 Most of the islands have low elevation and do not rise more than five
meters above sea level (Extremely Vulnerable to sea-level change).
 Their topography is flat and relief features such as hills, streams, valleys, etc.
are absent.
 11 degree channel separate – Amenidivi island from
Cannanore islands

 9Degree Channel separates the island of Minicoy from

the main Lakshadweep archipelago.

 8 Degree Channel separates islands of Minicoy and

Maldives.
India climate
India has a tropical climate though half of its area lies north of tropic of
cancer – sub tropic – temperate belt.
 the mechanical barrier created by Himalaya
 Long tropical coast lines – maritime modifications
 Strong reversal patterns of seasonal winds
 Monsoon is a tropical and temperate climatic feature
 With respect to India, the reversal of winds are in 180* ( sw & ne)

 Reversing monsoons are – modified trade winds – occurs due to the

shifting of pressure belts.
 India and south Asia has the perfect development of monsoon
climate
 the presence of himalaya the pressure system at the Tibetan
plateau.
 Surrounded by Arabian and bay of Bengal
 The development of tropical easterly jet streams and upper
prevailing Subtropical westerly jet streams.
Monsoon climates of the world

 North western Australia

 South Asia
 South east Asia
 Western coa1st of Africa
 Eastern coast of Africa.
 Theories of monsoon
 Monsoon theories are basically in 2 branches

1. Traditional theories
2. Modern theories

Traditional theories are

1. Hadley & Halley's model
2. Air mass theory - Flohn
MODERN THEORIES
1. Tibetan plateau theory /Tropical easterly jet stream theory
2. Jet stream theory – Yins' theory
3. Modern climatic models – ENSO,IOD,MJO to explain monsoon.

n-gl.com
Indian Geography
Koteswaram theory of Indian monsoon

 Heating of Tibetan plateau

 Tropical easterly jet streams

 Koteswaram (1952) established relationship between upper air

circulation and atmospheric conditions over Tibetan plateau. He
concluded that the fact that northward movement of the
subtropical jet stream is the first indication of the onset of monsoon
over India.

 The term easterly jets was given by Indian researchers P.

Koteshwaram and P.R. Krishnan in 1952
Yin’s theory
 Sub tropical westerly jet streams

 Buy ballots law -

 In meteorology, Buys Ballot's law may be expressed as follows: In the
Northern Hemisphere, if a person stands with their back to the wind,
the atmospheric pressure is low to the left, high to the right. This is
because wind travels counterclockwise around low pressure zones
in the Northern Hemisphere.
 Moving in the direction of winds, there is high pressure in the right
and low pressure in the west – northern hemisphere.

 Normally jet streams remains at latitudes 30 to 35 latitudes

 During winter it moves towards south and encounter Himalaya and
Tibetan plateau.
 it bifurcates in
 North of Himalaya and South of himalaya.
 Southern branch start blowing south of himalaya
 Northern branch sets north of himalaya.
Application of buy ballots law

Air pressure – upper Air pressure at the surface

troposphere

Northern Jet HP @ right ,LP @ left. LP @ right

Southern jet HP @ right ,LP @ left. HP @ left.

 The strong southern branch of jet streams prevailing south of Himalaya
develops LOW PRESSURE ALOFT and a CORRESPONDING HIGH
PRESSURE AT THE SURFACE.
 This dynamically developed pressure conditions suppress the thermal
low developments in the TIBETAN plateau.
 It can sustain up to late may.

 After May the Sub tropical Jets shift north of Tibet. And as a result now it
induces development of LP SYSTEM at the Tibetan plateau.

 This dynamic pressure development along with the thermal LOW

pressure conditions establish high air convection from Tibetan plateau.
 This convecting air moves southward and subsides near Mascarane
regions east of Madagascar.
 This subsidence of TEJ @ Mascarane intensify the pressure contrast
between Indian subcontinent and south Indian ocean.

 Leads to sudden onset of SW monsoon winds towards India- burst of

monsoon in the first week of June.
 The periodic movements of the sub-tropical jet stream provide a
useful indication of the onset and subsequent withdrawal of the
monsoon. In fact, northward movement of the subtropical jet is the
first indication of the onset of the monsoon over India
Breaks of SW monsoon.
 A “break in monsoon” refers to the brief period where the monsoon
rains cease for a few days or weeks, a phenomenon commonly
seen in the Indian subcontinent. It is characterized by days or a
week or two of dry spells while the Monsoon season is ongoing,
during which there is little or no rainfall.

 Jet stream theory exp-lpain the break as –

 STWJ, after establishing north of himalaya, some times it bends
southward and affect the pressure development in the Tibetan
plateau.
 When it come south of himalaya/ tibet in induces HP condition
there. That HP development subsume the LP – AIR CONVECTION –
THUS IT Affect the TEJ and its subsidence near Macarane. –
demands less winds towards india.
 So the monsoon winds fail to advance towards India during this
time.
 Western disturbance

 Southern branch of
STWJ brings extra
tropical cyclones
from Mediterranean
bring moisture from
Caspian Iran regions
 Result light winter
rainfall in the north
western states of
India.
 Western disturbance causes rain fall in north western states of india
 Snow fall in the Kashmir ranges

The monsoon developments are influenced by

 Thermal heating of tibetan plateau
 Dynamic pressure development at tibet
 Shifting of pressure belts
 Establishment of ITCZ south of Himalaya
 Differential heating of land and water
 ocean atmosphere
coupled phenomenon
El Niño-Southern Oscillation

 The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a recurring climate pattern

involving changes in the temperature of waters in the central and eastern
tropical Pacific Ocean. On periods ranging from about three to seven
years, the surface waters across a large swath of the tropical Pacific
Ocean warm or cool by anywhere from 1°C to 3°C, compared to normal.

 These are events defined by their wide-ranging teleconnections.

Teleconnections are large-scale, long-lasting climate anomalies or patterns
that are related to each other and can affect much of the globe.
Neutral: condition
Normal conditions around Pacific.

PERU
 Strong off shore trade wind occurs in the eastern central and western
pacific ocean
 Large scale upwelling of cool nutrient rich water from below.
 Support the luxuriant growth of planktons. – large fish concentration
– fishing industry develops.
 Large concentration of fish eating birds
 Bio fertilizer Guano
 Peru Ecuador lies in the subsiding regions of walker cell
 Dry anti cyclonic conditions prevail – dry arid conditions exist in the
eastern pacific coast.
PERU
 Strong off shore trade wind occurs in the eastern central and
western pacific ocean
 Large scale upwelling of cool nutrient rich water from below.
 Support the luxuriant growth of planktons. – large fish
concentration – fishing industry develops.
 Large concentration of fish eating birds
 Bio fertilizer Guano
 Peru Ecuador lies in the subsiding regions of walker cell
 Dry anti cyclonic conditions prevail – dry arid conditions exist in the
eastern pacific coast.
WESTERN PACIFIC

 Lies at the ascending region of WALKER CELL

 Cyclonic condition prevails in the western pacific .
 Heavy rainfall in the western pacific
 Frequent typhoons occurs in the south china sea.
 Warm and wet climate prevails in and around north eastern
Australia.
 El Niño: A warming of the ocean surface, or above-average sea
surface temperatures (SST), in the central and eastern tropical
Pacific Ocean
Impacts on Peru

 Weak trade winds block the upwelling of nutrient rich waters

from below.
 Warm water concentrate on eastern sides of the ocean.
 Cyclonic condition develops in the eastern side of pacific
ocean by replacing the normal high pressure conditions.
 Heavy rainfall, flooding in Peru and Ecuador
 Loss of crops, spread of epidemics.
 Decline in fishing and guano production.
 Recession in peru
 Drought conditions in the western pacific.
 Normal Cyclonic conditions of western pacific is replaced y high
pressure anti cyclonic conditions.
 Droughts prevail in north eastern Australia.
 Forest fires in Australia
 Drought conditions in Indonesia, Philippines and India.
 Reduces the possibility of hurricanes in Atlantic ocean.
 Warm winters in northern USA and Canada.
 El Niño causes the Pacific jet stream to move south and spread
further east. During winter, this leads to wetter conditions than usual in
the Southern U.S. and warmer and drier conditions in the North.
 coral leaching
 La Niña: A cooling of the ocean surface, or below-average sea
surface temperatures (SST), in the central and eastern tropical
Pacific Ocean. Over Indonesia, rainfall tends to increase while
rainfall decreases over the central and eastern tropical Pacific
Ocean. The normal easterly winds along the equator become
even stronger. In general, the cooler the ocean temperature
anomalies, the stronger the La Niña (and vice-versa).
Impacts of la nina
 Strong trade winds along the equatorial pacific.
 Intense high pressure anti cyclonic conditions in eastern pacific ocean.
 Extreme dry conditions /Drought in Ecuador and Peru.
 Heavy rainfall in India Indonesia and Philippines.
 Heavy rainfall in Northern Australia and surrounding regions.
 Frequent development of typhoons in South china sea.
 More cooler water in pacific-decreases the rate of convections –
makes the Hadley circulation weaker. Weak Hadley weakens
subtropical jet streams.
 Conditions are more favourable for Hurricane developments in Western
Atlantic ocean.
 More tornadoes in American landmass.
 Tropical cyclones of Western pacific – typhoons, slightly move
from western pacific to eastern Indian ocean.
 More tropical cyclones are possible in ay of Bengal and south
china sea.
 Coral bleaching
 ( coral reefs are highly sensitive to any changes in sea surface
temperature and salinity)
Indian ocean dipole - IOD

 The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is defined by the difference in

sea surface temperature between two areas (or poles, hence a
dipole) – a western pole in the Arabian Sea (western Indian
Ocean) and an eastern pole in the eastern Indian Ocean south
of Indonesia.
IOD - Positive
Positive event:
 warmer sea surface temperatures in the western Indian
Ocean relative to the east
 easterly wind anomalies across the Indian Ocean and less
cloudiness to Australia's northwest
 less rainfall over southern Australia and the Top End.
 Boost the south west monsoon rainfall in India.
IOD -negative
Negative event:
 cooler sea surface temperatures in the western Indian Ocean
relative to the east
 winds become more westerly, bringing increased cloudiness to
Australia's northwest
 more rainfall in the Top End and southern Australia.
 Reduced rainfall in south west monsoon spells in India.
IOD impacts on tropical cyclones

 Positive IOD (Arabian Sea warmer than Bay of Bengal) results in

more cyclones than usual in Arabian Sea.
 Negative IOD results in stronger than usual cyclonogenesis
(Formation of Tropical Cyclones) in Bay of Bengal. Cyclonogenesis
in Arabian Sea is suppressed.
Maden Julian Oscillation
 Eastward moving pulse of high convection, clouds and enhanced
rainfall near the equatorial, that typically recur every 30 to 60 days of
interval.
 It’s a traversing phenomenon
 Most evident in the Indian and pacific ocean
 It influences the timing, development and strength of the global
monsoon patterns
 MJO is related with both enhanced and suppressed rainfall patterns.

 If recurring period is 30 days during the summer monsoon – 4 MJO

convection spells can be expected between June to september –
good rainfall
 If the recurring period is 45 to 60 days, it wont generate much
showers and sometimes it causes suppressive rainfall.

 During the tropical cyclone seasons cyclones are very likely to

get intensified when the convection spells of MJO is nearby.
and they are less likely to develop, if they comes under the
suppressive region of MJO.
 MJO can weaken the pacific trade winds, which can trigger,
strengthen the elnino phenomenon.
 It can weaken or disrupt LaNina
Mechanism of monsoon

 After 21st March, sun starts its Northward migration towards

Tropic of cancer.
 Places located North of equator start receiving high intense
solar radiation –
 Sun passes over Tamilandu, kerala, karnataka, Andra
pradesh,Telungana,Maharashtra,Goa,Madyapradesh,Gujrat,
Chatisgarh odisha.. And by 21st of June it shines over the
Tropic of cancer
 The interior continental locations like Thar desert, Tibetan
plateau (which receive 5% more amount of insolation than
the surronding),Central Asia, Interior China etc… record a
steep rise of temperature.
Along with the apparent movement of the sun, all the Pressure belts,
planetary winds, upper air circulations migrate towards North.

Due to the intense heating of the subcontinent the Inter tropical

convergent zone (ITCZ) shifts towards North and prevails over the Indo-
Gangetic plain parallel to Himalaya.

STWJ migrate north of Himalaya – dynamic low p0ressure is being

developed at the Tibetan plateau.(Buy ballots law)

The heated Tibetan plateau develop a huge low pressure system over
the plateau which give rise to the Tropical Easterly Jet stream.
 The rising air from the Tibet create a vertical current and blows
towards south westerly direction over the Indian subcontinent as
Upper air circulation.
 TEJ make its subsidence near the Madagascar island and create
Mascarene High.
 this subsidence of TEJ @ the Mascarene intensify the already existing
pressure contrast between the summer north and winter south.
 Tropical easterly jet streams is responsible for the burst of Monsoon in
India.
 The north ward shift of ITCZ and the prevailing pressure contrast
produced by the upper air circulations makes the South Easterly
trade winds to advance towards North over Indian ocean.
 While crossing equator the coriolis deflections in the Northern
hemisphere, makes the South Easterly trade winds to sets from South
westerly direction.
 This south westerly brings the moisture rich- Maritime tropical arimass
from the tropical Indian ocean towards land.
Rain bearing system and rain distribution
 Arabian sea branch – Western coast of India
 Bay of Bengal branch – rainfall over the Northern plains
Arabian Sea Branch
 Strikes Western Ghats and produces orographic rainfall. ( 250 – 400cm)
 After shedding the moisture, the Hot & Dry winds descent the western
Ghats and enters the interior plateau regions.
 The dry winds make the region, Arid and causes the development of a
semi Savannah climate East of Western Ghats (Rain shadow effect)

 Northern branches of the winds run parallel to Aravallis & Strike

Himalayas
 After striking Himalaya it produces a light summer rainfall in the plains.
 A portion of the Arabian sea branch enters into Tamilnadu
through he Palaghat gap and penetrate into Mysore and
produces light rainfall in the Mysore plateau.

 Another branch enters into Central India through the rift valleys
of Narmada.

 3rd Branch strikes Surashtra Kuchh peninsula – Advances towards

North east, Run parallel to Aravalli ranges,take an orographic
upliftment in the shiwalik and provide rainfall in the western North
Indian plain.
Bay of Bengal Branch

 Run parallel to Tamilnadu coast. – coromandal coast remains dry.

 Arakan Yoma blocks the BOB branch and direct it into Indo
Gangetic plains.
 The deflected branch enters Bangladesh and west Bengal from
south eastern direction.
 Here it bifurcates into Gangetic branch and Brahmaputra branch
 Gangetic branch advances towards west and reaches up to Punjab
 The sub branch Brahmaputra moves towards north and strike Garo
Khasi Jayantia hills – causes funneling effect. – results Heavy rainfall in
the Mawsynram and Chirrapunji.
  Mawsynram is a town in the east Khasi hills, Meghalaya
 Chirrapunjhi – East khasi hills – Meghalaya

n-gl.com
Indian Geography
Retreating Monsoon

 Apparent movement of sun towards south

 All the pressure belts, planetary winds, upper air circulations align
along with the sun.
 The south west monsoon winds become weak as the monsoon
trough of Ganga plain shift towards south.
 Monsoon retreat from the western Rajasthan by first week of
September.
 By September it withdraws from the northern plains.
 Early November it moves over Karnataka and Tamilnadu.
 By mid of December the centre of low pressure is completely
removed from the peninsula.
 The retreating south west monsoon season is marked by clear
sky and rise in temperature.
 The land is still moist and the prevailing high relative humidity
makes the atmosphere more oppressive.
commonly called as OCTOBER HEAT

Simultaneously the NE monsoon progress.

Therefore in this season india is influenced by 2 wind systems.
Withdrawing SW monsoon winds and NE monsoon winds
Mechanism of North East Monsoon

 Winter season prevails over North Indian plains.

 Trade winds from the Indo-Gangetic plain blows towards ITCZ,
developed over the southern hemisphere.
 Due to the topographic features the plateau, the retreating
monsoon wind moves in the Gangetic plain and take a U turn
after the Chota Nagpur plateau.
 Enters BOB after West Bengal
 Get aligned in NE – SW direction, there after it is called as NE –
monsoon
 The wide spread rain in this season is associated with the formation of
tropical cyclonic depressions in the BoB and Arabian sea.
INDIA SEASONS
 According to IMD India has 4 seasons

 Dry summers 15th march to 15th June

 Advancing Monsoon 15th June to 15th September
 Retreating monsoon 15 September to 15th December
 Dry winters 15th December to 15th March
Summer – hot and dry season
High rate of heating of Indian subcontinent
Shifting of ITCZ
Developments of local weather phenomenon like

India witness local convectional rainfalls

 Mango Showers
 Cherry blossom
 Kaal baishakhi – Bardoli Cherra - asssam
 Northern plains of India witness Hot and dry dusy wind from
northwestern sides - LOO
Winter season
Also called as season of NORTH EAST Monsoon
For major part of the country NE MONSOONS are OFF SHORE.
HOWEVER THERE ARTE THREE REGIONS IN INDIA THAT RECEIVES RAINFALL
DURING THIS SEASON

North west India

North east India
Coromandal coast and southern peninsula
Distribution of rainfall
 Areas of heavy rainfall (more than 200 cm )western coast, sub
Himalayan regions of north-east and Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills of
Meghalaya.
 Moderate rainfall (100-200cm): Areas receiving 100 to 200cm rainfall in
India include some parts of the Western Ghats, West Bengal, Odisha
and Bihar and many states.
 Areas of Low rainfall (60 to 100cm): This is the region of low rainfall,
which includes parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, interier deccan
plateau.
 Areas of Inadequate rainfall (Less than 60cm): This is region of scanty
rainfall. The western part of Rajasthan and Gujarat, Laddakh and south
central part receives a rainfall of less than 20cm
Water resources
 Surface water
 Ground water
 Interlinking of rivers

 India meets its 70% water usage from Surface water

 30% from ground water
Ground water
 90 to 95% ground water is used for Agriculture
 Industries 5 %
 Household 4%
Irrigation in India is full of water use inefficiencies -
 mainly due to
 Distribution loss
 Evaporation loss
 Percolation loss

And these issues leads to other soil related problems too

 Soil erosion
 Soil Salinisation
 Water pollution
Rivers and drainage systems
Drainage – the flow of water through a well defined channel is known as drainage
Rivers are the most important components of surface water

 On the basis of origin and their location rivers of India is classified into to

1. Himalayan rivers.
2. Peninsular rivers.

 Based on their orientation

1. BoB drainage
2. Arabian sea drainage
Surface drainage can be divided based on

1. Type of drainage
2. Type of drainage pattern

Type of drainage
1. Concordant - drainage that is in sync with the geology of the area
2. Discordant – drainage that doesn’t relate with the geology of the
area
Discordant
1. Antecedent
2. Superimposed

The rivers that existed before the upheaval of the surrounding

topography. An antecedent stream is a stream that, considering the
changes in the underlying rock topography, retains its original course
and pattern.
Indus, Satluj and Brahmaputra
Super imposed
Rivers flow over a softer rock strata, after continuous down cutting and
vertical erosion, it reaches the harder rocks, but continue to flow same
slope.
Chambal, banas, subarna rekha etc..
Concordant
1. Consequent
2. Subsequent

3. Streams that follow the general slope of the topography.

Subsequent
Streams that joins with one consequent stream.
Tributaries joining with a consequent river.
Drainage pattern of an area is the result of

 The geological structure

 Nature and structure of rocks
 Topography
 Slope
 Amount of water flow and the periodicity of flow
Drainage patterns

 Dendritic pattern
 Trellis pattern
 Rectangular pattern
 Radial pattern
 Annular pattern
 Parallel pattern
 Deranged pattern
Dendritic Pattern

 A type of pattern which develops with entirely random networks of

streams, where we have the absence of structural controls.

 This pattern will be characteristic of a terrain which is of uniform

lithology. (Thick clay lands or massive crystalline rocky terrain)
 It is the most common type of drainage pattern, where we have horizontally
bedded igneous rocks or massive sedimentary rocks.
 The term Dentritic is originated from a Greek word “Dendron” – Meaning Tree
 The tributaries do not meet at right angles
 Amazon river,indus,goavari etc..
Trellis pattern
 A rectilinear pattern formed where two sets of structural controls occurs at
right angle.

 This patterns originate in areas where hard and soft rocks occur in roughly
parallel bands.

 tributaries meets the main channel at right angle and are parallel to each
other.

 The Appalachian mountain drainages are the best example of trellis

drainage pattern.
 Himalayan rivers in assam
Rectangular pattern

 A drainage pattern marked with right angled bends and right angled junctions
between tributaries and main channel.

 It differs from the previous trellis pattern so far, as it is more irregular and its
tributaries are not as long and parallel as in the trellis pattern
 Streams of vindyan ranges
Radial pattern

 A pattern of out flowing rivers away from one centre point.

 Normally these kinds of stream patterns can be traced out in the first stage
of a river.
 Radial patterns are of two types
1. Centripetal
2. centrifugal
 The AmarKhandak regions of central India is an example of radial pattern.
 Narmada,mahanadi,wardha
 Mandav hills
 Mikir hills of Assam
Centripetal drainage
 Tributaries converge into a centre point from different sides

 Ladak, tibetan region

 Playa lakes of south Rajastan
Annular drainage pattern

 Similar to radial pattern with large number of tributaries which tries

to form a circular drainage around the summit
 In this pattern of drainage, the subsequent streams follow a
circular pattern of flow.
 This results from a partial adaptation to the underground circular
structure
 The subsequent streams find it easier to erode the less resistant
concentric strata.

 Pithorghat hills of UK, Nilgiris TN

Parallel pattern

 This pattern of drainage consisting of parallel master and tributary

streams.
 It is the result of a systematic horizontal distribution of hard and soft
rocks one after another.

 The rivers of the North West Europe, tributaries of Amazon are the best
eg of this drainage pattern.
 Rivers of Lesser Himalaya/middle himalaya
 West flowing rivers of western ghats
Deranged pattern

 Deranged drainage pattern is an uncoordinated pattern.

 This is normally seen in those regions which are recently

vacated by an ice sheet. This is probably because of the
irregularities produced by the glacially deposited materials

Kame n kettle lake regons etc...

eg- Valleys of Karakoram

 Types of river flow pattern

 Straight pattern
 Meandering
 Anastomosing
 Braided pattern

n-gl.com
Indian Geography
River regimes
 River regimes refers to the seasonal and monthly water flow
within a river.
 It talks about the fluctuation of water.

There are mainly 3 sources of water

 Rainfall
 Melting of glaciers
 Recharge from groundwater
 The heavy monsoon rainfall span for 4.5 months makes the rivers of
India to attain Post monsoonal peaks in water discharge.

 South west monsoon produce 86% of rainfall from june to

September.
The Brahmaputra has double peaks

 Hot summer – glacier melt water peak

 Sw monsoon water peak June to September
 Himalayan river Peninsular river

Consequent rivers – matured

Drainage type Antecedent rivers – older than Superimposed – chambal
himalaya betwa
Cut across the Himalayan Consequent – krishna godawari
ranges kaveri

Large perennial rivers fed by SW Smaller and narrow rivers,

River regime Monsoon Fed by sw monsoon
Western disturbance More fluctuation of water
Glacial melt between hot and wet seasons.

Valley thalveg
Himalayan rivers have smoother Thalveg is in discontinuous
thalveg – it assist the navigation because of the presence of
through these rivers Hard bed rocks.
 Channel is made up of thick and soft Channel are made by harder granitic
alluvial formation or gneissic rocks.
Frequent shifting of rivers. River course is more stable,
River channel Formation of large alluvial fans and deltas. Less prone to flood
Silt accumulation in the river banks is an No delta deposition in the mouth.
issue. Narmada,tapi,netravathi,zuari – forms
estuary.
Waterfalls are seen in the youth stage. Water falls are seen in the
Joginin FALLS – BEAS downstream.
Water falls Kempty falls - Hoganakkal – kaveri
Ethipothala Falls – chandravanka
river AP

Irregular thalvegs – inland

Other usages More suitable for inland navigation navigation is difficult
High HEP potential.
.
Challenges Frequent river shift Not reliable for irrigation because
Silting of seasonal fluctuation.
Delta formation – not good for ports
Interlinking of rivers

The original idea was
conceptualized in the 19th century
by Arthur Cotton, a British general
and irrigation engineer.
 Cotton suggested connecting all
of India’s major rivers to enable
better irrigation and navigation,
and to capitalise on what was
seen as the paradoxical
phenomenon of having floods in
one part of the country while
other areas faced drought.
Sequential developments

 The idea of interlinking rivers was first introduced by the

Chief Engineer of the Madras Presidency in 1919, Sir Arthur
Cotton.

 This idea was revisited in 1960 by the then Minister of State

for Energy and Irrigation, KL Rao, who proposed to link rivers
Ganga and Cauvery.
 The National Water Development Agency was established
by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1982.
 In 2002, the Supreme Court asked the government to
finalize a plan for interlinking rivers by 2003 and execute it
by 2016.
 A task force was formed by the government for the same in 2003.
 In 2012, the SC again asked the government to start the project.
 In 2014, the Ken-Betwa River Linking Project got Cabinet approval.
National River Linking Project (NRLP)
 This project envisages the transfer of water from the water-excess
basin to the water-deficient basin by interlinking 37 rivers of India by
a network of almost 3000 storage dams. This will form a gigantic
South Asian water grid.

There are two components to this project:

1. Himalayan Component
2. Peninsular Component
I. Himalayan Component of NRLP

 Under the Himalayan component of the NRLP, there are 14 projects in

the pipeline.
 Storage dams will be constructed on the rivers Ganga and
Brahmaputra, and also their tributaries.
 The linking of the Ganga and the Yamuna is also proposed.
 Apart from controlling flooding in the Ganga – Brahmaputra river
system, it will also benefit the drought-prone areas of Rajasthan,
Haryana and Gujarat.
 This component has two sub-components:
1. Connecting the Ganga and Brahmaputra basins to the Mahanadi
basin.
2. Connecting the Eastern tributaries of the Ganga with the Sabarmati
and Chambal river systems.
II. Peninsular Rivers Development Component
The scheme is divided into four major parts:

1. Interlinking of Mahanadi-Godavari-Krishna-Pennar-Cauvery rivers and building

storages at potential sites in these basins. This part involves interlinking of the major
river systems where surplus from the Mahanadi and the Godavari are intended to
be transferred to the needy areas in the south, through Krishna, Pennar and
Cauvery rivers.
2. Interlinking of west flowing rivers, north of Bombay and south of Tapi : The scheme
provides for taking water supply canal to the metropolitan areas of Mumbai; it
also provides irrigation in the coastal areas in Maharashtra.
3. Interlinking of Ken-Chambal: The scheme provides for a water grid for Madhya
Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh and interlinking canal backed by as many
storages as possible.
4. Diversion of other west flowing rivers : The high rainfall on the western
side of the "Western Ghats" runs down into numerous streams which
discharge into the Arabian Sea.

 The construction of an interlinking canal system backed up by

adequate storages could be planned to meet requirements of new
areas on the western side as also for transfer of some waters towards
east to meet the needs of drought affected areas.
ADVANTAGES OF THE PROGRAM

 The project aims to alleviate water scarcity by diverting excess water

from plains to deficit areas.
 Hydroelectric power generation: About 34000 MW of electricity can
be produced from this ILR project by building dams and reservoirs.
 During dry weather, excess water stored in reservoirs can be released
into rivers to maintain a minimum water flow.
 The project aims to address the lack of irrigation facilities in water-
stressed areas because the farming industry in India is highly
dependent on the monsoon.
 Inland waterway transportation and connectivity will benefit
commercially, and it will also help the Jal Marg Vikas Project scheme.
 Improved water availability and distribution, especially in water-deficient
regions.
 Mitigation of floods by diverting excess water to water-deficient areas.
 Enhancing agricultural productivity by providing irrigation water to
farmland.
 Increased hydropower generation potential through interlinked reservoirs.
 Conservation of water resources and reduced wastage through efficient
water management.
 Enhanced navigability and transportation facilities on interlinked
waterways.
 Potential for augmenting groundwater recharge in linked areas.
 Support in tackling droughts and water scarcity in various parts of
the country.
 Boosting economic growth and development through improved
water infrastructure.
 Potential for developing new fishing and aquaculture opportunities
in interlinked water bodies
CHALLENGES OF THE PROGRAM

 Socio-economic challenges: Large-scale displacement of locals,

particularly tribals, would result in socio-economic crises
 Environmental challenges: The following environmental challenges
may arise as a result of river interlinking, Including: Deforestation
1. Biodiversity loss
2. Impact on aquatic ecosystems
3. Habitat fragmentation
 Interstate disputes: Several states, including Kerala, Sikkim, and
Andhra Pradesh, have opposed the river interlinking project,
leading to interstate river disputes.

