WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Index
CHAPTER – 1: INTRODUCTION 3
CHAPTER – 2: OUR SOLAR SYSTEM 7
CHAPTER – 3: THE GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE AND EVOLUTIONS 24
CHAPTER – 4: LATITUDES & LONGITUDES 28
CHAPTER – 5: EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD 37

GEOMORPHOLOGY
CHAPTER – 6: INTERIOR OF THE EARTH 46

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CHAPTER – 7: GEOLOGY AND ROCK SYSTEM 56
CHAPTER – 8: DYNAMIC SURFACE OF THE EARTH 62

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CHAPTER – 9: EVOLUTION OF LANDFORMS DUE TO INTERNAL FORCES 75
CHAPTER – 10: VOLCANOES ai 81
CHAPTER – 11: EARTH QUAKE 87
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CHAPTER – 12: MAJOR LANDFORMS AND THEIR ECONOMIC SIGNIFICANCE 90
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CHAPTER – 13: GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES 102

CHAPTER – 14: DRAINAGE SYSTEMS AND PATTERNS 123
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CLIMATOLOGY
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CHAPTER – 15: ATMOSPHERE 131

CHAPTER – 16: CYCLIC PROCESS OF THE ATMOSPHERIC GASES 137
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CHAPTER – 17: SOLAR RADIATION, HEAT BALANCE AND TEMPERATURE 139

CHAPTER – 18: TEMPERATURE 144
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CHAPTER – 19: ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION AND WEATHER SYSTEMS 151

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CHAPTER – 20: JET STREAM 162

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CHAPTER – 21: AIR MASSES 165

CHAPTER – 22: CYCLONES 167
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CHAPTER – 23: THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES 181

CHAPTER – 24: HUMIDITY AND PRECIPITATION 190
CHAPTER – 25: WEATHER AND CLIMATE 209

OCEANOGRAPHY
CHAPTER – 26: OCEAN BASINS 219
CHAPTER – 27: PROPERTIES OF OCEAN WATERS 226
CHAPTER – 28: MOVEMENTS OF OCEAN WATERS 234
CHAPTER – 29: CORAL REEFS 246

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

BIOGEOGRAPHY
CHAPTER – 30: SOIL 252
CHAPTER – 31: PROBLEMS OF INDIAN SOILS 265
CHAPTER – 32: FORESTS – NATURAL VEGETATION OF INDIA 268

WORLD HUMAN AND ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER – 1: INTRODUCTION 278

CHAPTER – 2: THE WORLD POPULATION 281
CHAPTER – 3: HUMAN SETTLEMENTS 289
CHAPTER – 4: ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES 295
CHAPTER – 5: SECONDARY ACTIVITIES 307
CHAPTER – 6: TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY ACTIVITIES 317
CHAPTER – 7: TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION 322

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER-1
INTRODUCTION

GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE
Geography equips you to appreciate diversity and investigate into the causes responsible for creating such
variations over time and space.
What is geography?
 Definition: Geography is the study of physical features of the earth and its atmosphere, and of human
activity as it affects and is affected by these, including the distribution of populations and resources and
political and economic activities.
 The term coined by: Eratosthenes, a Greek scholar (276-194 BC).
 Word Derived From: Two roots from Greek language geo (earth) and graphos (description).
The major approaches to study geography:
Systematic Approach: Regional approach:
Introduced by Alexander Von Humboldt, a Karl Ritter (1779-1859) developed this approach.
German geographer (1769-1859)  Approach: The world is divided into regions at
 Approach: Phenomenon is studied world over as different hierarchical levels and then all the
a whole, and then the identification of typologies geographical phenomena in a particular region are
or spatial patterns is done. studied.
 Ex-if one is interested in studying natural  Ex-Natural regions, Political regions or
vegetation, the study will be done at the world designated region etc.
level as a first step.
Branches of Geography:

Branches of Geography

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Branches of Geography (based on Systematic Approach)

Physical Geography Human Geography
 Astronomical Geography: It studies the  Social/Cultural Geography: Study of society and its
celestial phenomena which contain the spatial dynamics as well as the cultural elements
Earth, Sun, Moon and Planets of the Solar contributed by the society.
System.  Example-Tribal regions, ethnicity, Religion and
 Geomorphology: Devoted to the study of languages, cuisine etc.
landforms, their evolution and related  Population and Settlement Geography (Rural and
processes. Urban): Population geography studies population
 Example-Mountains, valleys, slope growth, distribution, density, sex ratio, migration and
development etc. occupational structure etc. whereas settlement

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 Climatology: Encompasses the study of geography studies the characteristics of rural and urban
structure of atmosphere and elements of settlements.
weather and climates and climatic types and  Economic Geography: Studies economic activities of

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regions. the people including agriculture, industry, tourism,
 Example-Monsson, IOD, Climate trade, and transport, infrastructure and services, etc.


change etc.
Hydrology: Studies the realm of water over
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Historical Geography: Studies the historical
processes through which the space gets organised.
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the surface of the earth including oceans,  Political Geography: Looks at the space from the
lakes, rivers and other water bodies and its angle of political events and studies boundaries, space
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effect on different life forms including relations between neighbouring political units,
human life and their activities. delimitation of constituencies, election scenario and
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 Soil Geography: Devoted to study the develops theoretical framework to understand the
processes of soil formation, soil types, their political behaviour of the population.
 Example- Heartland and Rimland theories.
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fertility status, distribution and use.

Biogeography
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The interface between physical geography and human geography has led to the development of
Biogeography which includes:
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 Plant Geography: Studies the spatial pattern of natural vegetation in their habitats.
 Example-Zonal and altitudinal distribution of vegetations.
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 Zoo Geography: Studies the spatial patterns and geographic characteristics of animals and their
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habitats.
 Ecology /Ecosystem: Deals with the scientific study of the habitats characteristic of species.
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 Environmental Geography: Concerns world over leading to the realisation of environmental problems
such as land gradation, pollution.
Branches of Geography (based on Reginal Approach):
 Regional Studies/Area: Studies Comprising Macro, Meso and Micro Regional Studies.
 Regional Planning: Comprising Country/Rural and Town/ Urban Planning.

ORIGIN OF THE EARTH-EARLY THEORIES

 Nebular Hypothesis: Emmanuel Kant considered that the planets were formed out of a cloud of
material associated with a youthful sun, which was slowly rotating. This argument was later visited by
Laplace.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

 Wandering Star Hypothesis: Chamberlain and

Moulton in 1900 considered that a wandering star
approached the sun which resulted a cigar-shaped
extension of material separated from the solar surface.
As the passing star moved away, the separated material
from the solar surface continued to revolve around the
sun and it slowly condensed into planets.
 Sir James Jeans and later Sir Harold Jeffrey
supported this hypothesis.
 Revised Nebular Hypothesis: Otto Schmidt in
Russia and Carl Weizascar in Germany in 1950
considered that the sun was surrounded by solar nebula
containing mostly the hydrogen and helium along with
what may be termed as dust. The friction and collision
of particles led to formation of a disk-shaped cloud and
the planets were formed through the process of
accretion.

MODERN THEORIES-ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

Big Bang Theory
 Expanding Universe Hypothesis: This
is another name for Big Bang Theory.
 Edwin Hubble, in 1920, provided
evidence that the universe is expanding
based on balloon experiment.
 Hubble’s balloon experiment: Take a
balloon and mark some points on it to
represent the galaxies. Now, if you start
inflating the balloon, the points marked on
the balloon will appear to be moving away
from each other as the balloon expands.
Similarly, the distance between the
galaxies is also found to be increasing and
thereby, the universe is considered to be expanding.
 According to scientists BBT is partially Correct: Scientists believe that though the space between
the galaxies is increasing, observations do not support the expansion of galaxies. So, the balloon
example is only partially correct

The Big Bang Theory considers the following stages in the development of the universe:
 Hoyle’s concept of steady state: It considered the universe to be roughly the same at any point of
time.
o Singular Atom: In the beginning, all matter forming the universe existed in one place in the form
of a “tiny ball” (singular atom) with an unimaginably small volume, infinite temperature and
infinite density.

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o Explosion of Tiny Ball: 13.7 billion years before the present the singular atom exploded violently
which led to a huge expansion.
 This expansion continues even to the present day. As it grew, some energy was converted into
matter.
 There was particularly rapid expansion within fractions of a second after the bang.
 Thereafter, the expansion has slowed down. Within first three minutes from the Big Bang event,
the first began to form.
o Rise of Atomic Matter: Within 300,000 years from the Big Bang, temperature dropped to 4,500K
(Kelvin) and gave rise to atomic matter and the universe became transparent.

