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The Crust ............................................................. 20
CHAPTER – 1
The Mantle........................................................... 21
The Earth and the Universe............................ 1
The Core.............................................................. 21
Introduction ........................................................................ 1
Temperature of the Earth’s Interior...................... 22
The Solar System .............................................................. 1
Pressure of the Earth’s Interior ............................ 23
Sun ........................................................................ 2
Density of the Earth’s Interior .............................. 23
Planets................................................................... 3
Earth Movement and the Major Landforms ..................... 23
Other Planetary Bodies: ........................................ 4
Types of Mountains ............................................. 24
The Shape of the Earth ..................................................... 5
Types of Plateaus ................................................ 26
Seasonal Changes and their Effects on
Types of Plains .................................................... 27
Temperature .......................................................... 7
Latitude and Longitude ..................................................... 8 CHAPTER – 4
Standard Time and Time Zones ...................................... 10 Distribution of Ocean and Continents......... 30
International Date Line ........................................ 10 Continental Drift Theory................................................... 30
CHAPTER – 2 Stages of Continental Drift................................... 30

Argument for the Continental Drift Theory ........... 31
The Origin and Evolution of the Earth......... 12
Forces for Drifting ................................................ 31
Introduction ...................................................................... 12
Criticisms of the Continental Drift Theory ............ 32
Early Theories: Origin of the Earth .................................. 12
Post Drift Studies ............................................................. 32
Nebular Hypothesis: ............................................ 12
Convectional Current Theory ............................... 32
Modern Theories: Evolution of the Universe ................... 13
Mapping of the Ocean Floor ................................ 33
Big Bang Theory.................................................. 13
Sea Floor Spreading........................................................ 36
Steady State Theory ............................................ 13
Evidence for Seafloor Spreading ........................ 37
Formation of Stars ........................................................... 14
Theory of Plate Tectonics ................................................ 38
Formation of Planets ....................................................... 14
Major Tectonic Plates .......................................... 39
Our Solar System ................................................ 14
Minor Tectonic Plates .......................................... 39
Formation of the Moon .................................................... 15
Forces for the Plate Movement ........................... 39
Evolution of the Earth ...................................................... 15
Interaction of Plates ............................................. 40
Evolution of Lithosphere .................................................. 16
Evidence in Support of Plate Tectonics............... 41
Evolution of Atmosphere and Hydrosphere .................... 16
Significance of Plate Tectonics ........................... 42
Origin of Life .................................................................... 17
Distribution of Earthquakes and Volcanoes .................... 42
CHAPTER – 3
CHAPTER – 5
The Earth’s Crust and Interior ..................... 18
Volcanism and Earthquakes ........................ 43
Introduction ...................................................................... 18
Introduction ...................................................................... 43
Sources of Study of Interior of Earth ............................... 18
The Origin of Volcanoes .................................................. 43
Direct Sources ..................................................... 18
Magma Vs Lava: The Difference ..................................... 43
Indirect Sources .................................................. 18
Types of Lava .................................................................. 44
Structure of the Interior of the Earth ................................ 19
Types of Volcanic Eruptions ............................................ 44
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Types of Volcanoes ......................................................... 45
CHAPTER – 7
Landforms Associated with Volcanicity ........................... 45
Minerals and Rocks ...................................... 68
Landforms of Igneous Intrusions ......................... 45
Introduction: Minerals ...................................................... 68
Extrusive Igneous Rocks Landforms ................... 46
Physical Characteristics of Minerals ............................... 69
Destructive Effects of Volcanoes .................................... 48
Characteristics of Some of the Major Minerals ............... 69
Positive Effects of Volcanoes .......................................... 48
Feldspar............................................................... 69
Distribution of Volcanoes in the World ............................ 49
Olivine.................................................................. 70
Geysers and Hot Springs ................................................ 50
Quartz .................................................................. 70
Earthquakes .................................................................... 51
Pyroxene ............................................................. 70
Causes of Earthquakes ....................................... 51
Amphibole............................................................ 71
Types of Earthquakes.......................................... 52
Mica ..................................................................... 71
Seismic Waves or Earthquake Waves................. 52
Types of Minerals ............................................................ 71
Measuring Earthquakes....................................... 55
Rocks: Introduction.......................................................... 72
Distribution of Earthquakes ............................................. 56
Rocks in the Earth’s Crust ............................................... 72
CHAPTER – 6 Igneous Rocks................................................................. 72
Geomorphic Processes - Exogenic and Sedimentary Rocks ......................................................... 73
Endogenic Processes .................................. 57 Metamorphic Rock .......................................................... 74
Introduction ...................................................................... 57 Rock Cycle ...................................................................... 74
Geomorphic Processes ................................................... 57 Rock Vs Minerals ............................................................ 75
Endogenic Processes...................................................... 58
CHAPTER – 8
Diastrophism ........................................................ 58
Volcanism ............................................................ 58 Landforms and their Evolution .................... 76
Exogenic Forces .............................................................. 59 Introduction: Landforms and their Evolution ................... 76
Geomorphic Processes Vs Geomorphic Agents 59 Running Water as a Geomorphic Agent ......................... 77
Exogenic Forces: Weathering ......................................... 59 Courses of a River ............................................... 77
Physical/Mechanical Weathering......................... 59 Running Water: Erosion, Transportation,

and Deposition .................................................... 78
Chemical Weathering .......................................... 60
Erosional Landforms due to Running Water ....... 78
BIological Weathering.......................................... 61
Depositional Landforms due to Running Water .. 80
Some Special Effects of Weathering ................... 62
Groundwater as a Geomorphic Agent ............................ 83
Significance of Weathering .......................................... 62
Karst Landforms .................................................. 83
Exogenic Forces: Mass Wasting ..................................... 62
Glacier as a Geomorphic Agent...................................... 86
Mass Movement .................................................. 62
Erosional Landforms............................................ 87
Types of Mass Movements.................................. 62
Depositional Features of Glacier ......................... 88
Erosion and Deposition ................................................... 64
Winds as a Geomorphic Agent ....................................... 89
Energy of Erosion ................................................ 64
Transport of Particles by Wind ............................ 90
The Erosion Sequence ........................................ 64
Wind Erosion ....................................................... 90
Deposition ............................................................ 66
Erosional Features .............................................. 90
Soil Formation ................................................................. 66
Wind Deposition .................................................. 91
Factors Responsible for the Formation of Soil .... 66
Landforms Made by Waves, Tides and Winds
(Coastal landforms) ......................................................... 92
Basic Information like High Rock Coasts Indian Monsoon ............................................................. 121
and Low Rock Coasts ......................................... 92 Introduction ........................................................ 121
Erosional Landforms ............................................ 94 Onset of the Monsoon ....................................... 122
Depositional Landforms ....................................... 94 Southwest Monsoon .......................................... 122
CHAPTER – 9 Northeast Monsoon (Retreating Monsoon) ....... 124

Monsoons and Economic Life in India .............. 125
Climatology - Weather .................................. 96
Introduction: Weather Vs Climate.................................... 96 CHAPTER – 11
Factors Affecting Climate ................................................ 97 Cyclones and Associated Features ........... 126
Elements of Weather ....................................................... 98 Tropical Cyclone............................................................ 126
Temperature ........................................................ 98 Formation of Tropical Cyclone and Other
Pressure .............................................................. 99 Important Features ............................................ 127
Winds ................................................................. 100 Tropical Cyclone Distribution and Their
Precipitation ....................................................... 103 Regional Names ................................................ 127
Humidity ............................................................. 104 Extra-Tropical/Middle-Latitude/Temperate Cyclones .... 128
Clouds ............................................................... 104 Stages of Formation and Disappearance ..................... 128
CHAPTER – 10 CHAPTER – 12
Climatology: Climate .................................. 106 Koeppen’s Scheme of Classification of
Climate and Climatic Region...................... 130
Atmosphere: Composition and Structure ...................... 106
Koeppen’s Scheme ....................................................... 130
Origin of the Atmosphere on Earth .................... 106
Major Climatic Groups ................................................... 130
Proportion of Gases in the Atmosphere ............ 106
Subdivision ............................................................. 130
Structure of the Atmosphere ............................. 107
Different Climatic Regions ............................................. 131
Solar Radiation, Heat Budget, Temperature, and
Temperature Inversion .................................................. 108 Equatorial Climatic Region ..................................... 131
Solar Radiation .................................................. 108 Climatic Conditions................................................. 131
Heat Budget of the Planet Earth........................ 110 Tropical Monsoon Climate and Tropical Marine Climate131
Temperature ...................................................... 111 Distribution ............................................................. 132
Inversion of Temperature .................................. 111 Climatic Conditions:................................................ 132
Land and Sea Breeze........................................ 112 Natural Vegetation .................................................. 133
Mountain and Valley Winds ............................... 113 The Savannah or Sudan Climate ............................ 133
Air Masses ......................................................... 113 Climatic Conditions................................................. 133
Fronts ................................................................ 113 Natural Vegetation: ................................................. 134
World Climatic Types and Vegetation ........................... 116 Animal Life of the Savannah ................................... 134
Characteristics of the Jet Streams .................... 118 Desert Climate........................................................ 134
Development of the Jet Streams ....................... 118 Climatic Conditions:................................................ 135
Types of Jet Streams......................................... 118 Natural Vegetation .................................................. 135
Global Warming ............................................................. 119 Life in the Deserts .................................................. 136
Greenhouse Effect ............................................. 119 Important Mineral Region ....................................... 136
Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) .............................. 120 Mediterranean Climate ........................................... 136
Ozone Hole........................................................ 120 Climatic Conditions................................................. 136
International Efforts............................................ 121 Natural Vegetation .................................................. 137
Global Warming ................................................. 121 Temperate Continental Grasslands /

Steppe Climate ....................................................... 137
Climatic Conditions ................................................. 137 Ocean Currents ............................................................. 150

Natural Vegetation .................................................. 138 Introduction............................................................. 150
The Warm Temperate Eastern Margin (China Type) Forces Responsible for Ocean Currents ................ 150
Climate ................................................................... 138 Types of Ocean Currents ....................................... 151
Natural Vegetation .................................................. 139 Circulation of Atlantic Ocean .................................. 152
British Type of Climate ........................................... 140 Circulation of the Pacific Ocean .................................... 153
Climatic Conditions ................................................. 140 Circulation of the Indian Ocean .............................. 154
Natural Vegetation .................................................. 140 Effects of Ocean Currents ...................................... 155
Cool Temperate Eastern/Laurentian Climate.......... 141 Upwelling and Downwelling in the Ocean ..................... 155
Climatic Conditions ................................................. 141 Upwelling ................................................................ 155
Natural Vegetation .................................................. 141 Downwelling ........................................................... 156
The Cool Temperate Continental (Siberian)
Climate ................................................................... 142 CHAPTER – 14
Climatic Condition .................................................. 142 Ocean Temperature and Salinity ............... 157
Precipitation ............................................................ 142 Ocean Temperature ...................................................... 157
Natural Vegetation .................................................. 142 Introduction............................................................. 157
Tundra Climate / Polar Climate / Arctic Climate ..... 143 Factors affecting the Temperature distribution on
Climatic Conditions ................................................. 143 Ocean water 157
Natural Vegetation .................................................. 144 Horizontal and Vertical Distribution of Temperature158
Vertical distribution of Temperature ....................... 158
CHAPTER – 13 Horizontal distribution of Temperature ................... 159
Movements of Ocean Water ....................... 145 Ocean Salinity ............................................................... 159
Introduction .................................................................... 145 Introduction............................................................. 159
Waves............................................................................ 145 Factors affecting the salinity of sea/ocean waters.. 159
Characteristics of Waves ........................................ 146 Horizontal Distribution of Salinity ............................ 160
Tides .............................................................................. 146 Vertical Distribution of Salinity ................................ 160
How does Tides Occur? ......................................... 146 Relation between Salinity, Temperature and
Types of Tides ........................................................ 147 Density ................................................................... 161
Importance of Tides................................................ 148 Positive relationship between Salinity and density . 161
Tidal Bore 149 References ....................................... 162
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CHAPTER - 1
THE EARTH ANDTHE UNIVERSE

INTRODUCTION a small singularity and then expanded
for over 13.8 billion years and it is still
• The Earth is the third planet from the Sun believed to be expanding. It led to the
in the Solar system and the only planet formation of many billions of galaxies,
known, as of yet, to harbour life. solar systems, stars etc.
• According to radiometric dating • Our solar system lies in a spiral shaped
(radioactive dating to determine the age galaxy called the Milky Way. The nearest
of rocks or carbon) and other sources of galaxy to this is called Andromeda.
evidence, Earth formed over 4.5 billion
years ago. • Generally, there is a black hole in the
centre of every galaxy. The black hole of
• Earth’s gravity interacts with other Milky Way is called Sagittarius A.
objects in space, especially the Sun and
the Moon which is the Earth’s only natural
satellite. THE SOLAR SYSTEM
• Earth revolves around the Sun in 365.26 • The solar system consists of the Sun, 8
days, a period known as an Earth year. planets (developed from condensation of
During this time, Earth rotates about its gases and other lesser bodies) and their
axis about 366.26 times. satellites, asteroids, comets, meteors,
and other dwarf planets.
• When we look up from the Earth, we see
the sky studded with innumerous stars. • The Sun is at the centre of the solar
These stars as we see are not scattered system and the planets revolve around
uniformly across space. They occur the Sun in an elliptical orbit. The planets
in clusters which are better known as shine only by the light reflected off the
galaxies or nebulas. Sun.
• Each galaxy may contain up to 100 • The eight planets have been classified
million stars. into Solid Planet or Inner Planets and
Gaseous Planets or Outer Planets.
• Earth belongs to the Galaxy called the
Milky Way, of which the Solar System is • Solid Planet or Inner Planets: Mercury,
just a part. Venus, Earth and Mars are called Solid
Planets. They are composed mainly of
• There are three four major theories about
silicates and metals.
the origin of the Universe and ultimately,
the solar system. The most famous • Important characteristics of these
among them is the Big Bang Theory. planets are:
• In this theory, Georges Lemaitre  They have dense and rocky compositions
suggested that the universe evolved from  They are fair similar in size, especially
when compared with the Outer Planets  The inner planets are much smaller
 They possess no or small number of than the outer planets and because
moons of this have relatively low gravity and
were not able to attract large amounts
 They have no ring systems. of gas to their atmospheres. Unlike
 They take a relatively short length of the outer planets which were more
time to complete an orbit around the massive and were able to attract large
Sun. amounts of hydrogen and helium.
• Gaseous Planets or Outer Planets:  In the outer regions of the solar system
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are where it was cooler, other elements like
gaseous Planets. water and methane did not vaporize
• Important characteristics of these and were able to form the giant
planets are: planets.
 They are all huge in comparison to the  The terrestrial planets were formed
Inner Planets, so sometimes known as in the close vicinity of the parent star
the Gas Giants where it was too warm for gases on the
surface to condense to solid particles.
 They are made up mostly of gas so do
not have solid surfaces.  The solar wind was most intense
nearer the sun; so, it blew off lots of
 All four have rings spinning around gas and dust from the surface of the
them, with Saturn having the most terrestrial planets.
famous rings.
 The solar winds were not all that
 All four planets also have large intense to cause similar removal of
numbers of moons orbiting them. gases from the Jovian planets.
 They take a very long time to complete • Pluto, Charon, Ceres, Eris were newly
an orbit around the Sun. grouped as Dwarf Planets in the year
• Why are the inner planets rocky while 2008. They also revolve around the sun.
the outer planets are mostly in gaseous They are very small in size, maybe even
form? smaller than our moon. Hence, they are
 The temperature of the early solar called Dwarf planets.
system explains why the inner planets
are rocky and the outer ones are Sun
gaseous. • The Sun is the heart of our solar system.
 In the inner solar system temperatures It is the largest object within our solar
were as high as 2000 K, while in the system, comprising 99.8% of the system’s
outer solar system it was as cool as 50 K. mass.
 In the inner solar system, only • The sun has a surface temperature of
substances with very high melting 6000°C and increases up to 20 million°C
points would have remained solid. All in the interior.
the rest would have vaporized. So, the • It is made up of fiery gases on its surface
inner solar system objects are made which leap up in whirls of glowing flame
of iron, silicon, magnesium, sulfur, like volcanoes in eruption.
aluminum, calcium and nickel.
• The sun is about 300,000 bigger than our
Earth. dioxide but has no water.

• The sun is the only star in our solar • Venus is the hottest planet in the solar
system and is the powerhouse of the system with the surface temperature
solar system. reaching up to 478°C. Venus is often
• It is composed of hydrogen (73%), helium called Earth’s twin because of their
(25%) and other metals. similarity in size, mass and density. It is
the brightest planet in the solar system
• The light from the sun takes about eight and has earned itself the title of Evening
minutes to reach the Earth while light Star and Morning Star. Venus rotates in a
from moon takes only a second. clockwise direction.
• Corona: It is the outer layers of the Sun, • Earth is the third planet from the sun.
extending to thousands of km above the This is the only planet in our solar system
disc (photosphere). to have presence of life in all its majestic
• It has a temperature of more than a forms. It is also called the Blue Planet
million-degree Kelvin which is much due to the presence of water. Our Earth
higher than the solar disc temperature has one natural satellite called the Moon.
of around 6000K. How the corona gets • Mars is called the Red Planet due to
heated to such high temperatures is still the presence of iron rich red soil. It is
an unanswered question in solar physics. the second largest smallest planet after
• The Sun’s visible surface sometimes has Mercury and has dark patches on its
dark sunspots, which are areas of intense surface. Mars has a thin atmosphere
magnetic activity that can lead to solar and surface with valleys, craters, deserts
explosions. and even ice-caps. Mars has two natural
• Heliosphere: The electric currents in moons named Phobos and Deimos.
the Sun generate a complex magnetic After Earth, the only planet that has
field that extends out into space to form come close to the possibility of having
the interplanetary magnetic field. The life, is Mars. Mars has the largest known
volume of space controlled by the Sun’s volcano and second tallest mountain in
magnetic field is called the heliosphere. the solar system called Olympus Mons.
• Jupiter is the largest planet in the
• Solar Wind: These are the streams of
solar system. It’s surface is made up of
electrically charged gas blowing outward
from the Sun in all directions. The Sun’s hydrogen, helium and methane. It is
magnetic field is carried out through the distinguished from other planets by its
solar system by the solar wind. circular dark and lighter bands. Jupiter
has 63 moons which encircle the planet
• Since the Sun rotates, the magnetic field and and has an unclear ring around it.
spins out into a large rotating spiral, Largest moon Ganymede was discovered
known as the Parker spiral. by Galileo. Others are Lo, Callisto and
Europa.
Planets • Saturn is the second largest planet and
• Mercury is the smallest and closest to is entirely gaseous in nature. It is a very
the sun. It is also the smallest planet. It unique planet with its three concentric
completes its revolution around the sun rings which can be easily observed from
in only 88 days. This planet is made up of Earth and nine satellites around it. The
nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon Saturn takes 29.5 years to complete its
3
2
orbit. Saturn can float on water since it Mostly they are found on the Asteroid
has less density than water. It is 62 moons, belt between the orbits of Mars and
Titan being the largest. Jupiter. They are also called Minor
• Uranus also orbits around the sun Planets. Larger asteroids are also called
clockwise like Venus. Through telescope Planetoids. Ceres, Vesta and Psyche are
it is seen as greenish-bluish disc. Uranus some of the most famous and biggest
is composed of hydrogen and helium asteroids.
and contains water and ammonia. • Meteors and Meteorites: The sudden
Uranus has at least 20 moons. Miranda, streak of light seen on a starry night is
Ariel, Titania are few larger ones. called Meteors. They are also called
• Neptune is farthest from the sun. Neptune shooting stars. They are small rocky
is bluish in colour due to the presence of material that is formed due to an
methane. Uranus and Neptune (the ice asteroid collision. Meteorites are seen
giants) are called the twins of the outer when the remains of the rocky parts of
solar system. comets strike the Earth’s atmosphere
and streaks of lights are generated.
• This planet was discovered by These meteors cannot reach the Earth’s
mathematical predictions and surface since they get burnt out in the
disturbances in Neptune’s orbit. Neptune atmosphere due to friction in air.
has about 14 moons, Triton being the
largest. • Comets: Comets are made up of dust
and ice. They are shiny, luminous and
tailed stars. These rocky and metallic
Other Planetary Bodies:
materials are surrounded by frozen
• Moon: gases. Found in the Kuiper Belt, they
 The Moon is Earth’s only natural travel towards the sun. The long tail
satellite and the fifth largest moon is seen when the comet approaches
in the solar system. The Moon was the sun, and in turn the ice melts and
likely formed after a Mars-sized body reflects the light of the sun.
collided with Earth. • Asteroids are differentiated from
 It goes around the Earth at a distance comets and meteoroids. In the case
of about 239,000 miles (385,000 of comets, the difference is one of
kilometers). compositions: while asteroids are
mainly composed of mineral and rock,
 The Moon is a rocky, solid-surface comets are primarily composed of
body with much of its surface cratered dust and ice. Furthermore, asteroids
and pitted from impacts. formed closer to the sun, preventing
 The Moon has a very thin and tenuous the development of cometary ice.
atmosphere called an exosphere. It is The difference between asteroids
not breathable. and meteoroids is mainly one of size:
 The Earth and Moon are tidally- meteoroids have a diameter of one
locked. Their rotations are so in sync meter or less, whereas asteroids have
we only see one side of the Moon all a diameter of greater than one meter.
the time. Finally, meteoroids can be composed of
either cometary or asteroidal materials.
• Asteroids: These are small rocky (mostly
debris) which revolve around the sun.
4
• The tropics thus mark the limit of the

overhead sun. Beyond the tropics, the
sun is never overhead at any time of the
year.
• These regions, where the sun is never
directly overhead, are marked by four
distinguishable seasons: summer,
autumn, winter, and spring.
• The areas above the Arctic and Antarctic
circles are marked by continuous six
months of darkness and remaining six
months of daylight. These regions are
inherently very cold since the sun’s direct
rays never reach these areas. The sun is
The Altitude of the Midday Sun never high in the sky (even during the
• Due to the inclined axis at an angle of summer months).
66 1/2°, causes apparent changes in the • The regions within the tropics, the
altitude of the midday sun. midday sun varies very little from the
• The sun is vertically overhead at the overhead vertical position at noon. Thus
equator on two days each year: 21 March there are no distinguishable seasons in
and 21 September. These two dates are this region.
called equinoxes which means equal
nights. On these days, all parts of the Seasonal Changes and their
world have equal day and night. Effects on Temperature
• After the Spring equinox on March 21, the • During the summer season, the sun is
sun begins its apparent northward shift, directly overhead. The sun is higher in the
such that the sun is directly overhead sky.
the Tropic of Cancer (23 1/2°N) on June
21. This is known as the Summer Solstice. • When the sun is overhead, the sun’s
The northern hemisphere on this day has rays fall almost vertically on the Earth’s
the longest day and the shortest night. surface thereby concentrating the heat
on a small area and thus intensifying the
• The sun begins it apparent southward heat.
shift after this day and reaches the
equator directly overhead on 21 • Thus, summers are warm, and the
September (Autumn Equinox). temperature rises.
• Thereafter, it continues with its southward • The days are also longer in summer than
shift till the sun is directly overhead on the night time. This allows more time to
the Tropic of Capricorn (23 1/2°S) on heat up the Earth. Nights are short and
22 December. This is called the Winter thus there is less time to lose the heat.
Solstice when the southern hemisphere Thus, there is a net gain in the total heat
will have its longest day and shortest received and thus temperature increases.
night. The northern hemisphere will • In the winter, the sun’s rays fall obliquely
experience just the opposite and have or slanted on the surface of the Earth.
the longest night and shortest day. The rays are longer and much of its heat
is absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere latitude and longitude.

(water vapour and dust particles). • Both latitudes and longitudes are
• The slanted rays spread over a larger measured in degrees.
area and thus the effect of heat is also
less. Latitude:
• The days are shorter thus heat absorbed • Latitude is the angular distance of a point
in much less than the heat lost during the on the Earth’s surface from the centre of
long winter nights. Here this a net loss in the Earth. Latitudes are parallel to the
the total heat received and lost. equator which lies halfway between the
two poles.
Dawn and Dusk
• The latitudes become smaller towards
• The brief period between sunrise and full the poles, following the shape of a sphere.
daylight is called Dawn. • The equator represents 0° whereas the
• The brief period between sunset and North and the South poles are at 90°N
complete darkness is called Twilight or and 90°S respectively.
Dusk. • North of the equator, latitudes are
• Dusk and dawn is caused by the fact that assigned North degree. The south of the
during this period, the Earth receives equator, the latitudes are assigned South
diffused or refracted light from the sun degrees.
while it is still below the horizon. • Between the equator and the poles the
• In the equator region, the sun rises and lines or parallels of latitude are drawn at
sets in a vertical path and therefore the an interval of 1°.
period during which the refracted light • For precision of location mapping,
is received is short. But in temperate each degree of latitude is divided into
latitudes, the sun rises and sets in an 60 minutes and each minute into 60
oblique way and therefore the period of seconds.
refracted light is longer.
• The most important latitudes are Equator
• In fact, it is so much higher in the poles at 0°, Tropic of Cancer (23 1/2° N), Arctic
that the winter darkness is actually the Circle (66 1/2° N), Tropic of Capricorn (23
twilight of refracted light, most of the 1/2° S) and Antarctic Circle (66 1/2° S).
times.
• Due to the spherical shape of the Earth,
the physical distance between the
LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE latitudes increases very gradually from
• The latitudes and longitudes are the equator to the poles. For example, at
essentially imaginary lines drawn on the the equator at 0°, the distance between
globe to locate any place accurately. two latitudes are 68.704 miles, the
difference between two latitudes at 45°N
• The latitudes run from east to west, are 69.054 miles and the same difference
parallel to the equator. The longitude between two latitudes near the pole at
runs from north to south and passes 90°N is 69.407 miles. However for ease of
through the poles. purpose, the average distance between
• The location of any place on the Earth two latitudes are taken as 69 miles.
can be determined by the intersection of
Longitude
• Longitude is the angular distance,
measured in degrees, along the equator,
west or east of the Prime Meridian.
• In the globe, longitudes are series of semi
circles that run from north to south from
one pole to the other. FIG: LATITUDE, PARALLEL TO THE EQUATOR (LEFT) AND
• Each longitude cuts through the equator. LONGITUDE, RUNS EAST AND WEST OF THE PRIME MERIDIAN.
• Longitudes are also called Meridians. Longitude and Time

• Any longitude could have been taken • The rotation of the Earth around the sun
as the prime meridian for the purpose means that at any point in time, different
of numbering. But in 1884, by an places on Earth will experience a different
International Agreement, it was decided time of the day.
that the zero meridian will be the one that
passes through the Royal Astronomical • Since the Earth makes one complete
Observatory at Greenwich, near London. round of 360° in one day or 24 hours,
it means that in one hour, it covers a
• The 0° Longitude is called the Prime distance of 15° or 1° in four minutes.
Meridian and all the other meridians fall
to the left or right of the prime meridian. • Since the Earth rotates from west to east,
so for every 15° eastwards if we go, we
• The longitudes are divided into 180° to will gain an hour. That means the local
the east and west of the Prime Meridian. time is advanced by an hour for every 15°
• The distance between two longitude at eastward move.
the equator is calculated by the length • Conversely, if we go westwards, we will
of the circumference divided by 360° lose an hour in the sense that for every
(25000 miles ÷ 360 = 69.1 miles) 15° westward move, the time will be
• However, the longitudes all converge at reduced by an hour.
the poles, so the linear distance between • Places to the east of Greenwich thus
two longitude narrows. see sunrise earlier. A person travelling
• The degree of longitude thus decreases from Greenwich to east will gain time
in length pole wards. At the equator, the on reaching the eastern destination as
distance between two longitudes is the compared to a person travelling to the
largest at 69.1 miles, at 45°N it is only 49 west of Greenwich, who will lose time. The
miles, while at 75°N it is only 18 miles and places west of Greenwich sees sunrise
at the poles its 0 miles. later than sunrise in Greenwich.
• The longitudes are extremely important • Generally time is determined by longitude
for determination of time. of the place. It is compared with the
local time of Greenwich and then adding
or subtracting time, depending on the
longitude.
• The whole world is divided into 24

standard time zones. Each of them
differs in 1 hour and 15° in longitude.
• Large Countries like USA, Russia, Canada
etc which have a huge east-west stretch
have more than one standard time for
those countries, for practical purposes.
USA and Canada both have 5 time zones
- Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Mountain
and Pacific Time Zones. The difference
between the Atlantic and Pacific time
zones is 5 hours.
International Date Line