 International disputes: Building dams and interlinking rivers in the

Himalayan region may affect neighboring countries.
Bangladesh, for instance, opposes the transfer of water from the
Brahmaputra to the Ganga.
solution
 Watershed development
 Rainwater harvesting
 Promotion of Climate linked agriculture practices.
 Small scale- regional level river links
 Conservation of available water resources.
 Judicious use of water.
 Introduce more efficient ways of irrigation, agriculture
techniques and house hold consumptions.
Ground water provinces of India
 The availability of groundwater as a water source depends largely upon

 Topography
 Surface and subsurface geology as well as
 Climate

 Sedimentary rocks more porous so have the potential to carry large quantities of
ground water.
Some sedimentary rocks, such as sandstone and limestone, can also be good
aquifers
 Rocks like granite, gneiss or any other igneous – igneous metamorphic rocks less
porous – so they are poor sources of water.
1. Pre Cambrian crystalline rocks
2. Pre Cambrian sedimentary
3. Gonmdwana sedimentary
4. Deccan trap
5. Cenozoic sedimentary
6. Cenozoic fault basin
7. Ganga brahmaputra plain
8. Himalayan
Pre Cambrian crystalline rocks – Ground water deficient.
 Extends half of the geographical area.
 TN,Andra pradesh,Telungana,Karnataka,Maharashtra
dandakaranya,Bundelkhand and Aravalli range.
Pre Cambrian sedimentary
 Cuddappa, Vindhyan regions – also lacks the Ground water
potential.
Gondwana sedimentary
 River basins of Godavari ,Barakar river basins – good source of
ground water.
Deccan trap province.
 Consisting of thick impermeable basalt rock strata.
 This region lacks the GW potentials.
 Some amount of water percolates through some cracks and are
stored in the sedimentary strata which is sandwiched between
horizontal beds of lava rocks.
Cenozoic sedimentary province
This province include Andra pradesh,Tamilnadu,Kerala and Gujarat
coastal plains
This region has tertiary sandstones and has good groundwater
potential.
Cenozoic fault basin
 The rift zones of Narmada and Tapi
 Has good ground water potential.

Ganga Brahmaputra alluvial province

 This is the richest ground water province in the country.
 The bhabhar terai belts
Himalayan zone
 Though local springs are present this is not a good zone of
under ground water.
Problems of ground water resources of India

 Not uniformly distributed

 Over usage and miss management of groundwater in agriculture sector
 Ground water contamination – geo-genic contamination.
contacts with some minerals like Fluoride, arsenic lead and iron etc.. Which
are present in underground rocks.
 Ground water pollution – human induced – very rare, but very difficult to
manage since it is not a point – source pollution
  Ground water management is a very critical component of
water management
 Therefore the water policy of India give emphasis the
conjunctive use of surface water and ground water

n-gl.com
Geographical
thought
v
 The philosophical and abstract area of geography that
discuss about
 What the subject is
 What are its objectives
 What are the methods of study
 Who are the major contributors of the development and
evolution of the subject.
Scope of study
 Every subject has an
 Objective
 Perspective
 Method of study

 How the objectives have changed

 How the perspectives have changed
 How the method has changed

 For centuries and who all have contributed in this evolution.

I. What’s over there ?
Curiosity for knowing what earth has
 Mountains
 Plains
 Volcanoes
 Trenches
 Rivers lakes
 Oceans
II. Appreciation of differences

 Let’s discuss how different places are different – regional studies and
regional comparisons.
 North of Indian subcontinent there is Himalaya
 There are plains
 Africa has Saharan desert.., not more than that.
 How does these varying features have impacted the daily life
culture, behaviour of the people.
 Landslides floods earth quakes volcanic eruptions etc…

 How to manage these incidents and adapt with the situations.

Development of geography as a subject

1. Subject evolved as a part of philosophy

2. Conscious study of the subject as a formal branch of study.

Consciousness brought professionalism in the subject.

i. Philosophical phase/ early geography
 Contributed by philosophers and travellers
 More aligned towards philosophy
 Concepts were not accurate and some were based on the creativity of
the scholars
 This phase ware more towards describing the physical features on the
surface like rivers mountains climate oceans etc…
 Early geography had 5 phases
1. Classical antiquity
2. Dark age
3. Arabs
4. Age of voyages
5. Pre classical phase
 Classical antiquity refers to a period in history lasting from around
the 8th century BCE to the 5th century CE centered around the
cultures of Greece and Rome.

 Dark Ages” usually refers to the 900 years of European history

between the 5th and 14th centuries

 The Age of Discovery or the Age of Exploration, part of the early

modern period and largely overlapping with the Age of Sail, was a
period from approximately the 15th century to the 17th century,
Classical antiquity
 Classical antiquity refers to a period in history lasting from around
the 8th century BCE to the 5th century CE centered around the
cultures of Greece and Rome.
 Apart from these Chines Indian Arab contributions were also there.
But at a limited rates.

 While talking about Indian contributions in the filed of Geography –

it was very limited.
 Most of travellers and geographers were from resource dry deserted
regions of the world.
 They travelled more in search of resources.
 When travel more

 More exploration
 More documentation
 More geographical knowledge.
 Greece – dry mountainous regions
 Rome – resource sparse regions
 India was self sufficient and resource rich
 So people were not interested to travel the world in search of the
resources.
 Crossing the sea was considered as a SIN

 So Indian schoolers knowledge about the geography of the

subcontinent in detail, and had no interest in documenting it.
 Don’t wanted to travel the entire world and Exploring new
resources
 Lack of interest in documenting the knowledge
 Idea of don’t sharing the knowledge to the world.

 Where as Romans and Greeks were extensive voyages and

documentation. That made them great source of geographic
knowledge.
ii. Modern phase
 More scientific and Analytical
 Information regarding Earth surface was more
 Age of debates and conclusions
 Age of Humboldt and Carl Ritter
 Phase of Darwin influence
 Quantitative revolution – 1930 1940 – age of spatial science
 Behavioural revolution
 Phase of social relevance – welfare and radical geographic
development – 1970s
 Phase of post modern and contemporary geography.
Age of debates and conclusions

1. What all aspects of the earth to study ?

Human or natural - Physical / human ?
2. Who controls the developments on earth – phenomenon like
volcanic eruptions atmospheric winds, cyclones , rainfall etc…
 God ?
 Nature ?
 Human being ?
3. The subject of geography is it a scientific subject ? Or pure art subject
?
4. What is the purpose of geography ?
 Resource management ?
 Human development ?
 Solve the issues of human being ?
Early contributors
HOMER
 Believed in the IONION SCHOOL OF THOUGHT -
earth is considered as flat and sky as the roof
 Greeks 6th and 5th century BC
 Contributed mainly in the field of Physical
Geography
 Shape of earth
 Revolution and seasons of earth
 Details about the planetary winds
 Writings about the polar regions
 Homer was among the first contributors.
 Homer (c. 800 BC) refers to the four winds by name –
 Boreas, Eurus, Notos, Zephyrus – in his Odyssey, and in the Iliad.
Thales and Anaximander

Contributed in the field of Mathematical geography

Demarcated the first meridian to assist the navigation
Invented the first sundial – GNOMON
Attempted to create the map of Greece.
 Herodotus

 Contribution was in the field Human geography

 He is considered as the first ETHENOGRAPHER
 Travelled around the Mediterranean Sea and
studied about the people ,their culture and
settlements.
 One of the pioneers in the tribal studies.

 the scientific description of peoples and cultures

with their customs, habits, and mutual differences.
HECATAEUS

 Contribution is in the field of REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY

 Wrote the first book on Regional geography – GES
PERIODOS
 He advocated the regional approach in geography
 Study geography in a regional scale rather than global
scale.
Plato
 More philosophical in approach
 Plato advocated Earth is a sphere – large body with
various features with great diversity
 Since it is a sphere it must be the creation of god.
 Life on earth, great diverse living and non living
things are the creation of God
 His believe in god is called as Teleology.
 Plato scientifically explained the earth and its
spherical shape with Teleological approach.
Aristotle
 Aristotle studied about the eclipse and the shadow
cast by the earth.
 He studied about the movements of Ship
 Based on these, he proved the spherical shape of
the earth.

 He opined the environment and climate control and

formulate the human character
 Here comes the starting of ENVIRONMENTAL
DETERMINISM
Eratosthenes
 He coined the term Geography
 Defined geography as the study of earth as the Home of
mankind.
 He divided the entire earth into 3 climatic zones – the first
climatic regionalisation
 Torrid – temperate and frigid zones
 Worked on map projections and map making.
Hipparchus

 Contribution is mainly in the

field of map projection
 Map projection is a map
making technique to
extract a 2D map from a 3
D earth surface.
 Stereographic projection.
Romans
Strabo –
 Strabo was a roman scholar who tried to establish the importance of
Geography as
 Geographic knowledge is an important prerequisite for a successful conquest
of a region and establishing an empire.
 Importance of Map, climate temperature vegetation etc… is very vital for an
empire to expand its territory.
 Once the empire is established, the knowledge about the boundaries water
resources fertile land agricultural crops are very vital thus it plays a great role
in the administration of the empire too.
 He wrote – Geographia – which has the description about Europe
Africa.
 Was considered as an encyclopaedia of that age.
 Geographia is an example for a descriptive work in early regional
geography.
Claudius Ptolemy
 Wrote a work - ALMAGEST
 Which has a lot of information regarding map
making
 Introduced Conical projection
 Ptolemy's approach was mainly in the field of
cartography
Dark age
 All the scientific knowledge was considered as wrong
 Scientific studies were discouraged
 Creative people were discouraged
 The creative works in ART WRITING THINKING WERE banned
 Church and king became more powerful
 Church denied education to common people
 Only Church music and church musical instruments were allowed.
 No rebellion was allowed
 Centuries of knowledge and the flow of knowledge was checked
by the church and king.
The Arabs
 When the Europe was in dark age, the Arabs spearheaded the
spread of knowledge and expansion of science.
 Arabs preserved and continued the evolution of Geography

 Al Beruni
 Al Masudi
 Ibn Bathotha
 Al Magdisi
 Ibn Hawkal
 Ibn Sena
 Contributed more in the field of Physical geography

Discovery of monsoon winds

Prepared the climatic atlas
Prepared World map

 Contributed more in Geomorphology

Fluvial process of erosion and deposition
 Studied about Nile river delta formation
Ibn Holden –
studied more about the rise and fall of civilisation
 The rise and fall of cities
 Ibn Holden opined - when humans were nomadic – they were more close
to nature
 The senses were very sharp
 Aligned towards environment
 Sensed the rhythm of nature so that he was able to make predictions
regarding the climatic developments around him.

 When people settled, their senses became so weak and his co existence
with nature was affected. And he collapse.
Don’t settle down, if you settle down
you will collapse like Greeks and
Romans - Ibn Holden
 Ibn Holden opined Nature is powerful – environmental
determinism in the field of Human Geography
Age of voyages
This is the age of revival of Europe
Age of renaissance
Great curiosity about the earth
Increased ambitions to explore the world
Capture colonies
Exploit resources
Trade
Europe wanted to control the Arabs
 Arabs had the domination over the land
 So the Europeans were to venture new voyages to find new sea route
to the orientals – east
 The Europeans lead by Portuguese and Spain started the exploration

 Portuguese had the knowledge of Ship-making

 Had the information about latitudes and longitudes
 Created the globe
 Created them world map through projection techniques
 Mercator projection – went famous during this age
 along with Geography, Art , science,music,also saw the rise
 These developments, lead to the expansion of science
 A lot of new informations came into light which challenged the
earlier writings about the earth.
 It is proved, some of the writings of Strabo, Herodotus Homer
etc… were part facts and part fantasy.
 Earlier works had a lot of inaccuracies
 They were called as COSMOGRAPHICAL COMPILATIONS

 NOW THE EARLIER WORKS ARE GETTING RECTIFIED.

Age of RUTTER
 RUTTER is a compilation of all the informations gathered by the voyagers.
 Information regarding
 Winds and their direction
 Rainfall
 Temperature
 People
 Route
 Vegetation
 Resources
 Stars etc…
 RUTTER was considered as the most valuable treasure of
these times
 This is the new source of Geography

 The works of Greek, roman and Arabs were considered

as part fact and part creativity are now replaced by
RUTTER.
Pre classical geography
 The stage that came before the classical phase of geography
 Age of more scientific studies and developments
 Bern had Varaneous and Immanuel Kant was the two most prominent
geographers of this time.

 They were able establish geography as an independent discipline.

 A specialised subject which focus the study of earth and its diversity.
 They gave the philosophical foundation for the subject.
Bernhardus varenius
 The author of Geographia Generalisis
 A Dutch traveller and mathematician
 Geography is the study of earth
 It has 2 approaches
General geography
 Study of earth in genera, without focusing any particular region.
 A macro level approach to study the planet.
 Climate , ocean, topography, biogeography etc…
 Earth and its commonalities /
 Generalisation is possible
 Frame laws about any features and can be applied.
Special geography

 Study of a particular location

 Focus each and every unique aspects of the region
 Climatic features of rockies and Andes
 Aravallies western ghats
 Soil types in dog angelic plains’
 Deccan traps etc…
 General geography Special geography

Consider the commonalities or general Observe each and every unique aspects
aspects of the planet of a region

Since it is the general approach – we can Study the uniqueness and compare how
make laws places are different from one another.
Apply mathematical formulae
And can reach to a general conclusion IDIOGRAPHIC APPROACH
about any common feature.
NOMOTHETIC APPROACH
General geography allows thematic It study about the winds of northern
approach in studying the earth plains of India
Ocean currents of northern hemisphere Winds of primaries etc…
Planetary winds, pressure distribution in Ocean currents of east Atlantic Ocean
the atmosphere Atmospheric pressure cells of Saharan
Distribution of volcanoes etc… desert etc…

This approach can make laws for any It can only address the special features
common aspects of the earth of each and every regions
Distribution of volcanoes Temperature and humidity conditions
Atmospheric wind direction of Sahara, equatorial rainforest etc…
Tropical cyclones of various oceans
This approach can not make laws
Dualism in Geography
Nomothetic Idiographic

Systematic Regional

Commonalities Study the differences

Formulate models and laws Unique features are addressed.

Descriptive
 According to varaneous Geography is both
 General as well as special
 He said geography needs special geography to gather
information for generalising various phenomena.
 Special geography study about amazon river ganga and
Brahmaputra and their different stages a youth and mature old
stages
 In general geography all the common aspects of these rivers
will be taken together and postulate as all the rivers has three
stages of their course. Rivers make alluvial fans and deltas in
their 2nd and 3rd stages respectively
 Without knowing the general laws about atmospheric pressure
winds coriolis force in general one cannot explain the wind
system of Sahara or south Atlantic Ocean.
 Without the general laws of plate tectonics one cannot explain
the rockies and Andes or Himalayan fold mountain formations or
the distribution of volcanoes in the Mediterranean region.

 According to Bernhard varaneous, geography is the mix of both

without one the other can’t exist.
 Geography has the coexistence of both general as well as
special geography.

 GEOGRAPHY HAS DUALISM

 Geography – general & special
 Geography – physical & human
 Geography – mathematical & descriptive
 DUALISM – BOTH SIDE CO-EXIST
 MUTUALLY INCLUSIVE

 DICHOTOMIES – DI = 2
 CHOTOMIES = SEPARATE /CUT INTO 2
 Varaneou is in the view of
geography has dualism but no dichotomies

 But there is some elements of dichotomies in between Physical

and Human geography.

 He was considered as the scholar who started Dichotomies in

Geography.
Immanuel Kant

 Immanuel Kant(22 April

1724 – 12 February 1804)
was a
German philosopher and
one of the
central Enlightenment
thinkers.
 Kant was a philosopher
 Scholar of metaphysics
 And was not a geographer
 But he identified the necessity of the subject geography.

 His main area of interest was study knowledge and classify the
knowledge into different channels of subjects.
 Identify the uniqueness, scope and methodologies of the
subject.
 In this vast reading, Kant identified the requirement of a
discipline that studies Earth and its diversity.

 He underlined the relevance of Geography as a subject that

studies all the aspects of the earth and human being.
Classification all knowledge
1. Logical science
2. Physical science

Logical science is that branch of knowledge where pure

reason and logic can be applied at universal scale.
 Can frame mathematical models
 Can be generalized
 Can do the predictions Mathematics
physics
chemistry botany zoology etc…
Physical science
 The part of knowledge which can be studied with physical
examination – by means of touch,smell,feel,sense etc…
 No logic can be applied
 No universalisation
 Each and every aspect is unique
 No mathematical formulas or mathematical models can be applied
 Physical sciences are descriptions about various facts
 Regional geography – topography,soil,natural vegetation etc…
 History
 Geography
 Economy
 Resource study etc… - these aspects are unique to a
particular are

 Indian vegetation is different from other land areas

 Indian group of soil is different from the group of soil we have
in any other parts of the world
 Himalaya and its bio diversity is different from the Rockies and
its bio diversity.
 Kant says physical science can be classified into two
branches

1. Chronology – temporal dimension - history

2. Chorology – spatial dimension – geography

History is a description in time dimension

Geography is a description in space dimension.
 According to kant Geography is descriptive – description in a
spatial dimension.
 Geography is very unique from Logical science and physical
Chronological science.
 And kant identified a gap between logical and physical
chronological science – and that gap can only be filled by
Geography.

 Geography is unique – it can not use the method and tools of

other subjects
 This way Kant segregated the chorological knowledge and
separated it from other sciences of his time.
 Geography as a chorological subject – deals with the location aspects
on the earth – which include both physical and human aspects.

 The chorology of Kant is similar to the special geography of varaneous

 Kants Geography had no separation of Physical and human

geography.
 This principle is called as – GANZEIT
 GANZEIT advocate the unification of physical and human geography
 But when Varaneous opined Geography has both general
geography and special geography, Kant said Geography
has no Logical parts – it is only the CHOROLOGICAL ASPECT.

 HE PUT GEOGRAPHY IN A SPACE OF REGIONAL DESCRIPTION –

SPATIAL DESCRIPTION – CHOROLOGY.
 VARANEOUS KANT

Geography is General and special Geography is only spatial

It is both Nomothetic and idiographic It is only idiographic

Geography is systematic /thematic It is only regional

and regional
It can not make laws , any models
etc..
 After Kant – there were a lot of debates to identify the subject
whether it is only chorology ( regional ) or it is both logical and
spatial ?

 Richard Hartshorne – an American scholar promoted the

concept of Kant – he opined Geography as only chorology –
spatial – regional description.

Qn. How regional approach in geography is evolved.

 Schafer was a German, made a critical analysis of the book of
Hartshorne – and criticized his idea of Geography’ – as only the
chorological aspect.

 He published a paper – Exceptionlaism in geography – A

methodological examination. In this he presented a scientific
approach in geography with some mathematical models.

 Schafer used quantitative tools in explaining geographical question-

 It brought QUANTITATIVE REVOLUTION in geography
 It challenged the kants and Richard Hartshorne's idea of chorology
Alexander Humboldt & Carl Ritter

 After the Pre classical phase of Bernardus Varenious and

Immanuel Kant – then came the Classical phase of Alexander
Humboldt & Carl Ritter.

 This phase of evolution is called as Modern Geography

 It brought professionalism in the subject

 They represent an important phase of Geography with great

contributions
 Changing social and economic sphere in Europe
 During the 1750 to 1780s Europe saw the large scale
industrialization – enlightenment – faster development of
science – great inventions,
 These great changes also influenced the evolution of
Geography
 Geography became Modern.

 Modern Geography – it established a subject with empirical

verification
 The fruits of industrial revolution and enlightenment was
infused into Geography by Alexander Humboldt and Carl
Ritter.
Alexander von Humboldt

 Alexander von Humboldt was a great traveler.

 He studied about
 Andes and its biodiversity
 Discovered Peru current
 Discovered Normal lapse rate
 Established ISOTHERMS
 Humboldt and Carl Ritter was influenced by Industrial revolution –
enlightenment and development in science in Europe.
 Humboldt introduced POSITIVISM in Geography

 When Humboldt came in to research – he found there are a lot of

branches of knowledge – specialization in science.
 Like Botony,Zoology,chemisry, Physics etc…here knowledge is getting
fragmented
 According to him this branching out has reduced the beauty of science
–
 Humboldt and Ritter opined – lets unify the branches together
to bring back the beauty of the subject .
 Geography is the basis of all the combinations.
 Geography became the melting pot of all the sciences.
 Topography, atmosphere , natural vegetation & animal
Soil study, agriculture , oceans etc…

For Humboldt and Ritter Geography is the basis of all the

unification of knowledge.
 They believed, Geography can bring back the organic unity
in all sphere of knowledge.

 In the time of Humboldt and Ritter Geography lost its DUALISM

& DICHOTOMY
 And now it is considered as UNIVERSAL SCIENCE

ZUSSAMMENHANG – EVERYTHING HANGIGNG TOGETHER.

 Humboldt defined Geography as COSMOS
 He wrote a book, that include all the sciences. – astronomy,
botany ,zoology, physics etc..
 Carl Ritter wrote compilation work of Geography – ERKUNDE-
 HUMBOLDT RITTER

More positivism Religions

Atheism Christian belief – teleological in approach

Unification of all the science to bring back the Unification of all the sciences for a divine purpose
efficiency in working
His belief in God was not a random believe –
More empirical in approach – travelled more and Uniqueness of earth in the universe
studied all the features with direct observation and Earth as the home of unique creatures etc…
documentation Made him to think who is behind all these
arrangements – GOD

Focus was more on Physical geography More on regional studies and Approach was
Anthropocentric

School of thought – determinism – environmental Deterministic thought- controlled by the God

determinism
n-gl.com
Geographical
thought
Debates in Geography

 Physical vs. Human geography

 General vs. Special geography
(systematic vs regional)
(Areal differentiation vs Quantitative revolution)
 Determinism vs. possibilism

 Welfare vs. radical geography

 Behavioral vs. humanistic geography
Physical vs Human Geography
 This debate came as a thought – should geography study the
physical environment of earth alone or should it deal with the
human aspects too ?

 Early geographers were more on documenting the diversity of the

earth surface and the physical features.
Homer –
 Shape of earth
 Revolution and seasons of earth
 Details about the planetary winds
 Writings about the polar regions
Plato scientifically explained the earth and its spherical shape with
Teleological approach.
Aristotle studied about the eclipse and the shadow cast by the earth.
 He studied about the movements of Ship
 Based on these, he proved the spherical shape of the earth.
Eratosthenes
 He coined the term Geography
 He divided the entire earth into 3 climatic zones – the first climatic
regionalisation
 Torrid – temperate and frigid zones
Arabs
 Contributed more in the field of Physical geography

Discovery of monsoon winds

Prepared the climatic atlas
Prepared World map

Ibin Sena
 Contributed more in Geomorphology
Fluvial process of erosion and deposition
 Studied about Nile river delta formation
Human Geography
Herodotus
 Contribution was in the field Human geography
 He is considered as the first ETHENOGRAPHER
 Travelled around the Mediterranean Sea and studied about the
people ,their culture and settlements.
 One of the pioneers in the tribal studies.
Aristotle
 He opined the environment and climate control and formulate the human character
 Here comes the starting of ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM

Ibn Holden –
studied more about the rise and fall of civilisation
 The rise and fall of cities
 Ibn Holden opined - when humans were nomadic – they were more close to nature
 The senses were very sharp
 Sensed the rhythm of nature so that he was able to make predictions regarding the
climatic developments around him.

 When people settled, their senses became so weak and his co existence with nature
was affected. And he collapse.
Pre classical age

Varaneous – General geography is more on physical geography.

General geography
 Study of earth in genera, without focusing any particular region.
 A macro level approach to study the planet.
 Climate , ocean, topography, biogeography etc…
 Earth and its commonalities /
 Generalisation is possible
 Frame laws about any features and can be applied.
Special geography

 Study of a particular location

 Focus each and every unique aspects of the region
 Climatic features of rockies and Andes
 Aravallies western ghats
 Soil types in dog angelic plains’
 Deccan traps etc…
Immanuel Kant

 Kants Geography had no separation of Physical and

human geography.
 This principle is called as – GANZEIT
 GANZEIT advocate the unification of physical and
human geography
Modern Geography - Humboldt and Carl Ritter

Alexander von Humboldt - More on Physical Geography

 Alexander von Humboldt was a great traveler.

 He studied about
 Andes and its biodiversity
 Discovered Peru current
 Discovered Normal lapse rate
 Established ISOTHERMS
Carl Ritter's Geography is more on Human centric – Human
Geography

 Post Humboldt and Ritter

 Geography is more physical Geography

 Human aspects can not be the domain of Geography.

 20th or 21st century – Geography is more Human Geography

 settlements, Urbanization, demography etc…
Determinism Vs Possibilism
 Once the debate of in Geography – physical vs Human is almost settled, the
next debate was regarding Determinism vs possiblism.
 Geography is the study of Man - environment relations
 This debate is a debate in Human Geography

 Determinism is the philosophical view that events are completely determined

by previously existing causes.
 Environment and external factors decide Human Response. – Determinism

 Man is independent in taking the advantage and choosing the possibilities in

the nature. - Possibilism
 Is the environment is superior than human being ?
 Human being is more powerful to control the environment ?
Determinism
 A school of thought In Geography, as human choices and Human
actions are determined by the factors outside the control of human
being.

 In early geography, Determinism had the prominence, it was the

dominant theme of that period.

 3 different patterns of determinism

1. Theocratic view
2. Environmental determinism
3. Historical/time based determinism
Theocratic determinism/ Teleological determinism #early thinkers#
 The human wills and human choices are determined by the God/Devine
power.
 Plato , Carl. Ritter was in the supporters of Teleological determinism.

Environmental determinism – Euro- #American school#

The choices and actions of human being is determined by the
environment - Geocratic view.
Time implied determinism / Historical determinism #russian#
Russian version of determinism.
Russian economic development was a product of the course of time
– it progressed as the time flows.
 Russias environmental conditions were/are not much supportive for
econoimic development. In hostile environmental condition, Russia
gradually passed from under developed – developing- developed.
 This development was not determined by the environment
 Socialist ideas was totally against GOD
 Only factor behind the Russian development was considered as the
flow of time
Evolution of determinism

 Aristotle the Greek scholar opined - He opined the environment

and climate control and formulate the human character
 Here comes the starting of ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM

 In cold climate – people tend to be lazy

 Hot climate – people tend to be aggressive
 Temperate climate – character is balanced.
 So Greek people are more composed and
Ibn Holden –
studied more about the rise and fall of civilisation
 The rise and fall of cities
 Ibn Holden opined - when humans were nomadic – they were more close to
nature
 The senses were very sharp
 Aligned towards environment
 Sensed the rhythm of nature so that he was able to make predictions
regarding the climatic developments around him.

 When people settled, their senses became so weak and his co existence with
nature was affected. And he collapse.
Montesquieu
French scholar
The criminal traits of a person is the result of the climate he is
living .

Humboldt & Carl Ritter

Humboldt- Environment is the most important factor that
determine the human being
Carl Ritter (Teleology) – everything happens because of the
environmental conditions, which are determined by the God.
Post Humboldt & Ritter is the era of
Charles S Darwin.

This era was considered as the most

important junction of evolution of all the
sphere of studies.

Geography is divided into Pre – Darwin

and Post Datrwin
 “One general law, leading to the advancement
of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let
the strongest live and the weakest die.”
 Pre Darwin Post Darwin
All the developments around us are All the developments around us are
determined by God. slow and time dependent.
They are sudden and man has no idea That is the result of Evolution, struggle
about that. and adaptation.
 Post Darwin period saw the revolutionary changes in all the subjects.
 Darwin explains how life forms adjust, evolve and some extinct
according to the environmental conditions.

 Darwin's idea was called as ONTOGRAPHY

 On the earth, living things are adjusted with organic responses to
inorganic stimuli.

 Organic responses – climbing ,response to light, breathe , response

to touch etc…
 Inorganic stimulus – light, temperature, water soil etc…

 Ontography firmly establish the environmental determinism on the

life and evolution of living things.
 The credit of introducing Darwins concepts in Geography
goes to Frederick Ratzel – a German Geographer.
 Through his book Anthropogeography 1882, 1891

 How environment is related to human activities and human

responses.

