Overview of Physical Geography Concepts

Physical Geography Lecture Notes Test one: Chapter 1:Intro to Geography and Earth Systems Science, Chapter 2: Portraying Earth, Chapter 3: Earth Sun Relations: * Geography = Space * What is Geography: study patterns of “Things!” * We are trained to think/study holistically. * Geography overlaps with many other sciences * Cartography: The Art and Science of making maps Five themes of Geography: 1. Location - 1. Absolute Locations- Quaternents, Addresses 2. Relative location- Locations in relation to something else, 2. Place 1. About what's happening at a location 3. Human Environment Interaction 1. EX. LA Basin - SMOG 4. Movement 1. Migration 2. Relocation 3. Change when things move 5. Region 1. Geography is unique. Spatial patterns of things and why they Occur 2. Geography involves virtually any and all fields of scientific inquiry. Physical Geography: the Branch of geography dealing with natural features and processes of Earth. * I just like to call it Earth Science. * We divide Physical Geography into Environmental Spheres: Biosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, Atmosphere. * They are not technically Separate! Measuring the Earth: * To study the surface we need accurate location * Latitude and Longitude - absolute location * Equator (origin northern and southern separation of Earth)(90 largest number in latitude), Longitude (prime meridian), (western, eastern hemisphere), ( 180 Largest number in Longitude) Geographic Grid: * The Earth is not perfectly round! It sure is not flat either! * It’s an Oblate Spheroid - Earth’s shape. * The Equatorial diameter (ear to ear) is 27 miles longer than the pole to pole diameter. Latitude and Longitude: * Latitude (y axis) - zero to 90 degrees (equator to pole) * Divides the earth into N and S portions (Hemisphere) * Parallels * 69.1 miles is equal to 1 degree of latitude * Latitude: Key lines * North pole - 90 degrees N * Arctic circle - 66.5 degrees N * Tropic of Cancer - 23.5 degrees N * Equator - 0 degrees * Tropic of Capricorn 23.5 degrees S * Antarctic circle - 66.6 degrees S * South pole - South pole 90 degrees S * Notice the Measurements are the same in the N and S Hemispheres. * Longitude: Divides the Earth E-W * Meridians * Extend from Pole to Pole * Converge at Poles * 0 degrees to 180 degrees E&W Degrees, minutes, and Seconds: * How we express/measure latitude and longitude * Deg. * Min ‘ * Sec ” * All based on 60 ex.) ------------ 34 deg N 33.5 deg -------------- 33 deg. 30’ 00” N 33.25 de --------------- 33 deg 15’ 00” N ------------- 33 deg N * The LA area’s Mean Average rainfall yearly → 14 inches Maps-Models of the Earth: * Purpose is to convey information * It depends on the purpose of the map * What information is the model trying to get across? * Cartography - the art and science of maps. Types of maps * Topographic: * Describes the surface features of the earth * Thematics: * 1 main piece/theme of information Maps issues * Maps are 2D/flat and earth is not * Projections bring in distortion - SSADD 5 ways maps lie to you: 1. Size 2. Shape 3. Area 4. Distance 5. Direction Different Projections maintain Different Aspects of SSADD: * Mercator Projections: * First projection of a map * It allowed maps to be mass produced * Thousands of different projections. Map scale: * Distance on the map compared to distance in the real world * Ratio or fraction EX.) 1:62,500 → 1 is always in the front * Graphical Scale * Verbal Scale: 1 inch equals 1 mile Geographical Information Systems: Geography ↕ ↕ Computer remote sensing Science Earth and Sun Relationships: The Sun: * Center of our Solar system * Solar system part of the milky way galaxy * Milky way is one of billions and billions of galaxies So what do we have? * 8 planets and over 40 moons * (no more pluto as of 2006) * Further away = slower ( longer orbital time) and the colder they get * The Earth is in the perfect location. Sun: * 93 million miles from Earth (Ave) * Diameter 100x Earths * Surface temp 6,000 degrees C or 11,000 degrees F (give or take) * Sun releases energy the hotter it is the shorter the wave is - the sun's energy is very short wavelengths. * It takes a little less than 10 minutes to get the energy from the sun to earth. Earth's journey Around the sun: * Revolution * Our 365.24… day orbit around the sun is Elliptical. * 91.4 million miles from Earth to sun → Earth Perihelion * 94.5 million miles from the Earth to sun → Earth Aphelion. * Distance has nothing to do with seasons Why do we have seasons? How the earth's axis is tilted. Most important concept of this class → *Isolation - receipt of solar radiation THAT HITS THE EARTHS SURFACE!!! * Differs on the planet * Excess of insolation gets distributed (not evenly) * Equilibrium → balance in a system * Ocean currents, and air currents, are used to distribute the excess and creates the equilibrium. *Four factors that control insolation: 1. Temperature of the sun 2. Distance - goldilocks zone ( Earths in it) perfect spot for life 3. Absorption and scattering of solar radiation -ex.) atmosphere, eclipse, oceans 4. Latitude Review: * Earth is kinda round * Due to centrifugal force * Diameter of 7,900 miles at the poles * 7,927 at the equator * Circumference of the Earth - 24,901 miles. * How far can you be from another person is 12,450 Earth's Rotation: * West to East * Every hour it moves about 15 degrees of longitude * Therefore, it rotates 1 per 24 hours * At the equator our rotational speed is approximately 1000 mph. It gets slower as we move towards the poles. * Distance and time to calculate speed * The rotation goes slower at the poles, then it would at the equator. * Coriolis→ northern hemisphere things go to the right: things have to be moving, Earth and sun relations: * This is how we define the tilt of the earth. * It is tilted at 23.5 degrees from the per less shadow. If flips every 6 months, on equinoxes * Both hemispheres are getting the same amount of energy every 3 months. Circle of illumination (COI ) - The edge of the sunlit hemisphere that is a great circle separating Earth into a light half and a dark half. Sub solar point (SSP): place on Earth/latitude that the sun is directly overhead at 90 degree angle at noon. * Migrates between the tropic Cancer and Capricorn over the course of the year. * It hits the equator on an Equinox and one of the Tropics in a Solstice. Solstices June 20 and Dec. 20: * N. Hemisphere Solstice * 24 hrs of light in the Arctic circle * 24 hrs of night in Antarctica * Days are longer as you go north * S. Hemisphere Solstice * 24 hrs of light in Antarctic circle * 24 hrs of night in Artic * Days are longer as you go south Equinox - March and sept 22. (on or about) The Analemma ( infinity sign): * Charts the latitude of the SSP for Everyday of the year. Summary: Things to know * Why do we have seasons? * What is isolation? * What is SSP? * What /when are equinoxes and solstices? The Atmosphere Part 1: Atmosphere: * No Atmosphere, No Life * Composition: Nitrogen- 78%, oxygen- 21% * Layers by Chemical Composition * Heterosphere - above 80-85 km * Layered elements near the top * Lighter elements near the top * * 80 km = about 50 miles * Homosphere - Below 80 km * Gases are well mixed *Layers by temperature: * Air gets thinner with Altitude * Cooling * Adiabatic Process: Expansion of the distance between molecules at higher elevation * which gets cooler. * What we observe is different * Different layers of warming and cooling * Troposphere (0-11km): * In the Troposphere we observe cooling * Weather happens in the troposphere * Stratosphere (11-50): * Gets warmer as you go up * Ozone layer - O3 → it filters, absorbs most of the ultraviolet rays from the sun. * Overrides the Adiabatic Process * Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)- industrial, air conditioning - destroys the O-zone * Mesosphere (50-80): * Climate gets colder * Thermosphere (80-480 km): * Gets warmer * Double the solar rays * Exosphere (>480): * Thin transition between the earth's atmosphere and space. Air Pressure: * Due to gravity * Weight of overlying air decreases with altitude * 90% of the air molecules km Within lowest 16 * Measured with a Barometer * Barometer→ MB → Millibars → inches of mercury * Low pressure = Wet conditions, High pressure = Dry conditions * Average sea level pressure = 1013.0 Mb * Average sea level pressure = 29.92 in^M Our atmosphere is… * Energized by solar radiation * Simulated by earthly motions * Affected by contact with the earth’s surface. * All of this produces WEATHER!! * Weather is constantly changing! Climate: * Averaged weather over time and/or space * Decades of daily weather observations are averaged to get to climate * Weather and Climate are NOT the same thing! * Climate does change but over L O N G periods of time - hundreds, thousands, and millions of years. * We live in a Mediterranean Climate. (cali) What controls climate? 1. Latitude 2. Distribution of Land and Water → specific heat: if we compare equal land and water, the land will heat up quicker. Water takes 5x longer and energy to heat up then land, land heats up faster and cools down faster. 