Views of Earth

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Chapter 5

• Views of Earth

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5.1 Landforms

• Three types of Landforms
• Plains
• Large, relatively flat areas
• Coastal plains near the oceans
• Can be called lowlands
• Characterized by swamps, marshes, and low rolling
  hills
• Examples Atlantic coastal plains Gulf coastal
  plains

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5.1 Continued

• Interior plains middle of the land
• Large center portion of the U.S. is called the
  Great Plains or High plains due to their
  elevation
• covered with grass and few trees

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5.1 Continued

• Plateaus
• Relatively flat, raised areas
• Made of nearly horizontal rocks that have been
  uplifted by Earth processes
• Differ from plains because the rise sharply from
  their surroundings
• Example Colorado Plateau has been cut through
  by the Colorado River to form the Grand Canyon

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5.1 Continued

• Mountains
• tallest mountain Mount Everest 8800m above
  sea level (28,871 feet)
• Four types of mountains
• Folded
• Upwarped
• Fault-block
• Volcanic

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5.1 Continued

• Folded Mountains
• Resemble a rug pushed against a wall
• Earth processes cause the land to be pushed
  together causing it to fold
• Example Appalachian mountains
• See figure 5-4

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5.1 Continued

• Upwarped Mountains
• Earths crust pushed up by forces inside Earth
• Composed of exposed metamorphic and igneous rocks
• Example southern Rocky Mountains
• See figure 5-5

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5.1 Continued

• Fault-Block Mountains
• Huge tilted blocks of rocks that are separated
  from surrounding rock by faults
• fault a large crack in rocks along which
  there is movement
• one block of rock is pushed up while the other
  is pushed down
• characterized by sharp jagged peaks
• Example Sierra Nevada Mountains

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5.1 Continued

• Volcanic Mountains
• Begin when magma reaches the Earths surface
  through a weak area in the crust
• One layer builds on another until a cone is formed

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5.2 Viewpoints

• Latitude
• Lines that circle the earth in an East and West
  direction
• Center latitude line equator
• Divides the Earth into the Northern and Southern
  Hemisphere
• numbered 0 degrees latitude
• All lines parallel to the equator are latitude
  lines
• Latitude at the poles is 90 degrees latitude

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5.2 Continued

• Longitude (Meridians)
• Lines that run from the North Pole to the South
  Pole and are not parallel to one another
• Divides the Earth into East and West directions
• Center Longitude line that travels through
  Greenwich, England Prime Meridian
• Points to the west are labeled West
• Points to the East are labeled East
• Longitude line that is 180 degrees around the
  world from the prime meridian international
  date line

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5.2 Continued

• Purpose of Latitude and Longitude
• It provides an easier and more accurate method of
  locating places on a map
• How are points written
• They are written so that latitude comes first
  followed by longitude
• 20ºN, 155ºW Hawaii

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5.2 Continued

• Earth Time
• Time is measured by the movement of Earth in
  relation to the sun
• Time Zones
• There are 24 time zones on Earth due to the fact
  that it takes the Earth 24 hours to make one
  complete turn
• There are 6 time zones in the U.S.
• Do not follow longitude lines

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5.2 Continued

• Calendar Dates
• The calendar date changes as you cross over the
  international date line
• Cross it to the west add a day to the calendar
• Cross it to the east subtract a day from the
  calendar

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5.3 Maps

• Map projections
• Used to make maps of Earth
• The transferring of points and lines of Earth to
  paper
• Several different ways to make map projections
• Each method is distorted in some manner

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5.3 Continued

• Three types of projection
• Mercator Projection
• Have correct shapes of continents
• Continents have a distorted area
• Longitude lines are parallel
• Latitude lines distorted
• Areas near the poles are exaggerated

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5.3 Continued

• Robinson Projection
• Accurate continent shapes with accurate areas
• Latitude lines are kept parallel
• Longitude lines are kept curved
• Less distortion near the poles

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5.3 Continued

• Conic Projection
• Used with weather and road maps
• Used with maps of small area
• Project points from a globe

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5.3 Continued

• Topographic maps
• Shows the changes in elevation of the Earths
  surface
• Contour lines
• A line on a map that connects points of equal
  elevation
• Contour interval
• The distance between contour lines
• The closer the lines the steeper the surface

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5.3 Continued

• Index contours
• Marked with their elevation
• Topographic map rules
• Read the elevation numbers to determine if the
  structure is a hill, basin, or depression
• Look for hatchures
• Short lines at right angles to the contour line,
  which depicts depressions
• Point to lower elevations

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5.3 Continued

• Contour lines never cross
• If they did it would mean that a particular place
  would have two elevations
• Contour lines form Vs that point upstream
  whenever they cross streams.
• Because streams flow in depressions that are
  lower than the surrounding areas

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5.3 Continued

• Map Legend and Scale
• Map Legend
• Explain what the symbols used on the map mean
• Map Scale
• The relationship between the distances on the map
  and actual distances on Earths surface
• Used in a ratio (1100)
• 1 unit on a map is equal to 100 units on land

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5.3 Continued

• Uses of Maps
• The map used will depend on the need
• Mercator map used to determine the relationship
  between two places
• Robinson used to see actual shapes of land near
  the poles
• Conic map used to travel in straight lines
• Topographic used to see heights in certain
  places

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5.4 Mapping Our Planet

• Remote Sensing from Space
• Landsat Satellites
• Detect different wavelengths of energy reflected
  or emitted from Earths surface
• Can show landforms in great detail
• Topex-Poseidon Satellite
• Uses radar to compute the distance to the oceans
  surface
• Used to map the ocean bottom

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5.4 Continued

• Global Positioning System (GPS)
• Used to determine the exact location on Earth
• Used in travel and tracking wildlife
• Remote Sensing Under Water
• Sonar
• Uses sound waves to detect ocean bottom features
• Used to make ocean floor maps