Module in Physical

Geography

Dr. Leonora M. Rodriguez

Faculty, CTE
Batangas State University

Module in SSEd 121 - PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

 This module is intended for the course SSEd 121 - Physical Geography which
introduces all major aspects of the Earth System, identifying physical phenomena
and natural processes and stressing their characteristics, relationships, interactions,
and distributions. The course covers a wide range of topics, including the
atmosphere, the solid earth, oceans and other water bodies, and the living
environments of the planet. It provides students with knowledge and understanding
they need to make informed decisions regarding the environments that they will
interact with throughout their lives.

In this module, you will be assisted to bridge the gap between scientific theory
and practical application. You will study these lessons, namely:

Chapter 1 - Physical Geography: Earth Environments and Systems

Chapter 2 - Representation of Earth

Chapter 3 - Solar Energy and Earth Sun Relationship

Chapter 4 -The Atmosphere, Temperature, and Earth’s Energy Budget

Chapter 5- Global Climates and Climate Change

Chapter 6- Biogeography

Chapter 7 - Earth Materials and Plate Tectonics

Chapter 8 - Tectonic and Volcanic Processes and Landforms

TARGET SCHEDULE:
WEEK 10-11 - Chapter 5

WEEK 12-13 - Chapter 6

WEEK 14-15 - Chapter 7

WEEK 16-17 - Chapter 8

What are the intended learning outcomes of

this module?
INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Demonstrate factual knowledge on five major themes in geography: location,

place, people-environment relations, movement and region.

2. Use knowledge learned from previous geography courses to explain the

importance of environmental transformation and scientific transformation in
changing the ways people live.

3. Apply course materials along with techniques and procedures covered in this
course to analyze important local and global economic issues.

4. Demonstrate specific skills, competencies and thought processes sufficient to

support further study or work in this course or related fields.

5. Demonstrate reasoned argument to the solution of familiar and unfamiliar

problems relevant to the course.

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
 What is “a human perspective” with regard to world geography? The short
answer is that it is the study of the relationship between people and their physical
surroundings. The long answer is that it is an in-depth study of humankind’s
relationship (past and present) with Earth and how human activities (past and
present) impact Earth and the challenges now faced in dealing with the aftermath of
those activities. Since the 1960s, the world has been seen as interconnected. What
happens in one area of the world impacts other areas. Population, resources, food,
industrialization, and urbanization are issues with which each country must cope. At
the forefront of those challenges is the environment, and how we can protect the
environment while still solving the world’s problems: the increasing world
population, the declining world resources, maintaining an adequate world food
supply, and the side effects of world urbanization and industrialization trends.

The study of geography dates back to the days when people were nomadic
hunters and gatherers who drew maps for themselves on stone tablets. Although
these maps were little more than rough sketches, they are proof that people were
aware of the need to understand the topography of the land to aid in their search for
food and shelter. Since that time, geographic methods have evolved through three
main stages and the discipline of geography itself has become much more formal and
technically advanced. Presently, geography can be defined as the study of Earth’s
physical features, climate, resources, and population. This is a very broad definition
and it is important to remember that each of these geographic concepts should be
studied in greater detail.

The course reviews the major world challenges and demonstrates how those
challenges are connected, not only globally in a physical sense, but also to each
other, and how they are all connected to, and have an impact on, the environment. It
is all about connections.

CHAPTER 5
GLOBAL CLIMATES AND CLIMATE CHANGE

What are the objectives of this lesson?

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to be able to:

• Define what climate change is
• Describe the two systems of climate classification
• Enumerate the kinds of climate according to the Koppen System

Overview of the topic

I f someone asked you “What’s the weather like where you live?” how might you
respond? Would you talk about the storm that occurred last week or say that
winters are very mild where you reside? You may find that a question dealing with
local atmospheric conditions is difficult to answer. Is the question referring to
weather or climate? It is essential that you can distinguish between the two.
Weather and climate were defined briefly in Chapter 4. In this chapter, we begin
the study of climate in much greater detail.

Unlike weather, which describes the state of the atmosphere over short periods
of time, climatic analysis relies heavily on averages, expected variations, and
statistical probabilities involving data accumulated for the atmospheric elements
over periods of many years. Climatic descriptions include such things as averages,
extremes, and patterns of change for temperature, precipitation, pressure,
sunshine, wind velocity and direction, and other weather elements throughout
the year.

For decades scientists have realized that Earth has experienced major climate
shifts during its history. It was believed that these shifts were gradual and could
not be detected by humans during their lifetimes. However, recent research
reveals that climate has shifted repeatedly between extremes over some
exceedingly short intervals. Moreover, the research has revealed that climate
during the most recent 10,000 years has been extraordinarily stable compared to
similar intervals in the past. To predict future climates, it is critical that we
examine the details of past climate changes, including both the magnitude and
rates of prehistoric climate change. Earth has experienced both ice ages and
lengthy periods that were warmer than today. These fluctuations serve as
indicators of the natural variability of climate in the absence of significant human
impact.