 Since Ratzels introduction of Darwin's idea is into humanities,

this idea was called as SOCIAL DARWINISM.
 This DARWIN – RATZEL – post modern phase of determinism was quiet different
from the version of determinism up to the Humboldt & Carl Ritter Modern phase
of Geography.
 Ratzel was following the ontographic concept of Darwin.
 It became the NEW DETERMINISM OF GERMANY

 Friedrich Ratzel, the founder of 'new' determinism, supplemented the 'classical'

geographical determinism with the elements of 'Social Darwinism' and
developed the state's theory as an organism.
CONTRIBUTION OF FREDERICK RATZEL

 Friedrich Ratzel (August 30, 1844 – August 9, 1904) was

a German geographer and ethnographer,
 Introduced Darwinian ideas into Geography
 Social Darwinism
 Proponent of NEW DETERMINISM OF Germany
 Published ANTHROPOGEOGRAPHY volume 1 and volume 2
 Anthropogeography volume 1

 Published in 1882
 How environment shapes mans choices.
 He greatly influenced the political thinkers of that era
 He has the credit of coining the term Lebensraum—"livingspace.“
 He opined a state is like a living organism – like a living
organism a state live- grow – and die.
 As the population grow, the state needs more space – it needs
to expand its borders.
 This revolutionary idea has influenced a prominent German political
thinker HAUSHOFER – political advisor of Adolph Hitler.
 Hitler found justification in the ideas of Frederick Ratzel.
 Ratzel was considered to be a radical determinist.

 Ratzel’s influence on an American Geographer – Ellen Churchill

semple.
 She translated Ratzel’s work into English – he got popular in USA.
Works of EC Semple
 American History and its Geographic Conditions
 Influences of Geographic Environment

 Both the books was on how Geography shapes the

history of a place.
Frederick Ratzel’s influce on Ellsworth Huntington

 Authored 2 books
1. Pulse of Asia
2. Civilization and Climate
Pulse of Asia - discuss, how drought in central Asia impacted the Mangols and their
invasions into other empires – Eastern Europe, Spain, South Asia – Environmental
determinism
Civilizations and climate – civilizations rise and fall according to the climatic
conditions.
Anthropogeography volume 2
In this work, Frederick Ratzel discuss
How man migrates ?
When he migrate, he carries his culture.
That culture decides how will he interact with the new
environment.
 Views of Ratzel in the Volume 2 of Anthropogeography is the entire opposite of volume
1

 So it is not correct to brand Ratzel as a Radical determinist.

 In the new volume – Ratzel mentioned Geography is the science of cultural
landscape.
 CULTURAL LANDSCPAE STANDS FOR – NATURAL LANDSCAPE + CULTURAL
ELEMENTS ON IT.
 THE CONCEPT OF CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
 Has influenced different scholars and their contributions.

1. Carl O. Sauer – 1920 – said Geography is the study of cultural

landscape.
2. It influenced the work of Witlessly 1950
 He coined 2 concepts
1. COMPAGE
2. SEQUENT OCCUPANTS
 COMPAGE = Whole landscape (Natural +human )
 SEQUENT OCCUPANTS = Landscapes are modified by cultures.
A landscape witness different cultures at different times – each of these
cultures will leave an imprint of that culture on the landscape., sequentially .
3. Concept of GENERE DE VIE
GENERE – DE – VIE = WAY OF LIFE (culture)
The concept was Ratzels contribution. But it was popularized by Vidal – de- la – blache
This concept became the foundation of French Geography
4. School of possibilism - influenced french scholar – VIDEL –DE-LA-BLACHE
 It advocate – man has infinite possibilities.

 Vidal - the school of thought possibilism came from Frederick Ratzel’s

concept of CULTURAL LANDSCPAE in the work of anthropogeography
volume 2
 Videl –de-la-blache was considered as the founder of possibilism school of
thought.
Possibilism
 Vidal de la Blache developed this geographical approach as a reaction to a
more traditional geographical way of thinking, which is known
as environmental determinism.
 Anti thesis of environmental determinism.
 There is no necessities, but everywhere possibilities
 There is nothing predetermined
 Not fixed
 And man can make any number of choices that he wish
 The school of thought was developed by French Geographer Vidal – De-
La – Blache, who got influenced by the Cultural landscape concept of
Anthropogeography volume II - by Frederick Ratzel
 Roots are in the work of Ratzels – 1891 volume of Anthropogeography
 Vidal’s work of Principles of Human Geography has contributed the new
school of thought in the subject.
 It became the ,main theme of French school of Geography – Tradition of
Vidalienne.

 Possibilism in Anglo America was developed by Carl Sauer. Who defined

Geography the study of cultural landscape.
Contributions

Early contributors

1. Plato – crypto possibilist

Though Plato was a firm believer of Teleological determinism,
he had some traces of possibilistic ideas –
Role of man in the degeneration of Environment
By quoting the example of ancient city of Atika.
Jeen Boudin - & Montesquiu
French scholars mentioned about how the diet can impact man and
his personality.

Immanuel Kant – Kant defined Geography as the study of Man

environment relations
Traces of Possibilism.
Contributors in modern phase

 Frederick Ratzels – Anthropogeography volume II

 Mentioning about Cultural landscape – NATURAL ENVIRONMENT + CULTURAL
ELEMENTAS ON IT .
 Ratzel is in the opinion Human culture, way of life, attitudes towards the
natural environment can modify the natural environment.
 Frederick Ratzel mentioned about GENERE-DE-VIE.
Vidal –De-La-Blache –
 Influenced by the Ratzels work.
 Concept of GENERE –DE-VIE
 According to Vidal – the scale of studying Man environment
relations should be at the micro levels – level of villages.- PAYS (
French)
 PAYS are an examples of Regional approach in Geography.

 Cultural studies in India – dialects of people

 Food habits of people can be studies at micro levels –PAYS.
Possibilism after Vidal de la blache
Post Vidal phase of geographical studies saw – importance of CULTURE

Frederick ratzel – Cultural landscpae – taken by Vidal – post vidal

Carl Sauer – In the Anglo American world ,Carl Sauer contributed the concept of
cultural landscape.- which had the element of possibilism.
He defined Geography as morphology of cultural landscape.
Cultural landscape is – natural landscape with the elements of human being.
Carl sauer is a promoter of CHOROLOGY. But the chorology of Carl Sauer is
different from the Chorology of Immanuel kant, Hettener and Richard Hartshorne.
His Chorology had an element of Historical study/study.
 Carl Sauer believed Culture is the product of History.
 So geography cannot be detached from History.
Harlan H. Barrows - developed the concept of Human ecology.
A mix of deterministic and possibilistic.

According to Human ecology Geography is the study of man and his

society – like an ecosystem, which is sustained through relationships.

THE CULTURE AND THE CHOICES OF HUMAN BEING determine his

relationship with the environment and the society.
Jeen Brunhes -
French Geographer vidal and Jean Brunhes were contemporaries – influenced
each other.
 Wrote a book LA GEOGRAPHY HUMANE
 He defined geography as study of 3 things
1. Facts related to unproductive occupation of land
2. Facts related to mans conquest of plants and animal
3. Facts related to exploitation and destruction of environment.

Above concepts showed him as an extreme possibilist,

 But then he talked about the limits set by nature. If the man cross the limits, it
will create irreversible collapse.
Reconciliation
 Scholars like Frederick ratzel,Vidal always talked about both sides
 But EC SEMPLE & ELLSWORTH HUNTINGTON were radical determinists.

 Though man have immense possibilities there were some limits set by the
nature.
 There are no extreme possibilities
 So possibilism never became radical
 It was an attempt to counter the extreme deterministic views of the time.
Stop and Go determinism
 Developed at the reconciliation phase of possibilism and determinism
 Neo determinism
 Also called as Pragmatic possibilism
 Proposed by Thomas Griffith Taylor

 ‘man has choices but doesn’t choose random choices.

 We don't carry fertilizer to barren lands.
 World offer immense a number of possibilities, but much of the world, the
conditions are not always favorable.
 Extreme climate, Lack of resources, Lack of water etc… limits the agricultural
potentials of a region.
 The choices human make, within what is manageable and beneficial. We
rarely come out of the limit of environment, while making the choices.
 So Man is not a slave of environment – reacting mechanically to the stimuli of
environment, but it is wise that we pray attention to the environment.
 Other wise we may have to face the consequences.
 This idea is called as pragmatic possibilism.
 Man is like la traffic light- we cannot wish away a traffic, but can only direct
and regulate with temporary stop and go. Nature can be redirected or
manipulated but nature doesn’t disappear. So nature doesn't be disregarded.
- STOP AND GO DETERMINISM.
 The concept of Stop and Goo determinism, has inspired the balance
between how we manage environmental problems.

 It is neither at the two extremes.

 It does not advocate the extreme environmental conservation as DEEP
ECOCLOGY or the extreme exploitative and capitalistic technocratic
views.
 It is at the junction of compromise between the two extremes. -
sustainable development,Neo environmentalism/shallow ecology –
inspired from PRAGMATIC POSSIBILISM.
Areal differentiation vs quantitative
revolution
After the conciliation of possibilism and determinism, a new
debate has come up in the subject regarding the approach of
study.
The approach of study
Scale of study
Method of study
Purpose of study
Areal differentiation

The idea was developed by Richard Hartshorne.

He studied about how Geography has developed in the history and
the phases through which the subject got established.

He studied about the Ancient antiquits – Greek,roman,arab,indian

Chinese contributions. – age of voyages –pre classical phase of
Bernhard Varaneous and Immanuel Kant – modern phase of Humboldt
and Carl ritter – post humboldt and riitter – Frederic ratzel – age of
debates etc…
Hartsortene sided with Immanuel Kant’s concept of CHOROLOGY
 Geography studies about areas, it differentiate each and every
components of an area with the other.
-- areal
differentiation.
The areal differentiation of Hartshorne is inspired from Immanuel
Kant’s concept of Chorology.

Geography is study of regions

it is a unique subject different from logical sciences and chronological
science
It is descriptive science.
 Geography as areal differenciation – can not make laws,
mathematical models, generalise things as logical sciences.
 Areal differentiation can only be descriptive in nature.
 It studies man environment relation with in aregion

Eg
 Geography of Kerala – Geography of Rajasthan.
 Describe about the topography climate vegetation soil agriculture
transportation.
 And reach to a comparison – these aspects of Kerala is different from Rajasthan
–
 This is the concept of AREAL DIFFERENCIATION
 Focuses on how a region is different from the other.

 Geography as areal differentiation gives

OBJECTIVE - Positivism
ACCURATE - positivism
RATIONAL – based on rational thinking
VARIABLE - diversity of a place
description about a place.
Three basic pillars of Areal differentiation

1. Geography as areal differentiation is ahistorical.

2. It infuses positivism in human geography – it studies the
human activities which can be measured.
3. Geography can be a descriptive science.

A parallel development started challenging the concept

of areal differentiation – QUANTITATIVE REVOLUTIONJ
QUANTITATIVE REVOLUTION

 QUANTITATIVE REVOLUTION as the second major paradigm in geography after

Environmental determinism.
 It challenged the concept of areal differentiation of Hartshorne which is based
on the CHOROLOGY of Immanuel Kant.
 As an areal differentiation and descriptive science, geography failed to attract
the young scholars.
 Under the exceptional concept of Immanuel Kant’s chorology, the subject was
being isolated from the main stream.
 QR was a trend Introduced by Schafer – he said GEOGRAPHY IS THE SCIENCE OF
SPATIAL PATTERN OF DISTRIBUTION
 QR brought a shift of the subject from AREAL DIFFERENTIATION TO
SPATIAL SCIENCE.
 Areal differentiation Quantitative revolution

Proposed by Richard Hartshorne in his Schafer rejected the approach of

book Nature of Geography – which is chorology.
based on the Chorology concept of
Kant., Infused positivism which explain the
subject through Laws and models.

Laws and models are inevitable in

Geography

Geography need Generalization

Geography studies plenty of diverse Geography is not the only science that
things – lakes rivers mountains plateaus deals with diverse things
oceans human population pattern of
settlements etc… since it is highly Chemistry physics botany zoology etc…
descriptive and diverse, how can one deals with diverse things- hence they
GENERALISE things in Geography make laws and models.
AD QR

Geography can study the pattern of every phenomenon.

Studying about the phenomenon is the role of other

sciences.
Geography can study about its distribution
Eg rainfall,desert,polar climate, ocean current etc…

He rejected the Kants idea of Chorology by isolating it

from other logical sciences.

Developed geography as a Science that studies the

pattern of distribution of temperature rainfall pollution,
coral reef , settlements, industries etc…
 Study of a region, its attributes and Study of spatial distribution
comparison
Based on Q1R- FRAME
Called as areal approach MATHEMATIVCAL MODELS, LAWS
PATTERN OF DISTRIBUTION
Descriptive – chorological – regional
- IDIOGRAPHIC NOMOTHETIC.

n-gl.com
Geographical
thought
Assumptions of Quantitative Revolution:

1. Rational economic man with infinite knowledge of his

space/environment
2. Isotropic surface – surface is flat, monotonous
3. No place for normative questions in scientific research - Normativity is
the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or
outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad,
undesirable, or impermissible.
With this assumptions, QR promoted framing Laws and models in
Geography

 How people do agriculture

 How people engage in trade
 How people find market for their products
 How the settlements are built
 How people operate in their surroundings.

 The areas of human Geography – Agriculture, industry trade transport

marketing etc…
 QR advocate in all the spheres, the decision and the choices man
makes, Human emotions have no role.
 Any kind of Biasness is not there
 Human preferences are always make profit.

 When all the choices human makes based on profit – there arise the
ECONOMIC MAN .

 The theories and concepts in QR were influenced by Mathematics and

Economics
Influence of Quantitative revolution in Geography

1. Location theories in a Geography

 Von Thunen (1826) proposed the agricultural location theory f
 Weber (1909) put forward the industrial location theory;
 Christaller (1933) introduced the central place theory;
 Losch (1944) proposed the economic location theory.
2. Location analysis
 Locational analysis is concerned with the need to look for pattern and
order in geography … with the locational systems we study and the
models we create to describe them, and with the types of explanation
we use in making sense of our findings. (Haggett, 1965:

3. System analysis – introduced by Richard ,Berry B.J.L

The system approach or system theory approach in business considers
the entire business organization as one large system. This system, which
can be either open or closed, meaning it is either affected by
environmental impacts or not, determines what management
approach is better suited.
4. Introduction of time & space in human geography - Time geography,
also called time-space geography, is a concept used to study and
analyze how people use and move through time.
5. Diffusion of innovation - The diffusion of innovations theory describes how
new ideas, behaviors, technologies, or goods spread through a
population gradually, rather than all at once.
6. Gravity models in human geography - The gravity model in human
geography is a way to predict the interaction and influence between
two places on each other. With human centers, this business about
gravity translates to the population size and distance of travel.
Criticism of QR- listed out by Barton

1.Assumptions made by QR for model and theories in human geography

 Economic man
 Rational man such a human being is not in existence.
 Ideal and perfect man
2. Over use of mathematical models
3. Geography became dehumanized.
4. Focus of Geographical studies was more on developing mathematical tools
and analysis rather than focusing on changing relations between man and
his environment.
5.Geographers sense of inferiority complex.
Location analysis in Geography
 In human geography, the new approach became known as “locational” or
“spatial analysis” or, to some, “spatial science.”
 It focused on spatial organization, and its key concepts were embedded into
the functional region—the tributary area of a major node, whether a port, a
market town, or a city shopping centre.
 It was an attempt to study location,spaces,study of different regions,
How they are related to the other locations in terms of interactions.
 Movements of people
 Traffic, trade
 Communication interactions of people
 Exchange of ideas
 Investment etc…
 Location analysis uses mathematical and geometrical techniques to analyze
such interactions.
 It uses Lines, arrows, points for such analysis.

 Locations that are depicted with a point is called – NODES

 The relationshiip between these points are shown by lines called – LINKS
 The direction of the flow is shown by using ARROWS.
 The intensity of such interactions are shown by the varying thickness of the
lines.
Eg - the daily commutation of people
Route map of the covid etc…
Application of location analysis

Urban planning
Disaster management
Health sector
Rural planning
Regional development
Traffic management
Trade
Transport
Resource management etc…
Criticism of location analysis

1.Assumptions made by QR for model and theories in human geography

 Economic man
 Rational man such a human being is not in existence.
 Ideal and perfect man
2. Over use of mathematical models
3. Geography became dehumanized.
4. Focus of Geographical studies was more on developing mathematical tools
and analysis rather than focusing on changing relations between man and
his environment.
Behavioral revolution/ Critical revolution
 Quantitative revolution was challenged by behavioral
sciences which is a fundamental concept aligned towards
psychology.
 This approach was developed as 2 streams
 Behavioral geography Humanistic geography

Laws can never be absolute No generalization is possible.

We can use only some probability laws. There is no role for laws

Positivist approach No positivism

Integration of positivism – generalization – Gave more importance to

probability laws Culture
Emotion and perceptions of individuals
Considered as an extended version of
quantitative revolution, since it uses Total rejection of positivism and QR
POSITIVIST concepts.
A modified approach of positivism.
DESCRIPTIVE
NOMOTHETIC Human emotions can not be quantified.

Behavioral Geography try to quantify This was the point of Cultural turns in Human
human emotions. Geography
Which contributed much to cultural studies in
Human Geography
BEHAVIORAL GEOGRAPHY
 Behavioral geography is an approach to human geography that
examines human behavior by separating it into different parts. In
addition, behavioral geography is an ideology/approach in human
geography that makes use of the methods and assumptions
of behaviorism to determine the cognitive processes involved in an
individual's perception of or response and reaction to their
environment.

 Inspired by cognitive science and psychology.

 It studies how man make choices, decision and take action
 It challenged the normative model that consider man as ECONOMIC
AND RATIONAL
 BEHAVIORAL GEOGRAPHY – consider itself as analytical. Because it
analyze the reasons for human behaviors.
 It rejects man as an economic and rational man who lonely live for
maximizing his profit. - MAN IS A MAXIMIZER.
 MAN IS NOT A MAXIMISER, HE IS A SATISFICER.
 It reject the absolute normative model of Rational man
 Human
Natural Human
action/human
environment perception
behavior
 Behavioral Geography says – human perceptions are
decided by

 Culture
 Readings
 Assumptions
 Previous experiences etc… which can not be quantified.

 In Behavioral Geography, what quantifies is the Human

actions
Scholers / contributers

 Herbert Simon – Man is not a maximiser, he is a satisficer.

 This concept was taken and practically tested by Julian Wolfer among the
farmers in Sweeden.

 Gilbert white – studies the behavior of human being during disasters.

 Responds of people towards flood is not the same for all. It varied
according to their perceptions.
 Introduced the concept of Bounded rationality - kates
Time in Geography
Evolution of time in Geography

 Immanuel Kant
 Darwin
 Frederick Ratzel
 Carl Sauer
 Richard Hartshorne
 Quantitative revolution
 Behavioral geography
 Humanistic geography
 Historical approach
Immanuel kants concept of physical science with CHOROLOGY and
CHRONOLOGY
 Dichotomy of chorology and chronology
 Chorology became geography and chronology became history – which cannot
be taken together.
Charles S Darwin
 The evolution of species - the process of evolution is time dependent.
Frederick Ratzel – influenced by the work of Darwin.
how different waves of migration impacts landscape changes in region .
Based on which witlessly postulated the concept of sequent occupants.
Carl Sauer –
 Mentioned about cultural landscape – human elements on natural
landscape.
 Culture development is time dependent
Richard Hartshorne ‘s
Areal differentiation did not consider time in Geographical studies
Quantitative revolution- the initial phases of QR was time
independent
Behavioral Geography - BG uses probability techniques, with
temporal elements on it.
Humanistic Geography
Saw the effective application of time in the geographical studies
Humanistic approach consider culture , human emotions and human
preferences.
Humanistic geography has no time - space dichotomies.

Since culture is a ptoduct of time – HG gave more importance to TIME.

Historic Geography – historic Geography has more application of
Humanistic geography.
Regional synthesis
 Regional synthesis involves the analysis and integration of various
physical, cultural, socio-economic, and geopolitical factors within a
region to provide a comprehensive and accurate representation of
the area being studied.
 It tries to overcome the drawbacks of regional approach.
 Regional approach studies about unique things and unique
phenomenon about a region to show how a region is different from
the other.
 In this process of finding the uniqueness – it fails to appreciate the
organic unity between different aspects of that region.
 Regional synthesis address these issues of the regional approach and it
unify the diverse phenomenon with in a region that attributes in the
uniqueness of the region.
 Regional approach study the region mainly through 2 different
perspectives.
1. Thematic/systematic
2. Regional wise

Systematic/thematic approach take a theme and study the theme in

different regions
Eg climate as theme – study it for north America, south America, Europe,
Africa, Asia etc…
 In regional approach – a region will be selected, and various aspects
like temperature, rainfall,vegetation,soil etc… of that region would be
studied altogether.

 regional approach combines both physical as well as human aspects

of a region.
Regional approach was established by the scholars like
Bernhard Varaneous,Immanuel Kant,Hettener,Ratzel,Vidal
 This approach establish the essence of Geography is MAN
ENVIRONMENT RELATIONS- it can be effectively studied through regional
approach.
 The regional synthesis approach in geography gives an integrated
outlook of the region
 How different elements in a regions are inter connected. How they
coexist. Etc…

 It advocate all the elements in a region is inter connected.

 It studies how how the diverse elements with in a regions are related
to one another through some CAUSE – EFFECT relation.
 Contemporary regional geographers, who are humanistic
geographers, integrate time factor with in the regional studies.
 Traditionally the concept of time was not considered in the
regional approaches
eg. CHOROLOGY of Immanuel Kant.

 Regions approach is more multidisciplinary – multi level subjects

are studies under geography
 Geography as a unifying subject was the core focus of
Humboldt and Ritter
 Unification of different subjects can best seen in the regions
approach.
 With regional synthesis establishment, regional studies are
increasingly been identified as the crux of Human Geography.
Radical revolution/ social relevance
revolutions
 This was a new development in the subject.
 Human Geography as a discipline, when it was evolving along with the streams
of Quantitative revolution – behavioral Geography – humanistic geography.
1960s ,the world was witnessing some of the greatest crisis of the human history

Background
 Post world war II
 Colonies got independence they are in their infant stage of development
 Vietnam war
 Korean war
 Hunger, poverty etc….
 In 1950s and 1970s , world witnessed
 Severe rise of poverty
 Rise in unemployment
 Failures in the resource management
 Health crises etc…

 Social relevance of the subject was questioned !

Geography as a subject, knows all these human problems

 Agriculture – methods of farming-

 Selection of crops according to the climate
 Distribution of water resources- lake, rivers
 Distribution of mineral and energy resources
 Regional planning
 Poverty
 Drought and flood prone regions
 Food security etc…
 As a subject, if it is not able to solve the human problems, what is the
relevance of all these knowledge ?

 Why cant we use Geography to deal with all these crises / to solve
all the issues that the is facing !
 Zelensky of American Geographical Society
 Opined “ the expectation of Geography is now
changing , Geographers are now supposed to work
like doctors”
 Geographers has some different roles to play now.
 Diagnostician – identify the problems
 Prophet – predict the future
 Architect – problem solving
 As a reaction to these, the subject saw, a greater transition in
the evolution

 It was greatly influenced by Political thoughts like Marxism –

communism – welfare – economics etc…

 Here the subject saw 2 parallel developments.

Revolutionary/ radical approach

 Revolutionary movements – advocate the exact reason for the

present crisis of poverty unemployment and famine are due to the
inefficiencies and biasness of the present political system.
 So it is the time to dismantle the system and bring a new efficient
political system.
 Motivated by Marxian ideologies – revolutionary and violent
reaction to the turmoil.
 Criticized the reformist school as – NEO CONSERVATIVES/
STASTUSCO-IST
 David Harvey
 William Bunge etc.. Were the prominent radical thinkers in
Geography
Reformist movements

Welfare geography is an approach to geography where the emphasis

is on spatial inequality and territorial justice. Destined up with the rise of
radical geography in the early 1970s, welfare geography stresses the
need to identify and explain the existence of crime, hunger, poverty
and other forms of discrimination and disadvantage.

D.M. Smith was a prominent welfare Geographer

Lets make the existing system more efficient.
Introduce more welfare programs
Reform in the legislation through parliamentary means.
Progressive taxation
Develop a thought – for the betterment of the existing system.
Focus on redistribution of wealth and resources .
This school of thought had the essence of capitalism and socialism
Social – capitalism - welfare approach
 Welfare geography sought to reveal who gets what, where and
how.
Contributions of welfare approach

 It became the central theme in the Applied geography,

Development geography
 all the development studies in geography are related to this
approach
 Studies in Urban planning and identifying the issues of urban
centers
 Resource studies
 Water management
 Climate adaptation studies
 Disaster management studies
Contributions of radical geography

Based on Marxian ideas

Revolutionary violent approach
Encourage violent solutions for all the social problems
The wave of radical geography was against the existing systems.
 Radical geographers were able to bring the issues of
exploitation and inequalities
 It was against the capitalistic views.
 Focused on workers rights
 Racism
 Exploitation of marginalized and women
 Stood for Human rights
 Lead to the development of
 Feminist Geography
 Colonial geography
 Tribal geography
 Geography of 3rd world

n-gl.com
Geographical
thought
Agriculture location theory - Von Thunen

 The Von Thünen theory of agricultural location, a normative theory,

developed by Johann Heinrich von Thünen in the 19th century, was a
manifestation of the Quantitative Revolution which was gaining
importance in geographical studies post 1950’s.It provide insights into
how spatial decisions regarding agricultural activities are influenced by
proximity to markets.
 The Von Thunen's model of agricultural location attempts to explain why
different types of farms and agricultural activities tend to cluster in
certain areas. It uses basic economic concepts like supply and demand,
costs, and profits

 He came up with the theory in 1826 based on his own experiences as a

farmer and landowner in Germany.
 Von Thunen was curious about the patterns he observed in how
different crops and farming activities tended to cluster in specific areas.
He wanted to understand the economic factors that shaped these
patterns.
Assumptions

 Isotropic surface
 man is economic man
 man is rational
 Perfect competition in the market
Isotropic surface – through out the entire are land has same fertility
 The land has the same climatic condition with uniform temperature
and rainfall.
 This implies through out the entire area the productivity of the land is
same
Man is economic – man is profit motive
 Strives to maximize his profit.
 Profit = price- cost of production
 Maximization of profit is possible only by means of reducing the cost
Rational- he has access to all the information about market, agriculture
methods etc… based on that only he decide anything

Perfect competition in the market –

 The market consists of many buyers.
 The market consists of many sellers
 Firms that sell in the market are free to either enter or exit the market
 The good sold by all sellers in the market is assumed to
be homogeneous.
 Buyers and sellers in the market are assumed to have perfect
information.
2 major concepts of Von thunen

1. ISOLATED STATE
2. LOCATION RENT/ECONOMIC RENT
 Der isolierte Staat (1826; “The Isolated State”). In it he imagined an
isolated city, set in the middle of a level and uniformly fertile plain
without navigable waterways and bounded by a wilderness.
 Very large isotropic fertile plain
 Inhabited by economic and rational man
 It has a single market, where all the buyers and sellers will meet
 there is perfect competition is going on
 In the estate – there is only one mode of transportation is available – a
single horse drawn cart
 The isolated estate is surrounded by wild forest in all sides – isolation
 Isolated state concept was introduced to simplify the real life
complexities and influences
 This is to assume there is no external influence into the farmland.
Location rent/ economic rent

The land use pattern agriculture patterns are depends on

What type of profit a person is able to manage from the location.

According to Von Thunen, the major factor that determine the profit of a
person is the location of the economic activity. – the value of that
location is expressed in terms of the rent a person is willing to pay.
 As the man is an Economic man, where the profit maximization is
the sole objective, the condition of economic balance happen
when he is able to earn a profit which is not less than the location
rent.
Location rent = profit he earns from the economic activity
For the location let

Y is the yield/land
P is the price of the harvest

So Earning = Y x P
THE COST A PRODUCER INCUR =

 Labor cost = fixed for all the people.

