GC Leong

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CERTIFICATE, PHYSICAL AND

HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
ARID OR DESERT LANFORMS
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Deserts
 About 1/5th of the world’s land is made up of deserts.
 Deserts which are absolutely barren, where nothing grows are known as
true deserts.
 Insufficient & irregular rainfall, high temperature & rapid rate of
evaporation are the main causes of desert’s aridity.
 Almost all the deserts are confined within 15* – 30* parallels to N – S of
equator known as trade wind desert or tropical deserts.
 They lie in the trade wind belt on the western parts of the continents.
 Off shore trade winds are often bathed in cold currents which produces
a desiccating (dehydrating) effect, hence moisture is not easily condensed
into precipitation.
Types of deserts
Hamada / Rocky Desert
 Consist of large stretches of bare rocks, swept clear of sand & dust by
wind.
 Exposed rocks are thoroughly smoothened, polished & highly sterile.
Reg / Stony Desert

 Composed of extensive sheets of angular pebbles & gravels which the
wind is not able to blow off.
 Stony deserts are more accessible than sandy deserts & large herds of
camels kept there.
Erg / Sandy Desert

 Also known as sea of sand
 Winds deposit vast stretches of undulating sand dunes in the direction

of winds.
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Badlands
 Consists of gully & ravines formed on hill slopes & rock surfaces by the
extent of water action
 Not fit for agriculture & survival
 Finally leads to the abandonment of entire region by its inhabitants
Mountain Deserts
 Deserts which are found on the highlands such as on plateaus &
mountain ranges, where erosion has dissected the desert highland into
rough chaotic peaks & uneven ranges.
 Their steep slopes consist of Wadis (dry valleys) with sharp & irregular
edges carved due to action of frost.
Mechanism of Desert/Arid Erosion

Weathering
 Most potent factor in reducing rocks to sand in arid regions.
 Even though the amount of rain that falls in a desert is small, but manage
to penetrate into rocks & sets up chemical reactions in various minerals
it contains.
 Intense heating during the day & rapid cooling during the night by
radiations, set up stresses in already weakened rocks, hence they
eventually crack.
 When water gets into cracks of a rock, it freezes at night as the
temperature drops below the freezing point & expands by 10 % of its
volume.
 Successive freezing will prise of fragments of rocks which get
accumulated as screes.
 As heat penetrates rock, its outer surface gets heated & expands, leaving
its inner surface comparatively cool.
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 Hence, outer surface prise itself from the inner surface & peels off in
successive thin layers, known as exfoliation.
Action of Wind
 Efficient in arid regions as little vegetation or moisture to bind the loose
surface materials
 Carried out in following ways –
Deflation
 Involves lifting & blowing away of loose materials from the ground
 Blowing capacity depending largely on the size of the material lifted from
the surface
 Finer dust & sands may be removed miles away from their place of origin
& may get deposited even outside the desert margins.
 Deflation results in the lowering of the land surface to form large
depressions called Deflation hollows
Abrasion
 Sand blasting of rock surfaces by wind when they hurl sand particles
against them
 This results in rock surfaces being scratched, polished & worn away
 Abrasion is most effective near the base of the rocks, where the amount
of material the wind is able to carry is greatest.
 This explains why telegraphic poles in the deserts are protected by
covering of metal for a foot or two above the ground.
Attrition
 When wind borne particles roll against one another in collision, they wear
each other away
 Hence their sizes are greatly reduced & grains are rounded into millet
seed sand
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Landforms of Wind Erosion in Desert
Rock pedestals / Mushroom rocks

 Formed by the sand blasting effect of winds against any projecting rock
masses
 It wears down the softer layer leading to formation of irregular edges on
alternate bands of softer & harder rocks.
 Grooves & hollows cut in the rock surfaces, carve them into grotesque
looking pillar known as rock pedestals.
 Such rock pillars will be further eroded near their bases where friction is
greatest.
 This process of undercutting produces rocks of mushroom shape called
mushroom rocks.
Zeugen
 Tabular masses which have a layer of soft rocks lying beneath a surface
layer of more resistant rocks
 Difference in erosional effect of the wind on soft & resistant rock surfaces,
carve them into weird looking ridge & furrow landscape
 Mechanical weathering initiates their formation by opening up joints of
the surface rocks
 Wind abrasion further eats into underlying softer layer so that deep
furrows are developed
 The hard rocks then stand above the the furrows as ridges or Zeugen
 Zeugen may stand 10 to 100 feet above the sunken furrows
 Continuous abrasion by winds gradually lowers the Zeugen & widens the
furrow
Yardangs
 Yardangs looks quite similar to Zeugen but instead of lying in horizontal
starta upon one another, the hard & soft rocks of Yardangs are vertical
bands
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 Rocks are aligned in the direction of prevailing winds.
 Winds abrasion excavates the bands of softer rocks into long, narrow
corridors, separating the steep sided overhanding ridges of hard rocks
called Yardangs.
Mesas & Buttes
 Mesa is a flat, table like land mass with a very resistant horizontal top
layer & very steep sides, may be formed in canyon region.
 The hard stratum on the surface resist denudation by both wind & water
thus protects the underlying layer of rocks from being eroded.
 Continuous denudation through ages may reduce Mesas in area so that
they become isolated flat topped hills called Buttes.
 Many of which are separated by deep gorges & canyons.
Isenberg (Island Mountain)
 They are basically isolated residual hills rising abruptly from the ground
level
 Characterized by very steep slopes & rather rounded tops
 They are often composed of granite or gneiss
 Are probably relics of an original plateau, which has been almost entirely
eroded away
Ventifacts & Dreikanter
 Ventifacts are generally pebbles faceted & edged by sand blasting
 Rock fragments weathered from mountains

 Are shaped & polished thoroughly by wind abrasion
 Smoothened on windward side
 If wind direction changes another facet is developed.
 Among the ventifacts, those with the three wind faceted surfaces are
known as Dreikanter.
Deflation Hollows
 Wind lowers the ground by blowing away the unconsolidated material &
hence forms small depressions.
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 Similarly, minor faulting can also initiate depressions which along with
the eddying action of oncoming winds will wear off the weaker rocks until
water table is reached.
 Water then seeps out forming oasis or swamps in deflation hollows or
depressions.
 Large areas in western USA, was stripped of their natural vegetation
& was completely deflated by strong winds, that moved materials as
dust storms & creating what is now known as Great dust bowl.
Landforms of Wind Deposition in Deserts
 Materials eroded & transported by winds must come to rest somewhere.

 The finest dust travels enormous distances in the air sometimes as long
as 2300 miles before they settle down.
 The dust from Sahara desert is sometimes blown across the
Mediterranean to fall as blood rains in Italy or on the glaciers of
Switzerland.
 Dust that settles in Hwang Ho basin (also known as Hwangtu – the yellow
earth) from the Gobi desert has been accumulated over past centuries to
a depth of several hundred feet
 As wind borne materials are shifted according to their coarseness, it can
be expected that the coarser sands will be too heavy to be blown out of
desert limits.
 They remain as dunes or other depositional landforms within desert
themselves.
Dunes
 Hills of sand formed by the accumulation of sand & shaped by the
movement of winds, a striking characteristic of erg or sandy desert
 Can be classified as active or live dunes, constantly on move or inactive
fixed dunes, rooted with vegetation
 Two most common types of dunes are Barchan & Seifs
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Barchan dune
 Crescent or moon shaped live dunes which advance steadily in the
particular direction of prevailing winds.
 Initiated probably by a chance accumulation of sand across an obstacle,
such as patch of grass or a heap of rocks
 They occur transversely to the wind, so that their horns thin out &
become lower in the direction of the wind
 Mainly due to reduced frictional retardation of the winds around the
edges.
 The windward side is convex & gently sloping whiles the leeward side,
being sheltered, is concave & steep.
 The crest of sand dunes moves forward as more sand is accumulated
by the prevailing wind.
 The sand is driven up the windward side & on reaching the crest slips
down the leeward side so that the dune advances
 The migration of Barchans may be a threat to desert life as they may
encroach on an oasis burying palm trees & houses.
 Long rooted sand holding trees & grasses are therefore planted to halt
the advancement of the dunes to prevent areas of fertile land from being
devastated.
Seif or longitudinal dunes

 Long narrow ridges of sand, often over a hundred miles long, lying parallel
to the direction of the prevailing winds, with their crustline rises & falls
in alternate peaks & saddles in regular successions.
 Dominant wind blows straight along the corridor between the lines of the
dunes so that they are swept clear of sand & remain smooth.
 The eddies that are setup in corridors, blow towards the side of the
corridor & drops the sand to form the dune.
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 In this manner, prevailing winds increases the length of the dunes into
tapering linear ridges while occasional cross winds tends to increase their
heights & width.
Loess
 The fine dust blown beyond the desert limits is deposited on neighbouring
lands as loess.
 It is a yellow, friable (softly crumbled) material rich in lime, very coherent,
extremely porous & is usually very fertile.
 Water sinks in readily so the surface is always dry, with streams may
cut into thick mantle of soft loess to develop badland topography.
Landform of water actions in desert
 Although rainfall is scanty in desert areas but thunderstorm &

cloudburst do occur which leads to torrential downpour of rain,
producing devastating effects
 A single rainstorm may bring several inches of rain within a few hours,
drowning people who camp there & flooding mud baked houses into
oasis;
 Also leads to formation of gullies & ravines (badland topography)
 As deserts have little vegetation to protect the surface soil, large quantity
of rock waste are transported in sudden raging torrents known as flash
floods.
 There is so much material in flash flood that the flow becomes liquid mud.
 When the masses of debris are deposited at the foot of the hill or at
the mouth of the valley, an alluvial cone or fan or dry delta is formed,
over which temporary stream discharges through several channels,
depositing more material.
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 Alluvial deposits are subjected to rapid evaporation by the hot sun &
downward percolation of water into porous ground, & soon dry up
leaving mounds of debris.
Temporary lakes
 Also known as Playas, Salina or Salars
 Formed in arid or semi-arid areas by intermittent streams flowing into

depressions
 Contain high percentage of salts due to high evaporation & lower
precipitation
Bajada & Pediment
The floor of desert depression is made up of two features viz. Bajada &
Pediment.
 Bajda -Depositional feature made up of alluvial material lay down by
intermittent streams.
 Pediment -An erosional plain formed at the base of the surrounding
mountain scarps -steep slope
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
COASTAL LANDFORMS

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Coastal Landforms
 Waves are caused by wind, tides are caused by gravity from the moon
and the sun, and currents are caused by tides, winds & temperature
& density differences in different areas of the oceans.
Marine Erosion
 The most powerful agents of marine erosion are waves, which originate
due to sweeping of winds over the water surface, setting up a series of
undulating swells surging forward
 On approaching shallow water near the shores, their speed is reduced &
the waves are curved or refracted against the alignment of the coast
 The shallow water, when is less than the height of the waves, check their
forward movement, the wave crest curl over & breaks into the shore
 Water that finally rushes up the beach & hurls rock debris against the
land is termed as swash, with the water that retreats or sucked back
called backwash
 Another element in offshore drift is undertow, which flows near the
bottom away from the shore
 This current exerts the pulling effect which can be dangerous for sea
bathers
 Marine agent of erosion operates as corrasion, attrition, hydraulic action
& solution to transform the coastal landscape
 Waves armed with rock debris of all sizes & shapes charge
against the base of the cliffs, & wear them back by
corrasion
 On-coming currents & tides complete the work by
Corrasion
sweeping the eroded material into the sea
 The constantly moving waves that transport beach

Attrition
materials such as boulders, pebbles, shingle & fine sand,
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also hurl these materials against each other until they are
broken down into very small pieces.
 The grinding & polishing of such fragmented materials
against the cliff faces & against each other is largely
responsible for the fine sand which forms the beaches
 In their forward surge, waves splashing against the coast

may enter joints & crevices in the rocks.
 The air imprisoned inside is immediately compressed but
when the waves retreat, the compress air expands with
explosive violence.
Hydraulic
 Such action repeated again & again soon enlarges the
action
cracks & rock fragments are prised apart
 On limestone coasts, the solvent action of the sea water on

Solvent
calcium carbonate sets up chemical changes in the rocks
action
& disintegration takes place
Coastal Features of Erosion

Capes & Bays
 On exposed coasts, the continual action of waves on the rocks of varying
resistance causes the coastline to be eroded irregularly.
 This is particularly pronounced where hard rocks occur in alternate band
with softer rocks.
 The softer rocks are worn back into inlets or bays & the harder ones
persist as headlands or capes.
 Even where the coastline consists of one rock type, irregularities will be
caused by variation within the rock.
Cliffs & Wave cut platforms
 Generally, any steep rock platform adjoining the coast forms a cliff, whose
rate of recession will depend on its geological structure
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 Means the stratification & jointing of the rocks & their resistance to wave
attack.
 If the bed dips seaward, large blocks of rock will be dislodged & fall
into the sea & cliff will rise in a series of steps.
 On the other hand, if the beds dip landward, the cliff will be more
resistant to wave erosion.
 At the base of the cliff the sea cuts a notch, which gradually
undermines the cliff, so that it collapses.
 As the cliff recedes landwards under the pounding of waves, an eroded
base is left behind called a wave cut platform.
 The platform, upper part of which is exposed at low tides, slopes gently
seawards, with its surface strewn with rock debris from the receding
cliff.
 Further the abrasion continues until the pebbles are swept away in
the sea with eroded material deposited on off shore terrace.
Cave, Arch, Stack & Stump
 Prolonged waves attack on the base of the cliff & excavate holes in regions
of local weakness called called
 When 2 caves approach each other from either side of headland & unite,
they form an
 Further erosion by waves will lead to total collapse of the arch.
 The seaward portion of the headland will remain as a pillar of rock known
as
 With the course of time, these stubborn stacks will gradually be eroded,
leaving behind the stumps,which are only just visible above the sea level.
Geos & Gloups (blow-holes)
 The occasional splashing of the waves against the roof of a cave may
enlarge the joints when air is compressed & released repeatedly inside
them.
 A natural shaft is thus formed which may eventually pierce through the
surface.
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 Waves breaking into the cave may force water or air out of this hole. Such
a shaft is termed as Gloup or blow hole.
 the enlargement of blow-holes & continual action of waves weakens the
cave roof.
 When the cave roof collapses, a long, narrow creek may develop known
as Geos
Coastal Features of Deposition

Beaches
 Sands & gravel loosened from the land are moved by waves to be
deposited along the shore as beaches.
 The eroded material is transported along the shore in several distinct
ways.
 Long shore drifts which comes obliquely to the coast carries material
along the shore in the direction of the dominant wind.
 At the same time, backwash removes part of the material seawards, along
the bed of the sea, & deposits it on the off-shore terrace & even beyond.
 The constant action of the waves automatically sorts out the shoreline
deposits in a graded manner.
 The coarser materials are dropped by the waves at the top of the beaches
& the finer materials, carried down the beach by the backwash, are
dropped closer to the sea.
Spits & Bars
 The debris eroded by waves is continually moved by long shore drift &
where there is indentation in the coast, such as at the mouth of the river
or a bay; material may continue to be deposited across the inlet
 As more materials are added, they will pile up into a ridge or embankment
of shingle forming a spit,with one end attached to the land & other
projecting into the sea
 When a ridge of shingle is formed across the mouth of a river or the
entrance to a bay, it is called a bar
 Such a connecting bar that joins two land masses is known as Tombolo
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Marine Dunes & Dune Belts
 With the force of on-shore winds, a large amount of coastal sand is driven
landwards forming extensive marine dunes that stretches into dune belts
 Their advance inland may engulf farms, roads & even the entire villages;
 Hence to arrest the migration of dunes, sand binding species of grass &
shrubs, such as marram grass & pines are planted.
Types of coasts
Despite a great variety of coastal features, coastlines may be divided into
two basic types –
 Formed due to sinking of the land or rise of the sea

Coastline of
 Including such coasts are Ria coasts, Fjord coasts,
Submergence
Estuarine coasts & Dalmatian/Longitudinal coasts
 Formed due to the uplift of the land or fall in the sea

level
Coastline of
 Generally less common & include uplifted lowland
Emergence
coast & emergent upland coast
Coastline of Submergence
Ria Coasts – Drowned river valleys
 During the ice age, a great deal of water was locked up in the ice, which
melted as the climate got warmer leading to increase in sea level.
 In upland coastal regions, where the mountain runs at right angle to the
sea i.e. transversely to the coast,a rise in the sea level submerges or
drowns the lower parts of the valleys to form long narrow branching inlets
separated by narrow headlands.
 Hence, a riais a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an
unglaciated river valley that remains open to the sea & is a coastline
having several parallel rias separated by prominent ridges, extending a
distance inland.
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 The drowning of river valleys along a stretch of coast and formation of
rias results in an extremely irregular and indented coastline.
 A ria coast differ from the fiords in two ways viz. they are not glaciated,
& their depth increases seaward.
 All rias are generally backed by highlands & support few large commercial
ports & extensively used for sitting fishing ports & naval bases.
Fjord coasts – Drowned glaciated valleys

 Fjords were created by glaciers that moved very slowly over time, and
greatly altered the landscape once they have moved through an area
carving deep valley
 Above process is called glaciation
 Fjord is formed when a glacier retreats, after carving its typical U-shaped
valley with the sea filling the resulting valley floor
 It forms a narrow, steep sided inlet connected to the sea
 The terminal moraine pushed down the valley by the glacier is left
underwater at the fjord’s entrance
 It causes the water at the neck or mouth of the fjord to be shallower
than the main body of the fjord behind it
Hence the opening toward the sea is often shallow & termed as
threshold
Dalmatian coasts
 A longitudinal coast where the mountains run parallel to the coast
 Where the submergence of the coastline produces long, narrow inlets with
a chain of islands parallel to the coast
 The elongated islands are the crests of former ranges & the narrow inlets
were the former longitudinal valleys
 Like ria and fiord coasts, the mountainous nature of Dalmatian coastline
hinders inland communication.
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Estuarine Coasts
 Estuarine coasts are basically the coasts made by estuaries, with streams
of river freely flowing into the sea, making them excellent sites for the
ports.
 An estuaryis a partly enclosed coastal body of brackish water (salinity
inbetween saline sea water & fresh river water) with one or more rivers or
streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.
 Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and
maritime environments.
 They are subject both to marine influences—such as tides, waves, and
the influx of saline water—and to riverine influences—such as flows of
fresh water and sediment.
Coastlines of Emergence
Uplifted lowland coasts
 The uplifted part of continental self produces gently sloping coastal
lowland.
 The offshore waters are shallow with the lagoons, salt marshes &
mudflats.
 Where the emerging deposits from the continental shelf are sandy &
gravelly, beaches & marine dunes are formed.
 Ports that were once located on the former coast, became inland towns.
Emergent upland coasts
 Faulting & earth movement may thrust up coastal plateaus so that whole
region is raised forming a raised beach.
 A raised beach is beyond the range of waves, though it may still possess
arches, stacks & other coastal features.
 The emergent upland coast is quite straight with steep cliffs & deeper off
shore waters.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
ISLANDS & CORAL REEFS

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Islands & Coral Reefs

 An island is a piece of land surrounded on all sides by water, may
occur individually or in groups & can be classified in two main types
 Continental islands
 Oceanic islands
Continental Islands
 Continental islands are simply unsubmerged parts of the continental shelf
that are entirely surrounded by water.
 Many of the larger islands of the world are of the continental type.
 Formerly, these islands were part of mainland, which got detached from the
continent, may be by a shallow lagoon or deep channels, due to subsidence
of some part of the land or a rise in sea level, so that lowland links are
submerged by the sea.
 Their former connection with the neighbouring mainland can be traced
from the similar physical structure, flora & fauna that exist on both sides
of the channel.
 Greenland, the largest island, is composed of the same materials as the
adjacent North American continent, from which it is separated by a shallow
and narrow sea.
 Likewise New Guinea, world’s second largest island, is part of the
Australian continental platform and is separated from it only by the very
shallow and narrow Torres Strait.
 Continental islands may appear as individual islands, island groups
(archipelagos) or island arcs (Festoons – archipelagos in shape of loop,
marking the continuation of mountain ranges which can be traced on the
continent)
Oceanic islands
 These islands are normally small & are located in the midst of oceans.
 They have no connection with the mainland & have flora & fauna unrelated
to that of continents.
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 Due to their remoteness from the major trading centres of the world, most
of them are sparsely populated.
 Some of them provide useful stops for airplanes & ocean steamers that ply
between continents.
 Generally, oceanic islands may be classified as volcanic islands or coral
islands.
Formed where topmost part of cone of volcano rise from the

ocean bed above the sea level
Lava accumulates to enormous thickness until it finally
protrudes above the ocean surface
Volcanic It may rise to a great height above the ocean surface for e.g.
Islands Islands of Hawaii
Unlike the volcanic islands, the coral islands are very much
lower & emerge just above the water surface.
These islands, built up by the coral animals of various
species
Coral Are found both near the the shores of mainland & in the
Islands midst of oceans
Coral Reefs
 In tropical seas, various kinds of coral animals & marine organisms such
as coral polyps, calcareous algae, shell forming creatures & lime secreting
plants live in large colonies
 Though they are tiny creatures, their ability to secrete calcium carbonate
within their tiny cells has given rise to a peculiar type of marine landform
 Coral reefs are generally made of tiny animals called “polyps” that stay fixed
in one place and are the main structure of a reef
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 Polyps have a hard outer skeleton made of calcium (similar to a snail’s shell)
 When they die, their limy skeletons are cemented into coralline limestone
 The reefs grow best in warm, shallow, clear, sunny and moving water
 However, they grow very slowly—anywhere from 0.3 cm to 10 cm per year
 The reefs we see today have been growing over the past 5 000 to 10 000
years favorable conditions for Coral Reefs
 As a rule they thrive well only in warmer tropical seas, with water temp. not
falling below 20*C approx. & does not flourish in cold currents.
 This explains why coral reefs are generally absent on western coast of the
continent.
 Depth of the water should not exceed 180 feet or 30 fathom, because
beyond this range sunlight is too faint for photosynthesis to take place.
 Water should be saltish & free from sediments. Corals, thus, survive best
in moving ocean waters well away from the silty coasts & best developed on
the seaward sides of the reef.
Types of Coral Reefs