Classifying Climates
Knowledge that climate varies from region to region dates to ancient times. The
early Greeks (such as Aristotle, circa 350 BC) classified the known world into
Torrid, Temperate, and Frigid zones based on their relative warmth. It was also
recognized that these zones varied systematically with latitude and that the flora
and fauna reflected these changes as well. With the further exploration of the
world, naturalists noticed that the distribution of climates could be explained
using factors such as sun angles, prevailing winds, elevation, and proximity to
large water bodies. The two weather variables used most often as indicators of
climate are temperature and precipitation. To classify climates accurately,
climatologists require a minimum of 30 years of data to describe the climate of an
area. The invention of an instrument to reliably measure temperature—the
thermometer—dates only to Galileo in the early 17th century. European
settlement of and sporadic collection of temperature and precipitation data from
distant colonies began in the 1700s but was not routine until the mid-19th
century. This was soon followed in the early 20th century by some of the first
attempts to classify global climates using actual temperature and precipitation
data.

The Thornthwaite System

Developed by an American climatologist, C. Warren Thornthwaite, the
Thornthwaite system establishes moisture availability at the subregional scale ( ●
Fig. 8.2). It is the system preferred by those examining climates on a local scale.
Development of detailed climate classification systems such as the Thornthwaite
system became possible only after temperature and precipitation data were
widely collected at numerous locations beginning in the latter half of the 19th
century

The Köppen System

The most widely used climate classification is based on regional temperature and
precipitation patterns. It is referred to as the Köppen system after the German
botanist and climatologist who developed it. Wladimir Köppen recognized that
major vegetation associations reflect the area’s climate. Hence, his climate
regions were formulated to coincide with well-defined vegetation regions, and
each climate region was described by the natural vegetation most often found
there. Evidence of the strong influence of Köppen’s system is seen in the wide
usage of his climatic terminology, even in nonscientific literature (for example,
steppe climate, tundra climate, rainforest climate).

Simplified Köppen Classification

The Köppen system, as modified by later climatologists, divides the world into six
major climate categories. The first four are based on the annual range of
temperatures: humid tropical climates (A), humid mesothermal (mild winter)
climates (C), humid microthermal (severe winter) climates (D), and polar climates
(E). Another category, the arid and semiarid climates (BW and BS), identifies
regions that are characteristically dry based on both temperature and
precipitation values. Because plants need more moisture to survive as the
temperature increases, the arid and semiarid climates include regions where the
temperatures range from cold to very hot. The final category, highland climates
(H), identifies mountainous regions where vegetation and climate vary rapidly as
a result of changes in elevation and exposure.

Climate Regions
Each of our modified Köppen climate types is defined by specific parameters for
monthly averages of temperature and precipitation; thus, it is possible to draw
boundaries between these types on a world map. The areas within these
boundaries are examples of one type of world region. The term region, as used by
geographers, refers to an area that has recognizably similar internal
characteristics that are distinct from those of other areas. A region may be
described on any basis that unifies it and differentiates it from others.

Scale and Climate

Climate can be measured at different scales (macro, meso, or micro). The climate
of a large (macro) region, such as the Sahara, may be described correctly as hot
and dry. Climate can also be described at mesoscale levels; for example, the
climate of coastal Southern California is sunny and warm, with dry summers and
wet winters. Finally, climate can be described at local scales, such as on the slopes
of a single hill. This is termed a microclimate. At the microclimate level, many
factors will cause the climate to differ from nearby areas.

Climates of the Past

To try to predict future climates, it is critical to understand the magnitude and
frequency of previous climate changes. Knowledge that Earth experienced major
climate changes in the past is not new. In 1837, Louis Agassiz, a European
naturalist, proposed that Earth had experienced major periods of glaciation,
periods known as ice ages, when large areas of the continents were covered by
huge sheets of ice. He presented evidence that glaciers (flowing ice) had once
covered most of England, northern Europe, and Asia, as well as the foothill
regions of the Alps. Agassiz arrived in the United States in 1846 and found similar
evidence of widespread glaciation throughout North America.
The Ice Ages
Until the 1960s, it was widely believed that Earth had experienced four major
glacial advances followed by warmer interglacial periods. These glacial cycles
occurred during the geologic epoch known as the Pleistocene (from about 1.6 to
2.0 million years up to 10,000 years ago). In Europe, these glacial epochs were
termed the Günz (oldest), Mindel, Riss, and Würm. Likewise in North America,
evidence of four glacial periods was recognized; these were termed the
Nebraskan (oldest), Kansan, Illinoian, and Wisconsinan glaciations.

The second major discovery was that evidence of detailed climate changes has
been recorded in the sediments on the ocean floors. Unlike the continental
record, the deep-sea sedimentary record had not been disrupted by subsequent
glacial advances. Rather, the slow, continuous sediment record provides a
complete history of climate changes during the past several million years. The
 most important discovery of the deep-sea record is that Earth has experienced
numerous major glacial advances during the Pleistocene, not just the four that
had been identified previously. Today, the names of only two of the North
American glacial periods, the Illinoian and Wisconsinan, have been retained.
Because the deep-sea sedimentary record is so important to climate-change
studies, it is important to understand how the record is deciphered. The deep-sea
mud contains the microscopic record of innumerable surface-dwelling marine
animals that built tiny shells for protection. When they died, these tiny shells sank
to the seafloor, forming the layers of mud. Different species thrive in different
surface-water temperatures; therefore, the stratigraphic record of the tiny fossils
produces a detailed history of water- temperature fluctuations.