 Production cost = fixed for all the location.
 Transportation cost = varies, depends on
distance of transport =d
rate of transport cost = t
t is fixed for the entire estate.
( same mode of transport – single horse cart
t is fixed /unit distance/unit time.
 So total transport cost = Y x t x d
Y = total yield /product.
T = transport cost/unit area.
D = distance from the market.
 As he mentioned
LOCATION RENT = PROFIT
 PROFIT of a producer = PRICE OF THE PRODUCT IN THE MARKET – THE COST
INCURED FOR THE PRODUCTION OF THAT PRODUCT

 Price = Y x P
 Profit = Y x P – ( PRODUCTION COST +LABOR COST + TRANSPORT COST )

 Production cost = fixed for the entire area – K1

 Labor cost = Fixed – K2
 Transport cost = Y x T x D
 LOACTION RENT = Y x P – ( K+ Y T D )

 it is established that the location rent varies inversely as the

distance between the market place and the farm land.

 the willingness to pay location rent is less as the distance from

the central market increases.
Location rent = price – cost

 Price - ( Transportation cost + labor cost + production cost )

 Here LC, PC are constant and Transportation i=cost is the only
varying factor)

 Transportation cost = Y x t x d
Y = 100 KG
Transportation cost = RS. 10/km
Distance between the farm and market place d = 20 km
Total transportation cost = 100 x 10 x 20
 Since the surface is ISOTROPIC
 The pattern of location rent is a series of concentric circular ring.

 Since the location rent factor is highly varying according to the

transportation cost, it determine the agricultural land use pattern
 In 2 ways

1. in terms of choice of crop grown

2. in terms of intensity of land use
 Near the central market = Effective usage of land can be seen
farmers grow high value crops
vegetables , fruits and dairy
MARKET GARDENING

Location farther away from the market place,

Relatively low valued crops are grown = rice, wheat, millets etc…
Extensive farming with some fallow.
 Based on the then existing conditions, Von thunen had identified
land use pattern in Europe
Three field system
 Crop – fallow – grass
 Agriculture practice done towards the periphery.
Analysis and application of Von Thunen model

 Incorporation of Quantitative techniques in location theories

 Pioneer in the location theories
 Least cost theory.
Application of the Von Thunen model

 Von Thunen model is an ideal model of finding agriculture

locations.
 There are patterns of land use is followed near the central market
place- where the land use intensity is high with high value crops.

 North American context – main urban centers are located towards

Eastern side – from there, the land use intensity decreases towards
west and south.
In the case of western Europe –
 Central market places are located towards the west. From where
towards north east and east, the land use intensity and crop selection
decreases.

 In India Muhammad Shafi – studied the Vonthunen pattern and

applied it on the northern plains of India.

 He found a different model of agriculture intensification towards the

region of good agriculture infrastructure - rivers – in a linear manner.
 Sinclair – Alternative land use pattern

 The land around urban markets are areas of more profitable

economic activities- land may not be utilized for agriculture.
 In Europe the pattern and agricultural intensification, is not
merely the product of Von Thunen's model – it is the result of
the varying topographical conditions.
industrial location model

 Which is the most ideal and profitable location to set up an industry

with respect to raw material, skilled labor and market ?

 Alfred weber proposed the theory of industrial; location in the year

1909, later translated to English in 1929

 This theory is also known as ‘ Pure Theory’ and ‘Least Cost Theory’.
Assumptions

 The area is typically uniform or isotropic in form of terrain or relief,

climate, soils, economic system, technology and distribution of
population. Not in terms of distribution of raw materials
 Manufacturing involves single product at a time and the product is
supplied to a single market.
 Raw materials are not evenly distributed in space but at a few known
and fixed locations which are available at equal transportation cost
throughout.
 Markets are known as fixed at specific places.
 The distribution of labor is fixed,
 Wages, however, can vary from one location to another.
 This means that labor was not
 Transport costs are uniform and tend to increase with
increasing linear distance and weight of material transported.
 There is a perfect market competition.
 Each industry would incur identical production cost.
 There would be a uniform demand and uniform price for a
product at all markets.
 2 major aspects of the theory

I. What is the ideal location of the industry when LEAST TRANSPORT

COST IS CONSIDEREDF.

II. Industrial location- where industries can shift out of least transport
cost location
1. Towards the centers of SKILLED LABOR
2. Centers of industrial AGGLOMERATION
IDEAL INDUSTRIAL LOCATION BASED ON LEAST TRANSPORT COST

CASE 1 – ONE RAW MATERIAL AND ONE MARKET

here raw material is found everywhere
in this situation, the ideal and more convenient location to
set up the industry is @the market place.
so the transportation cost can be saved.
CASE 2
 One market , one raw material but raw material is localized.

 Weigh losing -= wait of the finished good < wait of the raw material
In this situation industry would be placed near the raw material site.
 Wait gaining - Weight of the final product is > the raw materials
In this situation the industry would be placed at the market.
Case 3
2 Raw material
Single market
Both Raw material are fixed and the weight of the final product is not
the same as the raw materials.

In this situation, to reach to a conclusion, Weber had developed a

concept – WEIGHT TRIANGLE.
and a concept of MATERIAL INDEX
1. MATERIAL INDEX = WEIGHT OF THE RAW MATERIAL
WEIGHT OF THE FINISHED GOODS
If MI is greater than 1 - weight losing industry - industries would be
located at the raw material sites.
Sugar industry
If MI is < 1 – weight gaining – industries would be set up near the
market. Cotton textile industries
2. LOCATION TRIANGLE/ WEIGHT TRIANGLE
Triangle made by joining the market with locations of raw material
 Ideal least cost location will always be with in the triangle.

 If Material Index is <1, weight gainer –

 In this case industry would be set up near the market.
 Eg – computer hardware industries
 Automobile manufacturing companies
 If Material index is > 1 , industry is weight losing
 In this, the location of industries would be set up towards which the
RAW MATERIALS ARE USED IN BULK
 Earlier iron and steel industries though out the world used a method
of steel manufacturing
 Coal was largely used.
 8 parts of coal with 1 part of Iron ore. To get 1 part of steel.

 8kg coal – 1 kg iron ore = 1 kg steel

 So the traditional location of iron and steel industries were located
near the coal field .
 All the coal fields became major industrial centers around the world
In India traditional iron and steel industries were located near SON
MAHANADI and GODAWARI belt.
When steel plants through out the world started using Bessemer
technique – 1 part of Coal
2 part of iron ore = 1 part of steel

With the new tech –steel pants shifted towards the locations of iron
ore.
Part 2 of Webbers theory
Shifting industries from least transport cost towards the site of
 Labor
 Agglomeration.

 There are industries that depends on skilled labor.

Handicraft works
Handloom
Embroidery works etc….
 Those labors are fixed. Immobile , concentrated ina locality.

 When the traditional craft labors are absent or rare and costly in a region
where transport cost is the least, industries tend to be shifting towards the
location of CHEAP HIGHLY SKILLED LABOR WHO ARE IN BULK.

 Here the industries will move outside the transport cost triangle towards the
labor.

 Thought he transport cost is increasing towards the labor location, industries

can save in high labor coast with in the triangle.
 Least transport cost location
 Labor cost = 5000
 Transportation cost =1000
 Total cost of production = 6000

 If the industry moves out of the triangle in search of cheap and skilled labor out
if the triangle,
 Transportation cost will increase but there will be a greater drop in the labor
cost.
 The centers of skilled labors have the advantages of
 Labor efficiency
 Labor quality
 Lower wage.

 This shift from least transport cost to cheap labor will continue only
up to where the increasing transport cost is justified by the cheap
labor.
 BPO centers of India
 Surat diamond polishing works.
 Weber's concept of ISODOPANE
 These are lines joinig places with same total cost of production.
 ISOTIM – line joining places with same transport cost.

 Weber drawn a number of isodopane – and with in a that a line

shows the lowest total cost of production by considering transport
and labor – CRITICAL ISODOPANE
ISODOPANE –
 Line joinmig places with same total cost of production
 Isodapane helps to identify the ideal location of industries, when it
shift from LOWER TRANSPORT location to CHEAP AND SKILLED LABOR
OUT OF the triangle.

 The least cost Isodapane is called as CRITICAL ISODOPANE

 Beyond which the increase in the transport cost may increase the
overall production cost.

 So that, the industries restrict their shift to a cheap labor site up to C I

II. SHIFT OF INDUSTRIES TOWARDS INDUSTRIAL AGGLOMERATION

Industries that are CAPITAL INTENSIVEWILL NEED GOOD

INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT
Road transportation
Communication
Power supply
Storage facilities etc…

If the industries come together, they can share the available

infrastructure.
 Agglomeration also helps industries to source out some of their raw
materials from the near by industry.

 Car manufacturing – electrical industries – accessories producers

etc…
 Computer systems – electrical parts – etc…

 Siite of agglomerations are the sites of more and cheap labor

Analysis

1. Weber’s theory is a Normative theory

Apart from the low transport cost, cheap labor and
agglomeration analysis AGUSTUS LOSCH has given a new model
for industrial; location – REVENUE MAXIMISATION MODEL
2. REVENUE MAXIMISATION MODEL
A method in which high profits are made by reducing price of the
product ( flip kart Amazon )

 Revenue maximization model – price decrease can trigger greater

demand from the consumers- in which overall sales will increase –
that increases the profit.
 This approach is different from the least cost approach of Von
thunen and Weber.
3. Industrial locations are not always because of cheap labor sites,
low transport cost, agglomeration etc…
 Political decision can direct the industries to set in a locationn

 For backward area developments, governments give some tax

benefits, infrastructure at a lower cost
 Special economic zone etc… to attract industries to a location.
 Geo political theories

 Heartland theory - Mackinder

 Rim land theory – Spike man

n-gl.com
Developmental theories
Developmental theories/ Growth
models
 Big success of USA backed Marshal plan inj the Post world war
II made the capitalist economic system and growth model
more popular.
 RECONSTRUCTION WESTERN EUROPE – was need of US.

 Decreased demand of US products in europe – which affected the

US manufacturing sector – Unemployment in US- POVERTY
 Marshall plan was introduced to reconstruct the European economy
and revive their purchasing power .
 With in 5 to 6 years European economy came to the growth track.
Marshal plan success
 Industrialization is the solution for development
 Development can be planned
 Capitalism works well and efficiently
 Social development will happen automatically – when the
economy progress.
 This age was also the age of DECOLONISATION
 Lot of countries came out from the clutches of the colonial
powers – they wanted fast growth and faster development -
 Marshall plan inspired countries as well as developmental scholars
at large.

Growth theories
 Growth pole
 Rostowmodel
Growth pole theory - Francois
Perroux 1955
 The theory that urban-led growth produces spread effects into
proximate rural areas was initially proposed by Francois Perroux
(1955), who called it “growth poles” theory.

 According to this theory, regional development policies focused on

urban centers are prone to generate more jobs, leading to rural
prosperity from rural–urban commuting and new urban markets for
rural products.
 The central idea of the growth poles theory is that economic
development, or growth, is not uniform over an entire region, but
instead takes place around a specific pole (or cluster).
 This pole is often characterized by core (key) industries around
which linked industries develop, mainly through direct and indirect
effects.
 Core industries can involve a wide variety of sectors such as
automotive, aeronautical, agribusiness, electronics, steel,
petrochemical, etc.
 Direct effects imply the core industry purchasing goods and
services from its suppliers (upstream linked industries), or
providing goods and services to its customers (downstream
linked industries).
 Indirect effects can involve the demand for goods and services
by people employed by the core and linked industries
supporting the development and expansion of economic
activities such as retail.
 According to Parraux Growth is a discontinuous process – it starts
from a growth pole and expand into different directions through
channels .
 In some directions / channel the growth will be more in some other
growth will be less – some growth is negligible.
Features of growth pole centres

 Growth poles are large with more employment opportunities

Revenue,transport,agriculture,service etc..
 Growth poles are propulsion centres – along with the
development of the growth poles, it also trigger development
in the allied sectors and surrounding areas.
 Growth poles boost consumption demand.
 They are centers of innovations
 Indian context

 Lets take 3 major sectors of India

Agriculture primary – steel plant industrial – IT Service sector
Growth giant growth giant growth giant
High Propulsion Propulsion Propulsion
multiplier effect multiplier effect multiplier effect
Innovation Innovation less Innovative
Drivers of demand Drivers of demand wont drive muchdemand
Growthpole initiatives in india

 First Industrial policy resolution 1948

 Second IPR along with 2ND 5 year plan suggested establishing growth pole
centers .
 Focus of planning were given to Heavy industries
 Capital intensive secots
 Industrialisation based developmental model was designed
 - model is called as Mahalanobis model.
 Initiated some growth pole centers – major steel plants in some remote
rural tribal areas. –
 Bhilai, Durgapurt,Rourke;la.
 Bhilai – durgapur and rourkela - have rich resources for the
industries.
 No history of development
 Related infrastructures have to be built from beginning.
Growth centre concept - this was designed by Parraux for
Secondary growth poles - theory in economics
 Baudville – suggested growth centres are when growth poles get
identified to a location – introduced it into Geography
 It can affect the spread of development spatially.

 Growth centre is the spatial interpretation of an economic theory.

Evaluation of the Growth pole growth center concepts

 Considered as a counter measure against the Socialist driven model

of development
 One among the initial capitalistic model of development
 Concept is centred on Urbanisation industries. They are the centres of
development.
 Did not consider Primary agriculture sector as a growth pole
 Mahalanobiis ,model – of industrial growth pole was introduced in 2nd
5 year plan.
Criticism
1. Growth pole centers created high regional disparities in
development.
2. It did not produce the desired result of regional developments in
Bhilai, raurkela - not much development took place in the
surroundings of major industries.
tribes were employed in the steel plants only as mine workers or
securities –
the market of these large industrial products are not the local
population -
 It is understood that – in the growth pole models, if we want to
develop the regions, we need to create channels for
development.

 Growth pole by itself wont generate prosperity and

development in the surrounding s.
 It needs connective links of development
 Education- health-skill development- development of trade-
communication etc…

 .
 As a concept the growth pole concept was good, but the
way we implemented it in India was a failure.
 the concept of growth pole should develop the surroundings
automatically was a wrong concept.

 The lack of development and inequalities in the tribal belts are

because of the laclk of policies for the upliftment of tribal
education, skill
 Lack of investment and development channels in the
surrounding had affected the plan greatly.
 RP MISHRA – MODIFICATION OF THE CONCEPT. – INDIAN CONTEXT

 India is a vast country

Initiating 2 or 3 growth poles would not develop the regions in
india – we need large numbers of growth poles.
 In India the main stay of majority people is Agriculture – around 40
to 50 % of the land is under agriculture.
 India has great diversity of economic activities
 India have hierarchy in terms of economic activities.
We need separate growth poles at national level state l;evel
district levels.
 RP MISHRA – GROWTH POLES IN INDIA

 Agriculture market AT VILLAGES

 Growth centers at district level- SERVICE SECTOR – banks, universities,
schools
 Regional centers – crop processing centers
Rice mills, sugar mills, large agro- machinery sale centers
 State and national levels – urban centers
Industrial complexes ,steel plants etc…
 RP Mishras growth model is based on multi growth centers at
different levels starting from Village – urban centers.
 Diversified economic activity based growth poles
 Which can be spread across the nation at all hierarchies.

 For the regional development in India, we need to establish

multiple growth centers for the overall development of the
regions.
Rostow's model

 Inspired from marshal plan

 Capitalist oriented
 Suggest urbanization based growth
 Consider agriculture can never drive economic development
 Industrial based development

 Rostows model is a temporal model – that argue if a country want to

develop from Rural agro based economy it has to transit to an
Urban based economy.
5 STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT

1. Remote/Rural/tribal stage
2. Pre condition of take off
3. Take off stage
4. Drive towards maturity
5. Phase of Mass consumption
Remote/Rural/tribal stage
 Subsistance farming
 High level of poverty
 Unemployment
 Poor education infra
 High mortality rates

agriculture be the symbol of backwardness.

Pre take off stage
 Agricultural activities
 Traditional rural areas
 High unemployment
 Rise of middle class intelligentia
 Exposure to the new scientific development around the world.
 Exposure to new developmental strategies
Take off
Establishment of industries
Agriculture along with industries
Rural economy
Income inequality is high
Industries are under the support of Govt.
INDIA IN 1970 TO 1980
Towards maturity
Agriculture and industry co exist.
Rural based economy
High income inequality
Rise of private sector
Less people depends on Agriculture

1991-92
Stage of mass consumption
 Service sector driven economy
 Large scale urbanisation
 Growth of retail sectors
 More development in the field of IT,BANKING FINANCE SECTOR
 Less industries / industries are rare.
Analysis
 Agriculture is considered as a symbol of backwardness and urbanization is
the symbol of economic development.
 This model argue the transition of economy from PREMITIVE AGRICULTURE
TO URBANISATION in a linear manner with 5 stages of progress – in reality
the transition of economy wouldn’t be in a linear manner – it will have
multiple sectors co-existing
 Economic development can surpass a phase of development and
venture and establish the next stage – Indian scenario – transition from
Agriculture to service sector
 Model is deterministic – with a single linear mode of progress
 A country cant move away from the agricultural sector – because
of the increasing population.
 Need industries for absorbing the skilled manpower
Economic development & Changing
perspectives on environment
Traditional perspective

 Environment was considered as source of raw material for the

well being of human being and raw material for the economic
progress.
 Agricultural raw material, minerals, water, source of energy etc…

 Concern was about the economic development and the

depletion of resources.
 Therefore we should conserve the resources.
 The concept of environment in the western world – was more
towards maximum exploitation and use it for human development.

 The development needs were superior than environmental

conservation.
 EXPLOITATIVE-CAPITALIST TECHNOCENTRIC VIEW.
EVENTUALLY THE PERSPECTIBVES ARE CHANGING

1. ENVIRONMENT IS THE SOURCE OF DEVELOPMENT

2. ENVIRONMENT IS THE OINE WHICH MAKES LIFE POSSIBLE
ENVIRONMENT IS EVERYTHING
3. ENVIRONMENT IS THE BASIS OF SUSTAINABILITY AND QUALITY OF LIFE
4. ENVIRONMENT IS THE BASIS OF ALL INNOVATIONS
ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT

1. input for industrial development

2. environment absorb the bad effects of development
3. source of disasters and solution for it.
Limits to growth

 The Limits to Growth is a 1972 report that discussed the possibility of

exponential economic and population growth with finite supply of
resources, studied by computer simulation. The study used the World3
computer model to simulate the consequence of interactions between the
Earth and human systems.

 The concept explores the idea that there are limits to the growth of human
population and economic activity on Earth. This theory was popularized by
a book titled "The Limits to Growth" published in 1972 by the Club of Rome,
which was a group of scientists, economists, and business leaders.
They studied 5 variables
 Population growth
 Industrial growth
 Land and agricultural production
 Fossil fuel
 Pollutiion
 In all models ultimately earth collapse.
 Either due to resource exhaustion or industrialization and
development led pollution and depletion of resources.
 By 2100 earth life support system will collapse.
 Because there are limits in How much food we can produce from
agriculture land
 There are limits in our energy resources
 There is limit in How much pollution earth can handle and internalize
 Human population is capable of Exponential growth but the
carrying capacity of the earth is finite.
 Infinite growth is not possible in a finite world. – there are limits
to growth

 Limits to growth was a major idea that came up in 1972.

 Along with the report some other publications also came up
in the environmental journals.
 Silent spring – pesticides in agriculture
 Our common future – Brundtland commission
 In conclusion, the limits to growth theory highlights the need to find a
balance between human activities and the Earth's resources. It
emphasizes the importance of sustainable development and the
need to address issues such as population growth, resource
depletion, and environmental degradation. By understanding and
acting upon the limits to growth, it is possible to create a more
sustainable and resilient future for humanity.

 As a continuation the world observed

 The earth summit in 1992
 Sustainable development is a philosophy inspired from – STOP AND GO
DETERMINISM.

 The limits set by the environment should not be crossed.

 All the developmental activities should be sustainable and locally relevant.
 The development should be equitably shared between all the group and all the
regions across generation.

+
Economic growth
Regional imbalance in
development
 Regional Imbalance is the unequal distribution of resources, wealth,
development, and opportunity across different regions within a
country.

 Between people
 Between regions
 Between sectors – agriculture- industry, industry service etc…
Causes for developmental inequalities.
Natural factors

Varied distribution of resources

Resource rich regions can utilize more resources and develop faster.
Coal reserves in the eastern North America – Appalachian mountain eastern
great lakes region known for good coal reserves and other mineral reserves –
one of the industrial developed regions of the world.
Topography –
 Earth surface has varying topographies –
 Mountains
 Plains
 Plateaus
 Coastal plains
 Mountain regions are less accessible – lacks the connectivity – these
are backward regions of development.
 Eg- Himalayan states
 Alps mountain regions
 Where as PLAINS OR PLATEAUS COASTAL PLAINS ARE known for
efficient transportation networks
Climate and development
 Favorable climate with moderate temperature, rainfall, humidity can
play a major role in the development of a region.

 Regions of extreme climates lack development – Desert regions of

Sahara, Mexico, western rajastan etc…
 Tundra climate regions in Northern Canada and Siberian north.

Interior [plateau regions of India are some examples.

Human factors
Environmental factors can create limits to the development of a
region, but actual development imbalances are the consequences
of human factors.
 Historical factors
 Development policies etc…

 Japan Austria Sweden, singapore etc.. Are some of the resource

poor regions of the world but the range of their economic
development is great.
 Where as the resource rich regions of Africa , central Asia, south Asia
lag behind the development.

 Natural resources a re a factor behind the economic development of

a region but it is not the ultimate factor to decide the development.

1. Most of the backward regions have a history of Colonialisation.

2. Conflict regions are always backward.
3. Development policies can always create imbalances.
4. Geopolitical imbalances. – central Asia African – conflict zones
Theoretical approach – explaining
imbalances in development

1. Growth pole model

2. Rostov's model
3. Cumulative causation model
Growth pole model
 Growth poles become centres of development like an island if the
supporting factors are not provided or necessary channels are not
created in the peripheral area.
 Lack of education
 Lack of skill training
 Local market integration with the industries etc.. If all these supporting
factors are not provided along with the growth poles, the growth pole
centres wont generate any development in the surroundings
 Eg – Bhilai, Rourkela steel plants. They failed in accelerating
developments in the region
Rostov's model

Agriculture is backward – will not drive development and urbanization or

is the driver of economic growth and development.
Economic development of a region starts when the region get exposure
to the western world.
He said -development is a function of Urbanization and industrialization
He did not acknowledge the historical factors that decide the
development of a region.
Colonial history – India Africa etc…
Cumulative causation theory – Gunnar Myrdal

 MYRDAL MAINTAINS THAT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT RESULTS

IN A CIRCULAR CAUSATION PROCESS LEADING TO RAPID
DEVELOPMENT OF DEVELOPED COUNTRIES WHILE THE WEAKER
COUNTRIES TEND TO REMAIN BEHIND AND POOR

 THE MAIN CAUSE OF BACKWARDNESS AND REGIONAL

DISPARITIES HAS BEEN THE STRONG BACKWASH EFFECT AND
WEAK SPREAD EFFECTS.
 DEVELOPED REGION IS DEVELOPING AT A FASTER RATE AT THE
COST OF BACKWARD REGION. INCOME EARNED BY
DEVELOPED REGION IS NOT REINVESTED IN BACKWARD
REGIONS BUT IS REPATRIATED TO THE DEVELOPED
SECTORS/REGIONS LEADING TO MORE DEVELOPMENT IN THESE
AREAS.
SR Hashim
 India had un intentionally followed the British pattern of economic
development post independence also.
 Port based presidency based development model even after the
independence.

 Mumbai,
 Kolkata
 Chennai – the presidency urban centers became mega cities by
leaving the other regions behind in the track of development.
Indian - Approaches to development

1. Harrod domar model- equilibrium growth model

2. Deliberate imbalance model
3. Poverty alleviation – socialist approach
4. Import substitution model
5. Export promotion model
6. Phase of second economic reforms.
Balanced growth model/ equilibrium growth model

These is proportional allocations for all the sectors with out any
deliberate focus to any sector.
This model was adopted in the first industrial policy 1948
First 5 year plan.
Deliberate imbalance based strategy 2nd 5year plan

Mahalanobis model – here the investments were deliberately

channelized towards some particular sectors.
Industrial sector was the focus of the plan.
This approach was based on the GROWTH POLE developmental
model.
Bhilai,Rourkela steel plants
 Socialist approach – poverty alleviation
 More welfare based approach for poverty alleviation and
community development
 Integrated in the 4th and 5th Five year plan
 Integrated rural development program
 Integrated tribal development program
 Drought prone are development program
 Command area development program
 Desert development program
 Jawahar Rozgar yojana
Import substitution program
 To make the economy self sufficient and strengthen the
domestic manufacturers.
 This policy of protectionism lasted upto 1991.
Export promotion model 1991 onwards
Promoting Indian manufacturers.
Encouragement to FDI
The world witnessed the software revolution – India was able to
capture the world software market.
More foreign companies came to India and started their
manufacturing units.
WTO – Free and fair trade agreements.
Second economic reforms.
More focus on inclusive growth
Focus on agriculture development
Mode of development – more sustainable
Integration environmental strategies in the development plans
Regional planning in India
 Significance of regional planning in Indian context

 India withits 3.287 million km² land area possess a grate range of
physiographic diversities
 Climatic differences
 Cultural variability
 Uneven distribution of natural resources

Each and every region is unique, the aspirations of these regions are also
greatly varies.
 It is not practical to have a single developmental approach for the
entire country.
 Every region demands a different intervention with theor different
problems and challenges.

 At the national level we have designed the Mixed economy – by

incorporating the growth aspect of capitalism and welfare aspects
of socialism.
Regional development programs

 Demarcate an area that have some commonalities of physical

elements, development challenges and formulate an integrated
plan for their development.

 Scale of development is Meso or Micro

 The regional planning concept became popular in the 4 th and 5th
five year plans.
Significance of Geography in Regional planning
Principles of Regional Planning

Specific interventions and solutions will depend entirely on the

needs of each region in each country,
but generally , regional planning will seek to:
 The Principle of Vertical Unity
 The Principle of Horizontal Spatial Unity
 The Principle of Space-time Continuum
 The Principle of Comprehensive Development
 The Principle of Community Development
 The Principle of Equilibrium between Social Desirability and
Economic Viability
 The Principle of Ecological Equilibrium
 The Principle of Vertical Unity
All sectors (both physical and cultural) that operate in a regional
space are fully integrated with each other. Therefore, planning for any
single sector independent of other sectorsshall not be in the real spirit
of regional planning.
 The Principle of Horizontal Spatial Unity
Each region constitutes a number of subsystem theydo not exist in
isolation from each other, instead they exist in integration with each
other as part of the entire regional system
 The Principle of Space-time Continuum
A region is a living dynamic entity that operates simultaneously in the
past, present, and future like the human body's DNA. The regional
planner must, therefore, recognize the fact that regional space is a
continuously growing as an organic whole.
 The Principle of Comprehensive Development
Regional planning seeks to achieve the comprehensive
development of the entire regional space; the regional system in its
entirety. It seeks the development of all sectors of economy along
with advancement of all segments of society
 Local participation & Community Development
Equal opportunities to all for self development. The entire community
is considered as an organic whole. It is only through equal
opportunities to each individual (education, health and
employment) that the whole society can be developed into
community with the sense of belonging to each other.
 The Principle of Equilibrium between Social Desirability and
Economic Viability
While planning for comprehensive development of all regions, the
regional planner has to maintain a balance between what is socially
desirable and what is economically viable. The regional plans should
not only be good intentioned, but also be economically viable.
 The Principle of Ecological Equilibrium
The regional planning should make the ecology and
environment sustainable. Planning should only within the
framework of ecological equilibrium. All developments in a
region should be carried out without disturbing the ecological
balance.
For the better implementation of the plans

 Principles of delegation and decentralization – between

institutions and bodies at different hierarchy
 Financial autonomy
 Local level planning
 Local level plans must fit in the district level -- District level
plans should be aligned with state level and regional, national
level plans.
Multi level planning in India
MULTI-LEVEL PLANNING PROCESS, the national territory is divided into small
territorial units, their number depending upon the size of the country, its
administrative, geographical and regional structure.

In India following five stages of multi-level planning has been recognized.

