Exploring physical geography

Cover......Page 1
Exploring Physical Geography......Page 2
About the Cover......Page 3
Brief Contents......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 15
Acknowledgments......Page 27
About the Authors......Page 30
CHAPTER 1: The Nature of Physical  Geography......Page 33
1.1 What Is Physical Geography?......Page 35
1.2 How Do We Investigate Geographic Questions?......Page 37
1.3 How Do Natural Systems Operate?......Page 39
1.4 What Are Some Important Earth Cycles?......Page 41
1.5 How Do Earth’s Four Spheres Interact?......Page 43
1.6 How Do We Depict Earth’s Surface?......Page 45
1.7 What Do Latitude and Longitude Indicate?......Page 47
1.8 What Are Some Other Coordinate Systems?......Page 49
1.9 How Do Map Projections Influence  the Portrayal of Spatial Data?......Page 51
1.10 How Do We Use Maps and Photographs?......Page 53
1.11 How Do We Use Global Positioning Systems  and Remote Sensing?......Page 55
1.12 How Do We Use GIS to Explore Spatial Issues?......Page 57
1.13 What Is the Role of Time in Geography?......Page 59
1.14 CONNECTIONS: How Did Geographers Help  in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil-Spill Cleanup?......Page 61
1.15 INVESTIGATION: What Might Happen  If This Location Is Deforested?......Page 63
CHAPTER 2: Energy and Matter  in the Atmosphere......Page 65
2.1 What Is the Atmosphere?......Page 67
2.2 What Is Energy and How Is It Transmitted?......Page 69
2.3 What Are Heat and Temperature?......Page 71
2.4 What Is Latent Heat?......Page 73
2.5 What Is Electromagnetic Radiation?......Page 75
2.6 What Controls Wavelengths of Radiation?......Page 77
2.7 What Causes Changes in Insolation?......Page 79
2.8 Why Does Insolation Vary from Place to Place?......Page 81
2.9 Why Do We Have Seasons?......Page 83
2.10 What Controls When and Where  the Sun Rises and Sets?......Page 85
2.11 How Does Insolation Interact  with the Atmosphere?......Page 87
2.12 What Is Ozone and Why Is It So Important?......Page 89
2.13 How Much Insolation Reaches the Surface?......Page 91
2.14 What Happens to Insolation  That Reaches the Surface?......Page 93
2.15 How Does Earth Maintain an Energy Balance?......Page 95
2.16 How Do Insolation and Outgoing  Radiation Vary Spatially?......Page 97
2.17 Why Do Temperatures Vary Between Oceans and  Continents?......Page 99
2.18 CONNECTIONS: How Are Variations in Insolation  Expressed Between the North and South Poles?......Page 101
2.19 INVESTIGATION: How Do We Evaluate Sites  for Solar-Energy Generation?......Page 103
CHAPTER 3: Atmospheric Motion......Page 105
3.1 How Do Gases Respond to Changes  in Temperature and Pressure?......Page 107
3.2 What Is Air Pressure?......Page 109
3.3 What Causes Pressure Variations and Winds?......Page 111
3.4 How Do Variations in Temperature and Pressure  Cause Local Atmospheric Circulation?......Page 113
3.5 What Are Some Significant Regional Winds?......Page 115
3.6 How Do Variations in Insolation Cause Global  Patterns of Air Pressure and Circulation?......Page 117
3.7 What Is the Coriolis Effect?......Page 119
3.8 How Does the Coriolis Effect Influence  Wind Direction at Different Heights?......Page 121
3.9 How Do the Coriolis Effect and Friction  Influence Atmospheric Circulation?......Page 123
3.10 How Does Air Circulate in the Tropics?......Page 125
3.11 How Does Air Circulate in High Latitudes?......Page 127
3.12 How Does Surface Air Circulate  in Mid-Latitudes?......Page 129
3.13 How Does Air Circulate Aloft  over the Mid-Latitudes?......Page 131
3.14 What Causes Monsoons?......Page 133
3.15 CONNECTIONS: How Have Global  Pressures and Winds Affected History  in the North Atlantic?......Page 135
3.16 INVESTIGATION: What Occurs During  Seasonal Circulation Shifts?......Page 137
CHAPTER 4: Atmospheric Moisture......Page 139
4.1 How Does Water Occur in the Atmosphere?......Page 141
4.2 What Is Humidity?......Page 143
4.3 How Does Specific Humidity Vary  Globally and Seasonally?......Page 145