Rates of Climate Change

To answer questions about such rapid rates of climate change requires a more
detailed record of climate than the deep-sea sediments can provide. This is
because the deep-sea sedimentary record is extraordinarily slow—a few
centimeters of sea mud accumulates in a thousand years. Rapid shifts in climate
during periods of a few hundred years are not recorded clearly in the seafloor
sediments. This problem has been solved by coring the thick glaciers covering
Antarctica and Greenland. Glacial ice records yearly amounts of snowfall and is
much more likely to provide short term evidence of climate changes. Oxygen
isotope analysis is utilized again, this time with the glacial ice of Antarctica and,
most recently, Greenland. These analyses have revealed a detailed record of
climate changes during the past 250,000 years.

Causes of Climate Change

Although theories about the causes of climate change are numerous, they can be
organized into five broad categories: (1) astronomical variations in Earth’s orbit;
(2) changes in Earth’s atmosphere; (3) changes in oceanic circulation; (4) changes
in landmasses; and (5) asteroid and comet impacts.

Predicting Future Climates

With so many variables potentially responsible for climate change, reliably predicting
future climate is an exceedingly difficult proposition at best. The primary problem in
climate prediction is posed by natural variability. ● Figure 8.30 displays the frequency
and magnitudes of climate changes that have occurred naturally over the past
150,000 years. Although the Holocene has been the most stable interval of the whole
period, a detailed examination of the Holocene record reveals a wide range of
climates. For example, a long interval of climates, hotter than today’s climate,
occurred during the Altithermal. This interval was characterized by the dominance of
grasslands in the Sahara and severe droughts on the Great Plains. Other warm
intervals occurred during the Bronze Age, during the second half of the Roman
Empire, and in medieval times. An unusually cold interval began with the eruption of
Santorini (the site of a civilization that some believe was the basis for the Atlantis
myth) in the Aegean Sea. Other cold periods occurred during the Dark Ages and again
beginning about 1150 to 1460 in the North Atlantic and 1560 to 1850 in continental
Europe and North America. These last episodes collectively have been termed the
Little Ice Age. The Little Ice Age had major impacts on civilizations—from the isolation
of the Greenland settlements established during the medieval warm period to the
abandonment of the Colorado Plateau region by the Anasazi cultures. An important
point to remember is that, with the exception of the cold interval that began with the
eruption of Santorini, climatologists do not know what variables changed to cause
each of these major climate fluctuations. Attempts to predict future climates are
complicated further by the operation of many feedback cycles. Simply increasing the
amount of heat that is trapped by gases in the lower atmosphere may or may not
result in long-term warming.
 Test your knowledge
Application No. 5

Answer the following questions.

1. What two atmospheric elements are most often used when classifying
climates?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. Why is there a need for more than one system of climate classification?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

3. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of the Koppen system?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

4. How does a geographer identify and define a region?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

5. What climate changes are most likely in the immediate and more distant
future?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 6
BIOGEOGRAPHY

What are the objectives of this lesson?

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to be able to:

• Explain the productivity in the ecosystem
• Describe how natural vegetation develops succession of stages
• Discuss the different classification of terrestrial ecosystems or biomes

Overview of the topic

Biogeography shares the study of the biosphere with ecology. Biogeographers

focus their attention on the distribution of plants and animals and the processes
responsible for those distributions. They recognize that plants, animals, and the
environments in which they live are interdependent, each affecting the others. The
functional interrelationships of plants, animals, and their physical environment
constitute an ecosystem.

Ecosystems may be large or small, marine or terrestrial, short-lived or long-lived.

Ecosystems are open systems with free movement of energy and material across
their boundaries. Ecosystems have four major components. The first is the nonliving
or abiotic part of the system - the physical environment. The second and perhaps
most important component consists of the basic producers or autotrophs. Plants are
the most important autotrophs because of their ability to perform photosynthesis.
The third component of most ecosystems are the consumers or heterotrophs. These
are animals that eat plants or other animals. The fourth component, the
decomposers, are essential to ecosystems because they feed on dead plants and
animals as well as waste material and return nutrients to the soil and sea. The
components of an ecosystem form a sequence in their levels of eating called a
trophic structure. Autotrophs are at the first level. Heterotrophs may occupy several
levels because they include herbivores that eat only plant material, carnivores that
eat other animals, and omnivores that feed on both plants and animals.
Decomposers comprise the last level of a trophic structure. This sequence of levels is
referred to as a food chain and several food chains usually overlap and interact to
form food webs. The total amount of living material in an ecosystem is its biomass.
By measuring the biomass at each trophic level, the energy flow within the system
can be assessed.

