Download The Peninsula of Peninsulas

The Peninsula of Peninsulas
Physical Geography and Climate
of Europe
1
What is a peninsula?
• A portion of land
surrounded by water
and connected to a
larger body by an
isthmus.
2
Europe is a large
peninsula stretching
from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Ural
Mountains.
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I. Peninsulas and Islands
A. Scandinavian Peninsula
i.
Occupied by Norway,
Sweden and surrounded by
the Norwegian Sea, North
Sea, and Baltic Sea.
ii.
Glaciers scoured away rich
topsoil and left thin, rocky
soil instead.
iii.
Glaciers carved out fjords,
steep U-shaped valleys that
connect to the sea.
•
Fjords make good
harbors due to their
great depths.
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B. Jutland Peninsula
i.
Forms the largest
part of Denmark
ii. Areas is mainly
swampy due to it’s
low-lying location
C. Iberian Peninsula
i.
Occupied by Spain
and Portugal
ii. The Pyrenees
Mountains block off
the peninsula from
the rest of Europe
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D. Italian Peninsula
i.
Occupied by Italy
ii. Extends into the
Mediterranean and has
4,700 miles of coastline
E. Balkan Peninsula
i.
Bordered by the
Adriatic,
Mediterranean, and
Aegean Seas
ii. Many mountains make
transportation difficult
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F. Islands
i.
North Atlantic:
Great Britain,
Ireland, Iceland,
and Greenland
ii. Mediterranean
Sea: Corsica,
Sardinia, Sicily and
Crete
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How many mountain chains cut
across Europe?
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II. Mountains and Uplands
A. The Alps
i.
Fan across France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria
and the northern Balkan Peninsula
B. The Pyrenees
i.
Block Spain and Portugal from the rest of Europe
C. The Apennines
i.
Divide the Italian peninsula east from west
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Pyrenees
Mts.
France
Mediterranean
Sea
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D. The Balkan Mountains
i.
Block off the Balkan Peninsula from the rest of
Europe
ii.
Have isolated ethnic groups from each other
• What have been the effects of this isolation?
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E. Uplands
i.
are hills or very low
mountains
ii. Meseta- central
plateau of Spain
iii. Massif Centraluplands in France
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What do rivers do?
• Connect regions
• Bring people and goods together
• Transport goods between coastal harbors and the inland
region.
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III. Rivers
A. The Rhine
i.
Flows 820 miles from the
interior of Europe to the
North Sea
B. The Danube
i.
Traverses 9 countries
ii.
Over 1,771 miles long,
linking Europe to the
Black Sea
•
Why is this river
important?
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IV. Fertile Plains
A.
Northern European
Plains
i.
ii.
Begins in France and
spans eastward into
Russia
The soil and climate
make this area suitable
for agriculture
• 33% of the land in Europe is
suitable for agriculture
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V. Resources
A. Energy
– Oil and natural gas are
found beneath the
North Sea floor
– Norway, the
Netherlands, the
United Kingdom and
Denmark pump oil
from rigs as far as 400
miles away from the
coast
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B. Distributions
i.
Ireland lacks energy resources, so people rely on
peat for fire fuel.
ii.
Peat is cut into blocks, dried and sold for use in
fireplaces and stoves.
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VI. Climate and Vegetation
a.
Western Europe
i.
Most of western Europe has a marine west coast
climate-warm summers, and cool winters
ii. The North Atlantic Drift pushes warm water from the
Atlantic Ocean, which warms the air flowing
westward into Europe
iii. The prevailing westerlies are warm winds coming
from the low latitudes (i.e. 23N), which moderate
climate, so winters are not too cold, or summers too
warm.
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b. Eastern Europe
i.
Sweden, Finland, with eastern parts of Poland,
Slovakia, and Hungary have a humid continental
climate- cold, snowy winters, with warm or hot
summers.
ii. Since Eastern Europe is farther away from the
prevailing westerly winds, the region experiences
extremely cold winters and hot summers.
•
This phenomena is called continentality.
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c. Southern Europe
i.
Mediterranean climate extends through southern
Spain, France, Italy, Greece and the lower parts of
the Balkan Peninsula
ii. Climate creates hot, dry summers, with clear skies,
and moderate, rainy winters
iii. The Mediterranean coast of France receives the
Mistral-cold, dry wind from the Arctic
iv. The rest of the Mediterranean receives the siroccohot, steady wind that blows from Africa.
– The sirocco winds bring dust from the Sahara or moisture
from the Mediterranean Sea
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Mistral winds
from the north
Sirocco winds
from Africa
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d. Land of the Midnight Sun
i.
Subarctic Climate
Far north Scandinavia lies along the Arctic Circle
ii. Soil remains in a state of permafrost, only allowing
small shrubs, mosses or lichen to grow
iii. Winter nights are extremely long-some days the sun
never rises
iv. Some summer days are also long- the sun never
sets
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Summer in far
north
Scandinavia
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