4.4 What Is the Dew Point?......Page 147
4.5 What Happens When Air Rises or Sinks?......Page 149
4.6 How Does the Surface Affect the Rising of Air?......Page 151
4.7 What Mechanisms Can Force Air to Rise?......Page 153
4.8 What Do Clouds Tell Us About Weather?......Page 155
4.9 What Conditions Produce Fog?......Page 157
4.10 Where and When Is Fog Most Likely?......Page 159
4.11 How Does Precipitation Form?......Page 161
4.12 How Do Sleet and Freezing Rain Form?......Page 163
4.13 What Is the Distribution of Precipitation?......Page 165
4.14 How Can Moisture Extremes Be Characterized?......Page 167
4.15 CONNECTIONS: What Caused the Recent  Great Plains Drought?......Page 169
4.16 INVESTIGATION: How Do Global Patterns of  Humidity, Water Vapor, and Precipitation Compare?......Page 171
CHAPTER 5: Weather Systems  and Severe Weather......Page 173
5.1 Why Does Weather Change?......Page 175
5.2 What Are Fronts?......Page 177
5.3 Where Do Mid-Latitude Cyclones Form and Cross North America?......Page 179
5.4 How Do Mid-Latitude Cyclones Move  and Evolve?......Page 181
5.5 How Do Migrating Anticyclones Form and Affect North America?......Page 183
5.6 What Conditions Produce Thunderstorms?......Page 185
5.7 Where Are Thunderstorms Most Common?......Page 187
5.8 What Causes Hail?......Page 189
5.9 What Causes Lightning and Thunder?......Page 191
5.10 What Is a Tornado?......Page 193
5.11 Where and When Do Tornadoes Strike?......Page 195
5.12 What Are Some Other Types of Wind Storms?......Page 197
5.13 What Is a Tropical Cyclone?......Page 199
5.14 What Affects the Strength  of a Tropical Cyclone?......Page 201
5.15 How Are Weather Forecasts Made?......Page 203
5.16 How Are We Warned About Severe Weather?......Page 205
5.17 CONNECTIONS: What Happened  During Hurricane Sandy?......Page 207
5.18 INVESTIGATION: Where Would You Expect  Severe Weather?......Page 209
CHAPTER 6: Atmosphere-Ocean- Cryosphere Interactions......Page 211
6.1 What Causes Ocean Currents?......Page 213
6.2 What Is the Global Pattern of Surface Currents?......Page 215
6.3 How Do Sea-Surface Temperatures Vary  from Place to Place and Season to Season?......Page 217
6.4 What Causes Water to Rise or Sink?......Page 219
6.5 What Are the Global Patterns  of Temperature and Salinity?......Page 221
6.6 What Processes Affect Ocean Temperature  and Salinity in Tropical and Polar Regions?......Page 223
6.7 How Are the Atmosphere, Oceans,  and Cryosphere Coupled?......Page 225
6.8 What Connects Equatorial Atmospheric  and Oceanic Circulation?......Page 227
6.9 What Are El Niño and the Southern Oscillation?......Page 229
6.10 What Are the Phases of ENSO?......Page 231
6.11 Do Impacts of ENSO Reach Beyond the Tropics?......Page 233
6.12 How Does an El Niño Start and Stop?......Page 235
6.13 Do Other Oceans Display Oscillations?......Page 237
6.14 CONNECTIONS: What Influences Climates  Near the Southern Isthmus of Central America?......Page 239
6.15 INVESTIGATION: What Oceanic and Atmospheric  Patterns Are Predicted for a Newly Discovered  Planet?......Page 241
CHAPTER 7: Climates Around the World......Page 243
7.1 How Do We Classify Climates?......Page 245
7.2 Where Are Different Climate Types Located?......Page 247
7.3 What Are the Most Common Climate Types?......Page 249
7.4 What Is the Setting of Tropical Climates?......Page 251
7.5 What Conditions Cause Arid Climates?......Page 253
7.6 What Causes Warm Temperate Climates?......Page 255
7.7 What Are the Settings of Mid-Latitude  Climates?......Page 257
7.8 What Causes Subarctic and Polar Climates?......Page 259
7.9 How Does Air Quality Relate to Climate?......Page 261
7.10 How Do Air Pollution and Urbanization  Affect and Respond to the Local Climate?......Page 263
7.11 What Is the Evidence for Climate Change?......Page 265
7.12 What Factors Influence Climate Change?......Page 267
7.13 What Are the Consequences of Climate  Change?......Page 269
7.14 How Do We Use Computers to Study Climate Change?......Page 271