Succession and Climax

Productivity in an ecosystem is defined as the rate at which new organic material is
created at a particular trophic level. Primary productivity refers to the formation of
new organic matter through photosynthesis by autotrophs, whereas secondary
productivity refers to the rate of formation of new organic material at the
heterotroph level. Primary productivity is greater in terrestrial ecosystems than in
marine ecosystems and most agricultural ecosystems are far less productive than the
natural systems in the same environment. In both primary and secondary
productivity the rate of energy transfer from one trophic level to the next is low. Each
organism within an ecosystem performs a specific role and lives in a certain habitat.
The combination of role and habitat for a particular species is its ecological niche.
If the plants that make up the first trophic level developed naturally the resulting
plant community is called natural vegetation. Natural vegetation develops in a
succession of stages. A pioneer community alters the environment that with time
allows new plant communities to appear. This process continues as each new
community further changes the environment. The final step, when the community is
at equilibrium with the environment, is the climax community. However, the dynamic
nature of each habitat precludes a climax community from staying in equilibrium for
an indefinite period of time. Biogeographers today view plant communities and their
ecosystems as a landscape. The landscape of an area is a mosaic of interlocking parts.
The dominant area of the mosaic is referred to as the matrix, with gaps called
patches, caused by natural processes and linear features crossing the matrix termed
corridors.
Environmental Controls
The major types of terrestrial ecosystems, or biomes, are each associated with
specific ranges of temperature and critical precipitation characteristics. Of the
various climatic factors that influence ecosystems, sunlight conditions are the most
critical. The quality, intensity, and duration of sunlight all impact on composition of
an ecosystem. A second important climatic control is the availability of water. Water
is needed for germination, growth, and reproduction. Organisms are affected less by
temperature variations than by sunlight and water availability. While there are
optimal temperatures for certain plant functions, they can take place under a wide
range of temperature for most plants.
Other environmental factors also impact ecosystems. Soil variations influence plant
distribution and often cause sharp boundaries in vegetative type. Topography
influences ecosystems indirectly by providing many microclimates, each covering a
small area. Biotic relationships are also important within an ecosystem because
interactions between organisms may be beneficial to both species involved; whereas
others may have an adverse effect on one or both. Finally, humans, both intentionally
and unintentionally, modify ecosystems. As a result, most natural vegetation has
been eliminated as populations grew and human needs were met.
Classification of Terrestrial Ecosystems
All of Earth's biomes can be categorized into one of four types: forest, grassland,
desert, or tundra. The four major types of ecosystems can then be subdivided into
smaller groups that largely reflect the impact of climate and, to a lesser extent, soil.
Tropical forests have several subdivisions. Tropical rainforests are found in the
equatorial lowlands where temperatures are high and water is always sufficient.
Tropical rainforests usually consist of a large number of similar looking evergreen
tree species. Monsoon forests have adapted to the seasonal distribution of rainfall in
the tropical monsoon climate region. The number of species is less than in the
rainforest, and the overall height and density of vegetation are also somewhat less.
In areas of extended seasonal drought other types of tropical forests have developed.
For the most part these consist of low-growing thornbush and scrub. Along tropical
coasts mangrove thrive.
Forest biomes of the middle-latitudes differ from the tropics because the dominant
trees have evolved to withstand periods of water deprivation resulting from low
temperatures or annual variations in precipitation. In the Mediterranean climates,
the summer dry season has resulted in a distinctive vegetation that is low growing
with small hard-surfaced leaves and deep root systems. In the United States this
vegetation is called chaparral and in the Mediterranean Sea region it is called maquis.
In areas where moisture is sufficient evergreen oaks are found in Mediterranean
climates. In the humid middle-latitudes broad-leaf deciduous forests have evolved. In
the winter these trees drop their leaves and become dormant. Deciduous forests can
be as tall as tropical forests and just as dense, producing a closed canopy. North and
south of the broad-leaf deciduous forests are mixed forests that include both conifers
and broad-leaf deciduous trees. Broad-leaf evergreen forests are rare in the
middle-latitudes and are found only in certain Southern Hemisphere locations.
Conifer forests exist in poleward latitudes where most of the broad-leafed species
cannot endure the climatic severity and impoverished soils. The hard, narrow
needles of coniferous species transpire much less moisture than broad leaves.
Conifers, especially pines, grow in sandy soils or other soils that are acidic. The large
boreal forests of the northern latitudes are dominated by spruce and fir species. Not
all conifers are confined to northern latitudes. They are also found at higher
elevations in middle-latitude mountains and on sandy coastal beaches.
In general, grass biomes are dominant only where trees and shrubs cannot maintain
themselves either because of excessive or deficient moisture. Tropical grasslands,
termed savanna, are tall and coarse with bare ground visible between their tufts. A
scattering of trees are found within the grasses. Savanna grasslands are found largely
in association with the tropical savanna climate and are adapted to alternating wet
and dry seasons. The middle-latitude grasslands are the transition from
middle-latitude forests to desert vegetation. In the more humid areas the grasses
may be 3 meters high but only 15 centimeters in dry areas. Consequently the grasses
are usually divided into tall-grass prairie and short-grass prairie. Many of the
middle-latitude grasslands have been claimed for agricultural purposes.
When moisture becomes too sparse to even support grasses then either special
forms of plant life have evolved or the surface is bare. The desert biome has plants
that are drought-resisting (xerophytes) or drought-evading. Xerophytes have
extensive root systems and waxy coverings to combat transpiration, and they can
store water when available. The nonxerophytic vegetation consists of short-lived
annuals that rapidly go through their complete life cycle in a few weeks when
moisture becomes available.
As vegetation changes poleward in latitude or upward in elevation, it reaches regions
where the growing seasons are too short to support tree growth. The biome that
does exist in these regions must be able to tolerate permafrost, icy winds, summer
frost, and waterlogged summer soils. This biome, termed tundra, is a mix of grasses,
herbs, sedges, mosses, lichens, and a few low-growing shrubs. Tundra vegetation is
often divided into bush, grass, and desert tundra for descriptive purposes.
Marine Ecosystems
The living organisms of the ocean can be divided into three groups. Free-floating
plankton comprises the first group and this group can be subdivided into microscopic
plants (phytoplankton) and microscopic animals (zooplankton). The second group is
termed necton and this group includes the animals that swim in the oceans. The
third group, the benthos, are the plants and animals that live on the ocean floor. The
phytoplankton are most important to the ocean food chain since they convert solar
energy to food through photosynthesis. Most ocean organisms are concentrated in
the upper layer of the oceans where solar energy is readily available. Hence the
continental shelves usually have the highest concentrations of marine life, although
organisms may also be abundant in areas where there is upwelling of deeper waters
or a mixing of cold and warm ocean currents.