1. National Level-sectored cum inter-state / inter-regional planning.
2. State Level-sectored cum inter-district / inter-regional planning.
3. District/Zilla parishath/Metropolitan Level-regional planning.
4. Block Level-area planning
5. Panchayat Level-village planning.
 These also denote five different phases of change in the policy of planning in the
country.
Regional planning in India
Integrated rural development program –
 The IRDP was initiated in 1978 and aimed to provide financial assistance
and support to the rural poor to help them generate sustainable income
and improve their living conditions. The program focused on providing
income-generating assets, such as livestock, agricultural equipment, and
small-scale enterprises, to eligible families.
 Over time, the IRDP underwent several changes and was later
merged with other rural development programs to form the
Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) in 1999. The SGSY
aimed to bring about sustainable development in rural areas by
promoting self-employment and providing financial support to rural
entrepreneurs.
 National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM): Launched in 2011, NRLM
focuses on promoting self-employment and entrepreneurship
opportunities for rural households, particularly women.
 Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY): A program aimed at
providing all-weather road connectivity to unconnected rural areas,
facilitating better access to markets and essential services.
 Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(MGNREGA): This program guarantees 100 days of wage employment in
a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer
to do unskilled manual work.
 Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana (DAY-NRLM): Aims to alleviate rural
poverty by organizing rural poor households into self-help groups and
providing them with financial support and training.
Regional development case studies India
The Damodar Valley Corporation program (DVC)
Background of the region
River Damodar
Chotanagpur region
Right bank tributary of Hugli
A highland area
Traditionally the region is settled by the tribal population
River Damodar is known fro flooding – inundation of the land – loss of
agriculture etc…
Soil has lateritic tendencies
Climate is wet – receives rainfall 100 125 cm
Problems of the region
 Flooding and inundation of land
 Soil erosion
 Tribal backwardness
 Poverty
 Unemployment

Pressurize people to move out from the region

Damodar valley is known for rich coal reserves

Location of rich mineral resources – iron ore, Uranium Copper

Water availability
Better connectivity
The Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is an Indian governmental
organization that operates in the Damodar River area of West
Bengal and Jharkhand. It was established in 1948 for the purpose of
controlling floods, generating hydroelectric power, and promoting
regional development. The DVC has been instrumental in the
development of the Damodar Valley region, which was historically
prone to flooding and poverty.

The program was developed in line with the Tennessee valley

model
 the Tennessee Valley Authority Act created a public corporation
“To improve the navigability and to provide for the flood control of
the Tennessee River; to provide for reforestation and the proper use
of marginal lands in the Tennessee Valley; to provide for the
agricultural and industrial development
Objectives of DVC Program

 Flood Control: One of the primary objectives of the Damodar Valley

Corporation is to control and manage floods in the Damodar River
Basin. The region had a history of devastating floods that caused
significant damage to lives and property. The construction of dams,
reservoirs, and embankments has been undertaken to regulate water
flow and mitigate the impact of floods.
 Hydroelectric Power Generation: The DVC was set up to harness the
hydroelectric potential of the Damodar River and its tributaries. The
construction of dams and power stations facilitates the generation of
electricity, contributing to the energy needs of the eastern part of
India.
 Irrigation: The Damodar Valley Program aims to improve
agricultural productivity in the region by providing irrigation
facilities. The construction of dams and reservoirs not only helps in
controlling floods but also ensures a sustainable water supply for
irrigation, supporting agricultural development.
 Regional Development: The DVC plays a crucial role in the overall
socio-economic development of the Damodar Valley region. The
corporation supports and initiates projects related to infrastructure
development, education, healthcare, and other essential services
to uplift the standard of living in the area.
 Navigation: The Damodar River was historically navigable,
and the DVC aims to maintain and improve navigation in the
region. This facilitates transportation and trade, contributing to
economic development.
 Water Supply: it is involved in ensuring a reliable water supply
for various purposes, including domestic and industrial use, in
the Damodar Valley region.
 It is developed into a multi purpose river valley project

 Hydro electricity generation

 flood management
 Soil conservation
 Irrigation
 Fishing
 Navigation
 Forestation
 Tourism
Dams – HEP
1. Maithon dam
2. Tilavia dam
3. Panchat dam
4. Konar

Barrage – for water diversion and irrigation

@Durgapur
Thermal power plant
@ Durgapur

Steel plants
 Bokaro
 Dhanbad
 Hirapur ssteel plant
 Burnpur steel plant
 Kulti , Assensoil, Chitranjan , Jamshetpur etc…
 But the region majorly saw the development of Iron and steel
plants and other engineering industries.
 Other objectives like
 Agriculture development, tribal development , afforestation ,
navigation did not come into priority.

 Since the steel industries lack functional connectivity with the

tribal population, it lacked the desired developmental goals.

 DVC failed to produce the intended socio economic objectives.

NATIONAL WATERSHED DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM
The National Watershed Development Project for Rainfed Areas
(NWDPRA) is a flagship program of the Government of India aimed at
enhancing agricultural productivity, livelihoods, and environmental
sustainability through watershed management.

NWDP – Is a holistic approach towards seeing the water related issues like
floods,drought,desertification,drinking water issues, water pollution,
groundwater depletion etc.. And finding a overall solution for the range
of issues.
 While going for a regional development plan, donot go for
a region based on a river flow/ state wise/ cultural regions –
DO IT ON THE BASIS OF WATERSHED.

 Heavy rainfall – catchment

 Vegetation
 Slope of the terrain
 Soil character
 branches of the river
 Key objectives of the National Watershed Development
Program include:

 Enhancing Productivity: The program aims to improve agricultural

productivity in rainfed areas by implementing various soil and water
conservation measures. This includes activities such as contour
bunding, check dams, afforestation, and agro forestry.

 Sustainable Livelihoods: the program aims to enhance income

opportunities for farmers and other stakeholders through improved
natural resource management and diversified livelihood options.
 Water Conservation and Management: Watershed development
activities help in enhancing water availability for irrigation, livestock,
and domestic use while minimizing soil erosion and runoff.
 Ecosystem Restoration: This includes activities such as reforestation,
soil conservation, and biodiversity conservation, leading to
improved ecological resilience and environmental sustainability.
 Empowerment and Participation: The program promotes community
participation and empowerment by involving local communities,
especially marginalized groups and women, in planning,
implementation, and management of watershed development
activities.
 Climate Resilience: it promote climate-resilient agricultural practices
and enhancing the adaptive capacity of rural communities in
rainfed areas.
Hill Area Development Program
 Hill Area Development Program (HADP)." This program is specifically
designed to address the unique challenges faced by hilly and
mountainous regions in the country. The HADP is implemented in
various states with significant hilly terrain, including states in the
Himalayan region such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and
Jammu & Kashmir.
Objectives

Infrastructure Development: This involves the construction and

improvement of roads, bridges, electricity supply, water supply, and other
essential infrastructure to enhance connectivity and access to basic
services in hill areas.
Natural Resource Management: Conservation and sustainable
management of natural resources such as forests, water bodies, and
biodiversity are crucial components of hill area development programs.
Efforts may include afforestation, soil conservation, watershed
management, and biodiversity conservation initiatives.
 Livelihood Promotion: This may involve promoting agriculture and
horticulture practices suitable for hilly terrains, encouraging tourism,
and promoting skill development and entrepreneurship among local
communities.
 Environmental Conservation: Given the ecological sensitivity of hill
areas, environmental conservation and protection are integral to hill
area development programs.
 Measures may include controlling soil erosion, preventing
deforestation, and promoting sustainable land use practices.
 Social Welfare and Empowerment: Ensuring access to
healthcare, education, and social welfare services for the
residents of hill areas is crucial.

 Programs under HADP may include the establishment of

healthcare facilities, schools, and social welfare schemes
targeted at marginalized communities in hilly regions.
Challenges of the program
 Geographical and Climatic Constraints
 Limited Agricultural Land
 Vulnerability to Natural Disasters
 Inadequate Connectivity
 Ecological Sensitivity
 Limited Access to Education and Healthcare
 Cultural and Ethnic Diversity
 Tourism Pressures
Desert Development Program

 Desert Development Program

 It is to address the unique challenges of desert areas, particularly in
the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat. The program aims to combat
desertification, improve water management, and enhance the
overall living conditions of the people in these regions. Key
 components of the DDP
 Watershed Management: Implementation of watershed
management practices to conserve water, prevent soil erosion, and
promote sustainable agricultural practices in arid and semi-arid
areas.
 Afforestation: Plantation of drought-resistant and indigenous species
to combat desertification, improve soil health, and enhance
biodiversity.
 Water Conservation: Construction of check dams, percolation tanks,
and other water-harvesting structures to conserve rainwater and
improve water availability for agricultural and domestic purposes.
 Livelihood Diversification
Promotion of alternative livelihood options such as animal husbandry,
horticulture, and agro-processing to reduce dependency on traditional
agricultural practices.
 Promotion of Renewable Energy
Encouraging the use of renewable energy sources like solar power for
sustainable development in energy-scarce desert regions.
 Infrastructure Development: Development of basic infrastructure, including
roads, schools, healthcare facilities, and other amenities to improve the overall
quality of life in desert areas.
 Community Participation: Involving local communities in the
planning and implementation of development projects to ensure
sustainability and address the specific needs of the people living in
these regions.
 Challenges of Desert Development Program

 Water Scarcity
 Soil Erosion and Degradation
 Limited Agricultural Productivity
 Diverse Ecosystems
 Climate Change Impact
 Limited Resources
 Biodiversity Conservation
Access to Basic Services: Ensuring access to essential services such as
education, healthcare, and transportation in remote desert regions
poses challenges due to the scattered population and limited
infrastructure

n-gl.com
Population
Geography
Distribution of population
The is around 8 billion plus population around the world.

The distribution of the world population is not evenly spread and varies
across continents, countries, and regions.
The most populous countries are typically found in Asia, particularly in
China and India.
However, population distribution can change over time due to factors
such as birth rates, mortality rates, migration, and government policies.

Some parts of the world is with very high population density, and some are
very sparsely populated.
Factors influencing the distribution of population

1. Physical
2. Human factors

Natural features such as climate, topography, availability of water, soil

fertility, and natural resources play a significant role in determining
where people settle. Regions with favorable climates, fertile land, and
access to water sources tend to have higher population densities.
 Regions with flat topography
 Fertile productive agriculture land
 Good availability of water
 Favorable climate
 Better resource distribution
 Long growing season
etc… factors can attract a high population towards a region.

1. Ganga brahmaputra plain

2. Huang ho valley
3. Nile river valley
4. Mesopotamia
5. Mekong river basins etc…
 Regions with mountain topography- steep slopes
 Extreme climatic condition
 Sterile soil
 Low water availability
 Extreme climatic condition
 Less availability of productive land
 Poor resource base
 Water logging condition

 Northern Siberia and Canada

 Antarctica
 Saharan desert, himalaya, amazons, Congo river basins etc…
Physical condition
 ECUMEN & NON ECUMEN CONCEPT OF ARISTOTLE.
 Ecumen – regions that support human habitation physically
 Non Ecumen – regions that are non supportive for human habitation

 ARISTOTLE – Equatorial regions with high temperature and heavy

rainfall are regions of NON ECUMEN
 Aristotle place- environmental condition as the supreme factor that
determoine the distribution of population. ENVIRONMENTAL
DETERMINISM.
Human factors
Economic Opportunities
Education and Skill Levels
Quality of Life:
Cultural and Social Ties
Migration Patterns
Government Policies and Incentives
Housing Affordability
Infrastructure and Transportation
Technology and Telecommuting
Security and Safety
Environmental Preferences
Demographic Trends
 Environmental/ physical factors are one of the factors that
influence the distribution, but not a deciding factor of world
distribution of population.

 Mexico city – developed around an Oasis

 People lives in the mountainous Switzerland
 Gulf regions etc…

 The growth and development of urban centres and their

magnetic attraction of a large population can not be
explained with the concept of Environmental determinism.
Pattern of population distribution
1. Continental distribution
2. Latitudinal distribution
3. Hemispheric distribution
The distribution of the world's population across hemispheres is not uniform,
with variations in population density and size between the Northern
Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere.
the majority of the world's population resides in the Northern Hemisphere.

Northern Hemisphere:
 The Northern Hemisphere contains a higher percentage of the global land
area, leading to a higher concentration of population

 The majority of the world's landmass, including heavily populated regions

like Asia, Europe, and North America, is located in the Northern
Hemisphere.
Southern Hemisphere
 The Southern Hemisphere has fewer landmasses and fewer large
population centers compared to the Northern Hemisphere.
 Africa, the second most populous continent, has a significant portion of
its landmass in the Southern Hemisphere.
Asia - Asia is the most populous continent, home to more than half of the
world's population.
The population of Asia is concentrated in countries such as China, India,
Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
Africa- Africa is the second most populous continent, with a rapidly
growing population.
Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are
among the most populous countries in Africa.
Europe - Europe has a relatively smaller population compared to Asia and
Africa but is still densely populated in certain regions.
Countries like Russia, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom
contribute significantly to the population of Europe.
North America:
 North America has a substantial population, with the United States
and Mexico being the most populous countries in the region.
 Canada also contributes to the overall population of North America.
South America:
 South America has a diverse population, with Brazil, Colombia,
Argentina, and Peru having significant populations.
 The population density varies across different countries and regions in
South America.
Tropical and Subtropical Zones (0° to 30° North and South

 These regions include the equatorial and tropical areas,

where temperatures are generally higher.
 Some of the most populous countries, such as India,
Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria, and Bangladesh, are located within
these latitudinal zones.
 Population density tends to be higher in these areas due to
favorable climates for agriculture and human habitation.
Mid-Latitudes (30° to 60° North and South

 The mid-latitudes include a mix of temperate climates and can be

found in regions such as North America, Europe, and parts of Asia.
 Countries like China, the United States, Russia, and Japan are
located within these latitudinal bands.
 Population density varies, with some areas having high population
concentrations due to economic development and historical
factors.
High Latitudes (60° to 90° North and South

 These areas include the polar regions, such as northern Scandinavia,

Canada, Russia's Siberia, and Antarctica in the south.
 Population density is generally lower in these regions due to harsh
climates, limited resources, and challenging living conditions.
Regional distribution of population

 Based on the distribution of population, the whole world can be

classified into 3

 Primary regions
 Secondary regions
 Tertiary regions
I. Primary regions of world population

East Asia:
 China Japan Korea, They contribute to a substantial portion of the
regional population.
 More than 25% of population
 Economically developed
 More urbanized regions
South Asia

 South Asia, which includes countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,

Nepal, and Sri Lanka, is one of the most densely populated regions
globally.
 The Indian subcontinent, in particular, has a very high population
density.
 IVC – Ganga brahmaputra plains – Cultural hearth C O S
 Rural agricultural based population
 Carry more than 25% of the global population
Southeast Asia

 Southeast Asia, with countries like Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam,

Thailand, and Myanmar, has a significant and growing population.
 Recent Urbanization and economic development in this region
contribute to population concentration in cities.
 It carries around 20% of the global population
Eastern United States

 The eastern coasts of the United States known for their high
population density, with major cities such as New York,
 Major centers of industrial development
 Zone immigration from Western Europe
Western Europe
 Europe has several densely populated regions, with countries
like Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Italy having
significant populations.
 Urban areas in Western Europe are particularly densely
populated.
II. Secondary regions of population – KNOTS & STRINGS

Secondary regions are significant population clusters exist. These

areas may not be as densely populated as the primary regions, but
they still play important roles in the global distribution of population.

Population concentration in the urban centers KNOTS

and around rivers and transportation routes STRINGS
St. Lawrance, Nile, Volga
Tertiary low population regions.

Tertiary low population regions are areas characterized by relatively sparse

populations compared to primary and secondary regions.
 Northern Canada and Northern Russia
 Amazon Rainforest
 Sahara Desert
 Mongolia
 Tibetan Plateau
 Greenland
 Central and Western Sahara
 Antarctica
Population distribution refers to the way in which people are
spread across a given area. Several measures can be used to
quantify and analyze population distribution.
Population Density
Physiological Density
Agricultural Density
Concentration index
Population density
 Population density is a widely used
measure and is calculated by dividing the
total population of an area by its land
area. The formula is:
 Population Density= Total Population /
Land Area
 It provides an average number of people
per unit of land and helps identify areas
with high or low concentrations of
population.
Physiological Density

 Physiological density is calculated by dividing the total

population by the arable land area.
 It provides insight into the pressure that the population places
on the available agricultural resources.

 Physiological Density =Total Population/Arable Land

Agricultural Density

 Agricultural density is calculated by dividing the total farming

population by the total arable land area.
 It helps assess the relationship between the population involved in
agriculture and the available land for cultivation.

 Agricultural Density= Farming Population/ Arable Land

Concentration index
 It give an insight about how population is distributed for an
entire region.
 Identification and analysis of specific regions or clusters with
high population concentrations.

 The Population of a district/ total population of the state.

Population growth
Population growth is measured through
 General indices – Crude birth rate , crude death rate
 General fertility rate
 Age specific fertility rate
 Total fertility rate
TOTAL FERTILITY RATE

The Total Fertility Rate (TFR an important demographic indicator that

helps assess population growth or decline)

It is a measure that represents the average number of children a

woman would give birth during her reproductive years, typically
between the ages of 15 and 49, given the current age-specific fertility
rates..
 TFR is expressed as the number of children per woman.

RANGES OF TFR

 If the TFR is around 2.1, it is considered the replacement level fertility,

meaning that, on average, each woman is having enough children to
replace herself and her partner in the population.

 A TFR below 2.1 may lead to population decline over the long term,
while a TFR above 2.1 indicates population growth.
Factors influencing the TFR include
 Socio cultural
 economic
 educational factors
 Access to contraception
 women's empowerment
 Government policies
also play a role in shaping fertility rates. Monitoring TFR is crucial for
understanding population dynamics and making informed policy
decisions related to healthcare, education, and social welfare
 Generally for a country a TFR nearly 2.1 is the favorable level.

 But depends on the economic and social condition and the priorities of
the country, it may vary.

 A pro-natalist society – traditional & orthodox , agrarian, where life

expectancy is generally low - desire more number of children

 Countries that are already populous and want to reduce the population
may prefer a TFR of Less than 2.
The replacement level Total Fertility Rate (TFR)

The replacement level Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is typically considered to

be around 2.1 children per woman in a stable population. This value is
based on the assumption that, on average, each woman is having
enough children to replace herself and her partner in the population.
The "2.1" figure accounts for factors like infant mortality and individuals
who may not reach reproductive age.
 If a country or population sustains a TFR at or slightly above 2.1 over
the long term, it tends to experience population stability, with births
balancing deaths, and no significant natural population increase or
decrease.

 In developed countries with lower mortality rates, replacement levels

may be slightly below 2.1, whereas in developing countries with
higher mortality rates, the replacement level TFR may be somewhat
higher.
TFR – INDIAN SCENARIO

 In the mid-20th century, India had a relatively high TFR, with women giving
birth to a larger number of children on average. This was associated with
high birth rates, contributing to rapid population growth.
 Decline in TFR Over the years, India has witnessed a decline in TFR due to
various factors, including social and economic changes, increased
awareness and access to family planning services, improvements in
education, and changing cultural norms.
 Across States: It's important to note that fertility rates can vary significantly
across different states and regions within India. Some states have
experienced more rapid declines in fertility, while others may still have
higher fertility rates.
 Urban-Rural Divide: There is often a noticeable difference in fertility
rates between urban and rural areas. Urban areas tend to have lower
fertility rates compared to rural areas, influenced by factors such as
education, employment opportunities, and access to healthcare.
 Government Policies: The implementation of various population-
related policies, including the National Population Policy of 2000, has
aimed to promote awareness, family planning services, and education
to achieve the replacement level fertility target.
WORLD POPULATION TRENDS

The historic growth of the world population has undergone significant changes
over the centuries. Here's a general overview of the major phases:
 Pre-Industrial Era (Before 1800): During this period, population growth was
relatively slow. Birth rates and death rates were both high, leading to only
modest population increases. Life expectancy was shorter due to factors
such as disease, famine, and lack of medical advancements.
 Transition to Industrialization (1800-1950): The Industrial Revolution marked a
turning point. Technological advancements, improved agriculture, and
public health measures led to a decline in mortality rates. However, birth
rates remained high, resulting in rapid population growth. This period is
characterized by a substantial increase in the global population.
 Post-World War II (1950-2000): The mid-20th century saw significant changes
in population dynamics. Many countries experienced the "demographic
transition," a shift from high birth and death rates to low birth and death
rates. Improvements in healthcare, sanitation, and education contributed
to reduced mortality rates. Family planning initiatives and changing societal
norms led to lower fertility rates in several regions.
 Late 20th Century Onwards (2000-Present): The global population continued
to grow, but the rate of growth began to slow down. Some countries,
particularly in Europe and East Asia, entered a phase of population decline
or aging populations. In contrast, certain regions, particularly in Africa,
experienced higher population growth due to persistently high fertility rates.
 Current Trends (2020s, the global population was over 7.8 billion. The
overall growth rate has been moderating, with projections indicating a
gradual increase. Factors influencing population growth include fertility
rates, mortality rates, migration, and government policies.
 Doubling the world population
Total fertility trends - world
 The total fertility rate (TFR) worldwide has been experiencing a
general decline over recent decades.

 Africa has a TFR of 4.15

 Asia - 2.3 – India china Bangladesh has declined their TFR. But the
TFR for central asian countries are high – Afghanistan – 4.
 North America – 1.75
 EUROPE 1.53
 Australia - 1.58
 South America – 1.85
Historically the Total fertility
rate has a clear cut North
south divide.
Theories on population growth
 Malthusian Theory of Population
 Marxian theory
 Demographic transition theory
Malthusian Theory of Population

The Malthusian Theory of Population is a theory of exponential population

growth and arithmetic food supply growth. Thomas Robert Malthus, an English
cleric, and scholar, published this theory in his 1798 writings, An Essay on the
Principle of Population.

His idea of population growth has evolved from his experiences that he
witnessed in the Post industrialization phase of Europe.

Fast industrial development – urbanization- fast growing population – crowding

– shortage of food- pollution – increasing crime etc…
 His general view was that, the population tend to increase faster than
the means of subsistence.
 The fast increase in population absorb all economic gains unless
controlled by – preventive and positive checks.

 Malthus believed Man is a biological animal with 2 factors that are essential
for the sustenance of life on earth.

1. Need for food

2. Passion for sex
 Food is necessary for human existence – food production
increases at an arithmetic rate – 1-2-3-4-5-6
 Passion betwee4n the sexes in necessary and it will continue
further population increase at geometric rate 1-2-4-8-16-32-64
 The widening gap between population and subsistence will increase a mans
tendency to press upon the means of subsistence.

 With the result the society see the rise of two sets of people – Rich and poor

 Rich – better educated , wise , access to technology – they are not the pure
biological animals.
 These people are aware about the measures to reduce fertility. Never increase
the population – in fear of their decline in standard of living

1. Use contraceptives
2. Abstinence from sex
3. Some of them look for sexual gratification out side marriage
Poor people
 They lack education
 Lack wisdom
 They are animal like – multiply senselessly
 Leads to exponential growth of population – increases their
Poverty, hunger, epidemics, unemployment etc…

 Poor multiply like dogs and swine

 According to malthus The poor are to be blamed for their poverty.
 Malthus further says don’t give the poor the welfare schemes to
eradicate their poverty and hunger – if given, they will multiply
again.

 He was a firm, believer of capitalist thought.

 The increasing gap between the population and resources

ultimately led to a point where, misery and poverty shall become
inevitable.
To reduce the population Malthus has mentioned
1. Positive checks
2. Preventive checks

 Preventive checks - use of contraceptives , Abstinence from sex,

homosexuality, sex out side marriage/infidielity ( he was against the
preventive checks – considered it as negative checks)

 Positive checks – War, disease, poverty, lack of food,

Criticism of Malthus theory
 The basic assumption that the desire to have sex is equal to desire to
have children was questioned.
Desire to have sex is a bilogical instinct, where as desire to have child is
a social instinct.
 The blind assumption of population grows in geometric numbers where
as food production grows in arithmetic was questioned – not aware
about the agricultural techniques
 He overemphasized the positive checks and he did not visualise the
scope and possibilities of preventive checks
 Ignorant of changing role of technology
Contribution of Malthusian theory
 It urged the necessity to find a balnce between population
growth and the means of subsistence.
 It empowered the society to reduce the population size.

 It pave foundation for some of the ecological theries that

came up in 20th century - the Neo Malthusian school
 Limits to growth
 Concept of sustainable development
Marxian approach on POPULATION GROWTH

 Karl Marx, a German philosopher, economist, and political theorist,

did not formulate a comprehensive theory of population growth in
the same systematic way.
 In his economic and political theory there are mentioning about
population growth – poverty, how the changing socio economic set
up – and ownership of mode of production impact the population
growth.
 According to Marx the society transform from Tribal society –
Feudal society – capitalist.

Marx and tribal societies

There is no private ownership of mode of production
Egalitarian society
All are economically poor
Feudal society
Two different sets of people
Land owner and landless labor
Land owner – rich
Labor is poor farmer
Capitalist
Rise of two contrasting classes
Rich and poor/ Haves and Have-nots
Rich – owner of the industry
Poor – poor industrial workers
Capitalist society is the most exploitative society.
The two evils in the capitalist set up

1. Private ownership
2. Class divide
 According to Marx- capitalism is the reason for Population growth.
 The two evils of private ownership od mode of production and the
rise of two classes are the major factor behind the exponential
growth of population.

 The producer/ the owner class is Rich – he is a master in making

money – doubling his income-he makes money through scaling
operations.

 After industrial revolution – mode of industrial production have

changed from Labor intensive to capital intensive-
 The machines allowed to produce product large in number.

 So many producers came to industry – there were surplus supply of

products came up in the market.
 Increased sappy has reduced the demand for the products – there
were reduction in the price of commodities.

 The decreasing price had affected the profit margin of the

producer, so he tried to reduce the cost of production by reducing
the wage of employees.
 What a labor faced – earlier he had a wage – Rs.100
 Industrial revolution – his wage got reduced – Rs.40
 He was not able to balance his salary and the living condition he
followed.

 He thought – lets have more children, so that I can have more

hands to work in the industry- more wage my family can earn.
 40X10 = 400
 Instead of earlier 100 , now his family can make 400.
 But the situation was not in favor of the labor class-
 More children – more workers into the industry – less demand
for labor – further reduction of wage and unemployment.

 Capitalism – low wage – labor thought of increased number

of children- exponential increase in population – lobors large
in number – reduced deamnd for labor ---
 Marx said, the Growth of population is the product of industrial
revolution and its compulsions.
 The poor labor was compelled to have more children to balance his
lowered wage.
 According to him- the desire for a large family is not biologically
determined, but it is the consequence of new capitalist mode of
industrialization.

 When Malthus says – poverty and unemployment is a result of the

geometric growth of population and arithmetic growth of food
stuffs, - the solution is the Positive checks. That the society gradually
attain.
  Marx sais, the increasing labor population is good- they can be
organized into a powerful labor movement and overthrow the
present capitalist mode of government- and replace it with a
proletarian mode of government with no private ownership of mode
of production and exploitation.

 According to marx population growth is favorable – it can be

organized and dismantle the current system of capitalist govt and
establish a government in line with communist line.

n-gl.com
Population
Geography
Migration
 Migration refers to the movement of people from one place to
another, typically for the purpose of settling in a new location. It can
occur within a country (internal migration) or between countries
(international migration).
Reasons for migration

 Economic Opportunities
 Educational
 Employment
 Environmental
 Social development
 Political Instability
 Drought
 Floods etc…
Push – pull laws of migration
 Some migrations are due to positive factors – that pulls people
towards a particular destination.
 Where as some migrations are Negative – that pushes people
from one place to the other.

Pull factors –
 Better Economic opportunities
 Education
 Environment
 Standard of living
Push factor
Certain factor that pressure people to move from one plaace

 War
 Natural; calamities
 Drought
 Religious persecution
 Political instability
 Unemployment
 Between the push factors that pressurize people And
 Pull factor that attract people, there is a moderate factor – human
perceptions and personal choices.

 Push and pull factors operate together.

 Push factor create a tendency to migrate,
 Where as pull factor determine the direction of the movement.
 Push factors are always absolute- where as pull factors are
subjective.
Trends of global migration
 Global migration has occurred in waves throughout history, shaped by
various factors
 While categorizing migration into distinct waves is somewhat arbitrary and
oversimplified, historians and scholars often use this framework to analyze
trends and patterns.

 Early Migrations
 Age of exploration – age of voyages
 Slave trades
 20th century migration
 21st century migration
Early migration
1. Out of African theory
2. Out of China theory of migration
3. Out of African migration theory says, people who are settled
in western pacific islands, Indonesian archipelago, peninsular
India central Asia, western Europe etc… were people
migrated from Africa.