7.15 CONNECTIONS: How Does the Climate  System Sustain Life?......Page 273
7.16 INVESTIGATION: What Climates  and Weather Would Occur Here?......Page 275
CHAPTER 8: Water Resources......Page 277
8.1 Where Does Water Occur on the Planet?......Page 279
8.2 What Is the Global Water Budget?......Page 281
8.3 How Do We Evaluate Water Balances?......Page 283
8.4 How Do Water Balances Vary Spatially?......Page 285
8.5 How Do We Use Freshwater Resources?......Page 287
8.6 How and Where Does Groundwater Flow?......Page 289
8.7 What Is the Relationship Between  Surface Water and Groundwater?......Page 291
8.8 What Problems Are Associated  with Groundwater Pumping?......Page 293
8.9 How Can Water Become Contaminated?......Page 295
8.10 How Does Groundwater Contamination  Move and How Do We Clean It Up?......Page 297
8.11 CONNECTIONS: What Is Happening  with the Ogallala Aquifer?......Page 299
8.12 INVESTIGATION: Who Polluted Surface  Water and Groundwater in This Place?......Page 301
CHAPTER 9: Understanding Landscapes......Page 303
9.1 What Materials Compose Landscapes?......Page 305
9.2 How Do Rocks Form?......Page 307
9.3 What Can Happen to a Rock?......Page 309
9.4 What Are Some Common Sedimentary  Rocks?......Page 311
9.5 What Are Igneous Processes and Rocks?......Page 313
9.6 What Are Metamorphic Processes and  Rocks?......Page 315
9.7 How Are Different Rock Types Expressed  in Landscapes?......Page 317
9.8 What Controls the Appearance of Landscapes?......Page 319
9.9 How Are Landscapes Weathered and Eroded?......Page 321
9.10 How Do Landscapes Record Transport and  Deposition by Gravity, Streams, Ice, and Waves?......Page 323
9.11 How Do Landscapes Record Transport  and Deposition by Wind?......Page 325
9.12 How Do We Infer the Relative Ages of Events?......Page 327
9.13 How Do We Determine the Ages of Events?......Page 329
9.14 How Do We Study Ages of Landscapes?......Page 331
9.15 CONNECTIONS: What Is the Natural History  of the Grand Canyon?......Page 333
9.16 INVESTIGATION: What Is the History  of This Landscape?......Page 335
CHAPTER 10: Plate Tectonics and  Regional Features......Page 337
10.1 What Is Inside Earth?......Page 339
10.2 What Are the Major Features of Earth?......Page 341
10.3 Why Do Some Continents Have  Matching Shapes?......Page 343
10.4 What Is the Distribution of Earthquakes,  Volcanoes, and Mountain Belts?......Page 345
10.5 What Causes Tectonic Activity  to Occur in Belts?......Page 347
10.6 What Happens at Divergent Boundaries?......Page 349
10.7 What Happens at Convergent Boundaries?......Page 351
10.8 What Happens Along Transform Boundaries?......Page 353
10.9 Why and How Do Plates Move?......Page 355
10.10 How Is Paleomagnetism Used to Determine Rates of Seafloor Spreading?......Page 357
10.11 What Features Form at Oceanic Hot Spots?......Page 359
10.12 What Features Form at Continental Hot Spots?......Page 361
10.13 What Are Continents and How Do They Form?......Page 363
10.14 How Did the Continents Join and Split Apart?......Page 365
10.15 Where Do Mountain Belts and High  Regions Form?......Page 367
10.16 How Do Internal and External Processes  Interact to Form Landscapes?......Page 369
10.17 CONNECTIONS: Why Is South America  Lopsided?......Page 371
10.18 INVESTIGATION: What Is the Plate Tectonics  of This Place?......Page 373
CHAPTER 11: Volcanoes, Deformation,  and Earthquakes......Page 375
11.1 What Is a Volcano?......Page 377
11.2 How Do Volcanoes Erupt?......Page 379
11.3 What Volcanic Features Consist of Basalt?......Page 381
11.4 What Are Composite Volcanoes and Volcanic Domes?......Page 383
11.5 What Are Calderas?......Page 385
11.6 What Hazards Are Associated with Volcanoes?......Page 387
11.7 What Areas Have the Highest Potential for Volcanic Hazards?......Page 389
11.8 How Are Magmatic Conduits Exposed?......Page 391
11.9 What Is Deformation and How Is It Expressed in Landscapes?......Page 393
11.10 How Are Fractures Expressed in Landscapes?......Page 395
