xilianos: PENT Geography

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY (basically, the WEATHER)

Solar System, Seasons, Energy

Atmosphere, ozone layer

Energy balances

Global Temperatures

Pressure, Air movements

Water, humidity, clouds

Weather, air masses & movement

Global climates

Glacial landforms

Landforms, landslides, karst

Rivers & floods

Deserts

Oceans, tides

LABORATORY ( 20 % ): attached Lab book

Exercises on location, time zones, scales, angles, analemma,

climates, Eratosthenes experiment, GPS, topographical maps, glacial, etc

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The northernmost sand "desert" on the planet!

•Geography = Earth + grapho (= to write, measure)

•Where,? Why ?

•Location, scenery, shape of land

Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Pacific ocean

People arrived by island-hoping probably from the west

A tropical island full of trees, lots of rain

People thrived for ~ 1,000 years

Civilization flourished, even built ~ 900 moais: monuments to the male elders who died

After most trees were cut, the nutrients of the soil were removed by wind & rain

Lack of food, environmental disaster

Still no one knows why the soil is not productive anymore

Can’t see any nutrients in the soil

War eliminated most people

The same is happening on the whole planet today!

In Canada

Lack of education- geography not in schools

Respect for environment is neededt

Canada the only nation to abandon the Kyoto Protocol !

The Ministry for Environment was under attack for 10 years

You can become Geographers!

By teaching it at school

Not much background is needed

Globes, atlases are found in most schools

Use basic info from this course

Save the planet ! If there is still time…..

The “Blue planet” picture is 40 (+) years old

Earth spins on its axis at 23.5 degrees

The sun appears to rise in the east and move west

But the sun is stationary

Therefore, the earth spins eastwards

Welcome to your planet!

Shape of Earth

Can be seen during a Lunar eclipse

There is also a Solar eclipse

That is when you need the glasses to look at the sun (or get blinded)

Partial eclipse

Location Coordinates

Latitude: how far from the equator

Use Parallels (parallel to the equator)

Use angles (similar to hours)

Longitude: how far from the prime meridian (zero longitude, through Greenwich, London, England)

Use Meridians (noon lines)

Just east of Winnipeg: Longitudinal Centre of Canada!

In degrees, minutes and seconds

Prime Meridian

The Arctic Circle

Shape, size of the Earth

Lunar eclipse: the moon disappears

Shape of the earth revealed

Size of the earth: Eratosthenes experiment

He observed that the sun is directly above on the longest day of the year at Aswan
But in Alexandria, the sun is never directly overhead

Angle of shadow at noon will give you the size of the Earth!

Eratosthenes

Great circles

Straight line on the globe, but curve line on projections

Shortest distance between any two places on the globe

Paths of jet airplanes lie along great circles

Latitude: use angle to Polaris star

Longitude: use the time (clock)

Great Circle (straight line on globe) & Rhumb Line (curved line on projection)

International Date Line

Starting point for each new day

Change the date, not the hour

Cross from east to west: advance 1 day

Cross from west to east: lose 1 day

Noon

Highest position of the sun in the sky

Sundial : time according to position of the sun in the sky

sundials: Make one in the school yard

Meridians and Time Zones

a.m. & p.m. (ante & post meridium, Latin)

360 degrees is equal to 1 day or 24 hours

Therefore, 1 hour is equal to 15 degrees of longitude

24 time zones (24 X 15 = 360)

Scales

Example: Manitoba map has a scale of 1 : 1,000,000

1 cm on the map is equal to 10 km on the ground

Same units on either side of scale

World map is 1 : 35 million

Map of the classroom would be ~ 1 : 100

Projections

Globe in 3D

Maps in 2D, not as accurate, need to be stretched, esp. away from equator

Projections on paper have improved tremendously over the years

Remote sensing : satellites

Need 4 satellites for GPS

Elevations

Meters above mean sea level

What is your elevation?

Highest point in Manitoba is 832 m

Tallest mountain in N. America is Mt. Logan in the Yukon at about 6 km

The “roof of the world” is just under 9 km or 8850 m on the Himalayas

The mean depth of the oceans is about 3.5 to 4 km

The deepest trench under the sea extends to more than 11 km. Trenches form by subduction of the ocean floor under another part of the crust

Mr. Atlas : holds the sky on his back. Hercules used to do that, but he asked Atlas if he
wouldn't mind holding the sky until he finished eating an apple. Atlas accepted
and he is still there …. Hercules took off!

Shadow; angle of the sun

To find height of a building

Courtesy of Thales of Miletus, 480 BC: First scientist in the world!

Wait until your shadow is equal to your height

Then measure the length of the shadow of the building

It will be equal to its height!

SOLAR SYSTEM

Only “constant” in nature: speed of light

300,000 km /sec (is it true?)