Test your knowledge

Application No. 6

Answer the following questions.

1. Why are needle-leaf trees better adapted to physiologic drought than

broad-leaf trees?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. What drought resistant adaptation of plants can be observed across parts of

Arizona?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

3. Why does all vegetation, including the occasional shrub or stunted tree grow
so close to the ground?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

4.To which group of ocean organisms do the elephant seals belong? Discuss briefly.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

5.Describe the three groups of marine ecosystem.

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 7
EARTH MATERIALS AND PLATE TECTONICS

What are the objectives of this lesson?

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to be able to:

 • Discuss the composition and structure of the earth
• Describe what are plate tectonics
• Discuss the three major categories of rocks based on mode of formation

Overview of the topic

The Composition and Structure of Earth

Core, mantle, and crust are divisions based on composition. The crust makes up less
than 1 percent of Earth by mass, consisting of oceanic crust and continental crust is
often more felsic rock. The mantle is hot and represents about 68 percent of Earth’s
mass. Finally, the core is mostly iron metal. The core makes up about 31% of the
Earth. Lithosphere and asthenosphere are divisions based on mechanical properties.
The lithosphere is composed of both the crust and the portion of the upper mantle
that behaves as a brittle, rigid solid. The asthenosphere is partially molten upper
mantle material that behaves plastically and can flow.

Earth’s Crust
Earth’s solid and rocky exterior is the crust, which is composed of a great variety of
rocks that respond in diverse ways and at varying rates to Earth-shaping processes.
The crust is the only portion of the lithosphere of which Earth scientists have direct
knowledge, yet its related surface materials form only about 1% of Earth’s planetary
mass. Earth’s crust forms the exterior of the lithosphere and is of primary importance
in understanding surface processes and landforms. Earth’s deep interior components,
the core and mantle, are of concern to physical geographers primarily because they
are responsible for and can help explain changes in the lithosphere, particularly the
crust, which forms the ocean floors and continents.
Minerals and Rocks
Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. A mineral is an inorganic, naturally
occurring substance represented by a distinct chemical formula and a specific
crystalline form. A rock, in contrast, is an aggregate (collection) of various types of
minerals or an aggregate of multiple individual pieces (grains) of the same kind of
mineral. In other words, a rock is not one single, uniform crystal. The most common
elements found in Earth’s crust, and therefore in the minerals and rocks that make up
the crust, are oxygen and silicon, followed by aluminum and iron, and the bases:
calcium, sodium, potassium, and magnesium. As you can see in Table 13.1, these
eight most common chemical elements, out of the more than 100 known, account for
almost 99% of Earth’s crust by weight. The most common minerals are combinations
of these eight elements.

Minerals
Every mineral has distinctive and recognizable physical characteristics that aid in its
identification. Some of these characteristics include hardness, luster, cleavage,
tendency to fracture, and specific gravity (weight per unit volume). Luster describes
the shininess of the mineral. Cleavage signifies how the mineral tends to break along
uniform planes, while fracture specifies the form of irregular breaks in the mineral.
Minerals are crystalline in nature, although some crystals may only be evident when
viewed through a microscope. Mineral crystals display consistent geometric shapes
that express their molecular structure