Fringing Reefs
 The most common type of reef is the fringing reef.
 This type of reef grows seaward directly from the shore.
 They form borders along the shoreline and surrounding islands & may be
separated from the shore by narrow, shallow lagoons.
The reefs may be about a mile wide, lying just above the level of low water
& sloping steeply downwards on the seaward side to a depth of 100 feet.
Barrier Reefs
 Barrier reefs are similar to fringing reefs as they also border a shoreline &
are parallel the coastline but are separated by much deeper & wider
lagoons.
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 Barrier reef may be partially submerged & where it lies above the water
level, sand can get accumulated & little vegetation is possible.
 Barrier reefs have narrow gaps at several places to allow water from the
enclosed lagoon to return to the open surface.
 Such gaps are also useful for ships to enter or leave the lagoon.
Atolls
 When a fringing reef continues to grow upward from a volcanic island that
has sunk entirely below sea level, an atoll is formed.
 Atolls are usually circular or oval in shape, with an open lagoon in the
center.
Probable origin of coral reefs
Darwin’s Theory
 Darwin assumed that all coral reefs began as fringing reefs around an
Island or topmost portions of extinct volcanoes, which stood above the
ocean bed.
 Over millions of years, the volcano sinks lower into the sea and the sea level
rises around the volcano due to subsidized down-warping
 The coral grows upwards to keep from getting too far from the sunlight at
the sea surface.
 The outward side of the coral reef grows fastest since ocean currents bring
in the plankton that the corals feed on.
 Water on the landward side of the reef is still & there is less oceanic
plankton
 Hence here the reef was unable to grow fast enough to keep up with the
rising sea level & eventually drowned.
 A lagoon develops between the reef and the land, resulting in the
characteristic barrier reef shape.
 Eventually, when the volcano land completely submerged, only the outer
rim of the reefs was seen, forming an atoll.
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 Thus, the atoll marks position of former islands & lagoons it contains are
generally shallow.
Daly’s Glacial Control theory
 Daly noticed the close relationship between glaciation & development of
coral reefs.
 to him, Pleistocene glaciation caused the subsidence of sea level.
 He believed that, during ice age, water was too cold for any coral growth to
take place.
 With the absence of coral barrier, marine erosion was able to attack & lower
the lands gradually.
 When the climate became warmer, the water that was locked up in the ice
sheets melted, consequently rising the sea level, submerging these lower
islands forming wave platforms.
 On these wave planed platforms, corals began to grow upward at the rate
of a foot in a decade to keep pace with rising water level.
 Narrow platform supported fringing reefs; broad platforms supported
barrier reefs while isolated platforms supported formation of Atolls.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
LAKES

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General
Lakes
 Lakes occupy the hollows of the land surface in which water
accumulates & vary tremendously in size, shape, depth & mode of
formation.
 The tiny ones are no bigger than ponds or pools, but the large ones are
so extensive that they merit the name of the seas e.g. Caspian Sea.
 It must be noted that the lakes are only temporary feature of the earth
crust & eventually be eliminated by draining & silting up.
 Most of the lakes in the world are fresh water lakes fed by the rivers
 But in regions where evaporation is greater than precipitation & only
few streams filling up the lake, form saline water lakes such as Dead
sea & Great Salt Lake of Utah.
The Formation and Origin of lakes
Lakes formed by earth movement

Tectonic lakes
 Due to warping, bending & fracturing of earth crust, tectonic
depressions occur which give rise to lakes of immense sizes & depths
 Examples → Lake Titicaca (at Andes) – Highest lake of the world,
Caspian Sea (Largest lake of the world & 5 times larger than its nearest
rival i.e. lake superior)
Rift Valley Lakes

 Due to faulting, a rift valley is formed by sinking of land between two
parallel faults which is deep, narrow & elongated in character.
 Water collect in these troughs & their floors are often below sea level
 Eg. Lake Tanganyika (World’s deepest lake) & Dead Sea (World’s lowest
lake)
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Lakes formed by Glaciation

Cirque lakes / Tarns
 A glacier on its way down the valley leaves behind circular hollows in
the heads of the valleys up in the mountains known as corries or cirque
 Their over deepened floors may be filled with water to form cirque lakes
 Those that occupy long & deep glacial troughs down the valley are
termed as Ribbon lakes
Kettle Lakes
 They are basically depressions in the outwash plain left by the melting
of masses of stagnant ice
 They are irregular because of the uneven moraine surface & are never of
any great size or depth
Rock Hollow Lakes

 Formed by ice scouring when valley glaciers or ice sheets scoop out
hollows on the rock surface (lakes enclosed within a rock hollow)
 Such lakes are abundant in Finland (Land of lakes)
Lakes formed due to Moraine damming of Valleys

 Valley glaciers often deposit moraine debris across a valley so that lakes
are formed when water accumulates behind the barrier.
 Both lateral & terminal moraines are capable of damming valleys.
Lakes formed due to deposition of glacial drifts

 In glaciated lowlands with a predominant drumlin landscape, where
drainage is poor
 There are intervening depressions which are often waterlogged, forming
small lakes
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Lakes formed by volcanic activity

Crater & Caldera Lakes
 During a volcanic explosion, top of the cone may be blown off, leaving
behind a natural hollow called a crater, which may be enlarged by
subsidence into a caldera
 In dormant & extinct volcanoes, rain falls straight into the crater or
caldera which has no superficial outlet & forms a crater or caldera lake
Lava Blocked Lakes
 In volcanic regions a stream of lava may flow across a valley which may
solidify
 Solidifying of lava may dam the river, leading to the formation of lava
blocked lakes.
Lakes formed due to subsidence of volcanic land surface

 The crust of hollow lava flow may collapse
 Subsidence leaves behind a wide & hollow depression in which a lake

may form.
Lakes formed by Erosion

Karst lakes
 The solvent action of rain water on limestone carves out solution hollow.
 When these become clogged with debris, lakes may form in them.
 The collapse of limestone roofs of underground caverns may result in
the exposure of long, narrow lakes that were once underground.
 The large depressions called Polje, which normally do not have any
outlet, may contain lakes.
Wind deflated lakes
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 The deflating action of winds in deserts creates deep hollows which may
reach water table via which water seeps out forming small shallow
lakes.
 Excessive evaporation causes these to become salt lakes or Playas.
Lakes formed by Deposition

Lakes formed due to river deposits
 A river may shorten its course during a flood by cutting its meandering
loops leaving behind a horseshoe shaped channel called ox – bow lake.
Lakes formed due to marine deposits

 The action of wind & waves may isolate lagoons along the coasts,
enclosed by narrow spit of land known as lagoon lakes.
 Lagoonis a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water
by barrier islands or reefs.
 In East Germany & Poland lagoons are called Haffs.
Lakes formed due to landslides, screes & avalanches

 Landslides or screes may block valleys so that rivers are dammed,
leading to formation of temporary lakes.
 Lakes formed by these processes are also known as barrier lakes.
 Such lakes are short lived because the loose fragments that pile up
across the valleys will soon rupture under pressure & will give way to
water.
 When they suddenly give way, the dammed water rushes down causing
floods
Lakes formed by Human & Biological activities

Man-made lakes
 Besides the natural lakes, man has created artificial lakes by erecting a
concrete dam across a river valley
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 This is done so that the river water can be kept in check to form
reservoirs.
Lakes made by animals

 Animals like Beavers are particularly interesting.
 They live in communities & construct dams across the rivers with
timber, mud & soil.
 Such Beaver dams are quite permanent & modify the natural
environment in such a way that the overall ecosystem builds upon the
change, making beavers a keystone species.
Other type of man-made lakes
 Ornamental lakes → Especially made to attract tourists
 Lakes made by men mining activities
 Inland fishing lakes to develop inland fish culture
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
LANDFORMS MADE BY RUNNING WATER

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Denudation is general lowering of earth’s surface by agents of erosion such
as Wind, Water, Ice, Waves etc. Unlike glaciers & snow, which are confined
to cold & temperate latitudes; waves, which acts only on coastlines; winds,
are only efficient in deserts; the effect of running water is felt all over the
world, thus, making it the most important agent of denudation.
 The source of river is generally found in an upland region with a slope down
for the run offs
 Hence, the uplands form the catchment areas of the rivers & the crest of
mountains become the divide or watershed from which the streams flows
down the slope
 The initial stream that exists as a consequence of the slope is called the
consequent stream
 As the consequent stream wears down the surface, it is joined by several
tributaries from either side
Processes of river action

 When a river flows it carries with it eroded materials which can be divided
into 3 distinct types
Materials in
Solution Minerals which are dissolved in water
Materials in
Suspension Suspension of Sand, Silt & Mud in water
Coarser materials such as pebbles, stones, rocks &

The Traction Load Boulders
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 The ability of river to move the various grades of materials depends greatly
on the volume of the water, velocity of the flow & size, shape and weight of
the load
 It is said that by doubling the velocity of a river, its transporting power is
increased by more than 10 times.
River Erosion & Transportation Processes

Corrasion / Abrasion
 Mechanical grinding of river’s traction load against the banks & bed of the
river.
 The rock fragments hurdle against the sides as well as bottom of the river
leading to lateral & vertical corrasion
 Lateral corrasion is sideways erosion which widens the V shaped valley.
 Vertical corrasion is the downward action which deepens the river channel.
Corrosion / Solution
 Chemical action of water on soluble or partly soluble rocks with which river
come into contact
 For ex. in case of Calcium carbonate
Hydraulic Action
 Mechanical loosening & sweeping away of materials by river water
 Mainly by surging into the crevices & cracks of rocks & disintegrating them
Attrition
 Wear & tear of transported material among them when they roll and collide
into one another
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Upper or Mountain Course (Youth stage)
 Begins at the source of the river near the watershed, generally at the crest
of mountain range
 Flow is very swift as it descends the steep slopes & predominant action of
the river is vertical erosion
 Valley developed is thus deep, narrow & distinctively V shaped which
sometimes results in formation of gorges & canyons
Some of the features associated with the upper course of the river
River Capture
 Also known as river piracy or river beheading
 Its development depends upon different rate of back cutting (headward
erosion) into a divide mainly due to difference in precipitation received by
streams.
 If one side of the divide cut more rapidly than the other then its greater
erosive power will succeed in enlarging its basin at the expense of weaker
stream.
 For example in given figure, Stream A may eventually break through the
divide & capture & pirate stream B.
 The bend at which the piracy occurs is termed as Elbow of the capture &
the beheaded stream is called as misfit.
 The valley below the elbow is wind gap which may be useful for road & rail
route.
Rapids, Cataracts & Waterfalls
 Liable to occur in any part of river course but most numerous in mountains
course where changes in gradient are more abrupt & frequent.
 Due to unequal resistance of hard & soft rocks transverse by a river, the
outcrop of hard rock may cause a river to jump & fall, known as
 Similar falls of greater dimensions are referred as
 When river plunges down in a sudden fall via. some height, they are called
 Their greater force usually wears out a plunge pool beneath.
Middle or Valley Course (Maturity stage)
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 In the middle course, lateral corrasion tends to replace vertical corrasion;
active corrasion of the bank thus widens V shaped valleys.
 Volume of water increases with the confluence of many tributaries which
increases river’s load.
 The work of the river is predominantly transportation with some deposition
in clearer manner, although velocity does not decrease.
Some of the features associated with the Middle course of the river
Interlocking spurs
 Downstream, interlocking spurs that project from both side of the valley are
cut back into a line of bluffs.
 Rainwash, soil creeps, landslides & gullying gradually widens the valley,
cutting back the sides
 As the stream flows on, the meanders migrate progressively outward with
the interlocking spurs alternating with the undercut slopes.
 Meanders in the middle course are only the beginning of the downward
swing as bends are restricted by the interlocking spurs.
 In the lower course, the loops are enlarged across the level plain &
meanders are fully developed.
River cliffs & Slip off slopes
 When the flow of water PQ enters the bend of the river, it dashes straight
into Q, eroding the outer bank into a steep river cliff at Q.
 The water piles up on the outside of the bend due to centrifugal force.
 A bottom current RS is setup in a cork screw motion & is hurled back into
midstream & inner bank. Shingle is thus deposited here at S, where the slip
off is gentle.
 The outer bank is therefore the bank of continuous erosion & the inner
bank is the bank of continuous deposition.
Meanders
 As water flowing under gravity seldom flows straight for long distance, a
winding course soon develops
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 The irregularities of the ground forces the river to swing in loops forming
Meanders
Lower or Plain Course (Old Stage)
 The river moving downstream across a broad, level plain is heavy with
debris brought down from the upper course.
 Vertical corrasion has almost ceased though lateral corrasion still goes on
to erode its banks further.
 Volume of water is greatly swelled with work of the river is mainly
depositional, building up its bed & forming flood plains.
Some of the features associated with the plain course of the river
Flood Plain
 During sporadic floods, large quantity of sediments are spread over the low
lying adjacent areas by the rivers, thus gradually building up a fertile flood
plain.
 When the river flows normally its bed is raised through accumulation of
deposits.
 Material is also deposited on the sides forming raised banks called Levees.
 In an attempt to minimize the risk of the floods, artificial embankments are
erected on the natural levees.
 Nowadays, huge dredgers are also brought up in use to deepen the channels
to avoid excessive sedimentation.
Ox-Bow Lakes (Dead Lake)
 In the lower course of the river, a meander becomes very much pronounced.
 The outside bank is so rapidly eroded that the river becomes almost a
complete circle.
 There comes a time, when the river cuts through the narrow neck of the
loop, abandoning an Ox-bow lake & then flows straight.
 The ox-bow lake will later degenerate into a swamp through subsequent
floods that may silt up the lake, thus becoming marshy & eventually dries
up.
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Delta
 When the river reaches the sea, the fine materials it has not dropped yet
are deposited at its mouth, forming a fan shaped alluvial area called a delta.
 The alluvial tract is infact the seaward extension of the flood plains.
 Due to obstruction caused by the deposited alluvium, the river may
discharge its water through several channels called distributaries.
Favorable conditions for delta are
 Active vertical & lateral erosion in upper course of the river to provide
extensive sediments
 Coast should be sheltered preferably tideless & no strong current at right
angle to the mouth of the river washing away the sediments
 Sea adjoining the delta should be shallow or else the load will disappear in
deep waters
 No large lakes in the river course to filter off sediments
River Rejuvenation
 When in the course, if the river parts are uplifted or depressed, they
rejuvenate the river & make it young again
 Rejuvenation mainly occurs when there is either a fall in sea level relative
to the level of the land or a rise of the land relative to the sea known as
negative movements leading to fall in river’s base level
 This steepens the slope so that river’s eroding power or down cutting is
renewed
 River with its renewed vigour cuts into the former plain, leaving behind
traces on both sides of the river
 Point where the old & rejuvenated profile meet is called Knick point, which
can be seen as waterfalls and rapids
 If rejuvenation occurs in upper course, the river valleys are deepened &
steep sided gorges are formed
 In middle & lower course vertical corrasion replaces lateral corrasion & thus
the existing meanders are vertically eroded by the rejuvenated stream
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A distinct new trench is cut in old valley & the river develops a deep valley
with incised meanders; which are of 2 types’ entrenched meanders
& ingrown meanders
Are symmetrical & form when the river downcuts
particularly quickly
Due to the speed which the river downcuts, there is little
Entrenched opportunity for lateral erosion to occur giving them
meanders symmetrical shape
Are asymmetrical & form when river downcuts at a less

rapid pace
Ingrown
meanders Give river opportunity to erode laterally + vertically
 A rejuvenating river can erode vertically into the former flood plain to
produce features called river terraces.
 If vertical erosion is rapid then pairedterraces are formed either side of the
channel.
 If vertical erosion is slower though, unpairedterraces form as the river is
given opportunity to meander.
 River terraces are particularly useful for settlements as they provide flat
areas above the present floodplain.
 Oxford, Cambridge and London all are developed on the river terraces of the
Isis, Cam and Thames respectively.
 A positive movement occurs when there is either a rise in sea level relative
to the level of the land or a fall of the land relative to the sea level.
 This will submerge the land along the coast, drown the valleys & weaken
the erosive power of the river.
 The lower course of the river may be partly in the sea & features of
deposition are shifted in the middle course; with the upper course affected
only a little.
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 Rise in the sea level mainly occurs due to release of the water locked up in
the ice masses during the Quaternary ice ages.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
Landforms of Glaciation

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The Ice-Age and types of ice masses
 Today, only 2 major ice caps are present in this world – Antarctica &
Greenland, along with many highlands above the snowline surviving
in the world.
 The peaks of the loftiest mountains projecting above the ice surface are
known as Nunataks
 Ice from ice cap creeps out in all directions to escape as glaciers
 When the ice sheets reaches down to the sea they float as ice shelves in
polar waters.
 When ice sheets breaks into individual blocks, these are called icebergs.
 While afloat in the sea, only 1/9th of the iceberg’s mass is visible above
the surface.
 They diminish in size when reaching warm waters & eventually
melted, dropping the rock debris that was frozen inside them on the
sea bed.
 Permanent snowfield is sustained by heavy snowfall in winters &
ineffective snow melting & evaporation in summers as part of snow
that melt during the day is refrozen during the night.
 This refreezing process repeats until it forms a hard, granular
substance known as neve or firn.
 Owing to the gravitational forces, neve of the upland snowfield is
drawn towards the valley below, which marks the beginning of the
flow of glacier (river of ice).
Glaciers
 Glaciers normally assume the shape of a tongue, broadest at the source
& becoming narrower downhill.
 Though glacier is not liquid, but it moves gradually under the continual
pressure from the snow accumulated above.
 Rate of movement is greatest in the middle where there is little
obstruction
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 The sides & bottom are held back by the frictions due to valley sides &
valley floors.
 If a row of stakes is planted across a glacier in a straight line, they will
eventually take a curved shape down the valley, showing that glacier
moves faster at the centre than at sides.
Types of Glaciers
Piedmont At the foot of the mountain ranges, several glaciers may

Glacier converge to form an extensive ice mass
 Formed in a cirque, a bowl-shaped depression on the

side of or near mountains
 Snow and ice accumulation in corries often occurs as
Cirque the result of avalanching from higher surrounding
Glacier slopes
Streams of flowing ice that are confined within steep

Valley walled valleys, often following the course of an ancient
Glacier river valley
Landforms of Highland Glaciation
 Glaciation generally gives rise to erosional features in the highlands &

depositional features on lowlands
 It erodes its valley by two processes viz. plucking & abrasion.
 Plucking → Glacier freezes the joints & beds of underlying rocks, tears
out individual blocks & drags them away.
 Abrasion → Glacier scratches, scrapes, polishes & scours the valley
floor with the debris frozen into it.
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Characteristic features of Glaciated Highland
Corrie, Cirque or cwm
 The downslope movement of a glacier from its snow covered valley head
& the intensive shattering of the upland slopes, tend to produce a
depression where neve or firn accumulate
 Plucking & abrasion further deepen the depression into a steep horse
shoe shaped basin called Cirque (in French), cwm (in wales) & Corrie (in
Scotland)
 There is a rocky ridge at the exit of the corrie & when the ice eventually
melts, water collect behind this barrier known as Corrie Lake or tarn
Aretes and Pyramidal Peaks
 When two corries cut back on opposite sides of the mountain, knife
edged ridges are formed called aretes
 When three or more cirques cut back together, recession will form an
angular horn or pyramidal peak
Bergschrund
 At the head of a glacier, where it begins to leave the snowfield of a
corrie, a deep vertical crack opens up called a Bergschrund or Rimaye
 This happens in summer when although the ice continues to move out
of the corrie, there is no new snow to replace it
 In some cases not one but several such cracks occur which present a
major obstacle to climbers
 Further down, where the glacier negotiates a bend or a precipitous
slope, more crevasses or cracks are formed
U shaped glacial Troughs & Ribbon lakes
 Glaciers on their downward journey are fed by several corries scratches
& grind the bedrock with straightening out any portruding spurs.
 The interlocking spurs are thus blunted to form truncated spurs with
floor of the valley deepened.
 Hence, the valley which has been glaciated takes the characterstic U
shape, with a wide flat floor & very steep sides.
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 After the disappearance of the ice, the deep sections, of these long,
narrow glacial troughs may be filled with waterforming Ribbon lakes
also known as Trough lakes or Finger Lakes.
Hanging Valleys
 The main valley is eroded much more than the tributary valley as it
contains much larger glacier.
 After the ice has been melted, a tributary valley hang above the main
valley & plunges down as waterfall. Such Tributary valleys are termed
as Hanging valleys.
 Hanging valleys may form a natural head of water for generating
hydroelectric power.
Rock Basins and Rock Steps

 A glacier erodes & excavates the bed rock in an irregular manner.
 The unequal excavation gives rise to many rock basins later filled by
lakes in valley trough.
 Where a tributary valley joins a main valley, the additional weight of ice
in the main valley cuts deeper into the valley floor & deepest at the
point of convergence forming rock steps.
 A series of such rock steps may also be formed due to different degrees
of resistance to glacial erosion of the bedrocks.
Moraines
 Moraines are made up of the pieces of rock that are shattered by frost
action, imbedded in the glaciers & brought down the valley.
 Those that fall on the sides of the glacier form lateral moraines.
 When two glaciers converge, their inside lateral moraines unite to form
a medial moraine.
 The rock fragments which are dragged along, beneath the frozen ice, are
dropped when the glacier melts & spread across the floor of the valley
as ground moraine.
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 The glacier eventually melts on reaching the foot of the valley & the pile
of transported materials left behind at the snout is terminal moraine or
end moraine.
 The deposition of end moraines may be in several succeeding waves, as
the ice may melt back by stages so that a series of recessional moraines
are formed.
Fjord
 If the glacier flows right down to the sea, it drops its load of moraine in
the sea.
 If section break off as icebergs, moraine material will only be dropped
when they melt
 Where the lower end of the trough is drowned by the sea, it forms a
deep, steep side inlet called a Fjord, a typical of Norway & Chilean
coast.
Landforms of Lowland Glaciation
Most of the glaciated lowlands have depositional features, but where rock
masses project above the level surface, they result in striking features of
erosion.
Roche Moutonnee
 Basically a resistant residual rock hummock or mound, striated by the
ice movement
 Its upstream or stoss side is smoothened by abrasion & its downward or
leeward side is roughened by plucking & is much steeper.
 It is believed that plucking may have occurred on leeward side due to a
reduction in pressure of the glacier moving over the stoss slope
 Therefore providing the opportunity for water to refreeze on the lee side
and pluck the rock away.
Crag & Tail
 A crag and tail is a larger rock mass than a Roche moutonnee
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 Like a Roche moutonnee, it is formed from a section of rock that was
more resistant than its surroundings.
 Crag is a mass of hard rock with a steep slope on the upward side,
which protects the softer leeward slope from being completely worn
down by the oncoming ice.
 It therefore has a gentle tail strewn with the eroded rock debris.
Boulder clay or Glacial till
 This is an unsorted glacial deposit comprising a range of eroded
materials such as boulders, sticky clays & fine rock flour.
 It is spread out in sheets, not mounds, & forms gently undulating till or
drift plains with monotonous landform.
 The degree of fertility of such glacial plains depends very much on the
composition of the depositional materials.
Erratics
 Boulders of varying size that are transported by ice & left stranded in
the regions of deposition when the ice melted.
 Called erratics because they are composed of the materials entirely
different from those of the regions in which they have been transported.
 Useful in tracing the source & direction of ice movements but their
presence in large numbers causes hindrance in farming.
 Also known as perched blocks as sometimes they are found perched in
precarious positions as the ice dropped them.
Drumlins
 Elongated whale back type hummocks composed wholly of boulder clay
with elongation in the direction of ice flow i.e. on the downward side.
 They are low hills upto 1.5 km long and 60 mm tall & appear steeper on
the onset side & taper off at leeward side.
 They are arranged diagonally & commonly referred as basket of eggs
topography.
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Eskers
 Eskers are the sinuous ridges composed of glacial material mainly
sands & gravel deposited by meltwater currents in glacial tunnels
 Glacial tunnels marks the former sites of sub glacial melt water streams
 Their orientation is generally parallel to the direction of glacial flow, and
they sometimes exceed 100 kilometres in length.
Outwash Plains
 Made up of fluvio glacial deposits washed out from the terminal
moraines by the streams of stagnant ice mass.
 The melt waters sort & redeposit the material mainly consisted of layers
of sand and other fine sediments.
 Such plains with their sandy soils are often used for specialized kinds of
agriculture, such as the potato.
Kettle lake
 A depressions formed when the deposition takes place in the form of
alternating ridges
 Shallow, sediment filled body of water formed by retreating glaciers
Kames
 Small rounded hillocks of sand & gravel which cober part of the plain
 Kames are often associated with kettles, and this is referred to as kame
& kettle topography
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
LIMESTONE AND CHALK LANDFORM