Light reaches the moon in 1.28 sec

Everything else is relative to the speed of light

Matter & energy are forms of the same thing

One can be converted into the other (was basis of atomic bomb before it was tested).
It worked, but people were nervous of the outcome

Milky Way Galaxy

Andromeda galaxy: only galaxy visible to naked eye; because it is approaching

Date of collision changed to 4 billion years from now

Name Andromeda means “the brave one”

Chained to a rock in Ethiopia, according to Mythology

Plan & section of galaxy

Orion’s Arm

Voyageur I & II (left in early 1970’s) are about 13 billion km away now

1 light year is ~ 10 trillion km

Orion

Heliosphere

Our nearest neighbours to 13 light years away

The Sun

Stars grow hotter as they age

Sun losing matter in the form of the solar wind, but it is losing much more in the form of EM radiation (we call it light and heat)

Distance to the sun

Elliptical orbit of earth & other planets

Furthest from the sun: July 4

Closest to the sun: Jan. 3

This change in distance makes no difference on our temperature

Sun Spots

Like storms on the sun, emit plasma into space

11-year cycle, last one in 2004

Experiment on moon to test solar wind

Electrons & protons hit surface because there is no magnetic field

Aurora

Solar wind hits molecules of gases (N2 & O2) & “ignites” them into colors

Solar wind blocked by magnetic field

Only passes into air at magnetic poles

Aurora forms a ring around each magnetic pole

Solar wind

Video : Northern Lights

We see the charged particles of air

Best viewing in polar regions

Effects: weather, health, power transmission (Quebec, 1989:blackout)

People affected: Alaska, Inuit, Russia, Norway, Lapps

Earth’s Magnetic field

North Magnetic Pole

First noticed in 1831 within Arctic islands (NWT, Nunavut)

Used to be almost stationary for ~ 100 years

Has moved north since & is speeding up towards Russia

The aurora from space

Cows lined up by magnetic lines?

Blue Sky ? Blue Ocean ?

Space is black (see that on the moon)

Sunlight illuminates particles of air. These scatter shortwaves, like blue, very effectively. So, sky looks blue

Does the ocean reflect the blue sky and looks blue or the sky reflects the blue water and looks blue ?

Red, yellow, orange

Sunset, sunrise: sun’s rays must travel further to get to our eyes. Gases in the air scatter the shorter wavelengths (blues, greens, purples) in all directions, so only longer wavelengths reach our eyes

The dirtier the air the more colorful the sunsets because dust scatters even more blue light away

Most dazzling sunsets after forest fires, volcanic eruptions

EM RADIATION

The shorter the wavelength, the more powerful the energy

All objects radiate energy in wavelengths related to their surface temperature

The sun emits UV, visible, IR

We (warm bodies) emit IR radiation

With Infrared film

Sun’s energy

Incoming radiation is shorter wavelengths (more power)

Outgoing radiation from the earth is longer wavelengths (less power)

Insolation

Intercepted solar radiation: heat & light

Angle of incidence: very important

Subsolar point

Paradox: winter in South Pole has max. insolation (24 hours daylight)

Min. insolation over Sahara desert: because there are no clouds

Reason for Seasons

Variation of sun’s altitude above horizon

Revolution: 1 year around the sun

Rotation: on its axis (no tilt, no seasons)

Circle of illumination

Sun’s declination: latitude of the subsolar point. Tropics are the limits

Seasons

4 extreme positions

2 equinoxes (“equal night”) 12 hour-days & 12 hour nights: March 21, Sept.21

2 solstices (“sun stops”): June 21(longest day), Dec.21 (shortest say)

Dawn & twilight -diffuse sunlight- (only 30 min at the equator)

Midnight sun

Sun near, but below horizon. Moon is up

Sun just below horizon

The Analemma

Speed of Rotation

About 1,000 km / hour at 50 degrees N

1,675 km/h at the equator

Day length: no light or continuous sunlight beyond Arctic & Antarctic circles

Our Atmosphere

Ocean of air

Oxygen in the air: “cleans the air”, very reactive, combines with pollutants to form oxides

Air: biological product, composition influenced by the living

Air motion creates currents in the ocean (not vice versa)

means “steam-sphere”

78% Nitrogen, 20 % Oxygen

Ozone layer absorbs UV rays

Air pressure= weight of air

Air: “product of the living”

Air is heated from below (while water is heated from above)

Sections of the atmosphere

Troposphere: most of air (clouds)

Stratosphere: no clouds, ozone layer

Ionosphere: charged ions of gases (aurora)

Average temperature on surface 15 ‘C

Temp. decreases upwards at ~ 6 ‘C per km

Natural / man-made sources of air pollution:

Volcanoes, forest fires, decaying plants

CO: incomplete combustion

Photochemical reactions: exhaust + UV

Smog: smoke + fog with sulfur gases

Acid rain: S,C,N, gases

Remote plane measures ozone

Energy Balances

High insolation over desert areas (cloudless) about 30 ‘ N & 30 ‘ S

Earth’s reflectivity (albedo): 31 %

Moon’s = 7 %

Earth appears 4 X more reflective than the moon (which is rather dark)

Albedos

Snow : ~ 85 % , reflects

Black surfaces : 10 %, absorb

Green surfaces with plants: 25 % absorb - the sun is their food

Albedo of soil with grass:18-25 %

Albedo of soil without grass: 12-20 %

--> extra heat helps germination!

Color of skin/ eyes according to latitude
The closer to equator the darker
Originally, humans had dark color, became lighter color when immigrated north (new research)
Limited migration of peoples in ancient times changed the pattern
Also, more recent migrations on bigger scale

Sundogs

(in winter reflection from ice crystals in the air)

For the Rainbow: need to have
1. rain in front
2. sun behind
3. up 42 degrees
Can see complete circle if on an airplane

Mirage: eye tricks

Temperature

Thermometer (used to be mercury)

Heat: energy flows from higher temp. to lower- when in contact

Temperature: average kinetic energy of molecules of matter

Air heated from below (while water heated from above)

Examples

If you fall into a cold lake, heat moves from your body into the water
Then, you feel cold
The Titanic survivors with life jackets were frozen by the cold ocean
(only a few miles away from the warm Gulf Stream!)