Formation of Stars:

FORMATION OF PLANETS
 Stages in the development of planets:
 Formation of a Core: The gravitational force within the lumps of gas leads to the formation of a
core to the gas cloud and a huge rotating disc of gas and dust develops around the gas core.

 Condensation of the Core: The gas cloud starts getting condensed and the matter around the core
develops into small rounded objects.

 Development of Planetesimal: The small-rounded objects around the core by the process of
cohesion develop into what is called planetesimals i.e. a large number of smaller bodies.

 Accretion of Planetesimals: large number of small planetesimals accrete to form a fewer large
bodies in the form of planets.

 Larger Bodies Start Forming by Collision: and gravitational attraction causes the material to
stick together.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER-2
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM

The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the objects that orbit it formed
4.6 billion years ago from the gravitational collapse of a giant interstellar molecular cloud. The vast
majority (99.86%) of the system's mass is in the Sun, with most of the remaining mass contained in the
planet Jupiter.

FORMATION AND EVOLUTION

 Gravitational Collapse of Pre-Solar Nebula: The Solar System formed 4.568 billion years

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ago from the gravitational collapse of a region within a large molecular cloud.
 Conservation of Angular Momentum: Due to collapse of pre solar nebula cause it to rotate faster.
 Formation of Protoplanetary Disc: As the contracting nebula rotated faster, it began to flatten

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into protoplanetary disc.
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 Accretion of Disc: Formed the planet in which dust and gas gravitationally attracted each
other, coalescing to form ever larger bodies.
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 Formation of Inner Planets: Due to their higher boiling points, only metals and silicates could
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exist in solid form in the warm inner solar system close to the Sun, and these eventually formed
the rocky planets of Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.
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 Why Small in size?

o Because metallic elements only comprised a very small fraction of the solar nebula, the
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terrestrial planets could not grow very large.

 Formation of Outer Planets: The giant planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) formed
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beyond the frost line, the point between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where material is cool
enough for volatile icy compounds to remain solid.
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 Why Giant in Size?

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o The ices that formed these planets were more plentiful than the metals and silicates that
formed the terrestrial inner planets, allowing them to grow massive enough to capture
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large atmospheres of hydrogen and helium.

 Leftover Debris: That never became planets congregated in regions such as the asteroid belt,
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Kuiper belt, and Oort cloud.

 Lifecycle: The Solar System will remain roughly as it is known today until the hydrogen in
the core of the Sun has been entirely converted to helium, which will occur roughly 5 billion
years from now.

The difference between Terrestrial and Jovian planets can be attributed to the following
conditions:
(i) Distance from the Parent Star: The terrestrial planets were formed in the close vicinity of
the parent star where it was too warm for gases to condense to solid particles whereas the
Jovian planets were formed at quite a distant location.

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(ii) Intensity of Solar Winds: Intense nearer the sun so, it blew off lots of gas and dust from the
terrestrial planets whereas solar winds were not all that intense to cause similar removal of
gases from the Jovian planets.
(iii) Size of the Planets: The terrestrial planets are smaller and their lower gravity could not hold
the scaping gases.

STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION

The Sun is the dominant gravitational member of the Solar System, and its planetary system is
maintained in a relatively stable, slowly evolving state by following isolated, gravitationally
bound orbits around the Sun.

Orbits:
 Orbital Direction: Planets and most other objects
orbit the Sun in the same direction that the Sun is
rotating. That is, counter-clockwise, as viewed
from above Earth's north pole.
 Exceptions: Such as Halley's Comet and Neptune's
moon Triton is the largest to orbit in the
opposite, retrograde manner.
 Most larger objects rotate around their own
axes in the prograde direction relative to their
orbit. Exception-rotation of Venus is retrograde
 Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion: Stipulate that each object travels along an ellipse with
the Sun at one focus, which causes the body's distance from the Sun to vary over the course of
its year.
 Kepler's laws only account for the influence of the Sun's gravity upon an orbiting body, not
the gravitational pulls of different bodies upon each other.
 Perihelion: A body's closest approach to the Sun.
 Aphelion: A body’s most distant point from the Sun.
 The Orbits of the Planets: Nearly circular, but many comets, asteroids, and Kuiper belt
objects follow highly elliptical orbits.

Composition:
 The Principal Component: of the Solar System is the Sun, a low-mass star that contains
99.86% of the system's known mass and dominates it gravitationally.
 Sun’s Composition: roughly 98% hydrogen and helium, as are Jupiter and Saturn.
 Composition Gradient: exists in the Solar System, created by heat and light pressure from the
early Sun.
 Ex-objects closer to the Sun, which are more affected by heat and light pressure, are
composed of elements with high melting points and objects farther from the Sun are
composed largely of materials with lower melting points.

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 Inner Solar Objects: are composed mostly of rocky materials such as silicates, iron or nickel.
 Outer Solar Objects: Jupiter and Saturn are composed mainly of gases with extremely low
melting points and high vapour pressure, such as hydrogen, helium, and neon.
 Icy Substances comprise the majority of the satellites of the giant planets, as well as most
of Uranus and Neptune (the so-called "ice giants") and the numerous small objects that lie
beyond Neptune's orbit.

Distances and Scales:

Farther a planet or belt is from the Sun, the larger the distance between its orbit and the orbit of the
next nearer object to the Sun.
 For example, Venus is approximately 0.33 AU farther out from the Sun than Mercury,
whereas Saturn is 4.3 AU out from Jupiter, and Neptune lies 10.5 AU out from Uranus.

THE SUN
The Sun is the Solar System's star and by far its most massive component. Its large mass (332,900
Earth masses) comprises 99.86% of all the mass in the Solar System which produces temperatures and
densities in its core high enough to sustain nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium.
This releases an enormous amount of energy, mostly radiated into space as electromagnetic
radiation peaking in visible light.

Facts about the Sun

 Age: 4.6 billion years.
 The Surface Gravity 274 m/s2 (28 times the gravity of the Earth).
 Period of Rotation: 25 days 9 hrs.
 Composition: The Sun is composed of roughly 98% hydrogen and helium.
 Angular Momentum: Although the Sun dominates the system by mass, it accounts for only
about 2% of the angular momentum due to the differential rotation within the gaseous Sun.
 Rotational Direction: Rotating in counter-clockwise direction (when viewed from a long way
above Earth’s north pole).

Internal Structure and Atmosphere of the Sun

 The Solar Interior: From the inside out it is made up of the core, radiative zone and
the convective zone.
 The Solar Atmosphere: above convective zone consists of the photosphere, chromosphere,
and the corona.

Photosphere
 The photosphere is the bright outer layer of the Sun that emits most of the radiation.
 The effective temperature on the outer side of the photosphere is 6000°C.

Chromosphere
 Just above the Photosphere is the chromosphere which is relatively a thin layer of burning gases.

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The Sun’s Internal and External Structure

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Sunspot
A dark patch on the surface of the Sun because, it is about 500-1500°C cooler than the surrounding
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chromosphere.
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 Number of Sunspot: Number varies according to the approximately 11-year solar cycle. The
individual sunspot has a lifetime ranging from a few days to a few months.
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 Umbra: Sunspot having a black centre.

 Penumbra: A lighter region surrounding umbra.
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 Effect of Sunspots: It has been suggested that the Sun is 1% cooler when it has no sunspot and
that this variation in solar radiation might affect the climates of the Earth.
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 Probable Usage: Due to their correlation with other kinds of solar activity, sunspots can be
used to help predict space weather, the state of the ionosphere, and conditions relevant to short-
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wave radio propagation or satellite communications.

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Solar Wind
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 Properties: A stream of energised, charged particles, primarily electrons and protons, flowing outward
from the Sun at speeds as high as 900 km/s and at a temperature of 1 million degrees (Celsius).
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 Composition: It is made of plasma (ionised atoms).