STANDARD TIME AND TIME • This concept becomes very interesting
ZONES here.
• Now for each city or a place to keep • A traveller going eastward from
individual time based on its longitudinal Greenwich gains time till he/she reaches
position would complicate matters, 180°E longitude. At 180°E meridian he is
especially in cases of medium to big 12 hours ahead of GMT.
countries. • Similarly, a traveller going westward
• Since for each degree change in from Greenwich, at 180°W meridian, he
longitude, there is a time difference of loses 12 hours.
four minutes, people travelling from one • Thus there is a difference of 24 hours or
part of the country to another would one whole day, on two sides of the 180°
continuously have to keep changing and meridian.
adjusting time. • This is called the International Date
• To avoid such confusion and Line where the date changes by exactly
impracticability, a system of standard one day, once it is crossed. The traveller
time is observed by all countries. crossing the International Date Line from
west to east, gains a whole day and the
• Each country has their own central
traveller crossing from east to west loses
meridian and the standard time if the
a day.
country is calculated as per in relation
to the Prime meridian at Greenwich with • Suppose, on the Asia side of the
the central meridian of the country. International Date line it is midnight on
Friday, 13th September, on the American
• In case of India, the meridian of 82.5°E
side of the International Date Line, it
is taken as the Central Meridian. The
Indian Standard Time is calculated with is actually midnight on Thursday, 12th
respect to the time difference between September. A whole day is thus gained
Greenwich and Indian Central Meridian. by travelling from east to west of the
International Date Line.
• The Indian Standard Time is 5 hours
• The International Date Line in the mid-
30 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean
Time. Pacific curves from the normal 180°
10
meridian at the Bering Strait, Fiji, Tonga and few other islands to prevent confusion of
date and time as few of the islands falls on both sides of the International Date Line.
FIG: INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE
11
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CHAPTER - 2
THE ORIGIN AND

EVOLUTION OF rotating.
INTRODUCTION THEPlanets
EARTH
were believed to be
formed out of a cloud like material
• The universe is very old – almost 13 billion associated with Sun.
years old. Huge clusters of galaxies
comprise the universe. Binary Theories:
• There have been many theories which • In 1900, Chamberlain and Moulton
attempt to explain the origin and refined the Nebular theory analysis.
evolution of the Universe. • They considered that when a wandering
• Different scientists and philosophers star approached the sun, a cigar shaped
have put forward many hypotheses and extension came out of the solar surface.
theories regarding the evolution of the • As the passing star moved away, the
Earth and Universe. material separated from the solar
• There have been many early theories surface (as the extension) continued to
propounded by philosophers, but they revolve around the sun and slowly those
had lacked proper scientific backing. materials condensed into planets.
That led to the formation of new modern • Later Sir James Jeans and Harold Jaffrey
theories. also supported this theory, arguments
which were called Binary Theories.
EARLY THEORIES: ORIGIN Revised Nebular Hypothesis:
• Revised Nebular Hypothesis was given
OF THE EARTH by Otto Schmidt in Russia and Carl
Weizascar in Germany in 1950.
Nebular Hypothesis: • They regarded that the sun was encircled
• Proposed by German philosopher by solar nebula comprising of mostly
Immanuel Kant and revised by hydrogen and helium along with dust.
mathematician Laplace in 1796. • The friction and collision of particles led
• Kant argued that gaseous clouds— to the creation of a disk-shaped cloud
nebulae, which slowly rotate, gradually and the planets were formed through the
collapse and flatten due to gravity and process of accretion.
eventually form stars and planets. (Note: -In astrophysics, accretion is the
• As the nebula contracted, it flattened and accumulation of particles into a massive
shed eight angular momentum rings of object by gravitationally attracting more
material, which later collapsed into the matter, typically gaseous matter.)
planets. These theories only attempted to explain
• Sun was considered young and slowly the formation of our solar system and did
12
not quite explain the genesis or origin of the and the universe became transparent.
entire Universe. Modern Theories sought • The expansion of the universe meant
to explain the origin and evolution of the
increase in space between the galaxies.
Universe and therefore automatically in
And an alternative was provided to this
the process explained the formation of our
theory by Hoyle’s concept of Steady
Earth.
State.
MODERN THEORIES: Steady State Theory

EVOLUTION OF THE • The Big Bang Theory is the standard model
of cosmology; however, there have been
UNIVERSE several other models for the universe.
• Steady State theory proposes the idea
Big Bang Theory that the universe looks the same no matter
• The most popular theory of the Origin of the viewpoint and that the universe has
the Universe is called the Big Bang Theory always looked like this; essentially, the
or Expanding Universe Hypothesis. theory states that the universe is uniform
throughout both time and space.
• On witnessing that the galaxies move far
away from each other and the distance • The advantage of Steady State theory
between them increasing, Universal over some other theories is its simple
expansion is proved by Sir Edwin Hubble and aesthetic explanations of certain
in 1920. troublesome topics.
• Big bang theory can be explained in • For example, since the universe is
three developmental stages: unchanging throughout time, the universe
needs no convoluted explanation of
 At first, all matter forming the universe its beginning. In addition, to account
existed in one place in the form of a for the decrease in density that would
tiny ball with small volume as an atom, result from expansion, steady state
which had infinite mass (density) and theory claims new matter constantly
temperature. must be created in order to maintain a
 A violent explosion (bang) of tiny constant density (and therefore a static
ball happened which resulted in huge appearance).
expansion. As the ball continued • The Steady State theory offered simple
to expand, there were changes of solutions to the way the universe worked,
some particles into energy form. That but the astronomers found that the
means, some energy was converted universe actually evolves over time.
into matter. There was a particularly
rapid expansion within fractions of • The final demise of the Steady State
seconds after the bang. Thereafter theory came in the late 1960’s with the
the expansion slowed down. This discovery of the Cosmic Microwave
happened 13.7 billion years ago and Background.
continues till today. • Steady State Theory could offer no
 Then the temperature dropped to convincing explanation for the CMB
4,500K (Kelvin) after 300,000 years and therefore this theory was rejected on
of explosion, atomic matter is formed, grounds to too much simplicity.
13
FORMATION OF STARS FORMATION OF PLANETS

• The distribution of matter and energy • The formation of planets started after
was uneven in the universe. the formation of the stars.
• The density difference gave rise to • The stars are localized lump of gases
differences in gravitational forces and it found in nebula.
caused the matter to get drawn together. • The gravitational force led to the
This is the base for the formation of formation of the core.
galaxies.
• A huge rotating gas disc and dust
• Galaxy contains large number of stars. develops around the gas core.
It starts forming by accumulation of
hydrogen gas in the form of cloud. The • In the next stage the gas cloud starts
denser gases were condensed into stars. getting condensed and the matter
around the core develops into small
• The distance between the start is rounded objects.
measured with light years.
• The small rounded objects developed
• One light year is equal to the distance into Planetesimals due to the process of
covered by light in one year when it cohesion.
travels at the speed of 3 lakh km/hour.
It is a measure of distance and not time. • Larger bodies started forming due to
collision and attraction causing the
• The average diameter of the stars is materials to stick together.
80,000 to 1, 50,000 light years.
• At the final stage, the small planetesimals
• A galaxy starts forming by accumulation accrete to form large bodies in the form
of hydrogen gas in the form of a large of planets.
cloud called Nebula.
• The Nebula develops localised clumps of Our Solar System
gas. These clumps continue to grow into
denser gaseous bodies. • Our solar system consists of eight planets
• The denser gases were condensed into • The nebula of our solar system started
stars. The formation of stars are believed collapsing around 5-5.6 billion years ago.
to have formed 5-6 billion years ago. • The planets were formed about 4.6 billion
• The mean distance from the Sun to Earth years ago
is 8.311 minutes. • Our solar system consists of 8 planets,
63 moons, millions of asteroids comets,
huge quantity of gas and dust.
• There are two types of planets inner
planets and outer planets.
14
• A planetesimal is an object formed was declared a dwarf planet.

from dust, rock, and other materials.
The word has its roots in the concept FORMATION OF THE MOON
infinitesimal, which indicates an
object too small to see or measure. • The moon is the only natural satellite of
Planetesimals can be anywhere in the Earth.
size from several meters to hundreds • In 1838, Sir George Darwin suggested
of kilometers. The term refers to small that initially the earth and the moon
celestial bodies formed during the formed a single rapidly rotating body.
creation of planets. According to • The whole mass became a dumb-bell
the planetesimal hypothesis, when a shaped body and eventually it broke.
planetary system is forming, there is a
protoplanetary disk (A protoplanetary • The material separated from the Earth
disk is a rotating disk of dense gas and was formed as Moon and the place
dust surrounding a young newly formed became the present-day depression of
star) with materials from the nebulae the Pacific Ocean.
from which the system came. This • This theory however is not accepted now.
material is gradually pulled together The present theory is the giant impact
by gravity to form small chunks. These theory/big splat theory.
chunks get larger and larger until they • A large body, which is one to three times
form planetesimals. the size of Mars collided with the Earth
• The rocky planets were formed in the shortly after its formation and blasted
close vicinity of the parent star or a large portion of the Earth into space.
the sun where it was too warm for the (That portion was separated from the
gases to condense to solid particles. earth).
The gaseous or the Jovian planets were • The same portion became as a moon
formed at quite a distant location from which revolves around the earth.
the sun. The solar wind being quite
intense near the sun, blew off lots of • The Moon is believed to have been
gases and dust from the terrestrial. formed about 4.4 billion years ago.
• Among the eight planets the first four

planets are Inner planets, which are also EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH
called rocky or terrestrial planets. The • Initially our earth was a barren, rocky and
rest of the planets are outer planets and hot body. Years later the earth started to
are called gaseous or Jovian planets. cool down. This eventually created the
• The rocky planets cannot hold the gases lithosphere and atmosphere.
hence it blew off due to the sun’s gravity. • Lithosphere has layers from surface to
But the gaseous planets cannot strip off the central parts of earth – Crust, Mantle,
their gases hence holds large amount of Outer core and Inner core
gases resulted in larger radius and low
density. • Atmosphere is created from the process
called Degassing, eruption of gases from
• Until recently (2006), Pluto was considered interior earth and Photosynthesis.
a planet. However, in a meeting by the
International Astronomical Union, Pluto • The water vapor started to condense
which dissolved further more CO2. This
15
resulted in heavy rain. Hydrosphere smaller size. This led to the development
made of oceans and water bodies was of the outer surface in the form of crust,
formed 4000 million years ago. which is called the lithosphere.
• Life on earth originated from creation • At the time of formation of the moon,
and assemblage of complex chemical due to the giant impact, the earth
molecules. Life began in the form of again became hot. Due to the process
unicellular organisms, 3800 million of differentiation, the earth forming
years ago. material got separated and different
• The earth which was initially barren, layers were formed.
rocky and hot was formed of hydrogen • Starting from the surface to the central
and helium, which made up a thin part, we have the layers like crust, mantle
atmosphere. and the outer and inner core.
• The atmospheric matter has the least • From the crust to the core, the density of
density. the materials increases.
• From the outermost end of the
atmosphere to the centre of the earth, the EVOLUTION OF
material that is present is not uniform.
• The Earth has a layered structure. Lighter ATMOSPHERE AND
layer is formed at the outer surface.
HYDROSPHERE
• So, the density of Earth increase towards
inside the core. • There are three stages of the formation
of the atmosphere.
• From the surface to deeper depths, the
earth’s interior has different zones and • In the First Stage: The early atmosphere
each of these contains materials with consists of hydrogen and helium. There
different characteristics. is loss of primordial atmosphere due to
solar winds.
• Earth was formed about 4.6 billion years
ago. • In the Second Stage: The hot interior of
the Earth contributed to the evolution of
the atmosphere. Gases were released
EVOLUTION OF from the earth’s interior such as water
vapor and other gases like nitrogen,
LITHOSPHERE carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia
• The earth was mostly in a volatile state and little free oxygen. The process of
during its primordial stage (during its outpouring the gases from the interior of
creation). the earth is called degassing. Volcanic
eruptions contributed to the water vapor
• Due to gradual increase in density, its
and CO2. The CO2 dissolved in the rain
temperature increased.
water and converted into acid rain. Rain
• The material started separating water collected into the depressions
depending on their density. Lighter called oceans.
material came outside and heavy
• The oceans were formed about 4000
material went inside the earth.
million years ago and life began to
• With the passage of time, it cooled further evolve about 3800 million years ago.
and solidified and then condensed into a
16
The photosynthesis evolved about 2500 • Modern scientist believes that the origin
to 3000 million years ago. of life is a kind of chemical reaction, which
• Oceans began to contribute oxygen to generated complex organic molecules
the atmosphere through the process of and it took place in the oceans.
photosynthesis. Oceans were eventually • Due to lightning, the complex organic
saturated with oxygen and 2000 million molecules were combined into a certain
years ago, oxygen began to flood into form which can duplicate themselves.
the atmosphere. They are called first single cell animals.
• In third Stage: Living organisms changed They are able to convert inanimate
the composition of the atmosphere things into animate things.
through the process of photosynthesis. • The earliest form of life, which were
microscopic structures closely related
to blue algae, have been found in
ORIGIN OF LIFE geological formations which existed
• The last phase of the earth relates to the about 3000 million years ago.
origin and evolution of life. • The life on Earth first began about 3800
• It is clear that initially the earth or even million years ago.
the atmosphere of the earth was not
conducive for the development of life.
17
CHAPTER - 3
THE EARTH’S
CRUST AND INTERIOR
INTRODUCTION information through analysis of materials
collected at different depths.
• The earth’s radius is 6,370 km so it is an
almost impossible distance for humans • Scientists all over the world are working
to reach till the centre of the earth. on two projects named, ‘Deep Ocean
Drilling Project’ and ‘Integrated Ocean
• It is not possible to know about the Earth’s Drilling Project’. The deepest drill is at
interior by direct observations because Kola, in the Arctic Ocean, which has so
of the huge size and the changing nature far reached a depth of 12km.
of its interior composition.
• Volcanic eruption delivers information
• Through mining and drilling operations by means of molten magma that comes
we have been able to observe the earth’s out of Earth’s interior. But it’s difficult to
interior directly only up to a depth of a determine the depth of such magma’s
few kilometres. The rapid increase in origin.
temperature below the earth’s surface is
mainly responsible for setting a limit to • Surface rocks are readily available earth
direct observations inside the earth. material.
• Configuration of the surface of the • Gold mines go to a depth of 5 km

earth is a product of exogenic (forces on an average, these serve as good
originating on or above the surface opportunities for studying the depths of
of the earth) and endogenic (forces the earth.
originating within or beneath the surface • However, these direct sources can only
of the earth) processes on Earth. It is the ascertain the information about the
only endogenic (inside forces) processes earth’s interior only to a small extent.
that determine the interior configuration
of earth. Indirect Sources
• Through some direct and indirect sources, • Temperature and pressure patterns
the scientists have a fair idea about how through mining activity: An increase in
the earth’s interior looks like. temperature and pressure with depth
means an increase in density as well.
SOURCES OF STUDY OF Hence it becomes possible to determine
the rate of change of characteristics of
INTERIOR OF EARTH the material of the earth. This has led to
the knowledge of the layers of earth.
Direct Sources • Meteors: These are extra-terrestrial
masses reaching the earth’s surface.
• Deep Ocean drilling reveals humongous
They have material and structure similar
18
to that of our Earth and give information roughly the same density as the whole
about the materials of which the Earth is earth. A meteorite minus its iron has a
formed of. density roughly the same as Mantle rock
• Gravitation force (g): The force exerted by (e.g. the mineral called olivine).
the Earth on all things in its range is not the • Iron and Nickel are both dense and
same along all latitudes; it is variable over magnetic.
different places. Observations suggest • Scientists can follow the path of seismic
that gravitational force is greater at the waves from earthquakes as they travel
poles and less at the equator. This is due through the Earth. The inner core of
to increased distance from the core. This the Earth appears to be solid while the
difference in gravity (gravity anomaly) is outer core is liquid (s waves do not travel
also attributed to the uneven material through liquids). The Mantle is mainly
mass distribution. solid as it is under extreme pressure. We
• Magnetic surveys: The distribution of know that the Mantle rocks are under
magnetic materials gives the idea of the extreme pressure, diamond is made
magnetic field of Earth which indicates from carbon deposits and is created in
density and type of material present in rocks that come from depths of 150-300
the interior of the earth. kilometres that have been squeezed
• Seismic activity: This gives the most under massive pressures.
important evidence of the interior of the • The Earth is a sphere with a diameter
earth. Earthquakes give a fair idea of the of about 12,700 Kilometers. As we go
interior of the earth. The study of seismic deeper and deeper into the earth the
waves provides a complete picture of the temperature and pressure rise. The
layered interior. core temperature is believed to be an
incredible 5000-6000°c.
STRUCTURE OF THE • The crust is very thin (average 20Km).
The thinnest parts are under the oceans
INTERIOR OF THE EARTH (Oceanic Crust) and go to a depth of
roughly 10 kilometres. The thickest parts
The deepest anyone has drilled into the
earth is around 12 kilometres, we’ve only are the continents (Continental Crust)
scratched the surface. How do we know which extend down to 35 kilometres on
what’s going on deep underground? There average. The continental crust in the
are lots of clues: Himalayas is some 75 kilometres deep.
• The overall density of the Earth is much • The Mantle is the layer beneath the
higher than the density of the rocks we crust which extends about halfway to
find in the crust. This tells us that the the centre. It’s made of solid rock and
inside must be made of something much behaves like an extremely viscous liquid.
denser than rock. The convection of heat from the centre
of the Earth is what ultimately drives the
• Meteorites (created at the same time
movement of tectonic plates and cause
as the Earth, 4.6 billion years ago) have
mountains to rise.
been analyzed. The commonest type is
called a contrite and they contain iron, • The outer core is the layer beneath the
silicon, magnesium and oxygen (Others Mantle. It is made of liquid iron and nickel.
contain iron and nickel). A meteorite has Complex convection currents give rise
19
to a dynamo effect which is responsible  The mean density of material in

for the Earth’s magnetic field. The inner oceanic crust is 2.7 g/cm3.
core is the bit in the middle. It is made of  Oceanic crust is constantly formed
solid iron and nickel. Temperatures in the at mid-ocean ridges, where tectonic
core are thought to be in the region of plates are tearing apart from each
5000- 6000°C and it’s solid due to the other. As magma that wells up from
massive pressure. these rifts in Earth’s surface cools, it
becomes young oceanic crust.
The Crust
 Tt is destroyed in subduction zones.
• It is the outermost solid part of the earth. Subduction is the important geologic
It is brittle in nature. process in which a tectonic plate
• The thickness of the crust varies under made of dense lithospheric material
the oceanic and continental areas. melts or falls below a plate made of
Oceanic crust is thinner as compared to less-dense lithosphere at a convergent
the continental crust. plate boundary.
• The mean thickness of oceanic crust is • Continental Crust:
5 km whereas that of the continental is  Continental crust is mostly composed
around 30 km. of different types of granites.
• The continental crust is thicker in the  Major constituent elements of crust are
areas of major mountain systems. Ex: It is Silica (Si) and Aluminium (Al) and thus,
as much as 70 km thick in the Himalayan it is often termed as SIAL (Sometimes
region. SIAL is used to refer Lithosphere, which
• The crust of the Earth comprises nearly is the region comprising the crust and
1% of the earth’s volume and 0.5% of uppermost solid Mantle).
earth’s mass. But it contains all known  Continental crust is almost always
life in the universe. much older than oceanic crust.
• Earth’s crust is divided into two types: Because continental crust is rarely
Oceanic crust and Continental crust. destroyed and recycled in the process
of subduction, some sections of
• The transition zone between these two continental crust are nearly as old as
types of crust is sometimes called the the Earth itself.
Conrad discontinuity.
 The mean density of material in
• Silicates (mostly compounds made Continental crust is slightly less than in
of silicon and oxygen) are the most oceanic crust.
abundant rocks and minerals in both
oceanic and continental crust.  Cratons are the oldest and most stable
part of the continental lithosphere.
• Oceanic crust:
• The discontinuity between the
 It extends 5-10 kilometers (3-6 kilometers) continental crust at which the seismic
beneath the ocean floor, is mostly wave velocity increases in a discontinuous
composed of different types of basalts. way. This boundary is observed in various
 Silicate and Magnesium, the most continental regions at a depth of 15 to 20
abundant minerals in oceanic crust km, however, it is not found in oceanic
and thus, it is often termed as SIMA. regions.
20
200km) is a highly viscous, mechanically

weak and ductile, deforming region of
the upper Mantle which lies just below
the lithosphere.
• It is the main source of magma that finds
its way to the surface during volcanic
eruptions. It has a density higher than
the crust’s (3.4 g/cm3).
• It is the layer over which the lithospheric
plates/ continental plates move (plate
tectonics).
• The discontinuity between the upper
Mantle and the lower Mantle is known
as Repetti Discontinuity.
The Mantle • The portion of the Mantle which
is just below the lithosphere and
• The portion of the interior of the Earth asthenosphere, but above the core is
beyond the Crust is called the Mantle. called as Mesosphere.
• The mantle extends from Moho’s
discontinuity to a depth of 2,900 km.
• The discontinuity between the crust
and Mantle is called the Mohorovich
Discontinuity or Moho discontinuity.
• Nearly 84% of the earth’s volume and
67% of the earth’s mass is occupied by
the Mantle.
• The temperature of the mantle varies
greatly, from 1000° Celsius near its
boundary with the crust, to 3700° Celsius
near its boundary with the core.
• In the mantle, heat and pressure generally
increase with depth. The geothermal
gradient (measures the increase of The Core
heat and pressure in Earth’s interior) is a • It is the innermost layer surrounding the
measurement of this increase. earth’s centre.
• The density of the layer is higher than • It constitutes nearly 15% of earth’s
the crust and varies from 3.3 – 5.4g/cm3. volume and 32.5% of earth’s mass.
• The uppermost solid part of the Mantle • The core is the densest layer of the earth.
and the entire crust constitute the The density of material at the mantle
Lithosphere. Its thickness ranges from core boundary is around 5 g/cm3 and at
10-200 km. the centre of the earth at 6,300 km, the
• The Asthenosphere (in between 80- density value is around 13g/cm3.
21
• The core is made up of very heavy

material mostly constituted by nickel
and iron. It is sometimes referred to as
the NIFE layer.
• The core is separated from the mantle
by Guttenberg’s Discontinuity.
• The Core consists of two sub-layers: the
outer core and the inner core.
• Outer Core:
 The outer core is in liquid state and
about 2,200 kilometers (1,367 miles)
thick.
Temperature of the Earth’s
 It borders the mantle, and the inner
core. Interior
 The liquid metal of the outer core has • A rise in temperature with increase in
very low viscosity, meaning it is easily depth is observed in mines and deep
deformed and malleable. wells.
 Earth’s magnetic field is created in the • These evidence along with molten lava
swirling outer core. Magnetism in the erupted from the earth’s interior supports
outer core is about 50 times stronger that the temperature increases towards
than it is on the surface. the centre of the earth.
• Inner Core: • The different observations show that the
rate of increase of temperature is not
 The inner core is in solid-state and
uniform from the surface towards the
has a radius of about 1,220 kilometers
earth’s centre. It is faster at some places
(758 miles).
and slower at other places.
 The discontinuity between the upper
• In the beginning, this rate of increase
core and lower core is called as
of temperature is at an average rate of
“Lehmann-Bullen discontinuity.”
10°C for every 32m increase in depth.
 The temperature of the inner core is
• While in the upper 100kms, the increase
far above the melting point of iron.
in temperature is at the rate of 120°C per
However, unlike the outer core, the
km and in the next 300kms, it is 200°C
inner core is not liquid or even molten.
per km. But going further deep, this rate
This is because the inner core’s intense
reduces to a mere 100°C per km.
pressure prevents the iron from melting.
• Thus, it is assumed that the rate of
• Barysphere is sometimes used to refer to
increase of temperature beneath the
the core of the earth or sometimes the
surface is decreasing towards the centre
whole interior.
(do not confuse rate of increase of
temperature with increase of temperature.
Temperature is always increasing from
the earth’s surface towards the centre).
• The temperature at the centre is estimated
22
to lie somewhere between 30000°C and types of processes or forces: Exogenic

50000°C, maybe that much higher due and Endogenic processes.
to the chemical reactions under high- • Exogenic processes are those which
pressure conditions. generate on or above the surface of the
• Even in such a high temperature also, earth. They constantly change the face
the materials at the centre of the earth of the earth by the process and agents
are in solid-state because of the heavy of denudation - running water, wind,
pressure of the overlying materials. glacier, waves etc. so that the present
landforms are varied in nature.
Pressure of the Earth’s Interior • Endogenic processes are those which
• Just like the temperature, the pressure is generate within or inside the surface of
also increasing from the surface towards the earth.
the centre of the earth. It is due to the • Deep within Earth’s mantle and lower
huge weight of the overlying materials crust, heat is generated by the radioactive
like rocks. decay of elements like uranium, thorium,
• It is estimated that in the deeper portions, and potassium. The heat is transferred
the pressure is tremendously high which upward to warm the mantle causing it
will be nearly 3 to 4 million times more to slowly circulate and tug on the plates
than the pressure of the atmosphere at above.
sea level. • The force of these processes causes
• At high temperature, the materials the earth movements which ultimately
beneath will melt towards the centre part result in mountain building and plateau
of the earth but due to heavy pressure, building and creation of plains.
these molten materials acquire the • Since the inception of time, there have
properties of a solid and are probably in been nine orogenic or mountain building
a plastic state. This is the reason why the movements where folding and fracturing
inner core is in solid-state and the outer of the Earth’s surface has taken place.
core is in the semi-liquid/liquid state.
• Oldest mountain building activities took
place in the Pre-Cambrian Period (600-
Density of the Earth’s Interior 3500 million years ago).
• Due to the increase in pressure and the • Caledonian Orogeny (320 million years
presence of heavier materials like Nickel ago) - Mountains of Scandinavia and
and Iron towards the centre, the density Scotland, some mountains in North
of earth’s layers also gets on increasing America. (these ancient mountains have
towards the centre. now been worn down and eroded)
• The average density of the layers gets • Hercynian Orogeny (240 million years
on increasing from crust to core and it is ago) - Ural Mountains, Pennies and Welsh
nearly 14.5g/cm3 at the very centre. mountains in Britain, Harz Mountains in
Germany, the Appalachians in America
and the high plateau of China and
EARTH MOVEMENT AND Siberia. These highlands too have been
THE MAJOR LANDFORMS reduced in size due to various sculpturing
forces.
• The earth movements are caused by two
23
• Alpine Orogeny (30 million years ago) - while the troughs or the downfolds are
the Alps, Himalayas, Rockies and Andes called synclines.
mountains.  When the crest of a fold is pushed too
far, an overfold is formed. If pushed
Types of Mountains further still, it becomes a recumbent
Based on their mode of formation, four main fold.
types of mountains can be distinguished:  In extreme cases, fractures may occur
tectonic, residual or dissected, volcanic in the crust, so that the upper part
and structural (fold and block) mountains. of the recumbent fold slides forward
Fold Mountains over the lower part along the thrust
plane, forming an overthrust fold. The
• These mountains are caused by large overriding portion of the thrust fold is
scale earth movements caused due to termed as nappe.
internal stress. These stresses are caused
by the increased load of the overlying
rocks, flow movements in the mantle,
magnetic intrusions into the crust, or the
expansion or contraction of some part
of the earth.
• When such stresses are initiated, rocks
are subjected to compressive forces
which result in folding along the lines of
weakness.
• Where an area of sea separates two
plates, sediments settle on the seafloor
in depressions called geosynclines.
These sediments gradually become
compressed into sedimentary rock.
• When the two plates move towards each
other again, the layers of sedimentary
rock on the seafloor become crumpled
and folded.
• Eventually, the sedimentary rock appears
• Since the rock strata may have been
above sea level as a range of Fold
elevated to great heights, fold mountains
Mountains.
are also called mountains of elevation.
• It is important here to understand the
• Some new fold mountains are the Alps
process of Folding.
in Europe, the Rockies of North America,
 When a body of sedimentary rock the Andes of South America, the
is squeezed from both sides due to Himalayas of Asia and Atlas of North
tectonic forces, it results in folding of Africa. These young fold mountains are
the rock body (creating a wave-like still rising under the influence of the
structure on the original level surface). earth’s tectonic forces. They are known
 The unfold waves are called anticlines for a variety of rock structures, deep
gorges and the high pyramidal peaks.
24
• Not all fold mountains are soaring peaks. either rises forming block mountains
The Appalachians, stretching along or horsts or subsides into a depression
North America’s east coast, are generally termed as a rift valley or graben.
low-lying, gentle slopes. Millions of years • An old fold mountain may also be left
ago, the Appalachians were taller than as block mountains due to continuous
the Himalayas. But millions of years of denudation. These mountains have flat
erosion have taken their toll. tops, steep fault scarps and the subsided
• The granitic core of such mountains portions between parallel faults are flat-
is surrounded by metamorphic rocks, bottomed.
merging with sedimentary layers along • The Vosges in France, Black Forest
the margins. mountains in Germany and the Salt
Range in Pakistan are cited as typical
examples of block mountains. Sierra
Nevada of California (USA); Wasatch
range in the Utah province are also
examples of Block mountains.
• River Rhine in Europe flows through a rift
valley.
• The Great Rift Valley of the world runs for
about 6,000 kilometres from East Africa
to Syria through the Red Sea.
Block Mountain
• These mountains are formed when great
blocks of the earth’s crust may be raised
or lowered during the late stages of
mountain-building
• During the uplift of structural mountains,
sometimes magma flows upward into the
crust.
Volcanic Mountains
• On its cooling and hardening beneath
the surface, it contracts and the overlying • As these are formed by the accumulation
rock may crack into large blocks moving of volcanic material, they are also known
up or down. as mountains of accumulation.
• An intense folding of rocks is generally • The matter is thrown out and deposited
followed by faulting of strata due to the around the crater to form a mountain.
horizontal force of tension. If the lava is thin and basic in its
composition, it spreads a long-distance
• Faulting is caused by tension or forming a flatter cone of gentler slope
compression, forces which lengthen and of low elevation. If the lava is
or shorten the earth’s crust, causing a thick and of acid composition, a small
section of it to subside or to rise above volcanic cone is the end result.
the surrounding level.
• Sometimes lava is thrown out along with
• The land between the two parallel faults
25
ash and cinders. Such a volcanic cone is

termed as ash and cinder cone.
• Mount Mauna Loa in Hawaii islands is
an example of the former type (gentle
slope, low elevation).
• Fuji Yoma of Japan and Mt Popa in
Central Myanmar are examples of the
latter one (volcanic cone).
Types of Plateaus
• A plateau is a flat-topped tableland.
• Plateaus occur in every continent and
take up a third of the Earth’s land.
• They are one of the four major landforms,
along with mountains, plains, and hills.
Residual or Dissected Mountains • Plateaus, like mountains, may be young
or old. The Deccan plateau in India is
• They owe their present form due to erosion
one of the oldest plateaus.
by different agents of denudation.
• Valleys form when river water cuts
• That is why they are also known as relict
through the plateau. The Columbia
mountains or mountains of circum-
Plateau, between the Cascade and
denudation.
Rocky mountains in the northwestern
• They have been worn down from United States, is cut through by the
previously existing elevated regions. Columbia River.
• Hills like the Nilgiris, the Parasnath, • Sometimes, a plateau is so eroded that it
the Girnar and Rajmahal in India are is broken up into smaller raised sections
examples of this type. called Outlier Plateaus are composed
• But Nilgiris got their present height as a of very old, dense rock formations. Iron
result of subsequent uplift. ore and coal are often found in plateau
outliers.
• All mountains of the Peninsula with
the exception of the Aravallis are relict • Plateaus are very useful because they
mountains are rich in mineral deposits. As a result,
many of the mining areas in the world
• Mt. Monadnock in the USA is another
are located in the plateau areas.
example of residual mountains.
• According to their mode of formation,
• Residual mountains may also evolve from
and their physical appearance, plateaus
plateaus which have been dissected by
may be divided into the following types.
rivers. Eg: Deccan Plateau, Highlands of
Scotland. Tectonic Plateau
26
• These plateaus are formed by the uplift rocks.