Urban heat islands

Cities warmer than surroundings

Most surfaces are dark, absorb heat

Need to make them reflective, such as white

Windows trap heat, new office windows are shaded, more reflective

Continental / maritime locations (Vancouver / Winnipeg)

Water absorbs heat, land does not

Land has temp. extremes : too far from ocean to be moderated by water

Temperature Range

Temperature profiles- the bigger the land, the colder

Temperature in the weather

Wind chill (speed of wind)
Heat index (humidity)

Atm. pressure: weight of air

“weather bomb”:October 2010 : Extreme LOW pressure, like inside the eye of a hurricane!

Atmospheric circulation

Wind: transfer of both energy & mass
Air pressure:motion, mass & number of molecules of gases
Torricelli
Difference in P produces wind
Flow from H (dense) to L (less dense)

The Torricelli Experiment

Forces: Gravity, Coriolis, Friction

Coriolis Force

Anything moving deflects due to rotation (speed of rotation varies with latitude)

To the right (N) or left (S)

Zero at equator

The faster the wind, the greater the deflection

Atmospheric circulation

H created when cold, dense air sinks

Equator: warm air rises-->creates a L

Two H and two L

Doldrums near equator

Horse latitudes at 30 ‘ (Sargasso Sea)

Polar are frigid, dry deserts

Movement of air

Air rises anti-clockwise (turns left)

Air sinks clockwise (turns right)

Only for the northern hemisphere

Opposite in the southern hemisphere

Toilet, sink

Water goes down anti-clockwise and at the same time air rises

(because in their construction there is a trap under the toilet / sink)

Again, this is for northern hemisphere

In or near the Equator

Water drains straight down without turning

Tested by a friend in the country of Equador (Equator)

Storms, hurricanes

Turn left (anti-clockwise) in the northern hemisphere

Turn right in the southern hemisphere

Because the air that rises turns into clouds

Jet streams: rivers of air!

300 km / h

200-500 km wide, 1-2 km thick

Move eastwards at about 11 km up

When there is storm, the jet stream is right above it

Used by Japanese during WWII

Used by balloonists – see video

Clouds mark position of Jet stream

1st Video: Jet Stream

Paper balloons sent by Japan during WWII to bomb North America
They knew about the Jet Stream (first people to do so)
Balloons need to heat the air (inside) in order to rise
Speed of wind

No wind means no waves in the ocean

2nd video: The Stardust Mystery - 1947

Plane disappeared only to re-appear 53 years later at the bottom of a glacier
Two mysteries:
1. Why it disappeared?
2. Why wreckage was 50 miles off course
Crash took place on top part of glacier

Local winds

Land -sea breezes

Mountain (katabatic) breezes

Monsoonal (=seasonal)

World record rainfalls

Heat before the monsoons

been 45 degrees for several weeks in India – highest ever

May jump into 50 degrees

Ocean currents

Frictional drag of the winds on water surface

Other factors: density(due to temp,salinity)

Equatorial currents-->piling east shores

Starts at the poles, water freezes (salt taken away), so water beneath is salt-rich, more dense, colder, sinks,flows towards equator, flow is anti-clockwise

So, western shores of continents are warmer than eastern shores

Deep ocean currents

Long conveyor dives in north Atlantic & surfaces in

when water swept away from shore, new cool ,nutrient -rich upwells (prime fishing)

Cycle takes 1000 years

Next topic is WATER

gives the POWER to the weather system

Decides how powerful the wind, the storm, the hurricane, the tornado will be

Powerful interaction of moisture & energy

Moisture in air: very dynamic

Water in the air: 50 % by evaporation, 50 % by oxidation of methane

Evaporation to precipitation takes ~ 11 days

More water facts

Not compressible, otherwise the bottom of ocean would turn into solid (ice) !

Used in hydraulics, like the car breaks

Has 1 oxygen, two hydrogen

Water is like a Universal solvent

Ice is less dense (heavy) than water : this is abnormal, another abnormality:

Ice expands to form 6-sided structures

Ocean has average depth of 3.73 km

(Mars: lost its water through low pressure)

Milk is 83% water

Boomerang - shaped

Ice crystals

More water properties

Covalent bond, very strong

H bonding (without it, it would be gas at normal temp.)

Sticks to things: surface tension, capillary action on glass (it ‘climbs’ the wall)

Change of state needs energy

Latent heat energy: to overcome H bonding

Water : 3 natural states

Ice to water needs 80 cal

Water to steam needs 540 cal

Clouds release staggering amounts of heat

Latent heat : hidden, can’t be detected with thermometer

Solid to liquid to gas

Latent heat observations

When snow falls, it is “warm”

When snow melts, it is “cold”

Clouds are powerful, the bigger the more powerful (pilots avoid them)

Clouds are “warm”

Fog (cloud on the ground) is “warm”

Humidity= water vapor in the air

Depends on the temperature :

Warm air = like a large sponge Cool air = like a small sponge

Dew point temp: Temp. at which air becomes saturated (with water vapor)

Cold drink ‘sweating’: where is the water coming from?