11.11 How Are Folds Expressed in Landscapes?......Page 397
11.12 How Do Local Mountains and Basins Form?......Page 399
11.13 What Is an Earthquake?......Page 401
11.14 Where Do Most Earthquakes Occur?......Page 403
11.15 What Causes Earthquakes Along Plate  Boundaries and Within Plates?......Page 405
11.16 How Do Earthquakes Cause Damage?......Page 407
11.17 What Were Some Recent Large Earthquakes?......Page 409
11.18 Connections: What Happened During  the Great Alaskan Earthquake of 1964?......Page 411
11.19 INVESTIGATION: Where Is the Safest Place  to Live in This Area?......Page 413
CHAPTER 12: Weathering and  Mass Wasting......Page 415
12.1 How Does Physical Weathering Affect  Earth’s Surface?......Page 417
12.2 How Does Chemical Weathering Affect  Earth’s Surface?......Page 419
12.3 How Do Climate, Slope, Vegetation,  and Time Influence Weathering?......Page 421
12.4 How Does the Type of Earth Material  Influence Weathering?......Page 423
12.5 How Is Weathering Expressed?......Page 425
12.6 How Do Caves Form?......Page 427
12.7 What Is Karst Topography?......Page 429
12.8 What Controls the Stability of Slopes?......Page 431
12.9 How Do Slopes Fail?......Page 433
12.10 How Does Material on Slopes Fall and Slide?......Page 435
12.11 How Does Material Flow Down Slopes?......Page 437
12.12 Where Do Slope Failures Occur in the U.S.?......Page 439
12.13 How Do We Study Slope Failures  and Assess the Risk for Future Events?......Page 441
12.14 Connections: What Is Happening with  the Slumgullion Landslide in Colorado?......Page 443
12.15 INVESTIGATION: Which Areas Have  the Highest Risk of Slope Failure?......Page 445
CHAPTER 13: Streams and Flooding......Page 447
13.1 What Are Stream Systems?......Page 449
13.2 How Do Streams Transport Sediment  and Erode Their Channels?......Page 451
13.3 How Do Streams Change Downstream  or Over Short Time Frames?......Page 453
13.4 What Factors Influence Profiles of Streams?......Page 455
13.5 Why Do Streams Have Curves?......Page 457
13.6 What Happens in the Headwaters of Streams?......Page 459
13.7 What Features Characterize Braided Streams?......Page 461
13.8 What Features Characterize Low-Gradient  Streams?......Page 463
13.9 What Happens When a Stream Reaches  Its Base Level?......Page 465
13.10 How Do Streams Change Over Time?......Page 467
13.11 What Happens During Stream Incision?......Page 469
13.12 What Is and What Is Not a Flood?......Page 471
13.13 What Were Some Devastating Floods?......Page 473
13.14 How Do We Measure Floods?......Page 475
13.15 How Do Streams Affect People?......Page 477
13.16 Connections: How Does the Colorado River  Change as It Flows Across the Landscape?......Page 479
13.17 INVESTIGATION: How Would Flooding  Affect This Place?......Page 481
CHAPTER 14: Glaciers and Glacial  Landforms......Page 483
14.1 What Are Glaciers?......Page 485
14.2 What Is the Distribution of Present  and Past Glaciers?......Page 487
14.3 How Do Glaciers Form, Move, and Vanish?......Page 489
14.4 How Do Glaciers Erode, Transport,  and Deposit?......Page 491
14.5 What Are the Landforms of Alpine Glaciation?......Page 493
14.6 What Are the Landforms  of Continental Glaciation?......Page 495
14.7 What Features Are Peripheral to Glaciers?......Page 497
14.8 What Is the Evidence for Past Glaciations?......Page 499
14.9 What Starts and Stops Glaciations?......Page 501
14.10 Connections: What Would Happen to  Sea Level if the Ice in West Antarctica Melted?......Page 503
14.11 INVESTIGATION: How Could Global Warming  or a Glacial Period Affect Sea Level in  North America?......Page 505
CHAPTER 15: Coasts and Changing  Sea Levels......Page 507
15.1 What Processes Occur Along Coasts?......Page 509
15.2 What Causes High Tides and Low Tides?......Page 511
15.3 How Do Waves Form and Propagate?......Page 513
15.4 How Is Material Eroded, Transported,  and Deposited Along Coasts?......Page 515
15.5 What Landforms Occur Along Coasts?......Page 517