Rocks
Although a few rock types are composed of many particles of a single mineral, most
rocks consist of several minerals ( ● Fig. 13.7). Each constituent mineral in a rock
remains separate and retains its own distinctive characteristics. The properties of the
rock as a whole are a composite of those of its various mineral constituents. The
number of rock-forming minerals that are common is limited, but they combine
through a multitude of processes to produce an enormous variety of rock types
A mass of solid rock that has not been weathered is called bedrock. Bedrock may be
exposed at the surface of Earth or it may be overlain by a cover of broken and
decomposed rock fragments, called regolith. Soil may or may not have formed on the
regolith. On steep slopes, regolith may be absent and bedrock exposed if running
water, gravity, or some other surface process removed the weathered rock
fragments. A mass of exposed bedrock is often referred to as an outcrop ( Fig. 13.8).
Geologists distinguish three major categories of rocks based on mode of formation.
These rock types are igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.
Igneous Rocks
When molten rock material cools and solidifies it becomes an igneous rock.
Molten rock matter below Earth’s surface is called magma, whereas molten rock
material at the surface is known specifically as lava. Lava, therefore, is the only
form of molten rock matter that we can see. Lava erupts from volcanoes or
fissures in the crust at temperatures as high as 1090°C (2000°F). There are two
major categories of igneous rocks: extrusive and intrusive.
Sedimentary Rocks
As their name implies, sedimentary rocks are derived from accumulated
sediment, that is, unconsolidated mineral materials that have been eroded,
transported, and deposited. After the materials have accumulated, often in
horizontal layers, pressure from the material above compacts the sediment,
expelling water and reducing pore space. Cementation occurs when silica, calcium
carbonate, or iron oxide precipitates between particles of sediment. The
processes of compaction and cementation transform (lithify) sediments into solid,
coherent layers of rock. There are three major categories of sedimentary rocks:
clastic, organic, and chemical precipitates.
Metamorphic Rocks
Metamorphic means “changed form.” Enormous heat and pressure deep in
Earth’s crust can alter (metamorphose) an existing rock into a new rock type that
is completely different from the original by recrystallizing the minerals without
creating molten rock matter. Compared to the original rocks, the resulting
metamorphic rocks are typically harder and more compact, have a reoriented
crystalline structure, and are more resistant to weathering. There are two major
types of metamorphic rocks, based on the presence (foliated) or absence
(nonfoliated) of platy surfaces or wavy alignments of light and dark minerals that
formed during metamorphism.

Continental Drift
Most of us have probably noted on a world map that the Atlantic coasts of South
America and Africa look as if they could fit together. In fact, if a globe were made
into a spherical jigsaw puzzle, several widely separated landmasses could fit
alongside each other without large gaps or overlaps ( ● Fig. 13.21)

In the early 1900s, Alfred Wegener, a German climatologist, proposed the theory
of continental drift, the idea that continents and other landmasses have shifted
their positions during Earth history. Wegener’s evidence for continental drift
included the close fit of continental coastlines on opposite sides of oceans and
the trends of mountain ranges on land areas that also match across oceans. He
cited comparable geographical patterns of fossils and rock types found on
different continents that he felt could not result from chance and did not reflect
current climatic conditions. To explain the spatial distributions of these features,
he reasoned that the continents must have been previously joined. Wegener also
 noted evidence of great climate change, such as ancient evidence of glaciation
where the Sahara Desert is today and tropical fossils found in Antarctica, that
could be explained best by large landmasses moving from one climate zone to
another. Wegener hypothesized that all the continents had once been part of a
single supercontinent, which he called Pangaea, that later divided into two large
landmasses, one in the Southern Hemisphere (Gondwana), and one in the
Northern Hemisphere (Laurasia). Later, these two supercontinents also broke
apart into sections (the present continents) and drifted to their current positions.
Laurasia in the Northern Hemisphere consisted of North America, Europe, and
Asia. Gondwana in the Southern Hemisphere was made up of South America,
Africa, Australia, Antarctica, and India ( ● Fig. 13.22)

Supporting Evidence for Continental Drift

About a half century later, in the late 1950s and 1960s, Earth scientists began giving
serious consideration to Wegener’s notion of moving continents. New information
appeared from research in oceanography, geophysics, and other Earth sciences, aided
by sonar, radioactive dating of rocks, and improvements in equipment for measuring
Earth’s magnetism. These scientific efforts discovered much new evidence that
indicated the movement of portions of the lithosphere, including the continents

Plate tectonics, the modern theory to explain the movement of continents, suggests
that the rigid and brittle outer shell of Earth, that is, the lithosphere (crust and
uppermost mantle), is broken into several separate segments called lithospheric
plates that rest on, and are carried along with, the flowing plastic asthenosphere ( ●
Fig. 13.25). Tectonics involves large-scale forces originating within Earth that cause
parts of the lithosphere to move around. In plate tectonics, the lithospheric plates
move as distinct and discrete units. In some places they pull away from each other
(diverge), in other places they push together (converge), and elsewhere they slide
alongside each other (move laterally). Seven major plates have proportions as large
as or larger than continents or ocean basins. Five other plates are of minor size,
although they have maintained their own identity and direction of movement for
some time. Several additional plates are even smaller and exist in active zones at the
boundaries between major plates. All major plates consist of both continental and
oceanic crust although the largest, the Pacific plate, is primarily oceanic. To
understand how plate tectonics operates and why plates move, we must consider the
scientific evidence that was gathered to test this theory. We should also evaluate how
well this theory holds up under rigorous examination
Tectonic Plate Movement
The shifting of tectonic plates relative to one another provides an explanation for
many of Earth’s surface features. Plate tectonics theory enables physical geographers
to better understand not only our planet’s ancient geography but also the modern
global distributions and spatial relationships among such diverse, but often related,
phenomena as earthquakes, volcanic activity, zones of crustal movement, and major
landform features .