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Limestone and Chalk Landform
 Limestone & chalk are sedimentary rocks of organic origin derived from the
accumulation of corals & shells in the sea.
 In its pure state, limestone is made up of calcite or calcium carbonate; along
with magnesium present in form of dolomite.
 Chalk is pure form of limestone, white & soft.
 Limestone is soluble in rain water, which, with carbon dioxide from the air,
forms a weak acid.
 A region with a large stretch of limestone therefore possesses a very distinct
type of topography, termed as Karst region.
Features of Karst Topography
 Generally, Karst regions have a bleak landscape, occasionally broken by
precipitous slopes.
 General absence of surface drainage as most of the surface water percolate
underground, hence surface valleys are generally dry.
 Streams generally cut their way along the joints & fissures of the rock
wearing out a system of underground channels.
 When the water penetrates to the base of the limestone & meets the non-
porous rocks, it re-emerges onto the surfaces as a spring or resurgence.
 Limestones are well jointed & it is through these joints & cracks that rain
water finds its way into the underlying rock.
 Progressive widening by the solution enlarges these cracks into trenches &
a most intriguing feature called limestone pavement is developed.
 The enlarged joints are called Grikes & the isolated, rectangular blocks are
termed as clints
 On the surface of limestone are numerous swallow holes, which are small
depressions carved out by solution where rainwater sinks into limestone at
the point of weakness, also known as sink holes. Once water has sunk into
limestone, it etches out caverns & passages along joints.
 When a number of swallow holes coalesce, a larger hollow is formed & is
called a Doline.
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 Several dolines may merge as a result of subsidence (gradual caving) to form
an even larger depression called an Uvala
 In Yugoslavia, some very large depressions called Polje, may be as large as
100 square miles, but produced partly due to faulting.
 Subterranean streams which descent through swallow holes to the
underground passes leads to the formation of caves & caverns which may
contain ponds or lakes.
 The most spectacular underground features that adorn the limestone caves
are
 Stalactites
 Stalagmites
 Calcite pillars
 Water carries calcium in solution & when this lime charged water
evaporates, it leaves behind solidified crystalline calcium carbonate.
 Stalactites are sharp, slender, downward growing pinnacles that hang
from the cave roofs.
 When moisture drips from the roof, it trickles down the stalactites & drops
to the floor, where calcium is deposited to form Stalagmites, Which are
shorter, fatter & more round.
 Over a longer period, the stalactite hanging from the roof is eventually
joined to stalagmite growing from the floor to form a pillar.
Human activities of Karst region

 Karst regions are often barren & at best carry a thin layer of soil.
 The porosity of the rocks & the absence of surface drainage make vegetative
growth difficult, hence limestone can usually support only poor grass.
 Limestone vegetation in tropical regions is luxuriant because of heavy
rainfall all the year around.
 The only mineral found in association of limestones is lead.
 Good quality limestone is used as building materials & quarried for cement
industry.
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Chalk
 Landforms of chalk are rather different from other limestones.
 There is little or no surface drainage & valleys which once contained rivers
are now dry often called as Coombes.
 Chalk is covered with short turf & is used for pasture & sometimes for
arable farming.
 Because of the friable nature of the chalk rocks, swallow holes &
underground cave networks do not generally develop.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE EARTH AND THE UNIVERSE

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The Earth and The Universe

Exploring the Universe:
 Earth’s Own Galaxy-Milky Way (Contains 100000 Million Stars)
 The light from the nearest star travelling at the speed of light i.e. 186,000
miles per second takes something like 4 yrs to reach us.
 8 minutes- ray of light from the sun to reach the earth
The Solar System
 Comprises Sun and 9 Planets
 Planets revolve round the sun in elliptical orbits.
 Mercury the smallest and closest to the sun (Year-88 Days)
 Venus, twice the distance away from the sun (Next Closest Planet)
 Earth, has life and all living beings we see around us in earth.
 Natural Satellite of Earth-Moon
 4th Planet-Mars (Dark Patches and have some possibility of some plant life)
 Jupiter-largest planet, made up of many gases like hydrogen, helium and
methane (12 Satellites), Surface very cold.
 Saturn-Unique planet (3 rings and 9 satellites), 2nd largest after Jupiter
 7th Planet-Uranus, another giant planet, 50 times larger than earth, 15
times as heavy (orbits around the sun in a clockwise direction from east to
west with five satellites revolving round it.
 Outermost planet- Neptune and pluto, visible with telescopes, result of
mathematical calculations
 Neptune much colder, pluto smaller than earth.
Earth’s Natural Satellite (Moon)
 Moon rotates around the earth in an elliptical orbit as earth rotates around
the sun
 Axis of moon is inclined at 58.4 * approx. wrt Plane of ecliptic, as a
result distance of moon from earth keeps on changing
 Only 59 % of moon’s surface is visible from earth at the max
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 Perigee- Nearest point to the moon’s orbit from Earth
 Apogee- Farthest point to the moon’s orbit from Earth
 Sidereal Month- Moon completes 1 rotation in 27 days 7 hrs & 43 min
approx. With reference to earth
 Synoptic Month- Moon completes 1 rotation in 29 days 12 hrs & 44 min
approx. With reference to sun
Shape of Earth
 Oblate spheroid or oblate ellipsoid shape
 Slightly flattering at poles & slightly bulging at equator
 Polar radius approx. 21 km shorter than equatorial radius
Axis of Earth
 Earth rotating around an imaginary line running through North pole &
South pole via its center
Equator
 Center most parallel, dividing earth into two equal hemispheres namely
Northern & Southern hemisphere
 Lying at 0* latitude with L = 40000 Km Approx.
Tropic of Cancer
 Parallels at 23.5* north of equator
Tropic of Capricorn
 Parallels at 23.5* south of equator
Arctic Circle
 Parallels at 66.5* north of Equator
Antarctic circle
 Parallels at 66.5* south of Equator
Other Features
 Length of latitudes decreases from equator to poles i.e. max. at equator &
0 at poles
 As earth’s axis is inclined by 23.5* to its orbital plane, therefore 23.5* is
max. latitude upto which sunrays can be perpendicular to any place
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 Means all places between Tropic of cancer & Tropic of Capricorn experience
vertical rays of sun twice a year but both the tropics only once
 Tropic of cancer will get vertical sunrays at summer solstice, when Northern
hemisphere of earth is at max. inclination from sunrays
 Tropic of Capricorn will get vertical sunrays at winter solstice, when
southern hemisphere of earth is at max. inclination from sunrays
Evidences of the Earth’s Sphericity:
 Circum navigation of the earth
 The circular horizon
 Ships visibility
 Sunrise and sunset
 The Lunar Eclipse
 Planetary bodies are spherical
 Driving poles on level ground on a curved earth
 Aerial Photographs
Rotation of Earth
 Earth’s rotate around its own axis from west to east viz. anticlockwise
direction
 Earth’s rotate around the sun (Elliptical path) from west to east viz.
anticlockwise direction
 Axis of earth rotation is inclined at 66.5* to its plane of elliptic
 Axis of earth rotation is inclined at 23.5* to perpendicular to the plane of
elliptic
 Plane of earths equator to plane of elliptic or earth’s axis to axis of revolution
is inclined at 23.5 *
 Velocity of earth’s rotation decreases from equator to poles

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 Correlated with length of the parallels which also decreases from equator
to poles
 velocity at equator & 0 velocity at poles
 Weight of body is less at equator & greater at poles
 Because of greater centrifugal force at the equator (mv^2 / r) due to greater
velocity at equator
 Because of higher gravitational force at poles (GMm/r) due to lesser radius
of poles than the equator
 The earth moves in space in two distinct ways viz.
 It rotates on its own axis from west to east once in every 24 hours causing
day & night
 It revolves around the sun in an orbit every 365(1/4) days causing the
seasons & the year
 Throughout the revolution of earth around the sun, its axis remains tilted
in the same direction
 Its axis continues to point to same spot in heaven known as Polaris /
polestar/ parallelism of axis
 Polestar -Brightest star in the sky in north direction or northern star
Eclipses
 Partial or total obstruction of light from a celestial body as it passes through
shadow of another celestial body
 Apparently, eclipse shall occur every month because of revolution of earth
around the sun & moon around the earth, but Plane of moon’s orbit around
the earth is inclined at 5.9* to the plane of earth’s orbit around the sun
Solar Eclipse
 When moon comes exactly between earth & sun & obstructs a part or whole
of the sun then a partial or total eclipse occur
 Usually at sunrise or sunset at new moon
Lunar Eclipse
 When earth comes exactly between Sun & moon
 Usually occurs at full moon

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Dawn & Twilight

 The brief period between sunrise & full daylight is called dawn & that
between sunset & complete darkness is termed as twilight.
 This is caused by the fact that during the periods of dawn & twilight earth
receives diffused or refracted light from the sun while it is still below the
horizon.
 Since the sun rises & sets in vertical path at the equator, the period during
which refracted light is received is short.
 But in temperate latitudes, the rises & sets in oblique path & hence the
period of refracted light is longer than that at equator, which is much longer
at poles.
Latitudes
 Angular distance of a place, along meridian on earth’s surface as measured
from center
 Distance between them increases towards the poles
 Most important lines:The Equator, The tropic of cancer, tropic of Capricorn,
arctic circle and Antarctic circle
Longitudes
 Imaginary lines which joins poles & perpendicular to all parallels
 Drawn as a semicircle on the globe
 Also known as meridians
 Equidistant in nature
Longitude & Concept of time
 Earth completes 1 rotation in 24 hours means swept 360* in 24 hours >>>
15 * in one hour or 1* in 4 minute
 Since earth rotates west to east places located in the east gain time while
those located in the west loose time
 Generally, 12: 00 noon at a place is considered when sun’s altitude is
highest & exactly over the meridian at that place
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 Time at all the places located at particular meridian i.e. north & south will
be same, however places located at east & west will have different local time
Standard time of a country
 Standard time of a country is local time of a selected longitude crossing
through a place in the country of due importance
 Standard time of India is local time of longitude passing through Allahabad
situated at 82.5* East of Prime meridian i.e. Five & half hours ahead of GMT
 Calendar date is changed by one day when someone crosses international
date line
 Although line is deviated at some places to mark same date at some
countries & islands
 Thumb Rule -Loose 12 hrs west of Prime meridian & gain 12 hrs east of
prime meridian
Greenwich Meridian
 Also known as Prime Meridian or Time Meridian
 Meridian passing through Royal observatory at Greenwich
near London which divides earth in eastern & western hemisphere
International Date Line
 Exact opposite to Greenwich meridian at longitude of 180*
Graticule
 Network of parallels & meridians drawn on the globe
 Helps to locate a place with given longitudes & latitudes
Great Circles
 Imaginary circles which divides the earth into two equal parts & whose
center lies at the center of the earth
 Largest circles that can be drawn on the globe i.e. Equator & all meridians
The altitude of the Sun:

Solstices
 When sun is at the greatest distance from the equator
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 Its rays falls vertical either at tropic of Cancer or tropic of Capricorn
Summer Solstice
 Earth’s axis leans at max 23.5* in northern hemisphere towards the sun
 Sun’s ray fall vertical at Tropic of cancer around 21/22 June
 This brings summer season in Northern hemisphere
 With this duration of days starts decreasing
 Means June 21/June 22 is longest day in Northern hemisphere
 Daylights of 14 hrs at Tropic of Cancer; 12 hrs at Equator; 10 hrs at Tropic
of Capricorn
 Between Arctic Circle & North Pole day lasts for 24 hours & between
Antarctic Circle & South Pole same duration of night lasts.
 At North Pole day last for 6 months & at South Pole night last for 6 month
approx.
Winter Solstice
 Earth’s axis leans at max 23.5* in southern hemisphere towards the sun
 Sun’s ray falls vertical at Tropic of Capricorn around 21/22 Dec.
 This brings summer season in Southern hemisphere
 With this duration of days starts increasing in Northern hemisphere
 Means Dec 21/June 22 is shortest day in Northern hemisphere
 Daylights of 14 hrs at Tropic of Capricorn; 12 hrs at Equator; 10 hrs at
Tropic of Cancer
 Between Antarctic Circle & South Pole day lasts for 24 hours & between
Arctic Circle & North Pole same duration of night lasts.
 At South Pole day last for 6 months & at North Pole night last for 6 month
approx.
Equinoxes
 The sun is vertically overhead at the equator on two days of the year usually
on 21 March & 21 September
 Dates changes because a year is not exactly of 365 days
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 These two days are termed as equinox means on these two days all parts of
the world have equal days & nights
Seasonal Changes & Their Effect on Temperature
 In summer, sun is overhead & its sunrays fall almost vertically on the earth,
concentrating its heat on a small area;
 Temperature therefore rises & summers are always warm
 In winters, the oblique rays of sun come through atmosphere less directly
& have their heat absorbed by atmosphere & water vapour;
 Sun rays fall obliquely & spread over greater area, hence temperature
remain low.
 In addition days are longer than nights in summer & more heat is received
over longer daylight duration; Nights are shorter & less heat is lost. Hence,
there is net gain in total heat received & temperature rises in summer.
Shorter days & longer nights in winters accounts for reverse effect.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE EARTH’s CRUST

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The Earth’s Crust
 Made up of several concentric layers.
 The outer layer is the earth’s crust-the lithosphere
 Lithosphere comprises two distinct parts-granite rocks-upper part & lower
part-basaltic rocks.
Granite rocks-
SIAL- The Oceanic Crust
 Si – silicon and Al – aluminum.
 High density.
 Iron and calcium are also present.
 Younger part of crust – 200 million years old.
Basaltic Rocks
SIMA – The Continental Crust
 Si – silicon and Ma – Magnesium.
 Low density.
 Aluminum, potassium, and sodium.
 Older part of the crust – 3600 million years.
Mantle forms the second layer
 second layer of the interior of the earth.
 Two sub - layers –1. Upper mantle.
2. Lower mantle.
 Thickness varies between 35km – 2900 km.
 Average density is 4.5 g/cm3
 Upper portion of mantle and crust together known as Lithosphere.
lower mantle – Aesthenosphere.
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CORE
 Third layer of the earth.
 Formed by nickel and iron.
 Also called as Nife
 Nife – Ni - nickel and Fe – ferrous or iron
 Two parts
1. Outer core.
2. Inner core.
 Temperature is 11000˚ C.
 Inner core is in solid state.
CORE – divided in two layers
1. Inner core
 Molten in stage
 Depth varies from 2900km – 5150 km.
 Density – 10.7 g/cm3.
2. Outer core
 Solid in state
 High temperature
 High pressure
 Depth varies from – 5150 km – 6371 km.
Density – 15 g/cm3
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The classification of Rocks
 Rocks are Igneous Rocks, Sedimentary Rocks, Metamorphic Rocks
Igneous Rocks
 Formed through cooling & solidification of molten material magma (
Erupted from volcanoes, molten material moves towards surface of earth
through crack)
 Normally crystalline in structure, do not occur in strata & do not contains
fossils
 Can be subdivided on the basis of mineral composition
 Basic rocks contain high proportion of basic oxides mainly of iron,
aluminium & magnesium
 When they contain high proportion of silica they are said to be acidic, which
are less dense & lighter in color than basic rocks for ex. Granite
 Most igneous rocks are extremely hard & resistant hence are quarried for
road making & polished as monuments & grave stones
 Are parent / primary rocks as all other rocks are derived from it.
In terms of origin they can be divided into mainly 2 classes viz.
formed due to solidification of magma (interior of earth)
They have cooled & solidified slowly so that large, easily
recognized crystals are formed till some depth inside earth
crust
Plutonic
Examples → Granite, Diorite & Gabbro
Rocks
Exposed at the surface by denudation & erosion
formed due to solidification of lava (interior of earth)

Molten rocks poured out of volcanoes as lavas
They have solidified rapidly on the earth’s surface hence have
Volcanic small crystals
Rocks
For ex. Basalt (which yield Regur or black soil)
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Sedimentary Rocks
 Formed due to deposition of layers of sediment usually along the water
bodies over a long period of time
 Sediment is deposited layer by layer in form of strata hence also known as
stratified rocks
 Process of turning sediments into hard rock layers by pressure is known as
lithification
 Rocks may be fine grained or coarse, soft or hard & material forming them
may be brought by streams, glaciers, winds or even animals
 May be derived from Igneous, Metamorphic or Sedimentary rocks
 Hence, Sedimentary rocks are most varied in formation of all rocks
 They are non-crystalline & often contains fossils of animals, plants & other
microorganisms
May be classified under 3 categories with respect to their origin &
composition viz
 Formed from the accumulation of materials derived
from other rocks
 Made from sand grains with tremendously varying
texture, composition & colour. For ex : Sandstone
 Mainly quarried for building purposes or for making
grindstones
 Finer sedimentary materials form clay, widely used for
Mechanically making bricks, shale or mudstone.
formed
 Sand & gravel may occur in uncemented form
 Formed from the remains of living organisms such as

Organically corals or shellfish, whose fleshy part has been
formed decomposed, leaving behind the hard cells.
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 Most common rocks formed due to this process are
Calcareous type for ex. Limestone & Chalk
 Carbonaceous rocks are also organically formed but
from vegetative matter – Swaps and forests
 Pressure of overlying sediments has compressed the
plants remains into compact masses of carbon which
eventually becomes Peat, Lignite or Coal
 Formed chemically from solutions of one another

 For ex. Gypsum (Calcium sulphate) is obtained from
Chemically evaporation of salt lakes having high salinity
formed
 Same way Potash & Nitrates may be formed
Metamorphic Rocks
 Formed when original structure of igneous & sedimentary rocks partially or
wholly change under the action of heat & pressure
 Contains no fossils
 No stratification
 For ex. Clay → Slate
Sedimentary to Metamorphic
Igneous to
Metamorphic Limestone → Marble
Sandstone → Quartzite
Granite → Gneiss
Shale → Schist
Mica → Schist
Coal → Graphite
Gabro → Serpentite
Bituminous coal → Anthracite coal
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Types of Mountains
Fold Mountains
 Formed by folding of geosyncline sediments under compressible tectonic
forces
 For Ex. Himalaya, Alps, Rockies, Andes, Alapchhian, Ural, Aravalis
 Since the rock strata have been elevated to great heights, Fold Mountains
are also called mountains of elevation
 Are closely associated with volcanic activities
 Contains many active volcanoes, especially in circum Pacific fold mountain
system
 Are rich in mineral resources such as Tin, Copper, Gold & Petroleum
Block Mountains
 Formed due to faults caused by tension or compression forces which
lengthen or shorten earth’s crust
 It causes a section of it to subside or rise above the surrounding level
 For Ex. Vosges (France), Black Forest (Germany)
 Faulting results in formation of Block Mountains & their counterparts in
rift valleys
 In general, large scale Block Mountains & rift valleys are due to tension
rather than compression
Volcanic Mountains
 Also known as mountains of accumulation
 Formed due to accumulation of thick lava as a result of volcanic eruption
 Common in circum pacific belt
 For Ex. Fuji Yama (Japan), Mt. Popa (Myanmar), Mt. Mauna loa (Hawai),
Mt. Mayon (Phillipines), Mt. Agung (Bali), Mt. Merapi (Sumatra) & Mt.
Catopaxi (Euador)
Residual / Dissected / Relict Mountains
 Formed due to waning of previously existing elevated regions by erosion
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 For Ex. Nilgiris, Parshavnath, Hills of Peninsula India, Mt. Manodnock
(USA)
 Mountains evolved by denudation, where the general level of land have been
lowered by agents of denudation; also known as mountains of denudation
Types of Plateaux
 An elevated area compared to its surroundings, having a large almost flat
top area (Also known as tableland)
 Like all highlands, Plateaus are also subjected to erosional processes, as a
result their original characteristics are highly altered
 According to their mode of formation & their physical appearance, plateaus
may be divided into 3 types viz.
Tectonic Plateaus
 Formed by earth movements which causes uplift, of a considerable size with
fairly uniform altitude
 For ex. Deccan plateaus, Mesera plateau (tilted of central Iberia) & Harz
plateau (Faulted of Germany)
 When plateaus are surrounded by mountains they are known as inter-
montane plateaus for ex. Tibetian plateau, Bolivian Plateau
 When plateaus are surrounded by sea or plains they are known as
Continental Plateaus For ex. Deccan plateau, Greenland plateau, South
Africa plateau
Volcanic Plateau
 Molten lava from the volcanic eruption may solidify to form successive
sheets of basalatic lava, known as Lava plateau
 For ex. Antrim Plateau of Northern island, NW part of Deccan Plateau &
Columbia Snake Plateau (Biggest one)
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Dissect Plateaus
 Formed due to continuous weathering & erosion by running water, wind &
ice
 High plateaus worn down & their surface becomes irregular
 For Ex. Scottish Highland
Generally Plateaus have rich mineral resources & have been actively
mined for ex.
 African plateau yields gold, diamonds, copper, Manganese & Chromium.
 Brazilian plateau yields iron & Manganese
 Deccan Plateau Yields Manganese, Iron & Coal
 Western Australian plateau yields Gold & Iron
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Type of Plains
Plains
 Plains usually are the best land of a country & are heavily cultivated &
populated
 Even more at places where rivers transverse the plains
 For ex: Indo Gangetic Plains, Mississippi Plains & Yang-Tze plain
Some of the most extensive temperate plains are Grasslands like Russian
Steppes, North American Prairies & Argentinian Pampas. Plains may be
grouped into 3 major types based on their mode of formation viz.
Structural Plains
 Structurally depressed areas of the world that makes up some of the most
extensive natural lowlands on the earth’s surface
 Rock layers on the earth’s crust are aligned almost horizontally
 They are formed by horizontally bedded rocks, relatively undisturbed by the
crustal movements of the earth
 Examples include Russian Platforms, Great plains of USA & Central
lowlands of Australia
Depositional Plains
 Plains formed by deposition of materials brought by various agents of
transportation
 Comparatively of equal level but rise gently towards adjacent highlands
 Depositional work by rivers form extensive alluvial plains, flood plains &
deltaic plains; that form most productive agricultural plains of the world
 For ex. Gangetic plain (for rice & jute), Nile delta of Egypt (for rice & cotton)
& Hwang ho plain in China
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Glacial Depositional plains
 Glaciers & ice sheets may deposit fluvio glacial sands & gravels in outwash
plains
 May also drop boulder clay (mixture of various sizes of boulders & clay) to
form till plain or drift plain
 Outwash plains are usually barren lands but boulder clay may be very
valuable for farming
Aeolian Depositional plains