of the earth’s movement and are of • A pyroclastic flow is a dense, fast-moving
considerable size and have uniform flow of solidified lava, volcanic ash, and
altitude. hot gases. It occurs as part of certain
• They include continental blocks like the volcanic eruptions. A pyroclastic flow is
Deccan plateau in India or they may extremely hot, burning anything in its
be tilted like Meseta Plateau of central path and moves at a very high speed.
Iberia or faulted plateaus like Harz of
Germany. Dissected Plateau
• The plateaus which are bordered by • Through continuous processes of
the mountain ranges (generally fold weathering and erosion by running
mountains) or are partly or fully enclosed water, ice and winds, high and extensive
within them are the intermontane plateaus are worn down and their
plateaus. surfaces become irregular.
• The word ‘intermontane’ means ‘between • A dissected plateau is a plateau area
mountains’. that has been severely eroded so that
the relief is sharp. Such an area may
• Intermontane plateaus are the highest appear as mountainous.
and extensive plateaus in the world.
• Dissected plateaus are distinguishable
• They have nearly horizontal rock layers from orogenic mountain belts by
which are raised to great heights by
the lack of folding, metamorphism,
vertical movements of the earth.
extensive faulting, or magmatic activity
• Ex: The Tibetan Plateau between the that accompanies orogeny (mountain
Himalayas and the Kunlun and the building).
Bolivian plateau between ranges of • Scottish Highlands is an example of a
Andes. dissected plateau.
Volcanic Plateau • In drier areas, vertical erosion by rivers
• A volcanic plateau is a plateau produced and abrasion by winds, the plateaus
by volcanic activity. There are two main get dissected into steep-sided tabular
types: lava plateaus and pyroclastic masses which are termed as Mesas
plateaus. and Buttes. Such plateaus are found in
Southwestern USA and Spain.
• Lava plateaus are formed by highly
fluid basaltic lava during numerous Types of Plains
successive eruptions through numerous
vents without violent explosions. They • A Plain is an area of lowland, either level
form successive sheets of basaltic lava or undulating. It seldom rises more than
and then solidify to form lava plateau. a few hundred feet above the sea level.
• Antrim Plateau of Northern Ireland and • A plain is a flat, sweeping landmass
northwestern part of Deccan plateau that generally does not change much in
are classic examples. elevation.
• Pyroclastic volcanic plateaus are • Plains usually are best forms of land
produced by massive pyroclastic flows and are often intensively cultivated
and they are underlain by pyroclastic because where the soils were deposited
27
as sediments they may be deep and are due to deposition by large rivers.
fertile, and the flatness facilitates They are called alluvial plains, flood
mechanization of crop production; or plains and deltaic plains.
because they support grasslands which • They form the most productive
provide good grazing for livestock. agricultural plains of the world, intensively
• Population and settlements are normally tilled and very densely populated.
concentrated on plains and when they • The Nile delta of Egypt is noted for rice
are traversed by rivers, as most of them and cotton cultivation, the Ganges delta
are, their economic significance is even for rice and jute growing while the Plain
greater. of North China, where the Hwang Ho has
• The Gangetic Plain, The Mississippi Plain spread out a huge amount of alluvium,
and The Yangtze Plain are examples supports a wide range of crops.
of extensive flood plains. Some of the • Glaciers and ice-sheets may deposit
most extensive temperate plains are a widespread mantle of unsupported
Grasslands like Russian Steppes, The fluvioglacial sands and gravels in the
North American Prairies and Argentina’s outwash plain or may drop boulder clay,
Pampa. a mixture of various sizes of boulders and
• Plains are majorly grouped into three clay, to form a till plain or drift plain.
categories based on their modes of • Outwash plains are usually barren lands,
formation: e.g. some parts of Holland and northern
Structural Plains Germany, but boulder clay may be very
valuable farming land e.g. the Mid-West
• These are structurally depressed areas, of the U.S.A. and East Anglia in England.
which make up some of the most
• In coastal regions, waves and winds
extensive natural lowlands on the earth’s
often drive beach materials, mud, sand or
surface.
shingle, landwards and deposit them on
• They are relatively undisturbed horizontal the coastal plain to form marine swamps,
surfaces of the Earth. mud-flats, tidal and estuarine lowlands.
• They are formed from horizontally • Winds may blow Aeolian deposits-
bedded rocks relatively undisturbed by very fine particles known as Loess from
the crust movements of the earth. interior deserts, or barren surfaces and
• These include The Great Plains of the deposit them upon hills, valleys or plains
Russian Platform, The Great Plains of forming a loess plateau as in north-west
the USA and the Central Lowlands of China; or loess plain, as in the Pampas
Australia. of Argentina. This helps to level an
undulating plain by filling up grooves and
Depositional Plains depressions.
• There are plains formed by the deposition Erosional Plains
of materials brought by various agents
of transportation. • Erosional plains have been levelled by
various agents of denudation such as
• They are comparatively level but rise
running water, rivers, wind and glacier
gently towards adjacent highlands.
which wear out the rugged surface and
• Some of the largest depositional plains smoothens them.
28
• Plain resulting from the action of • In glaciated regions, glaciers and ice
these agents of denudation are called sheets scour and level the land to form
peneplains (almost plain) while plains ice-scoured plains. There are extensive
formed from wind action are called ice-scoured plains in northern Europe
pediplains. and Canada.
• Rivers, during their course from their • In arid and semi-arid regions, wind
source to the sea, deepens the valleys deflation sweeps away much of the
and widens their banks. The projecting eroded desert materials, lowering the
spurs are cut back so that the level level of land and forming extensive
ground bordering the river is constantly plains. Mechanical weathering in arid
widened. At the same time, the higher land region wears down the mountain slope
between the rivers is gradually lowered. resulting in a pediplain or sloping
These plains are called peneplains. pediments.
29
CHAPTER - 4
DISTRIBUTION OF
OCEAN AND CONTINENTS
CONTINENTAL DRIFT Pangea was surrounded by mega-ocean,
Panthalassa.
THEORY • Second stage - Around 200 million years
• Continental drift theory was proposed by ago, Flight of continents took place,
Alfred Wegener in 1912. continents began to drift gradually and
broke into pieces, Laurasia (Angaraland)
• The theory deals with the distribution of and Gondwanaland. (India was a part of
the oceans and the continents. Gondwanaland.)
• According to Wegener’s Continental Drift • Third stage - During the Mesozoic
theory, all the continents formed a single era, the space between Laurasia and
continental mass (Super Continent)-
Gondwanaland got filled with Tethys
Pangaea and Mega Ocean surrounded
Sea and it gradually got widened.
the same-Panthalassa.
• Fourth stage - around 100 million years
• According to this theory, the ago-Westward drift of North America
supercontinent, Pangaea, began to split and South America led to the opening of
around 200 million years ago. the Atlantic Ocean.
• Pangaea first broke into two large • Fifth stage - It is the Orogenic Stage in
continental masses as Gondwanaland which mountain building activity took
and Laurasia forming the southern and place. While Himalayas and Alps were
northern modules correspondingly. formed with the folding of sediments of
• A sea called Tethys divided the Pangaea Tethys Sea, and westward drift of North
into two huge landmasses: Laurasia and South America led to folded edges
to the north and Gondwanaland to the and formation of the Rockies and Andes.
south of Tethys.
• Drift started around 200 million years
ago (Mesozoic Era), and the continents
began to break up and drift away from
one another.
• Later, Gondwanaland and Laurasia
continued to break into several smaller
continents that exist today.
Stages of Continental Drift

• First stage - During the Carboniferous
period in which a supercontinent
30
Argument for the Continental glaciation. Counterparts of this

succession are found in Africa, Falkland
Drift Theory island, Madagascar, Antarctica and
• Matching of Continents in a Jig-Saw- Australia besides India. It proves
Fit: The shorelines of Africa and South paleoclimates2 and drifting of continents.
America towards each other show a These landmasses have similar histories.
remarkable match. If observed carefully, • Distribution of fossils: Lemurs occur
then they can be seen exactly fitting into in India, Madagascar, and Africa, this
a jig-saw puzzle. Greenland seems to fit information leads to consideration of
in well with Ellesmere and Baffin islands. these three land masses being connected
The west coast of India, Madagascar and in the past, hypothetically named
Africa seem to have been joined. North “Lemuria’”. Also, Mesosaurus (a small
and South America on one side and reptile living in brackish water) skeleton
Africa and Europe on the other fit along have been found only in two localities
the mid-Atlantic ridge. – South Africa and Iraver formation of
• Rocks of the same age across the Brazil, which are 4,800 km apart presently.
oceans: It is established by radiometric
dating methods that the earliest marine Forces for Drifting
deposits along the coastline of South
• Wegener proposed that the movement
America and Africa are of Jurassic age,
accountable for the drifting of the
this suggest ocean did not occur prior
continents was instigated by tidal force
to that. A belt of ancient rocks of 2,000
and pole-fleeing force.
million years from Brazil coast matches
with those from Western Africa. • The drift was in two directions-
• Placer deposits: Occurrences of rich 2 Paleoclimate is a climate prevalent
placer deposits1 of gold in Ghana coast at a particular time in the geological
and the absolute absence of source
past. Paleoclimatology is the study of
rock in the region. Also, the presence of
gold bearing veins in Brazil show that past climates. Since it is not possible to
obviously gold deposits of Ghana are go back in time to see what climates
derived from Brazilian plateau when they were like, scientists use imprints created
were together. during past climate, known as proxies,
• Tillite: It is a sedimentary rock formed to interpret paleoclimate. Organisms,
out of deposits of glaciers found in the
such as diatoms, forams, and coral serve
Gondwanaland system of sediments.
Thick tilliation at base shows prolonged as useful climate proxies. Other proxies
include ice cores, tree rings, and sediment
1 A placer deposit or placer is an cores. Past climate can be reconstructed
accumulation of valuable minerals formed using a combination of different types
by gravity separation from a specific of proxy records. These records can
source rock during sedimentary processes. then be integrated with observations of
They are natural concentration of heavy Earth's modern climate and placed into
minerals caused by the effect of gravity on a computer model to infer past as well as
moving particles. predict future climate.
31
 equator wards due to the interaction consideration.

of forces of gravity, pole-fleeing force • Proofs heavily depend on assumptions
and buoyancy and are very general in nature.
 Westwards due to tidal currents • The theory did not explain the formation
because of the earth’s motion (earth of oceanic ridges and Island arcs.
rotates from west to east, so tidal
currents act from east to west. • Earth’s crust is believed to be too rigid to
permit large-scale motions. Wegener’s
• The polar-fleeing force relates to the ideas have not offered a suitable
rotation of the earth. The shape of the mechanism justifying the displacement
earth is not a perfect sphere. It bulges of larger masses for long journeys.
at the equator due to the rotation of the
earth. Centrifugal force increases as we • Modern theories like Plate Tectonics
move from the poles towards the equator. accept the existence of Pangaea and
This increase in centrifugal force has led related land masses but give a very
to pole fleeing. different explanation to the causes of
drift.
• The second force that was proposed by
Wegener, the tidal force which is due to
the force of attraction of the moon and POST DRIFT STUDIES
the sun that develops tides in the oceanic • It is interesting to note that for continental
waters. drift; most of the evidence was collected
• Wegner believed that these forces would from the continental areas in the form of
become effective when applied over distribution of flora and fauna or deposits
millions of years. like tillite.
• However, later, these two forces were • A number of discoveries during the post-
found to be insufficient reasons for drifting war period added new information to
of the continents which is counted as the geological literature.
criticism of Wegener’s theory. • A number of post drift discoveries
provided considerable information that
Criticisms of the Continental was not available during the time Wegner
Drift Theory put forward his Continental Drift Theory.
These discoveries led to rejuvenated
• Wegener talks about the role of forces
interest in the study of the distribution of
like buoyancy, tidal currents, and gravity.
the oceans and continents.
But these were not strong enough to drift
continents. • Particularly the information collected
from the ocean floor mapping provided
• He advocates directional movement
new dimensions for the study of
either westward or equatorward, but
distribution of continents and oceans.
movements have taken place in all
directions.
Convectional Current Theory
• Alfred Wegener failed to explain the Pre-
carboniferous history. He did not explain • Arthur Holmes postulated his thermal
why the drift began only in Mesozoic-era Convectional Current Theory in the year
and not before. 1928-29 to explain the intricate problems
of the origin of major relief features of
• The theory did not take oceans into
32
the earth’s surface. causing thermal differences in the mantle

• His main objective was to find the region.
scientific explanation of the origin of • The convective currents originating under
continents and oceans. But it is also the continental crust are more powerful
widely accepted concept of mountain than the convective currents originating
building. under the oceanic crust. It may be
• Holmes’ major objectives were not pointed out that the Currents originating
confined to search the mechanism of under the equatorial crust move towards
mountain building based on sound the poles i.e. towards north and south
scientific background but were also and thus the crusts are carried away with
directed towards finding scientific the convective currents.
explanation for the origin of the continents
and ocean basins in terms of continental Mapping of the Ocean Floor
drift as he was opposed to the concept of • Detailed research of the ocean
permanency of the continents and ocean configuration revealed that the ocean
basins as envisaged by the advocates of floor is not just a vast plain but it is full
thermal contraction of the earth. of relief.
• Expeditions to map the oceanic floor in
the post-war period provided a detailed
picture of the ocean relief and indicated
the existence of submerged mountain
ranges as well as deep trenches, mostly
located closer to the continent margins.
• The mid-oceanic ridges were found to be
most active in terms of volcanic eruptions.
• The dating of the rocks from the oceanic
crust revealed the fact that the oceanic
crust rocks are much younger than the
COURTACY: A LEVEL GEOGRAPHY continental areas.
• The driving force of mountain building • Rocks which are equidistant from the
implied by Arthur Holmes is provided by crest of oceanic ridges on both sides have
thermal convection currents originating been found with utmost similarities in
deep within the earth. The main source terms of their age, constituents, chemical
of the origin of convective currents is composition and magnetic properties.
excessive heat in the substratum wherein And sediments on the ocean floor near
disintegration of radioactive elements the ridge have been found to be thinner.
generates heat regularly. In fact, the Ocean Floor Configuration
whole theory depends exclusively on
the mechanism of thermal convective • The relief features found on the ocean
currents. floor are called Submarine Relief.
• Due to difference in the temperature, • An oceanic basin is the land surface
currents are formed due to disintegration under an ocean that includes different
of radioactive materials inside the earth, topography under the water. The ocean
33
floors can be divided into four major continental shelves, turn out to be the
divisions: source of fossil fuels.
 The Continental Shelf  The shallow water over the shelf enables
 The Continental Slope sunlight to penetrate through the
water to the bottom and encourages
 The Deep Sea Plain the growth of microscopic plants and
 The Trenches animals called plankton, which are the
• An oceanic basin is the land surface food for fish.
which is divided into minor features like:  Continental shelves are of great
 Mid-Oceanic Ridges importance to man. They are the
sources of fish and also minerals
 Seamounts including sand and gravel, etc.
 Guyots  One of the striking features of the
 Trenches continental shelf is the presence of
submarine canyons which extend to
 Canyons
the continental slope.
 These canyons are ‘steep-sided valleys’
cut into the floor of the seas. They are
very similar to the gorges found on the
continents.
• Continental Slope
 The continental slope links the
continental shelf and the ocean basins.
• Continental Shelf  It starts where the bottom of the
 The continental shelf is the stretched continental shelf abruptly drops off
margin of all continent occupied by into a steep slope.
comparatively shallow gulfs and seas.  Canyons and trenches are seen in this
It is the shallowest part of the ocean. region.
 The shelf normally ends at a very steep  It extends between the depths of 180
slope which is called the shelf break. - 3600m.
 The average width of continental  They have very little deposits of
shelves is about 80 km. sediments on them due to the steepness
 The Continental shelves are very and increasing distance from the land.
narrow or almost absent along certain  Aquatic life is also much lesser here
margins where Fold Mountains run than in the Continental shelves.
parallel or close to the coast like the
 The base of the continental slope has
Coasts of Chile, the west coast of
some deposits of sediments. This belt
Sumatra etc.
of sediment is called Continental Rise.
 The Siberian shelf in the Arctic Ocean
• Deep Sea Plain
is the largest in the world
 Deep sea plain (Abyssal plain) is
 Enormous sedimentary deposits
gently sloping areas found after the
received over a long time by the
34
continental slope.  They are very common in the Pacific

 These are the flattest and most Ocean and form an almost continuous
featureless areas in the ocean. They ring along the western and eastern
are the levelest places on the surface margins of the Pacific.
of the earth.  The Mariana Trench off Guam Islands
 They cover a major portion of the in the Pacific Ocean is the deepest
ocean floors between the depths of trench with a depth of more than 11
3000m to 6000m. kilometres.
 Abyssal plains are as irregular as the • Mid-Oceanic Ridges

continental plains with submarine  A mid-oceanic ridge is an underwater
plateaus, hills, guyots, and seamounts. mountain range, formed by plate
 These plains are completely covered tectonics.
with fine-grained deposits like silt and  It is composed of two chains of
clay. The sediments which are formed mountains divided by a large
from the remains of living things are depression.
called Oozes.  The mountain ranges can have peaks
 Oozes can be seen in those seas as high as 2,500 m and some even
which favour an abundant growth of reach above the ocean’s surface.
organisms.  Running for a total length of 75,000 km,
 Another type of sediments is red clay these ridges form the largest mountain
which is of volcanic origin or made up systems on earth.
of tiny particles brought by wind and  These ridges are either broad, like a
rivers. plateau, gently sloping or in the form
• Oceanic Deeps Or Trenches of steep-sided narrow mountains.
 Trenches are the deepest parts of the  These oceanic ridge systems are of
oceans. tectonic origin and provide evidence
 The trenches are comparatively steep in support of the theory of Plate
sided and have narrow basins. Tectonics.
 They are some 3-5 km deeper than the  Examples for Mid oceanic ridges: Mid-
adjacent ocean floor. Atlantic Ridge (Atlantic Ocean), East
Pacific Rise, Pacific-Antarctic Ridge.
 They are formed due to tectonic
activities like ocean-ocean plates • Seamount
convergence or ocean-continent  Seamounts are mountains with pointed
convergence. peaks, mounting from the seafloor,
 They are formed at the fringes of and that do not reach the surface of
the deep sea plains at the bases of the ocean.
continental slopes and along island  Sometimes they rise above the sea as
arcs. isolated islands.
 Trenches are associated with active  They are volcanic in origin.
volcanoes and strong earthquakes.  Seamounts can be 3,000-4,500 m tall.
That is why they are very important in
the study of plate movements.  An extension of the Hawaiian Islands
35
in the Pacific Ocean which is known as • Atoll

The Emperor seamount is an example  It is a ring-shaped coral reef containing
of seamount. a coral rim that encompasses a
• Submarine Canyons lagoon incompletely or completely. It
 Submarine Canyons are a kind of may be a part of the sea (lagoon), or
narrow steep-sided valleys. occasionally form encircling a body of
brackish, fresh, or highly saline water.
 It originates either within continental
slopes or on a continental shelf.  These are low islands found in the
tropical oceans.
 Broadly, there are three types of
submarine canyons—
i. Small gorges which begin at the
edge of the continental shelf and
extend down the slope to very
great depths, e.g., Oceanographer
Canyons near New England.
ii. Those which begin at the mouth of
a river and extend over the shelf, SEA FLOOR SPREADING
such as Zaire, the Mississippi and • Seafloor spreading is a part of plate
the Indus canyons. tectonics. Its discovery provided a
iii. Those which have a dendritic mechanism for continental drift that
appearance and are deeply cut Alfred Wegener could not explain.
into the edge of the shelf and the • In 1912, when Alfred Wegener proposed
slope, like the canyons off the coast that the continents had once been joined
of southern California. The Hudson together and had split apart, the biggest
Canyon is the best known canyon weakness in his hypothesis was the lack of
in the world. a mechanism that would allow continents
 The largest canyons in the world occur to move through ocean basins.
in the Bering Sea off Alaska. They are • At the time, everyone believed the oceans
the Bering, Pribilof and Zhemchug were permanent features and, at the
canyons. time of Wegener, there was no credible
 Congo Canyon is regarded as the explanation for a way the continents
largest river canyon. could have plowed through the rocks of
• Guyots the seafloor.
 It is a flat-topped seamount. • But in 1962, a geologist and U.S. Navy
Reserve Rear Admiral named Harry Hess
 It is also known as table mount. came up with an answer.
 They show evidence of slow subsidence • Rather than plowing through seafloor
through stages to become flat topped rocks, Hess proposed that it was the
submerged mountains. seafloor itself that was pushing the
 It is expected that more than 10,000 continents apart. He believed that the
guyots and seamounts occur in the location and topography of the Mid-
Pacific Ocean. Atlantic Ridge was not coincidence.
36
• The Mid-Atlantic ridge is an ocean ridge of lava to the surface in this area.
found along the Atlantic Ocean floor.  The rocks equidistant on either
• The ridge, he thought, was where new sides of the crest of mid-oceanic
seafloor was being added to the earth’s ridges show remarkable similarities
lithosphere, which in turn pushed the in terms of period of formation,
continents apart. Hess called it seafloor chemical compositions and magnetic
spreading. properties. Rocks closer to the mid-
• Hess argued that the Mid-Atlantic Ridge oceanic ridges are normal polarity and
was a boundary where two lithospheric are the youngest.
plates were rifting (being pulled apart).  The age of the rocks increases as one
As that happened, rising magma from move away from the crest.
the upper part of the mantle filled in the  The ocean crust rocks are much
cracks that formed in the earth’s crust. younger than the continental rocks.
• After the magma solidified into basalt The age of rocks in the oceanic crust is
and igneous rock, additional rifting pulled nowhere more than 200 million years
those rocks apart, too. In effect, Hess old. Some of the continental rock
proposed the existence of a magma- formations are as old as 3,200 million
driven conveyor belt that continually years.
added new seafloor, very slowly over  The sediments on the ocean floor
time, widening the Atlantic Ocean basin are unexpectedly very thin. Scientists
and pushing apart the continents to were expecting, if the ocean floors
either side. were as old as the continent, to have
• So, rather than plowing through seafloor a complete sequence of sediment
rocks, Hess proposed that it was the for a period of much longer duration.
seafloor itself that was pushing the However, nowhere was the sediment
continents apart. column found to be older than 200
million years.
• Particularly, the mapping of the ocean
floor and paleomagnetic1 studies of  The deep trenches have deep-seated
rocks from oceanic regions revealed the earthquake occurrences while in the
following facts: mid-oceanic ridge areas, the quake
 It was realized that all along the mid- foci have shallow depths.
oceanic ridges, volcanic eruptions are
common and they bring huge amounts
1 Paleomagnetism is the study of

the record of the Earth's magnetic field in
rocks, sediment, or archeological materials.
Certain minerals in rocks lock-in a record of
the direction and intensity of the magnetic
field when they form. This record provides
information on the past behavior of Earth's Evidence for Seafloor Spreading
magnetic field and the past location of • Paleomagnetic rocks are the most
tectonic plates.
37
important evidence. The orientation surface, the continents and ocean basins
of iron grains on older rocks shows an undergo continuous change.
orientation which points to the existence • Both are parts of lithospheric plates
of the South Pole, once upon a time, that move against each other, and in
somewhere between the present-day the process new crust is created at mid-
Africa and Antarctica (Paleomagnetism). oceanic ridges (spreading centers), and
• Older rocks form the continents while old crust is consumed at convergent
younger rocks are present on the ocean plate boundaries (subduction zones).
floor. On continents, rocks of upto 3.5 • Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth’s
billion years old can be found while the outer shell is divided into several plates
oldest rock found on the ocean floor that glide over the mantle, the rocky
is not more than 200 million years old inner layer above the core. The plates act
(western part of Pacific floor). As we like a hard and rigid shell compared to
move, towards ridges, still younger rocks Earth’s mantle. This strong outer layer is
appear. This points to an effective spread called the lithosphere.
of sea floor along oceanic ridges which
are also the plate margins. • In 1967, McKenzie and Parker suggested
the theory of plate tectonics. The theory
• The normal temperature gradient on was later outlined by Morgan in 1968.
the seafloor is 9.4°C/300 m but near the
ridges it becomes higher, indicating an • By then, the ‘continental drift theory’
upwelling of magmatic material from the was completely discarded with the
mantle. emergence of ‘convectional current
theory’ and ‘seafloor spreading theory’.
• In trenches, where subduction has taken
place (convergent edge), the value of • Both ‘convectional current theory’ and
the gravitational constant ‘g’ is less. This ‘seafloor spreading’ paved the way for
indicates a loss of material. For instance, the Theory of Plate Tectonics.
gravity measurements around the • According to the theory of plate tectonics,
Indonesian islands have indicated that the earth’s lithosphere is broken into
large gravity anomalies are associated distinct plates which are floating on a
with the oceanic trench bordering ductile layer called the asthenosphere
Indonesia. (upper mantle). Plates move horizontally
• The fact that all plate boundary regions over the asthenosphere as rigid units.
are areas of earthquakes and volcanic • The lithosphere includes the crust and top
disturbances goes to prove the theory of mantle with its thickness range varying
seafloor spreading. between 5-100 km in oceanic parts and
about 200 km in the continental areas.
THEORY OF PLATE • The oceanic plates contain mainly the
Simatic crust and are relatively thinner,
TECTONICS while the continental plates contain
Sialic material and are relatively thicker.
• The theory of plate tectonics is nowadays
more or less universally accepted by • Lithospheric plates (sometimes called
geologists. crustal plates, tectonic plates) vary from
minor plates to major plates, continental
• The basic thought is that instead of
plates (Arabian plate) to oceanic plates
being permanent fixtures of the earth’s
38
(Pacific plate), sometimes a combination • Nazca plate: Between South America

of both continental and oceanic plates and Pacific plate
(Indo-Australian plate). • Arabian plate: Mostly the Saudi Arabian
• The movement of these crustal plates landmass
causes the formation of various landforms • Philippine plate: Between the Asiatic
and is the principal cause of all earth and Pacific plate
movements.
• Caroline plate: Between the Philippine
• Plate tectonics affects humans in several and Indian plate (North of New Guinea)
important ways.
• Fuji plate: North-east of Australia.
 It causes earthquakes
• Turkish plate
 It causes volcanism
• Aegean plate (Mediterranean region)
 It induces recycling of elements
within the biosphere and between the • Caribbean plate
geosphere and biosphere • Juan de Fuca plate (between Pacific and
 It causes mountain-building North American plates)
• Rates of Plate Movement • Iranian plate.
 The Arctic Ridge has the slowest rate