Growth of Continents
The origin of continents is still being debated. It is clear that the continents tend to
have a core area of very old igneous and metamorphic rocks that may represent the
deeply eroded roots of ancient mountains. These core regions have been worn down
by hundreds of millions of years of erosion to create areas of relatively low relief that
are located far from active plate boundaries. As a result, they have a history of
tectonic stability over an immense period of time. These ancient crystalline rock
areas are called continental shields ( ● Fig. 13.36). The Canadian, Scandinavian, and
Siberian shields are outstanding examples. Around the peripheries of the exposed
shields, flat-lying, younger sedimentary rocks at the surface indicate the presence of
a stable and rigid rock mass below, as in the American Midwest, western Siberia, and
much of Africa. Most Earth scientists consider continents to grow by accretion, that
is, by adding numerous chunks of crust to the main continent by collision. Western
North America grew in this manner over the past 200 million years by adding
segments of crust,known as microplate terranes (a term that should not be confused
with the term terrain), as it moved westward over the Pacific and former oceanic
plates. Paleomagnetic data show that parts of western North America from Alaska to
California originated south of the equator and moved to join the continent. Terranes,
which have their own distinct geology from that of the continent to which they are
now joined, may have originally been offshore island arcs, undersea volcanoes, or
islands made of continental fragments, such as New Zealand or Madagascar are
today.

Test your knowledge

Application No. 7
Describe the three major categories of rock and the principal means by which each is
formed. Give an example for each.

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

CHAPTER 8
TECTONIC AND VOLCANIC
PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS

What are the objectives of this lesson?

At the end of this lesson, you are expected to be able to:

• Give the igneous processes and its landforms
• Discuss the tectonic processes and the different rock structure
• Explain volcanism and plutonism in connection with volcanic eruptions

Overview of the topic

Tectonic Forces, Rock Structure, and Landforms

Tectonic forces, which at the largest scale move the lithospheric plates, also cause
bending, warping, folding, and fracturing of Earth’s crust at continental, regional,
and even local scales. Such deformation is documented by rock structure, the
nature, orientation, inclination, and arrangement of affected rocklayers. For
example, rock layers that have undergone significant tectonic forces may be
tilted, folded, or fractured, or, relative to adjacent rocks masses, offset, uplifted,
or downdropped. Sedimentary rocks are particularly useful for identifying
tectonic deformation because they are usually horizontal when they are formed,
and older rock layers are originally overlain by successively younger rock layers. If
strata are bent, fractured, offset, or otherwise out of sequence, some kind of
structural deformation has occurred.
Earth scientists describe the orientations of inclined rock layers by measuring
their strike and dip. Strike is the compass direction of the line that forms at the
intersection of a tilted rock layer and a horizontal plane. A rock layer, for example,
might strike northeast, which could also be expressed correctly as striking
southwest ( ● Fig. 14.24). The inclination of the rock layer, the dip, is always
measured at right angles to the strike and in degrees of angle from the horizontal
(0° dip = horizontal). The direction toward which the rock dips down is expressed
with the general compass direction. For example, a rock layer that strikes
northeast and dips 11° from the horizontal down to the southeast would have a
dip of 11° to the southeast

Earthquakes
Earthquakes, evidence of present-day tectonic activity, are ground motions of
Earth caused when accumulating tectonic stress is suddenly relieved by
displacement of rocks along a fault. The sudden, lurching movement of crustal
blocks past one another represents a release of energy that generates these
internal earthquake motions, the seismic waves that were discussed in Chapter
13 as helpful in understanding Earth’s interior. Seismic waves, however, can also
have a great impact on Earth’s surface. It is primarily when these waves pass
along the crustal exterior or emerge at Earth’s surface from below that they cause
the damage and subsequent loss of life that we associate with major tremors. The
subsurface location where the rock displacement and resulting earthquake
originated is the earthquake focus, which may be to occur. Geophysicists are
currently investigating the possibility that foreshocks may alert us to major
earthquakes, although evidence is at present inconclusive.

Igneous Processes and Landforms

Landforms resulting from igneous processes may be related to eruptions of
extrusive igneous rock material or emplacements of intrusive igneous rock.
Volcanism refers to the extrusion of rock matter from Earth’s subsurface to the
exterior and the creation of surface terrain features as a result. Volcanoes are
mountains or hills that form in this way. Plutonism refers to igneous processes
that occur below Earth’s surface including the cooling of magma to form intrusive
igneous rocks and rock masses. Some masses of intrusive igneous rock are
eventually exposed at Earth’s surface where they comprise landforms of
distinctive shapes and properties.