 Effects of Solar Wind
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 Aurora: A natural light display in the sky, predominantly seen in the high latitude (Arctic
and Antarctic) regions. (This is due to magnetic field lines of earth and solar wind)
o Reason: Caused by charged particles, mainly electrons and protons, entering the
atmosphere from above causing ionisation and excitation of atmospheric constituents,
and consequent optical emissions.
 Earth Magnetosphere: The solar wind is responsible for the overall shape of Earth’s
magnetosphere.
o Exception- Venus, the nearest and most similar planet to Earth in the Solar System,
has an atmosphere 100 times denser than our own, with little or no geomagnetic field.
 Trigger Geomagnetic Storms: That can wreak havoc with satellites and electricity
networks and threaten astronauts in space.

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Solar flares
 Solar Flares: Produced on the sun’s surface due to magnetic anomalies.
 Appearance: They are magnetic storms which appear to be very bright spots with a gaseous
surface eruption.
 Occurrence: Varies with the 11-year solar cycle.

Corona
Atmosphere of Plasma that surrounds the Sun and other celestial bodies.
 Visibility: Sun’s Corona visible during Total Solar Eclipse.
 The corona reaches extremely high temperatures. However, the corona is very dim. Why?
 The corona is about 10 million times less dense than the Sun’s surface. This low density
makes the corona much less bright than the surface of the Sun.
 The corona is in the outer layer of the Sun’s atmosphere far from its surface. Yet the
corona is hundreds of times hotter than the Sun’s surface. why?
 As per NASA’s IRIS mission packets of very hot material called "heat bombs" that travel
from the Sun into the corona explode and release their energy as heat. But astronomers
think that this is only one of many ways in which the corona is heated.
 How does the corona cause solar winds?
 The corona's temperature causes its particles to move at very high speeds. These speeds
are so high that the particles can escape the Sun's gravity.
Plasma
 One of the four fundamental states of matter: The others being solid, liquid, and gas.
 Properties: a superheated matter, so hot that the electrons are ripped away from the atoms
forming an ionized gas. It comprises over 99% of the visible universe.
 Phenomenon: In the night sky, plasma glows in the form of stars, nebulas, and even the
auroras that sometimes ripple above the north and south poles.
 Ex: Lightning and electric sparks are everyday examples of phenomena made from plasma.
 Ex: Neon lights could more accurately be called ‘plasma lights’, because the light comes
from the plasma inside of them.

Inner Solar System

 Comprises: The terrestrial planets and the asteroid belt.
 Composed: Mainly of silicates and metals.

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Inner Planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars)

 The Four Terrestrial or Inner Planets: Dense and are composed largely
of refractory minerals such as the silicates which form their crusts and mantles and metals such
as iron and nickel which form their cores.
 Atmosphere: Three of the four inner planets (Venus, Earth and Mars)
have atmospheres substantial enough to generate weather
 Landscapes: all have impact craters and tectonic surface features, such as rift valleys and
volcanoes.
Note: The term inner planet should not be confused with inferior planet, which designates those
planets that are closer to the Sun than Earth is (i.e. Mercury and Venus).

Mercury:
 Size: Smallest planet in the Solar System and the closest to
the Sun.
 Orbit Time: Orbits around the Sun in 87.97 Earth days,
the shortest of all the Sun's planets.
 Tilt: Its axis has the smallest tilt of any of the Solar
System's planets (about 1⁄30 ).
 Natural Satellites: Mercury has no natural satellites.
 Atmosphere: Mercury's very tenuous atmosphere
consists of solar-wind particles trapped by Mercury's
magnetic field, as well as atoms blasted off its surface by
the solar wind.

Venus:
 Size of the Planet: The third smallest planet in the Solar
System, sometimes called Earth's "sister planet"
because of their similar size, mass, proximity to the Sun,
and bulk composition.
 The Hottest Planet: With surface temperatures over
400 °C , mainly due to the amount of greenhouse gases in
the atmosphere.
 The Brightest Natural Object in Earth's Night
Sky After the Moon: Venus can cast shadows and can
be visible to the naked eye in broad daylight.
 Rotational and Revolution Time Period: Synodic day length of 117 Earth days and
a sidereal rotation period of 243 Earth days. Consequently, it takes longer to rotate about its
axis than any other planet in the Solar System, and does so in the opposite direction to all
but Uranus.
 Natural Moon: Like Mercury, it does not have any moons.

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 Atmosphere: It has the densest atmosphere of the four terrestrial planets, consisting of more
than 96% carbon dioxide.
 Earth's "Evil Twin": Because of the lethal surface conditions.
 Has No Magnetic Field: That would prevent depletion of its substantial atmosphere, which
suggests that its atmosphere is being replenished by volcanic eruptions

The Earth:
 Size of the planet: Earth is the third planet from the Sun
and fifth largest planet in solar system and is the
only astronomical object known to harbour life which

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formed over 4.5 billion years ago.
 Liquid Hydrosphere: About 71% of Earth's surface is
made up of the ocean making it unique among the

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terrestrial planets.
 Dimension: Earth is an ellipsoid with a circumference of
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about 40,000 km.
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 Composition: Iron (32.1%), oxygen (30.1%), silicon
(15.1%), magnesium (13.9%), sulphur (2.9%), nickel
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(1.8%), calcium (1.5%), and aluminium (1.4%), with the remaining 1.2% consisting of trace
amounts of other elements.
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 Nature: Of the four rocky planets, it is the largest and most massive and is the densest planet in
the Solar System.
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 Time Taken For One Revolution: About eight light minutes away from the Sun and orbits it,
taking a year (about 365.25 days) to complete one revolution.
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 Rotational Time Period: Earth rotates around its own axis in just less than a day (in about 23
hours and 56 minutes).
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 Earth's Axis of Rotation: Tilted with respect to the perpendicular to its orbital plane around
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the Sun, producing seasons.

 Natural Satellite: Earth is orbited by one permanent natural satellite, the Moon, which orbits
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Earth at 380,000 km (1.3 light seconds) and is roughly a quarter as wide as Earth.
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The Moon:
 Size: By size and mass the fifth largest natural satellite of the Solar System.
 Nature: Only natural satellite of the earth which lacks any significant atmosphere,
hydrosphere, or magnetic field.
 Revolution: The Moon's orbit around Earth has a sidereal period of 27.3 days.
 Tidally Locked to Earth: Means that the length of a full rotation of the Moon on its own axis
causes its same side (the near side) to always face Earth, and the somewhat longer lunar day is
the same as the synodic period.
 Gravitational Field: The surface gravity of the Moon is about half of the surface gravity
of Mars and about a sixth of Earth's.

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 Origin of the moon: Theories

 Sir George Darwin’s Theory: In 1838, he
suggested that initially, the earth and the moon
formed a single rapidly rotating body. The whole
mass became a dumb-bell-shaped body and
eventually it broke. It was also suggested that the
material forming the moon was separated from
what we have at present the depression occupied by
the Pacific Ocean. However, the present scientists
do not accept either of the explanations.
 The Big Splat/Giant Impact Theory:
o A body of the size of one to three times that of
mars collided into the earth sometime shortly
after the earth was formed which blasted a large
part of the earth into space.
o This portion of blasted material then continued to orbit the earth and eventually formed
into the present moon about 4.44 billion years ago.

The Mars:
 Size: Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the
second-smallest planet in the Solar System, being
larger than only Mercury; approximately half the
diameter of Earth.
 Appearance/Red Planet: Mars can easily be seen
from Earth with the naked eye due to its
striking reddish colour . Red colour is due to the iron
oxide prevalent on its surface.
 Features: Has surface features such as impact craters,
valleys, dunes, and polar ice caps.
 Hydrology: Liquid water cannot exist on the surface
of Mars due to low atmospheric pressure, which is
less than 1% that of Earth's,
 Atmosphere: The atmosphere of Mars consists of
about 96% carbon dioxide, 1.93% argon and 1.89% nitrogen along with traces of oxygen and
water.
 Climate: The seasons of Mars are mostly like Earth, due to the similar tilts of the two planets'
rotational axes.
 Orbits and Rotation: The solar day on Mars is only slightly longer than an Earth day i.e. 24
hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds and Martian year is equal to 1 year, 320 days, and 18.2
hours.
 Natural Moons/Satellites: Mars has two relatively small (compared to Earth's) natural
moons, Phobos and Deimos.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Asteroid Belt:
 Location: The asteroid belt occupies the orbit
between Mars and Jupiter.
 Size: They range from a few metres to hundreds
of kilometres in size.
 Formation: It is thought to be remnants from
the Solar System's formation that failed to
coalesce because of the gravitational
interference of Jupiter.
 Composition: Except for the largest, Ceres, are
classified as small Solar System bodies and are
composed mainly of refractory rocky and
metallic minerals, with some ice.
 Density: The asteroid belt is very sparsely
populated therefore spacecraft can routinely
pass through without incident.
 Meteoroids:
 Size: Smaller than asteroids, and range
in size from small grains to one-meter-
wide objects.
 Meteor or "Shooting Star": A streak
of light produced due to aerodynamic
heating of meteoroid, comet (an
icy, small Solar System body) or asteroid
when they pass through Earth's
atmosphere at a speed typically in excess
of 20 km/s.
 Meteor Shower: A series of many
meteors appearing seconds or minutes apart and are appearing to originate from the same
fixed point in the sky.
 Meteorite: Remains of a meteoroid that has survived the ablation of its surface material
during its passage through the atmosphere as a meteor and has impacted the ground.

