Download Diapositiva 1 - WordPress.com

Features of the
Earth
Physical Features of the
Earth
Earth’s Statistics
Mass (kg)
5.98x1024
Diameter (km)
12 756
Mean Density (kg/m3
5 520
Average distance from sun
1 AU (149 597 890 km)
Rotation Period (length of day in Earth days)
1 (23.93 hours)
Revolution period (length of year in Earth
days)
365.26
Obliquity (tilt of axis degrees)
23.5
Mean surface Temperature (K)
281
Number of Natural Satellite
1
• Earth is the only known
planet in the universe that
is capable of sustaining
life.
• Often described as an
enormous “ball of rock”.
• Composed of the three
phases of matter.
Early description of the
Physical nature of the Earth
• Ancient people described
Earth using their senses
and reasoning.
The Shape of the Earth
• HOMER (8th century BC) – believed that the
Earth was a circular flat disk surrounded by an
ocean.
• THALES OF MILETUS (624-546 BC) – believed
that the Earth was a flat disk.
• ARISTOTLE (384-322 BC) – believed in a
spherical Earth, based on the shadow of the
moon during Lunar eclipse.
• FERDINAND MAGELLAN (1480-1521) – made
a trip around the world and proved that the Earth
was round.
• Some people also believed that Earth has
four corners and that beyond the edges of
the Earth, you will fall into a deep abyss.
Surface
Features of
the Earth
• Earth’s surface includes water and solid
landforms.
• The Earth’s surface is the result of both
destructive and constructive processes.
weathering
volcanic eruption
erosion
tectonic plate movement
deposition
• You can identify surface features by their
location, shape, and elevation.
• Earth is a watery planet. 70% of Earth is
covered by water.
Major Landforms
Formed either by the
movement of
tectonic plates or the
action of water, wind,
or ice.
Mountains and Mountain Chains
• Mountains are the highest regions of
deformed and disturbed rocks with steep
slopes. Mountains are usually more than
600 m elevated from its surroundings as
tectonic plates move from each other.
• Mountain Ranges are elevated surface
features that may be thousands of
kilometers long and hundreds of
kilometers wide.
MOUNT APO
SIERRA MADRE MOUNTAIN RANGES
Volcanoes
• They are also mountains but they are
formed by accumulation of the
products from their eruption.
MAYON VOLCANO
Hills
• It is an elevated landform and is
generally somewhat lower and less
steep and smaller than a mountain.
• Hills may also be volcanic. (cinder
cones.
CHOCOLATE HILLS
Plains
• Plains are broad, vast flat lands
that roll slightly. They are usually
grassy areas with a few trees.
NUEVA ECIJA
Valleys
• It is a low lying area of land
between two mountains or hills.
CAGAYAN VALLEY
Wetlands
• It is often wet and low in oxygen
because the soil is tightly packed and
soaked with water.
SWAMP CANDABA, PAMPANGA
An ERG is a vast area covered
with sand dunes.
The Erg Chebbi.
Major
Water Forms
It includes all the water
undergrounds, in lakes, rivers,
streams, glaciers, as well in the
atmosphere.
Oceans
• The ocean is the largest body of
water and has an average salinity of
35 parts per thousand (ppt).
• The ocean contains 98% of the
world’s water and drive the water
cycle.
Rivers
• A narrow body of water that flows.
• It may start from a tiny stream
that drains surface water or runoff
water.
• Tributaries – small streams that
converge to form a river.
CAGAYAN RIVER
Lakes
• A lake is a still body of freshwater
completely surrounded by land.
• It is formed when runoff streams
and rivers fill the depressions in
the surface of Earth.
Crater Lake was formed by rain and
snow filling a caldera for hundreds of
years. It is the deepest lake entirely
within the United States.
A FJORD is a long, narrow ocean
inlet between steep slopes carved by
glaciers. The glacial features of
Fjordland National Park on New
Zealand's South Island were carved
thousands of years ago, in cooler
times.
NATURAL
RESOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
• It refers to organic materials that have
experienced chemical and physical
transformations over a very long
period of time. These materials
originated from the remains that lived
and died millions of years ago.