Cold surface cools the air around it, & makes water vapor in the air condense, or turn into liquid

Humidity variation during the day

At sunrise : max., can be 100 % when you find water on the ground, the car

As the temperature rises, the humidity drops : min. in the afternoon

The cold drink sweats

Humidity: adiabatics

Hair Hygrometer: hair changes as much as 4%, gets longer when wet

(Adiabatic processes: no external influence)

Low density air rises, less P, expands, cools, becomes less dense & forms clouds

High density air sinks, higher P, compressed, warms, denser

Temperature drops as the air rises

Dry adiabatic rate (DAR) = 10 degrees C per km – below the cloud

Moist adiabatic rate (MAR) = 6 degrees C per km – inside the cloud

Clouds

Unstable air, warmer than surroundings, rises, expands, cools, condenses, forming clouds

Condensation needs nuclei: aerosols, dust

Stage 1: condensation forms water droplets

Stage 2: A million droplets make 1 raindrop

Fog : cloud in contact with ground

The darker the cloud the more water it contains (because it blocks the sunlight)

Dark clouds have tremendous amount of water & latent heat energy

They are capable of doing lots of damage

Types of clouds

Stratiform: “stratus”

Puffy : “cumulous”

Wispy : “cirrus”

Above 6 km : just ice crystals

Fog

mp. = dew point temp.

Fog is warm

Usually capped by an inversion layer

Advection fog: sea smoke, valley fog, upslope fog

Radiation fog : over moist ground at night

Can be harvested, in deserts like Atacama

New phenomenon? elevated fog from high humidity

Can you modify the weather?

Soviets had always the May1st parade under sunny skies

They were able to change the weather

During the Cold War (1960’s to 1980’s) a combined USA / NATO military exercise in the Arctic was blocked by sudden snowstorm!!! – prob. The Soviets created it

Now the Chinese have a Ministry of Weather with 3,000 scientists & ½ million casual workers

Making rain & snow is not difficult

Neutralizing a storm / tornado/ hurricane, etc is a bigger task, but can be arranged

Weather

System of chaos!! (Suzuki)

In Canada, unpredictable

Around the Equator very predictable: always the same – clear in the a.m., rain in the p.m.

In the desert areas, very predictable: clear skies

The problem is in the mid-latitudes

mid - latitudes

40 – 60 degrees North & South

Most people in the northern hemisphere

Precipitation only by air mass collision: warm air from the south collides with local –normally cool air

“Warm front” or “ cold front”

Barometer: measures the weight of air

Gives you the warning of a storm coming

Also, the high - level clouds: 6 hours to a storm

In this way, it is a bit predictable

Air mass collision

“Air mass”: the local air

Dry over continents / Moist over the oceans

Air in motion due to unequal heating of the planet – it Has to move

In N. America: warm air from Gulf of Mexico / Pacific Ocean is flowing to the north bringing rain/ snow with it

Air Masses

The results of the collision depends on the nature of the air masses, the greater the contrast in temp., pressure, humidity, etc the more violent the weather

High cirrus clouds 6 hours or more before collision is the warning

Storm cloud

Cold Front

40 km /hour +

The cold air is moving

Quick, heavy rain

May also have lighting, hail, tornado

Temp. /humidity drops

Warm Front

20 km /hour +

The warm air is moving

Slow, light rain

Temp. /humidity rises

Cold Front

Warm Front

Cold front and warm front along same boundary

Collision ends when the faster-moving cold front overtakes warm front

Clear skies after collision ends

Next collision may come soon after or long time after

They move from west to east and can go around the globe

Greenhouse Effect

In a greenhouse the incoming solar radiation can go through glass or plastic, but it cannot exit once inside
That is because it loses its power and is unable to go through the glass
Therefore, the energy is trapped inside the greenhouse and its temperature rises

The Earth is like a greenhouse

The energy that bounces off the surface is absorbed by the so-called greenhouse gases

Most prominent is CO2. It is emitted by volcanoes

Since the Industrial Revolution it is also emitted by all engines that burn fossil fuels like gasoline, diesel & all oils

The amount of CO2 emitted by human activities increases dangerously and has increased global temperatures

Consequently, the weather is getting very extreme as a result

It is time to reduce the emissions of CO2 or face the consequences

Methane is also a greenhouse gas

Video on the Greenhouse Effect (1990)

Weather predictions do not look good if humans continue to burn fossil fuels

It is necessary to limit emissions so that future generations don’t suffer the extreme weather phenomena associated with Global Warming

Weather & Health

Narrow temp. range that is comfortable

If cold, stress to the heart & less resistance to infections

If dry, skin problems

If hot, bacteria thrive & bring diseases

Sudden changes (cold front) are hard for the aged

Windy days: children misbehave, head aches increase & mental health affected

Heat waves lead to violence (must be ancestral when we were cold-blooded like the snakes)

Lack of sunshine lead to depression

What kind of weather?

weather phenomena

Ottawa lightning killed an 18 year old under a tree, May 25

Lightning
Electricity prepares a path to travel from cloud to ground
Get your warning and act fast!
Avoid telephone, water, shower, metal surfaces & away from windows
Outside avoid under tree or golf greens
Canada: 6 deaths, 125 injured / year
USA: 200 deaths

You are given a warning! My warning was that I will get hit!