3. General circulation of Atmosphere and oceans. * Main surface Ocean currents → Gyres * California Current→ cold water current → keeps hurricanes away * Clockwise in the Northern hemisphere in the middle of these we find plastic garbage. * El Nino - brings higher average rainfall totals * La Nina - brings lower average rainfall totals * Convection moves energy from the tropics to the poles. Laws of thermodynamics: 1. Energy is never created nor destroyed 2. Energy transferring from high concentration going to low concentration Wind is when air molecule go from somewhere with high pressure to low pressure 4. Topography * Acts as a barrier 5. Altitude * Effects weather and climate 6. Earth's rotation 7. Storms * Storms are basically bombs, release energy What is Energy: * Energy: Capacity and ability to do work * Nothing occurs if energy isn't present * Nothing is free * Energy must be transferred * Insulation is 99% of the energy on earth * Heat: Thermal Energy * Transfer of energy from one body to another. * Friction between molecules * Temperature: * Degree of “Hotness” ( no such things as cold) * Fahrenheit * Celsius * Kelvin → puts 0 at no atomic motion * Lithosphere gets its energy from not the sun, it gets it from the core of the Earth ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Heating and cooling of the Atmosphere Greenhouse effect: * Greenhouse effect is needed for life on earth. * Short wave comes in fast and long waves go out slower (Energy) Greenhouse gases: * Carbon dioxide * Water vapor * Menthane The Greenhouse Effect | CFR Education GREENHOUSE EFFECT: 1. The sun's energy reaches the Earth's atmosphere. 2. Some of the energy is reflected back into space. 3. The rest is absorbed by the land and oceans, heating the Earth. 4. The Earth releases some of the energy back into the atmosphere as heat. 5. Greenhouse gases trap some of this heat, keeping the Earth warm. * Took 4 billion years for the greenhouse effect to get to where it needed to be for complex life to exist. Enhanced greenhouse effect: * Related to the greenhouse effect, but humans have affected how shortwave and long waves work. Since it is not received equally, the earth system has to re-distribute energy and heat: * Radiation: * Energy emitted by waves or particles through a medium or space. * Conduction: * Energy transfer through molecular collision * Convection: (Most important) * Flow of heat in a gas or liquid due to differences in temperature * Heat rises and cold sinks Laws of thermodynamics: 1. Energy is never created nor destroyed 2. Energy transferring from high concentration going to low concentration Wind is when air molecule go from somewhere with high pressure to low pressure * Short wave goes in long waves go out (Energy) Wind and Pressure: * Large Areas of high and low pressure are called cyclones and Anticyclones. These are the big H and L on the maps when you watch the weather on TV. 2,094 Anticyclone Images, Stock Photos, 3D objects, & Vectors | Shutterstock * H= dry * L= Precipitation * Lots of High pressure → Anticyclone * Lots of Low pressure → Cyclone * Tornados, and hurricanes are cyclonic Three things Cyclonic weather: Wind direction * Surface flow around clockwise (counter clockwise) and Anticyclones (clockwise) caused by: 1. Pressure Gradient force: air moves away from high. → High and low pressure→ Application of the 2nd law of thermodynamics. 2. Coriolis effect → look like they bend to the right 3. Friction→ Earth's surface slows down and deflects winds. * Effects anything that moves * Friction slows down lower winds, deflection * Higher winds have less friction Atmosphere part 3: * General circulation of the atmosphere: * Principle Mechanism for latitudinal and longitudinal heat transfer. * Produces our major wind belts and pressure zones. * Moving energy through our atmosphere through convection, if we didn't have convection this extra energy at the tropics this would make them too hot for life and the poles would keep getting colder. * Westerlies are the most important winds to the US. * Jet stream→ Higher altitude air blows faster with less density and less friction. * Fastest part of the westerlies winds * The more Rosby waves → more variable our weather becomes * Monsoons→ Seasonal reversal of winds Indian Summer Monsoon * During Summer it brings wet weather * During Winter it brings dry weather * Not really storms, very large systems → long periods of time with consistent precipitation. Formation of land and sea breezes - Ocean Observers * Local Winds→ Land and Sea breeze * Offshore and onshore wind. * Chinook→ warming downslope air (need a high mountains for this) * Santa Ana Winds→ dry, staticy, allergy ridden. Chinook Winds, Explained | OpenSnow * Keeps us dry, keeps the jet stream away from us. What makes the Santa Ana winds blow through Southern California? - Los Angeles Times * Compressional air created by the adiabatic process. * Air is always dry Atmospheric Moisture part 1: * The more humid the air is, the more energy there is in the atmosphere, the bigger the storm is. The energy is released through condensation. * States of water: * Solid→ liquid→ gas → water * Only happens through energy exchange * Energy Transfer: * Evaporation → liquid water → turns into gas it needs (600 cal per gram) * To make liquid water into a gas it needs energy from the surrounding environment 600 cal per gram→ Cooling in the surrounding environment. * Condensation → gas water → to liquid water it needs (600 cal per gram) * Heating in the surrounding environment. * Sublimation→ skip the liquid state, solid → gas (680 cal per gram) * Quantify how much energy is needed for something to change. * Under sea level pressurized conditions referring to the numbers in calories. * 600 and 680 Cal * Important Vocab: * ( lie: Hotter air can hold more water vapor→ Water vapor can hold more energy. Colder air holds less water vapor. ) * Saturation capacity → How much it takes to make something full. * Dew point → the temperature when the air becomes saturated/full. * Relative Humidity → expression of how much water is in the air. → expressed as a percentage. dry bulb wet bulb temperature and relative humidity * This is why low pressure due to the adiabatic process is expressed by precipitation. This is how clouds are formed when the air is compressed to the point of overflow. EXAMPLES: * Temp of air: 70 deg F * Saturation capacity: 15 g/kg * How much is in the air: 7.5 g/kg * Relative Humidity: 50% ----------------------------------------------------- * Temp of air: 40 deg F → dew point * Saturation capacity: 7.5 g/kg * How much is in the air: 7.5 g/kg * Relative Humidity: 100% * The Environmental rate is used to estimate the temperature of air without actually going there or relocating a parcel/bubble of air. Rates of change every 1000 ft * ENLR- Environmental lapse rate * 3.6 deg F (not actually there) * SACR - Saturation * 3.3 deg F * DALR - Dry * 5.5 deg F Example: 59.9 ☁️ 5000 FT 59.9 X 5.5 -----------------------------^------------------------------------- 62.5-3.3= ☁️ / \ 4000 FT ------------------------------------------------------------------ ☁️ / \ 3000 FT 68-5.5=62.5 deg ------------------------------------------------------------------ Rainshadow - always dry 73.5-5.5 = 68 deg / \ 2000 FT ------------------------------------------------------------------ 79-5.5= 73.5 deg / \ 1000 FT ------------------------------------------------------------------ 🟡 79 deg 🟡 83.4 Atmospheric Moisture Part 2: * How and why it rains → 5 C’s of Rain/Precipitation: 1. C-Evaporation → Needs air to get water vapor put inside of it→ through insolation 2. Cooling → make the bubble of air rise 3. Condensation → clouds are forming 4. Coalescence → little droplets of water come together and larger make a larger droplet of water 5. C-Falling → must fall and hit the surface (could warm adiabatically on the way down and evaporate) * Cooling: Forms of uplift → ways to make air rise and cool 1. Orographic Uplift 2. Fronts * → how it rains in SoCal → two different air masses collide 3. Convection → have to have a warm surface * Fog: * Condensation near the earth's surface * Need a cool surface * Radiation → can happen anywhere * Advective → Large water source nearby * Thickens as it moves over land * Clouds: * Three Main types: * Stratus → Most often found at low attitudes → can cover large areas→ commonly mistaken for fog. * Cumulus →Billowy and Poofy like cotton→ found at low, medium, and high altitudes. → lots of Moisture →Cumulonimbus clouds → bring rain. Continental tropical air mass: only real source for hot, dry ... * Cirrus → High Altitude ( all over the place) → decorative cloud → (mostly ice crystals) Sublimation → Wispy Storms part 1: * Air Mass → Large bubbles of air. → A large volume of air with relatively uniform temperature and moisture characteristics, typically covering hundreds or thousands of square miles. * Source area on Earth Weather forecasting: * Barometric trends * What the jet stream is doing * Wind direction/Speed * Fronts → * Cold air attacking * Warm air attacking * Face to face before fighting begins Warm Front: transition zone from cold air to warm air Cold Front: transition zone from warm air to cold air Weather: Fronts - Learn To Fly Stationary Front: a front that is not moving Where Do Mid-Latitude Cyclones Form and Cross North America? Mid Latitude Cyclone - wind pattern: LABORATORY 4: MID-LATITUDE CYCLONES, WEATHER MAPS, AND FORECASTING – Physical Geography Lab Manual: The Atmosphere and Biosphere * Only talk about wind from where they come from, not where they end up. * Before the cold front gets here, the temperature gets colder, the barometer gets lower, wind direction:South East/west, Cloud cover: more Clouds. * After the front passes, another weather change, temps should get colder for a while, barometer rises, wind