 Winds may blow Aeolian deposits, very fine particles known as loess, from
interior deserts or barren surfaces & deposit them upon hills, valleys or
plains forming a loess plateau (ex. in NW China) or a loess plain (Ex. in
Pampas of Argentina)
 The loess help in leveling the undulating plain by filling up groves &
depressions
 Many of the loess covered plains in the world are fertile agricultural regions
Erosional Plains
 These plains are carved by the agents of erosion (Rain, river, ice, and wind)
 Such plains of denudation are described as Peneplains, which means
almost plains.
 In glaciated regions, glaciers & ice sheets scours & levels the land forming
ice scoured plains
 However scooped out by the ice are now filled by the lakes for ex. in
Northern Europe & Northern Canada.
 Finland is estimated to have 35000 lakes occupying 10 % of total land
surface of the country
 In arid & semi-arid regions, wind erosion lowers the level of the land which
are called Reg in Africa
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Mechanical weathering in arid & semi-arid areas worns mountain slopes
leaving a gentle slope, known as Pediplains or Pediments; with remaining
steep hills known as Inselbergs
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE OCEANS

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Continental Self
 Basically the seaward extension of the continent from the shoreline to the
continental edge approx. 200 m deep
 Continental shelf is thus a shallow platform, whose width varies greatly
from a few miles in North Pacific off the continent of North America to
over 100 miles off North West Europe
 In some places, where the coasts are extremely mountainous, such as at
Rocky Mountains, the continental shelf may be entirely absent
 The angle of slope is also variable with most common of 1 in 500 & is
normally the least, where the continental shelf is widest
 Continental shelves may be formed by submersion of part of continent
due to increase in sea level or by wave erosion or conversely by off-shore
deposition
 Continental shelves shallowness enables sunlight to penetrate through
the water, which encourages the growth of minute plants & other
microscopic organisms such as planktons, on which millions of fishes &
polyps survive. The continental shelves are therefore the richest fishing
grounds in the world.
Continental Slope
 At the southern edge of continental self, seaward slope immediately
becomes steep & gradient to about 1 in 20 with average depth 200 – 3000
m.
 Most of the canyons & trenches are observed in this region
Continental Rise
 Beyond the continental slope is continental rise, an area of gentle slope
with angle varying from .5 – 1*
 With increasing depth, it virtually becomes flat & merges with abysmal
plains
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Abysmal Plains
 Where the continental rise end, deep sea plains begin covering 2/3rd of
the ocean floor
 Average depth is of 3000 – 6000 m
 Flattest & smoothest surfaces of the world

Oceanic Deeps or Trenches
 Deepest part of the oceans
 Generally steep sided narrow basins, deeper then oceanic floors
 Occurs at the base of continental slopes & associated with active volcanos
& strong earthquakes
 Hence, Contrary to our expectations, most of the deepest trenches are
not located in the midst of the oceans but found close to the continents
 Deepest trench of the world → Marina trench (11 km) of Guam islands
(Pacific Ocean)
 Hence we can see that ocean trenches are greater in magnitude than the
highest mountains on the land
There are thousands of hills on ocean floors which are submerged under
ocean water. A submarine peak rising > 1000 m above the ocean floor is
called a seamount. Flat topped seamounts are known as Guyots(Volcanic
in origin)
Gorge vs Canyon
 Gorge / Trench → Narrow & steep side valley formed by down cutting
action of river
 Canyon → Magnified form of Gorge. Ex. Grand canyon of river colarado
(US) → Largest one
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Difference between Straits & Isthmus
Isthmus
 Opposite of strait i.e. narrow
Straits channel of land connecting 2
large water bodies
 Narrow channel of water
connecting 2 large land bodies  Panama Canal crosses
Isthmus of Panama, connecting
 Strait of Gibraltar →Connects
the North Atlantic & Pacific
Atlantic ocean & Mediterranean
Oceans
sea and separates Spain (Europe)
from Morocco (Africa)  Suez Canal crosses isthmus of
 Palk Strait → Separates India & Sinai Peninsula connecting
Srilanka Mediterranean Sea & Indian
Ocean
Oceanic Deposits on Ocean Floor

 These are terrigenous deposits as they are derived from land
Muds
 Are mainly deposited on the continental shelves
 These are pelagic deposits as they are derived from the oceans
 They are made of shelly & skeletal remains of marine micro-
organisms with calcareous or siliceous parts
 Oozes have very fine, flour like texture which either occur as
Oozes
accumulated deposits or float as suspension
 These occur mainly as red clays in the deeper parts of ocean

Clays basins
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 Are particularly abundant in Pacific Ocean
 Red clay is believed to be an accumulation of volcanic dust
blown out from volcanoes during volcanic eruptions
Water on Earth
 71 % of earth surface constitutes water & only 29 % constitutes land area
of earth
 97 % of water area constitutes Oceans & Seas & 2.5 % as fresh water
 75 % of fresh water in glaciers & ice caps

 7 % of fresh water as groundwater
 Fresh Water → Glaciers > Ground water > Ice & Snow > Lakes > soil
moisture > atmosphere > Rivers
Albedo
 The fraction of Sun’s radiation reflected from a surface
 Originated from the Latin word albus, meaning “white”

 It is quantified as the proportion, or percentage of solar radiation of all
wavelengths reflected by a body or surface to the amount incident upon
it
 Albedo → Fresh Snow > Ocean Ice > New Concrete > Desert Sand > Green
Grass > Bare Soil > Deciduous Trees > Coniferous Trees > Worn Asphalt
> Fresh Asphalt
Salinity of the Ocean
 All sea water contains large amounts of dissolved mineral matter of which
NaCl constitutes more than 77 %
 The other important minerals include magnesium, calcium & potassium
along with others
 Due to free movement of ocean water, the proportion of different salts,
remain remarkably constant in all oceans & even to great depths
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 But the degree of concentration of salt solution does vary appreciably in
different areas, expressed as salinity
 The average salinity of the oceans is approx. 35 PPT with variations
shown in salinity distribution maps as isohalines, lines joining places
having equal degree of salinity.
 Degree of salinity in various oceans & seas is affected mainly by
 the rate of evaporation

 amount of fresh water added by precipitation
 streams & icebergs
 degree of water mixing by currents
 Average salinity of sea water is 35 gm in 1 kg of water with order of salts

is as Nacl > Mgcl2 > MgSO4 > CaSO4 > CaCO3 > MgBr2
 Highest salinity is found at Tropic of cancer & Tropic of Capricorn due to
active evaporation, owing to clear skies, high temp. & steady trade winds
 From the Tropics, salinity decreases both towards poles & Equator
 Salinity increases with depth of the sea & increases rapidly after
Halocline
 Top 3 Saline Water Bodies → Van Lake, Turkey (330) > Dead Sea, Turkey
(240) > Great Salt lake, US (220)
Temperature of Ocean Water
 Like land masses, ocean water varies in temperature from place to place
both at the surface & at great depths
 Since water warms up & cools down much more slowly than the land, the
annual range of temperature in any part of the ocean is very smaller
Thermocline
 A boundary region in oceans, from where, rapid decrease in temperature
starts generally at 0*C
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 90 % of the water is below this region
 Generally there are 3 layers in an ocean viz.
 1st layer is until ~500 m deep
 2nd layer is from ~500 ~ 4500 m (Thermocline layer)

 3rd layer is till oceanic floor
 At Arctic & Antarctic Circle, we have only 1 such layer as surface temp.
itself is 0*C with very slight change in temp.
Generally, the mean annual temperature of oceans decrease from
equatorial areas towards the poles, but the reduction of temperature with
latitude is never constant, because of the interference by warm & cold
currents, winds and air masses
Movement of Oceanic Water → Never Static
 Vertical Movement → Tides
 Horizontal Movement → Ocean waves & Ocean currents
Tides
 Periodic rise & fall in level of water in the oceans mainly caused by
gravitational pull of sun & moon
 Due to the large size of sun it should attract more but because of its
greater distance from the earth (1.5 x 10^8 km), it is unable to exert much
influential gravitational force
 Whereas, moon is much smaller than the sun but attracts more due to
its lesser distance from the earth (4.07 x 10^5 km)
 Hence, it produces a force approx. 2.17 times stronger than the sun
 Centrifugal force caused by earth’s rotation is another major cause of
tides formation
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 Together the gravitational pull & centrifugal forces are responsible for
creating two major tidal bulges on earth.
 On side facing the moon, tidal bulge occurs due to gravitational pull of
the moon whereas on opposite side, tidal bulge occurs due to centrifugal
force of rotation of the earth
Spring Tides
 On full moon & new moon, moon & sun are almost in line with the earth
 Hence exerts combine pull on the earth

 On these 2 days tides are highest & called Spring tides
Neap Tides
 When moon is in the 1st quarter or last quarter, sun & moon makes right
angle to each other, with earth as center
 Hence attraction of sun & moon balances each other, which results in
low amplitude tides known as Neap tides
Ocean Waves
 Oscillatory movements in water manifested by alternate rise & fall of sea
surface
 Formed mainly by friction & pressure of wind on sea surface
 Water in waves does not move, only wave train move
 Means if we throw a cork in water, it will move up & down (to & fro) with
approaching wave but will not travel unless blown away by the wind
Ocean Currents
 Ocean currents are the large masses of surface water that circulates in
regular pattern around the oceans
 Only water in current moves forward while water on its sides & below
remains almost stationary
 Those that flow from equatorial region polewards have a higher surface
temperature & are warm currents
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 Those that flow from Polar Regions equator ward have a lower surface
temperature & are cold currents
Major factors → Prevailing winds, salinity differences of water, Density,

Temp. difference, Evaporation, Rotation & revolution of earth, Shape of
coasts, coriolis force, gravitational force
 Prevailing winds are the major factors as they blow consistently in one
direction & drag the surface water due to force of friction
 There is much difference in the temp. of ocean water at the equator & at
the poles
 As warm water is lighter & rises, and cold water is denser & sinks; warm
equatorial water move slowly along the surface polewards, while the
heavier cold water of polar regions creeps slowly along the bottom of the
sea equatorwards
 Waters of high salinity is denser than the waters of low salinity, hence
the waters of low salinity flow on the surface of water of high salinity,
while water of high salinity flow at the bottom towards the water of of low
salinity
Circulation of Atlantic Ocean (1/6th of the earth area)
 The steady trade winds constantly drift two streams of water from east to
west as North equatorial current & South equatorial current
 Between the west flowing North & South Equatorial currents is the east
flowing Equatorial counter current
North Atlantic Ocean Current Movement
 In the North Atlantic Ocean, the Cayenne current is joined & reinforced
by North equatorial current
 Heads north-westward as a large mass of equatorial water into the
Caribbean Sea
 Part of the current enters the Gulf of Mexico & emerges from the Florida
straight between Florida & Cuba as Florida current
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 The rest of the equatorial water flows northwards, east of Antilles to join
the Gulf Stream off the SE USA
 Gulf Stream hugs the coast of America as far as Cape Hartteras, where it
get deflected eastwards under the combined effect of westerlies & rotation
of the earth; and reaches Europe as North Atlantic drift
 From the North Atlantic, it fans out in three directions viz. eastward to
Britain, northward to Arctic & southward along the Iberian coast as the
cool Canaries current
 The canaries current flowing southward eventually merges with North
equatorial current, completing the clockwise circuit in the North Atlantic
ocean
 Within this ring of currents, an area in the middle of Atlantic has no
perceptible current
 A large amount of floating seaweed gathers in here & the area is called
Sargasso Sea
 Apart from the clockwise circulation of currents, there are also cold
currents that enter the North Atlantic from the Arctic regions, which are
blown south by outflowing polar winds.
 The Irminger current or East Greenland current flows between Iceland &
Greenland & cools the North Atlantic drift at the point of convergence
 The cold Labrador current drifts south-eastwards between west
Greenland & Baffin island to meet the warm Gulf stream off
Newfoundland
South Atlantic Ocean Current Movement
 At the shoulder of NE Brazil, the protruding land mass splits the South
equatorial current into
 Cayenne current which flows along the Guiana coast
 Brazilian current which flows southwards along the coast of Brazil
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 The South Atlantic Ocean follows the same pattern but the major
differences are the circuit is anti-clockwise here & collection of seaweed
in mid-south Atlantic is not so distinctive
 Where the South equatorial current is split (at Cape Sao Roque), one
branch turns south as the warm Brazilian current
 At about 40*S, the influence of westerlies & rotation of the earth, propels
the current eastward to merge with the cold South Atlantic current
 On reaching the west coast of Africa, the current is diverted northward
as the cold Benguela current
 Driven by the regular SE trade winds, the Benguela current surges
equatorwards to join South equatorial current
 This completes the circulation of the currents in South Atlantic
Circulation of Pacific Ocean
 Deepest + Largest + Triangular in shape + 1/3rd of Earth’s area
 The NE trade winds blow the North equatorial current off the coast of the
Philippines & Formosa into the East China Sea as the Kuroshio or Japan
current.
 It moves poleward as North Pacific drift, keeping the ports of Alaskan
coast ice free in winters.
 The cold Bering current or Alaskan current creeps southwards from the
narrow Bering strait & is joined by Okhotsk current, to meet the warm
Japan current as cold Oyashio current.
 The cold water eventually sinks below the warm water of North Pacific
drift & part of Oyashio moves eastward as the cold Californian current
along the coast of western USA, which finally coalesces with the North
Equatorial current to complete the clockwise circulation.
 The South equatorial current, driven by the SE trade winds, flows
southward along the coast of Queensland as the East Australian current.
 The current turns eastward towards New Zealand under the full effect of
westerlies in the Tasman Sea & merges with south pacific current.
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 Obstructed by the tip of southern Chile, the current turns northward
along the western coast of South America as the cold Humboldt Current
or Peruvian current.
 The Peruvian current eventually links up with the South Equatorial
current & completes the cycle of currents in South Pacific.
Indian Ocean Circulation
 The equatorial current, turning southward past Madagascar as the
Agulhas or Mozambique current merges with the South Pacific current
 Flowing eastward, it turns equatorward as cold West Australian current
 In north Indian Ocean, there is complete reversion of direction of currents
between summers & winters, due to change of monsoon winds
 In summers, under the effect of SW monsoon, it flows clockwise, & in
winters under the effect of NE monsoon, it flows anti-clockwise
 Heating by solar rays’ causes expansion of water that is why near the
equator ocean water is 8 cm higher in level compared to mid latitudes
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
VULCANISM AND EARTH QUAKES

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Vulcanism and Earthquakes

Volcanoes
 A sudden & abrupt explosion in earth crust through which Magma, gases,
dust, smoke & solid material burst out
 Volcanic activity is connected with crustal disturbances, closely related
with regions that have been intensely folded or faulted
 Magma while thrusting its way upto the surface may cool & solidify within
crust as Plutonic rocks resulting in intrusive landforms
 Magmas that reach the surface & solidify, form extrusive landforms
Sills & Dikes (Common intrusive landforms)

 When an intrusion of molten magma is made horizontally along the bedding
planes of sedimentary rocks, the resultant intrusion is called a Sill.
 Similar intrusion when injected vertically as narrow walls of igneous rocks
within the sedimentary layers are termed as Dikes.
An igneous mound with a dome shaped upper surface & a
Laccoliths level base, fed by a pipe like conduit from below
Lopolith An igneous intrusion with a saucer shape
A lens shaped mass of igneous rock occupying the crest of

an anticline or the bottom of a syncline & being fed by a
Phacolith conduit from beneath
A large emplacement of igneous intrusive rock, mainly

granite, that forms from cooled magma deep in the
Batholith Earth’s crust
Extrusive Landforms
 Lava or molten magma ejects at a very high pressure through a pipe known
as Volcano’s neck or vent
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 Top portion of volcano is known as crater and a crater lake is formed when
rain water gets accumulated in
 Some volcanos may have greatly enlarged depressions like cauldron known
as Calderas
 Volcanic dust or ash (finer particles) that emerges out of volcano travels
round the world & falls as black snow, which can bury house & people.
 The coarser fragmental rocks are collectively called as Pyroclasts which
include cinders, pumice & volcanic bombs.
Types of Volcanoes
Active Volcano
 Keeps on ejecting volcanic material at frequent intervals
 Ex – Etna (Italy), Stromboli (Sicily – largest island in the Mediterranean Sea,
near Italy)
 Mt Stromboli → Lighthouse of the Mediterranean
Dormant Volcano
 One in which eruption has not occurred for a long time but can occur any
time in future
 Barren Island (Andaman), Versuris (Italy)
Extinct Volcano
 No eruption has occurred in historic times & possibility of future eruption
is also remote
 Mt. Popa (Myanmar). But we can never be thoroughly sure about them.
 Vesuvius (Bay of Naples near Italy) & Mt. Krakatau (Sunda straits b/w Java
& Sumatra) were thought to be extinct & yet both erupted violently
Some Volcanic Eruptions:

 Mt. Vesuvius
 Mt. Krakatau-Krakatau is a small island in the sunda straits midway
between Java and Sumatra
 Mt.Pelee-Westindies
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Distribution of Volcanoes in the world

 There are mainly three volcanic belts, besides many volcanoes which are
outside these belts
 Circum-Pacific belt -known as Ring of fire & houses around 2/3rd of
world’s Volcanoes
 Mid-Continental belt-This belt has various volcanoes of the Alpine
mountain chain, Mediterranean Sea (Stromboli, Vesuvius, Etna etc.)
 Mid-Atlantic belt-This belt includes the volcanoes of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
Geysers
 A spring characterized by intermittent discharge of water ejected
turbulently and accompanied by steam
 The phenomenon is associated with a volcanic region in which the water
below is being heated beyond its boiling point
 Is often triggered off by the gases seeping out of the heated rocks.
 Examples include Iceland; New Zealand & Yellowstone park of USA
 The world’s best known geyser is perhaps old faithful in Yellowstone
National park, Wyoming
Hot springs
 A spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermal heated
groundwater from the Earth crust
 Is more common than geysers
 The water rises to surface without any explosion
 Such springs contain dissolved minerals which may be of medical value
 Examples Include Iceland, Japan & Hawaii
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
WEATHERING, MASS MOVEMENT AND GROUND WATER

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Weathering, Mass Movement & Ground Water

1. Weathering
 The process of wearing away of earth’s surface is commonly known as
denudation & is generally carried out in four phases Weathering, Erosion,
Transportation & Deposition
 Warm wet climate promotes rapid chemical weathering while dry climate
provide good conditions for physical weathering
Chemical Weathering
 Extremely slow & gradual decomposition of rocks due to exposer to air &
water
 For example Granite when exposed to weather is found to be rough surfaced
because it is mainly made up of Quartz, Feldspar & Mica; Feldspar is more
quickly weathered than Quartz hence is worn away, eventually leaving
loosened quartz crystals.
 Regolith →Weathered material from the rock or mineral remains of
decomposed rocks.
 When a soil cover on the rock exists, chemical weathering of the rock
enhances because the soil absorbs rain water & keeps the underlying rock
in contact with this moisture.
 Rain water absorbs organic acids from the soil & thus become a stronger
weathering agent than pure water acting on a bare rock.
Types of Chemical weathering
Solution
 Many minerals are dissolved by water especially with rain water which
contains enough carbon dioxide to make it a weak acid
 For ex. in case of limestone, rain water dissolves calcium carbonate, of
which rock is chiefly formed & hence joints & cracks in rock are quickly
widened, worning it out easily
 Rocks are more resistant if they have fewer joints or cracks to harbour
moisture
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 All rocks are subjected to solution upto some extent though the process
may be much slower depending not only on mineral composition of the rock
but also on its structure, density & climatic conditions it faces.
Oxidation
 Weathering by reaction of oxygen in presence of air & water with minerals
present in the rock
 For example most rocks contain certain amount of iron, which when comes
in contact with air is changed in iron oxide & finally into rust, which
crumbles easily, loosening the overall structure of the rock
Decomposition by Organic Acids

 Within the soil which covers most rocks are bacteria which thrive on
decaying plant or animal material
 These bacteria produce acids when dissolved in water, help to speed up
weathering of underlying rocks
In some cases, microorganisms & plants like mosses or lichens can live on
bare rock damp surface, absorbing chemical elements from the rocks as
food & producing organic acids. Hence, they become the agent of both
Chemical & Mechanical weathering.
Physical Weathering
 Also known as Mechanical Weathering
 Disintegration by Mechanical Process
 Types of physical weathering → By insolation, by Frost
By Insolation
Block Disintegration
 Mainly in dry desert areas, hot at day and cold by night
 Leads to expansion & contraction of rock setting up stresses in the rock
 Finally leading to its disintegration
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Granular Disintegration
 Different minerals in rock leads to different rate of expansion & contraction
of rock
 Leads to Fragmentation of rock for ex. Granite
Exfoliation
 Stresses are naturally greatest near the surface & where there are sharp
angles in the rock
 Rectangular blocks are thus gradually rounded by splitting away of sharp
corners
 Finally it leads to peeling off of rock’s outer layer
 Exfoliation also takes place by repeated wetting & drying of rocks surface
as during wetting its outer layer absorbs moisture & expand; when they dry
this moisture evaporates & they quickly shrinks, finally leading to peeling
of outer layer of the rock
By Frost
 Mainly at high altitudes & cold climates where during day cracks & joints
inside rock fill with water & during night they get frozen
 This leads to increase in volume of water in rock approx. by 9 %
Biological Weathering
 By Men, Animals, Insects & Vegetation
 vegetation grows into crevices of rock cracks or in courtyards or building
walls
2. Mass movement
 Movement of weathered material down the slope due to gravitational force
 Movement may be gradual or sudden depending on the gradient of the
slope, weight of the weathered debris & presence of a lubricating agent such
as water
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Soil Creep
 Slow & gradual but more or less continuous movement of soil down the hill
slopes
 Movement is not very noticeable, especially when slope is fairly gentle or
when soil is well covered with grass or other vegetation
 Most common in damp soils where water act as a lubricant so that
individual soil particles move over each other & over the underlying rock
 Though the movement is slow, the gradual movement tilts trees, fences,
posts & so on which are rooted in the soil
 Soil is also seen to accumulate at the foot of the slope or behind obstacles
such as walls, which may burst by weight of the soil accumulated
Soil Flow / Mud Flow (Solifluction)
 When the soil is completely saturated with water, soil particles easily move
over each other & over the underlying rock
 Soil act as a liquid mixture & soil flow or mud flow occur
 In Ireland such flows are known as Bog-Burst
Landslide (Slumping or Sliding)
 Very rapid movements resulting in large mass of soil & rock falling suddenly
 Landslide usually occurs on steep slopes & by earthquakes & volcanic
activities
 Landslides are often caused by the lubricating action of rain water
 Slumping is usually common where permeable debris or rock layer overlie
impermeable strata such as clay
 Water sinking through the permeable layer is halted by the clay
 Damp clay provides a smooth slippery surface over which the upper layers
slides easily
 Man often enhances the possibility of landslide by clearing natural
vegetation for agriculture & housing which allows more water to penetrate
through soil & rocks.
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3. Groundwater
 When rain falls on earth it is distributed in various ways.
 Some is immediately evaporated & thus returned to atmosphere as water
vapour.
 Some is absorbed by plants & gradually returned to atmosphere by
transpiration from the leaves of the plant.
 Much of it flow into rivers & streams eventually reaching seas & oceans as
run off.
 A considerable amount of water received from rain or snow, however,
percolates downward into the soil & rocks known as groundwater.
 Groundwater plays an important role in mass movement & weathering and
is also important as a mean of natural water storage.
 It re-enters the hydrological cycle by way of springs.
 A spring is simply an outlet of stored groundwater, released at a point where
water table reaches the surface (a man-made outlet for groundwater is
known as well)
 The amount of water available to form groundwater depends to some extent
on climate, nature of the rocks (absorbing power) & seasons of the year.
 Absorbing power of the rock is determined mainly by its porosity,
permeability & its structure.
 For ex. Sandstone is both porous & permeable, Clay is highly porous but
impermeable, Granite is crystalline but pervious
Water table
 Water which seeps through the ground moves downward until it reaches
an impermeable layer of rock through which it can not pass.
 If there is no ready outlet for the groundwater in form of spring, water
accumulates above the impermeable layer & saturate the rock.
 The permeable rock in which the water is stored is known as aquifer &
surface of saturated area is called water table.
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 Depth of water table varies with seasons, relief & type of rocks, as it is far
below in hilltops but is close in flat surface areas.
Springs
 The ground water stored in the rock is released onto the surface at
points where the water table reaches the surface.
 A spring is simply an outlet for such water.
Types of Springs:
1. In areas of tilted strata:
 Permeable and impermeable rocks alternate, water emerges at the
base of the permeable layers.
2. In Well Jointed Rocks:
 Water percolate downwards until it reaches joints
3. Where a dyke or sill or impermeable rock is intruded through
permeable rocks
4. In limestone or chalk escarpments
5. In karst regions rivers often disappear under ground. Sometimes
called a vauclusian spring but is better referred to as a resurgence.
Wells
 Stored water below ground
 Important type of well-Artesian well, which owing to the nature of its
formation is quite distinctive.
 Where rock layers have been downfolded into a basin shape.
Permeable strata such as chalk or limestone may be sandwiched
between impermeable layers such as clay.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE COOL TEMPERATE WESTERN MARGIN CLIMATE