OUTER SOLAR SYSTEM

Due to their greater distance from the Sun, the solid objects in the outer Solar System contain a higher
proportion of volatiles, such as water, ammonia, and methane than those of the inner Solar System
because the lower temperatures allow these compounds to remain solid.
 Giant Planets or Jovian Planets: The four outer planets that is Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune are called as giant planets or Jovian planets.
 Ring System: All four giant planets have rings, although only Saturn's is easily observed from
Earth.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Jupiter:
 Size: Fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System.
 Features: Primarily composed of hydrogen, but helium constitutes
one-quarter of its mass and one-tenth of its volume.
 Formation: Believed to be the oldest planet in the Solar System.
 Atmosphere: Jupiter's upper atmosphere is about 90% hydrogen and
10% helium by volume.
 Great Red Spot: Semi-permanent features in its atmosphere created
due to its strong internal heat.
 Satellites: Jupiter has 80 known satellites. The four largest, Ganymede, Callisto, Io,

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and Europa, are called the Galilean moons.
 Ganymede: is the largest satellite in the Solar System which is larger than Mercury.
 Orbit: Completes an orbit every 11.86 years.

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Saturn:
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 Size: Sixth planet from the Sun and the second-largest in the Solar
m
System, after Jupiter.
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 Composition: Saturn is a gas giant composed predominantly of

hydrogen and helium. It lacks a definite surface, though it is likely to
15

have a solid core

 Atmosphere: Saturn contains 96.3% molecular hydrogen and 3.25%
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helium by volume.
 Orbit: It takes Saturn about 29+1⁄2 years to finish one revolution around the Sun.
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 Natural Satellites: Saturn has 83 known moons. Titan, the largest moon, comprises more than
90% of the mass in orbit around Saturn, including the rings.
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 Planetary rings: Extend from 6,630 to 120,700 kilometres outward from Saturn's equator and
k.

average approximately 20 meters in thickness; composed predominantly of water ice.

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 Main hypotheses regarding the origin of the rings.

o One hypothesis: the rings are remnants of a destroyed moon of Saturn.
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o The second hypothesis: the rings are left over from the original nebular material from
which Saturn was formed.
 Density: Saturn is the only planet of the Solar System that is less dense than water.

Uranus:
 Size: Seventh planet from the Sun and has the third-largest
planetary radius
 Composition: Uranus is similar in composition to Neptune, and
both have bulk chemical compositions which differ from that of
the larger gas giants Jupiter and Saturn.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

 Atmosphere: Similar to Jupiter's and Saturn's in its primary composition of hydrogen and
helium, but it contains more "ices" such as water, ammonia, and methane, along with traces of
other hydrocarbons
 Orbit: Uranus orbits the Sun once every 84 years.
 Seasonal variations: Its axial tilt is over ninety degrees to the ecliptic which gives the planet
extreme seasonal variation as each pole points toward and then away from the Sun.
 It has a much colder core than the other giant planets and radiates very little heat into
space. As a consequence, it has the coldest planetary atmosphere in the Solar System.
 Satellites: Uranus has 27 known satellites, the largest ones being Titania, Oberon, Umbriel,
Ariel, and Miranda

Neptune:
 Size: Eighth planet from the Sun, fourth-largest planet by diameter
and the farthest known solar planet in the Solar System. Also it is
third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet.
 Ice giant planet: It is referred to as one of the solar system's two ice
giant planets (the other one being Uranus).
 Orbit: The planet orbits the Sun once every 164.8 years.
 Atmosphere: At high altitudes, Neptune's atmosphere is
80% hydrogen and 19% helium. A trace amount of methane is also
present.
 Satellites: Neptune has 14 known moons.
 Planetary Ring System: Less substantial than that of Saturn.

Comets:
 Properties: A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when
passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases
(outgassing) which produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and
sometimes also a tail.
 Size: Comet nuclei range from a few hundred meters to tens of
kilometres across and are composed of loose collections of ice, dust,
and small rocky particles.
 Orbit: Comets usually have highly eccentric elliptical orbits, and
they have a wide range of orbital periods, ranging from several years to potentially several
millions of years.
 Short-Period Comets: Originate in the Kuiper belt or its associated scattered disc, which lie
beyond the orbit of Neptune.
 Long-Period Comets: Originate in the Oort cloud, a spherical cloud of icy bodies extending from
outside the Kuiper belt to halfway to the nearest star.
 Nucleus: The solid, core nuclei are composed of an amalgamation of rock, dust, water ice, and
frozen carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, and ammonia.

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Kuiper Belt:
 Location: Circumstellar disc in the outer
Solar System, extending from the orbit of
Neptune to approximately 50 AU from the
Sun.
 Size: It is similar to the asteroid belt, but is
far larger( 20 times as wide and 20–200 times
as massive).
 Composition: While many asteroids are
composed primarily of rock and metal, most
Kuiper belt objects are composed largely of
frozen volatiles (termed "ices"), such as
methane, ammonia, and water.

Pluto:
 Location/properties: Pluto discovered in 1930 is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt.
 Size: Ninth-largest and tenth-most-massive known object directly orbiting the Sun.
 Pluto has five known moons: Charon (the largest, whose diameter is just over half that of
Pluto), Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra.
 Now, Pluto is not considered as a planet. Why?
According to IAU resolution of 2006, there are three conditions for an object in the Solar
System to be considered a planet:
 The object must be in orbit around the Sun.
 The object must be massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity. More specifically,
its own gravity should pull it into a shape defined by hydrostatic equilibrium.
 It must have cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.

Pluto fails to meet the third condition.

Differences Between an Asteroid, Comet, Meteoroid, Meteor and Meteorite:
Asteroid Comet Meteoroid
A relatively small, inactive, A relatively small, at times A small particle from a comet or
rocky body orbiting the Sun. active, object whose ices can asteroid orbiting the Sun.
vaporize in sunlight forming
an atmosphere (coma) of
dust and gas and, sometimes,
a tail of dust and/or gas.
Meteor Meteorite
The light phenomena which results when a A meteoroid that survives its passage through the
meteoroid enters the Earth’s atmosphere and Earth’s atmosphere and lands upon the Earth’s
vaporizes; a shooting star. surface.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Planets One Orbit around the Sun One Spin on Number of Moons
its own axis
Mercury 88 days 59 Earth days 0
Venus 255 days 243 Earth days 0
Earth 365 days 1 day i.e. 24 hours 1
Mars 687 days 24.6 hours 2
Jupiter 11 years, 11 months 9 hours 56 minutes 80
Saturn 29 years, 5 months 10 hours 40 minutes 83
Uranus 84 years 17 hours 14 minutes 27
Neptune 164 years 16 hours 7 minutes 14

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ECLIPSE

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An eclipse happens when a planet or a moon gets in the way of the sun’s light.
 Types: Solar eclipses that occur only on a new moon day and Lunar eclipses that occur only
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on a full moon day.
 Reasons: Revolution of the moon around the earth close to the earth’s ecliptic plane, proximity
m
between the moon and the earth, and the relative apparent size of the sun and the moon, are all
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together responsible for the occurrence of solar and lunar eclipses.

 Why do the sun and moon appear to be the same size from Earth?
15

 Because the Sun's distance from Earth is approximately 400 times the Moon's distance, and
the Sun's diameter is approximately 400 times the Moon's diameter, the Sun and the Moon
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appear to be approximately the same size as seen from Earth.

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Phases of the Moon/ The Lunar Phase:

The lunar phase or phase of the Moon is the shape of the sunlit portion of the Moon as viewed from
ni

Earth. The lunar phases gradually and cyclically change over the period of a synodic month (about
k.