direction: West or northwest. Air Masses, and fronts, thunderstorms and Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Typhoons, Cyclones, Willy Nilly: Air Mass: * An Air mass is a large body of the lower atmosphere with uniform conditions of temperature and moisture. Two major characteristics * Moisture content * c= continental * M- maritime * Latitude (temperature) * A= Arctic or Antarctic * P= Polar (50 deg, -60 deg N/S) * T= Tropical (20 deg, -35 N/S) * E= Equatorial Polar fronts: Mid Latitude Cyclone - wind pattern: Stormy Skies: How Mid-Latitude Cyclones Form * Thunderstorms: Life cycle: * 1. Stationary Front Stage * 2. Early stage * 3. Open wave stage * 4. Closing of open wave * 5. Occluded stage * 6. Dissolving stage Migration of a mid latitude cyclone * Evolution of thunderstorms: * Cumulus Stage: * Begins with convection or advancing cold fronts into mT air. * Rapid rising air forms cumulus clouds. * Developing Stage: * Condensation releases latent heat. * Mature Stage: * Very stable air with development of strong updrafts. * Intense precipitation brings cold air down to create downdrafts. * Dissipation Stage: * All can happen really fast ( warm and cold air interact) The production of Lightning: * Collisions among ice crystals and rain droplets cause differences in electrical charge within clouds. * Ground has a positive charge * Most lightning within clouds form positive (+) to negative (-). * In strong storms, the leader (-) from cloud meets streamer (+) from ground, creating “spark” as cloud-to-ground lightning. Tornados: * Small intense cyclones formed in supercell thunderstorms. * Mesocyclones are large rotating updrafts. * Forms at high altitudes with strong updrafts and wind shears. * A horizontal vortex of air gets pulled vertically in updrafts. Tropical Cyclones: * Develop in homogenous air masses at low latitudes * Fueled by abundant water vapor and latent heat. Early formation: * Easterly wave: slow moving through migrates along tropical easterlies. * Upper air converges on the windward side and diverges on the leeward side, causing rapid uplift. * Tropical storms in the atlantic or eastern pacific with very high winds. Rare combinations of environmental variables: * Warm ocean surface * High evaporation * Favorable upper air winds * High pressure aloft Anatomy of a hurricane: * Around the eye, air flows inward and upward * In the eye, air flows toward the surface and warms. * No predictable path for hurricanes. Part 1: Climate Zone and Types: * Primary system to measure climate in the world → Modified Koppen Classification System: * Most widely used system around the world * Compare and contrast climate * Weather: * Southern Japan is like → Miami * Northern Japan → New England * Tokyo and Washington DC are almost on the same latitude. * Classification System: * Temp and precipitation Averages. * Average annual and average monthly for locations. * This happens over a long period of time. Climate types: * Mediterranean climate - CSA or CSB → TJ to the Bay Area. * Max. rainfall 38 in. * Lowest rainfall 3.8 in. * Marine west coast - Northern california to seattle Main climate zones: 1. Tropical Humid (A) → Equator 1. AF → Wettest 2. AM → Monsoons ( has dry season) 2. Dry (B) → desert 3. Mid Lat ( C) → Wide variety (New orleans) 4. Severe Mid Lat (D) → Chicago (Windy, lake effect snow, Hot and humid in summer, and frigid in the winter.) 5. Polar (E) → Drier than B classification 6. Highland (H) → Cold and snowy/icy: mountain Climate: * Climograph: * Temp and Precipitation Monsoon: Calcutta, india: Climograph Kolkata climate: Weather Kolkata & temperature by month B climates: * BW: Deserts < 12 inches per year. * BS: Steppe 12-20 Inches per year * Hot summers * 100th meridian: 100 degrees west * 20 inch isohyet. * Arid west and Humid east. Climate change: * Geologic Time scales: * “Foreverrrr” * Change is normal Climate change: 1. Sense of Scale and Time on Earth. 1. Everything changes Climate change not global warming: warming is not the issue, Earth should be warming, we are warming faster than were supposed to. 2. Natural cycles of warming and cooling: 1. Over the last 2 million years - “ roughly speaking” 2. 100,000 years of cooling (ice age)/ 20,000 years of warming (interglacial) 3. Greenhouse effect: 1. Short wave in fast/ long wave out slow 2. 3 main GHGs 4. Urban-Heat Island: What he means by then: * Short term: years to decade * Medium: thousands to millions * Long range: hundreds of millions * Super long range: billions How do we reconstruct past climate: Techniques: * Daily weather records * 1870’s - today * Historical clues: * Stories, agriculture, art, tools, ect * Thousands of years * Dendrochronology: * Tree rings * Hundreds to a few thousands years * Palynology: * Up to about 15k years ago * Pollen * Carbon 14: * Up to 50k years (ish) * Glaciers/ice cores: * Thousands to hundreds of thousands of years (possibly more) * Residual snow: need more snow to fall in the winter, than the summer can melt. important ice core data: * Look at the relationships between co2 and temp * Highly correlated variable → at many different time scales. * Have you had statistics? Are correlation and causation the same thing? No! * One does not cause the other * But there does seem to be a relationship. * Deep sea core: * Millions of years * Fossil/geologic record: * Hundreds of millions years Long term Changing Climate: * Milankovitch Cycles: effects insolation on Earth * Obliquity of the Eclipse: tilt changes (+ -) degree * Polar wobble/Precession: Effects latitudinal patterns of insolation * Eccentricity of the orbit: Orbit around the sun circular ti more elliptical * Mountain Building periods ( orogeny): * Effects global circulation of atmosphere * Volcanic Activity: * Changes Gaseous Composition of the Atmosphere * Changes in Arrangement of Continents: * Changes ocean currents * Land water contrast * Location landmasses Reason for Climate change: * Human Activity: 8 billion people * Consuming (Stuff) * Burning Fossil fuels -emitting CO2 * Modifying the Greenhouse Effect * Co2 as a good proxy for temp? * You have to decide. Soils: * Arable land on Earth = 10.6% * Projections say by 2050 the Arable land on Earth will be cut in half. * Some area aren’t meant to grow agriculture but we’ve modified it to be able to * Soils aren’t in good shape right now → much of the world has degraded or very degraded soil * The remaining stable soil areas aren’t suitable for agriculture * 8 ½ billion people on Earth. * Agriculture and climate go together * Farming on 12% of earth surface. Soils: * Composition: * Minerals → crushed up rocks * Air → above and in * Water → 20 in bare min * Organic Materials * (humus) → living things that have decomposed and are being used The Soil Texture Triangle * Physical properties: * Color → red means breaking down oxidation/rust (iron) * Texture → soil texture triangle: → * Sand: large particles → allows a lot water to get into the ground, * Clay: small flat particles→ don't allow water to move through soil easily. * Silt → small particles * Structure * Porosity and permeability: * Porosity: pore spaces * Permeability: connectability of pore spaces. * Capillarity → air is helping water move up through pore spaces * Leaching → dissolving and water moving through * Acidity → PH scale: * Acid ← Neutral → Bases * Horizons/layers that develop over time: Soil Layers - Enchanted Learning * O: * organic * A: * Topsoil * Rich in humus and clay, darker * E: * Eluviation * Removal of fine particles and minerals by water * B: * Illuviation: * SubSoil * Deposition of clay, Fe, Al End of “ Soil” * C: * Regolith * R: * Bedrock Still part of the soil profile Soils: * Climate * Modify, add water to places, * Make non arable land arable * Parent material → bedrock * Organic activity * Worms → decompose well, create pore spaces * Topography * Soil in different places changes things * Time * Takes a lot of time for soil to be create naturally * Soil forming processes: Pedogenic Regimes * Laterization: rainforests: * Wet regions * Strong leaching * Causes to much leaching, to fast * Produces Latosols * Rapid decomposition * Slash and Burn techniques used to grow crops * 3 layers of the rainforest: * Canopy → collects the solar energy → most amount of life * Understory * Basement → 2nd amount of life Biodiversity → number of living things per unit area of land. * Podzolization: * Water seasonal * Moderate leaching * Low fertility soils * Cool or warm climates * Calcification: * Arid to semi-arid * Salinization: * Gleization: Biosphere and Biomes: Biogeography: * Biogeography: Studies the spatial distribution of living things * For life to exist… * Flow of energy, water and Nutrients * Laws of thermodynamics: * Energy is never created nor destroyed * Increasing Entropy aka High to low. The Hydrologic Cycle | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration * Hydrologic cycle: * All living things need and contain water * Two ways water is found in biosphere * Bound to plant or animal tissue in transit (transpiration) * Cryosphere - frozen water cycle. * Nitrogen Cycle: * Most organic contains nitrogen * Converted by plant roots and soil microorganisms. * Bacteria plays a huge role. USGS Carbon Cycle | U.S. Geological Survey * Carbon Cycle: * Conversion from CO2 to living matter and back. * Oxygen Cycle: * Building block in most organic molecules. * Movement of oxygens within and between its 4 main reservoirs. → The biggest reservoir of oxygen is the Earth Crust.