(less than 2.5 cm/yr), and the East
Pacific Rise in the South Pacific (about
3,400 km west of Chile), has the fastest
rate (more than 15 cm/yr).
 Indian plate’s movement during its
journey from the south to the equator
was one of the fastest plate movements.
Major Tectonic Plates

• Antarctica and the surrounding oceanic
plate
Forces for the Plate Movement
• North American plate • The slow movement of hot, softened
mantle that lies below the rigid plates
• South American plate is the driving force behind the plate
• Pacific plate movement.
• India-Australia-New Zealand plate • The heated material rises to the surface,
• Africa with the eastern Atlantic floor spreads and begins to cool, and then
plate sinks back into deeper depths. This cycle
is repeated over and over to generate
• Eurasia and the adjacent oceanic plate what scientists call a convection cell or
convective flow.
Minor Tectonic Plates • Heat within the earth comes from two
• Cocos plate: Between Central America main sources: radioactive decay and
and Pacific plate residual heat.
39
• Arthur Holmes first considered this idea ocean, the American Plate is separated
in the 1930s, which later influenced Harry from the Eurasian and African Plates.
Hess’ thinking about seafloor spreading.
Interaction of Plates
• Major geomorphological features such
as fold and block/fold mountains, mid-
oceanic ridges, trenches, volcanism,
earthquakes etc. are a direct
consequence of interaction between
various lithospheric plates.
• There are three ways in which the plates
interact with each other.
 Divergent plate boundaries Convergence Forming Convergent
 Convergent plate boundaries Edge Or Destructive Edge
 Transform fault boundaries • In this kind of interaction, two lithospheric
plates collide against each other.
Divergence Forming Divergent Edge
Or the Constructive Edge • The zone of collision may undergo
crumpling and folding and folded
• As the name itself suggests, in this kind mountains may emerge.
of interaction, the plates diverge (move
• This is an orogenic collision. Himalayan
away from each other).
Boundary Fault is one such example.
• On Oceanic crust, Mid-oceanic ridges
• When one of the plates is an oceanic
are formed due to this kind of interaction.
Here, the basaltic magma erupts and plate, it gets embedded in the softer
moves apart. asthenosphere of the continental plate
and as a result, trenches are formed at
• On continents, East African Rift Valley the zone of subduction.
is the most important geomorphological
feature formed due to divergence of • The subducted material gets heated up
African and Somali plates. and is thrown out forming volcanic islands
and dynamic equilibrium is achieved.
• Such edges are sites of earth crust
formation (hence constructive) and • There are mainly three ways in which
volcanic earth forms are common along convergence can occur.
such edges.  between an oceanic and continental
• Earthquakes (shallow focus) are common plate;
along divergent edges.  between two oceanic plates; and
• The sites where the plates move away  between two continental plates.
from each other are called spreading
sites.
• The best-known example of divergent
boundaries is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
At the mid-oceanic ridge in the Atlantic
40
Transcurrent Edge Or Conservative

Edge Or Transform Fault
• This happens when two plates move past
each other.
• In this kind of interaction, two plates
grind against each other and there is Evidence in Support of Plate
no creation or destruction of landform
but only deformation of the existing
Tectonics
landform. • Evidence for both Seafloor Spreading
• Crust is neither produced nor destroyed and Plate tectonics are complementary
as the plates slide horizontally past each (almost the same evidence).
other. • Paleomagnetic rocks are the most
• In oceans, transform faults are the planes important evidence. The orientation
of separation generally perpendicular to of iron grains on older rocks shows an
the mid oceanic ridges. orientation which points to the existence
of the South Pole, once upon a time,
• San Andreas Fault along the western somewhere between the present-day
coast of the USA is the best example for Africa and Antarctica (Paleomagnetism).
a transcurrent edge on continents.
• Older rocks form the continents while
younger rocks are present on the ocean
floor. On continents, rocks of upto 3.5
billion years old can be found while the
oldest rock found on the ocean floor
is not more than 200 million years old
(western part of Pacific floor). As we
move, towards ridges, still younger rocks
appear.
41
• The normal temperature gradient on DISTRIBUTION OF

the seafloor is 9.4°C/300 m but near the
ridges it becomes higher, indicating an EARTHQUAKES AND
upwelling of magmatic material from the
mantle. VOLCANOES
• In trenches, where subduction has taken • A line of dots in the central parts of the
place (convergent edge), the value of Atlantic Ocean almost parallel to the
the gravitational constant ‘g’ is less. This coastline.
indicates a loss of material. For instance,
• It further extends into the Indian Ocean.
gravity measurements around the
Indonesian islands have indicated that • It bifurcates a little south of the Indian
large gravity anomalies are associated subcontinent with one branch moving
with the oceanic trench bordering into East Africa and the other meeting
Indonesia. a similar line from Myanmar to New
Guiana.
• The fact that all plate boundary regions
are areas of sand volcanic disturbances • This line of dots coincides with the mid-
goes to prove the theory of plate oceanic ridges.
tectonics. • The shaded belt showing another area of
concentration coincides with the Alpine-
Significance of Plate Tectonics Himalayan system and the rim of the
Pacific Ocean.
• For the earth scientists, it is a fundamental
principle for study. For physical • In general, the foci of the earthquake
geographers, this approach is an aid in in the areas of mid-oceanic ridges are
interpretation of landforms. at shallow depths whereas along the
Alpine-Himalayan belt as well as the rim
• New minerals are thrown up from the
of the Pacific, the earthquake are deep-
core with the magmatic eruptions.
seated ones.
Economically valuable minerals like
copper and uranium are found more • The map of volcanoes also shows a
frequently near the plate boundaries. similar pattern. The rim of the Pacific is
also called rim of fire due to the existence
• On the basis of present knowledge of
of active volcanoes in this area.
crustal plate movement, the shape of
landmasses in future can be guessed. For
instance, if the present trends continue,
North and South America will separate. A
piece of land will separate from the east
coast of Africa. Australia will move closer
to Asia.
42
CHAPTER - 5
VOLCANISM AND EARTHQUAKES
INTRODUCTION layers of the earth due to differential

amounts of radioactivity. This
• Volcanic activities have a great influence temperature difference gives rise to
on the earth’s landforms. convectional currents in the outer core
• Volcanism is a general term that refers as well as the mantle.
to all the phenomena connected with • The convectional currents in the mantle
the origin and movement of molten create convergent and divergent
rock. These phenomena include the well- boundaries.
known explosive volcanic eruptions that
are among the most spectacular and • At the divergent boundary, molten,
terrifying events in all nature, along with semi-molten and sometimes gaseous
much more quiescent events, such as material appears on earth at the first
the slow solidification of molten material available opportunity (the best available
below the surface. weak zone – usually a plate margin). The
earthquakes may expose fault zones
• The molten magma is mobile and forces through which magma may escape.
its way into the planes of weakness of
the crust to escape quietly or explosively • At the convergent boundary, the
to the surface. subduction of denser plate creates
magma at high pressure which will
• When magma is expelled onto Earth’s escape to the surface. Because of high
surface while still molten, the activity is pressure, the magma and gases escape
extrusive and is called volcanism; when with great velocity as the pressure is
magma solidifies below the surface it released through eruptions.
is referred to as intrusive or plutonic
activity and results in intrusive igneous
features. When it comes out explosively,
it forms extrusive igneous landforms.
THE ORIGIN OF VOLCANOES

• The chemical reactions of radioactive
substances deep within the interior of
the earth generate tremendous amount
of heat. Some heat is already present in
the form of residual heat (heat captured
at the center during Earth’s formation) is
already present at the earth’s interior. MAGMA VS LAVA: THE
• There is a huge temperature difference
between the inner layer and the outer DIFFERENCE
43
• Magma is the term used to denote the  Due to their high fluidity, they flow
molten rocks and related materials seen readily with a speed of 10 to 30 miles
inside earth. A weaker zone of the mantle per hour.
called the asthenosphere, usually is the  They affect extensive areas, spreading
source of magma. out as thin sheets over great distances
• Once this magma came out to the earth’s before they solidify (This is how Deccan
surface through the vent of a volcano, it Traps were formed).
is called as the Lava. Therefore, Lava is  The resultant volcano is gently sloping
nothing but the magma on the earth’s with a wide diameter and forms a
surface. flattened shield or dome.
• The process by which solid, liquid and
gaseous material escape from the earth’s
interior to the surface of the earth is
called as Volcanism.
TYPES OF LAVA
• Andesitic or Acidic or Composite or
Stratovolcano lava TYPES OF VOLCANIC
 These lavas are highly viscous with a
high melting point. ERUPTIONS
 They are light-colored, of low density, • Ejection of Lava to the surface occurs
and have a high percentage of silica. through either Fissure eruption or
through Central eruption.
 They flow slowly and seldom travel far
before solidifying. The resultant cone is • Fissure eruption
therefore steep sided.  In Fissure volcanic eruptions, the Lava
 The rapid solidifying of lava in the vent comes out to the surface through the
obstructs the flow of the out-pouring cracks of the rock strata and hence the
lava, resulting in loud explosions, fissure eruptions are not explosive. The
throwing out many volcanic bombs or fissure eruptions are smooth and the
pyroclasts. Lava spreads to a larger area, so they
form landscapes such as plateaus etc.
 Sometimes the lavas are so viscous that
they form a spine or plug at the crater • Central eruption
like that of Mt. Pelee in Martinique.  In the central volcanic eruptions,
• Basic or Basaltic or Shield lava the lava comes out to the surface
through narrow pipes and thus causes
 These are the hottest lavas, about
an explosion, during the ejection
1,000°C. (1830°F) and are highly fluid.
of magma onto the surface. The
 They are dark colored like basalt, rich explosive nature of eruptions leads to
in iron and magnesium and poor in the formation of mountains which are
silica. known as volcanic mountains. The
 They flow out of volcanic vent quietly different volcanic Islands throughout
and are not very explosive. the world are actually volcanic
mountains formed through Central
44
eruptions. solidification of lava either inside or

outside the earth’s surface are known as
volcanic landforms.
TYPES OF VOLCANOES
• The geological processes control the
• There are three types of volcanoes: characteristics of various volcanic
Active, Dormant and Extinct. landforms. On the basis of cooling of
magma, volcanic landforms are divided
into extrusive igneous rocks landforms
and intrusive igneous landforms.
• Plutonic rocks are formed when the
magma cools within the earth’s crust.
Various forms of intrusive igneous rocks
are formed due to the intrusive activity
of volcanoes.
• Batholiths
• Active Volcanoes frequently erupt or
have erupted in recent times. That means  Batholiths are intrusive igneous rocks
such volcanoes keep on ejecting volcanic masses formed due to the cooling
material at frequent intervals. Example and solidification of Magma inside
– Mt Etna (Italy), Stromboli (Sicily – the earth. These intrusive igneous
largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, rocks appear on the surface after the
near Italy). Mt Stromboli is also called the erosional process erodes the materials
Lighthouse of the Mediterranean lying above these rocks.
• Dormant Volcanoes are those in which  The batholiths form the core of large
eruption has not occurred for a long mountains, and they get exposed
time but can occur any time in future. to the surface after the erosional
Barren Island (Andaman), Versuris (Italy) activities. Batholiths are granitic
intrusive igneous rocks.
• Extinct Volcanoes are those where no
eruption has occurred in historic times  Example - Wicklow Mountains in
& possibility of future eruption is also Ireland, the uplands of Brittany, France
remote. Example - Mt. Popa (Myanmar), and Main Range of Malaysia.
Mt. Fuji in Japan. However, we can never • Laccoliths
be thoroughly sure about them. Vesuvius  Laccoliths are the large dome-shaped
(Bay of Naples near Italy) & Mt. Krakatau (igneous mound) intrusive igneous
(Sunda straits b/w Java & Sumatra) were rocks which are connected by a pipe-
thought to be extinct & yet both erupted like conduit with the magma.
violently.
 These intrusive igneous rocks resemble
like a composite volcano structure,
LANDFORMS ASSOCIATED but they are found below the earth’s
surface.
WITH VOLCANICITY  It arches up the overlying strata of
sedimentary rocks.
Landforms of Igneous Intrusions
 Example - Henry Mountains in Utah,
• The landforms formed due to the
45
USA and Karnataka plateau.  Example - Cleveland Dyke of Yorkshire,

• Lopolith England and Isles of Mull and Arran,
Scotland.
 Lopolith is formed when the Magma
moves upwards, and a portion of
this magma moves in a horizontal
direction where it finds a weak plane.
When it develops into saucer shape, it
is known as Lopolith.
 Example - the Bushveld lopoliths of
Transvaal, South Africa
• Phacolith
 When a wavy mass of intrusive Extrusive Igneous Rocks
igneous rocks are formed at the base Landforms
of synclines or on the top of anticline
• When the Lava and other volcanic
having a definite conduit with the
materials are thrown out to the Earth’s
magma chambers below, they are
surface during volcanic eruptions, the
called the laccoliths.
extrusive igneous landforms are formed.
 Example - Corndon Hill in Shropshire,
• It includes volcanic Lava, pyroclastic
England.
debris, ash, volcanic bombs, and gases
• Sills such as sulphur dioxide, nitrogen
 Sills are intrusive igneous rocks which compounds and other gases.
are formed by the solidified and near • The conical vent and fissure vent
horizontal lava layers inside the earth.
 The narrow cylindrical vent through
 Denudation of the overlying which lava flows out to the earth’s crust
sedimentary strata will expose the during a volcanic activity is known as
intrusion which will resemble a lava a conical vent. Conical vents are more
flow or form an escarpment. common in the composite (or strato
 The thinner deposits of these rocks volcanic) volcanic features.
are called sheets, while the thicker  The fissure is a narrow linear vent
horizontal deposits are known as sills. through which lava comes out to
 Example - Great Whin Sill of N.E. the earth’s crust during a volcanic
England. eruption. The fissure vents are more
commonly found in the areas of
• Dykes
basaltic volcanism. The fissure vents
 When the Magma moves upwards are often few meters wide, which can
through the cracks and fissures, and be several kilometres long.
solidifies almost perpendicularly to • Shield volcanoes
the earth’s surface, developing a wall
like structure, they are known as dykes.  Shield volcanoes are characterized by
Dykes are the most common intrusive gentle upper slopes and little steeper
igneous rocks in Western Maharashtra lower slopes. They are composed of
and other parts of the Deccan traps. relatively fluid lava flows which have
been built over a central vent. Mostly,
46
the low viscosity basaltic lava which is The composite volcanoes often cause
high in fluidity form Shield volcanoes. explosive volcanic eruptions.
It leads to the formation of extrusive  Most common and highest volcanoes
igneous rocks. have the features of composite
 Shield volcanoes are mostly non- cones. For example, Stromboli, the
explosive, but they can become Lighthouse of Mediterranean, Mt. Fuji
explosive if water gets inside the vent. etc.
 Shield volcanoes are the largest • Caldera:
volcanoes in the world. They extend to  These are the most explosive of the
greater heights and distances. earth’s volcanoes.
 Examples of Shield volcanic landforms  They are usually so explosive that
include Mauna Loa volcanoes of when they erupt they tend to collapse
Hawaii. on themselves rather than building
• Cinder cone volcanoes any tall structure. The collapsed
 A Cinder cone has the features depressions are called calderas.
of a steep conical hill with loose  Their explosiveness indicates that its
pyroclastic fragments which include magma chamber is large and in close
volcanic clinkers, cinder, volcanic ash vicinity.
(scoria) around the vent.  A caldera differs from a crater in
 Cinder cone volcanoes are made such a way that a caldera is a huge
entirely of the loose grainy cinders, depression caused by a collapse after
and they lack lava. Cinder cone usually a large-scale eruption, whereas a
has very steep sides along with a crater is a small, steep side, volcanic
small crater on its top. They are small depression bored out by an eruptive
volcanoes. plume.
• Composite volcanoes • Flood Basalt Provinces
 Composite volcanoes (strato-  These volcanoes outpour highly fluid
volcanoes) are mainly cone shaped lava that flows for long distances.
with moderate steep sides.  The Deccan Traps in India, presently
 The andesitic lava, along with the covering most of the Maharashtra
pyroclastic materials and ashes plateau, are a much larger flood basalt
which find their way to the ground province.
gets accumulated in the vicinity • Mid-Ocean Ridge Volcanoes
of vent openings. This leads to the
formation of layers, which makes the  These volcanoes occur in the oceanic
volcanic mounts appear as composite areas.
volcanoes.  There is a system of mid-ocean ridges
 Composite volcanoes are also known more than 70,000 km long that
as stratovolcanoes. stretches through all the ocean basins.
 Composite volcanoes are associated  The central portion of this ridge
with the eruption of cooler and more experiences frequent eruptions.
viscous lava than the basaltic lavas.
47
• Violent earthquakes associated with

volcanic activity and mudflows of
volcanic ash saturated by heavy rain can
bury nearby places.
• Sometimes ash can precipitate under the
influence of rain and completely cover
whole cities.
• In coastal areas, seismic sea waves
or Tsunamis are an additional danger
which is generated by submarine earth
faults where volcanism is active.
• The volcanic gases that pose the greatest
potential hazard to people, animals,
agriculture, and property are sulfur
dioxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen
fluoride. Locally, sulfur dioxide gas
can lead to acid rain and air pollution
downwind from a volcano.
• Globally, large explosive eruptions that
inject a tremendous volume of sulfur
aerosols into the stratosphere can lead to
lower surface temperatures and promote
depletion of the Earth’s ozone layer.
• Volcanoes can also be classified based
on the frequency of eruption, mode of
eruption and characteristic of lava. POSITIVE EFFECTS OF
VOLCANOES
• Volcanism creates new landforms like
islands, plateaus, volcanic mountains etc.
• The volcanic ash and dust are very fertile
for farms and orchards.
• Volcanic rocks yield very fertile soil upon
weathering and decomposition.
• Although steep volcano slopes prevent
DESTRUCTIVE EFFECTS OF extensive agriculture, forestry operations
on them provide valuable timber
VOLCANOES resources.
• Volcanism can be a greatly damaging
• Mineral resources, particularly metallic
natural disaster. The damage is caused
ores are brought to the surface by
by advancing lava which engulfs whole
volcanoes. Sometimes copper and other
cities.
ores fill the gas-bubble cavities. The
• Showers of cinders and bombs can cause famed Kimberlite rock of South Africa,
damage to life. source of diamonds, is the pipe of an
48
ancient volcano. volcanic activity and earthquakes. The

• In the vicinity of active volcanoes, waters volcanic zones and earthquake zones are
in the depths are heated from contact more prominent around the converging
with hot magma giving rise to springs plate boundaries.
and geysers. The heat from the earth’s • Circum-Pacific belt which is known as
interior in areas of volcanic activity is Ring of fire & houses around 2/3rd of
used to generate geothermal electricity. world’s Volcanoes
Countries producing geothermal power • Mid-Continental belt has various
include USA, Russia, Japan, Italy, New volcanoes of the Alpine mountain chain,
Zealand and Mexico. Mediterranean Sea (Stromboli, Vesuvius,
• The Puga valley in Ladakh region and Etna etc.)
Manikaran (Himachal Pradesh) are • Mid-Atlantic belt includes the volcanoes
promising spots in India for the generation of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
of geothermal electricity.
• Pacific Ring of Fire
• Geothermal potential can also be used
for space heating.  The circum Pacific region or Pacific Ring
of Fire has the largest concentration
• As scenic features of great beauty, of active volcanoes. It has almost two-
attracting a heavy tourist trade, few thirds of active volcanoes.
landforms outrank volcanoes.
 The Aleutian Islands of Kamchatka,
• At several places, national parks have Japan, the areas of the Philippines,
been set up, centered around volcanoes. Indonesia, Islands of Solomon, Tonga
• As a source of crushed rock for concrete and North Island, New Zealand, the
aggregate or railroad ballast, and other Andes to Central America and up to
engineering purposes, lava rock is often Alaska are part of the Pacific rim of
extensively used. fire.
• Volcanoes along the Atlantic coast
DISTRIBUTION OF  The Atlantic coast has a comparatively
fewer number of active volcanoes.
VOLCANOES IN THE  But it has many dormant volcanoes
WORLD such as Saint Helena, Cape Verde
islands etc.
• There are mainly three volcanic belts,
besides many volcanoes which are  The volcanoes of Iceland and Azores
outside these belts. along the Atlantic coast are active
volcanoes.
• Till now, around 480 major active
volcanoes have been found out of which • Volcanoes in the Mediterranean region
around 400 are found in the areas around  The Alpine folds, such as Vesuvius,
the Pacific Ocean. While the others are Stromboli (also known as the
in the Alpine Himalayan belt, Atlantic Lighthouse of Mediterranean) and the
Ocean, Indian ocean etc. The Himalayas Aegean Islands are the areas of the
do not have an active volcano. Mediterranean region where active
• The converging plate margins, and mid- volcanoes are found.
oceanic ridges are the areas of high • Volcanoes in the Great Rift region
49
 Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya Some of them have been harnessed to
of the East African Rift Valley have heat houses, swimming pools and for
some extinct volcanoes. Mount other domestic purposes.
Cameroon is the only volcano active • Hot springs and geysers have become
in West Africa. tourist attractions like in Japan and
• Volcanoes in other parts of the world Hawaii.
 Other regions such as West Indian • Water that percolates into the porous
Islands have experienced some rock is subjected to intense heat by the
volcanic activity in the recent past. underlying hard rock which is in contact
Mount Pelee of the Lesser Antilles is a with hot magma in the mantle or the
volcanic Island where the last eruption lower part of the crust.
took place in 1929. • Under the influence of intense heat the
• Volcanoes in India water in the capillaries and narrow roots
 The Barren Island of Andaman in the porous rock undergoes intense
and Nicobar Islands which is in the expansion and gets converted to steam
northeast of Port Blair is a volcanic resulting in high pressure.
island. The Barren Island volcano was • When this steam or water at high pressure
the last active recently in 2017 and in finds a path to the surface through
1991 and 1995. narrow vents and weak zones, appear
 Narcondam which is in the north-east at the surface as geysers and hot water
of Barren Island is another volcanic springs.
Island in India. Narcondam volcano • Geyser
has not been active in the recent past.  Steam or water at high pressure, along
Other parts of India do not have an its path, gets accumulated in small
active volcano. reservoirs, fissures and fractures. Once
the pressure exceeds the threshold
limit, the steam bursts out to the
surface disrupting the water at the
mouth. Hence the name geyser.
 Silicate deposits at the mouth of
the geyser gives them their distinct
colours.
 Found in very few regions. Iceland is
FIG: DISTRIBUTION OF VOLCANOES
famous for its geysers.
SOURCE: US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY  Yellowstone in USA is one of the most
famous geysers.
GEYSERS AND HOT SPRINGS • Hot water spring
• Almost all the world’s geysers are  Steam or water at high pressure
confined to three major areas: Iceland, smoothly flows to the top through
New Zealand and Yellowstone Park of the vent and condense at the surface
U.S.A. giving rise to a spring.
• Iceland has thousands of hot springs.  Some springs are very colorful because
50
of the presence of cyanobacteria of The point on the surface, nearest to the

different colors. focus is called the EPICENTER.
 Found all across the world • The intensity of the earthquake will be
highest in the epicenter and decreases as
one moves away. All-natural earthquakes
take place in the lithosphere.
• Earthquakes are highly unpredictable
and destructive among all the natural
disasters.
• Tectonic earthquakes are the most
devastating as compared to the
earthquakes which are associated with
volcanic eruptions, rock fall, landslides,
subsidence etc which have limited area if
influence and scale of damage.
EARTHQUAKES
• An earthquake (also known as a quake,
tremor or tremblor) is the shaking of the
surface of the Earth, resulting from the
sudden release of energy in the Earth’s
lithosphere that creates seismic waves.
COURTESY: STUDY.COM
• The release of energy occurs along a
fault. A fault is a sharp break in the
crustal rocks. Rocks along a fault tend to Causes of Earthquakes
move in opposite directions. • Most earthquakes are causally related to
• As the overlying rock strata press them, compressional or tensional stresses built
the friction locks them together. However, up at the margins of the huge moving
their tendency to move apart at some lithospheric plates.
point of time overcomes the friction. As • The immediate cause of most shallow
a result, the blocks get deformed and earthquakes is the sudden release of
eventually, they slide past one another stress along a fault, or fracture in the
abruptly. This causes a release of energy, earth’s crust.
and the energy waves travel in all
• Sudden slipping of rock formations
directions.
along faults and fractures in the earth’s
• The point where the energy is released crust happen due to constant change
is called the FOCUS or HYPOCENTER of in volume and density of rocks due to
an earthquake. The energy waves travel intense temperature and pressure in the
in different directions to reach the surface. earth’s interior.
51
• Volcanic activity can also cause an of Earthquakes such as:

earthquake but the earthquakes of  Tectonic Earthquakes: Tectonic
volcanic origin are generally less severe Earthquakes are most common and
and more limited in extent than those generated due to folding, faulting
caused by fracturing of the earth’s crust. plate movement.
• Earthquakes occur most often along  Volcanic Earthquakes: Earthquake
geologic faults, narrow zones where associated with volcanic activity are
rock masses move in relation to one called volcanic earthquake. These are
another. The major fault lines of the world confined to areas of volcanoes and
are located at the fringes of the huge Pacific ring of fire is the best example
tectonic plates that make up Earth’s of these types of earthquakes.
crust.
 Collapse Earthquakes: They are
• Slipping of land along the fault line along, evident in the areas of intense mining
convergent, divergent and transform activity, sometimes as the roofs of
boundaries cause earthquakes. Example: underground mines collapse causing
San Andreas Fault is a transform fault minor tremors.
where Pacific plate and the North
American plate move horizontally relative  Explosion earthquakes: This is a minor
to each other causing earthquakes along shock due to the explosion of the
the fault lines. nuclear devices.
 Reservoir Induced Earthquakes: Large
reservoirs may induce the seismic
activity because of the large mass of
the water. They are called reservoir
induced earthquakes. Ex: Reservoirs of
Koyna and Warna are responsible for
the earthquakes in south Maharashtra
region.
• The Earthquakes come in three forms of
clusters called foreshocks, mainshocks,
and aftershocks.
• Foreshocks are quakes that occur before
Types of Earthquakes a larger one in the same location; around
• Earthquakes can be generated by a a quarter of all mainshocks happen
number of sources, most of which are within an hour of their foreshock.
results of natural tectonic processes, Mainshocks and aftershocks are more
usually caused by the interaction common.
between two lithospheric plates. Other • Mainshocksareofthehighestmagnitude.
quakes can be generated by volcanoes Aftershocks are smaller earthquakes that
as magma is injected into the Earth’s occur in the same general geographic
crust. For example, earthquakes on the area for days-and even years-after the
island of Hawaii are generally volcanic larger, mainshock event.
earthquakes. Rest of the Earthquakes
are artificially generated by nuclear test Seismic Waves or Earthquake
explosions. Thus, there are several types
52
Waves
• The slipping of land generates seismic
waves, and these waves travel in all
directions.
• Seismic waves are produced when some
form of energy stored in Earth’s crust is
suddenly released, usually when masses • Primary Waves (P waves)
of rock straining against one another  Primary waves are the fastest body
suddenly fracture and “slip.” waves (twice the speed of s-waves)
• Earthquake waves are basically of two and are the first to reach during an
types — body waves and surface waves. earthquake.
• Body waves are generated due to the  They are similar to sound waves, i.e.,
release of energy at the focus and move they are longitudinal waves, in which
in all directions travelling through the particle movement is in the same
body of the earth. Hence, the name body direction of wave propagation.
waves.  They travel through solid, liquid, and
• The body waves interact with the surface gaseous materials.
rocks and generate new set of waves  They create density differences in the
called surface waves. These waves move earth material leading to stretching
along the surface. and squeezing.
• The velocity of waves changes as they • Secondary waves (S waves)
travel through materials with different  They arrive at the surface with some
elasticity (stiffness). The more elastic the time-lag after primary waves.
material is, the higher the velocity. Their
direction also changes as they reflect or  They are slower than primary waves
refract when coming across materials and can pass through solid materials
with different densities. only.
• There are two types of body waves. They  This property of S-waves led
are called P and S-waves. seismologists to conclude that the
earth’s outer core is in a liquid state.
 Primary waves or P waves (longitudinal) (the entire zone beyond 105° from the
(fastest) epicenter does not receive S-waves)
 Secondary waves or S waves
 They are transverse waves in which
(transverse) (least destructive)
directions of particle movement and
• The third type of wave is called the wave propagation are perpendicular
Surface waves or L waves (transverse) to each other.
(slowest) (most destructive). • Surface Waves
 When the body waves interact with
surface rocks, a new set of waves is
generated called as surface waves.
 These waves move along the earth’s
surface.
53
 Surface waves are also transverse