29.53 days), as the orbital positions of the Moon around Earth and Earth around the Sun shift.
ya
na

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Why most of the same lunar side phases earth?

The Moon's rotation is tidally locked by Earth's gravity; therefore, most of the same lunar side always
faces Earth. This near side is variously sunlit, depending on the position of the Moon in its orbit.
 Note: Tidal Locking is the situation when an object's orbital period matches its rotational
period. E.g. the Moon’s rotation time is 27.3 days, just the same as its orbital time, 27.3 days.

LUNAR ECLIPSE
A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth’s shadow. This can occur only when the
Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly or very closely aligned with Earth between the other two, which can
happen only on the night of a full moon when the moon is near either lunar node.

Types of Lunar Eclipses:

Total Lunar Eclipse Partial Lunar Eclipse Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
Occurs when Earth’s umbra - the Can be observed when only Happens when the Moon
central, dark part of its shadow - part of the Moon’s surface is travels through the faint
obscures all of the Moon’s obscured by Earth’s umbra. penumbral portion of
surface. Earth’s shadow.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Blood moon
During a total lunar eclipse, a small amount of light from Earth's sunrises and sunsets falls on the
moon's surface, and the moon can appear reddish due to the Earth's atmosphere, which absorbs other
colours while bending (refracting) some sunlight toward the moon, and how red the moon appears
depends on the amount of pollution, cloud cover, or debris in the atmosphere.
How a total lunar eclipse works

PERIGEE AND APOGEE

Like the Earth's orbit around the Sun, the Moon's path
around the Earth is elliptical.
 Perigee: The point in the Moon's orbit that is
closest to the Earth is called the perigee.
 Apogee: The point farthest from the Earth is
known as the apogee.
Note: The distance of perigee and apogee positions
change from time to time and on an average, the distance
is taken as 382,900 kilometres from the Moon's centre to
the centre of Earth.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Sidereal period Synodic period

The orbit of a planet around the Sun measured with Synodic period is the time required for a
respect to the fixed stars is used to determine the sidereal body within the solar system, such as a
period. planet, the Moon, to return to the same
 Example- The sidereal period of the Earth is 365.25 position relative to the Sun as seen by an
days (Gregorian calendar month is about 30.44 days). observer on the Earth.
 Example-The Moon's sidereal orbital period (the  Example-The Moon’s synodic
sidereal month) is ~27.3 days - the time interval that period is the time between successive
the Moon takes to orbit 360° around the Earth relative recurrences of the same phase; e.g.,
to the fixed stars. between full moon and full moon.

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The Moon completes one revolution
relative to the fixed stars in about 27.32
days (a sidereal month) and relative to

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the Sun in about 29.53 days (a synodic
month). Thus, one Georgian year=12
Georgian months = ~ 13.37 sidereal
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months ~ 12.37 synodic months. The
m
time difference in sidereal and synodic
7g

months is due to the constantly shifting

orbital positions of the Moon around
15

Earth and of Earth around the Sun.

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SOLAR ECLIPSE
A solar eclipse happens when the moon gets in the way of the sun’s light and casts its shadow on
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Earth.
ni
k.
ya
na

Types of Solar Eclipse:

The type of solar eclipse that happens during each season (whether total, annular or partial) depends
on apparent sizes of the Sun and Moon.
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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Partial Solar Eclipse

 Occur when the Moon only partially obscures the Sun's disk and casts only its penumbra
on Earth.

Annular Solar Eclipse

 Take place when the Moon's disk is not big enough to cover the entire disk of the Sun, and
the Sun's outer edges remain visible to form a ring of fire in the sky.
 An annular eclipse of the Sun takes place when the Moon is near apogee, and the Moon's
ant umbra falls on Earth.

Total Solar Eclipse

 Happen when the Moon completely covers the Sun, and it can only take place when the
Moon is near perigee. One can only see a total solar eclipse if one is in the path where the
Moon casts its darkest shadow, the umbra.
Hybrid Solar Eclipse
The rarest type, occur when the same eclipse changes from an annular to a total solar eclipse, and/or
vice versa, along the eclipse's path.

Note: Because of the moon's tilted orbit around Earth with

regard to the Earth's orbital plane, not every new moon results
in a solar eclipse and not every full moon results in a lunar
eclipse (ecliptic).
Note: Solar and lunar eclipses only occur during eclipse
seasons, when the plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun
intersects the plane of the Moon's orbit around the Earth.
Note: If the Earth's orbit around
the Sun and the Moon's orbit
around the Earth were both in the
same plane, a lunar eclipse would
occur at every full moon and a
solar eclipse would occur at every
new moon. And if both orbits
were completely circular, every
month's solar eclipse would be the
same type.

*******
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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER-3
THE GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE AND EVOLUTIONS

THE GEOLOGICAL TIME SCALE AND EVOLUTIONS

The Geological Time Scale (GTS) is a chronological measurement system that depicts the timing and
linkages of events throughout Earth's history.
 Study: Scientists developed the time scale by studying rock layers and fossils worldwide
through radioactive dating.
 Applications:
 GTS illustrate the vast diversity of life that has been present on Earth over time and also
explains how Earth’s history has been influenced by catastrophes that have affected the
conditions on Earth and the diversity of its life-forms.

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Divisions of Geologic Time: Geological time begins with Precambrian time.

Era Events
Pre  Started 700 million years before present and Earth got changed from gaseous
Cambrian to the liquid state.
Era  Marine grasses evolved and Soft-bodied invertebrate animals evolved in
4600-570mya warm seas but land areas devoid of animals.
The Cambrian period: 1st Age of Amphibians: The end of the Palaeozoic era
period of the Palaeozoic era  Early land plants including mosses, ferns, and
and the explosion of life in the cone-bearing plants.
oceans began during this era.  The early coal forming forests were also formed
 Example-Invertebrates

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during this time. Example- Much of the
were dominate and fish limestone quarried for building and industrial
emerged during this time purposes, as well as the coal deposits of western

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Palaeozoic which led to the arrival of Europe and the eastern United States were
Era amphibians formed during the Palaeozoic.
(Ancient
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 Breakup of the world-continent: The Cambrian (beginning) opened with the
m
Life) Breakup of the world-continent and Rodinia closed with the formation of
570-245mya Pangaea, as the Earth’s continents came together once again. This event is thought
7g

to have caused the climate changes that led to the mass extinction events.
 Example-The Appalachian mountains were formed during this time.
15

Mass Extinction:
 At the end of the Palaeozoic, the largest mass extinction in history wiped out
r4

approximately 90% of all marine animal species and 70% of land animals.
 Possible causes of this Mass Extinction Event
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 Lowering of sea levels when the continents were re-joined as Pangaea

(convergent boundary)
ni

 Increased volcanic activity (ash and dust)

 Pangea: At the beginning of this era, the continents were joined as Pangaea
k.

and Pangaea broke up around the middle of this era.

ya

 Reptiles: Reptiles became the most abundant animals because of their ability
to adapt to the drier climate of the Mesozoic Era.
na

 Example-Dinosaurs were also very active in this era and the first small
dinosaurs appeared in the Triassic Period. But Larger and more abundant
Mesozoic Era
dinosaurs appeared in the Jurassic Period.
(Middle Life)
 Mammals: Small mammals and birds also appeared during this era.
245-65.5mya
 Flora: The main plant life of this time were Gymnosperms or plants that
produce seeds, but no flowers.
 Example- Pine Tree. And flowering plants appeared during the END of
this era.
Mass extinction: This era ended with a mass extinction event about 65 million
years ago and many groups of animals, including the dinosaurs, disappeared
suddenly at this time.

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NOTE: Many scientists believe that this event was caused by a comet or asteroid
colliding with the Earth.
 Climate: warm and mild.  Ice Ages: Occurred late in the
 Marine animals: such as whales Cenozoic Era (Quaternary Period).
and dolphins evolved. Note: Humans are thought to have
 Mammals: began to increase and appeared around 3.5 million years ago (
evolve adaptations that allowed during the most recent period –
Cenozoic Era them to live in many different Quaternary).
– Recent Life environments – land, air, and the  Mountain Ranges: Formed during the
65.5mya-Till sea. Cenozoic Era.
date  Examples: Algae, Mollusks, Example-Alps in Europe and Himalayas
Fish and Mammals in India; Rocky Mountains in the USA
 Grasses: Increased and provided a Note: The growth of these mountains
food source for grazing animals may have helped to cool down the climate
and flowering plants were now the
most common plant lif

Evolution of Lithosphere:

Primordial Stage: The earth was mostly in a volatile state during its primordial stage but due to
gradual increase in density the temperature inside has increased as a result the material inside started
getting separated depending on their densities that allowed heavier materials (like iron) to sink towards
the centre of the earth and the lighter ones to move towards the surface.
Crust Formation: with passage of time heavier material cooled further, solidified, and condensed
into a smaller size, which later led to the development of the outer surface in the form of a crust.
Differentiation: During the formation of the moon, due to the giant impact, the earth was further
heated up and it is through the process of differentiation that the earth forming material got separated
into different layers.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Evolution of Atmosphere and Hydrosphere:

There are three stages in the evolution of the present atmosphere.