So what do we have?
* 8 planets and over 40 moons 
* (no more pluto as of 2006)
* Further away = slower ( longer orbital time) and the colder they get
* The Earth is in the perfect location. 
Sun: 
* 93 million miles from Earth (Ave) 
* Diameter 100x Earths 
* Surface temp 6,000 degrees C or 11,000 degrees F (give or take) 
* Sun releases energy the hotter it is the shorter the wave is - the sun's energy is very short wavelengths. 
* It takes a little less than 10 minutes to get the energy from the sun to earth. 
Earth's journey Around the sun:
* Revolution 
* Our 365.24… day orbit around the sun is Elliptical. 
* 91.4 million miles from Earth to sun → Earth Perihelion 
* 94.5  million miles from the Earth to sun → Earth Aphelion. 
* Distance has nothing to do with seasons 
Why do we have seasons? 
How the earth's axis is tilted. 
Most important concept of this class → *Isolation - receipt of solar radiation THAT HITS THE 
 EARTHS SURFACE!!!
* Differs on the planet 
* Excess of insolation gets distributed (not evenly) 
* Equilibrium → balance in a system 
* Ocean currents, and air currents, are used to distribute the excess and creates the equilibrium. 
*Four factors that control insolation:
1. Temperature of the sun 
2. Distance - goldilocks zone ( Earths in it) perfect spot for life
3. Absorption and scattering of solar radiation -ex.) atmosphere, eclipse, oceans 
4. Latitude 
Review: 
* Earth is kinda round 
   * Due to centrifugal force
* Diameter of 7,900 miles at the poles
   * 7,927 at the equator 
* Circumference of the Earth - 24,901 miles. 
* How far can you be from another person is 12,450  
Earth's Rotation:
* West to East 
* Every hour it moves about 15 degrees of longitude 
* Therefore, it rotates 1 per 24 hours 
   * At the equator our rotational speed is approximately 1000 mph. It gets slower as we move 
towards the poles. 
*  Distance and time to calculate speed 
* The  rotation goes slower at the poles,  then it would at  the equator. 
* Coriolis→  northern hemisphere things go to the right: things have to be moving, 
Earth and sun relations: 
* This is how we define the tilt of the earth.
   * It is tilted at 23.5 degrees from the per less shadow. If flips every 6 months, on equinoxes 
* Both hemispheres are getting the same amount of energy every 3 months. 
Circle of illumination (COI ) - The edge of the sunlit hemisphere that is a great circle  separating Earth into a
 light half and a dark half.
Sub solar point (SSP): place on Earth/latitude that the sun is directly overhead at 90 degree angle at noon. 
* Migrates between the tropic Cancer and Capricorn over the course of the year. 
* It hits the equator on an Equinox and one of the Tropics in a Solstice. 
Solstices June 20 and Dec. 20:
* N. Hemisphere Solstice
* 24 hrs of light in the Arctic circle 
* 24 hrs of night in Antarctica
* Days are longer as you go north 
* S. Hemisphere Solstice
* 24 hrs of light in Antarctic circle 
* 24 hrs of night in Artic 
* Days are longer as you go south 
Equinox - March and sept 22. (on or about) 
The Analemma ( infinity sign):
* Charts the latitude of the SSP for Everyday of the year. 
Summary: Things to know 
* Why do we have seasons?
* What is isolation?
* What is SSP?
* What /when are equinoxes and solstices?

