GEOLOCATION
The Importance of Place
DESCRIBING
A PLACE
Toponyms: What
do we name it?
Site factors: What’s
there?
Situation factors:
What’s it near?
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
Put a
Grid
on it.
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
Earth’s Axis
The Earth spins as it orbits
the sun
The Axis is the line around
which the earth spins
It spins from West to East
(direction of the arrow)
The point around which the
earth spins at the top and
bottom of the earth are the
poles
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
Latitude Lines
(Parallels)
Geographers orient the earth so that
the direction of spin is at a right angle
to the axis
They then apply lines in the direction
of spin called latitude lines (parallels)
The lines of greatest circumference is
called the equator (assigned 0°)
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
THE EQUATOR (0°)
Divides the earth into two Hemispheres
(North and South)
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
LATITUDE LINES
Each additional line is placed at 1°
intervals (angle from center of
earth with equator as a base)
Latitude lines run from 0° to 90° both
North and South of Equator
North pole is 90° North, South Pole is
90° South
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
AXIS TILT
Earth’s axis tilts 23.5° to both
sides every year.
That tilt changes the point on
the earth’s surface that gets
the most direct sunlight.
It also changes the point on
the top and bottom of the
earth at °90 to the sun.
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
TROPICS & CIRCLES
When axis tilts right, northern
hemisphere gets more direct
sunlight.
When axis tilts left, southern
hemisphere gets direct sunlight.
The lines of greatest shift relative
to the equator are called Tropics
The lines of greatest shift relative
to the poles are called circles
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
LONGITUDE LINES
(MERIDIANS)
Geographers draw lines that
connect the two poles called
longitude lines (or meridians)
All meridians have an equal length.
English geographers set the first
meridian (0°) to pass through
Greenwich England and called it
the Prime (as in primary) Meridian.
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
PRIME MERIDIAN
(0° LONGITUDE)
Greenwich, England
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
LONGITUDE LINES
Using the pole as a point and the Prime
Meridian as a base, all other meridians
are place at 1° angle intervals to the
East AND West of the Prime Meridian.
Meridians run 0° to 180° West of the
PM (towards the US) and 0° to 180°
East of the Pm towards China.
There is a single line of 180° longitude,
exactly opposite the Prime Meridian.
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
THE GRID
Lines of Latitude and Longitude form a grid. Coordinates are given in latitude, longitude.
Each degree of latitude and longitude is further divided:
Each degree into 60 minutes
Each minute into 60 seconds
MATHEMATICAL
LOCATION
KNOW YOUR LOCATION
TIME
ZONES
Geographers used Meridians to create system of time.
Earth takes 1 hour to turn 15° longitude.
There are 24 total zones (24x15= 360° total longitude).
INTERNATIONAL
DATE LINE
Global time set at the prime meridian (Greenwich Mean Time, GMT)
The International Date Line is located roughly 180° longitude.
Cross it going East (Towards America) SUBTRACT a day.
Cross it going West (Towards Asia) ADD a Day.
REGIONS
REGIONAL STUDIES
You Ain’t From Around Here Are Ya?
REGIONS
A region is an area of the Earth defined my one or more characteristics:
CULTURAL (language, religion, etc.
ECONOMIC (agriculture, industry, etc.
PHYSICAL (climate, vegetation, etc.)
Regions gain uniqueness from a combination of human and environmental characteristics
Human Activities produce distinctive landscapes that do not derive primarily from physical features
REGION applies to any area larger than a point and smaller than the planet.
REGIONS
REGIONAL STUDIES
An approach pioneered by Vidal and Brunhes and then
adopted by American Geographer Carl Sauer.
Regional studies approach argues that each region has its
own distinctive landscape that results from the unique
combination of social relationships and physical processes.
Paul Vidal de la Blanche and Jean Brunhes
People are the most important
agents of change on the earth’s
surface.
Carl Sauer
REGIONS
THE CULTURAL
LANDSCAPE
Regions derive their character through the
cultural landscape.
The Cultural landscape is a combination of
cultural (language, religion, etc.), economic
(agriculture, industry, etc.) and physical
(climate, vegetation, etc) features.
Carl Sauer said, “Culture is the agent, the
natural area the medium, the cultural
landscape the result.”
The Bamiyan Buddha
REGIONS
TYPES OF REGIONS
REGIONS
Formal
Regions
US CORN BELT (A FORMAL REGION)
(aka Uniform or
Homogenous)
DEFINITION
An area in which everyone (or the great majority)
shares distinct characteristic
TYPES
CULTURAL (language, religion, etc.)
ENVIRONMENTAL (climate, vegetation, etc.)
a region marked by internal sameness
ECONOMIC (crops, manufacturing, etc.)