4. Started out migration from lake victorian surroundings around

2 lakh years- reported the indian peninsula at around 70000
years back.
 Reported western Europe around 40000 years back.
1. Bedoins of Arabia
2. Tuaregs of Northern Africa
3. Todas of Nilgiris
4. Sentinels of Andaman
5. Birhars of Odisha are the predecessors of the African migrants.
Out of china hypothesis

This hypothesis says. People in the pre historic period started

spreading from china towards

1. Central Asia
2. Tundra region
3. South east Asia
4. Incas of Peru
5. Mayan of Mexico
Age of exploration – age of voyage

 Spread of Western Europeans towards different parts of the

world after 1450s

 Spread of Spanish
 Portuguese
 Dutch
 French
 British
 Europeans colonized the North America and south Americas by colonizing
these lands by throwing out the native population.
 Saw the European & native gene mixing – gave rise to mestizo

 North and south America has a lot of African origin people - = result of the
Slave trade.
 African populations were taken to North and south American plantations
cotton – sugar cane and rubber etc…
 Gave rise to Afro Indians
1800s ban on slavery
 Slave trade was banned in UK and USA
 Europeans called many Chinese and Indians for Contractual
employments in the plantations.
 That ledf to the spread of Indian origin people into Eastern Africa,
Caribbean islands, South east Asia, western Pacific islands.

 Chinese migration was mainly towards south east Asian lands.

2OTH CENTURY Migrations
Post world war – Balfour declaration and related migration

The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British

Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the
establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an
Ottoman region with a small minority Jewish population.

Movements of Jews were marked in three different direction.

1. Eastern Europe to Western Europe
2. Europe to North America
3. Europe to Israel
Post World war I redistribution of European population
 Breakdown of ottoman empire - after fighting on the side of
Germany in World War I and suffering defeat, the empire was
dismantled and came to an end in 1922.
 Migration of people towards France – Austria - Balkan region.
 It
caused large number of turkish migrations into the western
Europe.
Post world war II Migration

 Redistribution of European population

 Post world war division of Europe into western Europe and eastern
Europe by the Berlin wall.

 Migrations 1945 to 1980s

 Partition of India
 Early migration of Indians towards US,UK
 Migration of Afghans due to the Russian invasion
 Migration of indian into Gulf – post oil exploration.- 1070s

 1980S onwards

 Globalization
 IT revolution
 Boom in software sector – caused another wave of migration
towards US Canada and Australia.
 Gulf war
 War in Iraq
 Syrian war

 Rohingyas of Myanmar to Bangladesh -

 Uyghur Muslims of China
 Tamil migrants from Srilanka 1983 - 1993
Climate related migrants – climate refugees

 Climate refugees are people who must leave their homes and communities
because of the effects of climate change and global warming. Climate
refugees belong to a larger group of immigrants known as environmental
refugees.
 Sea-Level Rise- Maldives
Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, is perhaps the country most
threatened by sea level rise.
 Venice
The urban area of Venice, Italy, is also threatened by sea level rise.
 Drought
While rising seas threaten coastal regions, drought can create climate
refugees inland.
India Leads in Migration to OECD Countries:

 In 2021 and 2022, India became the primary source of migration to OECD
countries, surpassing China. India consistently topped the list with 0.41
million new migrants in both years, while China had 0.23 million new
migrants, followed by Romania with approximately 200,000 new migrants.

 Climate-Induced Displacement and Policy Responses:The report sheds

light on the increasing focus on policy responses to climate-induced
displacement in recent years. Few OECD countries have explicit policies to
address this issue.
 Recent Trends in International Migration:All top four destination
countries (The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and
Spain) registered large year-on-year increases, between 21% and
35%. The increase was smaller in Canada (8%) the fifth destination
country
Impacts of migration
 Migration, can have various social, economic, and cultural impacts on
both the sending and receiving regions. The impacts of migration are
complex and multifaceted, and they can vary depending on factors such
as the scale of migration, the characteristics of migrants, and the policies
in place.

Social Impact:
 Positive: Migration can bring cultural diversity and contribute to the
enrichment of the social fabric in the receiving community. It can lead to
a more diverse and vibrant society.
 Negative: Social tensions may arise due to cultural differences,
competition for resources, or perceived threats to local identity.
Integration challenges may also lead to social isolation for some migrants.
Demographic Impact:
 Positive: Migration can help address demographic imbalances by
filling gaps in the labor force, particularly in countries experiencing
aging populations and declining birth rates.
 Negative: Migration can also lead to demographic challenges, such
as brain drain, where skilled professionals leave their home countries,
resulting in a loss of human capital.
Economic Impact:
 Positive: Migrants often contribute to the economy of the receiving
country by filling labor market gaps, especially in industries with labor
shortages. They may take up jobs that locals are unwilling to do.
 Negative: Migrants may also face economic challenges, such as
exploitation, low wages, or limited access to social benefits, which can
contribute to social inequality.
Political Impact:
 Positive: Migration can contribute to political stability by alleviating economic
pressures in the sending countries and fostering economic growth and stability
in receiving countries.
 Negative: Political tensions may arise due to debates over immigration policies,
concerns about national identity, and the potential strain on public services.
Cultural Impact:
 Positive: Cultural exchange and diversity can lead to a more enriched
and dynamic cultural landscape in the receiving community, fostering
tolerance and understanding.
 Negative: Cultural clashes may occur, and there may be resistance to
change or a perceived threat to local traditions and values.
Remittances:
 Positive: Migrants often send remittances back to their home
countries, contributing to the economic development of their
communities and families.
 Negative: Dependence on remittances can create economic
vulnerabilities in sending countries, and disparities may arise
between those who receive remittances and those who do not.
India was always a destination of world migrations because of its

 Fertile soil
 Availability of rainfall
 Subtropical climate
 Long coast lines
 Resource richness
 Strategic location ( south of central Asia)
 Welcoming culture of people
 Earliest known immigrants – 70000 years ago – From Africa

 Homo sapiens - Australo pithecus Rama pithcus – remnants

have been identified from Shiwaliks

 Later Indian subcontinent witnessed

People, who built Indus valley civilization

 They came from middle east- africa- Mediterranean regions.
 Proto Australoids
 Coming of Central Asian Aryan – spread towards the east Ganga
plains- Indo Aryan language - theVedic culture

 Bactrians
 Sithians
 Persian
 Afghan
 Gurjara prathiharas
 Sathavahanas
 Post voyages – colonial wave
 Coming of westerners
 British French Portuguese Dutch
20th century migrations

 2oth century migration had dominance of Refugees –

 Poverty
 Political Conflicts
 Natural disasters – sea level; rise
4 reason that caused the wave of migrations to India
 Political unstable neighbors
 Indian economic system more stable
 Opportunities for economic activities
 A healthy and accommodative socio political society
 Borders were not well monitored – climate related
In migration trends - India
 Indo Pak partition
 Open border – Nepal migrantrs
 Tibetan refugees – 1960s -
 Afghan refugees – 1980s - Russian and Taliban
 Bangladesh refugees – poverty related
 Tamil refugees – Srilankan wars – Tamil nadu, south Kerla
21st century Migrations

 Rohingyas - Myanmar
 Bangladesh
 Afghanistan
India stand On Refugees
 India is not a signatory of Geneva convention on refugees – 1951
 Not a signatory of 1967 – Refugee protocol treaty
 India is a signatory of INTERNATIONAL COVENANT ON CIVIL AND
POLITICAL RIGHTS
 India is a signatory of – INTERNATIOANL COVENANT ON ECONOMIC
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS

both are the integral parts of HUMAN RIGHTS TREATIES. Human rights
include some refugee rights also
 We are a signatory of human rights treaty – so indirectly India has a
responsibility to handle the refugees.
 Constitutional obligations under article 21 – right to life- indirect
obligations in treating refugees in a dignified way.

 The refugees are not entitled to non-refoulement unless India adopts

new legal obligations. Supreme court judgment 2021,
 Intra state – inter state migration India

 Urban centers are the poles of migration

 Young male migrants are more in number
 With in the state or neighboring states
 Push factors – poverty, un employment dominates
 UP, Bihar, Jharkhand Chhattisgarh and odisha– 70% of inter
state
 Unskilled semi skilled population

Main destinations
 Large urban centers- Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka Gujarat
and Kerala
 Intra state –
 Dominated by women - >50%
 Rural to rural and rural to urban
 Displacement of tribal population due to developmental
projects – central India
 Bhils,Khonds – MP,Chatisgarh odisha…

Conflict related migration –

 Mainly in North east India - Nagas- kuki-

n-gl.com
Population
Geography
Ethnicity
 it refers to the cultural or social identity that connects an individual
or a group of people based on shared heritage, language, religion,
or other common factors. Ethnicity is often distinct from nationality
and is more related to cultural characteristics

 Culture is the consequence of the environmental conditions

around The type of environment we live

 Culture is also the basis of how man behave/deal with

environment.
Components of Ethnicity

1. Culture
2. Location
3. Races
Human Races
 The idea of race has been historically used to categorize and
differentiate people based on physical characteristics.

Racial classification take

1. Height
2. Physical built
3. Skin color
4. Body hair
5. Eye color
6. Shape of head etc…
Primary races

1. Negroids - originated around the victoria lakes – (OOA

Migration)
2. Caucasoids - Caucasias region – CENTRAL ASIA
3. Mangaloids – Out of china migration – China
 The spread of Caucasoid to the new world is a recent phenomenon
– after the enlightenment phase
Racial diversity of indian subcontinent.

 South Asia has not been the home of evolution of Homo sapiens
 However there are fossils of Hominen – dating back to 3 million years
– Australopithecus – Ramapithecus
 These are considered as originated in Africa and later on migrated
towards the indian sub continent.

 Out of Africa migartion

 Like wise the sub continent was populated by the earliest tribes from Africa- who
are now the representatives of oldest culture ,isolated in the islands, forest and
highlands of south Asia
 The Sentinelese, also known as the Sentineli and the North Sentinel Islanders,
are indigenous people who inhabit North Sentinel Island in the Bay of Bengal in
the northeastern Indian Ocean. Designated a particularly vulnerable tribal
group and a Scheduled Tribe

 The Jarawas are an indigenous people of the Andaman Islands in India. They live
in parts of South Andaman and Middle Andaman Islands, and their present
numbers are estimated at between 250–400 individuals

 They are south Asia's earliest dwellers appears 1 lakh to 70000 years ago
Basis of India's racial diversity
 India has great mix of different races, that no where in the world can
witness. This became possible because of some environmental and
human induced factors.

 Proximity to Africa- middle east- Tibet east china – central Asia

 Geographical factors – that encouraged people to move into south Asia
 India has rich resource basis
 Inter mixing of races with in the subcontinents.

 This has created a unique Indian race – mixing

Indian racial composition is the
 consequences of in migration
 Inter mixing of different races
 Isolation of some of the groups
Race of India

1. Negritoes
2. Mediterranean
3. Proto Austroloid
4. Mongoloids
5. Caucasoid
Negritos
 Variants of Negroids
 Short
 Dark skin
 Wooly hair
 Bulbous forehead - Round and fatty
 Sharp jaw lines
 Pygmis,sentineles,jarawas,andamanis ong tribes
 Todas,hangami nagas, pulayas
 Out of africa hypothesis
Proto australoids
 Slightly strong
 Muscular
 Dark – deep brownish
 Straight hair
 Bulbous forehead
 Bulk of tribes of central India
 Irulars,munda,Bhils,ghonds,oroans

 Out of Africa – middle east people.

 First builders Indus valley civilization
Mediterranean
 Taller
 Strong build
 Brown skin
 Straight hair
 Brown to black eyes
 Came from Mediterranean coast around the Greece

 First carriers of Hinduism main builders of the Indus valley civilizations

 They are well distributed in the Dravidian population, northern plains
 Rajasthan up, Maharashtra
 They came with higher levels of civilizations and urbanizations
 shivates
Caucasoid

 Central Asia
 Caucasian mountain
 Muscular
1. Indo Aryans
2. Western brachycephals

 Indo Aryans are the carriers of later Hinduism – vishnavates.

 Rural agro pastoralists – came with Horses
 They brought the indo Aryan languages
Western brachycephals

 Relatively more fair

 Round face
 More body ahor
 Balding
 Came to India late
 They are the arminoids,alpinoids,parcy, koorgis
Mongoloid
 Migrated from Tibet China and south east Asia
 Yellow skin
 Straight hair
 Short height
 Eyes with Epicanthic folds
1. Tibeto mangoloid – arunachal pradesh nagaland ladak
 Hill tribes in India shifting agri – pastorals
 Tribes of Garo,khasi. Miso. naga ,dafla, miri tribes
2. Palaeo mangaloid
 Relatively brownish yellow
 Round face
 Relatively more bald
 Plain dwellers
 Agricultures
 Barman region of Myanmar Assam. West bengals
Languages

 Most significant determinant of cultural identity

 Communication of Cultural Identity
 Preservation of Traditions and Heritage
 Thinking and transmission of ideas
 Means of Social Interaction and Integration
 It is the basis of symbolic landscape and identity
 Basis of delimitation of the regions of the world
World Language group

1. Afro Asiatic languages – south of Sahara

2. Sino Tibetan – east Asia – china Korea Japan
3. Austric language – primitive tribes ( Andaman-central India )
4. Indo European language group – most wide spread languages in
the world
Indo European language group
 It is the Most wide spread language gropus

Sub groups
1. Baltic and Slavic language – latria Lithuania Estonia + Russian
2. Indic – Germanic
3. Gaelic and Celtic
4. Nordic - Sweden Norway Finland
5. Italic group
6. Persian – Iranic
7. Greek – Hellenic group of language
 Major language groups in India

1. Indo Aryan
2. Dravidian
3. Austria
4. Sino Tibetan language
1.Indo Aryan – largely influenced by central Asian
language

 Hindi related
 Non Hindi Aryan

Hindi
 Hindi, Marathi Rajasthan, Bengali and numerous dialects.
Non Hindi group
 Dardic group – kashmiri,baltistani,dogri, Nuristani etc…
2. Dravidian group
 Very unique origin
 Most probably Tamil is considered as the root language of Dravidian
languages
 By considering the presence of Scripts and texts and oral history,
Tamil is considered as the oldest living languages in the world.

 Tamil, kannada telugu Malayalam

 Gondi language – central Indian tribes. ( Gondwana land )
 Brahui language – spoken in Pakistan tribe
3. Austric group
 Among the very oldest languages
 Older than Tamil But it has only oral traditions

 Originally it lacks scripts and lack written traditions

 Tribal and PVTG – particularly vulnerable tribal group.
 under the most vulnerable to external cultural influence
 Amalgamation of other prominent languages.
 represented by Munda or Kol group
4. Sino Tibetan
 Influenced by Tibetan and Chinese culture
 J&k and north east
 North western himalaya has influences of central Asian languages
 So Chinese influence is more in the eastern Himalayas.
 Well developed in the north eastern states
 The spread is typically studied in terms of geographical factors
–
 North eastern India is geographically more isolated from rest
of India and has more commonalities with the Tibetan and
Myanmar region
 Sino Tibetan languages in the north east- there are greater
diversity in the language.
The mosaic of Indian languages is the consequence
of isolated regional origin and a result of inter
mingling
 Languages in India is locally developed
 Language is the consequences of intermingling
 They makes he south asia a unique region of language
Local /Regional origin
 As Tamil is the root language, the Dravidian family of languages is is
unique to India
 Though several languages are rooted in one family they have a
distinct identity as a language
 Rajasthan rajastan
 gujrathi Gujarat
 Marathi Maharashtra…
Different dialects With in the language groups there are
Eg - Northern Tamil nadu speaks a different tamil than kanniakumari
tamil
Linguistic diversity is also the result of intermingling

 Indo Aryan languages

 Hindi has lot of commonality with central Asian languages,
 Persian language
 English influence
 Urdu is a mix of different languages. Maximum intermixing
 Although Dravidian languages are south Indian language
 It has influences in the north west.

 Nowadays intermixing is very rapid – mainly in the urban areas-

urban cosmopolitan population

 Religious texts has great influence in the intermingling of language –

Sanskrit – Gujarat – arujnachal Pradesh J&k Tamil
 Linguistic diversity has impacted the development of culture in
Indian subcontinents.

 Literature
 Books
 Music
 Dance form has shaped the unique culture in different parts
English the link language of various cultures

 The English one of the most wide speak languages

British colonial expansion
 19th and 20th century development and innovations were from English
speaking regions.
 Spread of English went faster after internet culture
 Most convenient bridge language – India link language
 Most adaptive and assimilative language
Cultural regions of India

 The basis of regional demarcation can be any criteria- either physical or

human.
 Human factors in regionalization can be human activities like
agriculture industry or elements of cultures like language religion tribal
diversity.
 The study of cultural diversity is part of study of geographic diversity
Cultural regions
 Religion regions
 Linguistic regions
 Tribal regions
Regions

 regions are an Important aspect of cultural diversity

 Every religion has local regional rituals, belief system, local gods and
languages

 The dominant religion is Hinduism – 79.8

 14.2 % Islam
 CHRISTIAN 2.3 %
 Others – 2-4%
Regionally Hinduism can be divided into

1. Hindi belt – with the influence of Sanskrit

2. Central belt and north west Himalayan belt – with tribal influence.
3. Southern – with Dravidian languages

The Islamic –
Northern belt with - Hindi east up Bihar
 Western UP, Rajasthan

 Islamic region of Kashmir – more influenced by central Asian culture

 Bengali Muslim- influence from Assam
South Islam belt
 Hyderabad region - nizam
 Central Deccan – western telungana and north karnataka
 Northern Kerala – Muslims
 Parts of tamilnadu

 Muslim belt of north east – Manipur Tripura Assam belt

Christianity

 the southern states of Kerala .North east states of india.central

Indian pockets.


Sikh
 Punjab

Buddhist population
 Ladak
 North eastern
 The existing Buddhist regions in India has originated as consequences of
cultural interactions.
Jainism
 Rajasthan Gujarat north Maharashtra
 Jainism got greater spread in the trading communities
 Its roots in the dry western parts of India
 Because of trade and mobility Jainism has spread to good part of
India
 It is integral to Marwad culture
LINGUISTIC REGIONS OF INDIA
 Indian centre of culture and art divide India into 12 linguistic regions.
1. Assmami
2. Bengali
3. odiya
4. Tamil
5. Telugu
6. Malayalam
7. Kannada
8. Marathi
9. Gujrathi
10. Punjabi
11. Kashmimri
12. Hindi
12 regions are broadly classified under 7 cultural centers

1. Northern cultural centre – Punjabi – Patiala centre

2. Southern regional centre – Dravidian culture- Tanjaore
3. Eastern cultural region- Bangla Odiya Assami – Kolkata
4. Western cultural region- Gujrati Rajasthan Marathi – Udaipur
5. North eastern tribal and Budhist – Dhimapur
6. Northern cultural centre – hindi – prayagraj
7. South central – tribal and vidharbha region – Nagpur
n-gl.com
Population
Geography
TRIBES OF INDIA
 In geography, the term "tribe" is often used to describe a social group or
community of people who share common characteristics, such as
cultural practices, language, and often a specific geographical
location. These groups are often linked by social ties, historical
connections, and a sense of shared identity.

 Geographers may study tribes to understand the spatial distribution of

different ethnic or cultural groups, analyze patterns of migration and
settlement, and explore the interactions between human societies and
their environments.
 According to the 2011 Census of India, scheduled tribes (STs) constitute
about 8.6% of the country's total population.

 Scheduled Tribes in India are officially recognized groups with specific

characteristics and are eligible for affirmative action and welfare
measures provided by the government to protect their distinct identities
and promote their socio-economic development.
Distribution of tribal population

 India is home to a diverse range of tribal communities, each with its

unique cultural, linguistic, and social characteristics. The tribal regions of
India are spread across various states, primarily in the central, eastern,
northeastern, and southern parts of the country. Some of the prominent
tribal regions include:

 The Western Himalayan region, which includes the states of Jammu and
Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, is home to several tribal
communities.
 Gaddis ,Bakarwals,Bhotias,Tharus,Jaunsaris
 Northeast India: States like Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur,
Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim are home to numerous
tribes such as the Bodo, Khasi, Garo, Naga, Kuki, Mizo, and many others

 Central India: States like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and

parts of Maharashtra are known for their tribal populations. The Gond,
Bhil, Santhal, Oraon, and Baiga are some of the major tribal communities
found in this region.

 Western India: Gujarat and Rajasthan have tribal communities like the
Bhil, Garasia, and Bhilala. These tribes are predominantly found in the hilly
and forested regions of these states.
 Southern India: States like Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, and Tamil
Nadu also have significant tribal populations. The tribes in these states include
the Santal, Munda, Oraon, Kondh, and Kuruba, among others.

 Western Ghats: The tribal communities in the Western Ghats region, spanning
across states like Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra, include the
Irula, Kurumba, Todas, and several others.

 Andaman and Nicobar Islands:

 The indigenous populations of these islands, such as the Great Andamanese,
Onge, Nicobarese, and Jarawa,
Tribal issues
Tribal issues in India encompass a range of socio-economic, cultural, and
political challenges faced by the indigenous tribal or Adivasi communities

1. Land Rights and Displacement:

 Tribal communities often face displacement due to large-scale
infrastructure projects, mining, and urbanization, leading to the loss of
their traditional lands.
 Land alienation is a significant issue, with encroachment by non-tribal
communities and lack of secure land tenure for Adivasis.
2. Forest Rights:
 Forest-dependent tribal communities face challenges in securing
their traditional rights over forest resources. The implementation of
the Forest Rights Act (2006) has been uneven, leading to disputes
and conflicts over forest land.
3. Economic Marginalization:
 Many tribal communities grapple with economic marginalization,
limited access to education, healthcare, and employment
opportunities. Poverty and lack of infrastructure contribute to their
socio-economic challenges.
4. Cultural Identity and Discrimination:
 Adivasi cultures and languages often face erosion, leading to the loss
of cultural identity. Discrimination and stereotyping by mainstream
society contribute to their sense of exclusion.
5. Education and Healthcare:
 Limited access to quality education and healthcare services in tribal
areas hampers the overall development of these communities. Lack of
schools and healthcare facilities, along with linguistic and cultural
barriers, poses challenges.
6. Political Representation:
 Adivasis are often underrepresented in political institutions, leading to a
lack of effective advocacy for their rights and interests. Ensuring
adequate political representation is crucial for addressing tribal issues.
7. Violence and Conflicts:
 Some tribal regions experience violence and conflicts, often related
to disputes over land, resources, and development projects. Militancy
and insurgency in certain areas further exacerbate the challenges
faced by tribal communities.
What need to be done

 Benefit of development like education or technology should reach

them
 Ensure Adequate Budget Allocations
 Economic Upliftment
 ensuring access to quality nutrition and health resources
 efforts are also needed to preserve their heritage, culture, language,
art, traditions and sensibilities.
Initiatives
Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006:

 The FRA recognizes and vests forest rights and occupation in forest-dwelling
Adivasi communities and other traditional forest dwellers. It aims to address
historical injustices related to forest land and resources.

PMVKY

 Ministry of Tribal Affairs is implementing ‘Pradhan Mantri Vanbandhu

KalyanYojana (PMVKY)’ which includes many schemes for development
and welfare of tribal communities. The scheme has been approved for
implementation during 2021-22 to 2025-26 with a total cost of Rs. 26135.46
crores
Scheme components covered under the PMVKY are as follows:
1. Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojna (PMAAGY)
2. Development of Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
3. Support to Tribal Research Institutes
4. Pre-Matric Scholarship
5. Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme
Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Plan (SCA to TSP)
 This assistance is provided to states for activities related to tribal
development, focusing on sectors like education, health, agriculture,
and infrastructure.

Eklavya Model Residential Schools (EMRS)

The scheme of Eklavya Model Residential School (EMRS) is being
implemented as a central sector scheme to provide quality education
to Scheduled Tribes (ST) students (Class 6th to 12th) in remote areas to
enable them to access the best opportunities in education and to
bring them at par with the general population.
Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-
NRLM) is a flagship poverty alleviation program implemented by the
Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India.

National Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation

(NSTFDC), a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) under the Ministry
of Tribal Affairs, extends concessional loans to the eligible Scheduled
Tribe persons for undertaking income generation activities/ self-
employment through its implementing agencies.
Adivasi Adhikar Yojana:
This scheme aims to address the issue of land rights by conducting
surveys and facilitating the distribution of individual and community
land titles among tribal communities.
TRADE AND TRANSPORT
 Current affair based
 Need to be updated with current affairs
 Economic survey – update
Significance of transportation ?
Significance of transportation

 Urban development
 Inclusive development
 Labor mobility
 Supply chain
 Migration
 Economic development
 Link locations
 Security
 Cultural intermingling
 Trade and transportation are very important for regional connectivity
 A vital component in resource process.
 Land use pattern
 Security of a place
 To minimize the regional imbalances in development.
 The significance of transportation in India's geography is profound, given
the country's vast and diverse landscape, comprising plains, mountains,
deserts, and coastal areas.
 No region is self sufficient in terms of resources.
 Transport networks and trade pattern establish inter regional interaction
and inter regional complementarity, which drives the regions economic
prosperity.
 So Trade and transport are the main components of flow systems
between regions
 Trade and transport are very crucial and significant part of every resource
process that comprises of
production – market and consumption.
Resource gathering – production – marketing

 Which can be seen in the traditional models of land use pattern

 von Thunens model
 Webbers theory
 central place theory etc… are about cost efficiency in transportation.
 Agglomeration are an example where cost minimization is achieved
through reducing transport cost.
Trade and transport in the geographical analysis

 Trade & Transportation are an major are of geographical analysis.

 Geopolitical theories has mentioned the significance of transportation in the

sphere of geopolitics.
1. Theory of Alfred Mahan
 Mahan argued that British control of the seas, combined with a corresponding
decline in the naval strength of its major European rivals, paved the way for
Great Britain's emergence as the world's dominant military, political, and
economic power.

 He said sea power is the base of dominance- because of the access it gives for
controlling locations around the globe.
 The global regions can be controlled if the trade routs are controlled.
2. Mackinder said – Geopolitocal dominance is possible by
controlling heartland,
the advantages of heartland is partly because of its plains
that facilitates connectivity and mobility within the
heartland.
Mackinder was inspired by the prospects that the trans
Siberian railways – which connects the heartland.
 Spike man said, geopolitical dominance is by influencing the rim
land through the networks of ports and mobility of rim land and its
coastal waters.

 The significance of trade and transport reaffirm in the expansion of

china of 21st century through its belt and road initiative – they try to
establish theory of geopolitical dominance.
 Provisions of UNCLOS – accommodates the navigation rights and sea
route access with in the constraints of security and territorial; integrity.
 Innocent passage
 transit passage
 navigation rights in the choke points are examples of how Trade and
transport are also integral in the inter regional collaboration.
 At regional investment - indias investment - kaladan multi modal
transport
 Ganga Mekong plan.
Trade and transport - the basis of development

 Growth theories – Francius Perraux - significance of channels of growth

spread – Channels are connectivity to reach out to more locations.

 Trade and transport are the basis of functional linkages that spread growth
from the growth poles to peripherals.

 In Rostov's model – the pre conditions of take off are elements of trade and
transport.