The Atmosphere Part 1: 
Atmosphere:
* No Atmosphere, No Life 
* Composition: Nitrogen- 78%, oxygen- 21%
* Layers by Chemical Composition 
   * Heterosphere - above 80-85 km
      * Layered elements near the top
      * Lighter elements near the top 
      * * 80 km = about 50 miles
   * Homosphere - Below 80 km 
      * Gases are well mixed 
*Layers by temperature: 
* Air gets thinner with Altitude 
   * Cooling 
      * Adiabatic Process: Expansion of the distance between molecules at higher elevation
      * which gets cooler. 
* What we observe is different 
   * Different layers of warming and cooling 
   * Troposphere (0-11km): 
* In the Troposphere we observe cooling 
* Weather happens in the troposphere
* Stratosphere (11-50):
* Gets warmer as you go up 
* Ozone layer - O3 → it filters, absorbs most of the ultraviolet rays from the sun. 
* Overrides the Adiabatic Process 
* Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)- industrial, air conditioning - destroys the O-zone 
* Mesosphere (50-80):
* Climate gets colder 
* Thermosphere (80-480 km):
* Gets warmer 
* Double the solar rays 
* Exosphere (>480): 
* Thin transition between the earth's atmosphere and space. 
Air Pressure:
* Due to gravity 
   * Weight of overlying air decreases with altitude
   * 90% of the air molecules km Within lowest 16
*  Measured with a Barometer
* Barometer→  MB → Millibars  → inches of mercury 
* Low pressure = Wet conditions, High pressure = Dry conditions 
   * Average sea level pressure =  1013.0 Mb 
   * Average sea level pressure = 29.92 in^M
Our atmosphere is…
* Energized by solar radiation 
* Simulated by earthly motions
* Affected by contact with the earth’s surface. 
   * All of this produces WEATHER!!
   * Weather is constantly changing!
Climate:
* Averaged weather over time and/or space
* Decades of daily weather observations are averaged to get to climate
* Weather and Climate are NOT the same thing!
* Climate does change but over L O N G periods of time - hundreds, thousands, and millions of years. 
* We live in a Mediterranean Climate. (cali) 
What controls climate?
1. Latitude 
2. Distribution of Land and Water → specific heat:  if we compare equal land and water, the land will heat up quicker. Water takes 5x longer and energy to heat up then land, land heats up faster and cools down
faster. 
3. General circulation of Atmosphere and oceans. 
* Main surface Ocean currents → Gyres 
* California Current→ cold water current → keeps hurricanes away 
* Clockwise in the Northern hemisphere in the middle of these we find plastic garbage.
* El Nino -  brings higher average rainfall totals 
* La Nina - brings lower average rainfall totals 
* Convection moves energy from the tropics to the poles. 
Laws of thermodynamics:
1. Energy is never created nor destroyed 
2. Energy transferring from high concentration going to low concentration  
Wind is when air molecule go from somewhere with high pressure to low pressure 
4. Topography
* Acts as a barrier 
5. Altitude
* Effects weather and climate 
6. Earth's rotation
7. Storms 
* Storms are basically bombs, release energy 
What is Energy:
* Energy: Capacity and ability to do work 
   * Nothing occurs if energy isn't present 
   * Nothing is free
   * Energy must be transferred 
* Insulation is 99% of the energy on earth 
* Heat: Thermal Energy 
   * Transfer of energy from one body to another.
   * Friction between molecules

