Geography and Geology
Notes
• Five Themes of Geography:
1. Location – The absolute or relative site, or
position of something.
2. Place – Refers to the physical and human factors
that make one area different from another.
3. Region – An area that has certain shared
characteristics that set it apart.
4. Movement – The shifting of people, goods, and
ideas from one place to another.
5. Human-Environment Interaction – The ways
people interact with their surroundings, such as
building a dam.
Map – A visual representation of the earth’s surface.
Cartographer – A map maker.
Physical
Map– Show
the earth’s
landforms
and bodies
of water.
Political Map –
Show boundaries
that divide one
political entity from
another. (Most Utah
Cities are found near
rivers or lakes).
Cardinal Directions – The main
directions (North, South, East and West).
Compass – Used on a map to
show the Cardinal Directions.
Latitude – Imaginary
horizontal lines joining points
on the Earth's surface that
measure distance north or
south of the equator.
Equator – The line that marks 0˚ latitude.
Longitude – Imaginary vertical lines
joining points on the Earth's surface that
measure distance east or west of the Prime
Meridian.
Prime Meridian –
The line of 0˚
longitude that
passes through
Greenwich,
England.
Hemisphere – Half of a sphere.
Grid – A series of horizontal and vertical lines
used to find the coordinates of a point.
Key – An area on the map where map symbols
are explained, often called the legend.
Symbol –
Something on a
map that stands for
something else.
Elevation – The height
above a certain point,
especially sea level.
Scale – A place on a map usually part of the
legend that compares
the size of the model
with the size of the
area being represented.
Utah’s 2 Drainage Regions
• Bonneville Drainage Region and
Colorado River Drainage Region.
Bonneville
Drainage
Region
Colorado River
Drainage Region.
Utah has 3 Land Regions
•Utah’s Land
Regions –
Colorado Plateau,
Rocky Mountain
and Great Basin.
Utah Geology
• Geologic Eras:
Precambrian
– 600 Million
Years Ago
- Earliest
known
geologic era.
Paleozoic
Mesozoic
Cenozoic
– 570-240
Million Years
Ago
- Shallow Seas
- Trilobites
- Reptiles live
in the seas.
– 240-65
Million Years
Ago
- Dinosaurs
- Sedimentary
Rock formed
– 65 Million
Years Ago to
Present
- Mammals
- Mountains
and plateaus
rise
- Glaciers
- Lake
Bonneville
- Humans
Other Utah Geology Notes
•
3 Types of Rock:
–
–
–
•
•
•
•
•
Sedimentary – Sandstone and Limestone
Igneous – Granite and Basalt
Metamorphic – Quartzite and Slate
Coal – important mineral for Utah’s
economy; sold to places as far away as
Japan.
Some of Utah’s canyons were formed by
glaciers. V=River Canyon, U=Glacial Canyon
Today all of Utah’s volcanoes are extinct.
Salt mining is a billion dollar industry in
Utah.
The Great Salt Lake is the largest salt water
lake in the western hemisphere and no water
flows out of it.
Other Utah Geology Notes:
• Lake Bonneville covered most of Utah; Great
Salt Lake, Utah Lake and Sevier Lake were
part of Lake Bonneville.
• Fossils are formed by dead plants and
animals.
• The Utahraptor was discovered in 1992 in
Arches National Park.
• Trilobites are Utah’s oldest animal fossil.
• Utah’s two biggest faults are the Sevier Fault
and the Wasatch Fault.
• Wind, rain, floods and earthquakes cause
natural changes to the land.