Can cause a blackout

New York, 1977: took 25 hours to fix it

Florida: lightning capital of N. America

Most common: along the Equator

2010 brought down Air France plane coming from Brazil

Freezing Rain or Sleet

Rain falls through a narrow layer of cold air near the ground

However, freezing is a slow process, because of the large release of latent heat from so many water drops & the air has ample time to escape (that is why ice is so clear)

Water “supercools” extremely fast into glazed frost, it freezes on impact

Quebec's "Ice Storm", 1998

Hail

Ice crystals fall from top of cloud & pass through super-cooled water droplets which freeze immediately

Vigorous up and down currents in a cumulonimbus cloud may make hail bigger

What comes down (details in annual Canada Weather Calendar)

1843: alligator in S. Carolina

1857: live lizards in Montreal

1859: fish covered the ground, Wales

1876: fresh meat (mutton?) in large snowflakes

1877: snakes, Memphis, TN

1895: huge black African ants Winnipeg

1903: fish, Moose Jaw, Sask.

1921: frogs in Calgary

1951: ducks inside hail, Maine

1977: fresh, ripe hazelnuts, UK (local ones don’t ripe until 6 months later)

1979: frogs on a Greek village

1983: sea shells, UK

In Ethiopia, many times fish dropped from the sky during the famine

Dust storm coming from Africa

Tornado (twister, funnel cloud)

Mostly along the “Tornado Alley” where they get 1,000 / year from April to June

Now have spread to Canada & elsewhere – people “surprised ” in many other countries

Spinning of air from air mass collision

High humidity noticed during tornado events

Can be predicted from satellite data or a doppler radar dish on the ground (it picks the rotation in the cloud)

A house would explode from the tornado’s extreme low pressure

A dust devil is not a tornado

A “tornado fire” in Winkler, 2000 killed 1 person: someone put a match on stacks of hay

Elie tornado, 2007

Most powerful in Canada, category F5

Curtain of cloud to the ground around tornado

Moved from Headingly to Elie just south of the highway

Destroyed 4 -5 houses

~ 40,000 people drove in from the area to see the damage afterwards

Tornado is coming…

Niverville

Tornado Alley of the USA

Canada's Tornado Alley

Hurricane, typhoon, cyclone

3 names, but same phenomenon

Atlantic: hurricane

Pacific: typhoon (from Greek mythology)

Indian: cyclone ( “ “ “ )

It starts over a warm ocean with a min. temp. of ~ 27 degrees

Used to start AFTER June 21st

(forget it now, all rules have changed)

Features

Strong wind

There is an “eye” with extremely low pressure (like a vacuum)

Heavy rain esp. around the eye

Huge spiral cloud reaches to top of troposphere

Causes “storm surge”, like a huge wave – up to 10 m high- that hits the shore on the right side

Name picked from prepared list of local names

The phenomenon is a huge engine powered by the latent heat of condensation

It transfers the heat from the equator to the north and south & brings much needed rain

minimum wind speed ~114 km/h

All hurricanes

A strong one has an eye

Big eye

Two cyclones

Section of typhoon

New Phenomena: Hurricane hitting Brazil!

First ever in 2003

Hurricane near B.C. ?! Yes, but neutralized by cold current near land

Watch out young millionaires of BC!

'Weather bomb'': Oct. 2010

The “bomb”

Looks like a hurricane, but appeared on land (not water)

It is an extremely low pressure phenomenon, several noticed worldwide.

Make out a name for it!

Water Resources

Most countries have water shortage

Warning issued last week from Iraq that the next war on Arab lands would be about water

Canada, Sweden : only countries with ample water supplies

Hydrologic Cycle

Only 3 % is fresh water

Oceans have 97 % of water, but is salty

No.1 source of fresh water is glaciers

No. 2 is groundwater

No. 3 is the “Great Lakes” & Lake Baikal

No. 4 is all rivers & other lakes

Precipitation in N. America

Aquifers & water table

Most people in Canada can get groundwater in a layer of sand /gravel/fractured rock

This water-bearing layer is the aquifer & water flows downhill very slowly

Need to drill a well to access it

Aquifer

Artesian well shoots up without a pump!

A spring when water table reaches the surface

A water tower in a community

Brings water to all houses by gravity

Replaced by pumps in some places

“Arctic” means “bear” –in Greek

So, is “ Moskwa” – in Russian / Cree

“Antarctic” means “opposite the arctic”

When you go north, this is the main problem, running into a bear

Climates

5 climates in classification

Tropical

Arid

Mesothermal

Microthermal

Polar & high mountains

Climographs

Variations in temperature over the year

Variations of precipitation over the year

Also,

Not in the lab: variations of POTET, potential evaporation

All the above can define the climate of an area

Tropical

At or near the Equator

Min. temp. of 18 degrees

No seasons

Rain by convection (air heated by sun)

“malaria belt”, “bacteria belt”

Plants / animals thrive, 40% of Earth’s C

No soil, trees have no rings

Unique fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices

Arid

Deserts: most widespread climate on Earth ( arid & semi-arid)

High pressure, cloudless, rare rain/snow

Temperature varies

Called steppes, pampas, veld

Some life (underground during the day)

Camel is like a water tank, froths when it overheats

Mesothermal (medium heat) temperate, mild

35 to 45 degrees N / S or near the sea

No freezing (temp. above zero) moderated by the sea

Rain/snow from air collisions

Unique fruits/ vegetables / nuts / spices

- citrus, olives, grapes (wine), figs,

sesame, carob

Microthermal (little heat)

45 to 60 degrees N & S

Coldest below zero

Rain/snow from air collisions

Boreal forest (taiga in Russia), short & tall grasses in Canada (grasslands elsewhere)

Can be severe (word comes from Siberia) on land away from the sea

Polar & high mountains

60 degrees +, N / S

High pressure, rare rain/snow

Like deserts

Warmest month below 10 degrees C

Tundra

Large mosquitos / flies

“Tree – Line” & permafrost

Best climate ?