POLITICAL (states, sub-state divisions, etc.)
REGIONS
Formal Region: CULTURAL
World Macrocultural Regions
REGIONS
Formal Region: ENVIRONMENTAL
World Climate Zones
REGIONS
Formal Region: POLITICAL
World States
REGIONS
Functional
Regions
(aka Nodal)
DEFINITION
QUALITIES
A area based around a central focal point (node)
Marked by functional integration, not internal sameness
Functional characteristic dominates at CORE and
lessens towards PERIPHERY
Area tied to node by systems (communication, transportation,
economic)
REGIONS
Functional Region
TV Viewing Area
REGIONS
Functional Region
Newspaper Circulation
REGIONS
Functional Region
Fast Food Service Region
REGIONS
Functional Region
Airline Hubs
REGIONS
Vernacular
Regions
(aka Peceptual)
DEFINITION
QUALITIES
An area people believe exists as a part of a cultural
identity
Marked by emotional reflection, not internal sameness or functional
integration
Vernacular regions may also have cores and
peripheries
Reflects feelings and ideas of a people about a place
REGIONS
Vernacular Region
“The South”
REGIONS
Vernacular Region
A Neighborhood
SPATIAL
ASSOCIATION
Geographers try to identify cultural, economic, and environmental factors that display similar distributions.
Factors that have similar distributions are said to have spatial association.
These spatially associated factors do not necessarily cause each other but they can influence each other.
Examine the above maps. What do you notice about the distribution of America’s poor
and cancer mortality rates?
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
Macchu Picchu, Peru
Aqueduct of the Eagle, Nerja, Spain
Where Man Meets
Land
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
CULTURE
Culture is the sum total of a group’s way of living. It’s comprised of three elements:
MENTIFACTS… religion and philosophy
SOCIOFACTS… government and economy
ARTIFACTS… food, clothing and shelter)
Culture can operate at a number of scales from macrocultural to microcultural
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
Macroculture
Microculture
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
the study of the relations and
interactions between an
organism and its physical
environment
Different cultural groups interact with the natural environment in different ways
The geographic study of human-environment relationships is called CULTURAL
ECOLOGY.
There have been two primary theories of cultural ecology:
ENVIRONMENTAL
DETERMINISM
POSSIBILISM
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINISM
The Environmental Determinism
theory was pioneered by German
geographers Humboldt and Ritter in
the 1800s.
It was espoused by others in the late
19th and early 20th centuries.
It claimed that the physical
environment CAUSED (determined)
social development.
IT’S BEEN REJECTED BY MODERN
GEOGRAPHERS.
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
Environmental Determinism has been rejected as inaccurate because:
The environment does limit man’s activities, but man can always choose how
to act in response to the environment.
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
POSSIBILISM acknowledges that the environment does limit man’s activities,
but claims that man can always choose how to act in response to the
environment.
Modern geographers take a
closer look at the environment
and its processes.
They know they must
understand the earth’s
PHYSICAL PROCESSES to
understand how they AFFECT
(not DETERMINE) human
activity.
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
CLIMATE
Climate is the long term, average weather condition at a location.
Humans have a limited tolerance for extreme temperature and precipitation levels.
Local climate affects human activities, especially food production.
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
VEGETATION
Vegetation and soil affect the types of agriculture people practice.
Earth’s land vegetation is divided into four main categories (biomes) of plant
communities:
1. FOREST BIOME
3. GRASSLAND BIOME
2. SAVANNA BIOME
4. DESERT BIOME
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
SOIL
Soil is the organic material
that forms on the Earth’s
surface.
It contains dirt, decomposed
biomatter and nutrients
essential for plant growth.
Geographers have identified
more than 12,000 types of
soil.
Geographers are especially
concerned with destruction of
soil due to erosion and
desertification (nutrient
depletion).
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
PHYSICAL PROCESSES
LANDFORMS
Earth’s surface features (landforms) vary from flat to mountainous.
Landforms include mountains, bodies of water, forest, valleys, wetlands, etc.
Landforms affect the distribution of people and the choice of economic activities at different
locations.
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
POSSIBILISM
Claims that the physical environment
can LIMIT SOME human activities,
but that humans have the ability to
adjust to their environment.
Humans can CHOOSE a course of
action from many alternatives in the
physical environment, given the
physical processes.
Possibilists argue that the physical
environment becomes valuable
through man’s adaptation of it and
its resources.
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
POSSIBILISM IN:
United Arab Emirates
CULTURAL
ECOLOGY
POSSIBILISM IN:
United Arab Emirates
The
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Dubai
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Dubai,
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Palm Island: Dubai, UAE
Burj al Arab Hotel, Dubai UAE