Origin and evolution of Life on Earth:

******

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER - 4
LATITUDES & LONGITUDES
Latitudes and Longitudes (coordinate system) are imaginary lines used to determine the location of a
place on earth.

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l.c
ai
m
Example: The location of Mumbai on the Western Coasts of Maharashtra; 18.96oN, 72.82oE.
7g

LATITUDE OR PARALLEL
Latitude is the angular distance of a place north or south of the
15

equator measured in degrees from the centre of the earth. Latitude

(ϕ) and longitude (λ) are defined on a perspective spherical modal.
r4

 As the earth is slightly flattened at the poles, the linear

distance of a degree of latitude at the pole is a little longer
pe

than that at the equator.

 For Ex: At the equator linear distance of a degree of
ni

latitude is 110.57 km, at 45° it is 111.13 km and at the

k.

poles, it is 111.7 km (69.4 miles). The average is taken

as 111 km.
ya
na

Important Parallels of Latitudes:

Besides the equator (0°), the north pole (90° N)
and the south pole (90° S), there are four
important parallels of latitudes:
 The Tropic of Cancer (23½° N) in the
northern hemisphere.
 The Tropic of Capricorn (23½° S) in
the southern hemisphere.
 The Arctic circle (66½° N) in the
northern hemisphere.
 The Antarctic circle is (66½° S) in the southern hemisphere.

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Latitudinal Heat zones of the earth:

 Torrid Zone: The mid-day sun is exactly overhead at least once a year on all latitudes in
between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn and this area, therefore, receives the
maximum heat and is called the torrid zone.
 Temperate Zones: The mid-day sun never shines overhead on any latitude beyond the Tropic of
Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn and the angle of the sun’s rays goes on decreasing towards the
poles.
 Frigid Zones: Areas between the Arctic Circle and the North Pole in the Northern Hemisphere
and the Antarctic Circle and the South Pole in the Southern Hemisphere are extremely cold
because the sun does not rise much higher than the horizon. As a result, its rays are always
slanted and produce less heat.

LONGITUDE OR MERIDIAN
Longitude is an angular distance of a place
east or west of the Prime (First) Meridian
measured in degrees from the centre of the
earth.

General Information
 Meridians: On the globe, longitude is
shown as a series of semi-circles that
run from pole to pole passing through
the equator. Such lines are also called
meridians.
 Zero/Prime Meridian: In 1884, it
was decided to choose the meridian
which passes through the Royal
Astronomical Observatory at
Greenwich, near London, as the zero
meridian or prime meridian.

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 Equal length of Meridian: All other meridians radiate eastwards and westwards of the prime
meridian up to 180° and unlike the parallels of latitude, the meridians of longitude are of equal
length.
 Determine Local Time: The meridians of longitude determine local time in relation to
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), which is sometimes referred to as World Time

Longitude and Time:

 Since the earth makes one complete rotation of 360° in one day or 24 hours, it passes through
15° in one hour or 1° in 4 minutes.
 The earth rotates from west to east, so every 15° we go eastwards, local time is advanced by 1
hour. Conversely, if we go westwards by 15°, local time is retarded by 1 hour. Thus, the places
east of Greenwich gain time, whereas places west of Greenwich lose time.
 A traveller going eastwards gains time from Greenwich until he reaches the meridian 180° E
when he will be 12 hours ahead of GMT (GMT+12). Similarly, in going westwards, he loses
12 hours when he reaches 180° W. There is thus a total difference of 24 hours or a whole day
between the two sides of the 180° meridian. 180° E and 180° W correspond to the same
longitude. The difference is the direction of travel.

Standard Time and Time Zones

 Standard Time is the time corresponding to a certain longitude or longitudes as chosen by a
country.
 Most countries adopt their standard time from the central meridian of their countries. E.g. IST
corresponds to the time at 82.5° E longitude.
 In countries that have a very large longitudinal extent (large east-west span), such as Canada,
USA, Russia, it would be inconvenient to have a single time zone. So, such countries have
multiple time zones. For example, Russia has nine time zones, and Canada and USA have six
time zones each.

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Indian Standard Time

Indian Standard Time (IST) is taken as the time at 82.5° E
longitude (passing close to the east of Prayagraj or Allahabad)
which means, IST is 5 hours 30 mins ahead of GMT (IST =
GMT+5:30).

Chaibagaan Time
One hundred fifty years ago, British colonialists introduced
“Chaibagaan time” or “Bagaan time”, a schedule observed by
tea planters, which was one hour ahead of IST. This was done
to improve productivity by optimising the usage of daytime.

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After Independence, Assam, along with the rest of India, has
been following IST.

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The International Date Line
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The International Date Line (IDL) an imaginary line that passes through the Pacific Ocean. Along this
line, the date changes by exactly one day when it is crossed. A traveller crossing the date line from
m
east to west loses a day, and while crossing the dateline from west to east, he gains a day.
Explanation: 180° E is GMT+12 and 180° W is GMT-12, hence the difference between 180° E and
7g

180° W is 24 hours. That is, time difference on either side of IDL is 24 hours. So, the date changes as
soon as one crosses IDL
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ni
k.
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What is the significance of the zigzag international dateline?

The International Date Line curves from the normal 180° meridian at the Bering Strait, and at the
island groups of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia. If the dateline was straight, then two regions
of the same Island Country or Island group would fall under different date zones. Thus, to avoid any
confusion of date, this line is drawn in a zig-zag manner. Some of regions along the dateline keep
Asiatic, or New Zealand standard time, others follow the American date and time.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Comparison of Latitude and Longitude

Basis Latitude Longitude
Definition Angular distance of a place north or An angular distance of a place east or
south of the equator measured in west of the Prime (First) Meridian
degrees from the centre of the earth. measured in degrees from the centre of
the earth.

Naming Named south and north of equator Named east and west of Zero meridian
Other Name Parallels Meridians
Reference Line Equator=0 degree latitude Prime meridian=0 degree longitude
Length Equator has the maximum length All longitudes are of equal length

MOTIONS OF THE EARTH

Rotation and revolution are the most important motions of the earth.
ROTATION OF EARTH: The spinning movement of the earth is called rotation.
General Information related to Rotation:
 Rotational Direction: The Earth rotates around its axis in west to east direction.
 Earth’s Axis: Earth’s axis is the imaginary line that passes through the North Pole, earth’s
centre and the South Pole.
 Note: Earth’s axis is Antipodal, meaning it passes through the centre of the earth
connecting two exactly opposite ends.
 Rotational Time: Earth takes approximately 24 hrs (23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds) to
complete one rotation.
 Effect of Rotation: Days and nights occur due to rotation of the earth.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

 Circle of Illumination: The circle that divides the day from night on the globe.
 Earth rotates on a tilted axis: Earth’s rotational axis makes an angle of 23.5° with the normal,
i.e. it makes an angle of 66.5° with the orbital plane of the earth (ecliptic plane).

Shape of the Earth

 The shape of the earth is Geoid, that is, the earth is slightly flattened at the poles and bulged at
the equatorial region.
 The radius at the equator is larger than at the poles due to the long-term effects of the earth's
rotation (the speed of rotation, and hence the centrifugal force, is greater at the equator than at
the poles).

Gravitational Force at different Latitudes:

The gravitation force is greater near the poles and less at the equator because
 Proximity to the centre: The poles are closer to the centre due to the equatorial bulge and
thus have a stronger gravitational field.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

 Speed of Rotation: The speed of rotation of the earth is greater at the equator than at the poles.
Thus, the centrifugal force is greater at the equator. As the centrifugal force and the
gravitational force are counteracting forces (acting in the opposite direction), the latter is
slightly less at the equator compared to the poles.