 Gunnar Myrdal - The cumulative causation theory – concentration of

development in some places is because of the imbalances in
transportation and connectivity.
Periphery model of Friedman
 Significance of transport mentioned in Core-
 There is core – development take place – if the core is
connected with a satellite town
 Periphery town also develop joined by the transportation
network.
 Exchanges between the centers.
 In India the committees that evaluates regional imbalances and
establish criteria for backwardness have gave more emphasis on
Transportation networks

 MRTS – MASSIVE RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM

 TOD MOFDEL OF URBAN DEVELOPMEMT. –TRANSIT ORIENTED
DEVELOPMENT.
 Importance of PMGSY – AS PART OF IRDP
 Rural roads as important – durable rural assets- in employment generation
schemes.
 Dedicated freight corridors
 Sagar mala projects
 Roads as part of border area development works.
India modes of transportation
 Given the territorial size, Diversity of Physiography ,Range of products
traded and transported, India needs a multi modal approach
 Each of the modes have their advantages and disadvantages
And there are consideration related to
 Last mile connectivity
 Ease of acquisition of land
 Investment required
 Supporting infrastructure
 Operation costs including energy
 Concerns of security
 Environmental issues
 Emission related concerns.
Road ways

 Accessibility:
Last-Mile Connectivity: Roads provide the flexibility for last-mile
connectivity, ensuring accessibility even in remote and rural areas
where other modes of transportation may be limited.
 Economic Development:
Market Access: Road networks enable businesses to reach markets
efficiently, promoting economic development. Small and medium
enterprises, particularly in rural areas, benefit from the accessibility
provided by roads.
 Rural Connectivity:
Connecting Villages: India has a large rural population, and road
transport is crucial for connecting villages to urban centers,
facilitating the movement of people, agricultural produce, and
goods.
 Infrastructure Development:
 Cost-Effectiveness:
Cost-Effective for Short Distances: Road transport is often cost-
effective for short to medium distances, making it a preferred mode
for intra-city and intra-state transportation.
 Emergency Response:
Quick Emergency Services: Roads play a crucial role in facilitating
quick responses during emergencies, allowing for the rapid movement
of ambulances, fire trucks, and other emergency services.
 Tourism Promotion:
 Job Creation:
Employment Opportunities: The road transport sector
generates employment opportunities in various areas,
including drivers, mechanics, and administrative roles,
contributing to livelihoods.
 Connectivity in Hilly Terrain:
Himalayan Region: In hilly and mountainous regions, where
other modes of transport may face challenges, well-
constructed roads play a crucial role in connecting remote
areas.
 Interstate Connectivity:
Connecting States: The extensive road network facilitates interstate
connectivity, promoting economic integration and regional
development.
 Flexible Routing:
Adaptability: Roads allow for flexible routing, enabling vehicles to
reach destinations even in areas without a fixed rail or air
infrastructure.
Railways
 Cost-Effective Transportation:
 Rail transport is often more cost-effective for moving large quantities of
goods over long distances compared to other modes of transportation. It
is particularly efficient for bulk commodities like coal, minerals, and
agricultural products.
 Mass Transit of Passengers:
 Indian Railways is one of the world's largest rail networks, providing an
extensive and affordable means of passenger transportation. It plays a
significant role in mass transit, connecting urban and rural areas and
facilitating the movement of people across the country.
 Connectivity Across Diverse Terrains:
 Railways are well-suited for traversing diverse geographical terrains,
including mountains, plains, and plateaus. They can navigate
challenging landscapes where road transport may be less feasible.
 Energy Efficiency:
 Rail transport is generally more energy-efficient per ton-kilometer than
road transport. The ability to move large volumes of goods and
passengers with lower energy consumption contributes to environmental
sustainability.
 Reduced Traffic Congestion:
 Railways help alleviate road traffic congestion by providing an
alternative mode of transportation for both passengers and freight. This is
particularly important in densely populated urban areas.
 Economic Development:
 Efficient railway connectivity promotes economic development by
facilitating the movement of raw materials, finished goods, and people.
Industries benefit from reliable transportation, and regions become more
accessible for trade and commerce.
 Safety and Reliability:
 Rail travel is generally considered safer compared to other modes of
transportation. The well-maintained railway infrastructure and
adherence to safety standards contribute to the reliability and safety
of rail services.
 Long-Distance Travel:
 Railways are well-suited for long-distance travel, offering comfort and
amenities for passengers during extended journeys. They provide an
important means of connecting major cities and remote areas.
 Employment Generation:
 The railway sector is a significant employer, generating jobs in various
fields such as operations, maintenance, signaling, and station
management. It contributes to livelihoods and economic
opportunities for a large workforce.
 Strategic Importance:
 Railways have strategic importance in national defense and
security. The ability to quickly transport troops and equipment
during emergencies or times of conflict is a crucial aspect of the
railway's role.
 Infrastructure Development:
 The development and maintenance of railway infrastructure
contribute to overall infrastructure development in the country. This
includes the construction of tracks, stations, bridges, and other
facilities.
 Integration with Other Modes of Transport:
 Railways integrate with other modes of transport, such as road and
sea transport, through multimodal transportation. This enhances
overall connectivity and facilitates the seamless movement of
goods across different transport networks.
Water ways

 Account for the most affordable for longer transport.

 Waterways has the highest bulk transport mode
 Cheapest means of transport
 Coal oil raw material
 Oceans and maritime trade accounts for morethan90% of all long
distance international and inter continental shipments.
 If it is bulk – it is carried by water ways
 Environmental friendly
Maritime and inland waterways

 Ocean and rivers

 India has 13 major 200 plus minor ports

 But inland water ways are not well developed in India.
 NW 1 - The Ganga - Bhagirathi - Hooghly river system between
Haldia (Sagar) and Allahabad

 National water ways 2 - sadia to dubri along Brahmaputra

India - International water ways
1. Ganga – mekong – river transport component
2. kaladan project – multi modal
Kolkata to sittve port in myanmar – kaladan river
3. International north south trade corridor – india - iran – russia (Sea- rail
road)
1. India middle east Europe economic corridor
Pipelines

 Most cheapest for oil and slurry transportation

 Iron ore and bauxites – are moved as slurry to other regions.
 Least polluting and
 Cheapest mode
n-gl.com
Settlement geography
 Settlements geography is a branch of Human geography that
focuses on the study of
the spatial patterns, distribution, structure, and organization of human
settlements.
It examines how and why human settlements are located where
they are, how they develop over time, and how they interact with
the surrounding environment.

 Human settlements refer to places where people live, ranging from

small villages to large cities.
Types of settlements

 Rural settlements
 Urban settlements
Rural settlements

Rural settlements are areas where people live in a more dispersed

pattern, often characterized by a lower population density and a
focus on agriculture or other primary economic activities.

Urban settlements
Urban settlements are areas where the population is concentrated
in a relatively high density, typically characterized by a developed
infrastructure, diverse economic activities, and a wide range of
social and cultural amenities
 Rural settlements Urban settlements
Population density Low population density, with High population density,
people living in a dispersed characterized by concentrated
manner across the landscape. and often multi-story housing

Economic Primarily focused on agriculture, Diverse economic activities,

Activities forestry, fishing, and other natural including manufacturing, services,
resource-based activities. commerce, technology, finance,
and entertainment.

Land use is dominated by Mixed land use, with distinct zones

Land use pattern agriculture and natural resource for residential, commercial,
utilization. industrial, and recreational
Residential areas are often purposes. Land use is often planned
interspersed with farmland. and regulated.
Land use is not planned
 Homogeneous communities Diverse populations with people
Social and Cultural with a strong sense of local from various cultural backgrounds.
Diversity identity. Cultural diversity may Urban areas are cultural melting
be limited. pots with a wide range of lifestyles.

Limited infrastructure, with Well-developed infrastructure,

Infrastructure basic services and often less including extensive transportation
developed transportation systems, utilities, communication
networks. networks, and public services.

Environment Human impact on the Higher environmental impact due

impacts environment is often related to concentrated human activities,
to agriculture and resource leading to issues like pollution,
extraction. waste generation, and habitat
disruption.
Mode of transportation Limited transportation Well-developed
options, often relying on transportation systems,
personal vehicles. including buses, subways,
Public transportation may trains, and extensive road
be scarce. networks.
Types of rural settlements
1. Compacted rural settlements/nucleated settlements
2. Semi compact settlements
3. Hamlet settlements
4. Scattered or dispersed settlements
Compacted rural settlements/ nucleated settlements

 Compacted rural settlements refer to a type of rural settlement pattern

where houses and structures are grouped closely together in a
concentrated manner.
 This type of settlements mainly found where fertile agriculture land is
available – Indo gangetic plains.
 Found mainly in the doab regions of Punjab and Haryana and up to the
west Bengal.
 The size of the settlement is decided by the resource base of the
surrounding areas.
 Reasons for the formation of compacted settlement- fertility, security,
resource, unity among the dwellers.
Semi compact settlements

 Semi-compact settlements represent a transitional or intermediate

form between dispersed and fully compacted settlements.
 In such settlements, there is a degree of clustering or grouping of
structures, but they are not as tightly packed as in fully compacted
settlements
 Hamlet settlements are small, compact, and often isolated communities,
typically consisting of a handful of dwellings.

 Hamlets are often located in remote or rural areas, contributing to their sense
of isolation. They may be situated away from major roads or urban centers.

 These settlements are smaller than villages and lack some of the basic
amenities and services found in larger rural communities. Hamlets are
characterized by their simplicity, close-knit nature, and dependence on
nearby towns or villages for resources and services.

 North east regions

Scattered or dispersed settlements

 Scattered or dispersed settlements refer to a type of human settlement

pattern where dwellings are spread out over a wide area.
 Scattered settlements are often associated with rural or agricultural
areas where people need larger plots of land for farming or other
activities.
Pattern of rural settlements

1. rectangular pattern
 The rectangular pattern of rural settlements is a type of settlement
layout characterized by the arrangement of buildings and
infrastructure in a grid-like or rectangular pattern. This pattern is
often observed in areas where land has been divided into uniform
parcels or lots, typically for agricultural purposes.
2. Linear pattern
A linear pattern of rural settlements refers to a settlement layout where
structures are arranged along a straight line or a linear feature such as
a road, river, or a topographic feature.
This type of settlement pattern is often influenced by geographic or
environmental factors, as well as historical and cultural considerations.

Settlements in a linear pattern are typically aligned along a

natural or human-made feature, such as a riverbank, coastline,
road, railway, or a ridge.

linear settlements may have developed along historical roads or

trade routes,
3. Circular or semi-circular patterns
 Circular or semi-circular patterns of rural settlements can be found in certain
geographical, cultural, or historical contexts. These settlement patterns are
characterized by houses arranged in circular or semi-circular formations
 Circular settlements often have a central focal point, such as a common
area or religious structure, around which houses are arranged

 The central focal point often serves as a gathering space for community
activities, ceremonies, or social interactions.

 Settlements development around a lake

4. star-like settlement pattern

 A star-like settlement pattern refers to a layout in which buildings and

structures radiate outward from a central point, resembling the spokes of
a wheel. This pattern creates a star-like configuration when viewed from
above.
 The central point is a focal area from which pathways or roads extend
outward in multiple directions, shaping the overall design of the
settlement.
 The star-like pattern provides easy accessibility to the central point
from all directions. This facilitates movement within the settlement
and promotes a sense of centrality.
5. Nebular pattern
It is a circular pattern developing all
around a centre. This centre could be
anything ranging from a temple to a
landlord's house, etc.

This is a settlement pattern that is in the

process of development
6. Amorphous rural settlements
 amorphous rural settlements" refers to a type of rural
settlement pattern characterized by a lack of a specific or
defined structure.

 Lack of Clear Structure

 Random Arrangement
 Adaptation to Terrain
MORPHOLOGY OF RURAL SETTLEMENTS

 The morphology of rural settlements refers to the physical layout, form, and
structure of human settlements in rural areas. It encompasses various
elements such as the arrangement of buildings, the organization of streets
and pathways, the distribution of land uses, and the overall spatial
configuration.
 Morphology of rural settlement is studied in
two ways

1. Ground plan
2. Built up area
 Morphology of rural settlements studies how settlements are laid out and
organized
 It looks at more than just the physical arrangement of buildings streets and
fields, it also consider how social and economic factors influence these layouts.

 This study is specially important for country like India where understanding the
lay outs of villages can reveal much about the socio cultural structures,
economic conditions and how open they are to new changes and innovations.
 Carl Sauer – emphasized the role of human being in shaping the
landscape
 And Yi Fu Tuan is known for his work on Humanistic geography and
have contributed significantly to understanding of the region as living
spaces.
Ground plan
 It refers to the layout or the arrangement of the settlements.
 It is influenced by factors such as Geographical features, culture and
historical factors and the socio economic aspects of the community.
 Eg – ground plan might be linear- along the river
 Circular around a central point
 Grid like in flat areas
 It is crucial in understanding how settlements interact with the natural
environment.
Built up area

 It focuses on actual physical structures with in the village

 It includes residential houses, public building etc..
 Its look at the architectural sites, building material and construction
techniques used in the village
 These elements are often influenced by local climate, available materials
cultural preferences and economic conditions.
 The design of individual buildings and their size height and orientation as well
as the presence of features like courtyards verandas or gardens are
considered under this components.
 The built up area is generally the reflection of village culture, life style
traditions etc…
 In India, general morphological division of Indian villages can be

 Residential areas- a group of houses where people live, where residence

often share social relationship,

 surrounding farmlands- the best soil in the village is used for growing
multiple crops. While the outer areas with less fertile soil, less water, and
single crop called as Manjha.

 Roads and paths – mostly unpaved roads are dominant which are
surrounded by agricultural lands or forest areas
 Multiple inhabited sites- with in the village boundaries , there can be
multiple clusters of dwellings separated by fields grazing lands etc…
 Central village - core of the village – often inhabited by Upper caste
and land lords
 Outline hamlets – they are mostly inhabited by lower caste, landless
labors etc… called as Purva- tola – pati – nagala etc…
urban settlements

 An urban settlement is a concentrated settlement that is part of

an urban area. It is an area with high density of human-created
structures.

 According to Harold Maclean Lewis, the trends in urban growth can be

visualized through population estimates.

 He classified towns into 9 categories.

Harold Maclean Lewis – urban growth model through
population size

 2500 to 5000 – Eupolis – infantine municipality

 5000 to 10000 – polis – juvenile town
 10000 to 25000 – matured trade/ industrial town
 25000 to 50000 – metropolis – medium sized city
 50000 to 1 L – megalopolis/ intermediate city
 1 L to 250000 – trade/industry/service sector city
 2.5 L to 5 L – primate city
 5 L 10 L – Tyranopolis
 10 L plus – mega city/ senile city
Concepts of Global cities

The concept of global cities refers to major urban centers that play a
crucial role in the global economic system, influencing international
business, culture, and politics.
These cities are characterized by their significant impact on the world
stage, serving as key nodes in the global network of economic and
cultural exchange.
The concept gained prominence in the late 20th century as
globalization intensified and certain cities became central hubs for
various activities.
Characteristics

 Economic Powerhouses: Global cities are major economic centers with

strong financial and commercial institutions. They attract multinational
corporations, financial services, and other business activities that
contribute significantly to the global economy.
 Infrastructure and Connectivity: Global cities boast advanced
infrastructure, including modern transportation systems, communication
networks, and other amenities that facilitate global connectivity
 Cultural influence- featuring diverse population
 World renowned educational institutions
 Global Influence: Global cities exert influence beyond their national
borders, shaping international policies, trends, and cultural norms. They
often host major international organizations, conferences, and events
 The globalization and world cities research network, categorizes
global cities into 4 tires

 Alpha
 Beta
 Gamma
 Sufficiency city.
Alpha city

 Alpha city is often used to describe a particular category of global

cities that are considered to be at the top of the global urban
hierarchy. The concept was popularized by the Globalization and
World Cities (GaWC) Research Network, which classifies cities based
on their level of integration into the global economy
 Alpha ++ NEWYOARK, LONDON
 Alpha + Paris, Beijing , hongkong
 Alpha Amsterdam , Jakarta, Mexico city Mumbai
 Alpha – Bangalore, Johannes berg, new Delhi, Stockholm
Beta cities
 Beta cities represent the second tier in the global urban hierarchy,
following Alpha cities. Like Alpha cities, Beta cities are significant
players in the global economy, but they generally have a slightly
lower level of influence and connectivity.

beta + - Atlanta,brisbane,Cairo ,Miami San Francisco,

Beta Abhudabi, Denver, panama, Chennai
beta - Manchester, Geneva, hyderabad
Gamma city

 Gamma cities are typically less integrated into the global economy
compared to Alpha and Beta cities but still play important roles,
particularly within their respective regions.

 Gamma+ Adileid ahmmedabad Dar e Salam ,kolkata, pune

 Gamma Ankara Colombo Bristol
 Gamma - Nagoya
Sufficiency

 Sufficiency level cities are cities that have a sufficient degree of

services so as not to be overly dependent on world cities

 Cochin, Rosario, Bern

 Theories of urban development

 Lewis Mumford proposed an influential model of urban growth that

describes the evolution of cities through different stage.
 Mumford model not a rigid framework but rather a way to understand the
historical and social development of an urban areas
 This model outline the following stages

1. Eopolis – marked with small rudimentary settlement

 The focus here is the basic survival needs with strong dependence on
natural environment.
 HUNTING AND GATHERING IS THE MAJOR ACTIVITY
2. Polis – characterized by more complex social structure
 Shift towards agriculture and craft specialization

 Gradually the socio cultural institutions developed

 There is a development of religious and political institutions, market
places
 And a more defined urban centre
 Eg- ancient Greeks roman
3. Metropolis- it’s a city or town that serves as a capital of a state or
region.
 Marked by advanced economic system
 Including trade and industry
 More sophisticated governance
 And cultural institutions
 And diverse social fabrics
 Urban infrastructure is more developed – which can supporting
larger population
4. Megalopolis
 First stage of decline of town or city due to regional clashes.

5. Tyranopolis
 It is s a town/city which shows drastic deterioration
 Egg- trade depression, insurgencies etc…
6. Necropolis - stage of counter urbaniasation
 Town shows drastic deterioration here the people shifts to hinter land
or rural areas due to war or economic breakdown
 Concentric zone model/ ring theory
Earnest Burges 1921

 This idea is also called as ECOLOGICAL THEORY OF CITY STRUCTURE.

 The idea behind the concentric model is that, the development of a
city takes place outwards from the central; area in a series of
concentric circles in zones
The Bid rent theory

 The Bid rent theory explain

 Why demand for land and therefore land use pattern vary across
the urban area.
 The basis of model is the relationship between – accessibility and land
rent.
 The more accessible locations, greater is the demand for it, which is
reflected in the distribution of land value.
 Since some land use place greater importance on accessibility, people
are prepared to pay higher rent for central locations.
Sector theory
 The concentric theory of Bergis was based on the conditions of American cities
in 1920S.
 Homer Hoyt observed, He gave this theory in 1939.

 The idea was that, because of rise of auto mobiles, , access to downtown had
been improved and a lot of shifting of uses in CBD had arisen.
 On major routes of transportation, sectors of specific land use were likely to
grow with the expansion of city.
 Residential land uses tend to be arranged in wedges Radiating from the
centre.
Multiple nuclei model – CD HARRIS & Ulman
Vans urban realm model

 By extending principles of multiple nuclei model, Vans Proposed the theory

 Developed in 1964 mainly to describe the changing urban structure of
American cities,

Important findings
 Decentralization of urban activities
 The model reflects the shift from a single dominant central city to multiple
model semi autonomous urban realms or sub centers.
Network city theory
 Network theory is relatively a modern approach in understanding the urban
settlements

 Emphasizing the role of networks in the developmental functioning of cities

 This theory deviate from traditional model that focus on physical layout and
internal dynamics of a single city, instead it looks at how cities are inter
connected through various networks, shaping their growth and evolution.
Key features
 Connectivity and network
 Central to the theory is the idea that, cities are not isolated entities but as
part of broader network

These network can be

 Transportation system
 Communication network system
 Economic network system.
 Information and communication technology

 The advent of information and communication is the driving force

behind network city

 High speed internet and mobile connectivity allow for the rapid flow of
information and facilitate remote working, e commerce and digital
services, diminishing the traditional importance of physical proximity.
 Cities are increasingly function with in global context.

 Network cities participate in worldwide exchange of goods,

services ,capital and labor

 This global integration impact local urban development and

policies.
Decentralization and polycentric development
 Sub centers are connected through various networks and can
specialize in different functions, leading to more decentralized urban
form.

Economic and social dynamics

 The theory acknowledges that urban dynamics are significantly
influenced bye economic and social network.
 Cities that are well connected and strategically position with in
networks tend to attract investment, talent and resources.
Quality of environment
 Network city focus on sustainable development and improving
quality of life
 Efficient connectivity can reduce need for physical travel, lowering
environmental impact.
 It also allows for distributed growth, potentially reducing stress on city
centers.
Exploded city model

 Proposed by venisa Watson

 It is a concept that criticize conventional urban planning model
,especially in the context of developing country, particularly in Africa.
 Watson south African urban planner argues that traditional model of
urban model which is often assume a western centric view, of orderly
and planned urban growth, do not adequately reflect the realities of
many cities in developing world.
Key features
 Non conformity to traditional model
 Here these cities exhibit exploded patterns with fragmented and
discontinuous urban landscape

Informal settlements or slums – characterized by poor living conditions and

lack of basic services and are not typically accounted for traditional urban
models.

Rapid unplanned urbanization- leads to larger population growth and higher

migration.
 Here the migration is mostly due to rural push
Socio economic disparities
 Wealthy Well planned neighborhood may exist along side the informal
settlements/ slums

Challenges in governance and planning

 It includes inadequate infrastructure, environmental degradation and
service delivery issue.

Adaptation and resilience – informal economies ,community networks

and local initiatives play crucial role in the survival of their inhabitants.
Sphere of urban influence
 This concept refers to the area or region around a city, that is directly or
indirectly affected by citie’s presence and activities.
 This influence extends beyond the physical boundaries of the city and
encompasses economic, social, cultural and environmental aspects.

key features are

 Economic influence – cities are economic hubs, and their influence on
surrounding areas include the spread of commercial activities, job
opportunities and services
 This can lead to development of suburban areas and even the growth
of smaller cities with in the sphere of influence.
 Rural areas with in this sphere transition towards urban oriented economies,
with residence commuting to the city for work or engaging in businesses that
cater to urban market.

Social and cultural influence

 Urban areas often set trends in lifestyles fashion and culture, which influences
surrounding regions
 This can be seen in changes in consumption pattern, adoption of urban
lifestyles and assimilation of urban cultural practices.
 Educational and health care facilities in the cities also attract people from
surrounding areas, impacting the social dynamics
Infrastructure and connectivity
 Infrastructure like road public transport and communication networks connect
city with hinterland.
 It facilitate movement of people, goods and services between urban centre
and surrounding areas.

Political and administrative influence.

 Main city influences policies and decisions that affect the wider region.
 This can include regional planning, transportation network and environmental
policies.
5 Environmental impact
 Negative impacts such as pollution resource depletion expansion of urban
heat island
 While positive impacts are – development of green spaces and
environmental conservation initiatives.

6. housing and real-estate

 Spillover effect in the form of suburbanization and changes in land use
pattern.
Urban agglomeration and urban
expansion
RURAL URBAN FRINGE
 Urban centres can never exist in isolation.
 They are always inter depended on external economies and their adjoining
areas.
 Eg – labour, industries -raw materials-finished goods, investment,

 Because of these interdependence, urban centres have higher prospects to

grow

 Growth is possible in terms of population , areal expansion

 Because of this, urban areas are best appreciated in terms of their economy
and their influence.
 The administrative boundary of a city is different from . But the influence of
that city. city and its services are not limited with in the administrative
boundaries.

1. Territorial concept – legal limit

2. A city as an economy

But the influence of the urban areas goes beyond the municipal
administrative boundaries.
This expansive influence of urban area that necessitate the discussions
around the concept of urban sphere of influence. Also called as the city
region or the Umland – (German term for city region)
 The urban influence doesn’t terminate abruptly.
 There is slow decline of influence of urban outwards. Where the
influence of urban economies and urban culture, reduces
progressively away from the city centre.
 If the joining regions beyond the urban influence is a rural regions,
there exist a zone of transition, where urban and rural economies co
exist, this zone of transition is called RURAL URBAN FRINGE

Rural urban fringe

 Fringe – is not a fixed area, it keep on moving as the city develops.
RURAL URBAN FRINGE AND
CHARACTERISTICS

 It is a zone of transition between the urban and rural land use.

 Fringe areas lies in rural administration, But with the influence from
the urban areas.
 It’s a zone of mixed land use. – with certain elements of mixed
activities

 Rural areas - primary economic activity, agriculture , non

planned settlements
 Urban land use –service sector, trade banking, industries urban
amenities,

 It is generally haphazard and dis organized expansion

 Because the rural administrative set up are not capable of managing
the urban expansion.

 Fringe zones will have squatters – illegal settlements

 Fringe zones, the land availability is more
 There fore extensive land use pattern of development
 Instead of vertical storeys, here the land use pattern is less efficient.
Lateral expansive settlement growth.

 Eg
 Golf ground
 Urban farm houses
 Long strips of shops- river malls - extensive land use no vertical
developments.
 Rural Urban fringe will have very high social distancing

 Cultural differences arise

 Urban class sees the rural dwellers who are there in the fringe areas as
un educated, low class with traditional lifestyles

 Rural people sees the urban dwellers as a threat to their culture.

Stages of rural urban fringe development – RP Mishra

stage – I
 Rural stage – traditional village culture, agriculture, dairying, poor
rural infrastructure, lack of development
stage II
 Still a rural landscape
 Choice of crop will change – according to the demand from the
city. Flowers, dairy, vegetables fruits etc… urban perishable – high
value products. - Market gardening
 Change in occupation structure – now rural population seek
employment in the urban areas.
 Seasonal temporary employment.
 Low wage categories – chef, drivers, domestic cleaners etc…
Third stage –

Stage III - Developments of urban suburbs – here the urbanisation

process is more visible.
Stage 1
 Urban extensive land use activities
 Airport
 Storage and warehousing
 Urban resorts
 Urban recreation parks
Stage 2

 development of dormitory towns

 Suburbs with only residential areas.
 Also called as commuters town – residential complexes.
 Only function is to stay.
Stage 3 – a proper urban area with more planned infrastructure.
 Stage of thriving local economy and local labour market.

 Urban areas- influence the surroundings- rural urban fringe rises – go

through a series of development – become extensions of urban
areas –
 The proper urbanisation of the fringe zone is related to the
expansion of motorway transport and improved connectivity.

 On the margins of the larger cities – they are called as Edge

cities
Satellite town –
 These are relatively smaller cities developing in the surroundings of a larger
city.
 It has an independent history of its own

 Not an edge cities not a consequences of sub urbanisation

 It has its own local economy
 And its own local employment
 Not economically dependent on the larger city
 Sat town historically must have been physically distinct and apart from the
main city
 Physically distinct from the main city

 The urban expansion and connectivity – the satellite city can become the
part of the main city and become a large urban agglomeration

 Eg- Delhi – Farfabad Meerut Ghaziabad Moradabad

 Where as gurgaun Noida were sub urban expansions.

 Mahabalipuram Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram,
Tiruvallur, Tirumazhisai and Minjur are proposed satellite town
development plans of Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority
 Edge cities Satellite

Sub urban expansion of the main Not the result of sub urban
city expansion

Starts as a dormitory town Not a dormitory town

Later stage it becomes a self
sustained urban centre.
It has its own historical
Doesn’t have a history of its own developments.
Significance of satellite towns

1.They have their own local economy and history of economic growth
2. they have a historical legacy so the local population connect with their
surrounding
 If the satellite town can be supported with modern infrastructure and better
growth avenues, the economy can multiply faster.
3. the region has large land availability.
4. generally in areas which are relatively backward compared to larger city
 Because of these advantages, satellite town has the prospects for

 Developing as counter magnet for the main city

 It can effectively de congest the larger city.
 Diversification of economic activities – economic diversification.
 They can become engines of growth for local economies – they can
become Growth poles of local regions.
 They are very effective if developed as transit points and logistic hubs
in connectivity infrastructure.
 urban hierarchy models

Urban hierarchy studies focus on understanding the organization and

structure of cities within a regional or global context. The concept of urban
hierarchy refers to the ranking of cities based on various criteria such as
population size, economic activities, infrastructure, and overall importance.
 One of the elements of settlements study is the study of hierarchy in
settlements.
 Hierarchy is the study of variations in size or functions of settlements that
expresses as some settlements emerging as more critical more
fundamental and dominant compared to other settlements.
 In a settlement complex, all settlements can not be of same
comparable importance in size.

 Hierarchy studies in geography expresses

 1. the patterns and 2. expresses relationship.
 There are three models of settlements hierarchy studies

1. The primate city concept - mark Jefferson

2. Rank size rule - ziff
3. Central place theory – Walter Christaller
 Primate and rank size rules are models in settlement hierarchy
based on population size.

 Cpt – models in hierarchy based on functional relationship.

The primate city concept
– Mark Jefferson 1939
Primate city concept
One of the models how cities relate each other,
It is an urban hierarchy model

According to primate city, a settlement complex, there exist one city that
is disproportionately large and excessively expressive of the nations
capacity and culture. –
This city capture the development prospects of the region
Aspirations of the population.
Studies of Jefferson
 Mark Jefferson has studies 51 countries and in 28 instances he found the larger
city was twice the next city
 And in 18 instances , he found the larger city was 3 times larger than the next
city.