OR
BRITISH TYPE CLIMATE

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 Cool temperate western margins are under the permanent influence of the westerlies
all-round the year approx. at 50 degree North- South
 They are also regions of much cyclonic activity, typical of Britain, & are thus said to
experience the British type of climate.
 From Britain, the climatic belt stretches far inland into lowlands of North-West
Europe, including such regions as northern & western France, Belgium, Netherland,
Denmark, Western Norway & North-West Iberia.
 There is so much oceanic influence on both the temperature & precipitation that the
climate is also referred as North West European Maritime Climate.
 In northern America, the high Rockies prevent the on shore westerlies from
penetrating far inland & British type of climate is confined mainly to coastlands of
British Columbia (West coast of Canada)
 In the southern hemisphere, this type of climate is experienced in southern Chile,

Tasmania (southern Australia) & Most parts of New Zealand, particularly in south
island, surrounded by large expanses of water.
British Type Climate

 The mean annual temperatures are usually between 5 degree Celsius in winters to 15
degree Celsius in summers thus have a short annual temperature range.
 Summers are infact never very warm and temperature above 20 degree Celsius is
rare; winters are abnormally mild & no station record a mean temperature of below
freezing point.
 Heat waves are a welcome feature in such cool temperate climate.
 Above climatic features especially warming effect mentioned are the attributes to the
moderating effects of the North Atlantic drifts & prevalence of southern westerlies.
 Sometimes, unsual cold spells caused by the invasion of cold polar continental air
from the interiors, may hit the western margins for the number of weeks.
 Night frost does occur & snow falls in winters.
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 Hence the climate of this maritime region as a whole may be described as equable
with moderately warm summers & fairly mild winters.
 British type of climate is even more equable in Southern – Hemisphere, due to lack of
continental mass (Tasmania, New Zealand & Southern Chile) & more presence of
oceanic water, which means extreme of temperature are not likely at all, hence annual
temperature range is further reduced here.
 Amount of rainfall decreases from western margin of the continents eastward,
 Relief can also make great differences in annual rainfall, hence it is difficult to say
how much annual rainfall is typical for British type of climate
 Though if confined to lowlands, it receives 50 – 100 cm of mean annual rainfall.
British type of climate has adequate rainfall throughout the year with a tendency
towards slight winter or autumn maximum from cyclonic sources.
Natural Vegetation
 The natural vegetation of this climatic type is deciduous forests that shed their leaves
in the cold season, to protect themselves against winter snow & frost.
 Some of the common species which provide hardwoods from these deciduous forests
are Oak, Elms, Birch, Neech, Poplar & Hornbeam; along with certain other species
such as chestnut, maple & lime.
 Unlike the equatorial forests, the deciduous trees occur in pure strands & have
greater lumbering value from the commercial point of view; & are excellent for fuel,
furniture & industrial purposes.
 The open nature of the forests with sparse undergrowth is highly useful in logging
operations as easy penetration means much cost can be saved in movement of the
logs.
 Higher up the mountains in Scavandian highlands, Rockies and Southern Alps of

New Zealand, deciduous trees are generally replaced by conifers which can survive a
higher altitude, a lower temperature & poorer soils.
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Economic Developments of British Type Climate
 North-West Europe is one of the crowded parts of the world
 Hence despite growing a large number of cereals, that too with highest yield / acre, it
remains the net importer of food crops
 Wheat from all over the wheat-lands across the globe.

 Fishing is particularly important in Britain. Norway and British Columbia
Agricultural developments of this type of climatic regions are -
Market Gardening
 Though practised all over the world, where there is large urban population but is
highly specialized in North-West Europe (France, Belgium, Britain, West Germany &
Denmark).
 Farms are usually small and located near large cities or industrial areas.
 Soils are carefully maintained at a high degree of fertility & very selective fertilizers
are applied to the crops.
 Farming is carried out intensively, aiming at high yield & maximum cash returns.
 Produces, such as potatoes, cauliflowers, lettuces, cabbages, tomatoes, onion, peas

& fruits are conveyed by high speed conveyances such as trucks or vans, hence also
called as truck farming in US.
 Bulbs & flowers (esp. tulips) from Netherlands, and eggs, bacon & other dairy
products from Denmark are sent to most of the industrialized areas of Europe.
 In Australia, high speed boats ply across Bass Strait daily from Tasmania to rush
vegetables, tomatoes, apples & beans to most parts of Australian mainland.
Mixed Farming
 Throughout Britain & N-W Europe, farmers practise both arable farming (cultivation
of crops on ploughed lands) & pastoral farming (keeping animals on grass meadows).
 Crops may be raised for cash sales or as fodder for cattle & sheep.
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 Among the cereals, wheat is most extensively grown, almost entirely for home
consumption.
 The next important cereal raised in mixed farm is Barley raised in drier areas, as a
fodder crop, with better quality barley sold to breweries for making beers or distilling
whisky.
 Denmark, Australia & New Zealand excels in dairy products; & are one of the world’s
greatest exporters.
 Amongst food crops, potatoes feature prominently as a staple food crop in

supplementing wheat or bread.
 Today almost, 2/3rd of world’s annual production of potatoes comes from Europe, of
which Poland, Germany, France and Britain are major producers.
 Besides its principle use as a substitute for bread, it also serves as animal fodder &
a source of industrial alcohol.
Sheep Rearing:
 Well Developed in british type climate
 Home of some best known sheep breeds. E.g- Leicesters, Lincolns, South downs
 Principal areas-Foot hills, well drained uplands, chalk, limestone, scarplands, and
the light sandy coasts
 In the southern hemisphere sheep rearing is the chief occupation of New Zealand-
Greatest Concentration-Canterbury Plain
Other agricultural activities:
 Amongst the food crops, potatoes feature prominently in the domestic economy of
the cool, temperate regions
 It is the staple food in supplementing wheat or bread for millions of people.
 Normally cooler and more northerly latitude is preferred because the crop will be
less prone to the attack of blight (virus disease that is particularly infectious in
warm and humid countries)
 2/3 rd of the world’s annual production of potatoes comes from Europe of which
Poland, Germany, France, and UK are the major producers.
 Beet Sugar-Found almost in north western Europe and parts of USA.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
CLIMATE

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Atmosphere:
 On the basis of chemical composition atmosphere can be divided into 2 parts.
Homosphere
 Upto 90 km (Uniformity in chemical composition)
 Troposphere
 Stratosphere
 Mesosphere
Heterosphere
Above 90 Km (non uniformity in chemical composition)
 Ionosphere
 Exosphere
Troposphere
 Average height is 16 Km-10 km at Poles & upto 18 km at Equator
 Greatest at Equator due to upward transportation of heat by strong conventional
currents
 That is why height of troposphere at a given latitude is greater in summer
 Temperature decreases with height, roughly at 1 degree Celsius for every 165
meters i.e. Normal Lapse Rate
 Lowest, Densest & contains 75 % of earth’s atmosphere with 90% of water vapours &
dust particles
 All major atmospheric processes take place in this layer

Tropopause
 Shallow transitional zone also known as unstable zone between Troposphere &
Stratosphere i.e. Approx. 1.5 Km
 Temperature stops falling in this layer

 80 degree Celsius over equator
 45degree Celsius over poles
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Stratosphere
 This layer rises up-to 50 km
 Thicker at Poles than at Equator
 Temperature remains constant in its lower portion upto 20 Km & then gradually
increases to 0 degree Celsius till its upper limit i.e. Tropopause
 increases mainly due to the presence of ozone gas, which absorbs sun’s UV rays
 Practically no clouds, convection currents, Thundering or lighting, water vapours or

dust particles hence airplane fly in this region
 Few clouds called “Mother of Pearls / Narcreas” can be seen over Antarctica
 Its lower portion (15 – 35 Km) constitutes Ozone layer which prevents us from harmful
UV rays
 amount of Ozone gas is found at Stratopause i.e. uppermost limit of Stratosphere

Depletion of Ozone Layer
 Major cause CFCs i.e. mainly from Refrigerator, AC, Spray Cans, Plastic Packaging,
Cleaning Fluids, Insulation materials
 UV breaks CFCs & release Chlorine atom which reacts with Ozone & convert it into
simple oxygen molecule, which is unstable to absorb UV rays
 Space probes are also responsible for depletion of Ozone layer, as every time a rocket
is fired into space, 70 – 150 tons of Chlorine is injected into atmosphere
 Another cause for ozone layer depletion is oxides of Nitrogen, esp. Nitric oxide,
released from supersonic aircrafts, automotive exhaust, in form of nitrates in
fertilizers etc.
 Already a major Ozone hole is formed over Antarctica with risk countries New
Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile, Argentina etc.
Mesosphere
 Upto 80 ~ 90 Km, Temp. decreases gradually with height until – 100 *C at 80 km
 Displays wispy clouds at high altitudes due to reflected sunlight from meteoric dust
particles
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 Most weather balloons are placed in this region
 Most meteors burn up in this layer ; Upper limit Mesopause
Ionosphere / Thermosphere
 Extends upto 400 km, contains electrically charged particles (ions) with max. conc.
at 250 Km
 starts rising with increase in height because of ionization by solar radiations
 Zone of Earths Satellites
Auroras
 Are formed when Earth’s magnetic field traps solar winds in atmosphere, resulting in
collision between solar wind & atmospheric charged molecules (ions)
Aurora Borealis
 Northern light in northern hemisphere (Arctic circle)
Aurora Australia
 Southern light in southern hemisphere (Antarctic Circle)
 All radio waves are reflected in this layer (Radio transmission)
 D layer-Reflects signal of low frequency & absorbs of medium & high frequency
 E layer (Kennedy Heaviside layer)-Reflects medium & high frequency radio waves to
earth
 F layer (Appleton layer)-Useful for long distance radio transmissions-reflects medium
& high frequency radio waves to earth
 G layer-Highest layer
Importance of Temperature
 Temperature influences the actual amount of water vapour present in the air & thus
decides the moisture carrying capacity of the air.
 It decides the rate of evaporation & condensation, & therefore governs the degree of
stability of the atmosphere.
 As relative humidity is directly related to the temperature of the air, it affects the
nature & types of cloud formation & precipitation
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Factors influencing Temperature

Latitude
 Due to the earths inclination, temperature reduces from equator to poles
 Mainly due to direct & oblique sunrays falling differently on different latitudes
Altitude
 Since the atmosphere is mainly heated by conduction from the earth
 Hence places near to earth surface are warmer than those higher up
 Thus, temperature decreases with increasing height above the sea level
Continentality
 Land surfaces are heated more quickly than the water surfaces, due to higher specific
heat of the water
 Hence warmer summers & colder winters prevails in continental interiors as

compared with maritime districts
Ocean currents & winds
 Both ocean currents & winds affect temperature by transporting their heat or
coldness into adjacent regions
 For e.g. the westerlies that come to Britain & Norway tend to be cool winds in summer
& warm winds in winter
Slope, Shelter & Aspect
 A steep slope experiences more rapid change in temperature than a gentle one.
 Mountain ranges that have an eastward alignment like the alps show a higher
temperature on the south facing sunny slope than the north facing sheltered slope.
 The greater insolation of the southern slope is better suited for vine cultivation & has
a more flourishing vegetative cover, consequently more settlements
Natural vegetation
 There is a definite difference in temperature between forested regions & open ground
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 Thick amazon forest cuts off much of incoming insolation keeping the land surface of
the jungle cool & few degrees lower than the open spaces in corresponding latitudes
Soil
 Light soils reflect more heat than the darker ones which are better absorbers of heat,
which may give rise to slight variations in temperature of the region.
 Dry soils like sand are very sensitive to temperature compared to wet clayly soils
which retains moisture & warms up & cools down more slowly
Precipitation
 Condensation of water vapor in air in form of water droplets or ice
 Their falling on earth surface is known as precipitation
Snowfall
 When condensation takes place below freezing point
 Means at 0*C, conversion of water vapour directly into solid state
 Precipitation occurs in forms of fine flakes of snow

Sleet
 Sleet is frozen raindrops or refroze melted snow water
 When a layer of temp. above freezing point overlies a subfreezing layer near the
ground, precipitation occurs in form of sleet
Hail
 Sometimes, drops of rains after being released by the clouds become solidified into
small rounded stone pieces of ice, known as hailstones
 Formed by rainwater passing through colder layers hence have several concentric
layers of ice, one over the another
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Rainfall
 Most common form of precipitation
 Precipitation in form of water
 Also known as cloud particles

Types of Rainfall
Convectional Rainfall
 Air on being heated becomes light & rises up as conventional currents
 As it rises, it loses heat & consequently condensation takes place with the formation
of cumulus clouds.
 Under these conditions, heavy rainfall takes place along with thunder & lightening,
but does not last for long
 Common in Equatorial & Tropical regions in summers daily

Orographic or Relief Rainfall
 When a warm & moist air currents is obstructed by a mountain range, it is forced to
ascent along its slopes
 It gets cooled while ascending & when its temp. falls below dew point, it causes rainfall
on windward slope of mountain range
 However, when these winds cross mountain range & descend along its leeward side
 Here, they get warm & dry & causes only little rain (Rain shadow areas)
 This type of rainfall may occur in any season

Cyclonic or Frontal Rainfall
 Rainfall associated with cyclone is known as cyclonic or frontal rainfall
 Occurs along the fronts of the cyclone viz. cold front & warm front
 At the warm front, the warm lighter wind rises gently over the heavier cold air, which
being heavy stays close to the ground
 As the warm air rises, it cools, and the moisture present in it condenses to form
clouds altostratus clouds
 This rain falls steadily for a few hours to a few days.
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Planetary Winds
 Planetary winds are also known as permanent or prevailing winds
 Blow from high to low pressure, over the earth surface & oceans throughout the year
& in a particular direction
 These winds are divided into 3 categories viz.
1. Trade Winds (Tropical Easterlies)
2. Westerlies
3. Polar winds (Polar Easterlies)

Trade Winds (Tropical Easterlies)
 Winds blowing from subtropical high pressure area to equatorial low pressure area
(Extremely steady winds)
 Since they travel from high latitude to low latitude area, they become gradually hot &
dry and hence have a great capacity to hold moisture
 They cause considerable rainfall on eastern margins of the continents as they get
moisture after blowing over oceans
 These winds converge near equator & form ITCZ, Here these winds rises & causes
heavy rainfall
 Absent in N Indian Ocean which is dominated by Monsoon winds.

Westerlies
 Winds blowing from subtropical high pressure belts towards subtropical low pressure
belts
 Blow from S – W to N – E under Coriolis effect in N – Hemisphere & from N – W to S

– E in S – Hemisphere
 Blow from lower latitudes to higher latitudes
 Cause considerable rainfall particularly on western margins of the continents
 More consistent in direction & blow with stronger force in S – Hemisphere due to
lesser obstructions from continents
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 Also known as brave winds or roaring forties, furious fifties & shrieking sixties
according to the varying degree of storminess in the latitudes in which they blow.
 It must be noted that not all the western coast of the temperate zone (30 degree – 60
degree) receive Westerlies throughout the year due to shifting of wind belts coz of
earth’s inclination.
In June, when the overhead sun is over the tropic of cancer, all the belts move about 5
degree – 10 degree north of their average position. The Mediterranean parts of continents
that comes under the effect of werterlies, receive rain in June & vice a versa in December,
when sun is overhead tropic of Capricorn
Polar winds
 Winds blowing from polar high to sub polar low pressure belt
 Are very cold in nature as originate in polar areas & do not cause much rainfall
 These winds give birth to cyclones when they come in contact with westerlies
 Brings frequent change in weather conditions & causes heavy rainfall
Shifting of Wind belts

 Wind belts described above keep on shifting northward & southward depending upon
the movement of the sun
 March 21 & Sep 23 (Equinoxes)
 Sun shines vertically over equator
 Equatorial low pressure belt lies between 5 degree North – 5 degree South
 After March 21, sun moves northward & with it whole system of pressure belts moves
northward
June 21
 Sun shines vertically over Tropic of cancer & all the pressure belts move 5 – 10 degree
northward from original position
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Dec 21
 Sun shines vertically over Tropic of Capricorn & all the pressure belts move 5 – 10
degree southward from original position
 Thus, shifting of world’s pressure belts also causes shifting of world’s wind system
Periodic / Seasonal winds
 Winds which change their direction periodically
 Examples -Monsoon Winds, Land & Sea Breeze, Mountain & Valley Breeze
Monsoon Winds
 Refers to system of winds which reverses their direction completely with change of
seasons
 Blow from sea to land during summers & land to sea during winters, due to
differential in heating of continents & oceans-Halley’s law
 In summers, sun shines vertically over Tropic of cancer resulting in high temp. & low
pressure in central Asia, while pressure is sufficiently high at Bay of Bengal & Arabian
Sea.
 This induces air flow from Sea to land & induces heavy rainfall in India & neighboring
countries
 In winters, sun shines vertically over tropic of Capricorn, hence North – West part of
India grows colder than Arabian Sea & Bay of Bengal which results in reversal of
monsoon in India
 Above theory of differential heating was replaced by shifting of ITCZ for monsoon in
India & neighboring countries
Land & Sea Breeze
 Influence only a narrow strip of 20 – 30 km along the coast
 During day sun shines hence sea breeze moves from sea to land (Sea Breeze)
 In night it reverses its direction i.e. from land to sea (Land Breeze)
Mountain & Valley Breeze
 During day, mountain slopes gets heated more than valley floor hence air from valley
floor blows up the slope (Valley Breeze)
 After sunset pattern is reversed i.e. Mountain Breeze
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Fohn Wind & Chinook Wind
 Both the Fohn & Chinook winds are local hot & dry winds experienced on the leeward
side of the mountains when descending air become compresses with increased
pressure.
 Fohn wind is experienced in the valleys of northern Alps, particularly in Switzerland

in spring.
 Chinook winds are experienced on the eastern slopes of the Rockies in USA & Canada
in winters.
 While descending, most of the moisture of the wind is lost & hence it becomes dry &
hot, which may lead to rise in temperature of leeward side.
 In North America, it is called Chinook which means the snow eater, as it melts the
snow & causes avalanches.
 It has blessings too, it enhances the growth of crops & fruits & thaws the snow
covered pastures by raising temperature of the region quite quickly.
Cyclones
 A low pressure area surrounded by high pressure area from all from all the sides
along with winds moving from all the sides towards central low
 Cyclones moves in Anti clockwise in North Hemisphere & in Clockwise direction in

South – Hemisphere under the effect of westerlies due to coriolis effect
 No Cyclones at equator as coriolis force is 0 there

Temperate Cyclones
 Also known as wave cyclones or Extra Tropical
 Originate mainly in zones between 35 degree – 65 degree North & South of latitudes
Polar Front Theory
 Forms due to collision of 2 air masses of contrasting characteristics (in terms of
temp. & humidity at about 60 degree latitude).
 Here they do not meet each other readily but forms a front known as polar front
 Cold air mass pushes the warm air mass upwards & a void is created due to decrease
in pressure.
 Air from surrounding area rushes to fill the void & a temperate cyclone if formed
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 Average speed of extra tropical cyclone is 32 km/hr in summer & 49 km/hr in winters
Tropical Cyclones
 Also known as Typhoons or Hurricanes
 Originate mainly in zones between 5 degree – 30 degree North & South of latitudes
 Are the violent storms that originate over oceans in tropical areas & move to coastal
areas
 Bring large scale destruction, caused by violent winds, heavy rainfall & storm surges
 Favorable conditions for formation of tropical cyclones are

 Large sea surface with temp. > 27 degree Celsius
 Presence of coriolis force
 Small variation in vertical wind speed
 Upper divergence above sea level
 Pre-existing weak low pressure area or low level cyclonic circulations
 Energy that intensifies the storm comes from the condensation process in
towering cumulonimbus clouds, surrounding center of the storm.
 Hence, with constant supply of moisture from the sea, storm is further
strengthened
 On reaching land, moisture supply is cut off & the storm dissipates
 Place where tropical cyclone crosses the land is called landfall of the cyclone
 Central low pressure is known as eye of the cyclone → Calm with subsiding air
having lowest pressure & highest temp.
 Surrounding this area is zone of strong winds with clouds extending vertically
 Surrounding the eye is eye wall, a place of strong spirally ascending winds to a
height reaching tropopause, having max. wind velocity
Tropical Cyclone Distribution & its various names worldwide
Cyclone
 Indian ocean, Arabian sea & Bay of Bengal
Hurricane
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 Atlantic sea (West indies) & USA
Typhoons
 China sea + Japan sea
Willy Willies
 Western Australia
Difference between Tropical & Extra Tropical Cyclones
Tropical Cyclones Extra Tropical Cyclones
 Moves from west to east

 Moves from east to west
 Wind velocity is very high &

 Low wind velocity & less destructive
more destructive
 Affect much larger area & can

 Originate only on sea &
originate on land as well as sea
dissipates on reaching land
Anticyclones
 An anticyclone is just opposite to a cyclone
 Basically it is a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high

atmospheric pressure
 Clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern

Hemisphere
 Anticyclones are form from air masses, cooling more than their surroundings, which
causes the air to contract slightly making the air denser
 Since dense air weighs more, the weight of the atmosphere overlying a location
increases, causing increased surface air pressure
 Anticyclones herald fair weather, clearing skies, calm air with high temperature in
summers & cold in winters
 Fog can also form overnight within a region of higher pressure
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE WARM TEMPERATE EASTERN MARGIN CLIMATE

