Intro to Geography

1. Intro to Geography Mr. Loughlin

2. What is Geography? • It is a field of science dedicated to the study of the lands, the features, the inhabitants, and the phenomena of the Earth. • Geography has been called "the world discipline" and "the bridge between the human and the physical science“ • Geography is divided into two main branches: human geography and physical geography.

4. River • a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. The Longest River in the world is the Nile in Egypt which runs over 4,000 miles long! Example: Delaware River

5. Mountain • a large landform that stretches above the surrounding land in a limited area, usually in the form of a peak. • A mountain is generally steeper than a hill. • Example: Pocono Mountains.

6. Ocean • a body of water that composes much of a planet's hydrosphere. • On Earth, an ocean is one of the major conventional divisions of the World Ocean, which occupies two-thirds of planet's surface. • These are, in descending order by area, the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern (Antarctic), and Arctic Oceans

7. Desert • a barren area of land where little precipitation occurs and consequently living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. • Deserts can be classified by the amount of precipitation that falls, by the temperature that prevails, by the causes of desertification or by their geographical location • Example: Death Valley, USA

8. Plateaus/Glaciers • Also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. • Plateaus can be formed by a number of processes, including upwelling of volcanic magma, extrusion of lava, and erosion by water and glaciers. • Glacier: a persistent body of dense ice that is constantly moving under its own weight; it forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation (melting and sublimation) over many years, often centuries.

9. Tundra • a biome where the tree growth is hindered by low temperatures and short growing seasons. • In a tundra, the vegetation is composed of dwarf shrubs, sedges and grasses, mosses, and lichens. • There are three types of tundra: arctic tundra, alpine tundra, and Antarctic tundra.

10. Savanna • a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. • The oak savanna is a common type of savanna in the Northern Hemisphere • Savannas are also characterized by seasonal water availability, with the majority of rainfall confined to one season.