In Greece : mesothermal

On the sea, but dry because warm air from the Sahara desert blows over the sea (used to be zero humidity?)

Rare clouds

Clear skies make observations of natural phenomena easier to see

(don’t have to run away from rain & hide in a pub like they do in most of Europe)

Some of human accomplishements that started there & spread all over

Language, literature, theatre, poetry, science, astronomy, medicine, engineering, calculus, geometry, democracy, the “oracle”, athletics (the Olympics), etc. etc

Due to poor soil people migrated from thousands of years ago all over : Europe, N. America, S. America, Asia , Australia, Pacific islands all the way to Rapa Nui

Amazon

Olive tree, over 2,000 years old. Only veg. sponsored by a Goddess (Athena)

Coasts

West coast of continents are warmed by Gulf Stream, Japan Stream that flow clockwise, so no freezing in winter

Examples: Scotland, Ireland, BC,

Alaska

- East coasts may freeze : Labrador, Siberia

Climate Change

Dramatic increase in CO2 have led to

Dramatic increase in temperature

Called Global Warming or Climate Change ( everyone has to respect environment & don’t blame it for its power, sometimes it kills)

Heating of oceans causes violent weather

Results in more evaporation, more power in the air more storms & more extreme phenomena

Just last week: tornadoes hit (prob. for 1st time) in Berlin, Perth, New Zealand, Spain & Grand Rapids

Topographical maps

Contour lines: lines of equal elevation

Help you to see in 3D

Relief : highest elevation minus lowest

Townships: 10 km by 10 km

Direction of ice: predominant orientation of lakes in the area

Electricity lines: power comes from the north in Manitoba

SECOND PART OF COURSE

GLACIAL FEATURES

Louis Agassiz from Switzerland
French-speaking, so most names are French
“Glace” is French for ice (crème glace)
‘Glass’ is taken from “glace”
Mr. Agassiz came to Canada and concluded that Canada had been under an Ice Age, too
Last glaciation from 2 m.y. ago to ~ 10,000 years ago

Reason for an Ice Age

Don’t ask, no one knows
It prob. has to do with the gases in the air
If there is too much CO2, the air gets warmed up (no chance of an Ice Age now, but can’t be 100% sure)
If there is too much SO2, it reflects back heat, therefore, it is possible to get an Ice Age
SO2 comes from volcanoes, therefore, a big eruption can trigger an Ice Age

65,000,000 years ago

An asteroid hit Mexico in an area with lots of gypsum (calcium sulfate)
The huge explosion released tremendous amount of SO2 into the air that blocked sunlight for years
The planet froze, plants died, therefore animals who depended on plants died out too
That is how the dinosaurs & others disappeared for good

Glacier = a river of ice, needs a thickness of ~ 18 m before it can start moving

Agassiz called it “God’s Great Plough”, like a bulldozer

Glacier can be in mountains (alpine) or over continents (continental)

Gives rise to specific landscapes

It is due to the landscapes that Agassiz concluded that they formed from ice

Method of sculpting: beware!

Abrasion

Glaciers are 2 – 3 km thick, but it is not the bulk of the ice that breaks up hills & mountains on land as it moves

Water at the bottom of the ice pile goes in small cracks in the rock below and expands into ice

When water freezes it expands ~ 10 % & breaks the surrounding rock

So, the breaking up of rock takes place silently UNDER the ice

Evidence for glaciation in Canada

Flatness of land

Shallow lakes in depressions, where bedrock was soft (water could not go away due to flatness)

Smooth, polished rock surfaces

Glacial till (stones of all sizes in the soil) left after ice melted

Erratics (large rounded boulders)

Specific landforms for alpine / continental glaciers

Erratics still in the till

Direction of ice flow in Canada

Lakes lined up indicates direction of flow

Thickest pile of snow/ice over Hudson Bay

Bay depressed by the load of ice (not deep)

Bay rising today slowly after load taken off (ice melted)

From N to S in Manitoba, local variations

Ice moved from E to W, north of the 60th parallel

Extent of the ice

Alpine landforms

Glaciers flow downhill into the sea

U-shaped valleys with tributary valleys

Horn : pyramid-shaped top of mountains

Arete : sharp-edged ridge between adjacent valleys

Hanging valley with waterfall

Fjords : where U-shaped valleys flooded by the sea, the most spectacular scenery

Horn

U-shaped valley

Alpine glaciers in valleys

Fjord

Preikestolen

Continental glaciers

Esker : river below glacier

Kame / kame terrace : river above glacier

Moraine : glacial till where glacier stopped

The Manitoba “mountains”

The Pas Moraine

- Polished rock surfaces: roche moutonnee

- Drumlins : oblong hills of till, usually in groups

Eskers, kames terraces, Ice Flow

Esker

Kame Terrace, near Thompson

Drumlin

Permafrost country

Landscapes formed by repeated freezing / thawing of the ground

Soil “turning around” continuously, moving structures on the surface

Effect of permafrost

Soil flux (soil is moving)

