the science that studies the relationships among natural systems, geographic areas, society, and cultural activities and the interdependence of all of these over space.

the study of the earth's landscape: people, places, economics

the spatial analysis of all the physical elements and process systems that make up the environment: energy, air, water, weather, climate, landforms, soils, animals, plants, microorganisms, and earth itself.

5 Types: 1. location 2. movement 3. region 4. human-earth 5. place and time

78% Nitrogen

21% Oxygen

0.9% Argon

0.03% Carbon Dioxide

0.0002% Ozone

Remainder is water vapor, dust, salts, trace gasses, modern chemicals and stored energy.

atmosphere general definition:

a thin, gaseous veil surrounding earth, held by gravity. from the earth's core and all living matter

earth's crust and a portion of the upper mantle. Includes: Continental Crust, Ocean, Oceanic crust, and Uppermost Mantel

found above the asthemosphere: continental and oceanic crusts

wraps around the planet from east to west. a measurement north or south of the equator. the lines of latitude run east and west parallel to the equator. Equator is 0 degrees, measurements are from 0-90 degrees both north and south, with the poles being 90 degrees

 the line that connects all points of equal latitude is the parallel.

the part of geography that involves map making.

the study and practice of making maps.

cartography includes history

solar radiation that reaches a horizontal plan at earth. (derived from incoming solar radiation) 45

(in)coming (sol)ar radi(ation)

the dividing line that circumnavigates the globe between day and night

1/2 half of the work is in sunlight the other half is in darkness.

the point at which the sun's declination is at its farthest northern point

Parallel of Latitude 23.5 North. Farthest northern point that the sun's rays hit the earth perpendicular.

the point at which the sun's declination is at its farthest southern point

Parallel of Latitude 23.5 South. Farthest southern point that the sun's rays hit the earth perpendicular.

the redirection of sunlight by gas molecules. this does not alter wavelength. Represents 75 of earth's reflectivity or albedo. 85

bouncing around not absorbed or reflected: sun's energy: insolation 5% scattered by stuff

the bending of insolation caused by a change of speed when passing through one medium to another that have different densities. Ex: from air into water. 86

when arriving energy is bounced directly back into space without being absorbed or performing any work. 86

the act of bouncing energy back without absorbing it or using it for work.

Albedo is the reflective quality of matter. (Ex: if asphalt has an albedo of 10%, then it reflects 10% of the energy that arrives and absorbs 90% of the energy)

insolation:

6% reflected off of the ground

21% reflected off of clouds

the reflective quality or intrinsic brightness of a surface.

% of reflection of a surface

86

when winds descend and diverge, spiraling outward clockwise in the north hemi (around a high pressure zone) or outward counter clockwise in the southern hemi

spins down and out around a high pressure system - in the Northern hemisphere - opposite in the southern

when winds converge, ascend and spiral upward. counterclockwise in the north hemi and clockwise in the southern hemi

spins up and in around a low pressure system in the northern hemisphere - opposite in the southern

a ratio of the amount of water vapor actually in the air to the max amount possible at a given temp

the ratio of water vapor present to air volume. this is a number or %, not tangible: When air is warm, it expands - it takes up more space. relative humidity is determined by volume...so the total amount of water vapor in warm air has a lower relative humidity than the same amount of water vapor in cold air.

by their moister content: m (maritime-wetter) and c (continental-drier), AND BY TEMP: (lattitude) A (artic), P (polar), T (tropical), E (equatorial) and AA (Antarctic)

(Ex: mA = maritime artic air mass)

external. powered by insolation and influenced by gravity

outside a system (erosion)

granite

lighter than the oceanic crust which is made up of basalt

this is important because it explains why the oceanic crust dives below the continental crust at convergent faults creating subduction zones.

basalt, denser than the continental crust which is granit.

this is important because it explains why the oceanic crust dives below the continental crust at convergent faults creating subduction zones.

produced by the principles of buoyancy and balance. Isostasy (Greek ísos "equal", stásis "standstill") is a term used in geology to refer to the state of gravitational equilibrium between the earth's lithosphere and asthenosphere such that the tectonic plates "float" at an elevation which depends on their thickness and density.

(Ex: granite-continents is more bouyant than basalt-ocean floors; therefore when they push against each other the continent will move up as the ocean floor moves down)

magma when it is extruded onto the surface of the earth.

forms extrusive igneous rock

texture: aa (rough and sharp-edges lava and pahoehoe (smooth, ropy folds of lava)

any rock that goes through profound physical or chemical changes under pressure and increased temp

change through heat and pressure. any rock can be changed. this happens at the molecular level. high heat and high pressure.

includes sea floor spreading along mid-ocean ridges and denser oceanic crust diving beneath lighter continental crust along subduction zones

Also: a scientific theory that describes the large-scale motions of Earth's lithosphere.

subduction zone - the process that takes place at convergent boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate and sinks into the mantle as the plates converge.

(Ex: continent meets spreading ocean floor)

one side slides under another, caused by spreading at another location. lighter crust goes up, denser crust goes down. can cause volcanic activity

is a fragment of crustal material formed on, or broken off from, one tectonic plate and accreted or "sutured" to crust lying on another plate. Continental crust is enlarged through accretion of dispersed terranes

(a piece breaks off of one plate and becomes part of another changes the total mass of each plate)

migrating terranes: slowly moving pieces of crust which have become attache to plates - break off of one added to another

a sharp release of energy during the moment of fracture

mountain building too - requires energy. disbursement of energy through land.

p waves felt first, fast and back and forth

s waves are felt second, slow and undulating - like the letter s

horizontal movement along a fault plane produces a linear rift valley

each side slides past the other (transformative)

differ due to the type of lava that forms them (mainly consistency).