Volcanic Eruptions
Few spectacles in nature are as awesome as a volcanic eruption ( ● Fig. 14.5).
Although large, violent eruptions tend to be infrequent events, they can
devastate the surrounding environment and completely change the nearby
terrain. Yet volcanic eruptions are natural processes and should not be
unexpected by people who live in the vicinity of active volcanoes. Eruptions can
vary greatly in their size and character, and the volcanic landforms that result are
extremely diverse. Explosive eruptions violently blast pieces of molten and solid
rock into the air, whereas molten rock pours less violently onto the surface as
flowing streams of lava in effusive eruptions. Variations in eruptive style and in
the landforms produced by volcanism result mainly from temperature and
chemical differences in the magma that feeds the eruption.

Volcanic Landforms
 The landforms that result from volcanic eruptions depend primarily on the
explosiveness of the eruptions. We will consider six major kinds of volcanic
landforms, beginning with those associated with the most effusive (least
explosive) eruptions. Four of the six major landforms are types of volcanoes. Lava
Flows Lava flows are layers of erupted
Lava Flows
Lava flows are layers of erupted rock matter that when molten poured or oozed
over the landscape. After they cool and solidify they retain the appearance of
having flowed. Lava flows can form from any lava type (see Appendix C), but
basalt is by far the most common because its hot eruptive temperature and
low viscosity allow gases to escape, greatly reducing the potential for an explosive
eruption. Basaltic lava flows may develop vertical fractures, called joints, due
to shrinking of the lava during cooling. This creates columnar-jointed basalt flows

Shield Volcanoes
When numerous successive basaltic lava flows occur in a given region they can
eventually pile up into the shape of a large mountain, called a shield volcano,
which resembles a giant knight’s shield resting on Earth’s surface.

Cinder Cones
The smallest type of volcano, typically only a couple of hundred meters high, is
known as a cinder cone. Cinder cones generally consist largely of gravel-sized
pyroclastics. Gas-charged eruptions throw molten lava and solid pyroclastic
fragments into the air. Falling under the influence of gravity, these particles
accumulate around the almost pipelike conduit for the eruption, the vent, in a
large pile of tephra (Fig. 14.10b). Each eruptive burst ejects more pyroclastics that
fall and cascade down the sides to build an internally layered volcanic cone.
Cinder cone volcanoes typically have a rhyolitic composition, but can be made of
basalt if conditions of temperature and viscosity keep gases from escaping easily.

Composite Cones
A third kind of volcano, a composite cone, results when formative eruptions are
sometimes effusive and sometimes explosive. Composite cones are therefore
composed of a combination, that is, they represent a composite of lava flows and
pyroclastic materials (Fig. 14.10c). They are also called stratovolcanoes because
they are constructed of layers (strata) of pyroclastics and lava. The topographic
profile of a composite cone represents what many people might consider the
classic volcano shape, with concave slopes that are gentle near the base and
steep near the top.

Plug Domes
Where extremely viscous silica-rich magma has pushed up into the vent of a
volcanic cone without flowing beyond it, it creates a plug dome (Fig. 14.10d).
Solidified outer parts of the blockage create the dome-shaped summit, and
jagged blocks that broke away from the plug or preexisting parts of the cone form
the steep, sloping sides of the volcano.
Calderas
Occasionally, the eruption of a volcano expels so much material and relieves so
much pressure within the magma chamber that only a large and deep depression
remains in the area that previously contained the volcano’s summit. A large
depression made in this way is termed a caldera. The best-known caldera in North
America is the basin in south-central Oregon that contains Crater Lake, a circular
body of water 10 kilometers (6 mi) across and almost 610 meters (2000 ft) deep,
surrounded by near-vertical cliffs as much as 610 meters (2000 ft) high. The
caldera that contains Crater Lake was formed by the prehistoric eruption and
collapse of a composite volcano. A cinder cone, Wizard Island, has built up from
the floor of the caldera and rises above the lake’s surface ( ● Fig. 14.18). The area
of Yellowstone National Park is the site of three ancient calderas, and the Valles
Caldera in New Mexico is another excellent example. Krakatoa in Indonesia and
Santorini (Thera) in Greece have left island remnants of their calderas. Calderas
are also found in the Philippines, the Azores, Japan, Nicaragua, Tanzania, and Italy,
many of them occupied by deep lakes.
 Test your knowledge
Application No. 8

Define the following terms.

1. Geomorphology -
____________________________________________________
2. Landforms -
_________________________________________________________
3. Volcanism -
_________________________________________________________
4. Explosive Eruptions
-__________________________________________________
5. Lava Flows -
________________________________________________________
6. Cinder Cones
-_______________________________________________________
7. Calderas -
__________________________________________________________
8. Geology -
___________________________________________________________
9. Landforms
-_________________________________________________________
10. Earthquakes
-_______________________________________________________

References:

Petersen, James F. et al., (2012), Physical Geography

Getis, Arthur et al. (2000), Student Study Guide, Introduction to Geography

Duka, Cecilio D. (2001), World Geography