Palsa: organic material

Drunken Forest

Other permafrost landforms

Patterned ground

Pingo

Frost shattering, rock burst

KARST

Limestone / gypsum on the surface can be dissolved by water (water is a bit acidic)

Drainage moves underground (streams, rivers, lakes)

Limestone from Winnipeg to The Pas along the Interlake

a sinkhole

Cenote

Not a true sinkhole (Guatemala City)

Karst terrain, Guilin, China

Stone forest, China

Caves, Vietnam

Bahamas (means shallow water) Banks (no money here)

Limestone with caves, sinkholes

The rise in the sea level sank those caves far below water

“blue holes”

LANDSLIDES

Mostly in the mountains
Everything on the slopes is unstable (gravity)
Slopes more the 33 degrees (angle of rest) slide
Only the roots of trees can keep soil in place
Grass, bushes not enough
Development of all kinds (houses, roads, etc starts with clear cutting, therefore vulnerable)

Half of landslide disasters in Canada

Are in the mountains

Worst disaster at Frank, Alberta, 1903 under Turtle Mt., locally known as “Rumbling” Mt. 77 died, museum along No.3 Hwy.

Coal mine underneath, torrential rain may have contributed

Surprise !

Quick clays in Quebec have ½ of landslide deaths in Canada

Clays formed in the ocean & salt component has dissolved leaving open spaces in the soil

Easy to trigger a landslide in such a soil

A heavy truck on the road, heavy rain, etc

Quick clays, Quebec

RIVERS

Mouths of rivers: end of a river

Most have a delta with sand deposits, like the Nile, Mississippi, Mackenzie (Deh Cho), Red river (Winnipeg beaches)
Some have an estuary, prob. because the tide won’t let the river drop its sand above water level. Examples are the Amazon, St. Lawrence (Kaniatarowanenneh = big waterway)

Watershed

river with its tributaries & smaller streams makes up the Drainage Basin, or watershed

The river channel is V- shaped, can be deep

The river has a floodplain that it occupies during the spring or summer floods with natural terraces (levees) of sand/gravel/clay

The river deposits nutrients that plants need along its floodplain, that is why it is productive

Continental Divide

Separates watersheds that flow in opposite directions

For example there is C.D. that separates Manitoba rivers (flowing north) from the Mississippi river system (flowing south)

Sign says “ from here all rivers flow north”

On the other side: “ from here all rivers flow south”

Alluvium

river brings gravel, sand along the bottom and lighter clay in suspension (what makes the water dirty-looking)

All these sediments are called alluvium

The amount of water in the river is its discharge (= depth X width X speed)

The mouth of the Amazon

Muddy but clean water

Meandering rivers (like Assiniboine)

When the topography is flat, the river zig zags across the floodplain

In a bend, its outer bank is undercut (gets deep) by faster water while its inner bank is slow with the river depositing sediment in a point bar – a place to look for gold, diamonds

Loops of the river can be cut off & form oxbow lakes ( like at Portage La Prairie)

Portage La Prairie

Red River

Most frequently flooded river in Canada

Problem probably because it flows north across various climates

Winnipeg protected by the Floodway that brings water around the city instead of going through the city

Portage Diversion takes the water from the Assiniboine into Lake Manitoba (which flooded last year), so it will not flood Winnipeg

The “Red Sea”, 1997

Drainage in Manitoba

Lowest elevation roughly stretches N-S in the middle of the province

Water from the Red river empties into Lake Winnipeg and flows north along Nelson River into Hudson Bay

Winnipeg river and Saskatchewan (Kisiskaciwani sipi = swift flowing) river flow into Lake Winnipeg

Nick Point

Rapids, an irregularity in the slope of a river

The water works to eliminate the nick point which retreats up-stream

Hydroelectric dams built on nickpoints where the falling water is used to turn a turbine lined with magnets, thereby creating electricity

Nick Point: Niagara Falls

First Hydroelectric Dam- in the world

Built at Niagara Falls

Statue of Tesla there: responsible for inventing every electrical device that we use

Big business ‘stole’ his invention

Nick point has moved 12 km upstream from the Niagara Escarpment (a rise in the land elevation) creating a deep canyon

Part of the St Lawrence Seaway

The “Great Lakes”: part of the St. Lawrence Seaway

Other rivers

Nile: longest

China’s longest: Yangtze

Widest : Indus (= son of God)

Thames, London, UK: only river with gates to prevent flooding (if the sea water moved up-river)

DESERT

Desert: God of wind is in charge- Aeolos

“Evaporation exceeds precipitation”

Hot or cold (Antarctic)

Sand covers only 20 % & is in constant move

Sand accumulates in dunes (steep slope is down-wind)

Erg is a sand sea

Many shapes of dunes, most common a barchan

Barchan dune: wind from the right

Oasis :depression with spring water often below sea level

Animals / humans can suffer from dehydration

Slim chance of survival if unprepared

Taklimakan: “once you go in, you can never come out (alive)”

Kalahari: has a “skeleton coast”

Atacama: world’s driest place

Sahara: largest desert

New idea?

There is no rain in the desert, because there are no plants!