waves in which particle movement is
perpendicular to the wave propagation.
 Hence, they create crests and troughs
in the material through which they
pass.
 Surface waves are considered to be
the most damaging waves.
 Two common surface waves are L-
waves and Rayleigh waves.
• Love waves:
 This kind of surface waves causes
horizontal shifting of the earth during
an earthquake.
 They move much slower than body
waves but are faster than Rayleigh
waves.
 They exist only in the presence of
semi-infinite medium overlain by an
upper finite thickness.
 Confined to the surface of the crust,
L waves produce entirely horizontal
motion.
• Rayleigh waves: COURTESY: SCIENCE LEARNING HUB
 These waves follow an elliptical • Shadow regions of waves

motion.
 P-waves pass through all medium
 A Rayleigh wave rolls along the ground while S-waves passes only through
just like a wave rolls across a lake or an solid medium.
ocean.
 With the help of these properties of
 Because it rolls, it moves the ground primary waves, seismologists have a
up and down and side-to-side in the fair idea about the interior of the earth.
same direction that the wave is moving.
 Even though P-waves pass through all
 Most of the shaking felt from an mediums, it causes reflection when it
earthquake is due to the Rayleigh enters from one medium to another.
wave, which can be much larger than
 The variations in the direction of waves
the other waves.
are inferred with the help of their
record on seismographs.
 The area where the seismograph
records no waves is called as ‘shadow
zone’ of that wave.
 Accordingly, it is observed that the
54
area beyond 105° does not receive • Deep focus earthquakes are known as
S-waves and the area in between 105° intra plate earthquakes, as they are
to 140° does not receive P-waves. triggered off by collision between plates.
• Shallow-focus earthquakes occur at
depths less than 70 km, while deep-
focus earthquakes occur at greater focal
depths of 300 – 700 km.
• Shallow focus earthquakes are found
within the earth’s outer crustal layer, while
deep focus earthquakes occur within the
deeper subduction zones of the earth.
• Shallow focus earthquakes of smaller
magnitudes, of a range of 1 to 5, while
deep focus earthquakes are of higher
magnitudes, 6 to 8 or more.
Measuring Earthquakes
• Seismometers are the instruments which
Earthquakes based on the depth of are used to measure the motion of the
ground, including those of seismic waves
Focus
generated by earthquakes, volcanic
• Wadati Benioff zone is a zone of eruptions, and other seismic sources.
subduction along which earthquakes are • A Seismograph is also another term used
common. to mean seismometer, though it is more
• A Wadati–Benioff zone is a zone of applicable to the older instruments.
seismicity corresponding with the • The recorded graphical output from
down-going slab in a subduction zone a seismometer/seismograph is called
(Convergent Boundary). a seismogram. Seismograph is an
• Differential motion along the zone instrument while seismogram is the
produces numerous earthquakes. recorded output.
• Shallow focus earthquakes are most • There are two main scales used in the
common at submarine ridges. They are seismometers: Mercalli Scale and the
however hardly felt. Richter Scale.
• Intermediate focus earthquakes which • Mercalli Scale:
are somewhat severe.  The scale represents the intensity of
• Deep focus earthquakes which occurs an earthquake by analyzing the after
at trenches – convergent boundaries. effects like how many people felt it,
They are very powerful. Japan lies along how much destruction occurred etc.
trench line. Hence it faces devastating The range of intensity is from 1-12.
earthquakes. • Richter Scale:
• Shallow focus earthquakes are called  The scale represents the magnitude
crustal earthquakes as they exist in the of the earthquake. The magnitude is
earth’s crustal layer.
55
expressed in absolute numbers from festoons (Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Japan,

1-10. Each whole number increase Philippines) experience both tectonic
in Richter scale represents a tenfold and volcanicity induced earthquake in
increase in power of an earthquake. substantial number.
• Mid-continental belt: This is Alpine-
DISTRIBUTION OF Himalayan belt which represents zone
of plate convergence. The Indian and
EARTHQUAKES African plates are subducted below
Eurasian plate causing isostatic and fault
• There are two well-defined belts where
induced earthquakes. About 21% of total
earthquakes frequently occur – The
seismic events of the earth occur in this
Circum-Pacific Belt and The Mid-
belt.
Continental Mountain Belt.
• Mid-Atlantic belt: It includes epicenters
• Circum-Pacific belt: It includes the
located along mid-Atlantic ridge and
epicenters of coastal margins of north
several islands near the ridge. This belt
and South America and East Asia.
records moderate and shallow focus
This belt accounts for 65% of the total
earthquakes. The spreading of seafloor,
earthquake of the world. It presents four
fissure type of volcanic eruptions
ideal conditions for the occurrence of the
and transform faults are causes of
earthquakes viz.
earthquakes in the region.
 Subduction zone of convergent plate
boundaries,
 Junction of continents and ocean
margins,
 Zone of young folded mountains and,
 Zone of active volcanoes.
• The pacific plate boundary is being
subducted below American and FIG: DISTRIBUTION OF EARTHQUAKES
Eurasian plate boundaries. The coastal ( HIGHLIGHTED IN PINK)
margins of Asia and island arcs and
56
CHAPTER - 6
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES - EXOGENIC

AND ENDOGENIC PROCESSES
INTRODUCTION • This brings about changes in the shape

of the surface of the earth which are
• Due to internal and external forces. The known as geomorphic processes.
earth is changing its surface conditions.
• Mass wasting, weathering, deposition,
• The earth’s crust is always dynamic as it and erosion are exogenic geomorphic
moves both vertically and horizontally. processes.
• The differences in the internal forces • Volcanism and Diastrophism are
make the surface uneven. endogenic geomorphic processes.
• Wearing down of relief features is called • Any exogenic element of nature such that
gradation. ice, water, and the wind that are capable
• The endogenic forces always elevate of obtaining and carrying earth materials
parts of the earth’s surface and hence can be called a geomorphic agent.
the exogenic processes fail to even out • When these elements of nature become
the relief variations of the surface of the portable due to gradients, they remove
earth. the materials and transport them over
• Variations remain as long as there is slopes and deposit them at a lower level.
a difference between endogenic and • The gravitational stresses are as vital as
exogenic forces. the other geomorphic processes.
• The surface of the earth is sensitive. • Gravity is the force that keeps us in
Human beings however are using the contact with the surface and it is the
surface intensively and extensively and force that switches on the movement of
often very indiscriminately. all surface material on earth.
• It is the directional force stimulating all
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES downslope movements of matter and it
• Geomorphological processes are natural also causes stress on the earth’s materials.
mechanisms of erosion, weathering, and • Indirect gravitational stresses stimulate
deposition that result in the alteration of tide and wave induced winds and
the surface materials and landforms at currents.
the surface of the earth. • Without gradient (slope) and gravity
• The exogenic and endogenic forces there would be no movement and
cause chemical actions and physical therefore no transportation, erosion, and
pressures on earth materials. deposition would have been possible.
• All the movements either on the surface
57
of the earth or within the earth happen gradients, heat flow from inside of
due to gradients —from high pressure to earth, crustal thickness and strength
low pressure areas, from higher levels to causes the action of endogenic forces to
lower levels, etc. be non-uniform. Hence, the tectonically
• The Earth movements are the movements controlled original crustal surface is
in the earth’s crust caused by the uneven.
endogenic or exogenic forces. These
movements are also termed as Tectonic Diastrophism
movements. • All processes that involve moving,
• The term ‘Tectonic’ derived from the Greek elevating or building up components
word ‘Tekton’ which means builders. of the earth’s crust are categorised as
diastrophism.
• As the word means, these movements
are mainly builders and have been • These processes are studied under
responsible for building up of different following heads:
types of landforms.  Orogenic processes - Mountain
building through folding. It affects
long and narrow belts of the earth’s
crust. Crust is deformed in form of
folds.
 Epeirogenic processes - Continent
building process. It involves simple
deformation of the crust. Under this,
uplift or warping of large parts of the
earth’s crust occurs
 Earthquakes are sudden violent
shaking of the earth’s crust and involve
relatively local and minor movements.
ENDOGENIC PROCESSES  Plate tectonics involve horizontal
• These are processes emanating from movements of crustal plates.
the interior of the Earth and induce
• All the above four processes exhibit
diastrophism and volcanism in the
following characteristics which induce
lithosphere.
metamorphism of rocks: Faulting and
• Endogenic forces are mainly land fracturing of crust occurs and also
building forces. They arise from pressure temperature and volume (PVT)
radioactivity, rotational friction, tidal changes occur.
friction and primordial heat from the
origin of the earth. Examples – mountain Volcanism
building forces, continent building forces,
earthquakes, volcanism etc. • Volcanism is referred to as movement of
molten rock towards the earth’s surface
• The energy emanating from within the
earth is the main force behind endogenic • It also leads to the formation of many
geomorphic processes. intrusive (within the surface of the earth)
and extrusive (outside or on the surface
• There are variations in geothermal of the earth) volcanic forms.
58
• Volcanism is the process through • A process is a force applied on earth

which volcanoes takes place. Volcanic materials affecting the same. An agent
landforms like cinder cones, crater, is a mobile medium (like running water,
caldera etc. are formed due to such moving ice masses, the wind, waves, and
volcanic process. currents etc.) which removes, transports
and deposits earth materials.
EXOGENIC FORCES • Geomorphic Agents: Running water,
groundwater, glaciers, wind, waves, and
• Exogenic forces are those forces which currents, etc. can be called geomorphic
derive their strength from the earth’s agents.
exterior. That is they operate outside and
on the surface of the earth like the forces
of wind, waves, water, glacier etc. EXOGENIC FORCES:
• Exogenic forces are mainly land wearing
forces.
WEATHERING
• Weathering is the action of elements of
• Exogenic forces can take the form of
weather and climate over earth material.
weathering, erosion, and deposition.
• It can be defined mechanical
• Weathering is the breaking of rocks on
disintegration and chemical
the earth’s surface by different agents
decomposition of rocks through the
like rivers, wind, sea waves and glaciers.
actions of various elements of weather
Erosion is the carrying of broken rocks
and climate.
from one place to another by natural
agents like wind, water, and glaciers. • When rocks undergo weathering, some
minerals are removed through chemical/
• The actions of exogenic forces result in
physical leaching by ground water and
wearing down (degradation) of relief/
thereby the concentration of remaining
elevations and filling up (aggradation)
(valuable) minerals increase.
of basins/ depressions, on the earth’s
surface. The phenomenon of wearing • Weathering can be classified as –
down of relief variations of the surface physical, chemical and biological.
of the earth through erosion is known as
gradation. Physical/Mechanical
Weathering
• Physical or mechanical weathering
processes depend on some applied forces.
• The applied forces could be:
 Gravitational forces such as
overburden pressure, load, and
shearing stress.
 Expansion force due to temperature
changes, crystal growth or animal
Geomorphic Processes Vs activity;
Geomorphic Agents  Water pressure controlled by wetting
and drying cycles.
59
• Causes: Most of the physical weathering • Cycles of freezing and thawing (the
are caused by thermal expansion and weather becomes warmer and causes
pressure. snow and ice to melt) causes frost
• The following are the different ways in weathering.
which physical weathering takes place. • It is most effective at high elevations in
mid-latitude where freezing and melting
Unloading and Expansion is often repeated.
• Removal of overlying rock load because • Rapid freezing of water causes its
of continued erosion causes vertical sudden expansion and high pressure.
pressure release. The resulting expansion affects joints,
• Thus, the upper layers of the remaining cracks, and small intergranular fractures
rock expand resulting in disintegration to become wider and wider until the rock
of rock masses. breaks apart.
• Fractures will develop roughly parallel to Salt Weathering
the ground surface.
• Salts in rocks expand due to thermal
• In areas of curved ground surfaces, action, hydration, and crystallization.
arched fractures tend to produce
massive sheets or exfoliated slabs. • Many salts like calcium, sodium,
magnesium, potassium, and barium
• Exfoliation is a result but not a process. have a tendency to expand.
Flaking off of more or less curved sheets
of shells from over rocks or bedrocks • The expansion depends on temperature
results in smooth and rounded surfaces. and their thermal properties.
• So, unloading and expansion create • High temperature ranges between 30-
large, smooth rounded domes called 50° C of surface temperatures in desert
exfoliation domes. favours such salt expansions.
• Salt crystallization is the most effective
Temperature Changes and of all salt weathering processes. It is
Expansion favoured in areas of alternate wetting
• With rise in temperature, every mineral and drying conditions.
expands and pushes against its
neighbor and as the temperature falls, a Chemical Weathering
corresponding contraction takes place. • A group of weathering processes like
• Due to differential heating and the solution, carbonation, hydration,
resulting expansion and contraction oxidation and reduction acts on the
of surface layers and their subsequent rocks to decompose, dissolve or reduce
exfoliation from the surface results in them to a fine clastic state through
smooth rounded surfaces in rocks. chemical reactions by oxygen, surface /
• In rock like granites, smooth surfaced soil water and other acids.
and rounded small to big boulders called • Water and air along with heat must
tors form due to such exfoliation. be present to speed up all chemical
reactions.
Freezing, Thawing and Frost
• Over and above the carbon dioxide
Wedging
that is present in the air, decomposition
60
of plants and animals increases the cave formation.

quantity of carbon dioxide underground.
Hydration
• These chemical reactions on various
minerals are similar to the chemical • Hydration is the chemical addition of
reactions in a laboratory. water.
• Minerals take up water and expand; this
Solution
expansion causes an increase in the
• When something is dissolved in water or volume of the material itself or rock.
acids, the water or acid with dissolved • The process is reversible and long,
content is called as a solution. continued repetition of this process
• This process involves removal of solids in causes fatigue in the rocks and may lead
solution and depends upon the solubility to their disintegration.
of a mineral in water or weak acids. • E.g., calcium sulphate takes in water and
• When coming in contact with water, turns to gypsum, which is more unstable
many solids disintegrate and mix up as than calcium sulphate.
a suspension in water.
Oxidation and Reduction
• Soluble rock forming minerals like
nitrates, sulphates, potassium etc are • In weathering, oxidation means a
affected by this process. combination of a mineral with oxygen
to form oxides or hydroxides.
• This kind of weathering mainly occurs in
a rainy region. • Minerals most commonly involved in this
are iron, manganese, sulphur etc.
• Minerals like calcium carbonate and
magnesium bicarbonate present in • The red colour of the iron upon oxidation
limestone are soluble in water containing turns to brown and yellow.
carbonic acid (formed with the addition • In this process of oxidation, rock
of carbon dioxide in water) and are breakdown occurs due to the disturbance
carried away in water as a solution. caused by the addition of oxygen.
• Common salt is also a rock forming • When oxidized minerals are placed in
mineral and is susceptible to this process an environment where oxygen is absent,
of solution. reduction takes place.
Carbonation
BIological Weathering
• Carbonation is the reaction of carbonate
• This kind of weathering is caused by
and bicarbonate with minerals and is
common process helping to break down several biological activities like growth
of feldspar and carbonate minerals. or movements of organisms. Removal or
contribution of ions to the environment
• Carbon dioxide from the atmosphere due to biological activity is called
and soil air is absorbed by water to form biological weathering.
carbonic acid that acts as a weak acid.
• Grazing of animals, ploughing by human
• Calcium carbonates and magnesium beings etc are examples of biological
carbonates are dissolved in carbonic weathering.
acid and are removed in a solution
without leaving any residue resulting in • Burrowing and wedging by organism like
61
earthworks termites, rodents etc help in and economically viable to exploit,

exposing the new surfaces to chemical process and refine, this is what is called
attack and assists in the penetration of enrichment.
moisture and air.
• They also bring conditions for physical or EXOGENIC FORCES: MASS
chemical weathering.
WASTING
Some Special Effects of
Weathering Mass Movement
• Exfoliation is a result but not a process. • These movements transfer the mass of
Removal of layers from curved surfaces rock debris down the slope under the
result into rounded surfaces. It occurs due direct influence of gravity.
to expansion and contraction induced • Mass movements are very active over
by temperature changes. Exfoliation weathered slopes rather than over
domes occur due to unloading whereas unweathered slopes.
tors occur due to thermal expansion.
• Usual geographic agents like running
water, glaciers, wind, waves etc do
Significance of Weathering not have much role to play in mass
• Weathering is responsible for the movements, and it is the gravity, which
formation of soils and erosion and is the main driving force.
deposition. • Mass movements are classified into slow
• Soil biodiversity is basically dependent movements and rapid movements.
on the depth of weathering.
• Erosion may not be significant when Types of Mass Movements
there is no weathering. • They are creep, flow, slide and fall.
• Weathering aids mass wasting, erosion • Mass movements are aided by gravity
and reduction of relief and changes in not any erosional agent.
landforms.
• Mass movements do not come under
• Weathering of rocks and deposition helps erosion though there is shift of material.
in the enrichment and concentrations of
• When force is greater than resistance,
certain valuable ores of iron manganese,
mass movement occurs. Example: Weak
aluminum, copper. It is an important
unconsolidated material, thinly bedded
process of soil formation.
rocks, faults, steeply dipping beds,
Enrichment vertical cliffs, steep slopes, abundant
precipitation and torrential rains and
• When rocks undergo weathering scarcity of vegetation.
some materials are removed through
chemical or physical leaching by ground Slow Movements
water and thereby the concentration
CREEP
of remaining materials increases.
Without such a weathering taking • It occurs on moderate steep, soil-covered
place, the concentration of the same slopes (doesn’t need to be lubricated with
valuable material may not be sufficient water as in solifluction).
62
• The movement is extremely slow and down along definite channels.

imperceptible except through extended • It looks like channels of mud. When they
observation. overflow the channels they engulf the
• We might notice that some of the roads and rail bridges.
electric posts in our region which are • They also occur due to volcanic eruptions.
posted in sloppy areas deviated from Volcanic ash dust and other fragments
their horizontal linearity. This is an effect turn into mud due to heavy rains and
of creep. flow down as tongues or streams of mud.
Solifluction Debris Avalanche
• It is the process of slow downslope • It is more common in humid regions with
flowing of soil mass or fine-grained or without vegetation. It occurs in narrow
rock debris saturated or lubricated with tracks on sleep slopes and is similar to
water. snow avalanche.
• It can be said as a type of creep • Avalanche is a mass of material moving
with lubricated water influences the rapidly down a slope. An avalanche is
movement. typically triggered when material on a
• It mainly occurs in permafrost regions as slope breaks loose from its surroundings;
the layers of groundwater are occupied this material then quickly collects and
in between permanently frozen soil and carries additional material down the
rocks. slope.
Rapid Movements Landslides
• In landslides, the materials involved are
The conditions required for rapid mass
relatively dry irrespective of the above
movements are
said rapid mass movements.
• Humid climatic regions
• Landslides can be classified into slump,
• Gentle to steep slopes debris slide, rock slide etc.
• Heavy rain  Slump: It is a type of landslide in which
• Loose soils slipping of several units of rock debris
Mudflow occurs with a backward rotation with
respect to the slope over which the
In the absence of vegetation cover and with
movement takes place.
heavy rainfall, thick layers of weathered
materials get saturated with water and  Debris slide: In this type of landslide,
either slow or rapidly flow down along there is no backward rotation. The fall
definite channels is called as mudflow. is almost vertical.
Earthflow  Rock slide: It is nothing but the slide
• Movement of water-saturated clayey of individual rock masses. Rockslide
or silty earth materials down low angle is sliding of individual rock masses
terraces or hillsides is called earthflow. down bedding joint or fault surfaces.
It generally occurs at the steep slopes.
• Due to the absence of vegetation cover
Superficial layers of the rock generally
and with heavy rainfall, thick layers of
fall.
weathered materials get saturated with
water and either slowly or rapidly flow
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EROSION AND DEPOSITION • Mountainbuildingcreatesadisequilibrium

within the Earth’s landscape because
• Soil erosion is the loosening and of the creation of relief. Gravity acts
displacement of topsoil particles from to vertically move materials of higher
the land. Erosion involves acquisition relief to lower elevations to produce
and transportation of rock debris. equilibrium. Gravity also acts on the
• Abrasion by rock debris carried by mediums of erosion to cause them to
geomorphic agents also aids erosion. flow to base level.
• Solar radiation and its influence on
Abrasion is a process of erosion which
atmospheric processes is another source
occurs when material being transported
of energy for erosion.
wears away at a surface over time. It is
the process of friction caused by scuffing, • Rainwater has a kinetic energy imparted
scratching, wearing down, marring, and to it when it falls from the atmosphere.
rubbing away of materials. • Snow has potential energy when it is
• During erosion, relief degrades and the deposited in higher elevations. This
landscape is worn down. Erosion is largely potential energy can be converted
responsible for continuous changes that into energy of motion when the snow
the earth’s surface is undergoing. is converted into flowing glacial ice.
Likewise, the motion of air because of
• Weathering, mass wasting, and erosion
differences in atmospheric pressure can
are degradational processes.
erode surface material when velocities
• Erosion and transportation are controlled are high enough to cause particle
by kinetic energy. Wind running water entrainment.
and glaciers are controlled by climate.
• Erosion is the acquisition and The Erosion Sequence
transportation of rock debris by
• Erosion can be seen as a sequence of
geomorphic agents like running water,
three events: detachment, entrainment,
wind, waves, glaciers etc.
and transport.
• Though weathering aids erosion, it is
• These three processes are often closely
not a precondition for erosion to take
related and sometimes not easily
place. (i.e., erosion can take place in
distinguished between each other.
unweathered conditions also)
• A single particle may undergo
• Deposition is a consequence of erosion.
detachment, entrainment, and transport
The erosional agents lose their velocity
many times.
and energy on gentle slopes and
materials carried by them start to settle Detachment
themselves.
• Erosion begins with the detachment of
• Deposition is not the work of any agents. a particle from surrounding material.
It is just the end result of erosion. Sometimes detachment requires the
breaking of bonds which hold particles
Energy of Erosion together.
• The energy for erosion comes from • Physical, chemical, and biological
several sources. weathering act to weaken the particle
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bonds found in rock materials. As a between entrainment and detachment.

result, weathered materials are normally • There are several forces that provide
more susceptible than unaltered rock to particles with a resistance to this process.
the forces of detachment. The agents of
erosion can also exert their own forces of • The most important force is frictional
detachment upon the surface rocks and resistance. Frictional resistance develops
soil through the following mechanisms: from the interaction between the particle
to its surroundings.
 Plucking: Ice freezes onto the surface,
particularly in cracks and crevices, and • A number of factors increase frictional
pulls fragments out from the surface of resistance, including: gravity, particle
the rock. slope angle relative to the flow direction
of eroding medium, particle mass, and
 Cavitation: Intense erosion due to the surface roughness.
surface collapse of air bubbles found
in rapid flows of water. In the implosion Transport
of the bubble, a micro-jet of water is
• Once a particle is entrained, it tends
created that travels with high speeds
to move as long as the velocity of the
and great pressure producing extreme
medium is high enough to transport the
stress on a very small area of a surface.
particle horizontally. Within the medium,
Cavitation only occurs when water
transport can occur in four different ways:
has a very high velocity, and therefore
its effects in nature are limited to  Suspension is where the particles
phenomenon like high waterfalls. are carried by the medium without
touching the surface of their origin.
 Raindrop impact: The force of a
This can occur in air, water, and ice.
raindrop falling onto a soil or weathered
rock surface is often sufficient to break  Saltation is where the particle moves
weaker particle bonds. The amount from the surface to the medium in
of force exerted by a raindrop is a quick continuous repeated cycles.
function of the terminal velocity and The action of returning to the surface
mass of the raindrop. usually has enough force to cause the
entrainment of new particles. This
 Abrasion: The excavation of surface
process is only active in air and water.
particles by material carried by the
erosion agent is called Abrasion. The  Traction is the movement of particles
effectiveness of this process is related to by rolling, sliding, and shuffling along
the velocity of the moving particles, their the eroded surface. This occurs in all
mass, and their concentration at the erosional mediums.
eroding surface. Abrasion is very active  Solution is a transport mechanism that
in glaciers where the particles are firmly occurs only in aqueous environments.
held by ice. Abrasion can also occur Solution involves the eroded material
from the particles held in the erosional being dissolved and carried along in
mediums of wind and water. water as individual ions.
Entrainment • Particle weight, size, shape, surface
configuration and medium type are the
• Entrainment is the process of particle
main factors that determine which of
lifting by agents of erosion. In many these processes operate.
circumstances, it is hard to distinguish
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Deposition matter along with the little microbes.
• The erosional transport depends on an • There are two main components of

appropriate balance of forces within the soil, the rock particles and the organic
transporting medium. A reduction in the matter. Soil also has a life cycle of its
own. Formation of soil starts with the
velocity of the medium, or an increase in
the resistance of the particles may upset disintegration of rocks under certain
this balance and cause deposition. environmental conditions.
• For wind, reductions in velocity can be Factors Responsible for the

related to variations in spatial heating
and cooling which create pressure Formation of Soil
gradients and wind. In water, lower • The relief features, parent material,
velocities can be caused by reductions in climate, vegetation and other life-forms
discharge or a change in the grade of the as well as time apart from human activities
stream. Glacial flows of ice can become are the major factors responsible for the
slower if precipitation input is reduced formation of soil.
or when the ice encounters melting.
 Parent Material: It is deposited by
• Deposition can also be caused by particle streams or derived from in-situ (in
precipitation and flocculation. the original place) weathering. In this
 Particle Precipitation is a process stage, soil inherits many properties like
where dissolved ions become solid the mineral composition, the colour,
because of changes in the temperature the particle size and the chemical
or chemistry of the water. elements. For example- Black soil
derived its colour from lava rock
 Flocculation is a chemical process
where salt causes the aggregation  Climate: It is one of the important
of minute clay particles into larger factors in the formation of soil because
masses that are too heavy to remain it affects the rate of weathering of the
suspended. parent rock.
 Role of Precipitation: The variability
in the precipitation modifies the
SOIL FORMATION composition of the soil. For Example-
• The outer layer of the earth is formed Areas with little rainfall with high rate
of soil. Its thickness varies from few of evaporation led to the accumulation
millimeters to several meters. of salts in the soil. The soils underlying
• Soil formation occurs as a result of a tropical rain forests tend to be nutrient
gradual breakdown of rocks. poor because of intensive leaching
due to heavy rains.
• Rocks are broken down into finer
particles through many processes such  Role of temperature: It also play an
as weathering and erosion. important role because fluctuations
in temperature causes shrinking and
• The geological components are mixed
swelling, frost action and general
with organic materials to form soil.
weathering in soils.
• This implies that it is a mixture of rocks
 Biota (Flora, Fauna and
which are broken into smaller particles
Microorganisms): Biota, in conjunction
and the dead and decayed organic
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with climate, modifies parent material  Time: The formation of the soil is not
to produce soil. For Example- one day process but requires many
Leguminous plants (such as beans, years to form. Younger soils have
peas, and groundnuts) have nitrogen- some characteristics from their parent
fixing bacteria. These plants take material, but as they age, the addition
the nitrate ions directly from these of organic matter, exposure to moisture
nitrogen-fixing bacteria. It improves and other environmental factors may
the fertility of soil by fixing atmospheric change its features.
nitrogen to ammonia or ammonium. • It is noteworthy that the above factors are
 Topography (Relief, Altitude and separated but interdependent because
Slope): It is considered as passive factor the soil profile of any region around the
to modifying the effects of climate world is dependent on is dependent on
because it affects soil processes, soil climate, parent material, topography,
distribution and the type of vegetation. time altogether.
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CHAPTER - 7
MINERALS AND ROCKS
INTRODUCTION: MINERALS magma in the interior of the earth.

