Intro to Physical Geography
Intro to Physical Geography
The Physical Earth
______________– made up of the Earth’s crust and solid
upper mantle.
______________– More than 70% of the Earth’s surface is
covered by water.
______________– Around the Earth is an envelope of gases
known as the atmosphere.
______________– refers to all life on Earth
______________- The Earth’s crust forms a thick skin
around the Earth.
Broken up into tectonic plates
The ______________of these plates shapes the Earth’s
surface.
Mountain Building- When two land plates (Continental
Plates) slowly ______________ into one another, they fold
upwards, creating mountain chains.
Seafloor Spreading and Rift Valleys-In the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean, the ______________ of plates is causing the
seafloor to spread.
As the plates move apart, ______________ rises up through
cracks in the ocean floor, creating a mountain ridge.
______________-In a place where tectonic plates diverge or
where one plate dives under another, pressure in the Earth’s
mantle is reduced and some of the hot, solid rock turns to
liquid
This liquid______________is looking for a weakness in the
Earth’s crust to vent.
Volcanoes-When the magma breaks through and reaches the
earth’s surface, it is called ______________.
Most volcanoes are located on the______________of plates
______________-The wearing down of rocks at the Earth’s
surface by wind water ice and living things.
______________-The process by which rock sand and soil
and broken down and carried away.
______________-The same forces that erode one place can
deposit particles and sediment in another.
Rivers carry sediment downstream and deposit the sediment
where the river meets the ocean ______________
Ocean waves can bring______________to a beach
Soil: A building process
______________ breaks down rocks
Broken down rocks mix with______________plants and
animals (humus), water, fungi, bacteria etc.
Different types of soil
Texture
Ability to hold water
Ability to ______________ vegetation
Landforms
______________ - often formed by the collision of tectonic
plates, can be thousands of feet high in elevation
______________– a flat highland whose sides drop suddenly
because of erosion
______________ – long, low areas between mountain
ranges, hills or uplands, often created by erosion
______________– a deep gorge or ravine between cliffs,
often carved by a river
Hydrosphere
More than ______________of the Earth’s surface is covered
by water; 97% of this water is in the oceans; Most of the
remaining 3% is frozen in the polar ice caps
Less than 1% is found in the ______________, ground water,
lakes or streams
Currents
Ocean______________occur at the surface and below
@ the Equator the Earth’s rotation pushes surface water
toward the ______________ – sets in motion large circular
surface currents
Water heated by the sun moves toward the poles
The ______________Stream carries warm water towards
Great Britain making it warmer than it normally would be
Under the surface, cold water sinks, then slowly moves
toward the ______________, pushing warmer water away
This water slowly______________heat
Circulation takes ______________ of years
The Atmosphere
The ______________ of gases surrounding the Earth;
Absorbs solar radiation; Moderates temperature; Distributes
water
Climate Regions
High-Latitude Climates –______________
Near the poles; Very cold
Mid-Latitude Climates – ______________
Warm summers; Cool winters
Low-Latitude Climates - ______________
Biomes
Temperate Deciduous Forest
Develop in Temperate/ ______________zones
Ample rainfall; Moderate temperatures with cool winters
______________change colors in fall; Trees lose leaves in
winter
Wide range of plant and animal life
______________Rain Forest
Develop in Tropical/ low-latitude zones
Ample rainfall; Warm temperatures year round; Large trees
form ______________
______________and diverse plant and animal life
______________/ Savannas/ Steppes
Exist where climate is drier; Not enough rain to support
large amount of trees; Dominated by______________;
Large grazing animals – cattle, ______________, bison
*Savannas are grasslands with some trees (Africa)
Desert
Receive less than 10” of rainfall per ______________;
Tropical/ low-latitudes; ______________ that has adapted to
the lack of water (cacti) and store water in their stem
Tundra
Found closer to the polar regions; ______________ –
permanently frozen soil; Grasses and small shrubs; Trees
cannot grow