Shield: tall, steep sides, formed by thinner lava

Composite: short, bigger craters, formed by thicker lava

morei info: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_are_composite_volcanoes_and_shield_volcanoes_different

open (not self-contained matter and/or energy flows in and out) and closed (self contained) matter and/or energy do not enter or exit the system.

open: not self-sufficient, needs something from the outside to function closed: self-sufficient

wraps around the planet from north to south. Cuts the planet into orange slice shapes (wider in the middle and coming to a point at the top). Meridian is the line that connects all equal points of longitude. Measured from 0 to 180 degrees east and west of the Prime Meridian (Royal Observatory at Greenwich).

runs from north to south, from pole to pole. The line that connects all equal points of longitude is called a meridian. Cuts the earth into orange-like slices. All meridians bisect the earth. 1^o = 4 minutes of time. 1^o can be broken up in to 60 minutes of distance. 1 minute of distance can be broken up into 60 seconds of distance.

NOTE THIS IS MEASUREMENT OF DISTANCE NOT TIME. A DEGREE OF LONGITUDE = BOTH 4 MINUTES OF TIME AND 60 MINUTES OF DISTANCE!

118^o = the number of full degrees in the location. Since 1 degree is broken up into 60 minutes, a half of a degree can be expressed as 30 minutes or 30'. Since each minute of each degree is further broken up into 60 seconds, a half of a minute of a degree can be expressed as 30". So 118^o is 118 full degrees 30' is 1/2 of one degree (45' would be 3/4 of 1 degree) 30" is 1/2 of 1/2 of one degree.

planar: can only show 1 hemisphere because their is only 1 point of tangent.

cylindrical: point of tangent is a great circle. 100% accurate at this point. distortions increases as the map moves farther from the point of tangent.

This is the most accurate projection conical: cone shaped - good to project poles

the township and range system of identifying land boundaries, designed by Jefferson

see doc sharing for detail

Origin: Big Bang:

Age: 13.3-15.3 bya

Size: 20-30 light years

Age: 12.9 bya

Size: 100-150 light years across

Quantity: approx. 400 billion total in the universe

Ours: The Milky Way

Origin: dust clouds: gravity pushes them into disk-like shapes (protplanets)

Age:6-4.56 bya

Size: less than 1 light year

Quantity: more than 400 billion

includes earth.

Origin: dust cloud Earths:

Age: approx 4.5 billion years

Earth's Size: approx 8,000 miles diameter

All listed from crust to space

Layers by composition:

Homosphere: uniformly mixed

Heterosphere: not uniformly mixed

Layers by temperature:

crust to space, warm to cold

Troposphere

Stratosphere

Mesosphere

Thermosphere

Layers by function:

Ozonosphere: filters/absorbs short wave UV and converts it into less harmful long wave infrared radiation

Ionosphere: converts shortwave radiation (cosmic rays) into postively charged ions

the primary way the insolation is transfered throughout the atmosphere

only exists in the region where a true solar zenith is possible between tropic of cancer and tropic of capricorn

rotates starting at equator, warmest air (equator gets most solar energy) expands and rises, then moves towards to the poles.

the air mass meets the Ferrel cells found a midlatitudes during which solar energy is transfered and the air mass sinks towards the earth surface.

tracking the solar energy it is transfered from the Ferrel cells to the polar cells.

to track the air mass of the hadley cell, the air mass sinks close the surface and returns towards the equator and slowly warms until it reaches the equator and rises again.

The other effect of the Hadley Cells involves the Coriolis effect of the earth's rotation. The air mass as it moves north to south appears to deflect to the right in the northern hemisphere and to the left in the southern hemisphere. this creates the trade winds, the esterlies, and subtropical and polar jet streams

air mass/wind cells found between Hadley (equatorial) cells and polar (arctic) cells. The transfer solar energy from warm air masses to cold air masses.

Also responsible, in conjunction with the Coriolis effect, for wind patterns called westerlies.

done by ocean and atmospheric currents.

atmospheric: Hadley, Ferrel and polar cells

earth's energy

igneous (lava)

light (wave lengths) heat

thermo energy transfer

albedo (white/high) reflects energy, (black/low) absorbs energy)

2 langley per minute

a langley is 1 calorie per cm²

100%:

15% absorbed into dust and water vapor in atmosphere 3% absorbed by clouds

50% absorbed by earth

some scattered

some reflected

conduction (heat transfer)

convection (hot to cold

latent (hidden/not usable) stored in ice long wave

radiation - sent back into space

it refracts and absorbs energy, it traps solar energy in our atmosphere

*but when water vapor evaporates-it cools the environment

higher temp = lower humidity

lower temp = higher humidity

includes: evaporation - liquid to gas.

transpiration: plant evaporation

transportation: movement

condensation: gas to liquid

precipitation: rain

ground water: underground water

runoff: water relocating from one area to another

air masses can cool and warm without the use of their own energy through response to natural topography. air pushed up by mountains to lower pressure zones will expand and cool, air pushed down the leeward side of mountains to higher pressure zones will condense and warm

air cools and expands or warms and compresses rate of temp change:

dry: 10^oC per 1,000 meters of elevation change (5.5^oF)

wet: 6^oC per 1,000 meters of elevation change or 3.3^oF

the change of a substance from one state to another. requires energy or releases energy.

Gas to liquid: condensation (releases energy)

Liquid to gas: evaporation (absorbs energy)

Solid to liquid: melting (absorbs energy)

Liquid to solid: freezing (releases energy)