• Coal, petroleum and natural gas are
The earth is composed of various types of
organic minerals.
elements. These elements are combined
together to form minerals in the earth’s • Minerals found in the crust are in solid
crust. form, whereas in the interior they are in
liquid form.
• 98% of the crust consist of eight
elements
 Oxygen
 Silicon
 Aluminium
 Iron
 Calcium
 Sodium
 Potassium
• Mineral is a naturally occurring inorganic  Magnesium
substance, having an orderly atomic
structure, definite chemical composition • The rest is constituted by titanium,
and physical properties. hydrogen, phosphorous, manganese,
sulphur carbon, nickel & other elements.
• The study of minerals is called mineralogy.
The Major Elements of the earth’s Crust
• Minerals are composed of two or three
elements. But sometimes a single element Elements By Weight (%)
mineral like Sulphur, Copper, Silver, Gold Oxygen 46.60
and Graphite, etc are also found.
Silicon 27.72
• There are mainly six major mineral
groups, with which most of the mineral Aluminium 8.13
groups are associated. Iron 5.00
• The major mineral groups are Feldspar, Calcium 3.63
Quartz, Pyroxene, Amphibole, Mica,
Sodium 2.83
Olivine, etc.
Potassium 2.59
• There are at least 2000 minerals in the
crust. Magnesium 2.09
• The basic source of all minerals is the hot Others 1.41
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PHYSICAL • Structure: Particular arrangement of

the individual crystals – fine medium, or
CHARACTERISTICS OF coarse, coarse grained fibrous, separable
divergent radiating
MINERALS • Hardness: as corundum. Relative
• External Crystal Form: determined by resistance being scratched. Absolute
internal arrangement of molecules- hardness measured by a sclerometer.
cube, octahedrons, hexagonal, prisms. Ten minerals are selected to measure the
degree of hardness from 1-10. They are:
• Cleavage: Tendency to break in given
-Talc, Gypsum, Calcite, Fluorite, Apatite,
directions producing relatively plane
Feldspar, Quartz, Topaz, Corundum and
surfaces. Itaresultofinternalarrangement
Diamond.
of the molecule. The minerals may cleave
in one or more directions and at any • Specific Gravity: The ratio between the
angle to each other weight of a given object and the weight
of an equal volume of water; object
• Fracture: Internal molecular arrangement
weighed in air and then weighed in
so complex there are no planes of
water and divide weight in an air by the
molecules; the crystal will break in an
difference of the two weights.
irregular manner, not along planes of
cleavage.
• Lustre: Appearance of a material without CHARACTERISTICS OF
regard to colour; each mineral has a
distinctive lustre like metallic, silky, glossy SOME OF THE MAJOR
etc.
MINERALS
• Colour: Some colours determined by
molecular structure, eg. malachite,
azurite, chalcopyrite some because of
the impurities found the crystal.
• Streak: Colour of the ground powder
of any mineral. It may be of the same
colour as the mineral or may differ. Ex.
Malachite – green, fluorite – purple/white
• Transparency: Transparency refers to the
degree to which light can pass through a
mineral.
 Opaque – no light can pass through
the mineral.
 Translucent – light can pass through
the mineral but is diffused so that Feldspar
images cannot be seen clearly. • Silicon and oxygen are major elements
 Transparent – light can pass through in all types of feldspar.
the mineral and images can be seen • Sodium, potassium, calcium, aluminium,
clearly. etc are found in specific feldspar varieties.
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• Half of the earth’s crust is composed of

feldspar (plagioclase (39%) and alkali
feldspar (12%)).
• It has light cream to salmon pink colour.
• It is commonly used in ceramics and
glass making.
• Plagioclase is the name of a group

of feldspar minerals that form a solid
solution series ranging from pure albite,
to pure anorthite. Minerals in this series
are a homogenous mixture of albite
and anorthite.
• Alkali feldspar, any of several common
Quartz
silicate minerals that often occur as
variously coloured, glassy crystals. • It is one of the most important
They are used in the manufacture of components of sand and granite.
glass and ceramics; transparent, highly • It consists of silica and it is a hard mineral,
coloured, or iridescent varieties are virtually insoluble in water.
sometimes used as gemstones.
• It is usually white or colourless.
Olivine • They are used in the manufacturing of
radio, radar etc.
Pyroxene
• Magnesium, iron and silica are the major

elements of olivine.
• It is commonly found in basaltic rocks • The common elements in pyroxene are
with a greenish colour. Calcium, aluminium, magnesium, iron
and silicon.
• Olivine is used commonly in jewellery.
• About 10% of the earth’s crust is made
up of pyroxene.
• It is commonly found in meteorites.
• Its colour is usually green or black.
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Amphibole • Metallic
 Ferrous (containing iron): Iron ore,
manganese, nickel, cobalt, etc.
 Non-ferrous: (does not contain iron):
Copper, lead, tin, bauxite, etc.
 Precious: Gold, silver, platinum, etc.
• Non-metallic
 Mica, salt, potash, sulphur, granite,
limestone, marble, sandstone, etc.
• Aluminium, calcium, silicon, iron and
• Energy Minerals
magnesium are the major elements of
amphiboles.  Coal, petroleum, and natural gas
• They form 7% of the earth’s crust. • Metallic Minerals are metals that are
hard substance and conduct heat and
• It is green or black in colour and is used
electricity with characteristics of luster
in asbestos industries commonly.
or shine. For example, Gold, Silver,
• Hornblende is another form of Tin, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Iron, Nickel,
amphiboles. Chromium, and Aluminum.
• Characteristics of Metallic Minerals
 Metallic Minerals present a metallic
shine in their appearance.
 Contains metals in their chemical
composition.
 Potential source of the metal that can
be got through mining.
 Metallic minerals contain metal in raw
form.
 Metallic minerals are further classified
into Ferrous (contains Iron) and Non-
ferrous (does not contain Iron) metallic
Mica minerals.
• It is made up of elements like potassium, • Nonmetallic minerals are a special
aluminium, magnesium, iron, silicon, etc. group of chemical elements from which
• It forms 4% of the earth’s crust. no new product can be generated if they
• It is commonly found in igneous and are melted. For example, sand, gravel,
metamorphic rocks. gypsum, halite, Uranium, dimension
stone.
• Mica is widely used in electronic
instruments. • Characteristics of Nonmetallic Mineral
Resources
 Nonmetallic minerals are minerals
TYPES OF MINERALS which are either present a non-metallic
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shine or luster in their appearance. • They are aggregates or a physical

 These minerals do not contain mixture of one or more minerals.
extractable metals in their chemical • Rocks may be hard or soft and in varied
composition. colours.
• Feldspar and quartz are the most
ROCKS: INTRODUCTION common minerals found in all types of
rocks.
• A Rock is an inorganic, solid and natural
substance without any specific atomic • The science dealing with the study of
structure or chemical composition. It is rocks is called Petrology.
easy to remember that rocks are made • Rocks differ in their properties, the size
up of two or more minerals. of particles and mode of formation. On
• Samples of rocks involve limestone, the basis of mode of formation, rocks
granite, marble, slate and sandstone. may be classified into three:
Each of this rock type consists of varied  Igneous Rocks
minerals that can be mixed up with the  Sedimentary Rocks
rock through different geologic processes.
 Metamorphic Rocks
• Let’s consider granite. It mostly made up
of three minerals namely: quartz, mica
and feldspar. IGNEOUS ROCKS
• All of these minerals exist in nature but • Igneous rocks are formed by the cooling
mixed up with the rock. Sometimes you of highly heated molten fluid material
see big chunks of one of these minerals called Magma.
in granite, but when you take that stone • Asthenosphere, which is just below
as a whole, you have to call it rock. the upper mantle, a region beneath
Lithosphere is the main source of magma.
• They might be formed directly by cooling
of magma from the interior of the earth
itself or by cooling of lava from the
surface of the earth.
• As they comprise the earth’s first crust
and all other rocks are derived from
them, they are also called as the parents
of all rocks or the Primary Rocks.
• They are the most abundant rocks in the
FIG: DIFFERENT TYPES OF ROCKS earth’s crust.
• On the basis of their mode of occurrence,
ROCKS IN THE EARTH’S igneous rocks can be classified as
Intrusive and Extrusive Igneous Rocks.
CRUST • Intrusive Igneous Rocks
• A rock is nothing but a composition of  They are formed when magma
minerals. solidifies below the earth’s surface.
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 The rate of cooling below the earth’s

surface is very slow which gives rise to
the formation of large crystals in the
rocks.
 That is why the mineral grains of
intrusive igneous rocks are very large.
 Deep-seated intrusive igneous rocks
are called Plutonic rocks and shallow
depth intrusive igneous rocks are
called Hypabyssal Rocks.
 E.g.: Granite, dolerite, etc.
• Extrusive Igneous Rocks FIG: IGNEOUS ROCK FORMATIONS
 They are formed by the cooling of the

lava on the earth’s surface. SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
 As lava cools very rapidly on the • These rocks are formed by successive
surface, the mineral crystals forming deposition of sediments.
extrusive igneous rocks are very fine.
• These sediments may be the debris
 These rocks are also called Volcanic eroded from any previous existing rock
Rocks. which may be igneous, metamorphic or
 Eg: Gabbro, Basalt, etc. old sedimentary rocks.
• On the basis of chemical properties, • The process of successive deposition
igneous rocks can be classified as Acid and formation of sedimentary rocks is
and Basic Igneous rocks. called as Lithification.
• They are formed as a result of • Due to successive depositions, they have
solidification of acidic (high viscous) or a layered or stratified structure and
basic lava (low viscous). hence are also called as Stratified Rocks.
• Acidic igneous rocks are composed of • Depending upon the mode of formation,
65% or more of silica. They are dark sedimentary rocks can be classified as:
coloured, hard and very strong (E.g.:  Mechanically formed/ Clastic
Granite). Sedimentary Rocks
• Basic igneous rocks contain less than  Organically/ Biologically formed
55% of silica and have more iron and Sedimentary Rocks
magnesium. They are dark in colour,
weak enough for weathering (Eg: Basalt,  Chemically formed Sedimentary
Gabbro). Rocks
• Mechanically formed/ Clastic
Sedimentary Rocks
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• The process of recrystallization and

reorganisation of materials within the
original rock is called metamorphism.
• When the metamorphism happens
without any appreciable chemical
change, it is called as Dynamic
Metamorphism.
• If metamorphism happened due to the
influence of heat, it is called as Thermal
Metamorphism. It has two types:
Contact Metamorphism and Regional
Metamorphism.
• When the reorganisation occurs due to
direct contact with the hot magma, it is
 They are formed by the consolidation called as Contact Metamorphism.
of sediments under excessive pressure
• If the rocks undergo reorganisation due
and cementation.
to tremendous heat/ pressure formed as
 Eg: Conglomerate, Breccia, Sandstone, a result of tectonic shearing, it is called
Shale, etc. as Regional Metamorphism.
• Organically/ Biologically formed • Metamorphic Rocks can be classified
Sedimentary Rocks into Foliated (Slate, Schist, Gneiss)
 The consolidation of organic matter and Non-Foliated (Quartzite, Marble)
derived from plants and animals form Metamorphic Rocks on the basis of the
this type of rocks. presence or absence of bands of mineral
grains.
 E.g.: Coal, limestone, chalk, chert, etc.
• Chemically formed Sedimentary Rocks
 They are formed by various chemical
reactions.
 Eg: Halite, Potash, Limestone, etc.
METAMORPHIC ROCK
• The word metamorphic means ‘change
of form’.
• Hence, these rocks form under the action
of temperature, pressure, and volume
FIG: SCHIST, A TYPE OF METAMORPHIC ROCK
changes on original rocks.
• Metamorphic rocks are formed under
the influence of heat or pressure on ROCK CYCLE
original rocks which cause to change • Rocks do not remain in their original
their colour, hardness, structure and form for a long time but may undergo
composition. transformations.
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• The rock cycle is a continuous process through which old rocks are transformed into new
ones as shown in the diagram.
ROCK VS MINERALS
Rocks Minerals
A rock in inorganic and solid naturally formed A mineral is a solid, inorganic substance, like rocks,
substance without any chemical composition or which has a definite chemical composition and
atomic structure. crystalline structure.
Rocks comprises of minerals Minerals does not comprise of rocks.
Rocks exist in the tiny form which is also microscopic Minerals are easily distinguishable in nature
in nature
These occur in the solid form on the earth’s crust Minerals are said to occur in the form of mineral
deposits
Rocks exhibit some physical properties like colour, Minerals have very distinctive properties like shape,
texture, shape, and pattern colour, texture, crystal habit, hardness, specific
gravity, fracture, lustre and tenacity etc.
Some examples of rocks are sand, pebbles, shells, Few examples of minerals are Feldspar, Olivines,
etc. fossil fuels like coal, petroleum etc.
Rocks do not possess definite shape and are found Minerals are said to have definite shape and definite
in different colours colour.
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CHAPTER - 8
LANDFORMS AND THEIR

EVOLUTION
INTRODUCTION: might change leading to new
modifications in the landforms.
LANDFORMS AND THEIR • Evolution here implies stages of
transformation of either a part of the
EVOLUTION earth’s surface from one landform
• After the weathering processes have into another or transformation of an
had their action on the materials on the individual landform after they are once
surface of the earth, the geomorphic formed.
agents like running water, ground water, • This means that each and every landform
wind, glacier and waves perform the has a history of development and
action of erosion. changes through time.
• Erosion causes the changes on the • A landmass passes through three stages
surface of the earth. of development: Youth, Mature and Old
• Deposition follows the process of erosion. stage.
Deposition often changes the features on • Geomorphology deals with the
the surface of the earth too. reconstruction of the history of the
• Landform is a natural feature on the surface of the earth through the study of
surface of the earth. Several related its forms, the materials of which it is made
landforms together make up landscapes. up of and the processes that shape it.
• Each landform has its own physical • Most of the changes in the landforms
shape, size, materials and is a result of are brought about by erosion by various
action of certain geomorphic processes geomorphic processes and deposition by
and agents. covering the land surfaces or filling the
• Actions of most geomorphic processes basins, valleys and depressions.
are slow and hence the results take a • Running water, glaciers, underground
long time to shape. water, wind and waves are powerful
erosional and depositional agents that
• Landforms are continuously changing.
shape and change the surface of the
Landforms once formed may change their
earth aided by weathering and mass
shape, size and nature due to continued
wasting processes.
action of geomorphic processes and
agents. • Each geomorphic agent produces its
own assemblage of landforms. They
• Due to changes in climatic conditions
leave distinct imprints on the landforms
and vertical and horizontal movements
they produce.
of landmasses, either the intensity of
processes or the processes themselves • However, most of these geomorphic
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processes are imperceptible functions  The river flows down the steep slope
and can only be seen and measured and, as a result, its velocity and
through the changes in the characteristics eroding power are at their maximum.
of the landforms.  Streams are few, with poor integration.
• Hence, the study of landforms will reveal  As the river flows down with high
to us the process and agent which velocity, vertical erosion or downward
has made or has been making these cutting will be high which results in the
landforms. formation of V-Shaped Valleys.
 Waterfalls, rapids, and gorges exist
RUNNING WATER AS A where the local hard rock bodies are
exposed.
GEOMORPHIC AGENT • Middle Course/ Stage of Maturity
• Running water has two components: (Transportation dominates):
one is overland flow on the general land
 In this stage, vertical erosion slowly
surface as a sheet and the other is linear
starts to replace with lateral erosion
flow as streams and rivers in valleys.
or erosion from both sides of the
• The overland flow causes sheet erosion channel.
and depending upon the irregularities of
 Thus, the river channel causes the
the land surface, the overland flow may
gradual disappearance of its V-shaped
concentrate into narrow to wide paths.
valley (not completely).
• During the sheet erosion, minor or major
 Streams are plenty at this stage with
quantities of materials from the surface
good integration.
of the land are removed in the direction
of flow and gradual small and narrow  Wider floodplains start to be seen in
rills will form. this course and the volume of water
increases with the confluence of many
• These rills will gradually develop into long
tributaries.
and wide gullies, the gullies will further
deepen, widen and lengthen and unite  The work of river predominantly
to give rise to a network of valleys. becomes transportation of the eroded
materials from the upper course (little
• Once a valley is formed, it later develops
deposition too).
into a stream or river.
 Landforms like alluvial fans, piedmont
Courses of a River alluvial plains, meanders etc. can be
seen at this stage.
• A river, which is the best example of the
linear flow of running water through a • Lower Course/ Stage of Old (Deposition
valley, can be divided into three, on the dominates):
basis of its course – upper course, middle  The river starts to flow through a broad,
course and lower course. level plain with heavy debris brought
• Upper Course / Stage of Youth (Erosion down from upper and middle courses.
dominates):  Vertical erosion has almost stopped
 It starts from the source of the river in and lateral erosion still goes on.
hilly or mountainous areas.  The work of the river is mainly
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deposition, building up its bed and • Transportation types

forming an extensive flood plain.  After erosion, the eroded materials get
 Landforms like braided channels, transported with the running water.
floodplains, levees, meanders, oxbow This transportation of eroded materials
lakes, deltas etc. can be seen at this is carried in four ways (explained in
stage. Unit 6):
i. Traction
ii. Saltation
iii. Suspension
iv. Solution
• When the stream comes down from the
hills to plain areas with the eroded and
transported materials, the absence of
slope/gradient causes the river to lose it
energy to further carry those transported
materials.
• As a result, the load of the river starts
to settle down which is termed as
deposition.
Erosion, transportation, and deposition
continue until the slopes are almost
Running Water: Erosion, completely flattened leaving finally a
Transportation, and Deposition lowland of faint relief called peneplains
with some low resistant remnants called
• Erosion occurs when overland flow moves monadnocks.
soil particles downslope.
• The rock materials carried by erosion
are the load of the river.
• This load acts as a grinding tool helping
in cutting the bottom and sides of the
river bed, resulting in deepening and
widening of the river channel.
• Erosion Types
 The work of river erosion is
accomplished in different ways, all of
which may operate together. They are
corrasion, corrosion, hydraulic action
etc.
Erosional Landforms due to
i. Corrasion or Abrasion
Running Water
ii. Corrosion or Solution Valleys, Gorges, Canyon, Rapids
iii. Hydraulic Action
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Potholes, Plunge Pools

• Potholes are more or less circular
depressions over the rocky beds of hill
streams.
• Once a small and shallow depression
forms, pebbles and boulders get
collected in those depressions and get
rotated by flowing water. Consequently,
the depressions grow in dimensions to
form potholes.
• Valleys are formed as a result of running
water. • Plunge pools are nothing, but large, deep
potholes commonly found at the foot of
• The rills which are formed by the overland a waterfall.
flow of water later develop into gullies.
• They are formed because of the sheer
• These gullies gradually deepen and impact of water and rotation of boulders.
widen to form valleys.
• A gorge is a deep valley with very steep
Incised or Entrenched Meanders
to straight sides. • They are very deep wide meanders (loop-
• A canyon is characterized by steep step- like channels) found cut in hard rocks.
like side slopes and may be as deep as • In the course of time, they deepen and
a gorge. widen to form gorges or canyons in hard
• A gorge is almost equal in width at its rock.
top as well as bottom and is formed in • The difference between a normal
hard rocks while a canyon is wider at its meander and an incised/entrenched
top than at its bottom and is formed in meander is that the latter found on hard
horizontal bedded sedimentary rocks. rocks.
• Rapids are formed when the stream
passes through alternate bands of hard
and soft rocks.
River Terraces
• They are surfaces marking old valley
floor or flood plains.
• They are basically the result of vertical
79
erosion by the stream.

• When the terraces are of the same
Depositional Landforms due to
elevation on either side of the river, they Running Water
are called as paired terraces.
Alluvial Fans
• When the terraces are seen only on one
side with none on the other or one at • They are found in the middle course of
quite a different elevation on the other the river at the foot of slopes/ mountains.
side, they are called as unpaired terraces. • When the stream moves from the higher
level break into foot slope plain of low
gradient, it loses its energy needed to
transport much of its load.
• Thus, they get dumped and spread as
a broad low to the high cone-shaped
deposits called an alluvial fan.
• The deposits are not and are not very
well sorted.
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Flood Plains, Natural Levees

• Deposition develops a flood plain just as
erosion makes valleys.
Deltas • A riverbed made of river deposits is the
active floodplain and the floodplain
• Deltas are like an alluvial fan but develop above the bank of the river is the inactive
at a different location. flood plain.
• They are found in the mouth of the river, • Natural levees are found along the
which is the final location of depositional banks of large rivers. They are low, linear
activity of a river. and parallel ridges of coarse deposits
• Unlike alluvial fans, the deposits making along the banks of a river.
up deltas are very well sorted with clear • The levee deposits are coarser than the
stratification. deposits spread by flood water away
• The coarser material settle out first and from the river.
the finer materials like silt and clay are
carried out into the sea.
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Meanders and Oxbow Lakes

• Meanders are loop-like channel patterns
develop over the flood and delta plains.
• They are actually not a landform but
only a type of channel pattern formed
as a result of deposition.
• They are formed because of three
reasons:
 Propensity of water flowing over a
very gentle gradient to work laterally
on the banks.
 Unconsolidated nature of alluvial
deposits making up the bank with
many irregularities. Braided Channels
 Coriolis force acting on fluid water • When selective deposition of coarser
deflecting it like deflecting the wind. materials causes the formation of a
central bar, it diverts the flow of river
• The concave bank of a meander is
towards the banks, which increases
known as cut-off bank and the convex
lateral erosion.
bank is known as a slip-off
• Similarly, when more and more such
• As meanders grow into deep loops, the
central bars are formed, braided
same may get cut-off due to erosion at
channels are formed.
the inflection point and are left as oxbow
lakes. • Riverine Islands are the result of braided
channels.
• For large rivers, the sediments deposited
in a linear fashion at the depositional • River Brahmaputra boasts of highly
side of a meander are called as Point braided channels and Majuli islands in
Bars or Meander Bars. Assam is the largest riverine island in the
world.
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with water are called as the Zones of

Saturation.
• The marks which show the upper
surface of these saturated zones of the
groundwater are called as the Water
Tables.
• The water table is generally higher in
the areas of high precipitation and also
in areas bordering rivers and lakes.
• They also vary according to seasons. On
the basis of variability, water tables are
of two types:
GROUNDWATER AS A  Permanent water table, in which the
water will never fall below a certain
GEOMORPHIC AGENT level and wells dug up to this depth
• The part of rain or snow-melt water which provide water in all seasons;
accumulates in the rocks after seeping  Temporary water tables, which are
through the surface is called underground seasonal water tables.
water or simply groundwater.
• Springs: They are the surface outflow of
• The rocks through which water can pass groundwater through an opening in a
easily are called permeable rocks while rock under hydraulic pressure. When such
the rocks which do not allow water to springs emit hot water, they are called
pass are called as impermeable rocks. as Hot Springs. They generally occur in
• After vertically going down to some areas of active or recent volcanism. When
depth, the water under the ground a spring emits hot water and steam in
flows horizontally through the bedding the form of fountains or jets at regular
planes, joints or through the materials intervals, they are called as geysers.
themselves. • In a geyser, the period between
• Although the amount of groundwater two emissions is sometimes regular
varies from place to place, its role in (Yellowstone National Park of USA is the
shaping the surface features of the earth best example).
is quite important.
• The works of groundwater are mainly Karst Landforms
seen in rocks like limestone, gypsum • The Karst landforms are results of
or dolomite which are rich in calcium the groundwater erosion. Water that
carbonate. occupies pores, cavities, cracks and
• Any limestone, dolomite or gypsum other spaces in the crustal rocks is
region showing typical landforms known as ground or underground water.
produced by the action of groundwater The main source of underground water
through the process of solution and is precipitation and melt-water which
deposition is called Karst Topography. infiltrates in the rocks.
• The zones or horizons of permeable • Slow moving ground water can dissolve
and porous rocks which are fully filled huge quantities of soluble rock and carry
83
it away in solution. It dissolves limestone, Sinkholes

rock salt, and gypsum. In some areas, it
is the dominant agent of erosion and • Small to medium sized rounded to sub-
produces karst topography, which is rounded shallow depressions called
characterized by sinkholes, solution swallow holes forms on the surface of
valleys, and disappearing streams. rocks like limestone by the action of the
solution.
• The work of groundwater is however
more significant in the regions of karst • A sinkhole is an opening more or less
topography. circular at the top and funnel-shaped
towards the bottom.
• Approximately 15% of the Earth’s land
area has developed karst topography • When as sinkhole is formed solely through
with outstanding examples found in the process of solution, it is called as a
solution sink.
Bosnia, Croatia, Southern China,
Puerto Rico, Yucatan of Mexico, Florida, • Some sinkhole starts its formation
Australia, Meghalaya, Siberia. through the solution process but later
• The following conditions are required collapse due to the presence of some
for a limestone to develop into karst caves or hollow beneath it and becomes
topography: a bigger sinkhole. These types are called
as collapse sinks.
 The limestone formation must contain
80% or more calcium carbonate. • The term Doline is sometimes used to
refer to collapse sinks.
 Complex patterns of joints in
limestones. • Solution sinks are more common than
collapse sinks.
 Thick strata of limestone (20 feet or
more) • When several sinkholes join together
to form valley of sinks, they are called
 Moderate rainfall in the region. Uvalas (large depression)
 Karst topography does not develop in Lapies are the irregular grooves and
deserts. ridges formed when most of the surfaces of
Groundwater erosion starts with water limestone are eaten by solution process.
percolating through joints, faults and
bedding plains dissolving the soluble rock.
84
Caves
• In the areas where there are alternative
beds of rocks (non-soluble) with
limestone or dolomite in between or
in areas where limestone are dense,
massive and occurring as thick beds,
cave formation is prominent.
• Caves normally have an opening through
which cave streams are discharged.
• Caves having an opening at both the
ends are called tunnels.
Caverns
• Caverns are interconnected subterranean
cavities in bedrock formed by the corrosion
action of circulating underground water on
limestone.
• They are found near Dehradun in
Uttarakhand and in Almora in Kumaon
Himalayas.
Swallow Holes
• The caves of Kotamsar in the tribal
• They are cylindrical in shape lying district of Bastar in Chhattisgarh are
underneath the sinkholes at some depth. famous caverns of India.
• In limestone regions, the surface streams Depositional Landforms of
often enter the sinkholes and then
Groundwater: Stalactites and
disappear underground through swallow
holes. Stalagmites
• It is so, because these holes are connected
to the underground caverns on their
other side.
85
and stalagmite often join together to

form vertical columns in the caverns.
• Stalactites:
 They are the major depositional GLACIER AS A
features formed in the caverns in
limestone regions. GEOMORPHIC AGENT
 The water containing limestone in • Glaciers are a mass of ice moving under
solution, seeps through the roofs of its own weight. They are commonly
the caverns in the form of a continuous found in the snow-fields.
chain of drops. • The permanently ice-covered regions on
 A portion of the water dropping from the earth’s surface are called snow-fields.
the ceiling gets evaporated and a small The lowest limit of permanent snow or
deposit of limestone is left behind on snow-field is called as the snowline.
the roof. • A Glacier forms in areas where the
 This process continues and deposit accumulation of snow exceeds its
of limestone grows downwards like ablation (melting and sublimation) over
pillars. many years, often centuries.
 These beautiful forms are called • They form features like crevasses, seracs
stalactites. etc. A crevasse is a deep crack, or
• Stalagmites: fracture, found in an ice sheet or glacier,
as opposed to a crevice that forms in
 When the remaining portion of the rock. A serac is a block or column of
water dropping from the roof of the glacial ice, often formed by intersecting
cavern falls on the floor, a part of it is crevasses on a glacier.
again evaporated and a small deposit
of limestone is left behind. • Ogives are alternating wave crests and
valleys (troughs) that appear as dark
 This deposit grows upward from the and light bands of ice on glacier surfaces.
floor of the cavern. They are linked to seasonal motion of
 These types of depositional features glaciers; the width of one dark and one
are called stalagmites. light band generally equals the annual
 As the process grows, both stalactite movement of the glacier.
86
• Glaciers cover about 10 percent of Hanging Valleys or U-Shaped