* Temperature:
   * Degree of “Hotness” ( no such things as cold) 
      * Fahrenheit 
      * Celsius 
      * Kelvin → puts 0 at no atomic motion

* Lithosphere gets its energy from not the sun, it gets it from the core of the Earth 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heating and cooling of the Atmosphere Greenhouse effect: 
* Greenhouse effect is needed for life on earth. 
* Short wave comes in fast and long waves go out slower (Energy)
Greenhouse gases:
* Carbon dioxide 
* Water vapor 
* Menthane 
 The Greenhouse Effect | CFR Education

GREENHOUSE EFFECT: 
1. The sun's energy reaches the Earth's atmosphere. 
2. Some of the energy is reflected back into space. 
3. The rest is absorbed by the land and oceans, heating the Earth. 
4. The Earth releases some of the energy back into the atmosphere as heat. 
5. Greenhouse gases trap some of this heat, keeping the Earth warm. 
* Took 4 billion years for the greenhouse effect to get to where it needed to be for complex life to exist. 
Enhanced greenhouse effect:
* Related to the greenhouse effect, but humans have affected how shortwave and long waves work.  
Since it is not received equally, the earth system has to re-distribute energy and heat: 
* Radiation: 
   * Energy emitted by waves or particles through a medium or space. 
* Conduction:
   * Energy transfer through molecular collision 
* Convection: (Most important) 
   * Flow of heat in a gas or liquid due to differences in temperature 
   * Heat rises and cold sinks 
Laws of thermodynamics:
1. Energy is never created nor destroyed 
2. Energy transferring from high concentration going to low concentration  
Wind is when air molecule go from somewhere with high pressure to low pressure 
* Short wave goes in long waves go out (Energy)

Wind and Pressure: 
* Large Areas of high and low pressure are called cyclones and Anticyclones. These are the big H and L on the maps when you watch the weather on TV.  2,094 Anticyclone Images, Stock Photos, 3D objects, & Vectors | Shutterstock 
   * H= dry
   * L= Precipitation 
   * Lots of High pressure → Anticyclone 
   * Lots of Low pressure → Cyclone
   * Tornados, and hurricanes are cyclonic
Three things Cyclonic weather: 
Wind direction
   * Surface flow around clockwise (counter clockwise) and Anticyclones (clockwise) caused by:  
   1. Pressure Gradient force: air moves away from high. → High and low pressure→ Application of the 2nd law of thermodynamics. 
   2.  Coriolis effect  → look like they bend to the right 
   3. Friction→ Earth's surface slows down and deflects winds.
   * Effects anything that moves   
   * Friction slows down lower winds, deflection
   * Higher winds have less friction

Atmosphere part 3: 
      * General circulation of the atmosphere:   
         * Principle Mechanism for latitudinal and longitudinal heat transfer. 
         * Produces our major wind belts and pressure zones.

* Moving energy through our atmosphere through convection, if we didn't have convection this extra energy at the tropics this would make them too hot for life and the poles would keep getting colder.
         * Westerlies are the most important winds to the US. 
         * Jet stream→ Higher altitude air blows faster with less density and less friction. 
         * Fastest part of the westerlies winds
         * The more Rosby waves → more variable our weather becomes 
         * Monsoons→ Seasonal reversal of winds Indian Summer Monsoon 
            * During Summer it brings wet weather
            * During Winter it brings dry weather 
            * Not really storms, very large systems → long periods of time with consistent precipitation.  Formation of land and sea breezes - Ocean Observers 
               * Local Winds→ Land and Sea breeze
               * Offshore and onshore wind. 
               * Chinook→ warming downslope air (need a high mountains for this) 
               * Santa Ana Winds→  dry, staticy, allergy ridden.  Chinook Winds, Explained | OpenSnow 
                  * Keeps us dry, keeps the jet stream away from us.  What makes the Santa Ana winds blow through Southern California? - Los  Angeles Times 
                  * Compressional air created by the adiabatic process. 
                  * Air is always dry

Atmospheric Moisture part 1:
                     * The more humid the air is, the more energy there is in the atmosphere, the bigger the storm is. The energy is released through condensation.
                     * States of water:
                     * Solid→ liquid→ gas → water 
                     * Only happens through energy exchange 
                     * Energy Transfer:
                     * Evaporation → liquid water → turns into gas it needs (600 cal per gram) 
                     * To make liquid water into a gas it needs energy from the surrounding environment 600 cal per gram→ Cooling in the surrounding environment. 
                     * Condensation → gas water → to liquid water  it needs (600 cal per gram) 
                     * Heating in the surrounding environment. 
                     * Sublimation→ skip the liquid state, solid → gas (680 cal per gram) 
                     * Quantify how much energy is needed for something to change. 
                     * Under sea level pressurized conditions referring to the numbers in calories. 
                     * 600 and 680 Cal
                     * Important Vocab: 
                     * ( lie: Hotter air can hold more water vapor→ Water vapor can hold more energy. Colder air holds less water vapor. ) 
                     * Saturation capacity → How much it takes to make something full. 
                     * Dew point → the temperature when the air becomes saturated/full.  
                     * Relative Humidity → expression of how much water is in the air. → expressed as a percentage.  dry bulb wet bulb temperature and relative humidity 
                        * This is why low pressure due to the adiabatic process is expressed by precipitation. This is how clouds are formed when the air is compressed to the point of overflow. 
EXAMPLES: 
                        * Temp of air: 70 deg F
                        * Saturation capacity: 15 g/kg
                        * How much is in the air: 7.5 g/kg 
                        * Relative Humidity: 50%
-----------------------------------------------------
                        * Temp of air: 40  deg F → dew point
                        * Saturation capacity: 7.5 g/kg
                        * How much is in the air: 7.5 g/kg 
                        * Relative Humidity: 100%

* The Environmental rate is used to estimate the temperature of air without actually going there or relocating a parcel/bubble of air.
Rates of change every 1000 ft
                        * ENLR- Environmental lapse rate 
                        * 3.6 deg F (not actually there) 
                        * SACR - Saturation 
                        * 3.3 deg F
                        * DALR - Dry 
                        * 5.5 deg F

Example:
59.9                ☁️                5000 FT         59.9 X 5.5 
-----------------------------^-------------------------------------
62.5-3.3=        ☁️        /      \        4000 FT 
------------------------------------------------------------------
         ☁️                /      \        3000 FT          
68-5.5=62.5 deg 
------------------------------------------------------------------                                                                                Rainshadow - always dry 
73.5-5.5 = 68 deg        /      \        2000 FT 
------------------------------------------------------------------

79-5.5= 73.5 deg        /      \        1000 FT
------------------------------------------------------------------
🟡 79 deg                                         🟡 83.4