OR
CHINA TYPE CLIMATE

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This type of climate is found on the eastern margin of continent in warm temperate
latitudes, just outside the tropics & comparatively has more rainfall than the
Mediterranean climate in the same latitudes, coming mainly in summers.
 Eastern margin temperate climate can further be subdivided into 3 major type :
China Type
 Temperate monsoonal (Central & North China including southern Japan)
Gulf Type
 South eastern United States bordering Gulf of Mexico (slight monsoonal)
Natal Type
 Natal (Africa), South Wales (Australia), Parana (Southern Brazil)-Paraguay-
Uruguay & Northern Argentina (South America)
 Warm temperate eastern margin climate is typified by a warm, moist summer & a
cool, dry winter strongly modified by maritime influence.
 Occasionally, the penetration of cold air from the continental interiors may bring
down the temperature to the freezing point, but most of the time it is pleasantly warm.
 Rainfall is anything in-between 75 cm to 150 cm, fairly distributed throughout the

year, with no dry month, except in the interiors of central China.
 Rain comes either as convection or orographic in summers & from depressions in

winters.
China Type Climate

 Great land mass of Asiatic interior & Pacific Ocean induces great pressure changes
between summers & winters, giving rise to temperate monsoonal type of climate.
 In summers, intense heating of Asiatic interior sets up a region of low pressure in

summer & tropical pacific air stream is drawn in as the rain bearing South-East
Monsoon
 This results in heavy precipitation in China, approx. 100 cm of rainfall per annum,
decreasing landwards with summer maximum in June & July
 In winters, a steep pressure gradient is set up between the cold interiors of Mongolia
& Siberia, & a warmer Pacific coastland;
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 This results in outward flow of continental polar air as the North West Monsoon,
bitterly cold & very dry, causing only a little rain but considerate snow as the cold
winds are warmed & moistened.
 Other characteristic features of China type of climate is great annual temperature

range & occurrence of typhoons (intense tropical cyclones) that originate in Pacific
Ocean, & move westward to the coastlands, bordering South China Sea.
Gulf Type Climate

 Gulf-Atlantic regions of the US experience a type of climate similar to that of central
china except the monsoonal characteristics are less well established.
 There is no complete reversal of winds & the pressure gradient between mainland
America & Atlantic Ocean is less marked.
 Annual rainfall is heavy with annual average 100 – 150 cm
 No distinct dry period with a tendency towards summer maximum, brought by the
on shore trade winds which swings landward from the Atlantic.
 The amount of rain is increased by frequent thunderstorms in summers & hurricanes

by Sep & October, with some places showing a secondary maximum in winters.
 Annual range of temperature is much smaller comparative to china type of climate
 Sometimes violent tornedoes occur, due to intense heating of the land.
Natal Type Climate

 The narrowness of the continents & the dominance of maritime influence eliminate
the monsoonal elements, which characterize the corresponding climates of N-
Hemisphere.
 The south east trade winds bring about a more even distribution of rainfall
throughout the year with mean annual of approx. 100 – 150 cm.
 The passage of depressions along the southern edges of warm temperate eastern
margins results in slight autumn-winter maximum i.e. from March – July.
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Annual temperature range is small without any really cold month; however southern
continents have violent local storms viz. Southerly buster (a violent cold wind) in South
wales, corresponding cold wind in Argentina & Uruguay is Pampero & Berg (a hot, dry
wind) in south east Africa.
Natural Vegetation
 The eastern margin of the warm temperate latitudes has a much heavier rainfall than
either the western margin or the continental interiors & thus has luxuriant
vegetation.
 The lowlands carry both evergreen broad leave forests & deciduous trees, quite similar
to those of the tropical monsoon forests.
 On the highlands, are various species of conifers such as pines & cypresses, which
are important soft woods
 As the perennial plant growth is not checked by either a dry season as in

Mediterranean, or a cold season as in cool temperate regions, conditions are well
suited to a rich variety of plant life, including grass, ferns, lianas, bamboos, palms &
forests, with a well distributed rainfall over the year.
 Warm temperate eastern margins are home of a number of valuable timber &
economic viable species.
Eucalyptus
 Australia (Exporter)
Parana Pine, Quebracho (Axebreaker)
 SE Brazil, E Paraguay, N Argentina
Leaves of Yerba Mate Trees
 Paraguay Tea
Chestnuts, Ironwoods & Blackwoods
 Highlands of Natal
Palm trees
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 Coastal areas of Natal
Oak, Camphor, Camelia & Magnolia
 China & Southern Japan
Economic Development
The warm temperate eastern margins are the most productive parts of middle latitudes,
due to adequate rainfall, no prolong drought with the cold season warm enough for most
of the crops to survive; though summer is the busiest part of farming year
China
 Rice, Tea & Mulberries (for feeding silk worms for sericulture)
Gulf (N America)
 Corn, Cotton, Tobacco
Natal (S America)
 Cane sugar, Cotton & Tobacco
South America
 Coffee, Maize, Pines, Paraguay Tea, Wheat, Cattle & Sheep
South Wales & Victoria
 Dairying (Milk, Butter, Cheese), Cotton, Cane Sugar, Maize
 Despite being world’s greatest rice growing area, China do not export & even imports
food grains; & grows rice & tea for subsistence purpose only due to its intense
population.
Corn
 Apart from its ease of cultivation, wrt soil, climate & labour requirements, corns’ most
outstanding feature is its prolific yield
 It gives almost twice as much food per acre as wheat or other cereals
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 USA accounts for more than 50 % of world’s corn production but exports only 3%
 Most of the corn in USA is used in fattening animals as they allow them to hog the
corn down in the fields itself
 This is done to get more monetary gain as fattened animals are sold to the meat plants
Cotton:
 Deep South-Fibre is vital for economic well being
 The gulf type of climate is the best for cotton growing
 Cotton likes ample rain and an annual precipitation of around 40 inches is
essential
 Adequate moisture supply coming from frequent light showers with bright
sunshine between them gives the highest yield.
 Commercial Cultivation: Most favorable areas-Mississppi flood plains, the clayey
atlantic coastlands of Georgia and south califorinia, black prairies of texas and
red prairies of Oklahoma.
 Best Cotton-Comes from the maritime districts where the sea breezes and the
warming effect of the ocean are most strongly felt.
 The sea island cotton grown in the islands off the coast of Georgia and south
Carolina is long stapled and is the best in the world.
 Further inland, the staples are shorter
Tobacco:
 Associated with gulf type of climate
 Native crop of America
 There is no so universally known as the Virginia tobacco
 The humid atmosphere, the warmth and the well drained soils of the gulf states,
enable tobacco to be successfully cultivated in many of the eastern states of USA
e.g. Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Kentucky and
Tennessee.
Crop Cultivation in the eastern margins of the southern hemisphere

 Natal Type of Climate
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 The warm moist summers and frost free winters not only support many crops but
also animals
 Cane sugar is the dominant crop followed by cotton and tobacco
 Maize is extensively cultivated for use both as mealie an important food item for
Africans and silage, an animal fodder for cattle rearing.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE COOL TEMPERATE EASTERN MARGIN

OR
LAURENTIAN TYPE CLIMATE

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 The cool temperate eastern margin climate is an intermediate type of climate between
the British and Siberian type of climate
 Have features of both maritime and continental type of climate
 Laurentian type of climate is found only in two regions, that too in northern
hemisphere only.
 One is North-East North America (Eastern Canada including Newfoundland and N-E
USA including Maritime Provinces and New England States)
 Other is Eastern coastlands of Asia including Eastern Siberia, North China,

Manchuria, Korea & northern Japan
 In the southern hemisphere, this climate is absent because only a small section of
southern continents extends beyond 40 degree South and maritime influence is so
high that neither continental nor eastern margin type of climate exist.
Laurentian Climate
 The Laurentian type of climate has cold, dry winters & warm, wet simmers.
 Winter temperature may be well below freezing point & snow falls to quite a depth.
 Summers are warm as the tropics approx. 25 degree C & if were not for the cooling
effects of the off shore cold currents from arctic, the summers may even be hotter.
 Though, rain falls throughout the year (except interiors of china), there is distinct
summer maximum from the easterly winds from the oceans
 The annual precipitation is approx. 75 -150 cm with 2/3rd of it falling in summers.
The North American Region:

 Remarkable characteristic of uniformity in precipitation with a slight late summer
maximum i.e. July and August.
 This uniformity of precipitation is largely due to the Atlantic influence & that of the
Great lakes.
 The warm Gulf Stream increases the moisture content of the easterly winds from the
open Atlantic; & the prevailing westerlies which penetrate across the Rockies carry
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depressions over the Great lakes to the New England states, thus promotes wet
conditions especially in winters, vital for the agricultural activities of this region.
 Meeting of warm Gulf Stream & cold Labrador Current on the coastal areas off
Newfoundland produces dense mist & fog & give rise to much precipitation.
Asiatic Region
 In contrast, the rainfall distribution of the Asiatic region is far less uniform;
 Winters are cold and very dry while summers are very warm & exceptionally wet.
 Rainfall is mostly confined to five summer months with rest of the year dry, similar
to the tropical monsoon conditions in India.
 The mountainous interior of China has such pronounced continental effects that the
intense heating in summers creates a region of extreme low pressure, & moisture
laiden winds from the Pacific and Sea of Japan blow in as South-East monsoon; also
called as cool temperate monsoon climate.
 The climate of Japan is modified by its insularity, & also by the meeting of warm &
cold ocean currents.
 It receives adequate rainfall from both the SE monsoon in summers & NE monsoon
in winters.
 The latter is dry, cold wind from from mainland Asia, but after crossing the Sea of
Japan, gathers sufficient moisture to give heavy relief rain or snow on western coast
of Japan.
 The rainfall is more evenly distributed with two maxima, one in June, the plum rain
and other in September, the Typhoon rain.
Natural Vegetation
 The predominant vegetation of this type climate is cool temperate forest.
 Generally, the forest tend to be coniferous north of 50 degree North latitude
 In Asiatic region (eastern Siberia & Korea), the coniferous forests are infact a
continuation of great coniferous belt of Taiga.
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 South of 50 degree North latitude, the coniferous forests give way to deciduous forests
with oak, beech, maple & birch, the principal trees.
 Lumbering & its associated timber, paper & pulp industries are the most important
economic undertaking.
 Agriculture is less important in view of severity of winters & its long duration.
 Potatoes thrive over large areas of the podzolized soils, while hardy cereals like oats
and barley can be sown and successfully harvested before the onset of the cold winter.
 Soya Bean-Produced in Asiatic Region.
 The fertile Annapolis valley in Nova Scotia is the worlds most renowned region for
apples.
Fishing:
 The maritime influence & heavy rainfall enables some of the hardy crops to be raised
for local needs such as potatoes, oats, rye & barley.
 Fishing is the most outstanding economic activity of Laurentian climatic region

especially in Newfoundland & Japan mainly due to their geographical importance.
 Gently sloping continental shelves around the islands of Newfoundland & Japan are
rich in planktons, mainly due to meeting of warm & cold ocean currents.
 Fish feeds on minute marine organisms – planktons, which are present in abundance
only in shallow waters adjacent to land masses, where sunlight can penetrate through
 Cod-The chief fish and its oil is exported too.

 Further inland in lakes and rivers such as the St. Lawrence and the great Lakes, fresh
water fish e.g. salmon, trout , eels, and sturgeons are caught.
Fishing off Japan:

 In the North West pacific surrounding the islands of japan is another major fishing
area of the world.
 Scarcity of meat and religious regions have popularized fish as the principal item
of diet and the chief protein food.
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 One of the few countries that has taken to seaweed cultivation
 Pearl Culture-Interesting aspect of Japanese Fishing
 Pearl Oysters-Shell Fish and Mother of pearl
 Japan accounts for the 6th of the worlds total annual fish caught.
 Japan is not well endowed with natural resources for as much as 80 % of her land
is classed as non-agriculture.
 The continental shelves around the islands of japan are rich in plankton, due to
the meeting of the warm Kuroshio.
 In Hokkaido where the Laurentian type of climate is too cold for active agriculture,
fishing takes 1sst place.
 Hakodate and Kushiro are large fishing ports.
 Lack of lowlands and pastures means few animals can be kept to supply meat.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE WARM TEMPERATE WESTERN MARGIN CLIMATE

OR
MEDITERRANEAN CLIMATE

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 Mediterranean climate is found between the 30 degree- 45 degree N-S latitudes & gets
its name from the climate found around the Mediterranean Sea.
 The basic cause of this type of climate is shifting of the wind belts with summers –
warm to hot, and winters
 Cool but mild.
 These regions have also been called winter-rain & summer dry
 The Mediterranean biome is divided into five floristic biome subtypes, according to
the various floristic realms into which each fall
Mediterranean
 Areas around Mediterranean sea
Californian
 Around San Francisco
Chilean
 Central Chile (South America)
Capensic
 Cape Town, Africa
Australian
 Southern & Western Australia
 Though the area around Mediterranean Sea has the great extent of this type of
agriculture, the best developed form of this peculiar type of climate is infact found in
central Chile.
 Strong, cold up-welling currents bathe the coastal regions with cool marine air and
moderate winter temperatures, except for the Mediterranean Basin and South and
Western Australia.
Dry, warm summer with off shore trade winds
 The summer months have relatively higher temperature, with highest temperature
recorded are away from the coast & in more eastern continental Mediterranean.
 In summers, when the sun is overhead at the Tropic of Cancer, the belt of influence
of westerlies is shifted a little polewards.
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 Rain bearing winds, therefore, are not likely to reach Mediterranean lands.
 The prevailing trade winds are off shore; as all of the Mediterranean region lies on the
western margin of the continents except large portions of the Mediterranean Basin;
and all the regions are situated along the coast of oceans or the Mediterranean Sea,
therefore the air is dry, heated & is of low relative humidity with practically no rains.
 Days are excessively warm in the interiors & prolonged droughts are common, with
areas at coast getting relief from moderating effects of the seas.
A concentration of rainfall in winter with on shore Westerlies
 The Mediterranean lands receive most of their precipitation in winters, when the
westerlies shift equatorward, with average temperature in winters approx.
 In the northern hemisphere, the prevailing on shore westerlies brings much cyclonic
rain from the Atlantic to the countries bordering Mediterranean Sea.
 The mean annual rainfall is approx. 70 cm, which differs greatly from place to place,
depending on the relief, continentality & passing of the cyclones.
 Mediterranean regions are often backed by mountains along the coasts which provide
an effective barrier to oncoming westerlies.
 As a result, Portuguese coast is much wetter than eastern Spain & much heavier
precipitation has been recorded in highlands of windward slopes facing the westerlies.
 The steep hills of the eastern Adriatic are the rainiest part of Europe.
 Rain comes in heavy showers but only on few days, with bright sunny periods between
them; mostly from Sep – Feb, with peak at October.
 Though the downpour is infrequent, they are often very torrential & in mountainous
regions, cause destructive floods.
The Prominence of local winds around Mediterranean Sea
 Many local winds, some hot, others cold are common around the Mediterranean Sea
due to the varied topography of the region
 High Alps in the north, Sahara desert in south, Continental interiors in east & open
Atlantic on west, give rise to great differences in temperature, pressure & precipitation
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 The passing cyclones from the Atlantic, the anticyclones from the north & cold air
masses from the continental interior are often interrupted by relief features, resulting
in birth of local winds around the Mediterranean
Sirocco Wind
 This is a hot, dry, dusty wind which originates in the Sahara desert
 Though it may occur at any time of the year, but most frequent in springs & lasts
only for few days
 Sirocco blows outward from the desert interior to the cooler Mediterranean Sea
 It is usually associated with depressions from Atlantic passing from the coast to
eastward inlands
 After crossing the Mediterranean Sea, Sirocco is slightly cooled by absorption of water
vapour but still remains hot & dry with a temperature of over 40 degree Celsius
 It withers crops & vegetation; and the damage is particularly serious when it comes
at the times during which Vines & Olives are in blossom
 Sirocco is also known as blood rain due to the red dust it carries from Sahara Desert
 It is so prominent that it is known by different local names such as
Chili
 Tunisia
Ghibli
 Libya
Leveche
 Spain
Khamsin
 Egypt & Malta
 In Adriatic & Aegean Sea, this hot wind, better known as Gharbi, gathers much
moisture, causing fog, dew & rains
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Mistral Wind
 In contrast to Sirocco, Mistral is a cold wind from the north, rushing down the Rhone
valley (France) in violent gusts between 40 – 80 miles / hour.
 Velocity of Mistral is intensified by the funneling effect in the valley between Alps &
Central Massif (France).
 In winters, when the Mistral is most frequent, the temperature of the wind may be
below freezing point, though the sky may be clear & cloudless.
 Therefore, as a protective measure, many of the houses & orchards of Rhone valley &
Riviera have thick rows of trees & hedges planted to shield them from Mistral.
Bora Wind
 A similar type of cold north-easterly wind experienced along the Adriatic coast is
called Bora
 Like the Mistral, it is caused by a difference in pressure between continental Europe

& Mediterranean
 Usually occur in winter, when the atmospheric pressure over continental Europe is
higher than that of Mediterranean
 This dry, icy wind is even more violent than the Mistral & speeds of over 100 mph
have been recorded
 During strong Boras, ships may be blown aground & agricultural land ruined.
Natural vegetation
 In a land with half the year dry, one cannot expect the natural vegetation to be
luxuriant.
 In the Mediterranean area, the natural vegetation is xerophyte, or drought resistant
 Consists of cypress, cork oak, scrub evergreen, olive, and low bushes
 The native vegetation of Mediterranean climate lands must be adapted to survive long,
hot summer droughts and prolonged wet periods in winter.
 Trees with small broad leaves are widely spread & never very tall
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 The absence of shade is a distinct feature of Mediterranean lands.
 Soil is often reddish in colour, indicating high iron content.
 The low amounts of rain in this region result in little leaching of the soil, and the
humus content is low from lack of leaf fall.
 Growth is slow in cooler & wetter season, even though more rain falls in winter; &
long summer drought checks the growth
 Thus growth is almost restricted to autumn & spring, when the temperature is higher
& moisture is just sufficient.
Mediterranean Evergreen Forests

 Open Woodlands with evergreen oaks, found only in climatically most favored regions
with rainfall well over 70 cm = Spain & Portugal.
 In Australia, eucalyptus forests replace the evergreen oaks
 Trees are normally low, even stunted with massive trunks
 Have deeply fissured barks, small leathery leaves & wide spread root system in search
of water
Evergreen Coniferous Trees

 Include various kinds of pines, cedars & cypresses with needle shaped leaves & tall,
straight trunks.
 They appear more on cooler highlands & where droughts are less severe.
Mediterranean Bushes & Shrubs

 Perhaps the most dominant type of Mediterranean vegetation as summers are so dry
& hot that in places, forests give place to short, evergreen shrubs & bushes, which
are scattered in clamps & are often thorny.
 Are generally drought & heat resistant & have developed various strategies of growth
& usage of available water during the dry period
 They are usually known by different names in different regions such as –
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Maquis
 Mediterranean
Chaparral
 California
Matorral
 Chile
Fynbos
 South Africa
Mallee and kwongan
 Australia
Grass
 Conditions in Mediterranean do not suit grass, as most of the rain comes in cool
season when growth is slow.
 Slow growing vegetation, which cannot replenish their foliage readily, & without deep
penetrating roots, is least suitable here.
 Even if grass do survive, they are wiry & bunchy and are not suitable for animal
farming; Cattle rearing is thus unimportant in Mediterranean.
 Grass which is replaced by certain drought resistant varieties of shrubs & flowering
herbs, can however support sheep or goats.
 As a result of above mentioned facts, animal fats are unimportant here & chief
cooking oil is obtained from olives; Dairy products are net import items.
Economic development of the Mediterranean Regions

 Mediterranean lands are famous for citrus fruits cultivation, Cereal growing & Wine
making majorly.
Orchard Farming
 Mediterranean lands are also known as world’s orchard lands
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 Wide varieties of citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons, limes, citrons & grapefruit are
grown.
 The fruit trees have long roots to draw water from considerable depths during the
long summer drought; in exceptionally dry areas, irrigation helps to relieve the lack
of moisture.
 The thick leathery skin of citrus fruits prevents excessive transpiration & the long,
sunny summer enables the fruits to be ripened & harvested.
 The Mediterranean lands account for 70 % of world’s export of citrus fruits.
 The olive tree is probably the most typical of all Mediterranean cultivated vegetation
 As Olive tree is so hard & long rooted that it can survive even on very poor limestone
soils, with less than 25 cm of annual rainfall.
 Besides olives, many nut trees like chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts & almonds are
grown, picked as fruits or for chocolate industry.
 Other important fruits are peaches, apricots, pears, plums, cherries & figs.
Crop Cultivation
 Cereals are by far the most important cultivated crops in Mediterranean, with wheat
as the leading food crop, used for bread making
 Barley is the next most important cereal
 Other food products like spaghetti, vermicelli & macaroni
 Farmers usually sow the seeds in autumn, so that they can grow & germinate steadily
with coming winter rain; by springs there is still sufficient moisture for wheat to
mature
 Other important food crops cultivated here are rice, vegetables especially beans, &
flowers, for local market
 A little cotton & tobacco are also grown
 The mountain pastures, with cool climate, support a fur sheep, goats & sometimes
cattle with widespread practice of Transhumance
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Wine Cultivation
 A specialty of the Mediterranean countries
 The regions bordering Mediterranean Sea account for ¾ th of the total world’s
production of wine
 The long, sunny summer allow grapes to ripen with almost 85 % of grapes produced
go into wine production
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE ARCTIC
OR
POLAR CLIMATE