Earth’s land surface and they are the Valleys, Fjords/Fiords
largest freshwater reservoirs on earth.
• The Glacier does not create a new valley
• On the basis of the location of the glacier,
like a river does but deepens and widens
they can be classified as:
a pre-existing valley by smoothing away
 Continental Glacier/Piedmont the irregularities.
Glacier: they move outward in all • These valleys, which are formed by
directions the glacial erosions assume the shape
 Valley/Mountain Glaciers: Move from of letter ‘U’ and hence are called as
higher elevation to lower U-shaped Valleys or Hanging Valleys.
• A fjord is a very deep glacial trough filled
Erosional Landforms with sea water and making up shorelines.
Cirque • A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a
U-shaped valley by ice segregation and
abrasion of the surrounding bedrock
and this valley gradually gets filled with
seawater (formed in mountains nearby
sea).
• Cirques are the most common of

landforms in glaciated mountains. The
cirques quite often are found at the heads
of glacial valleys. The accumulated ice
cuts these cirques while moving down
the mountain tops. They are deep, long
and wide troughs or basins with very Horns and Aretes
steep concave to vertically dropping • Horns are sharp pointed and steep-
high walls at its head as well as sides. sided peaks.
• A lake of water can is seen quite often • They are formed by headward erosion of
within the cirques after the glacier cirque wall.
disappears. Such lakes are called cirque
• When the divide between two cirque
or tarn lakes.
walls gets narrow because of progressive
• There can be two or more cirques one erosions, it results in the formation of a
leading into another down below in a saw-toothed ridge called Arete.
stepped sequence.
• Horns form through headward erosion of
the cirque walls.
87
• Horns form when three or more radiating deposits.

glaciers cut the headward until their • The unassorted coarse and fine debris
cirques meet high, sharp pointed and dropped by the melting glaciers is called
steep-sided peaks. glacial till. Most of the rock fragments in
• Horns formed through headward erosion till are angular to sub angular in form.
of radiating cirques are: Streams form by melting ice at the
 The highest peak in the Alps bottom, sides or lower ends of glaciers.
Some amount of rock debris small enough
 Matterhorn
to be carried by such melt-water streams
 The highest peak in the Himalayas is washed down and deposited. Such
Everest glacio-fluvial deposits are called outwash
deposits.
Moraines
• Moraines are long ridges of deposits of
glacial till.
• When these deposits are at the end of
a glacier, they are called as Terminal
moraines and when they are deposited
on both sides, they are called as Lateral
moraines.
• When lateral moraines of two glaciers
join together, they form Medial moraines.
• When the lateral moraines of both sides
of a glacier join together, it forms a horse-
Depositional Features of shoe shape.
Glacier • Ground moraines are deposits left behind
in areas once covered by glaciers.
• Glacial deposits are of two types:
 Glacial Till – unassorted coarse and
fine debris
 Outwash – assorted roughly stratified
88
Tail End.
• They are formed as a result of glacial
movement over some minor obstruction
like small surface rocks.
• The glacial till gets deposited in those
obstructions and the movement of
glacier shapes these deposits like an
inverted spoon.
Eskers
• When glaciers melt in summer, the
water which formed as a result of melting
accumulates beneath the glacier and
flows like streams in channels beneath
that ice.
• Very coarse material like boulders, blocks
and some minor fractions of rock debris
are carried away by these streams.
• They later get deposited in the valleys
itself and once the ice melts completely,
they are visible to the surface as sinuous
ridges.
• These ridges are called as Eskers. WINDS AS A GEOMORPHIC
Drumlins AGENT
• The wind is the main geomorphic agent
in the hot deserts.
• Winds in hot deserts have greater speed
which causes erosional and depositional
activities in the desert.
• The landforms which are created by
erosional and depositional activities of
wind are called as Aeolian Landforms.
• Winds cause deflation, abrasion, and
impact.
• Deflation includes lifting and removal
• They are smooth oval-shaped ridge-like of dust and smaller particles from the
structures composed mainly of glacial surface of rocks. In the transportation,
till. process sand and silt act as effective tools
to abrade the land surface. The impact is
• It is shaped like an inverted spoon with simply sheer force of momentum, which
the highest part is called as Stoss End occurs when sand is blown into or against
and the lowest narrow part is called as a rock surface
89
Transport of Particles by Wind The coating is formed of iron and

manganese oxides.
• Wind transports small particles, such as
silt and clay, over great distances, even Erosional Features
halfway across a continent or an entire
ocean basin. Pediments and Pediplains
• Particles may be suspended for days. • Landscape evolution in deserts is primarily
• Wind more easily picks up particles on concerned with the formation and
ground that has been disturbed, such as extension of pediments. Gently inclined
a construction site or a sand dune. rocky floors close to the mountains at
their foot with or without a thin cover of
• Just like flowing water, wind transports
debris, are called pediments.
particles as both bed load and suspended
load. • Such rocky floors form through the erosion
of mountain front through a combination
• For wind, bed load is made of sand-
of lateral erosion by streams and sheet
sized particles, many of which move by
flooding.
saltation.
• Once, pediments are formed with a steep
• The suspended load is very small particles
wash slope followed by cliff or free face
of silt and clay.
above it, the steep wash slope and free
face retreat backwards. This method of
Wind Erosion erosion is termed as parallel retreat of
• Wind is a stronger erosional force in arid slopes through back wasting.
regions. In arid regions, small particles • The mountain gets reduced leaving an
are selectively picked up and transported. inselberg which is a remnant of the
 Deflation: As small particles are mountain.
removed, the ground surface gets • That’s how the high relief in desert areas
lower and rockier, causing deflation. is reduced to low featureless plains
What is left is desert pavement, a called Pediplains.
surface covered by gravel-sized
particles that are not easily moved by Playas Plains
the wind. • Playas Plains are by far the most
 Abrasion: Particles moved by wind do prominent landforms in the deserts.
the work of abrasion. As a grain strikes • In basins with mountains and hills around
another grain or surface it erodes that and along, the drainage is towards the
surface. Abrasion by wind may polish center of the basin and due to gradual
surfaces. Stones that have become deposition of sediment from the basin
polished and faceted due to abrasion margins, a nearly level plain forms at the
by sand particles are called ventifacts. center of the basin.
 Desert Varnish: Exposed rocks in desert • In times of sufficient water, this plain
areas often develop a dark brown or is covered up by a shallow water body.
black coating called desert varnish. Such types of shallow lakes are called
Wind transports clay-sized particles playas where water is retained only for
that chemically react with other short duration due to evaporation and
substances at high temperatures. quite often the playas contain good
90
deposition of salts. rocks polished beautifully in the shape

• The playa plain covered up by salts is of mushroom with a slender stalk and
called alkali flats. a broad and rounded pear shaped cap
above.
• Sometimes, the top surface is broad like
a table top and quite often, the remnants
stand out like pedestals.
Wind Deposition
• Wind is a good sorting agent. Depending
upon the velocity of wind, different sizes
of grains are moved along the floors
Deflation Hollows and Caves by rolling or saltation and carried
• Weathered mantle from over the rocks in suspension and in this process of
or bare soil, gets blown out by persistent transportation itself, the materials get
movement of wind currents in one sorted.
direction. • When the wind slows or begins to die
• This process may create shallow down, depending upon sizes of grains
depressions called deflation hollows. and their critical velocities, the grains will
begin to settle.
• Deflation also creates numerous small
pits or cavities over rock surfaces. • So, in depositional landforms made
by wind, good sorting of grains can be
• The rock faces suffer impact and found.
abrasion of wind-borne sand and first
shallow depressions called blow outs • Since wind is there everywhere and
are created, and some of the blowouts wherever there is good source of sand
become deeper and wider fit to be called and with constant wind directions,
caves depositional features in arid regions can
develop anywhere.
Sand Dunes
Mushroom, Table and Pedestal

Rocks
• Many rock-outcrops in the deserts are • Dry hot deserts are good places for sand
easily susceptible to wind deflation dune formation. Obstacles to initiate
and abrasion and are worn out quickly dune formation are equally important.
leaving some remnants of resistant • There can be a great variety of dune
91
forms. wind transported silt that has settled out

• Crescent shaped dunes called barchans from dust storms over many thousands
with the points or wings directed away of years. This material is known as loess.
from wind direction i.e., downwind, from • Loess tends to break away along vertical
where the wind direction is constant and cliffs whenever it is exposed by the cutting
moderate and where the original surface of a stream or grading of a roadway.
over which sand is moving is almost • It is also very easily eroded by running
uniform. water and is subject to rapid gullying
• Parabolic dunes form when sandy when the vegetation cover that protects
surfaces are partially covered with it is broken.
vegetation. That means parabolic • The thickest deposits of loess are in
dunes are reversed barchans with wind Northeast China, where a layer over
direction being the same. 30m deep is common and a maximum
• Seif is similar to barchan. Seif has only thickness of 100m has been measured.
one wing or point. This happens when • Besides China, deposits of loess occur in
there is a shift in wind conditions. The Mississippi Valley of North America and
lone wings of seifs can grow very long north of Central European Upland in
and high. Germany, Belgium and France and are
• Longitudinal dunes form when supply also found in Australia.
of sand is poor and wind direction is
constant. They appear as long ridges of
considerable length but low in height. LANDFORMS MADE BY
Transverse dunes are aligned perpendicular WAVES, TIDES AND WINDS
to the wind direction. These dunes form
when the wind direction is constant and the (COASTAL LANDFORMS)
source of sand is an elongated feature at
right angles to the wind direction. Basic Information like High
Rock Coasts and Low Rock
Coasts
• The Coastal Landforms are created by
the continuous action of the waves, tides,
and currents.
• The coastline changes the coastal
landforms due to the action of these
denudational agents and gives shapes
to different types of marine landform
features.
• Role played by the waves
 Most of the modification along the
Loess coasts are accomplished by waves.
 continuous impact of breaking waves
• The surface is covered by deposits of
drastically affects the coasts.
92
 When waves break, the water is thrown coastline turns somewhat smooth, with
with great force onto the shore along the addition of some more material to
with a great churning of sediments on this deposit in the offshore, a wave-built
the sea bottom. terrace would develop in front of wave-
 Storm waves and tsunami waves can cut terrace.
cause far reaching modifications in • As the erosion near the coastal region
a short period of time than normal takes place a good supply material
breaking waves. becomes available to longshore currents
• Other factors on which the coastal and waves to deposit them as beaches
landforms depend along the shore and as bars (long ridges
of sand and/or shingle parallel to the
 Relief features of land and sea floor coast) in the nearshore zone.
 whether the coast is advancing • Bars are submerged characteristic and
(emerging) seaward or retreating when bars show up above water, they are
(submerging) landward known as barrier bars. Barrier bar which
• Two types of coasts can explain the get keyed up to the headland of a bay is
concept of evolution of coastal landforms called a spit.
(Assuming sea level to be constant): • When barrier, bars and spits created at
High, Rocky Coasts (Submerged the mouth of a bay and block it, a lagoon
forms. The lagoons would slowly get
Coasts)
filled up by sediments from the land and
• Near the high rocky coasts, the rivers giving rise to a coastal plain.
seem to have been drowned with highly
irregular coastline. The coastline looks Low Sedimentary Coasts
highly indented with stretch of water into • Near low sedimentary coasts the rivers
the land where glacial valleys (fjords) are seem to extend their length by forming
present. The hill sides drop off sharply into coastal plains and deltas.
the water. Initially Shores do not show any
• The coastline appears smooth with
depositional landforms features. Erosion
occasional incursions of water in the
features dominate.
form of lagoons and tidal creeks. The
• Near high rocky coasts, waves break with land slopes gently get into the water.
great power against the land shaping
• Marshes and swamps may abound
the hill sides into cliffs. With continuous
along the coasts. Depositional landform
pounding by waves, the cliffs recede and
features dominate. When waves break
leaving a wave-cut platform in front of
over a gently sloping sedimentary coast,
the sea cliff.
the bottom sediments get churned and
• Waves slowly minimize the irregularities move readily forming bars, barrier bars,
along the shore. The materials which fall spits and lagoons.
and removed from the sea cliffs, slowly
• In the due course Lagoons would
fragment into smaller fragments and roll
eventually turn into a swamp which
to roundness, will get deposited in the
would subsequently turn into a coastal
offshore region.
plain. Nurturing of these depositional
• After a considerable period of cliff landform features relies upon the steady
development and retreat process, when supply of materials.
93
• Storm and tsunami waves can cause due to wave erosion which give rise to
drastic modification irrespective of narrow coastal plains, and with onrush of
supply of sediments. Large rivers which deposits from over the land behind may
bring lots of sediments form deltas along get covered up by alluvium or may get
low sedimentary coasts. covered up by shingle or sand to form a
wide beach.
Erosional Landforms
Cliffs, Terraces, Caves and Stacks
• Wave-cut cliffs and terraces are two
forms usually situated where erosion is
the dominant controlling shore process.
Almost every sea cliffs are steep and may
fluctuate from a few meter to 30 m or
even more.
Depositional Landforms
• Beaches and Dunes Beaches are features
of shorelines that are influenced by
deposition but may take place as patches
along even the rugged shores.
• Most of the sediment responsible for
making up the beaches comes from
At the foot of such cliffs there may be a flat land carried by the streams and rivers or
or gently sloping platform occupied by rock from wave erosion. Beaches are not the
debris derived from the sea cliff behind. permanent features.
Such platforms situated at elevations above
the average height of waves is known as • The sandy beach which seems so
wave-cut terrace. permanent may be reduced to a very
narrow strip of coarse pebbles in some
• The lashing of powerful waves against the
other season.
base of the cliff and the rock debris that
gets smashed against the cliff along with • Nearly most of the beaches are made up
lashing waves create hollows and these of sand sized materials. Beaches known
hollows get widened and deepened to as shingle beaches contain excessively
create sea caves. small pebbles and even cobbles.
• The roofs of caves fall, and the sea cliffs • Just behind the beach, the sands lifted
retreat further inland. Recede of the and winnowed from over the beach
cliff may leave some remaining of rock surfaces will be deposited as sand dunes.
standing isolated as small islands just off Sand dunes forming long ridges parallel
the shore. to the coastline are very common near
low sedimentary coasts.
• Such resistant masses of rock, originally
parts of a cliff or hill are known as sea Bars, Barriers and Spits
stacks. Like all other characteristics, sea • A ridge of sand and shingle created in
stacks are also temporary and eventually the sea in the off-shore zone (from the
coastal hills and cliffs will disappear position of low tide waterline to seaward)
94


CHAPTER - 9
CLIMATOLOGY WEATHER
INTRODUCTION: WEATțțțÏÎțÿ,3ÅšcğÎÈlMATE
• The primary difference betwe a@À ‘climote is the duration, while the weather
tis the day-to-day or short terms ti bf the changes in the atmosphere, and climate
is the average weather conditionš-óf orticulor place over a long time, about 30 years.
- While weather changes are obse daily, the change in climate ore observed over the
years, decodes or centuries and includes detailed statistical reports which provides us
with information on weather.
- The weather is changing patterns and global climate changes, it is uncertain to say that
whether the sudden change in the weather of any particular day is the effect of climate
change, though the pattern changes can be predicted.
Basis of Weather Climate
Comparison
Meaning Weather is day-to-day information of the Climate is statistical weather information
changes in the atmospheric condition in that provides information about the
any area. average weather conditions of a particular
place over a long period.
Duration The short-term atmospheric condition of The long-term average weather or
any place is the weather, which may vary atmospheric condition of a place or
from time-to-time. country is the climate.
Affected By Weather is affected by temperature, The climate is the long-term observations
pressure, humidity, cloudiness, wind, of the atmospheric conditions at any
precipitation, rain, flooding, ice storms, etc. location like humidity, temperature,
sunshine, wind, etc.
It affects the The weather may affect the day-to- Climate significantly affects agriculture,
day occupation, and it may hamper industries, the livelihood of the people in
transportation services, agriculture, etc. long run. Ex: Impact of climate change on
agriculture productivity.
Changes The changes in the weather condition con The changes in climate take a longer time
observed be observed very frequently. to change.
Studied by Weather forecasting is observed by The Climate Prediction Centre predicts
the Meteorological Department of any climate and its study is known as
particular place, and the study is known as Climatology.
Meteorology.
- Weather and climate seem to be interchangeable at some level, as they are affected by
almost the same elements, but it is now known that the duration of occurrence is what
makes them different. We can sum up by saying that "weather is what you get, but the
climate is what you expect“.
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FACTORS AFFECTING • Continentality or the Distance from the

Sea
CLIMATE  The water is a bad conductor of heat
• Latitude or Distance from the Equator i.e. it takes longer to heat and longer
time to cool. Due to this moderating
 The places near the equator are
effect of the sea, places near the
warmer than the places which are far coast have low range of temperature
away from it. This is because the rays and high humidity.
of the sun fall vertically on the equator
and slantingly in the temperate and  Theplacesintheinteriorofthecontinent
polar regions. do not experience moderating effect
of the sea. These places have extreme
 The vertical rays are concentrated over
temperatures.
a small area than the slanting one.
Again, the vertical rays pass through  The places far from the sea have
a shorter distance in the atmosphere higher range of diurnal (daily) and
before reaching the earth’s surface. annual temperatures.
Therefore, lower the latitude higher is  Mumbai has relatively lower
the temperature and vice versa. temperature and higher rainfall than
 E.g. Malaysia which is near the equator Nagpur, although both are almost
is warmer than England which is far situated on the same latitude
• away from the equator • Nature of the Prevailing Winds
 The on-shore winds bring the moisture
Altitude or the Height from the mean sea from the sea and cause rainfall on the
level area through which they pass. The off-
 We all know that mountains are cooler shore winds coming from the land are
than the plains. dry and help in evaporation.
 The temperature decreases with the  In India, the on-shore summer
height of a place. For a vertical rise monsoon winds bring rains while
of 165 metres there is an average off-shore winter monsoon winds are
decrease in temperature at the rate of generally dry.
1°C. Thus the temperature decreases • Cloud Cover
with increase in height
 In areas generally of cloudless sky as
 E.g.: Shimla situated on a higher in deserts, temperature even under
altitude is cooler than Jalandhar, shade are very high because of the hot
although both are almost on the same day time sunshine.
latitude.
 At night this heat radiates back from
the ground very rapidly. It results in a
large diurnal range in temperature.
 On the other hand under cloudy skies
and heavy rainfall at Trivandrum
(Kerala) the range of temperature is
very small.
• Ocean Currents Ocean
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 Waters move from one place to with lesser amount of rainfall.

another partly as an attempt to • Slope and the Aspect
equalize temperature and density
of water. Ocean currents are large  The concentration of heat being
movements of water usually from a more on the gentler slope raises the
place of warm temperature to one of temperature of the air above them.
cooler temperature or vice-versa. Its lesser concentration along steeper
slopes lowers the temperature.
 The warm ocean currents raise
the temperature of the coast and  At the same time, mountain slopes
sometimes bring rainfall, while the facing the sun are warmer than the
cold currents lower the temperature slopes which are away from the sun’s
and create fog near the coast. rays. The southern slopes of Himalaya
are warmer than the northern slopes.
 The on-shore winds passing over a
warm current carry warm air to the • Nature of the Soil and Vegetation Cover
interior and raise the temperature of  The nature of soil depends upon its
the inland areas. Similarly, the winds texture, structure and composition.
blowing over cold current carry cold These qualities vary from soil to soil.
air to the interior and create fog and  Stony or sandy soils are good
mist. conductors of heat while black clay
 Port Bergen in Norway is free from soils absorb the heat of the sun’s rays
ice even in winter due to warm North quickly. The bare surface radiates the
Atlantic Drift while Port Quebec in heat easily. The deserts are hot in the
Canada remains frozen during winter day and cold at night.
months due to the chilling effect of the  The forest areas have lower range of
Cold Labrador Current in spite of the temperature throughout the year in
fact that Port Quebec is situated in contrast to non-forested areas.
much lower latitude than Port Bergen.
• Direction of Mountain Chains
ELEMENTS OF WEATHER
 The mountain chains act as a natural
barrier for the wind. The on-shore The elements of weather and climate are
more or less the same. However few of the
moisture laden winds are forced
important ones are
to rise after striking against the
mountain; and give heavy rainfall • Temperature
on the windward side. These winds • Humidity
descending on the leeward side cause
• Precipitation
very low rainfall.
• Wind
 The great Himalayas check the
moisture laden monsoon winds from • Pressure
crossing over to Tibet. This mountain
chain also checks biting polar cold Temperature
winds from entering into India. This • Temperature is a measure of the warmth
is the reason for which the northern of an object expressed in terms of
plains of India get rains while Tibet Celsius or Fahrenheit, measured with a
remains a perpetual rain shadow area thermometer. Sun is the chief source of
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energy for the Earth.  Torrid Zone: This largest thermal zone
• The atmosphere acts as an insulator covers almost 50% of the earth’s
and maintains the temperature of the surface. It is located between the
earth. Without atmosphere, the earth Tropic of Cancer (23½°N) and the
would experience great extremes of Tropic of Capricorn (23½°S). Torrid
temperatures during day and night. Some Zone experiences vertical sun rays
of the processes that are responsible almost throughout the year and is hot.
for atmospheric heat are Radiation,  Temperate Zones: The Temperate
Conduction, Convection and Advection. Zone stretches out between the Tropic
 Radiation is the transfer of of Cancer (23½°N) and Arctic Circle
energy between two objects by (66½°N) in the northern hemisphere
electromagnetic waves. Heat radiates and between the Tropic of Capricorn
from the ground into the lower (23½° S) and Antarctic Circle (66½° S)
atmosphere. in the southern hemisphere. The sun’s
rays never fall vertical in this region.
 Conduction is the transfer of heat
from a hot body to a cold body through  Frigid Zones: The Frigid Zone is found
contact. between Arctic Circle (66½°N) and
North Pole (90° N)in the northern
 Convection is the transfer of heat by hemisphere and stretches out between
movement or circulation of air in a Antarctic Circle (66½° S ) and South
mass. Pole (90°S) in the southern hemisphere.
 Advection is the transfer of heat The sun’s rays fall slanting in this
through the transfer of heat through zone. These are the coldest regions
horizontal movement. of the world. The surface remains
• The amount of heat received from the permanently frozen under thick snow.
sun in the form of short waves is called
Insolation or Incoming Solar Radiation.
• The outgoing heat from the earth to the
space in the form of long waves is called
terrestrial radiation or re-radiation.
• Albedo is the fraction of the solar energy
which is reflected from the earth back
into space without reaching or heating
the earth’s surface. It is a measure of how
much light that hits a surface is reflected
without being absorbed.
• The balance between Insolation and
Radiation is termed as the Heat Budget
of the earth.
• Based on the amount of insolation
received from the sun and the heat, Earth
is classified into three heat zones namely
torrid zone, temperate zone and frigid
Pressure
zone • The atmospheric pressure is the weight
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exerted by the air on a particular area in both hemispheres. The air that rises
of the earth’s surface. It is measured in the equatorial region, becomes cold
with a mercury barometer and the unit and heavy, and starts to descend in
of measurement is millibar (mb). the subtropical regions. This result in
• The distribution of atmospheric pressure subtropical high pressure belts referred
on the surface of the earth is not uniform. as the Horse latitude.
It varies both vertically and horizontally. • The Subpolar Low-Pressure Belts: The
 Vertical distribution of atmospheric subpolar low pressure belts extend
pressure: Air pressure decreases with between 45°N and the Arctic Circle in
altitude. The air molecules become the northern hemisphere and between
scattered and more widely spaced 45°S and the Antarctic Circle in the
at higher altitudes. The air pressure southern hemisphere. The air present in
decreases by 34 millibars per 300 this layer moves to the subtropical high
metres increase in height. pressure belt and polar high pressure
belt making it free from air pressure
 Horizontal distribution of atmospheric forming the sub polar low pressure belt.
pressure: The horizontal distribution of This is made possible by the rotation of
atmospheric pressure in the world is the earth.
not uniform. It varies from time to time
and place to place due to • The Polar High Pressure Belts: Sun rays
are always slanting at poles resulting
i. air temperature in low temperatures. Because of low
ii. the earth’s rotation temperature, air compresses and its
iii. presence of water vapour etc density increases. Hence, high pressure is
found here. Winds from these belts blow
• The pressure belts along the latitudes are towards sub-polar low pressure belts.
characterized by alternate high or low-
pressure belts. The pressure belts of the
world are:
 Equatorial low
 Subtropical highs
 Sub polar lows
 Polar highs
• The Equatorial Low-Pressure Belt: This
belt extends from the equator to 5° N
and 5° S latitudes. At the equator, the
earth gets heated by the vertical sun
rays and in turn heats the air in contact
with it. The heated air expands and rises
upwards resulting in a low pressure belt.
This belt is called doldrums due to virtual
absence of surface winds.
• The Subtropical High-Pressure Belts: The Winds
subtropical high pressure belts extend
• The horizontal movement of air along
from the tropics to about 35° latitudes
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the surface of the earth is called the and bring heavy rainfall to the East
Wind while the vertical movement of Coast of the continents of the tropics.
air is called an Air Current. The winds As they move westward, they become
always blow from high pressure area to dry and produce no rainfall.
low pressure area. Wind is mostly named  Westerlies: Westerlies are the
after the direction from which it blows. permanent winds that blow from the
For example, the wind blowing from the tropical high pressure belt to the sub
east is known as the easterly wind. polar low pressure belt in both the
• An Anemometer records wind speed hemispheres. They blow from South
while a Wind Vane measures the direction West to North East in the northern
of the wind. The unit of measurement is hemisphere and North West to South
kilometer per hour or knots. East in the southern hemisphere. The
• Types of Winds : Winds are generally velocity of westerlies become so
classified into the following four major vigorous and fast to be called Roaring
types: Forties at 40°, Furious Fifties at 50°
and Screaming Sixties at 60° latitudes.
 Planetary winds
 Polar Easterlies: Polar easterlies are
 Periodic winds cold and dry polar winds that blow
 Variable wind from the polar high pressure belt
 Local wind to the sub polar low pressure belt.
These are weak winds blowing from
Planetary Winds North East direction in the Northern
Hemisphere and South East direction
• The winds which constantly blow in the
in the Southern Hemisphere.
same direction throughout the year are
called the Planetary winds. They are
also called as permanent winds or the
prevailing winds. These winds include
Trade winds, Westerlies and Polar
Easterlies
 Trade Winds: Trade winds blow from
the subtropical high pressure belt to
the Equatorial low pressure belt in
both the hemispheres. They are also
known as tropical easterlies and blow
from the right in Northern hemisphere
and to the left in the Southern
hemisphere due to Coriolis effect and
Ferrel’s law. They blow with great
regularity, force and in a constant
direction throughout the year. These
winds were very helpful to traders who
depended on the winds while sailing in
the seas. And so, they are named as INTER TROPICAL CONVERGENCE ZONE
Trade winds. As they travel over vast
oceans, they collect more moisture
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• The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone • The invisible force that appears to
(ITCZ,) is a broad trough of low pressure deflect the wind is the Coriolis force.
in equatorial latitudes. This is where The Coriolis force applies to movement
the northeast and the southeast trade on rotating objects. It is determined by
winds converge. the mass of the object and the object’s
• This convergence zone lies more or less rate of rotation. The Coriolis force is
parallel to the equator but moves north perpendicular to the object’s axis.
or south with the apparent movement • The rotation of the earth causes
of the sun. deflection of winds from their original
• Since water has a higher heat capacity path, called the Coriolis effect.
than land, the ITCZ propagates • The Earth spins on its axis from west
poleward more prominently over land to east. The Coriolis force, therefore,
than over water, and over the Northern acts in a north-south direction. The
Hemisphere than over the Southern Coriolis force is zero at the Equator and
Hemisphere. maximum at Pols.
• In July and August, over the Atlantic • Winds are deflected in the right in the
and Pacific, the ITCZ is between 5 and northern hemisphere and to the left
15 degrees north of the Equator, but in the southern hemisphere, which is
further north over the land masses of called the Ferrel’s law.
Africa and Asia. In eastern Asia, the
ITCZ may propagate up to 30 degrees
north of the Equator.
• Seasonal shifts in the location of the
ITCZ drastically affects rainfall in many
equatorial nations, resulting in the wet
and dry seasons of the tropics rather
than the cold and warm seasons of
higher latitudes.
Periodic Winds
• The periodic winds are the seasonal
winds that change their direction
periodically.
• These winds are caused by the differential
heating of land and ocean.
• Winds which reverse their direction COURTESY: THEOZONEHOLE.ORG
with the change of seasons are called Variable Winds

monsoons. Tropical Monsoon winds of
• The disturbance and the changes in the
Indian subcontinent are a best example.
local weather cause variations in the
CORIOLIS FORCE prevailing winds. These winds are known
as the variable winds. Variable winds
usually end up with the development of
cyclones, anticyclones and storms.
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• Cyclones: Cyclones are centres of • Anticyclones: Anticyclones are the