Atmospheric Moisture Part 2: 
                        * How and why it rains → 5 C’s of Rain/Precipitation:
                        1. C-Evaporation → Needs air to get water vapor put inside of it→ through insolation
                        2. Cooling → make the bubble of air rise 
                        3. Condensation → clouds are forming 
                        4. Coalescence → little droplets of water come together and larger make a larger droplet of water
                        5. C-Falling → must fall and hit the surface (could warm adiabatically on the way down and evaporate)
                        * Cooling: 
Forms of uplift → ways to make air rise and cool 
                        1. Orographic Uplift 
                        2. Fronts * → how it rains in SoCal → two different air masses collide 
                        3. Convection → have to have a warm surface 
                        * Fog:
                        * Condensation near the earth's surface
                        * Need a cool surface 
                        * Radiation →  can happen anywhere 
                        * Advective  → Large water source nearby 
                        * Thickens as it moves over land 
                        * Clouds: 
                        * Three Main types: 
                        * Stratus → Most often found at low attitudes → can cover large areas→ commonly mistaken for fog. 
                        * Cumulus →Billowy and Poofy like cotton→ found at low, medium, and high altitudes. → lots of Moisture →Cumulonimbus clouds → bring rain.    Continental tropical air mass: only real source for hot, dry ... 
                        * Cirrus → High Altitude ( all over the place) → decorative cloud → (mostly ice crystals) Sublimation → Wispy 
Storms part 1: 
                           * Air Mass → Large bubbles of air. → A large volume of air with relatively uniform temperature and moisture characteristics, typically covering hundreds or thousands of square miles.
                           * Source area on Earth  
Weather forecasting: 
                           * Barometric trends 
                           * What the jet stream is doing 
                           * Wind direction/Speed

* Fronts → 
                           * Cold air attacking 
                           * Warm air attacking 
                           * Face to face before fighting begins

Warm Front: transition zone from cold air to warm air 
 Cold Front: transition zone from warm air to cold air

Weather: Fronts - Learn To Fly

Stationary Front: a front that is not moving

Where Do Mid-Latitude Cyclones Form and Cross North America?

Mid Latitude Cyclone - wind pattern: 
 LABORATORY 4: MID-LATITUDE CYCLONES, WEATHER MAPS, AND FORECASTING –  Physical Geography Lab Manual: The Atmosphere and Biosphere

* Only talk about wind from where they come from, not where they end up. 
                           * Before the cold front gets here, the temperature gets colder, the barometer gets lower, wind direction:South East/west, Cloud cover: more Clouds.
                           * After the front passes, another weather change, temps should get colder for a while, barometer rises, wind direction: West or northwest. 
Air Masses, and fronts, thunderstorms and Tornadoes, Hurricanes, Typhoons, Cyclones, Willy Nilly:
Air Mass: 
                           * An Air mass is a large body of the lower atmosphere with uniform conditions of temperature and moisture. 
Two major characteristics 
                           * Moisture content 
                           * c= continental 
                           * M- maritime 
                           * Latitude (temperature)
                           * A= Arctic or Antarctic 
                           * P= Polar (50 deg, -60 deg N/S)
                           * T= Tropical (20 deg, -35 N/S) 
                           * E= Equatorial 
Polar fronts:

Mid Latitude Cyclone - wind pattern:  Stormy Skies: How Mid-Latitude Cyclones Form 
                           * Thunderstorms: Life cycle: 
                           * 1. Stationary Front Stage 
                           * 2. Early stage 
                           * 3. Open wave stage 
                           * 4. Closing of open wave
                           * 5. Occluded stage 
                           * 6. Dissolving stage 
Migration of a mid latitude cyclone

* Evolution of thunderstorms: 
                           * Cumulus Stage: 
                           * Begins with convection or advancing cold fronts into mT air. 
                           * Rapid rising air forms cumulus clouds. 
                           * Developing Stage: 
                           * Condensation releases latent heat. 
                           * Mature Stage:
                           * Very stable air with development of strong updrafts. 
                           * Intense precipitation brings cold air down to create downdrafts.          
                           * Dissipation Stage: 
                           * All can happen really fast ( warm and cold air interact)

The production of Lightning:
                           * Collisions among ice crystals and rain droplets cause differences in electrical charge within clouds.
                           * Ground has a positive charge 
                           * Most lightning within clouds form positive (+) to negative (-). 
                           * In strong storms, the leader (-) from cloud meets streamer (+) from ground, creating  “spark” as cloud-to-ground lightning. 
Tornados: 
                           * Small intense cyclones formed in supercell thunderstorms.
                           * Mesocyclones are large rotating updrafts. 
                           * Forms at high altitudes with strong updrafts and wind shears. 
                           * A horizontal vortex of air gets pulled vertically in updrafts.

Tropical Cyclones: 
                              * Develop in homogenous air masses at low latitudes 
                              * Fueled by abundant water vapor and latent heat. 
Early formation: 
                              * Easterly wave: slow moving through migrates along tropical easterlies.
                              * Upper air converges on the windward side and diverges on the leeward side, causing rapid uplift.

* Tropical storms in the atlantic or eastern pacific with very high winds. 
Rare combinations of environmental variables: 
                              * Warm ocean surface
                              * High evaporation 
                              * Favorable upper air winds 
                              * High pressure aloft 
Anatomy of a hurricane: 
                              * Around the eye, air flows inward and upward 
                              * In the eye, air flows toward the surface and warms.

* No predictable path for hurricanes. 
Part 1: Climate Zone and Types: 
                              * Primary system to measure climate in the world → Modified Koppen Classification System: 
                              * Most widely used system around the world
                              * Compare and contrast climate 
                              * Weather: 
                              * Southern Japan is like → Miami 
                              * Northern Japan → New England
                              * Tokyo and Washington DC are almost on the same latitude. 
                              * Classification System: 
                              * Temp and precipitation Averages.
                              * Average annual and average monthly for locations. 
                              * This happens over a long period of time. 
Climate types: 
                              * Mediterranean climate - CSA or CSB → TJ to the Bay Area.
                              * Max. rainfall 38 in. 
                              * Lowest rainfall 3.8 in.
                              * Marine west coast -  Northern california to seattle 
Main climate zones:
                              1. Tropical Humid (A) → Equator 
                              1. AF → Wettest 
                              2. AM → Monsoons ( has dry season) 
                              2. Dry (B) → desert 
                              3. Mid Lat ( C) → Wide variety (New orleans)
                              4. Severe Mid Lat (D) → Chicago (Windy, lake effect snow, Hot and humid in summer, and frigid in the winter.) 
                              5. Polar (E) → Drier than B  classification 
                              6. Highland (H) → Cold and snowy/icy: mountain 
Climate: 
                              * Climograph: 
                              * Temp and Precipitation 
Monsoon:
Calcutta, india: Climograph 
 Kolkata climate: Weather Kolkata & temperature by month

B climates:
                              * BW: Deserts < 12 inches per year. 
                              * BS: Steppe 12-20 Inches per year 
                              * Hot summers
                              * 100th meridian: 100 degrees west 
                              * 20 inch isohyet.
                              * Arid west and Humid east.