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 Polar time of climate is found mainly north of the Arctic circle in the northern
hemisphere.
 In the southern hemisphere, the virtually uninhabited continent of Antarctica is the

greatest single stretch of ice caps, always snow covered.
 The ice caps are confined to Greenland & to the highlands of high latitude regions,
where the ground is permanently snow covered.
 The lowlands, with a few months ice free, have tundra vegetation.
 They include the coastal strip of Greenland, the barren grounds of northern Canada
and Alaska, and the Arctic seaboard of Eurasia.
Climate
Temperature:
 Characterized by very low annual mean temp. with long freezing cold winter i.e
Temperature well below freezing point and brief cool summers
 Warmest month temp. seldom rises above 10 degree Celsius
 Normally not more than four months have temp. above freezing point
 Within the Arctic & Antarctic circles, there are weeks of continuous darkness
 At the North Pole there are 6 months without light in winter
 Despite the long duration of sunshine in summers, when the sun does not set, temp.
remains low as sun rays are too much oblique, with much of it gets reflected by the
snow & remaining used up in melting the ice
 The ground remains solidly frozen for all but four months, inaccessible to plants with
frost occurring all the time.
 Blizzards (severe snowstorm with high winds) with a velocity of 100 miles per hour
are frequent.
 In coastal districts, where warmer water meets cold land, thick fog may develop,
which lasts for days.
Percipitation:
 Precipitation is mainly in form of snow falling in winter
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 As it takes 10 – 12 inches of snow to make 1 inch of rain, precipitation in polar regions
is generally light, not more than 12 inches in a year.
 Convectional rainfall is generally absent because of the low rate of evaporation & lack
of moisture in the cold polar air.
Tundra Vegetation
 With a growing season of less than three months & temperature of the warmest month
not exceeding 10 degree Celsius, there are no trees in Tundra.
 Such an environment can support only the lowest form of vegetation, mosses, lichens
& sedges.
 Climatic conditions along the coastal lowlands are a little more favourable, & some
hardy grass viz. reindeer moss grows, which forms the only pasturage for herbivore
animals such as reindeer.
 In the brief summer, when the snow melt & days are warmer & longer, berry bearing
bushes & Arctic flowers bloom, brightening up the tundra landscape into Arctic
prairies.
 Mammals like the wolves, foxes, musk-ox, Artic hare and lemmings also live in tundra
regions
Human Activities
 Human activities of tundra are largely confined to coasts
 People live a semi nomadic life.
 In Greenland, Northern Canada & Alaska lives the Eskimos
 During winter they live in igloos & portable tents of skin when they move out to hunt
in summers.
 In the Eurasian tundra live the other nomadic tribes such as:
Lapps
 Northern Finland & Scandinavia
Samoyeds
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 Siberia (From the Ural mountains & Yenisey basin)
Yakuts
 Siberia (Baikal Mountains & Lena River Basin)
Koryuks & Chuckchi
 North East Asia

 The Arctic region, once regarded useless, have gradually sprung up because of
the discovery of minerals such as:
 Gold, Petroleum, Coal in Alaska, Nickel, Shale Gas in USSR, Copper in Canada, Iron
Ore in Labrador (Canada), Sweden.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE SAVANNA
OR
SUDAN CLIMATE

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 Savanna or Sudan climate is a transitional type of climate found between the
equatorial forests & trade wind hot deserts.
 It is confined within the tropics (Tropic of Cancer & Tropic of Capricorn) & is best
developed in Sudan, where dry & wet climate are most distinct, hence named Sudan
climate.
 It covers much of Africa (Keya, Nigeria, Gambia) as well as large areas of Australia,
South America (Brazilian highlands), and India.
 Sudan climate is characterized by an alternate & distinct hot, rainy season (from May
to Sep) & cool, dry season (Oct – April) in N – Hemisphere & vice versa in S –
Hemisphere.
 The savanna climate has a temperature range of 18 degree – 30 degree C.
 In winters, it is usually about 18degree – 25 degree Celsius & in summers, the

temperature ranges from 25 degree – 30 degree Celsius.
 Like the monsoon climate, the maximum temperature tends to occur in late spring to
early summer prior to the onset of the rainy season, with Daily temperature range
greater during the dry season & annual temp. range increasing towards poleward
from equatorial region.
 Both the length of the rainy season as well as annual total rainfall decreases from
equatorial region to polewards.
 On the whole, the annual precipitation (~100 cm annually) is less than the tropical
monsoon climate & length of wet & dry seasons differs with the locality.
 Prevailing winds of the region are the trade winds, which bring rain to the eastern
coastal districts.
 They are strongest in summers but are relatively dry by the time tome they reach the
continental interiors or western coasts of the continents, so scattered grasses & short
trees dominates.
 In west Africa, N-E trade winds blow from the Sahara Desert & reach Guinea coast
as dry dust laden winds called locally ‘Harmattan’, means the doctor, which increases
the rate of evaporation & provides cooling effect at Guinea coast; but it is such a dry
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dusty wind that, besides ruining the crops, sometimes it may cause fire; it also stirs
up a thick dusty haze & impedes inland river navigation.
Natural Vegetation
 Savanna landscape is generally characterized by Tall grass (6 – 8 feet) & short trees.
 Savannas are generally known as tropical grasslands, but it is rather misleading as

trees are always present with the luxuriant tall grass.
 Trees grow best towards the equatorial humid latitudes or along the river banks but
decrease in height & density away from the equator.
 Trees are generally deciduous, shedding their leaves in cool, dry season to prevent
excessive loss of water through transpiration for e.g. aracias.
 Others have broad trunks to store water to survive through the prolonged drought
such as baobabs & bottle trees.
 Palms, which cannot stand drought, are confined to the wettest areas along the rivers.
 Vegetative luxuriance reaches its peak in rainy season, when trees renew their
foliage & flower.
 Grass lies dormant throughout the long dry period & springs up again in next
rainy season.
 In true savanna lands, the grass is tall & coarse growing 6 – 12 feet on height
(Elephanta grass); grows in tufts and have long roots, which reach down in search
of water.
 In-between long grasses are scattered short trees & low bushes.
 As rainfall diminishes towards the deserts, the savanna merges into thorny
scrubs.
Savanna Animals & Agriculture
 Savanna, particularly in Africa, is the home of diverse varieties of wild animals
 Known as Big game country
 Many of the animal films that we see in cinemas are actually taken in savanna.
Human Life in the Savanna:
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 Some tribes lives as cattle pastoralists like Masai of East African Plateau and others
as settled cultivators like Housa of Nigeria
 Tropical grassland animals (which do not all occur in the same area)
include giraffes, zebras, buffaloes, kangaroos, mice, moles, gophers, ground
squirrels, snakes, worms, termites, beetles, lions, leopards, hyenas, Zebu cattle
and elephants.
 The world’s greatest diversity of ungulates (hoofed mammals) is found on the

savannas of Africa.
 The soil of tropical grasslands is porous, with rapid drainage of water.
 It has only a thin layer of humus (the organic portion of the soil created by partial
decomposition of plant or animal matter), which provides vegetation with nutrients.
Problems, Prospects and Development of Savanna:
 The Sudan climate, with distinct wet and dry periods is also responsible for
deterioration of soil fertility.
 During rainy season, torrential downpours of heavy rain causes leaching, leading to
drainage of soil nutrients
 During the dry season, intense heating & evaporation dries up soils water.
 Many savanna areas therefore have poor laterite soils, incapable of supporting good
crops, unless the soil is properly conserved by manuring & weeding.
 Savanna is said to be a natural cattle country & many of its native people are
herdsman & pastoralists with cattle kept in large numbers for meat & milk; but the
settlements in central Africa, Northern Australia & Eastern Brazil have shown an
immense growth potential in food & plantation crops such as :
 Maize, Millet, Corn, Bananas, Beans & Groundnuts are food crops of Savanna
 Cotton, Tobacco, Sugarcane, Coffee, Groundnuts, Oil palms & Tropical fruits are
plantation crops of savanna.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE COOL TEMPERATE CONTINENTAL

OR
SIBERIAN TYPE CLIMATE

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 The Cool temperate continental (Siberian) climate is only experienced in northern
hemisphere, where the continents within the high latitudes have a broad east west
spread.
 On its poleward side, it merges into Arctic tundra of Canada & Eurasia at around
Arctic Circle;
 Southwards, the climate becomes less severe & fades into the temperate Steppe
climate
 Predominant vegetation of this Siberian or sub-arctic type of climate is evergreen

coniferous forests that stretch in a great, continuous belt across North America,
Europe & Asia.
 The greatest single band of the coniferous forest is Taiga (a Russian word for
coniferous forest) in Siberia.
 In Europe, this climate & forests are mainly confined to Northern Europe, Sweden &
Finland;
 However there are small amount of coniferous forests at high altitudes in Germany,
Poland, Austria, Switzerland & other parts of the Europe.
 In North America, the sub-arctic belt stretches across from Alaska across Canada
into Labrador & is found in the high Rocky Mountains further south.
 The Siberian climate is conspicuously absent in the southern hemisphere because of
the narrowness of the southern continents in the high latitudes.
 The strong oceanic influence reduces the severity of the winters & coniferous forests
are found only on the mountainous uplands of southern Chile, New Zealand,
Tasmania & South East Australia.
Siberian Climate
 Siberian type climate is typified by bitterly cold winters of long duration & cool brief
summer; lies across 60 degree North of equator.
 Spring & autumn are merely brief transitional periods
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 Annual range of temperature is quite high due to extremes of temperature observed
in this type of climate, as temperature well below freezing point in winters & approx.
15 degree in summers.
 With low temperatures in cold season, heavy snowfall can be expected, with frost
occurring as early as August
 By September, most of the lakes & ponds are icebound; with the number of days in
which the rivers are frozen, increases from south to north.
Percipitation:
 The interiors of Eurasian continent are so remote from maritime influence that
annual precipitation cannot be high.
 Generally, a total of 40 – 60 cm of rainfall is typified in this sub-arctic type of climate.
 Rainfall is quite well distributed throughout the year, with a summer maximum from
the convectional rain, when the continental interiors are greatly heated approx. 20
degree Celsius.
The total precipitation of Siberian climate is marked by many factors viz. altitude,
latitude, proximity to the poles, amount of exposure to influences by westerlies (on
western part of the continent), temperate monsoon (on eastern part of the continent) &
penetration of cyclones.
 Snow falls nearly everywhere in USSR in long, cold winter, but the amount varies
from place to place; with heaviest in northern tundra & Siberian taiga.
 Permanent snowfields like of Alps or the Himalayas are absent, because any
accumulation of snow is melted with the return of spring & the warm summer.
 Frozen rivers are thawed, causing a rise in the water level, sometimes resulting in
extensive floods.
 Being a poor conductor of heat, the presence of thick mantle of snow protects the soil
of ground from severe cold above, which may be approx. 5 degree – 10 degree Celsius
colder.
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 It also provides moisture for the vegetation when the snow melts in spring.
Natural Vegetation
 No other trees are as well adapted as the conifers, to withstand such a severe
inhospitable environment as Siberian type of climate.
 Coniferous belts of Eurasia & North America are the richest sources of softwood; Used
in construction, furniture, matches, paper & pulp, rayon & other chemical products.
 The world’s greatest softwood producers are USSR, USA, Canada & Fenoscandian
countries (Finland, Sweden & Norway).
 USA is the leading producer in the production of wood pulp & Canada in newsprint,
accounting for almost half of the world’s production.
Coniferous Evergreen forests
 Coniferous forests are more uniform in height, & grow straight & tall upto a height of
100 feet approx.
 There are four major groups of conifers i.e. Fir, Pine, Spruces & Larch.
 Coniferous trees grow up instead of out and are of a triangular shape to prevent snow
accumulation & also offers little grip to the winds.
 There is no annual replacement of new leaves as in deciduous trees.
 The same leaf remains on the tree for as long as 5 years.
 By keeping their leaves, conifers can quickly begin food production when the warm
weather returns in the spring.
 The needles have a waxy coating that helps reduce moisture loss in cold weather.
 The narrow needles offer less surface area to the drying winds of winter.
 Food is stored in trunks, & bark is thick to protect the trees from excessive cold.
 Conifers are conical in shape. It also offers little grip to the winds.
 Soils of coniferous forests are poor, podzolized, excessively leached & very acidic.
 Evergreen leaves provide little leaf fall for humus formation & the rate of
decomposition of the leathery needles in a region of such a low temperature is slow.
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 Absence of direct sunlight & short duration of summers are deterrent to the growth
of much undergrowth.
 Coniferous forests are also found in other climatic regions wherever altitude reduces
the temperature.
 The conifers are in fact the dominant trees of the mountainous districts in both the
temperature and tropical countries.
 Conifers are limited in species with pine, spruce & fir predominant in northern
forests, while larch predominant in warmer south.
 They occur in homogeneous groups, not mixed as tropical forests, which saves cost
& time, and enhances the commercial value of felled timber.
 Coniferous forests are felled & transported to the saw mills for the extraction of
temperate soft woods & forms the basis of lumbering industry; & is used for varieties
of purposes viz.
 Paper & Pulp industry in which USA & Canada are leading exporters
 Industrial raw materials used for various industrial products such as matches,
which form a major export item in Sweden;
 For making plywood, hardboards, furniture, toys, planks & packing cases
 For making many chemical processed articles such as rayon turpentine, paints,
dyes, wood alcohol, disinfectants & cosmetics.
 Trapping of fur bearing animals is practised on large scale for extracting fur, which
fetches high price.
 Only in more sheltered valleys & land bordering the steppes are some cereals (barley,
oats, rye) & root crops (potatoes) are raised for local needs.
 Lumbering is probably the most important occupation of the Siberian type of climate.
 Saw Milling-Swan Timber, Plywood, planks, hardwood.
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 Timber is pulped by both chemical and mechanical means to make wood pulp (Raw
Material for paper making)
 The conifers are limited in species. Pine, spruce, and fir are the most important in the
northern forests.
 Larch is more predominant in the warmer south. Occupy in homogenous groups and
not mixed as in the tropical forests.
 In northerly latitudes agriculture is almost impossible and Lumbering replaces
farming in the continental interiors.
 Over the greater part of Siberia all the rivers drain polewards into Artic Ocean which
is frozen for three quarters of the year.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE TEMPERATE CONTINENTAL

OR
STEPPE CLIMATE

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 Bordering the deserts, away from the Mediterranean regions and in the interiors of
the continent are the Temperate grasslands
 Feature semi-arid or steppe climate, which lies between the tropics & Polar Regions.
 Though they lie in the westerlies wind belt, they are so remote from maritime influence
that the grasslands are practically treeless.
 Grass are generally distinct in natural vegetation as those lie in S-Hemisphere have
a much moderate climate due to coastal effects of the seas & warm currents alongside
 Whereas grasslands in N-Hemisphere are comparatively warmer in summers & colder

in winters as they are entirely continental.
 In Eurasia, they are called Steppes, which stretches eastward from the shores of
Baltic Sea across the Great Russian plains, to the foothills of Altai Mountains, for
approx. 2000 miles
 In isolated sections of Hungary & Mongolian-Manchurian region, they are known as

Pustaz of Hungary and the plains of Manchuria.
 In North America, the grasslands are quite extensive & known as Prairies, lying
between foothills of Rockies & the Great lakes astride American – Canada border
 In the southern hemisphere, due to the narrowness of temperate portions of southern

continents, grasslands are rather restricted & less continental
 In case of Pampas of Argentina & Uruguay, the grasslands extend right to the sea &
enjoy much maritime influence
 In South Africa, the grasslands are sandwiched between the Drakensberg & Kalahari
deserts; & are further divided into the more tropical Bush Veld in the north, & more
temperate High Veld in the south
 In Australia, the grasslands are better known as Downs & are found in Murray-
Darling basin of southern Australia
Steppe Climate
 In northern hemisphere, they lie in the heart of continents & thus have little maritime
influence
 Hence climate is continental with extremes of temperature.
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 Summers are very warm, approx. 25 degree Celsius, with winters are chilling cold,
with well below freezing point viz. approx. – 20 degree Celsius
 Hence have high annual range of temperature
 In contrast, in southern hemisphere, climate is never severe, with mild winters of ~

10 degree Celsius & warm summers with ~ 20 degree Celsius, due to the maritime
effect of the coasts
 Hence annual range of temperature is way less than that in northern hemisphere
steppes.
 Annual precipitation in N – Hemisphere has a mean annual of approx. 50 Cm, with

majority of rainfall in summers from convectional sources.
 Winter rainfall of approx. 25 mm/ month is occasional by depressions of the

westerlies & in form of snow.
 Due to maritime influence in southern hemisphere, mean annual rainfall always
averages more than 50 cm, mainly due to warm ocean currents that wash the shores
of steppe lands.
 On the eastern slopes of the Rockies in Canada & USA, a local wind similar to Fohn
(Switz), called Chinook, comes in south west direction to the Prairies, descending from
the Rockies. It is a hot wind that rises the temperature & melts snow covered
pastures, generally in winters & early springs, hence frequent chinook means mild
winters in the region.
Natural Vegetation of Steppe

 Natural vegetation of steppes is generally referred as temperate grasslands, differing
only in density & quality of grass.
 Their greatest difference from tropical savannas is that steppes are practically treeless
& grasses are much shorter.
 Regions in N – Hemisphere, where the rainfall averages above 50 cm, the grasses are
tall, fresh & nutritious & are better described as long prairie grass
 Examples include North America, Rich black earth of Russia –Ukraine & better
watered areas of Asiatic steppe.
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 Where the rainfall is light, less than 50 cm, or the soil is poor, as in continental
interiors of Asia, the short steppe type of grass prevails.
 The grasses are not only shorter but also wiry & sparse, often found in discontinuous
clumps, with bare soil exposed between them.
 The climatic requirement of grass are quite different from trees as they require less
moisture than trees & an annual precipitation of approx. 25 – 50 cm is adequate.
 Their growth is not abruptly checked by summer drought & winter cold as they lie
dormant throughout this period & sprout instantly as soon as temperature is moist
& warm again.
 Trees are very scarce in steppes, because of the scanty rainfall, long droughts & severe
winters; with long rolling plains of endless grass.
 Poleward, an increase in precipitation gives rise to a transition zone of wooded steppes

where some conifers gradually appear, but are very scattered & few in number.
 Towards the equator, the steppe grass becomes shorter & sparser, till it merges into
desert with thorny scrub.
 Grasslands have been ploughed up for extensive mechanized wheat cultivation & are
termed as granaries of the world.
 Beside wheat, maize is also increasingly cultivated, mainly in warmer & wetter areas.
 Farms are extensively long, hence due to less attention & high mechanization, average
yield per acre is low, but the yield per man is very high
 Hence grasslands of mid latitudes produce greatest exporters of wheat in the world.
 The tuft grasses have been replaced by more nutritious lucerne & alfalfa grass for
cattle & ship rearing.
 Natural conditions suit animal farming & with the introduction of more nutritious
grass & refrigerated ships, temperate grasslands became major pastoral regions,
exporting large quantities of beef, mutton, wool, milk, butter, cheese & other dairy
products such as Pampas became lead exporter of beef.
 Australia became world’s leading wool exporter.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE HOT DESERT AND MID-LATITUDE DESERT CLIMATE

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 Deserts are the regions of scanty rainfall (less than 25 cm or 10 inch of rainfall)
 May be hot like Saharan Desert; Coastal dry deserts like Atacama & Temperate or the
mid latitude deserts viz. Gobi.
 Hot desert climates are typically found under the subtropical ridge
Deserts Climate Type

 Unbroken sunshine for the whole year
 stable descending air
 high pressure aloft
 These areas are located between 15 – 30 degrees south & north latitude, under the
subtropical latitudes called the horse latitudes.
 Major hot deserts of the world include
 Sahara Desert (Africa)

 Thar Desert (India)
 Libyan Desert (Africa)
 Mojave Desert (N-America)
 Kalahari Desert (Africa)
 Iranian Desert
 Arabian Deserts
 Hot desert drylands, like the Atacama of Chile, the Namib of southern Africa, and the
western Australian desert, are the result of cold oceanic currents that divert rain-
laden air away from coastlines.
 Among the mid-latitudes deserts, many are found on plateau & are at considerable
distance from the sea – Cold Deserts:
 Gobi Desert
 Turkestan Desert
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 Patagonian Desert
Causes of aridity of deserts

 The hot deserts lie astride the horse latitudes or sub-tropical high pressure belts,
where the air is descending, a condition least favorable for precipitation of any kind.
Rain shadow
 Air descending leeward side from mountainous areas warms and dries by
compression, little rainfall forms and aridity is the result for e.g. Patagonian desert
due to rain shadow effect of Andes.
Cold ocean currents
 Cold air present above such currents ensures less evaporation of moisture with
scarse evaporation resulting in formation of mist & fog, but no clouds – hence
no rain. Effect of cold Peruvian current makes Atacama the driest place of the
earth
Continentality
 Central areas of continents are dry because they lie far away from the oceans & air
moving over landmasses does not absorb large amounts of water vapour, required for
precipitation.
Temperature variation in Deserts

 Deserts are some of the hottest spots on the earth & have high temperature
throughout the year.
 There is no cold season in hot deserts & average temperature is around 30 -35 degree
Celsius.
 Diurnal range of temperature is extremely high in deserts due to intense high

temperature during the day & freezing cold nights.
 Days are unbearably hot with highest temperature of 76 degree Celsius recorded in
open barren sand and in shaded, well-ventilated areas.
 Al- Azizia in Libya has had a recorded high temperature of 58 degree Celsius.
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An interesting variant of tropical and subtropical deserts are the so-called West Coast
Desert areas found on the western coastal margins of the regions such as Atacama
deserts of South America, and the Sahara -Moroccan part and Namib deserts of Africa.
 These areas are much cooler than their latitude would suggest (monthly mean
temperatures of only 15–21 degree Celsius.
 The cooling results from airflow off adjacent coastal waters where upwelling of the
ocean gives rise to cold currents.
 Deserts of this sort are subject to frequent fog and low-level clouds; yet they are
extremely arid.
Desert Facts
 Deserts cover more than 1/5th of the Earth’s land, and they are found on every
continent.
 Despite the common conceptions of deserts as dry and hot, there are cold deserts as
well.
 The largest hot desert in the world, northern Africa’s Sahara, reaches temperatures
of up to 122 degrees Fahrenheit (50 degrees Celsius) during the day.
 But some deserts are always cold, like the Gobi desert in Asia and the desert on the
continent of Antarctica.
 Simoom – Violent dust storms in deserts
Desert Animals Characteristics

 Desert animals have adapted ways to help them keep cool and use less water. Camels,
for example, can go for days without food and water.
 Many desert animals are nocturnal, coming out only when the brutal sun has
descended to hunt, have long feet & secrets conc. waste.
 Some animals, like the desert tortoise in the southwestern United States, spend much
of their time underground.
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 Most desert birds are nomadic, crisscrossing the skies in search of food.
 Because of their very special adaptations, desert animals are extremely vulnerable to
introduced predators and changes to their habitat.
Desert vegetation Characteristics
 Desert vegetation is an amazing example of adaptive power of plants and trees, which
majorly consists of scrub, herbs, weeds, roots & bulbs.
 The predominant vegetation of deserts is xerophyte or drought resistant which

usually has special ways of storing and conserving water viz. cacti
 Trees are rare except where there is abundant of ground water to support clusters of
date palms.
 Absence of moisture retards the rate of decomposition hence desert soils are deficient
in humus content along with high rate of evaporation making the soil saline.
 Plants have few or no leaves & foliage is waxy, leathery or hairy / needle shaped to
reduce the loss of water through transpiration.
 Thick bark & tough skins to protect them while they lie dormant from excessive
evaporation
 Develop an extended root system close to the surface to collect a lot of water during
scant rainfall.
 Develop a deep root system and reach groundwater.