REVOLUTION OF THE EARTH

At the same time that the Earth spins on its axis, it also orbits or revolves around the Sun.
 Orbital Plane: The plane in which the earth revolves around the sun is called as orbital plane
or the ecliptic. Most large objects in orbit around the Sun lie near the plane of Earth’s orbit,
known as the ecliptic.

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 Revolution Time: It takes 365¼ days (one year) for the earth to complete one revolution
around the sun. Six surplus hours saved every year are added to make one day over a span of
four years. This surplus day is added to the month of February. Thus, every fourth year,

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February is of 29 days instead of 28 days. Such a year with 366 days is called a leap year.
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ni
k.

SOLSTICE
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Summer Solstice Winter Solstice

 On 21st June, the northern hemisphere is tilted  On 22nd December, the Tropic of Capricorn
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towards the sun, and the rays of the sun fall directly on receives direct rays of the sun.
the Tropic of Cancer. As a result, these areas receive  The longest night and the shortest day all across the
more heat and since a large portion of the northern northern hemisphere occur on 22nd December.
hemisphere is getting light from the sun, it is summer  It is summer in the southern hemisphere with longer
in the regions north of the equator. days and shorter nights. The reverse happens in the
 The longest day and the shortest night all across the northern hemisphere.
northern hemisphere occur on 21st June.  The Sun remains continuously visible for one day
 At this time in the southern hemisphere, all these during the summer solstice (21st June in the Northern
conditions are reversed. It is winter season there. The Hemisphere and 22nd December in the Southern
nights are longer than the days. Hemisphere) at the polar circle, for several weeks
 During summer solstice the whole of Arctic region only 100 km closer to the pole, and for six months at
falls within the ‘zone of illumination’ all day long. the pole.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

 Polar Day/Polar Nights: At extreme latitudes, the midnight sun is usually referred to as polar
day and the opposite phenomenon, polar night, occurs in winter when the Sun stays below the
horizon throughout the day.
 Daylight Saving in Temperate Regions: Daylight saving time (DST) or summer time is the
practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour or more. In DST, evening
time is increased by sacrificing the morning hours.
 Normal days: Start office at 10 AM and close at 5 PM.
 DST: Start office at 9 AM and Close at 4 PM.

EQUINOX
 On 21st March(spring in the northern
hemisphere and autumn in the southern
hemisphere) and September 23rd(autumn
season in the northern hemisphere and spring
season in the southern hemisphere) direct rays of
the sun fall on the equator and at this position,
neither of the poles are tilted towards the sun, so,
the whole earth experiences equal days and equal
nights.
 At Equator: Days are always longer than
night at the equator.
 Reason: There would be no refraction if
there was no atmosphere, and day and night would be nearly equal at the equator, at least
during the equinoxes. However, the sun's rays are refracted by the atmosphere, which is
especially powerful in the morning and evening when the sun's rays are slanted, such that
even if the actual sun is below the horizon, its visual image appears above the horizon
owing to refraction. At the equator, this causes the days to be longer than the nights.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

PERIHELION AND APHELION:

Approximately every 100,000 years, Earth's orbital path changes from being nearly circular to
elliptical due to gravitational influences of other planetary objects, particularly the Moon.
Perihelion Aphelion
 The Earth is closest to the Sun at its  Earth is farthest from the Sun at its aphelion which
perihelion which occurs about two occurs about two weeks after the June Solstice
weeks after the December Solstice.  At aphelion position, the earth is about 152.1 million
 At perihelion position, the earth is km away from the sun.
about 147.1 million km away from Note: The dates when Earth reaches the extreme points on
the sun. its orbit are not fixed.

******

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

CHAPTER - 5
EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD

Field: A 'field' is a region in which a body experiences a force owing to the presence of other bodies.
 Gravitational fields: Determine how bodies with mass are attracted to each other.
 In Electric fields: Objects that have an electric charge are attracted or repelled from each other.
 Magnetic fields: Determine how electric currents that contain moving electric charges exert a

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force on other electric currents

COMPONENTS OF EARTH’S MAGNETIC FIELD

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The Earth’s magnetic field has three components that are responsible for the magnitude as well as
the direction ai
1. Magnetic Declination
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When a magnetic needle is free-floating in the air, it
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always points north-south. Magnetic Meridian is the

direction in which a magnetic needle points freely in a
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specific direction free of all other attracting forces.

Magnetic declination is the angle formed by the
magnetic meridian and the geographic meridian. The
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plane passing through the earth’s north and south poles

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is defined as a geographic meridian.

 Importance: Ships and other long-distance means of transport that rely on the compass
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for navigation should do necessary corrections to account for magnetic declination at

different latitudes and longitudes to stay in the right course. Magnetic deviation is the error
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of a compass needle due to the influence of nearby metallic objects.

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2. Magnetic Inclination or Angle of Dip

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Magnetic inclination is also referred to as the angle

of dip. It is the angle formed between the magnetic
field line and the Earth’s horizontal plane. The
magnetic equator has a dip angle of 0 degree,
while the magnetic poles have a dip angle of 90
degree.
As shown in the diagram, suspend a magnetic
needle freely so that it can rotate about a horizontal
axis-The Angle of Dip or Magnetic Inclination is
the angle formed by the north pole of the needle
with the horizontal axis.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

 The magnetic equator is the irregular imaginary line, passing round the earth near the
equator, on which a magnetic needle has no dip (because magnetic field lines are parallel
to the horizontal at the equator). Again, the magnetic equator, like the magnetic field and
poles, is not fixed.
 Importance: The phenomenon of magnetic dip is important in aviation, as it causes the
aeroplane's compass to give erroneous readings during banked turns and airspeed changes.
Necessary corrections need to be made to the compass reading to stay in the right course.

THEORY OF EARTH’S MAGNETISM

1. Dynamo Theory: Walter M. Elsasser, Dynamo theory describes the process through which
a rotating, convecting, and electrically conducting fluid acts to maintain a magnetic field.
 Dynamo theory proposes a mechanism by which a celestial body such as Earth or a star
generates a magnetic field and sustains it over astronomical time scales (millions of years).
 Dynamo theory suggests that convection in the outer core, combined with the Coriolis
effect (caused due to the rotation of the earth), gives rise to self-sustaining (geodynamics)
2. Ionization of the Outer Layer: The Earth rotates both on its own axis and around the Sun.
As the Earth’s outer layer is ionised, this rotation generates an electric current. Because
these ions move, magnetism is produced. But this magnetic field is very weak, so the
Dynamo effect is a more acceptable.

Earth's Magnetic Field

Mechanism
 Location of Field Generation: Earth’s magnetic field is generated in the earth’s outer core
having lower pressure than the inner core means that the metal in the outer core is fluid. The
temperature of the outer core ranges from 4400 °C in the outer regions to 6000 °C near the
inner core.
 Heat Sources: Include energy released by the compression of the core, energy released at the
inner core boundary as it grows (latent heat of crystallisation), and radioactivity of potassium,
uranium and thorium.
 Electric Current Generation: The differences in temperature, pressure and composition
within the outer core cause convection currents in the molten iron of the outer core, as cool
dense matter sinks while warm, less dense matter rises. This flow of liquid iron generates
electric currents, which in turn produce magnetic fields.
 Geodynamo: Charged metals passing through these fields go on to create electric currents of
their own, and so the cycle continues. This self-sustaining loop is known as the Geodynamo.
 Spiral Movement: The spiral movement of the charged particles caused by the Coriolis force
means that separate magnetic fields created are roughly aligned in the same direction, their
combined effect adding up to produce one vast magnetic field of the planet.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Magnetic poles:
A magnet's North pole is thought as the pole that is
attracted by the Earth's North Magnetic Pole when the
magnet is suspended so it can turn freely. Since opposite
poles attract, the North Magnetic Pole of the Earth is the
south pole of its magnetic field.
 Magnetic dipole field (simple north-south field
like that of a simple bar magnet) is usually aligned
fairly closely with the Earth's rotation axis; in
other words, the magnetic poles are usually fairly
close to the geographic poles, which is why a
compass works.
 However, the dipole part of the field reverses
after a few thousand years causing the
locations of the north and south magnetic poles
to switch. The terms magnetic north and magnetic south are not to be confused with
geographic north and geographic south, and geomagnetic north and geomagnetic south.

