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Earth Science I - Unit 1.2
Landscapes &
Geomorphology
1.2 Landscapes & Geomorphology
► Three
Types of Landforms
►Plains, Plateaus, & Mountains
 Plains
►Large,
relatively flat areas
 Coastal plains – near the oceans
►Lowlands, include swamps, marshes,
and low rolling hills
 Interior plains – middle of the land
►High Plains, covered with grass & trees
Coastal Plains
River Plains
Sonoran Desert Plains
Sonoran Desert Plains
Sonoran Desert Plains
►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
Plateaus – Namibia, Africa
Plateaus – Masada, Israel
Plateaus – Coastal Plateaus, Ireland
Plateaus – Grand Canyon
Plateaus – Grand Canyon
Colorado Plateau from the Air
►Mountains
 Tallest mountain = Mount Everest –
8800m above sea level (28,871 feet)
 Four types of mountains
►Folded
►Upwarped
►Fault-block
►Volcanic
►Folded
Mountains
 resemble a rug pushed against a
wall
 processes cause the land to be
pushed together, causing it to
fold
 Example – Appalachian
Mountains
Folded Mountains Topographic Map
►Upwarped
or Dome Mountains
 Earth’s crust pushed up by forces
inside Earth
 Composed of exposed
metamorphic and igneous rocks
 Example – southern Rocky
Mountains
Upwarped Mountains, Black Hills, ND
►Fault-Block
Mountains
 huge tilted blocks of rocks 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
Fault-Block Mountains
Fault-Block Mountains,
El Paso, Texas
►Volcanic
Mountains
 Begin when magma reaches the
Earth’s surface through a weak area
in the crust
 One layer builds on another until a
cone is formed
Volcanic Mountains, San Francisco Peaks, AZ
Volcanic Mountains, Yangming, China
Sunset Crater, Arizona - A Cinder Cone
Haemus Mountains, the Moon
Mount St. Helens, Washington
Global View
►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
Global View
► 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
►Longitude line that is 180 degrees around
the world from the prime meridian =
international date line
Global View
► Earth
Time
 Time is measured by the movement of
Earth in relation to the sun
 Time Zones
►There
are 24 time zones on Earth
because it takes the Earth 24 hours to
make one complete turn or rotation
►There
are 6 time zones in the U.S
Global View
►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
► Time
For a Break….
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
Maps
► 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
Maps
 Robinson Projection
►Accurate
continent shapes with accurate areas
►Latitude lines are kept parallel
►Longitude lines are kept curved
►Less distortion near the poles
Maps
 Conic Projection
►Used
with weather and road maps
►Used with maps of small area
►Project points from a globe
Maps
► Topographic
maps
 Shows the changes in elevation of the Earth’s
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
Maps
 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
Maps
►Contour
lines never cross
 If they did it would mean that a particular
place would have two elevations
►Contour lines form V’s that point upstream
whenever they cross streams.
 Because streams flow in depressions that
are lower than the surrounding areas
Maps
► 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 Earth’s
surface
►Used in a ratio (1:100)
 1 unit on a map is equal to 100 units on
land
Maps
► 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
Mapping Our Planet
► Remote
Sensing from Space
 Landsat Satellites
►Detect different wavelengths of energy
reflected or emitted from Earth’s surface
►Can show landforms in great detail
 Topex-Poseidon Satellite
►Uses radar to compute the distance to the
ocean’s surface
►Used to map the ocean bottom
Mapping Our Planet
 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