15.6 How Do Reefs and Coral Atolls Form?......Page 519
15.7 What Are Some Challenges of Living  in a Coastal Zone?......Page 521
15.8 How Do We Assess the Relative Risks  of Different Stretches of Coastline?......Page 523
15.9 What Happens When Sea Level Changes?......Page 525
15.10 What Causes Changes in Sea Level?......Page 527
15.11 Connections: What Coastal Damage  Was Caused by These Recent Atlantic  Hurricanes?......Page 529
15.12 INVESTIGATION: What Is Happening  Along the Coast of This Island?......Page 531
CHAPTER 16: Soils......Page 533
16.1 What Is Soil?......Page 535
16.2 What Are the Physical Properties of Soil?......Page 537
16.3 What Is the Role of Water in Soil?......Page 539
16.4 What Are the Chemical and Biological  Properties of Soil?......Page 541
16.5 How Do Climate and Vegetation Affect Soil?......Page 543
16.6 How Do Terrain, Parent Material,  and Time Affect Soil?......Page 545
16.7 What Are the Major Layers of Soil?......Page 547
16.8 What Are the Major Types of Soil?......Page 549
16.9 What Types of Soils Largely Reflect the Local  Setting or Initial Stages in Soil Formation?......Page 551
16.10 What Types of Soils Form Under Relatively Warm Conditions?......Page 553
16.11 What Types of Soils Form Under Temperate  and Polar Conditions?......Page 555
16.12 Where Do the Various Soil Types Exist?......Page 557
16.13 What Are the Causes and Impacts  of Soil Erosion?......Page 559
16.14 CONNECTIONS: How Does Soil Impact  the Way We Use Land?......Page 561
16.15 INVESTIGATION: Where Do These Soils  Originate?......Page 563
CHAPTER 17: Ecosystems and  Biogeochemical Cycles......Page 565
17.1 How Is the Ecosystem Approach Useful  in Understanding the Biosphere?......Page 567
17.2 What Types of Organisms Inhabit Ecosystems?......Page 569
17.3 What Interactions Occur in Ecosystems?......Page 571
17.4 How Can Biodiversity Be Assessed?......Page 573
17.5 How Does Energy Flow Through Ecosystems?......Page 575
17.6 How Do We Describe Ecosystem Productivity?......Page 577
17.7 How Do Ecosystems React to Disturbance?......Page 579
17.8 What Is the Role of Carbon in Ecosystems?......Page 581
17.9 What Is the Role of Nitrogen in Ecosystems?......Page 583
17.10 What Is the Role of Phosphorus in Ecosystems?......Page 585
17.11 What Is the Role of Sulfur in the Environment?......Page 587
17.12 How Does a Lack of Oxygen Harm Ecosystems?......Page 589
17.13 CONNECTIONS: How Do Invasive Species  Impact U.S. Gulf Coast Ecosystems?......Page 591
17.14 INVESTIGATION: What Factors  Influence the Desert Ecosystems  of Namibia in Southern Africa?......Page 593
CHAPTER 18: Biomes......Page 595
18.1 What Biomes Exist on Earth?......Page 597
18.2 Where Are Each of the Biomes Distributed?......Page 599
18.3 What Factors Influence Biome Distribution?......Page 601
18.4 How Does Topography Influence Biomes?......Page 603
18.5 What Characterizes the Rain Forest Biome?......Page 605
18.6 How Are Tropical Rain Forests Threatened?......Page 607
18.7 What Are Deserts and How Do They Form?......Page 609
18.8 How Do Desert Organisms Survive?......Page 611
18.9 What Are the Features of the Grassland Biome?......Page 613
18.10 What Characterizes  the Subtropical Scrub and Woodland Biome?......Page 615
18.11 What Characterizes  the Temperate Forest Biome?......Page 617
18.12 What Characterizes the Boreal Forest Biome?......Page 619
18.13 What Characterizes the Tundra Biome?......Page 621
18.14 What Characterizes  the Freshwater Biome?......Page 623
18.15 What Ecosystems Exist in the Saltwater Biome?......Page 625
18.16 How Do Animal Realms Overlap with Biomes?......Page 627
18.17 What Are the Issues with  Sustainability?......Page 629
18.18 CONNECTIONS: How Do the Atmosphere,  Hydrosphere, and Cryosphere Interact with  Land to Form Biomes?......Page 631
18.19 INVESTIGATION: What Factors Might Control  the Biomes in This Location?......Page 633
Glossary......Page 636
Credits......Page 662
Index......Page 668