 Eg – London is 5 time larger than the next city Birmingham

 Mexico city is 13 times larger than Guadalajara
 Sao polo is 6 times larger than Rio

 Kuala Lumpur, Mexico City, Lima, Seoul, Vienna, Budapest, Sao Paulo
and Tokyo.
How primate city develops ?

Linsky’s observed the following

1. countries with primate city are territorially small,
 low per capita income,
 significant agricultural economy.
 High population density
 They have former colonial status.
 the observations seems to be pointing at primate city as a feature of
developing countries.
 But Not all developing countries have primate cities.
 Primate cities are also features of developed countries.
 Developed countries with primate city.
Primate city concept – cumulative causation theory

 Explaining the development of primate city in terms of cumulative

causation theory –

 Some locations attract all investments, labour ,innovations towards itself

and grow disproportionately compared to other adjoining locations.

 This process is called as backwash effect, which overtime can create,

disproportional growth of a location and the development of primate city.
 India don’t have any primate city at the national level.
 India is territorially large ‘large population that is well distributed , very large
diversity.

 The case of Russia brazil or china USA

 They are territorially large and the population concentrate in smaller
regions, and the diversity is not as much and hence one large city
seems to represent a large populations.
 China has Han population domination though they have more
diversity.
 In India it is seen at the level of States.
 The state capitals and the centres of commerce like Chennai
Mumbai Kolkata Jaipur Hyderabad has became primate
cities at state level.
PRIMATE CITIES GOD OR BAD ?

The countries that are

territorially small,
concentration of populations at certain locations ,
countries that have developing status with limited resources
and limited investment, primate city development is favourable because
primate city is more efficient. In terms of cost and time

The primate cities invariably represent regional disparities and there for
primate cities in the long run is not desirable.
Primate cities in Indian context

1. India doesn’t have primacy at the national level

 We have 6 mega cities
Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad
 Another 5 cities that can become comparably large in the future.
 Gandhi agar Varanasi Praya raj Bhopal Indore

2. At the state level, there is dominance of primate city with the state capitals.
At the state level every state has very high regional disparities. - because of
historical and geographical factors.
 However the following states have relatively comparatively more
distribution of development.

 Tamil nadu – no primate city except Chennai.

 Madurai Coimbatore Trichy Tuticorin – historical factors and economic
diversification. Less imbalance in regional development.

 Kerala – no primate city except cochin,

 Trivandrum, kollam kochi Kozhikode are distribute the development
 UP – territorially large
 Population well distributed
 Large cultural diversity

 Meerut Lucknow, Kanpur, Prayag raj , Banaras large well distributed

pattern of development.
Rank size rule- G K ZIPF in 1949

 The concept of rank-size settlement system was suggested by G K ZIPF in

1949.

 Study of settlement hierarchy in terms of population size

 Rank size rule details how the smaller size towns , villages are related to
the largest city through an empirically observed population size
relationships.
Zipf found that

 If ‘P1 is the population of the largest city, which is the rank 1 city
 ‘Pn’ will be the population size of ‘nth Rank city
 ‘n’ is the population size rank of ‘nth’ city
 P2 proportional to P1/2 ( ½ of the population of the larger city
 P3 proportional to P1/3 ( 1/3 of the population of larger city.

 P10 proportional to P1/10 (1/10th of the population of largest city)

 Pn is proportional to P1/ n
 If the population ranks are plotted in a settlement complex
 Rank sized rule represents a continuous hierarchy. With a smooth curve
Inference of rank size rule

 The large cities have great variations and differences in the

population size.
 The large cities are few in number
 The smaller towns and villages are numerous.
 Smaller towns have relatively lesser size.
 Empirical location studies of settlements found that large cities are
generally located farthest apart.
 Where as small towns and villages can develop in the vicinity of each
other.

 Cities and the large cities are always dependent on adjoining areas for
resources, labour and industries.
 Mumbai – pune
 Delhi Gurgaon

 Where as smaller towns and villages are relatively more self contained.
Central place theory - Christaller's
 Central place theory is an urban geographical theory that seeks to explain
the number, size and range of market services in a commercial system or
human settlements in a residential system. It was introduced in 1933 to
explain the spatial distribution of cities across the landscape
 C P T is one of the 3 location theories in geography

 Agricultural location theory – Von Thunen

 Industrial location theory – Alfred Webber
 Central place theory – Walter Christaller
 The primary purpose of a settlement or market town, according to central-
place theory, is the provision of goods and services for the surrounding
market area.

 It tries to establish how settlements be planned in terms of the number

of settlements or hierarchy of settlements, distance between the
settlements for the efficient utilization of settlement spaces in such a
way that all the locations get served with out any duplication or any
location being left out.
 When primate city and rank size rule reflects what is there in a
place in reality, CPT is a model that shows how a region could be
planned efficiently for the better utilization of space and utility.

 It is a futuristic statement regarding settlement planning.

 It suggest what should exist under ideal condittionsd. – Normative theory

Assumptions
 All areas have
 an unbounded isotropic (all flat), homogeneous, limitless
surface
 an evenly distributed population
 all settlements are equidistant and exist in a triangular
lattice pattern
 evenly distributed resources
 distance decay mechanism
 perfect competition and all sellers are economic people
maximizing their profits
 consumers are of the same income level and same shopping
behaviour
 all consumers have a similar purchasing power and demand
for goods and services.
 Consumers visit the nearest central places that provide the
function which they demand. They minimize the distance to
be travelled
 no provider of goods or services is able to earn excess profit (each
supplier has a monopoly over a hinterland)
 Therefore, the trade areas of these central places who provide a
particular good or service must all be of equal size.

 there is only one type of transport and this would be equally

easy in all directions
 transport cost is directly proportional to distance travelled
Concepts in central place

 What is a central place

 These are settlements that provide goods and services to

surrounding areas. They are organized in a hierarchical order
based on their size and the range of goods and services they
offer.
 Chennai , Delhi Bangalore etc…
What is the function of central place ?
 The function of central place varies – agriculture, industry, service.
 These are centers with some kinds of economic activities running.
 The importance or hierarchical level of a central place is
determined by its function.

 A settlement can offer a large number of goods or services, when

it comes to central place, it takes the major/ dominant function of
a settlement.
What is the complimentary area of a central place ?
 This is the area of influence of a central place.
 Or the area served by a central place.

 It is a concept, which is equal to that of the urban sphere of influence/ city

region/ Umland.

 The influence of a central place decreases gradually outward – as one move

away from the central place- and at the boundary of a central place- there
the influence of that central place will be minimum and it become zero
afterwards.
 As the distance increases, the influence decreases, it become Zero.
 The complimentary areas have a limit or boundary.

 Since the surface is ISOTROPIC, the distance decay is proportional in

all the directions.

 Complimentary area or the sphere of influence of a central place is

CIRCULAR
Threshold
 For any business or economic activity to take place, a minimum number of
buyer or population is required.
 A minimum number of population required to sustain the economic activity.
 It depends on the hierarchical level of economic activity.

Range in central place theory

This is the maximum distance a person may willing to travel to avail the good s
and services from the central place.
It also depends on the hierarchical level of goods and services provided by the
central place.
 For an efficient economic system, there are two conditions are very
relevant.
 The threshold population should be with in the complimentary area.
 Threshold is the number of persons required for a business or economic
activity to run.

 If a seller has 10 good, - 10 buyers is the threshold.

 Not a person less or not a person more is ideal.

 If there are 10 goods and 12 people, 2 people are excess and the supply of
the product is only 10. there is a lesser supply of the product- that can
trigger high demand for the product, and price of the product may shoot.
This is not favorable.
 If the product is 10 and the buyers are only 8, there will be less
demand for the product, excess supply will be there, here the
producer or seller will be at loss. Threshold is not achieved.

 So inside the complimentary area the seller needs 10 people for an

efficient system to work.
 If the radius of the complimentary area is 10 km and the range of the
central place also has to be 10km.

 If the range is less than 10 km, there are people in the complimentary
are who are not willing to come and purchase the product.

 If the range is more than 10 km, more than the radius of the
complimentary are, there will people willing to come outside the
complimentary area, but there is no compulsion for these people to
come towards the same place to avail goods and services.
 So range should be equal to the radius of the complimentary area.
 As the surface is isotropic, and the population distribution is equally
distributed, across the complimentary area,
 The ideal shape of a central place and its complimentary area is
circular

1. The seller should have an optimum number of buyers

2. And every customer must have option to avail the
goods and services, without being left out or with out
duplication.
 Two important aspects of a central place.
 Every location of a settlement complex, must be guided towards a
central place from the complimentary area.

 For efficiency, the central place have top cover the entire surface
area/ population
 So that the while planning, each central place and its
complimentary area have to be placed very close to each other.
 When central places are packed closely with complimentary areas
arranged tangential
 There are areas that are left out without service, so this pattern is
considered as inefficient.

 For serving the left out area with the same circle, if we draw the
complimentary are by overlapping, that may leads to duplication.
 The solution lies in the next perfect shape after circle is regular
Hexagon.
 Based on his experience in the study of southern Germany christaller
concluded
 3 types of functions on his central place theory

1. Market retail function

2. Transport function
3. Administrative function

And for each function he identified 7 hierarchical level of efficiency.

Nesting pattern – how central places are
arranged for efficient space utilization.

1. The nesting pattern for marketing

2. Transportation
3. Administrative function
 In marketing space resolution, the lower order central place is
located at the vortices of higher order central place complimentary
area hexagon.
 For transportation efficiency nesting pattern, the lower order central
place is located at the mid point of the higher order complimentary
area hexagon
 For administration the lower order central place must be entirely
with in the higher order central place.
Application of cpt

 It is an ideal condition – normative theory – which is not the exact

depiction of the reality.
 But it gives us chance to assess the reality with an ideal condition.
 Do not reflect the reality since it is based on number of assumptions.
 Urban Planning:
 The central place theory can guide urban planners in determining the
optimal locations for different types of urban centers based on their size
and the range of services they provide. This can help in creating a more
efficient and organized urban hierarchy.
 Retail and Commercial Development:
 Retail businesses can use central place theory to strategically locate their
stores and understand the market areas they serve. The theory can help in
optimizing the distribution of shopping centers and ensuring that they are
adequately spaced to serve the population effectively.
 Transportation Planning:
 Understanding the hierarchy of central places aids in planning
transportation networks. Major transportation hubs and infrastructure can
be strategically located to serve the central places at different levels in the
hierarchy, facilitating the movement of goods and people.
 Service Provision:
 Governments and service providers can use the central place theory to
plan the distribution of public services, healthcare facilities, and
educational institutions. This ensures that essential services are accessible to
the population within a reasonable distance.
 Economic Development:
 The theory can be applied to support regional economic development by
identifying potential growth centers and planning for the balanced
distribution of economic activities across different levels of central places.
 Tourism Planning:
 In the context of tourism, central place theory can be applied to plan the
distribution of tourist facilities, accommodations, and attractions. This helps
in creating a tourism infrastructure that caters to different market areas and
ensures a balanced development of tourist destinations.
 Land Use Planning:
 Planners can use central place theory to guide land use
decisions, ensuring that land is allocated appropriately for
different types of activities based on the central place
hierarchy.
Application in India

 In Indian context the hierarchical levels in administration function has

similarities with the christallers model
 In christallers model there are 7 levels
 In India we have 6 levels
1. National capital
2. State capital
3. District headquarters
4. Tehsil
5. Block panchayath
6. panchayah
 But in administration, the k value suggested was 7
 But in India we have 28 states and 8 Uts = 36 units 5 times
more than CPT MODEL.
 Average number of districts in India 15 to 20 districts.
 2 to three times than the recommended size.
Analysis

 Normative theory – a futuristic approach – what should be there

 Location theory
 Very important basis of quantitative revolution techniques
 Model is a pre behavioral model ( man is not economic man is
not rational – emotions – thinking etc…)
 So it has ignored the thinking, perceptions of human being
 He ignored the manufacturing function.
 CPT model is not the best model for re designing and re development of
existing cities, but it is an important basis for planning and designing
new cities which do not have much settlements and areas where land
has been reclaimed.
 Netherland has implemented the scheme
 Gradually extended its land towards the sea by pumping out water
from its coastlines. – ZUIDER ZEE ( A LARGER POLDER)
 Fresh reclaim land they have planned cpt model in the new land
 FENS of Britain is another area where CPT model is done by Britain.
Morphology of Indian cities
 The process of formation of a town and the development of an
organic form are almost similar and pass through three stages. Wolperd
1967

 The morphology of Indian cities is diverse and shaped by a combination of

historical, cultural, economic, and geographical factors. Here are some
common features and aspects of the morphology of Indian cities.

 Histogenesis
 Patternogenesis
 Morphogenesis
 Morphological studies often deals with forms and pattern of the present city
or the other urban area through time.
 An urban settlement is apparently a physical entity and the morphology it
acquires is the result of a long process.
 Histogenesis – it refers to the origin of the historical nucleolus of the town
and it forms, a definite means of intercommunication between individual;
human agglomeration.
 During this stage the nucleolus development of a town develop.
 Settlements start to concentrate around a religious centre, fort, lake etc…
 Centripetal force is active in this stage
 Patternogenesis- it is the phase of developments of various nuclei of
human settlement.
 And their interactions with in - ultimately providing a pattern of
skeleton for a town.
 Development of road and structures can be put under this stage
 Here the centrifugal force is more dominant
 Morphogenesis – perceive the morphological character to be
closely associated with the functional character of present
city.
 According to JE BRUSH, The salient features of urban morphology of
Indian towns include 4 features
 cities that are grown from ancient towns and villages
Varanasi Mathura Patna
 Cities that are grown from medieval towns such as – Lucknow, Delhi,
Jaipur – these towns have lot of features of medieval Islamic
architecture – minarets, walls, etc

 Both the types of cities retain some elements of social differentiation.

 Ancient one has caste based differentiation
 Whereas medieval one has class and nobility based differentiation.

 Cities that are grown from British administrative centers, most of them
were medieval towns. Which retain lot of features of European
Victorian architecture such as – wide road, landscaping , civil lines
railway colony etc…
 During post independence period, a number of planned cities
have developed such as
 Chandigarh, Bhubaneswar, dispur, bokaro, Gandhi nagar
Mrs. Kusum Lata’s classification – morphology of Indian
cities

1. Planned town –there is a specific layout – usually following grid pattern

for settlements and roads

2. Unplanned town –
 Are characterized by disorganized roads, haphazard development
can be attributed to
 Historical influences
 Transformation of village to urban
 More migration from rural to urban
 The tendency of building infrastructure to be built after establishment of
built up areas which is opposite of western countries
 The growth of slums
 The preference of Indians to live near CBD

3. Planned cum Unplanned town

 These towns consists of two distinct urban morphology with defined
municipal area.
 The planned area generally have a colonial history.
 While unplanned areas are older parts of the city –
 Eg – in Delhi red fort area is unplanned, Connaught Place is
planned.
Ashok Duttas take on morphology of Indian cities

 Focus on two main aspects

 Nature of CBD
 And Residential area segregation

 Unlike western CBD, Indian CBD are very different

 Only 4 Indian cities

 Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai Has CBD that resembles CBD IN
WEST.
 In most other Indian towns the CBD is solely a market zone , it is also
characterized by higher population density.
 This shows the inclination of Indian society to reside with in the CBD.
 Delhi is Quasi planned town with 2 nuclei of development

 Pre industrial nuclei

 Modern nuclei Connaught Place .
 The multiple nuclei model can be applied in Delhi, which has recently
seen emergence of new CBDs
Such as South extension,
 Heavy manufacturing area like Nanguli, Okla
 Residential suburb – including sonipat and DLF city.

 Prof Ashok Duttas works highlight, the unique nature of CBD

compared to the western models.
 And the tendency of Indian society to live with in the central areas of
the new CBDs
General model of urban morphology

1. Bazaar based model –

 The typical CBD in the ancient and medieval cities of India
 The bazaar are the old ancient market with mixed land use and lack of high
buildings.
 Most of them are one or 2 storey with commercial function on the ground and
residential functions on the first and second floor.

 These bazaars now specialized n in textiles, handicrafts and grocery stores

unlike modern markets.
 The bazaar co exist with high class residential areas which are old
traditional families with history of nobility and wealth.

 The bazaar centers over the years has become congested , and the
British had the history of neglecting old bazaars and thus these areas
continue to lack many modern amenities including sanitation and
connectivity.
 Farther away from the bazaar, there are the low class residence,
occupation based segregations and modern extension plan during
colonial history.
2. Port based models
 These are features of typical colonial centers
 With the advent of British cities like Kolkata Mumbai Chennai which
were important for trade for British developed on different lines unlike
other traditional towns and cities.
 With great trade and strategic importance

 Paved roads, landscaping railway colonies street lighting could be

seen.
Functional classification of towns
 urban centers varies in their function location size and the social composition

 There are certain methods which take into account – for classifying the towns

1. Site and situation

2. population
3. Size and function
4. Social and cultural environment
 Function is widely considered as most reliable factor and it is characterized by
non agriculture activity.

 Classifying the urban centers in india is a difficult task

 Large number of towns with wide range of population
 Long historical background
 Data about functions of cities are not been standardized.
Aurousseau classification

In 1921, M. Aurousseau classified towns into six classes with twenty eight sub
types.
 Subjective and empirical classification, not a numerical or statistical approach
1. Administrative
2. Defense
3. culture
4. Production
5. Communication
6. Recreation
Over generalized, overlapping functions
 In this classification, economic activities are neglected.

 These are important that a town also caters the need of people residing
outside the municipal limits.

 Various classes of functions as suggested by Aurousseau create

confusions
Functional classification of settlements based on
Quantitative techniques.

CD Harris – studies 900 cities

 He used 2 types of data
 Employment data secondary- official sources
 Occupational data – surveys, interviews primary data collections.

 No city perform a single function, there are multiple functions. So the

data analysis is very vital in understanding
 CD Harris uses percentage of workers in different functional groups in a
city.
 He identified 9 types of function.

1. manufacturing
2. retail
3. wholesale
4. mining
5. transport
6. education
7. resorts and& retirement centers
8. diversified functions
9. other functions
 Based on data he classified
Manufacturing cities
M1 – Manufacturing is the specialised occupation .
 More than 75% people are in manufacturing function.

M TYPE – Manufacturing is not the specialised – percentage is 45% and

more

Retail towns – percentage of workers is more than 50%

Whoilessale town – percentage of workers is 25 percentage and more

Diversified town – manufacturing less than60%
Workers in wholesale – less than 20%
Retail less than50%

 Cd harris arrived at the various percentage by studying 900

cities
Modification of CD HARRIS done by Nelson.

 Nelson gave the concept of dominant function- which also help

comparison of settlements with in the settlement complex.

 Nelson used standard deviation functions to establish the settlements

character based on inter city comparison.
1. Manufacturing
2. Retail
3. Professional service
4. Wholesale services
5. Administrative services
6. Transport services
7. Finance, Banking & Real estate
8. Mining
9. Personal services and consultation
Ashok Mitra scheme of urban classification

 Based on 1961 and 1971 census, he identified 9 functions.

1. Cultivation
2. Agriculture labor
3. Mining forestry and plantation
4. Manufacturing
5. Household industry
6. Construction
7. Trade and commerce
8. Transport
9. Other services
Primary – manufacturing – service sector functions
 Ashok mitras uses a TERNARY DIAGRAM where each of the three functions
are represented on the vortices of the triangle.
 T
 he central point where the altitudes converge represent the in centre with
the value of 33.33%
 Inside the graph he drew 3 concentric circles representing
 40%, 45% and 50%
 Based on where the city gets plotted on the graph , he classify that city
 A CITY WITH IN 40% CIRCLE – HIGHLY DIVERSIFIED AND A BALANCE CITY.

 CITY WITH IN 40 AND 45% CIRCLE – IS A MODERATELY BALANCED

 CITY WITH IN 45 TO 50% C9IRCLE IS A SPECIALISED CITY.

 CITY BEYONF 50% IS A HIGHLY SPECIALOISED WHERE 1 FUNCTION

DOMINATES THE OTHER.
 Simple model of functional classification
 Possible to identify the city by looking at the position in the graph
 Simplified the inter city comparison.
 Ashok mitra has classified more than 2000 towns and cities
 Indian cities tend more towards specialization
 That is because of economic history

 Most cities started with traditional crafts and they build the common
labor market , common infrastructure support without deliberate
policies in diversification.
Agriculture
Agricultural regionalization
Agricultural regionalization refers to the division of a larger geographic area
into smaller regions based on specific characteristics related to agriculture.

This process helps in understanding and managing agricultural activities

more effectively by considering the unique environmental, climatic, and
socio-economic factors that influence farming practices in different areas.
Ways of classification

1. On the basis of dominant crop

Crop that occupy maximum areal coverage
 Wheat region
 Rice region
 Sugar cane region
 Cotton region
 Jute regions etc…
2. regionalization based on the productivity of land
Very high productivity regions
Very low productivity region

a. Very high productivity regions

1. Kaveri basins
2. Green revolution region
3. Karewa regions of kashmir
4. Horticulture regions of the plateau
b. Very low productivity region
1. North western parts Rajasthan
2. Arid and semi arid regions of north western states
3. Plateau interiors mountain regions etc…
Whittlesey Classification of World Agricultural Region

 Whittlesey gave his classification of agriculture in 1936 based on

many factors. For instance, factors controlling the yield, spatial
stability, market orientation, specialization of agriculture etc.
Whittlesey classified the world in to 13 Agricultural
Regions

1. Nomadic Herding 7. Commercial Plantation

2. Livestock Ranching 8. Mediterranean Agriculture
3. Shifting Cultivation 9. Commercial Grain Farming
4. Rudimentary Tillage 10. Subsistence Crop-Livestock
5. Intensive Subsistence Agriculture Farming
with Paddy 11. Commercial Livestock and
6. Intensive Subsistence Agriculture Cropping
without Paddy 12. Commercial Dairy Farming
13. Specialized Horticulture
Nomadic Herding
 Transhumance or Nomadic herding refers to the seasonal migration of
shepherds along with their livestock.
 Location: Shepherds of regions with treacherous topography and climate
practice nomadic herding. For instance, Himalayas, Andes, Saharan Africa,
Scandinavia, North Canada are the key regions of nomadic herding.
 Characteristic of Nomadic Herding:
 It is a subsistence activity.
 The nomads continue to move from one place to other throughout the
year.
 Nomads grow the multiple species of animals. For example, sheep, goats,
yaks etc.
 It also involves the cross-border transhumance.
Livestock Ranching
 Livestock Ranching refers to the domestication of animals at a fixed
place such as ranch, farm or stable.
 Location: It is located on the large grasslands of the world. For
example, Prairies in North America, Pampas in Latin America, Weld in
South Africa, Downs in Australia and Llanos in Venezuela.
 Characteristics of Livestock Ranching:
 Located in semi-arid climatic regions.
 Highly managed farms.
 Farmers improve the breed of their animals.
 The primary motive of animal farming is commercial.
Shifting Cultivation
 Shifting of crop cultivation from one place to another, seasonally, is
called shifting cultivation.
 Location: It has multiple names across the world such as Jhooming in
Assam, Podu in Orissa, Penda in Chhatisgarh, Kumari in Western
Ghats, Ladang in Malaysia, Milpa in Mexico, Roca in Brazil, Chena in Sri
Lanka and Reh in Vietnam etc.
 There is a lack of fertility in forest soil. As a result, the farmer have to
clear other part of forest for cultivation.
 Characteristic of Shifting Cultivation:
 Subsistence cultivation
 There is rotation of fields, seasonally.
 Farmers grow many types of crops for food.
Rudimentary Tillage
 Rudimentary Tillage refers to the type of cultivation where the farmers sow
the seeds of the crops and makes little interference in environment.
 Location: Tropical lands of America, Africa and East Asia are the key
regions with rudimentary tillage.
 Characteristics of Rudimentary Tillage:
 Crop rotation and fallows are necessary to recuperate the fertility of
land.
 On the one hand, the technological interventions are very poor.
 On the other hand, the farmers are dependent on environmental
conditions, therefore, the cost of cultivation remains low. As a result the
productivity is also low.
 Crops such as potatoes, maize, sorghum, banana etc. are cultivated.
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture with Paddy

 It refers to the high intensity paddy cultivation in highly populated regions

of the world.
 Location: India, China, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Southeast Asia.
 Characteristics:
 Farmers grow multiple crops in this regions. Therefore, such areas have
high gross cropped areas.
 Due to high population, the land is scarce.
 There are large paddy field.
 Due to lack of food, malnourishment is rampant in such regions.
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture without Paddy

 It refers to the high intensity cultivation of grains, such as wheat, barley,

soya etc.. in highly populated regions of the world.
 Location: Semi-arid north-west India, Northeast China.
 Characteristics:
 High cropping intensity
 The cultivation is labour intensive i.e. little use of technology.
 Crops are rain dependent. As a result, crop failures and famines occur
very often.
 Cultivation of food grains is main activity.
Commercial Plantation
 The cultivation of plants which yield marketable products is called
commercial plantation.
 Location: North and South America, Northeast and Southwest India,
China, Kenya, Ethiopia etc.
 For example, coffee, tea, jute, oil palm, cocoa etc. are major
commercial crops in such regions.
 Characteristics:
 This cultivation is market oriented.
 This type of agriculture is highly labour intensive.
 Intensive use of land through well managed cultivation of plants.
Plantations work like an industrial unit.
 Cultivation is done on huge land estates.
Mediterranean Agriculture
 Mediterranean agriculture refers to the cultivation of those crops which
are dependent on winter rainfall for growth.
 Location: The all coastal areas around the Mediterranean Sea falling in
Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Israel, Syria, Egypt, Tunisia, Algiers etc.
 Characteristics:
 This regions is under influence of westerlies, so, rain is available in winters
only.
 Farmers grow citrus plants and fruits. For example, orange, grapes,
olives, lemons etc.
 This type of agriculture has strong market linkages because these corps
derive good market price.
 This region has huge and well managed orchards.
Commercial Grain Farming

 It refers to the cultivation of food grains for sale in the market.

 Location: This type of farming is done in grassland regions of the world. For
instance, Prairies in North America, Steppes in Eurasia, Downs in Australia etc.
 Characteristics:
 Very large estates spreading for hundreds of acres.
 Extensive Agriculture: The agricultural productivity is low because of the
lesser use of irrigation and fertilizers,
 Highly mechanized agriculture. The labour input is very little, therefore, the
these farms can not be managed a micro level.
 The produce is, primarily, for the market.
 Yield is low but due to overall large quantity of output, it does not matter.
Subsistence Crop-Livestock Farming
 This type of farming involves growing crops and animals along each other.
 One the one hand, the farmers grow wheat, maize and coarse grains are
major crops. On the other hand, they keep sheep and goats.
 Location: Northern Europe, West Asia, Mountainous regions across the
world.
 Characteristics:
 This is a type of subsistence farming.
 The methods of cultivation are traditional.
 Seed and animal quality is poor because the farmers do not make
investment in breed improvement.
 Low level of capital inputs from farmers.
Commercial Livestock and Cropping
 Raising crops and animals along each other for commercial purposes.
 Location: Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.
 Characteristics:
 It is highly mechanized form of farming on large farms.
 Farmers practice mixed cropping and mix farming.
 It is found in highly populated place.
 Market oriented: These farms are located close to market and cities to
be able to provide fresh meat and vegetables.
 It is known as truck farming and market farming in these regions. To
clarify, please note that the truck farming is different from market
gardening.
Commercial Dairy Farming
 It refers to the production of milk, butter and other related products for sale in
market. It is also called Daily Farming.
 Location: Primarily, farmers practice dairy farming around large cities. For
instance, cities of Northern Europe, U.S.A., Canada, Australia, Denmark,
Belgium etc. It is so because the milk is a perishable product.
 This farming has following Characteristics:
 Firstly, It is capital intensive farming.
 Secondly, Farmers invest in improvement of animal breeds. Hence, the yield
is very high.
 Thirdly, the primary motive of this farming is commerce.
 Ultimately, it has a distributive effect on farmers’ welfare because large
number of farmer are able to practice this agriculture on small unit of land.
 Specialized Horticulture
 It refers to the cultivation of only one type of plant or tree. For instance,
specialization in cultivation of either of flowers, fruits and vegetables.
 It is also known as Market Gardening.
 Location: Developed regions practice such agriculture. Such as
northern Europe, Italy, Southeastern Australia, Kashmir Valley in India
etc.
 Characteristics:
 Small sized farms but yield is very high.
 It is so because cropping intensity is also very high.
 These farms are located near communication and consumption
centers.

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