Climate change: 
                              * Geologic Time scales: 
                              * “Foreverrrr” 
                              * Change is normal
Climate change: 
                              1. Sense of Scale and Time on Earth.  
                              1. Everything changes 
Climate change not global warming: warming is not the issue, Earth should be warming, we are warming faster than were supposed to.
                              2. Natural cycles of warming and cooling: 
                              1. Over the last 2 million years - “ roughly speaking” 
                              2. 100,000 years of cooling (ice age)/ 20,000 years of warming (interglacial)
                              3. Greenhouse effect: 
                              1. Short wave in fast/ long wave out slow
                              2. 3 main GHGs 
                              4. Urban-Heat Island:   
What he means by then:
                              * Short term: years to decade
                              * Medium: thousands to millions 
                              * Long range: hundreds of millions 
                              * Super long range: billions 
How do we reconstruct past climate: Techniques: 
                              * Daily weather records 
                              * 1870’s - today 
                              * Historical clues: 
                              * Stories, agriculture, art, tools, ect
                              * Thousands of years 
                              * Dendrochronology: 
                              * Tree rings
                              * Hundreds to a few thousands years
                              * Palynology: 
                              * Up to about 15k years ago
                              * Pollen 
                              * Carbon 14: 
                              * Up to 50k years (ish) 
                              * Glaciers/ice cores:
                              * Thousands to hundreds of thousands of years (possibly more) 
                              * Residual snow: need more snow to fall in the winter, than the summer can melt. 
important ice core data: 
                              * Look at the relationships between co2 and temp
                              * Highly correlated variable → at many different time scales. 
                              * Have you had statistics? Are correlation and causation the same thing? No!
                              * One does not cause the other 
                              * But there does seem to be a relationship. 
                              * Deep sea core: 
                              * Millions of years
                              * Fossil/geologic record: 
                              * Hundreds of millions years 
Long term Changing Climate:
                              * Milankovitch Cycles: effects insolation on Earth 
                              * Obliquity of the Eclipse: tilt changes (+ -) degree
                              * Polar wobble/Precession: Effects latitudinal patterns of insolation 
                              * Eccentricity of the orbit: Orbit around the sun circular ti more elliptical 
                              * Mountain Building periods ( orogeny):
                              * Effects global circulation of atmosphere 
                              * Volcanic Activity: 
                              * Changes Gaseous Composition of the Atmosphere 
                              * Changes in Arrangement of Continents: 
                              * Changes ocean currents 
                              * Land water contrast 
                              * Location landmasses
Reason for Climate change:
                              * Human Activity: 8 billion people 
                              * Consuming (Stuff) 
                              * Burning Fossil fuels -emitting CO2
                              * Modifying the Greenhouse Effect 
                              * Co2 as a good proxy for temp?
                              * You have to decide.

Soils: 
                              * Arable land on Earth = 10.6%
                              * Projections say by 2050 the Arable land on Earth will be cut in half. 
                              * Some area aren’t meant to grow agriculture but we’ve modified it to be able to 
                              * Soils aren’t in good shape right now → much of the world has degraded or very degraded soil 
                              * The remaining stable soil areas aren’t suitable for agriculture
                              * 8 ½ billion people on Earth. 
                              * Agriculture and climate go together 
                              * Farming on 12% of earth surface. 
Soils: 
                              * Composition:
                              * Minerals → crushed up rocks 
                              * Air → above and in 
                              * Water → 20 in bare min
                              * Organic Materials 
                              * (humus) → living things that have decomposed and are being used  The Soil Texture Triangle 
                                 * Physical properties:
                                 * Color → red means breaking down oxidation/rust (iron) 
                                 * Texture → soil texture triangle: →
                                 * Sand: large particles → allows a lot water to get into the ground, 
                                 * Clay: small flat particles→ don't allow water to move through soil easily. 
                                 * Silt → small particles 
                                 * Structure 
                                 * Porosity and permeability: 
                                 * Porosity: pore spaces 
                                 * Permeability: connectability of pore spaces.
                                 * Capillarity → air is helping water move up through pore spaces
                                 * Leaching → dissolving and water moving through 
                                 * Acidity → PH scale: 
                                 * Acid ← Neutral → Bases

* Horizons/layers that develop over time: Soil Layers - Enchanted Learning 
                                    * O: 
                                    * organic 
                                    * A:
                                    * Topsoil 
                                    * Rich in humus and clay, darker 
                                    * E: 
                                    * Eluviation 
                                    * Removal of fine particles and minerals by water
                                    * B: 
                                    * Illuviation:
                                    * SubSoil 
                                    * Deposition of clay, Fe, Al
End of “ Soil”
                                    * C: 
                                    * Regolith 
                                    * R: 
                                    * Bedrock 
Still part of the soil profile

Soils: 
                                    * Climate 
                                    * Modify, add water to places, 
                                    * Make non arable land arable 
                                    * Parent material → bedrock 
                                    * Organic activity 
                                    * Worms → decompose well, create pore spaces 
                                    * Topography 
                                    * Soil in different places changes things 
                                    * Time 
                                    * Takes a lot of time for soil to be create naturally

* Soil forming processes: Pedogenic Regimes 
                                    * Laterization: rainforests: 
                                    * Wet regions 
                                    * Strong leaching 
                                    * Causes to much leaching, to fast

* Produces Latosols 
                                    * Rapid decomposition 
                                    * Slash and Burn techniques used to grow crops
                                    * 3 layers of the rainforest: 
                                    * Canopy → collects the solar energy → most amount of life
                                    * Understory 
                                    * Basement → 2nd amount of life 
Biodiversity → number of living things per unit area of land. 
                                    * Podzolization: 
                                    * Water seasonal 
                                    * Moderate leaching
                                    * Low fertility soils
                                    * Cool or warm climates
                                    * Calcification:
                                    * Arid to semi-arid 
                                    * Salinization: 
                                    * Gleization: 
Biosphere and Biomes: Biogeography: 
                                    * Biogeography: Studies the spatial distribution of living things
                                    * For life to exist…
                                    * Flow of energy, water and Nutrients
                                    * Laws of thermodynamics:
                                    * Energy is never created nor destroyed 
                                    * Increasing Entropy aka High to low.  The Hydrologic Cycle | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 
                                       * Hydrologic cycle:
                                       * All living things need and contain water
                                       * Two ways water is found in biosphere 
                                       * Bound to plant or animal tissue in transit (transpiration) 
                                       * Cryosphere - frozen water cycle.
                                       * Nitrogen Cycle:
                                       * Most organic contains nitrogen
                                       * Converted by plant roots and soil microorganisms. 
                                       * Bacteria plays a huge role.

USGS Carbon Cycle | U.S. Geological Survey

* Carbon Cycle: 
                                       * Conversion from CO2 to living matter and back. 
                                       * Oxygen Cycle:
                                       * Building block in most organic molecules. 
                                       * Movement of oxygens within and between its 4 main reservoirs. → The biggest reservoir of oxygen is the Earth Crust.

Transcript for:Overview of Physical Geography Concepts

Transcript for:
Overview of Physical Geography Concepts