If enough plants are planted, evaporation could form clouds & rain

New plantations in the Sahara & Middle East –with water drawn from deep wells - may reduce size of desert

Soluble salts

Normally would be dissolved in water

Boron, salt, gypsum, sodium sulfate (detergent), sodium nitrate (explosives), potassium nitrate (toothpaste), lithium (batteries) lying about on the surface

Playas (dried up lakes)

More than 100 in N. America

Have encrusted salt (after water has evaporated)

Excellent racetracks, runways for planes, spacecraft (used by military, some are notorious for secrecy & biological experiments, such as Area 51)

playa

Athabasca Sands

Northernmost dune field in the world

Sand blown from bottom of dried-up lake Athabasca during Ice Age

Buried some of the forest and keeps moving to the SE with the wind

Dead Sea

Along the Jordan river, no exit to the sea
Lowest place on the planet, 422 m below sea
Salty water makes it possible to float on water
35 % salt
World’s first health resort (visited by Cleopatra)
Lake Watrous, Sask. is similar (Manitou Beach, miracle waters)

Sandblasting

Wind can move sand in the air

Erodes exposed rocks and shapes them aerodynamically - yardang

Desert Pavement

Gravel on the surface

Don’t walk or drive over it!

The disturbance would release the sand from below

This would cause another sand storm!

Dust storm over the Atlantic - brings the huge ants to Winnipeg!

Sydney, Australia

Loess

Worldwide deposits, but not in Canada

One of the best soils, spade marks visible for years, roof won’t cave in, rich in organic remains

80% silica, 10 % carbonates & phosphates

Yellowish -colors the “Yellow river” in China, also gives name to the “Yellow race”

Probably formed outwash of glaciers

Loess deposits in China

Uluru, Australia

The Olgas

Just before sunset

Dramatic change of colour

Wave cave

Method of sculpting

Forms at the bottom of the Uluru rock

Sandstorms are common with sand from the desert blasting a hole into the rock and shaping it like a wave

COASTAL

Erosion by waves

Movement of sediment by currents depositing off the shore and forming “barrier islands”

Longshore current: current along the shore

“Killer waves”: esp. in peninsulas. Waves tend to eliminate peninsulas, so they converge on them with combined force

Sea level rise

- During last Ice Age was 120 m lower

Natives of Chile: “people arrived when sea was lower, then the sea rose and the peninsula (Chlli in ancient Greek) became an island” (today the island is known as Chiloe, also, the name of the country)

3,000 BC to 1,900 AD: no change

1900 – 1992: 1 – 3 mm / year rise

Since 1992: up more, variable, no agreement

Predictions

Predictions as good as yours: no one knows!

A 4 m rise will flood most of Florida

The Dutch (whose country is mostly below the sea) are prepared for a 7 m rise with massive fortifications

Australia gave orders to ~ 100,000 home owners to move away from coast – insurance /the country will not pay to relocate them!

The “sinking islands”

Paradises under threat, mostly atolls in the Pacific Ocean

Used to be volcanoes that became inactive

Erosion destroyed volcano, coral reefs formed around the island (due to warm, tropical conditions), then all that was left was a strip of land like an arc with shallow water in the middle (was the old, eroded volcano)

Shallow water inside with deep water outside the arc of land. Barely 1 – 2 m above sea level

Pacific Ocean

Polynesia (ancient Greek for “many islands”)

Melanesia ( “ “ “ “black islands”)

Micronesia ( “ “ “ “small islands”)

Pacific Island countries

Kiribati

Marshall Islands (includes Bikini )

Fiji

Tonga

Vanuatu ("destroyed" by a typhoon)

Nauru (voted the happiest place on Earth!)

Tuvalu

Most have schools built by Canadian Government, volunteers urgently needed! (includes free fare)

Salty seawater: what is in it?

The results of weathering of rocks

98% of the “salts” have these 7 elements:

Sodium

Potassium

Calcium

Magnesium

Chlorine

Bromine

Sulfur

Tides: a powerful phenomenon

Tides: “the heartbeat of our oceans” “the voice of the moon”

Only in big oceans (not in Hudson Bay, Mediterranean)

“pull” by moon, also the sun as they go around the planet (so, it is just gravity)

From 30 cm to 1.5 m

Highest at Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia (up to 16 m high between low & high tide)

It is a RESONANCE affair!

Resonance (frequency)

Push a child on a swing to learn about resonance

It is like the max. speed. Once you get it, one can push one-shelf further.

“Tendency to oscillate with a greater amplitude at a certain frequency than any other frequency”

Resonance depends on weight of person

So, basically how fast a body of water will swing, when the moon’s gravity acts on it

It depends on depth of water, how smooth the bottom is, etc

Tidal Day: 24 hours 50 min

Like a lunar day

If you keep watching the moon at the same time daily, it gets a little bit behind every day

Two high tides & two low tides per day

12 hours 25 min between two high tides

~ 6 hours between a high and a low

Bay of Fundy

“World’s largest bathtub”, funnel-shaped

Tides established here only 6,000 years ago

Water moves in & out of the Bay in sync with the tide  the tide gets amplified

Average tide ~ 1 m

Silt, sediment & nutrients move in & out twice daily, therefore LOTS of MARINE LIFE : lobsters, crabs, clams  birds, whales

Bay of Fundy Tides

Hopewell or Flowerpot Rocks

Cape Split

Narrow peninsula sticks towards the Bay
In front of it pass 14 b. tons water, equal to combined flow of all rivers /streams in the world
Hollow roar when turbulent water smashes on rock caves below
3 hours later the spectacle pauses & starts again flowing in opposite direction