Geomagnetic Reversal:
A geomagnetic reversal or a reversal in earth’s magnetic field is a change in a planet's magnetic field
such that the positions of magnetic north and magnetic south are interchanged.
 Evidence: Based on palaeomagnetism (magnetism in rocks that was induced by the earth's
magnetic field at the time of their formation), it is observed that over the last 20 million years,
magnetic north and south have flipped roughly every 200,000 to 300,000 years.
Irregularity: The Reversal is not Literally 'Periodic' as it is on the Sun, Whose Magnetic Field
Reverses Every 11 Years.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

 Time between reversal: The time between magnetic reversals on the Earth is sometimes as
short as 10,000 years and sometimes as long as 25 million years and the time it takes to reverse
could be about a few hundred or a few thousand years.
 The magnetic poles emerge at odd latitudes throughout the process of the reversal.

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Normal and Reversed Field
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The bar magnet at the centre represents earth’s magnetic field
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The Earth's field has alternated between periods of normal polarity, in which the predominant direction
of the field was the same as the present direction, and reverse polarity, in which it was the opposite.
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 In Normal Polarity: Earth’s North Magnetic Pole is the South Pole of its Magnetic Field.
 In Reverse Polarity: Earth’s North Magnetic Pole is the North Pole of its Magnetic Field.
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Polar Wandering and the Current Location of the Magnetic Poles

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 The North and South Magnetic Poles wander (Polar Shift Theory) due to changes in Earth’s
magnetic field.
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 The North Magnetic Pole (86֯ N, 172֯ W) lie to the north of Ellesmere Island in northern
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Canada and is rapidly drifting towards Siberia.

 The location of the South Magnetic Pole is currently off the coast of Antarctica and even
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outside the Antarctic Circle.

 Scientists suggest that the north magnetic pole migrates about 10 kilometres per year. Lately,
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the speed has accelerated to about 40 kilometres per year and could reach Siberia in a few
decades.
 Since the Earth's magnetic field is not exactly symmetrical, the North and South Magnetic
Poles are not antipodal (a straight line drawn from one to the other does not pass through the
centre of the Earth).
 The Earth's North and South Magnetic Poles are also known as Magnetic Dip Poles because
of the vertical "dip" of the magnetic field lines at those points. That is, if a magnetic compass
needle is suspended freely at the magnetic poles then it will point straight down at the north
magnetic pole (south pole of earth’s magnetic field) and straight up at the south magnetic pole
(north pole of earth’s magnetic field).

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

-*
COMPASS:
 Compass Points: A compass point north because all
magnets have two poles, a north pole and a south pole,
and the north pole of one magnet is attracted to the
south pole of another magnet.
 Earth as a Magnet: The Earth is a magnet that can
interact with other magnets in above mentioned way,
so the north end of a compass magnet is drawn to align
with the Earth's magnetic field. Because the Earth's
Magnetic North Pole attracts the "north" ends of other
magnets, it is technically the "South Pole" of our
planet's magnetic field.
 Magnetic Declination: While a compass is a great tool
for navigation, it doesn't always point exactly north.
This is because the Earth's magnetic North Pole is not the same as "true north (Earth's
Geographic North Pole)."
 Usage: Although the magnetic declination (deviation from true north) does shift with time,
this wandering is slow enough that a simple compass remains useful for navigation. Using
magnetoreception various organisms, ranging from some types of bacteria, sea turtles, some
migratory birds, pigeons, etc. use the Earth's magnetic field for orientation and navigation.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

GEOMAGNETIC POLES:
The Geomagnetic poles (dipole poles) are the intersections of the Earth's surface and the axis of a bar
magnet hypothetically placed at the centre the Earth.
 There is such a pole in each hemisphere, and the poles are called as "the geomagnetic north
pole" and "the geomagnetic south pole", respectively
 Tilt: Approximately, geomagnetic dipole is currently tilted at an angle of about 11 degrees to
Earth's rotational axis. On the other hand, the magnetic poles (the magnetic north pole and the
magnetic south pole) are the points at which magnetic needles become vertical.
 Reason of difference in position: The difference in the position of magnetic poles and
geomagnetic poles is due to the uneven and complex distribution of the earth’s magnetic field.

Important Information Related to Earth’s Magnetic Fields:

Magnetosphere
 It is the region above the ionosphere that is defined by the extent of the Earth's magnetic field
in space.
 It extends several tens of thousands of kilometres into space, protecting the Earth from the
charged particles of the solar wind and cosmic rays that would otherwise strip away the upper
atmosphere, including the ozone layer that protects the Earth from harmful ultraviolet
radiation.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

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Magnetopause
 Earth's magnetic field, predominantly dipolar at its surface, is distorted further out by the solar
wind. The solar wind exerts a pressure. However, it is kept away by the pressure of the Earth's

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magnetic field.
 The magnetopause, the area where the pressures balance, is the boundary of the agnetosphere.
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Magneto Sheath

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The turbulent magnetic region just outside the magnetopause is known as the magneto sheath.
Plasma Sphere
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 Inside the magnetosphere is the plasmasphere, a region containing low-energy charged

particles.
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 This region(rotates with the Earth )begins at the height of 60 km, extends up to 3 or 4 Earth
radii, and includes the ionosphere.
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Bow Shock
 Sunward of the magnetopause is the bow shock, the area where the solar wind slows abruptly.
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Auroras
 Aurora is the name given to the luminous glow in the upper atmosphere of the Earth which
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is produced by charged particles (solar wind) descending from the planet's magnetosphere.
 The charged particles follow magnetic field lines which are oriented in and out of our planet
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and its atmosphere near the magnetic poles. Therefore, aurorae mostly are seen to occur at high
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latitudes.
Geomagnetic Storms

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Periods of intense activity, called geomagnetic storms, can occur when a Coronal Mass
Ejection(CME) erupts above the Sun and sends a shock wave through the Solar System. It takes
just two days to reach the Earth.
 At the Earth's surface, a magnetic storm is seen as a rapid drop in the Earth's magnetic field
strength.
 Effects
 The ionosphere gets heated and distorted, which means that long-range radio
communication that is dependent upon sub-ionospheric reflection can be difficult.
 Ionospheric expansion can increase satellite drag, and it may become difficult to control
their orbits.
 Geomagnetic storms disrupt satellite communication systems like GPS.
 Astronauts and high-altitude pilots would face high radiation levels.

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 WORLD PHYSICAL & HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

 Electric power grids would see a high increase in voltage that would cause blackouts.
 Geomagnetic storms disrupt satellite communication systems like GPS.
Note: Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large clouds of plasma and magnetic field that erupt
from the sun.
Ring Current
 Ring current is the name given to the large electric current that circles the Earth above its
equator during magnetic storms.
Van Allen radiation belt
 A Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic  Spacecraft travelling beyond low Earth
charged particles, most of which originate from orbit enter the zone of radiation of the
the solar wind, that are captured by and held Van Allen belts. Beyond the belts, they
around a planet by that planet's magnetic field. face additional hazards from cosmic
 There are two such concentric tire-shaped rays and solar particle events.
regions. The inner belt is 1–2 Earth radii out
while the outer belt is at 4–7 Earth radii.
 By trapping the solar wind, the belts deflect the
energetic particles and protect the atmosphere.
 The belts endanger satellites, which must have
their sensitive components protected with
adequate shielding if they spend significant time
near that zone.

Magnetic field of other solar system objects:

Moon Mercury
The magnetic field of the Moon is very weak in Mercury's magnetic field is approximately a
comparison to that of the Earth and doesn’t have magnetic dipole (meaning the field has two
a magnetic dipole and is not strong enough to poles) and is just 1.1% that of Earth's magnetic
prevent atmospheric stripping by the solar wind. field. Its proximity to the sun makes it next to
impossible to sustain an atmosphere.
Mars Venus
Mars does not have an intrinsic global magnetic Venus lacks a magnetic field. Its ionosphere
field, but the solar wind directly interacts with separates the atmosphere from outer space and
the atmosphere of Mars, leading to the formation the solar wind and in spite of the absence of a
of a magnetosphere. The lack of a significant magnetic field, Venus’s atmosphere is one of the
magnetosphere is thought to be one reason for densest among the terrestrial planets.
Mars's thin atmosphere.
Jupiter Saturn
Jupiter has the largest magnetic field and a thick Saturn's magnetosphere is the second largest of
atmosphere. any planet in the Solar System after Jupiter.
Note: Uranus and Neptune: too have a
significant and similar magnetic field.

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