Desert vegetation
 Stay many years dormant as a seed and when sufficient rain falls, and speed up your
active life to a 3 week compressed cycle, producing leaves, flowers and new seeds in
no time.
 Poison your immediate neighbours, and reduce competition of even your own species.
 Remain small, it saves surface through which water evaporates.
 Get round, a more advantageous ratio volume/surface, and develop green cylindrical
stems able to perform photosynthesis
 Cut off your limbs, I mean, led some of your branches die in order to consume less of
everything
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Nomads in Deserts
Bushmen
 Kalahari
Bindibu / Aborigins
 Australia
Bedouin
 Arabia
Tauregs
 Sahara
Mangols
 Gobi (Cold Desert)
Minerals in Deserts
Diamond & Copper

 Kalahari (Thirst land)
Atacama
 Caliche (Cemented gravels) i.e Sodium Nitrate fertilizer

 Chuquicamata (Chile) = Largest copper town
Sahara & Arabia
 Oil
Mexico
 Silver
Utah
 Uranium
Nevada
 Copper
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE HOT, WET EQUATORIAL CLIMATE

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Hot Wet Equatorial Climate

 Equatorial hot, wet climate is found between 5 degree – 10 degree north & south of
the equator mostly viz.
 the Amazon Basin (South America)
 the Congo Basin (Africa)
 Malaysia
 Indonesia
 Singapore
 The most outstanding feature of the equatorial climate is its great uniformity of
temperature throughout the year with no winters.
 The average monthly temperatures are about 26 – 28 degrees Celsius, with small
annual range of temperature ~ 3 degree Celsius & fairly greater diurnal range of
temperature ~ 12 degree – 15 degree Celsius.
 Cloudiness and heavy precipitation ~ 150 – 250 cm of rainfall or more in a year, helps
to moderate the temperature, so that even at the equator, climate is not unbearable.
 There is no month without the rain & a distinct dry season like that of savanna or
tropical monsoon climate is absent.
 Most of the rainfall is convectional, with thunderstorm & lightening often

accompanying the torrential showers.
 The convection uplift is related to the position of the ITCZ and rainfall totals double
when the sun is directly overhead at the spring and autumn equinox, with the least
rain falls at June & December solstices.
 Besides the convectional rainfall, mountainous regions also experience much
orographic or relief rainfall
 In addition, there are some intermittent showers from cyclonic atmospheric

disturbances caused by the convergence of air masses at Doldrums.
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 The relative humidity is constantly high ~ over 80 %, making one feel sticky &
uncomfortable
Vegetation in Equatorial Regions

 The year round high temperatures and abundant rainfall in equatorial regions
support a luxuriant type of vegetation – Tropical or equatorial rain forests.
 In the Amazon lowlands, the forest is so dense & extravagance that a special term
Selva is used to describe it.
 Unlike the temperate regions, the growing seasons here is all year round
 Seeding, Flowering, Fruiting & Decaying do not take place in seasonal pattern, so
some trees may be flowering while others only a few yards away may be bearing fruits.
 There is neither drought nor cold to check the growth in any part of the year.
 Unlike the temperate forests, many different types of trees and other plants can be
found growing in a relatively small area of rainforest.
 Rainforests cover only about 6 % of the Earth’s surface.
 However, they contain about half of the world’s known animal species and provide
about 40% of the world’s oxygen.
 Equatorial vegetation comprises a multitude of evergreen trees that yields tropical
hardwood viz. Mahogany, Ebony, Greenheart, Cabinet Woods & Dyewoods.
 There are smaller palm trees, climbing plants like lianas & epiphytic & parasitic
plants that live on other plants.
 Under the trees grow a wide variety of ferns, orchids & lalang (tall grass)
 There are several layers of vegetation in a rainforest with all plants struggling to
move upward to get sunlight.
 The uppermost layer is made up of the crowns of the tallest trees with average
height 45 – 60 meters are known as emergent, with their crowns exposed to the
direct sunlight.
 The next layer is known as the canopy with an average height of about 20 to 40
meters.
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 The crowns of the trees in this layer are tightly packed together forming a nearly
unbroken cover for the forest floor.
 If you were looking down on a section of the rainforest from above, you would not
be able to see the ground because of the cover provided by the canopy, very little
sunlight reaches the lower layers of the rainforest.
 Below the canopy is another layer known as the understory with trees only few
meters high.
 Here one can find trees which only grow to about 15 meters at maturity as well
as young saplings which will eventually grow to reach the canopy. Sunlight here
is limited.
 Between understory & the forest floor lays the shrub layer, composed of ferns &
shrubs.
 Only about 1% or 2% of sunlight reaches this layer.
 Therefore, only few plants are able to thrive there which must be able to tolerate
low light conditions.
 In order to support their great height, many trees have buttress roots(also called
plank buttresses) which extend above the ground and along the trunk on all sides.
 Some plants in the lower layers of the rainforest have verylarge leavesin order to
make efficient use of the little sunlight which reaches them.
 Some plants, known as lianas, are vines which are rooted in the soil and grow up
the trunks of trees all the way into the canopy where their leaves can get more
sunlight.
 Some plants, known as epiphytes, grow on trees (their roots are not in the soil).
 They do not harm the trees and they do not get their nutrients from them. They
only use the trees for physical support.
 There are other plants which are parasites.

 They grow on other plants and get their nutrients from them, damaging them as
they do so.
 There are other plants known as strangler figs.
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 They start out by growing on a host tree, and then they grow long roots down the
trunk of the tree and into the soil.
 These roots grow larger and begin to surround the trunk of the host tree.
 Eventually the host tree will die, leaving the strangler fig in its place.
 Many parts of the virgin tropical rainforests have been cleared either for lumbering
or shifting cultivation.
Life & Development in Equatorial Regions
 The equatorial regions are generally sparsely populated with shifting cultivation as
major agricultural practice
 Major crops being manioc (tapioca), yams, maize, bananas & groundnuts
 Food is abundant in form of animals, birds, fishes, fruits, nuts & other jungle
produces.
 In the Amazon basin, Indian tribes collect rubber and in the Congo basin Pygmies
gather nuts.
 Certain high value industrial crops for which equatorial climate suits best are grown
now a days such as rubber, cocoa, oil palms, coconuts, sugarcane, coffee, tea etc.
 Home country of discovery of rubber, Brazil (Amazon basin) exports no natural rubber
due to tree diseases & lack of commercial organizations of Indian at Amazon lowlands.
 Currently, Malaysia & Indonesia are leading producers of rubber in the world.
 Cocoa is cultivated most extensively in West Africa with two most important
producers Ghana & Nigeria.
 From the same area another crop, oil palms have done equally well.
Factors affecting the development of Equatorial Regions:
 Under the conditions of excessive heat & high humidity, man is subjected to physical
& mental handicap
 One loses vigour in such an enervating environment along with high exposer to sun
strokes, malaria & yellow fever.
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 The hot, wet climate which stimulates rapid plant growth also encourages the spread
of pest & insects
 Germs & bacteria are most easily transmitted through moist air; which are injurious
to all man, animals & plants.
 Jungle is so luxuriant that it is quite a problem to clear small patches in it & even
difficult to maintain it.
 Lalang & thick grass springs up as soon as shade trees are cut & unless they are
weeded at regular intervals, they may choke crops & overwhelm estates.
 Roads & railways constructed through the equatorial lands have to cut through
forests & those who maintain them encounter wild animals, snakes & insects
 Once they are completed, they have a high maintenance cost.
 Therefore, many remote parts of Amazon basin & Congo are without modern
communications, with rivers as only natural highways.
 Though the tropics have great potential in timber resources, commercial extraction is
difficult as trees do not occur in homogeneous stands
 Have no frozen surface to facilitate logging & tropical hardwoods are sometimes too
heavy to float in the rivers, even if these flow in desired direction.
 Livestock farming is greatly handicapped by an absence of meadow grass
 Bullocks which are domesticated yields milk & beef well below than those in
temperate grasslands.
 In its virgin state, due to heavy leaf fall & decomposition of leaves by bacteria, a thick
mantle of humus makes the soil fairly fertile, but once the humus content is used
after shifting cultivation & natural vegetative cover is removed, the torrential
downpour soon wash out most of the soil nutrients. Therefore, soil deteriorates
rapidly with subsequent soil erosion.
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
THE TROPICAL MONSSON AND TROPICAL MARINE CLIMATE

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Tropical Monsoon Climate

 Also known as a tropical wet climate or trade-wind littoral climate
 Marked by seasonal reversal in wind direction giving well defined wet & dry seasons
 Mainly due to the difference in specific heat capacity between land and sea
 Tropical Monsoon climate is best developed in India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos,

Vietnam, Bangladesh, South China & Northern Australia
 Basically found beyond the equatorial region between 10 degree and 25 degree and
North and South of the equator.
 The tropical monsoon climate experiences abundant rainfall like that of the tropical
rain forest climate, but it is concentrated in the high-sun season.
 Being located near the equator, the tropical monsoon climate experiences warm
temperatures throughout the year.
 In the summer, when sun is overhead at Tropic of cancer, the great land masses of
the northern hemisphere are heated.
 Central Asia, backed by the lofty Himalayan ranges, gets heated intensely, creating a
region of extremely low pressure.
 The seas, which warm up much slower, remain comparatively cool
 At the same time, the southern hemisphere experiences winter, & a region of high
pressure is set up in the continental interior of Australia.
 Winds blow outward as south east monsoon to java, & after crossing the equator are
drawn towards the continental low pressure area reaching the Indian subcontinent
as south west monsoon.
 In winters, the conditions are reversed & the sun is overhead at the Tropic of
Capricorn while the central Asia gets extremely cold, creating a region of high
pressure with winds out-blowing as North East Monsoon.
 On crossing the equator, the winds are attracted to the low pressure centre in
Australia & arrive in Northern Australia as the North West Monsoon.
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 In other parts of the world, which experience a tropical monsoon climate, a similar
reversal of wind directions occurs.
 The monsoon climate has a high mean annual temperature and a small annual
temperature range like equatorial climate.
Seasons of Tropical Monsoon Climate

Cool, Dry Season (Oct – Feb)
 Average temperature ranges between 19 degree Celsius and 23 degree Celsius with
frost may occur at night in colder north; a centre of high pressure is developed over
Punjab.
 Out-blowing dry winds, the N-E Monsoon, bring little or no rain in northern Indian
subcontinent;
 However a small amount of rain falls in Punjab from cyclonic sources, vital for survival
of winter cereals.
 When the N-E Monsoon blows over the Bay of Bengal, it acquires moisture & thus
brings rain to the south eastern tip of Indian peninsula at this time of the year
 For e.g. Chennai receives 125 Cm of rainfall during October & November, accounting
for half its annual rainfall.
Hot Dry Season (March – Mid June)

 The temperature rises sharply with the sun’s northward shift to the Tropic of Cancer
with average temperature of 35 degree Celsius.
 Practically, no rain anywhere with an intense low pressure generated over N-W India.
Rainy Season (Mid June – Sep)

 With the burst of S-W monsoon in mid-June, torrential downpours sweep across the
country.
 Almost 95 % of annual rainfall is concentrated within this rainy season of approx. 4

months.
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 This pattern of concentrated heavy rainfall in summer is a characteristic feature of
the tropical monsoon climate.
The Retreating monsoon
 Amount & frequency of rain decreases towards the the end of the rainy season;
 It retreats gradually southwards after mid-September until it leaves the continent

altogether.
 Punjab plains which receive the S-W Monsoon earliest are the first to see the
withdrawal of the monsoon.
 The skies are clear again & cool, dry season returns in October, with the N-E
Monsoon.
Tropical Marine Climate

 This type of climate is experienced along the eastern coasts of tropical lands, receiving
steady rainfall from trade winds all the time.
 These areas experience between 120 cm to 200 cm of rainfall annually & include –
 Central America
 West Indies
 N-E Australia
 Philippines
 Parts of East Africa
 Madagascar
 the Guinea Coast
 Eastern Brazil
 The rainfall is both orographic where moist trade winds meet upland masses as in
eastern Brazil and convectional due to intense heating during the day in summers
 Tendency is towards a summer maximum as in monsoon lands, but without any

distinct dry period.
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 Regions which experience a tropical marine climate have hot & humid temperature
all year round but annual temperature range is often quite small.
 Temperatures are higher during the wetter season and lower during the drier season.
 Due to the steady influence of the trades, the tropical marine climate is more favorable
for habitation, but is more prone to severe tropical cyclones, hurricanes or typhoons.
Tropical Monsoon Forests

 The natural vegetation of tropical monsoon land depends on the amount of summer
rainfall.
 Trees are normally Deciduous, because of the marked dry period, during which they
shed their leaves to withstand drought.
 In tropical monsoon forests, the ecosystems which develop are very similar to the true
rainforests which develop in equatorial climates, but are more open, less luxuriant &
contains far fewer species.
 The layer structure of the forest trees consist of Canopy, understory & shrub layer
with average height 25 – 45 m & average rainfall 100 – 200 cm.
 Most of the forests yield valuable timber & prized for their durable hardwood such as
teak, Rosewood, Sal, sandalwood, Shisham, Banyan, Aracia & some varieties of
Eucalyptus in N- Australia.
 Together with the forests are bamboo thickets, which often grow to great heights;
thorny scrubs with scattered trees & long grass.
 Among hardwoods, Teak is extensively used for ship building, furniture & other
construction purposes because of its high durability, strength, immunity to
shrinkage, fungus & insects; with Burma alone accounting for 3/4th of the world
production
Agricultural Development in Monsoon lands

Major Food Crops
 Rice (Most important)
 Wheat
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 Millets
 Sorghum
 Gram
 Maize
 Beans (in drier areas where rice cannot be grown)
Lowland Cash Crops

 Sugarcane – India, Java, Cuba, Jamaica, Formosa, Trinidad & Barbados
 Jute – Ganga Brahmaputra Delta in India & Bangladesh
 Manila hemp / Abaca – Philippines (used for making a high quality rope)
 Other crops include Indigo, Cotton, Banana, Coconut & Spices
Highland plantation Crops

Coffee
 Originated in Ethiopia & Arabia, where it is still grown
 But Brazil now accounts for half the world production
 Also grows on highland slopes of India, Eastern Java & Central American states
Tea
 Originated in china & still important crop there for local consumption
 Major exporters are India, Java, Bangladesh & Srilanka
Shifting Cultivation
 Also practised in Tropical monsoon forests entirely for subsistence (for consumption
only)
 Major crops are sweet potato, beans, maize, paddy, yams & tapioca
 As tropical soils are mainly latosolic (high content of iron & aluminum oxide), hence
rapidly leaches away & easily exhausted
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 First crop may be bountiful, but the subsequent crops deteriorates
 Shifting cultivation is so widely practised amongst indigenous peoples that

different local names are used in different countries.
Ladang
 Malaysia
Taungya
 Burma
Tamrai
 Thailand
Caingin
 Philippines
Humah
 Java
Chena
 Sri Lanka
Milpa
 Africa & Central America
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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
By Goh Cheng Leong
CONTENTS
WEATHER

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Weather
 Pertains to the condition of atmosphere at any place at a specific time or for a
short period of time (Generally for hours or days)
Climate
 Average weather conditions of a specified area for a considerable time i.e. 30 – 35
years
 Generally, climate of temperate latitudes is far more variable than that of tropics.
 The climate of British Isle is so changeable that many people have commented that
‘Britain has no climate, only weather’.
 Conversely, the climate of Egypt is so static that it makes a good deal of sense when
people say that ‘Egypt has no weather, only climate’.
 Death rates are normally high in tropical countries & low in deserts, because germs
are not transmitted readily in regions of high temperature & low humidity.
 It is because of the variable water content in the atmosphere that we have such great
contrasts in weather & climate over different parts of the world.
 If we were to live in a dry atmosphere, absolutely without water, there would be no

weather & not much climate.
Elements of Weather & Climate
Rainfall
 Measured by Rain gauge
 An inch of rainfall means the amount of water that would cover the ground to a depth
of 1 inch, provided none evaporated, percolated or drained off
 Daily record of rainfall will be added at the end of the month to find the total rainfall
for that month
 Total for each month is again added at the end of the year to find the annual rainfall
 The mean annual rainfall is obtained from the averages of annual rainfall taken over
a long period of say 30 -35 years
 For plotting in maps, places having the same mean annual rainfall are joined by a
line called an isohyet
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Pressure
 Measured by barometer, invented by Galileo & Torricelli
 Air is made up of number of mixed gases & has weight, therefore exerts pressure on
the earth’s surface which varies from place to place & from time to time.
 As shown in diagram, variation in the atmospheric pressure on the mercury surface

is balanced by a column of mercury in glass tube.
 Any liquid can be used for this purpose, but mercury has been chosen because it
is the heaviest liquid known
 If ordinary water was used, corresponding column for normal atmospheric

pressure would be 34 feet
 On map, places of equal pressure are joined by the lines called isobars
 Pressure reading at different places varies with a number of factors viz. Altitude,
Gravitational forces at different latitudes & Temperature; due to sensitivity of
mercury to it.
 A mercury barometer that dips in liquid mercury is inconvenient for outdoor

measurements
 Hence a more probable but less accurate type known as aneroid barometer is used
 In airplanes, a modified type of aneroid barometer called altimeter is used & for
continuous record of pressure changes a self-recording barogram is used.
Temperature
 Temperature is measured by thermometer, a narrow glass tube filled with mercury or
alcohol
 A temperature taken in open daylight is very high, as it measures the direct insolation
of the sun, better described as temperature in the sun, used for measuring
temperature for agricultural purposes.
 But the temperature that we are accustomed to in climatic graphs is shade

temperature, i.e. temperature of the air.
 Hence, precautions must be taken to exclude the intensity of sun’s radiant heat,
which is done by placing thermometers in a standard meteorological shelter known
as Stevenson screen.
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 Lines joining places of equal temperature in the map are termed as isotherms
Humidity
 Defined as amount of water vapour present in air
 At any specific temp., amount of water vapour that can be held by air has a definite
limit known as saturation point
 Air at saturation point is known as saturated air.
 Temperature at which saturation occurs is known as Dew point
 Capacity of air to absorb water vapour increases with increase in temperature.
Absolute Humidity
 Expressed in gm / m3
 Weight of actual amount of water vapour present in unit volume of air
Specific Humidity
 Expressed gm / kg
 Weight of water vapour present in per unit weight of air.
 Not affected by change in pressure or temperature
Relative Humidity
 Expressed in %age
 Ratio of water vapour in air at a particular temp. to total amount of water vapour
required to saturate the same air at same temperature.
 Relative humidity increases with increase in water vapour in air & decreases with
increase in temp.
 Relative humidity is measured by Hygrometer
Winds
 The instrument widely used for measuring wind direction is a wind vane or weather
clock
 The speed of the wind is generally measured by anemometer
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Sunshine
 In meteorological station, sunshine duration is recorded by a sun dial
 On maps, places with equal sunshine duration are joined by isohels

Clouds
 When air rises, it is cooled by expansion & after dew point has been reached, cooling
leads to condensation of water vapour in atmosphere.
 Tiny droplets of water vapour which are too small to fall as rain or snow will be
suspended in the air & float as clouds
 The amount of cloud cover in the sky is expressed in eighths or Oktas for e.g. 4/8 is
half covered & 8/8 is complete overcast
 On maps, places with an equal degree of cloudiness are joined by lines known as
isonephs
The Classification of Clouds:
A. High Clouds:
 Mainly Cirrus
 Feather Form
 20-40000 feet above ground
i. Cirrus:
 Fibrous
 Appears like wisps
 Often called mares tails
 Indicates fair weather
 Gives brilliant sunset
ii. Cirrocumulus:
 Appears like white globular masses
iii. Cirrostratus:
 Thin white sheet or veil
 Sky looks milky
 Sun/moon shines through it with characteristic halo.
B. Medium Clouds:
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 7-20000 feet
iv. Alto Cumulus:
 Wooly
 Bumpy clouds
 Arranged in layers
 Appears like waves in sky
 Indicate fine weather
v. Alto stratus:
 Denser
 Greyish clouds
 Watery look
C. Low Clouds:
vi. Strata Cumulus:
 Rough
 Bumpy cloud
 Great contrast between the bright and shaded parts
vii. Stratus:
 Very low cloud
 Grey and thick
 Appear like a low ceiling and highland fog
 Dull weather with a light drizzle
 Reduces the visibility of aircraft
 Danger clouds
viii. Nimbo Stratus:
 Dark
 Dull Cloud
 Clearly Layered
 Also known as rain cloud
 Bring continuous rain/snow or sleet
D. Clouds with great vertical extent:
 2-30000 feet
 Cumulus/heap clouds
 No definite height
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ix. Cumulus:
 Vertical cloud
 Rounded top and horizontal base
 Typical of humid tropical region
 Fair weather cloud
x. Cumulonimbus:
 An overgrown cumulus cloud
 2000 feet-30000 feet
 Black and white globular masses
 Take a fantastic range of shapes
 Frequently seen in tropical afternoons
 Referred in thunder cloud
 Brings convectional rain
 Accompanied by lighting and thunder
Other Elements Pertaining to visibility:

Haze
 The term is usually used connection with the reduction of visibility in regions of low
humidity
 This is caused by smoke & dust particles in industrial areas; or by unequal refraction
of light in air of different densities in the lower atmosphere
Mist:
 Condensation in water vapour in air causes small droplets of water
 Forming clouds at ground level
 Reduces visibility
 Occurs in wet air
Fog:
 Water condensing on dust
 Occurs in the lower strata of the atmosphere
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IAS ABHIYAN

CERTIFICATE, PHYSICAL AND

ARID OR DESERT LANFORMS

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Reg / Stony Desert

Erg / Sandy Desert

 Winds deposit vast stretches of undulating sand dunes in the direction

Mechanism of Desert/Arid Erosion

Rock pedestals / Mushroom rocks

 Rock fragments weathered from mountains

Landforms of Wind Deposition in Deserts

 Materials eroded & transported by winds must come to rest somewhere.

Seif or longitudinal dunes

Landform of water actions in desert

 Although rainfall is scanty in desert areas but thunderstorm &

 Formed in arid or semi-arid areas by intermittent streams flowing into

CERTIFICATE, PHYSICAL AND

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 The constantly moving waves that transport beach

 In their forward surge, waves splashing against the coast

 On limestone coasts, the solvent action of the sea water on

Coastal Features of Erosion

Coastal Features of Deposition

 Formed due to sinking of the land or rise of the sea

 Formed due to the uplift of the land or fall in the sea

Fjord coasts – Drowned glaciated valleys

CERTIFICATE, PHYSICAL AND

ISLANDS & CORAL REEFS

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Islands & Coral Reefs

Formed where topmost part of cone of volcano rise from the

Types of Coral Reefs

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The Formation and Origin of lakes

Lakes formed by earth movement

Rift Valley Lakes

Lakes formed by Glaciation

Rock Hollow Lakes

Lakes formed due to Moraine damming of Valleys

Lakes formed due to deposition of glacial drifts

Lakes formed by volcanic activity

Lakes formed due to subsidence of volcanic land surface

 Subsidence leaves behind a wide & hollow depression in which a lake

Lakes formed by Erosion

Wind deflated lakes

Lakes formed by Deposition

Lakes formed due to marine deposits

Lakes formed due to landslides, screes & avalanches

Lakes formed by Human & Biological activities

Lakes made by animals

CERTIFICATE, PHYSICAL AND

LANDFORMS MADE BY RUNNING WATER

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Processes of river action

Coarser materials such as pebbles, stones, rocks &

River Erosion & Transportation Processes

Are asymmetrical & form when river downcuts at a less

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Piedmont At the foot of the mountain ranges, several glaciers may

 Formed in a cirque, a bowl-shaped depression on the

Streams of flowing ice that are confined within steep