low pressure where, winds from the opposite of cyclones. Here an area of
surrounding high pressure area converge high pressure region is found in the
towards the centre in a spiral form. Due centre surrounded by low pressure on
to the rotation of the earth, the cyclonic all sides. The wind from the high pressure
winds in the northern hemisphere move region move outwards to the low pressure
in an anticlockwise direction, where as regions in a spiral form. Anticyclones are
they move in a clockwise direction in the often accompanied by cold and heat
southern hemisphere. Cyclones can be waves.
classified into:
Local Winds
• Tropical cyclones: Tropical cyclones
develop in the Inter tropical convergence • Local winds are the winds that blow only
zone. They are formed due to the in a particular locality for a short period
differential heating of land and sea. of time. The effect of these local winds
Tropical cyclones are known as ‘cyclones’ are experienced only in that particular
in Indian ocean, ‘typhoons’ in the Western area.
Pacific ocean, ‘hurricanes’ in the Atlantic • They are mostly seasonal and have local
and Eastern Pacific ocean, ‘baguios’ in names like
Philippines and ‘ willy willy’ in Australia.
 Foehn (Alps-Europe)
Tropical cyclones often cause heavy
loss of life and property on the coasts  Sirocco (North coast of Africa)
and become weak after reaching the  Chinook (Rockies-North America)
landmasses.
 Loo (Thar Desert- India)
• Temperate cyclones: Temperate
 Mistral (Mediterranean sea in France)
cyclones are formed along a front where
hot and cold air masses meet in mid-  Bora (Mediterranean sea in Italy)
latitudes between 35° and 65° N and S.
Temperate cyclones do not become weak Precipitation
like the tropical cyclones on reaching
• Falling down of condensed water vapour
the land. Temperate cyclone commonly
in different forms is called Precipitation.
occurs over the North Atlantic Ocean,
When the dew point is reached in the
North West Europe, Mediterranean
cloud water droplets become saturated
basin. Mediterranean basin’s temperate
and start to fall. Hence, they fall on the
cyclones extend up to Russia and India
earth as Precipitation.
in winter. In India it is called western
disturbances. • The climatic conditions/ factors
influencing the forms of precipitation
• Extra tropical cyclones: Extra tropical
mainly are: Temperature, Altitude,
cyclones occur in the latitudes between
Cloud type, Atmospheric conditions,
30° and 60° in both hemispheres. They
Precipitation process.
are also called as mid-latitude cyclones
. They collect energy from temperature • The main forms of precipitation include
differences which are found in higher drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, hail etc.
latitudes. Extra tropical cyclones  Drizzle: Falling of numerous uniform
produce mild showers to heavy gales, minute droplets of water with a
thunderstorms, blizzards, and tornadoes. diameter of less than 0.5 mm is called
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a drizzle. They form from low clouds. • Hot air can hold more water vapour
Sometimes drizzles are combined with than cold air. Relative humidity increases
fog and hence reduce visibility. when air gets cold and decreases when
 Rain: Rain is the most widespread air gets heated up.
and important form of precipitation
in places having temperature above Clouds
the freezing point. It occurs only when • Large amount of water evaporates each
there is abundant moisture in the air. day from the surface of the sea. This is
The diameter of a rain drop is more the principal source of atmospheric
than 5mm. moisture.
 Sleet: Sleet refers to a precipitation, • Cool moisture laden air gets collected
in the form of pellets made up of around particles like dust, salt content
transparent and translucent ice. This from the sea, smoke etc., and forms
precipitation is a mixture of snow and clouds.
rain.
• Sometimes, mixing of warmer and
 Snow: Snow is formed when cooler air also produces clouds.
condensation occurs below freezing
point. It is the precipitation of opaque • A visible mass of condensed water
and semi opaque ice crystals. When vapour floating in the air above the
these ice crystals collide and stick ground level is called a cloud. The three
together, it becomes snowflakes. layers of atmosphere such as troposphere,
stratosphere and mesosphere are specific
 Hails: Hails are chunks of ice locations of clouds.
(greater than 2cm in diameter) falling
from the sky, during a rainstorm or • According to their height, clouds are
thunderstorm. Hailstones are a form classified into the following types
of solid precipitation where small  High clouds (6-20km Height)
pieces of ice fall downwards. These  Middle clouds (2.5km-6km Height)
are destructive and dreaded forms
of solid precipitation because they  Low clouds (ground surface to 25 km
destroy agricultural crops and human height)
lives. • These major types of clouds are further
divided into different types on the basis
Humidity of shape and structure.
• The amount of water vapour present in • High clouds
the atmosphere is referred to as humidity.  Cirrus: Detached clouds in the form of
Humidity of the atmosphere is high when white delicate fibrous silky filaments
it has large quantities of water vapour. formed at the high sky (8000 meters to
• The amount of water vapour in the 12000 meters) are called Cirrus clouds.
atmosphere is called absolute humidity. These clouds are dry and do not give
rainfall.
• The ratio between the amount of water
vapour in the atmosphere and the  Cirro-cumulus: White patched, sheet
amount of water vapour it can hold is or layer like clouds composed of ice
relative humidity. crystals.
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 Cirro-stratus: Smooth milky  Stratus: Dense, low lying fog-like

transparent whitish clouds composed clouds associated with rain or snow
of tiny ice crystals.  Cumulus: Dome-shaped with a flat
• Middle clouds base often resembling a cauliflower,
 Alto -stratus: Thin sheets of grey associated with fair weather
or blue coloured clouds in uniform  Cumulo- nimbus: Fluffy thick towering
appearance. consisting of frozen water thunderstorm cloud capable of
droplets producing heavy rain, snow, hailstorm
 Alto-cumulus: clouds fitted closely or tornadoes
together in parallel bands, called
‘Sheep clouds’ or wool pack clouds.
 Nimbo stratus: These are clouds of
dark colour very close to the ground
surface associated with rain, snow or
sleet.
• Low clouds
 Strato-cumulus: Greyor Whitish Layer
of non-fibrous low clouds found in
rounded patches at an height of 2500 COURTESY: NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICES
to 3000 metres, associated with fair or
clear weather
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CHAPTER - 10
CLIMATOLOGY: CLIMATE
ATMOSPHERE: Proportion of Gases in the

Atmosphere
COMPOSITION AND
STRUCTURE
Origin of the Atmosphere on
Earth
• The atmosphere is nowadays thought to
have been created at the time the Earth
was being formed, about 4.5 billion years
ago. Asteroids struck the growing planet • Nitrogen: 78%; Oxygen: 21%; Argon:
and caused degassing, chiefly steam, but 0.93%; Carbon dioxide: 0.03%.
also hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide • Permanent gases: Nitrogen, Oxygen,
and carbon monoxide. Hydrogen and Argon.
• Variable gases/ GHGs: Water Vapour,
Carbon Dioxide, Ozone.
• Inert gases: Nitrogen and Argon.
• Atmospheric gases no chemical
interaction among them don’t lose their
properties Act as single unified gas.
• 99% of the total mass of the atmosphere
is confined to the height of 32 km from
the earth’s surface.
• CO2 and water vapor are found only up
to 90km from the surface of the earth.
• Water vapor also decreases from the
equator towards the poles.
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Structure of the Atmosphere (Longwave)

 GHGs absorb long wave terrestrial
radiation.
• The zone separating the troposphere
from the stratosphere is the tropopause.
Temperature is constant at this zone.
Stratosphere
• Above the troposphere lies the
stratosphere or the upper layer of the
atmosphere.
• The average height extends between 13-
50km.
• The stratosphere is not only very cold
but cloudless, with extremely thin air and
without dust, smoke or water vapor but
there are marked seasonal temperature
changes.
• Generally, in this layer, the phenomenon
of ‘Temperature Inversion’ is observed
i.e., with increasing height temperature
increases. It is so because of the ozone
• There are five layers of the atmosphere: layer.
 Troposphere • The stratopause is the level of the
 Stratosphere atmosphere which is the boundary
between two layers: the stratosphere and
 Mesosphere
the mesosphere.
 Thermosphere
• No vertical winds are present in the lower
 Exosphere stratosphere.
Troposphere Mesosphere
• The lowest layer, in which the weather is • It is the region of the earth’s atmosphere
confined, is known as the troposphere. above the stratosphere and below the
• Average Height: 13km [ 8km near Poles & thermosphere, between about 50 and 80
18km near the Equator] km in altitude.
• Generally, in this layer, with increasing • Generally, in this layer, with increasing
height temperature decreases. It is so height temperature decreases due
because of to decreasing absorption of solar
radiation by the rarefied atmosphere
 Greenhouse effect in the troposphere
and increasing cooling by CO2 radiative
 GHGs (Greenhouse gases) transparent emission.
to insolation (short wave) • The coldest temperatures in Earth’s
 Heated by terrestrial radiation atmosphere, about -90° C (-130° F), are
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found near the top of this layer. IONOSPHERE

• Mesopause is a zone of separation • It is a very active part of the
between the mesosphere and the atmosphere It overlaps the mesosphere,
thermosphere. thermosphere, and exosphere and it
• The stratosphere and mesosphere grows and shrinks depending on the
together are sometimes referred to as energy it absorbs from the sun.
the middle atmosphere. • Its name comes from the fact that
• In this layer, there is no GHGs and meteors gases in these layers are excited by
burnt and evaporate in this layer only. The solar radiation to form “ions,” which
meteors make it through the exosphere have an electrical charge.
and thermosphere without much trouble • Parts of the ionosphere overlap with
because those layers don’t have much Earth’s magnetosphere. That is the area
air. But when they hit the mesosphere, around Earth where charged particles
there are enough gases to cause friction feel Earth’s magnetic field.
and create heat.
• In the ionosphere, charged particles
• Very strange, high altitude clouds are affected by the magnetic fields of
called “noctilucent clouds” or “polar both Earth and the sun. This is where
mesospheric clouds” sometime form in auroras happen. Those are the bright,
the mesosphere near the poles beautiful bands of light that sometimes
Thermosphere seen near Earth’s poles.
• The thermosphere is the layer in the • They are caused by high-energy

Earth’s atmosphere directly above the particles from the sun interacting
mesosphere and below the exosphere. with the atoms in this layer of our
atmosphere.
• Generally, in this layer, with increasing
height temperature also increases due • The ionosphere is widely known for
high-energy X-rays and UV radiation affecting signals on the short-wave
from the Sun are absorbed in the radio bands where it “reflects” signals
thermosphere, raising its temperature (because of the electric charge)
enabling these radio communications
to hundreds or at times thousands of
signals to be heard over vast distances.
degrees.
• However, the air in this layer is so thin
that it would feel freezing cold to us SOLAR RADIATION, HEAT
• This layer extends up to a height of
800km from the earth.
BUDGET,TEMPERATURE,AND
Exosphere TEMPERATURE INVERSION
• It is the outermost layer of the atmosphere. Solar Radiation
• It is a highly rarefied layer and extends
• The earth’s surface receives most of its
beyond 640 km.
energy in the form of short wavelengths
• The temperature in this layer is very high (high energy). The energy received by
and there is no existence of air also. the earth is known as incoming solar
radiation which in short is termed as
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insolation.  The angle of inclination of the sun’s

• As the earth is a geoid resembling a rays.
sphere, the sun’s rays fall obliquely at  The length of the day.
the top of the atmosphere and the earth  The transparency of the atmosphere.
intercepts a very small portion of the
sun’s energy.  The configuration of land in terms of
its aspect.
• On average the earth receives 1.94
calories per sq. cm per minute at the • Rotation of the Earth: The fact that the
top of its atmosphere. The solar output earth’s axis makes an angle 66½ with
received at the top of the atmosphere the plane of its orbit around the sun has
varies slightly in a year due to the a greater influence on the amount of
variations in the distance between the insolation received at different latitudes.
earth and the sun. • The angle of the Inclination of the Sun’s
• During its revolution around the sun, the rays: The higher the latitude the less is
earth is farthest from the sun (152 million the angle they make with the surface of
km) on 4th July. This position of the earth the earth resulting in slant sun rays. The
is called aphelion. area covered by vertical rays is always
less than the slant rays. If more area is
• On 3rd January, the earth is the nearest covered, the energy gets distributed and
to the sun (147 million km). This position the net energy received per unit area
is called the perihelion. Therefore, the decreases.
annual insolation received by the earth
on 3rd January is slightly more than the Spatial Distribution of Insolation at
amount received on 4th July. the Earth’s Surface
Variability of Insolation at the • The insolation received at the surface
Surface of the Earth varies from about 320 Watt/m2 in the
tropics to about 70 Watt/m2 in the poles.
• The amount and the intensity of
insolation vary during a day, in a season • Maximum insolation is received over the
and in a year. subtropical deserts, where the cloudiness
is the least.
• The factors that cause these variations in
insolation are : • The Equator receives comparatively less
insolation than the tropics due to heavy
cloud cover as the clouds obstruct the
sunlight and hence equator receives less
insolation. Generally, at the same latitude
the insolation is moreover the continent
than over the oceans.
• In winter, the middle and higher latitudes
receive less radiation than in summer.
Heating and Cooling of Atmosphere
• There are different ways of heating and
cooling of the atmosphere.
 The rotation of the earth on its axis. • The earth after being heated by
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insolation transmits the heat to the the atmosphere from below. This process
atmospheric layers near to the earth in a is known as terrestrial radiation.
long waveform.
• The air in contact with the land gets Heat Budget of the Planet Earth
heated slowly and the upper layers in • The earth as a whole does not accumulate
contact with the lower layers also get or lose heat. It maintains its temperature.
heated. This process is called conduction. This can happen only if the amount of
Conduction takes place when two bodies heat received in the form of insolation
of unequal temperatures are in contact (Short wave solar radiation) equals
with one another, there is a flow of energy the amount lost by the earth through
from the warmer to the cooler body. The terrestrial radiation (Longwave solar
transfer of heat continues until both the radiation).
bodies attain the same temperature
or the contact is broken. Conduction is
important in heating the lower layers of
the atmosphere.
• The air in contact with the earth rises
vertically on heating in the form of
currents and further transmits the heat
of the atmosphere. This process of
vertical heating of the atmosphere is
known as convection. The convective
transfer of energy is confined only to the • Thus, the total radiation returning from the
troposphere. earth and the atmosphere respectively is
• The transfer of heat through the 17+48=65 units which balance the total
horizontal movement of air is called of 65 units received from the sun. This is
advection. The horizontal movement of termed the heat budget or heat balance
the air is relatively more important than of the earth. This explains why the earth
the vertical movement. neither warms up nor cools down despite
• In middle latitudes, most of diurnal (day the huge transfer of heat that takes place.
and night) variations in daily weather are Variation in the Net Heat Budget at
caused by advection alone.
the Earth’s Surface
• In tropical regions particularly in northern
India during summer season local • As explained earlier, there are variations
winds called ‘loo’ is the outcome of the in the amount of radiation received at the
advection process. earth’s surface. Some parts of the earth
have surplus radiation balance while the
Terrestrial Radiation other part has a deficit.
• The insolation received by the earth is The figure shows that there is a surplus
in short waves forms and heats up its of net radiation balance between
surface. The earth after being heated 40 degrees north and south and the
itself becomes a radiating body and it regions near the poles have a deficit.
radiates energy to the atmosphere in
the long waveform. This energy heats up
110

the ground absorbs more radiation

from the sun and during night time the
ground emits this absorbed radiation
to its surroundings. The molecules of air
surrounding the land also absorb the
emitted radiation from the ground
• Distance from the Sea: Compared to
land, the sea gets heated slowly and loses
heat slowly. Land heats up and cools
• The surplus heat energy from the tropics down quickly. Therefore, the variation
is redistributed polewards and as a result in temperature over the sea is less
the tropics do not get progressively compared to land. The places situated
heated up due to the accumulation of near the sea come under the moderating
excess heat or the high latitudes get influence of the sea and land breezes
permanently frozen due to excess deficit. which moderate the temperature.
• Air-mass and Ocean currents: Like the
Temperature land and sea breezes, the passage of air
masses also affects the temperature. The
• The interaction of insolation with the
places, which come under the influence
atmosphere and the earth’s surface
of warm air-masses experience higher
creates heat which is measured in terms temperatures and the places that come
of temperature. under the influence of cold air-masses
• The temperature is the measurement in experience low temperatures. Similarly,
degrees of how hot (or cold) a thing (or a the places located on the coast where the
place) is. warm ocean currents flow record higher
• Factors Controlling Temperature temperatures than the places located on
Distribution the coast where the cold currents flow.
 The latitude of the place

Inversion of Temperature
 The altitude of the place
• Normally, temperature decreases with
 Distance from the sea, the air-mass an increase in elevation. It is called
circulation the normal lapse rate. At times, the
 The presence of warm and cold ocean situations are reversed and the normal
currents lapse rate is inverted. It is called Inversion
of temperature.
 Local aspects.
• Latitude of the Place: Temperature is
inversely related to latitude. As latitude
increases, the temperature falls, and vice
versa. Generally, around the world, it gets
warmer towards the equator and cooler
towards the poles.
• Altitude of the Place: Temperature
decreases as the altitude from the
surface of the earth increase because
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• Inversion is usually of short duration but capacities of water and dry land.
quite common nonetheless. • As such, sea breezes are more localized
• A long winter night with clear skies and than prevailing winds. Because land
still air is an ideal situation for inversion. absorbs solar radiation far more quickly
• The heat of the day is radiated off during than water, a sea breeze is a common
the night, and by early morning hours, occurrence along coasts after sunrise.
the earth is cooler than the air above. Land Breeze
• Over polar areas, a temperature • The local wind system which occurs from
inversion is normal throughout the year. land to water is called land breeze and
Benefits of Temperature Inversion some refer to it as offshore wind.
• Surface inversion promotes stability in • It arises at night and early morning when
the lower layers of the atmosphere. the land has a lower heat capacity as
compared to the adjacent water.
• Smoke and dust particles get collected
beneath the inversion layer and spread • Particularly, land breezes last longer
horizontally to fill the lower strata of the during the last weeks of summer as this is
atmosphere (smoke and dust basically when the sea temperature will gradually
gets settled down). increase to the land’s daily temperature
variations.
• Dense fogs in the mornings are common
occurrences especially during the winter Category Land Breeze Sea Breeze
season. This inversion commonly lasts for Time It is formed at It is formed at
a few hours until the sun comes up and Night time. Day time.
begins to warm the earth.
Source Land breeze Sea breeze
• The inversion takes place in hills and comes from comes from
mountains due to air drainage. Land. water.
• Cold air at the hills and mountains, Season It is more It is often

produced during the night, flows under common in the experienced
Autumn and during spring
the influence of gravity. Being heavy winter season and summer
and dense, the cold air acts almost like due to the cooler because of
water and moves down the slope to pile nights. the significant
up deeply in pockets and valley bottoms temperature
differences
with warm air above. This is called air
between land
drainage. It protects plants from frost and water.
damages.
Strength Generally, Generally, Sea
Land breeze is breezes are
Land and Sea Breeze weaker than Sea stronger than
breezes. land breezes due
Sea Breeze to the bigger
temperature
• A sea breeze or onshore breeze is any differences.
wind that blows from a large body of
Moisture Land breezes are Sea breezes have
water toward or onto a landmass.
often dry winds. more moisture
• It develops due to differences in air due to absorbed
pressure created by the differing heat water droplets.
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Mountain and Valley Winds  The subtropical hot deserts
• In mountainous regions, during the day  The relatively cold high latitude oceans
the slopes get heated up and air moves  The very cold snow-covered continents
upslope and to fill the resulting gap the in high latitudes
air from the valley blows up the valley.  Permanently ice-covered continents in
This wind is known as the valley breeze. the Arctic and Antarctica.
• During the night the slopes get cooled • Accordingly, the following types of air
and the dense air descends into the masses are recognized:
valley as the mountain wind.
 Maritime tropical (mT)
• The cool air, of the high plateaus and ice
fields draining into the valley, is called  Continental tropical (cT)
katabatic wind.  Maritime polar (mP)
• Katabatic winds are stronger than the  Continental polar (cP)
mountain winds.  Continental arctic (cA).
• Tropical air masses are warm and polar
air masses are cold.
Fronts
Air Masses
• When the air remains over a homogenous
area for a sufficiently long time, it
acquires the characteristics of the area.
• The air with distinctive characteristics
in terms of temperature and humidity
is called an air mass. It is defined as a
large body of air having little horizontal
variation in temperature and moisture.
• The air masses are classified according to • When two different air masses meet, the
the source regions. There are five major boundary zone between them is called
source regions. a front.
 Warm tropical and subtropical oceans • The process of formation of the fronts is
known as FRONTOGENESIS. It involves
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the convergence of two distinct air zone is a warm front.

masses. In this process the temperature  Frontolysis (front dissipation) begin
contrast increases, and front strengthens. when the warm air mass makes way
• The process of dissipation of a front for cold air mass on the ground.
is known as FRONTOLYSIS. It involves  The passage of warm front is marked
overriding of one of the air mass by by rise in temperature, pressure and
another. In this process the temperature change in weather.
contrast lessens, and front weakens.
 There is a temperature inversion
DETERMINING LOCATION OF FRONT (frontal inversion) just ahead of the
front.
• Sharp temperature changes over short
distance  These fronts cause moderate to gentle
precipitation over a large area, over
• Changes in the air’s moisture content
several hours.
(dew pt.)
• Occluded Front: If an air mass is fully
• Shifts in wind direction
lifted above the land surface, it is called
• Pressure and pressure changes the occluded front.
• Clouds and precipitation patterns  There are both cold and warm
• There are four types of fronts: occlusions. In a cold occlusion, the
colder air is found behind the front.
 Cold
 Conversely, a warm occlusion is
 Warm characterized by warmer air located
 Stationary behind the front.
 Occluded.  Weather along an occluded front is
• Cold Front: When the cold air moves complex i.e., a mixture of cold front
towards the warm air mass, its contact type and warm front type weather.
zone is called the cold front. Such fronts are common in west
Europe.
 In this type of front the temperatures
usually change rapidly over a short  The formation Mid-latitude cyclones
distance. Also, there is a sharp change [temperate cyclones or extra-tropical
in moisture content. cyclones] involve the formation of
occluded front.
 It moves up to twice as quickly as warm
fronts. • Stationary Front: When the front remains
stationary, it is called a stationary front.
 Thunderstorms sometimes develop
ahead of these fronts as the warm air  In this front neither the cold air mass
ahead of the front rises over the colder nor the warm air mass is moving. Winds
air. tend to blow along it in opposing
directions on each side.
 At actual front, dark nimbus and
cumulonimbus clouds cause heavy  Conditions along the front are clear
showers. and dry, however, if moisture is
available near the front, clouds and
• Warm Front: If the warm air mass moves light precipitation may develop.
towards the cold air mass, the contact
• The fronts occur in middle latitudes and
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are characterized by the steep gradient • It is the name given to the occasional
in temperature and pressure. They bring development of warm ocean surface
abrupt changes in temperature and waters along the coast of Ecuador and
cause the air to rise to form clouds and Peru. With this warming, occurs the usual
cause precipitation. upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich deep
Concepts of El Nino, La Nina ocean water is significantly reduced.
• Normal Condition
Walker Cell
 Eastern Pacific: Coast of Peru and
Concept of Upwelling:
Ecuador Cold Ocean Water Good
It occurs where water from the deeper parts for Fishing.
of the ocean is allowed to travel upwards to
the surface.  Western Pacific: Indonesia and
Australia Warm Ocean Water Plenty
Concept of Downwelling
of rain.
It is the vertical movement of surface water
to deeper parts of the ocean. • El-Nino Condition
Walker Cycle  Eastern Pacific: Coast of Peru and
• The Walker circulation is caused by the Ecuador Warm Ocean Water or
pressure gradient force that results from Current Not Good for Fishing.
a high-pressure system over the eastern  Western Pacific: Indonesia and
Pacific Ocean and a low-pressure system Australia Cold Ocean Water or
over Indonesia. Current Drought.
• The walker cell is indirectly related to • In an El-Nino year, air pressure drops over
the upwelling off the coast of Peru and large areas of central pacific and along
Ecuador. the coast of South America.
• When the walker cell/circulation weakens • The normal low-pressure system is
or reverses and causes El-Nino (causing replaced by a weak high in the western
the Ocean Surface to be warmer). An pacific (the Southern Oscillation). This
especially strong walker circulation change in pressure pattern causes the
causes a La Nina (resulting in cooler trade winds to be reduced. Sometimes,
ocean temperature). Walker’s cell might even get reversed.
• This reduction allows the equatorial
counter-current (current along doldrums)
to accumulate warm ocean water along
the coastlines of Peru and Ecuador.
El-Nino
• ‘El Nino’ is a Spanish word meaning ‘the • The accumulation of warm water causes
child’, and refers to the “Baby Christ”, the thermocline (The thermocline is the
as this current starts flowing during transition layer between the mixed layer
Christmas. at the surface and the deep water layer)
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to drop in the eastern part of the pacific La-Nina

ocean which cuts off the upwelling of
cold deep ocean water along the coast • After El-Nino event weather conditions
of Peru. usually return back to normal.
• The development of an El-Nino brings • However, in some years the trade winds
drought to the western pacific, rain to can become extremely strong and an
the equatorial coast of South America abnormal accumulation of cold water
and convective storms (thunderstorms) can occur in the central and eastern
and hurricanes to the central pacific. Pacific. This event is called La Nina.
• A strong La Nina occurred in 1988 and
El-Nino Southern Oscillation [ENSO] scientists believe that it may have been
• The formation of El Nino [circulation responsible for the summer drought over
of water] is linked with Pacific Ocean central North America. During this period,
circulation patterns known as Southern the Atlantic Ocean has seen very active
Oscillation [circulation of atmospheric hurricane seasons in 1998 and 1999.
pressure].
• The Southern Oscillation is a see-saw WORLD CLIMATIC TYPES
pattern of meteorological changes
observed between the eastern pacific AND VEGETATION
and western pacific. • It is necessary to divide the world into
• The El-Nino and Southern Oscillation several climatic zones, each with its
coincide most of the time and hence, is own climatic characteristics, natural
called ENSO. vegetation, crops, animals and human
• Only SO condition: Low pressure over activities.
Eastern Pacific and High Pressure over • Though the geographical characteristics
western pacific. may not be absolutely uniform in each
• ENSO condition: Warmer water in climatic type, they have many things in
eastern pacific and Low pressure over common.
eastern pacific along with Coldwater in • The below table gives the scheme of the
western pacific and high pressure over world’s climatic types with their seasonal
western pacific. rainfall and natural vegetation.
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Climatic Zone Latitude Climatic Type Rainfall Regime Natural Vegetation
1. Equatorial Zone 0 - 10 N-S Hot, Wet Equatorial All year round: 80 Equatorial Rain
Inches Forests
2. Hot Zone 10 - 30 N-S Tropical Monsoon Heavy Summer rain: Monsoon Forest
60 Inches
Tropical Marine Much Summer Rain: Forests are more
70 Inches open and less
luxuriant than the
equatorial jungle and
there are far fewer
species.
Sudan Type Rain Mainly in Savanna [Tropical
Summer: 30 Inches Grassland]
Desert: Little Rain: 5 Inches Desert Vegetation
i) Saharan Type and Scrub
ii) Mid-latitude Type
3.Warm Temperate 30-45 N-S Western Margin Winter rain:35 Inches Mediterranean
Zone (Mediterranean Type) forests and Scrub
Central Continental Light Summer Rain: Steppe/Temperate

(Steppe Type) 20 Inches Grassland
Eastern Margin: Heavier Summer rain: Warm, wet forests
i) China Type 45 Inches and Bamboo
ii) Gulf Type
iii) Natal Type
4. Cool Temperate 45-65 N-S Western Margin More rain in autumn Deciduous forests
Zone (British Type) and winter: 30 Inch
Central Continental Light Summer rain: 25 Evergreen Coniferous

(Siberian Type) Inches forests
Eastern Margin Moderate Summer Mixed forests:
(Laurentian Type) rain: 40 Inches Coniferous +
Deciduous
5. Cold Zone 65-90 N-S Arctic or Polar Very light Summer Tundra, Mosses,
rain: 10 Inches Lichens
6. Alpine Zone Mountain Climate Heavy Rainfall Alpine Pastures,

(Variable) conifers, fern, snow.
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JET STREAMS winter season and they reach far into

tropics.
• Jet streams are the strong air streams
present in the upper troposphere,
lower stratosphere, and possibly even
Development of the Jet Streams
mesosphere which help to complete the • The temperature gradient from the
global circulation and characterized by equator towards the poles, the surface
strong vertical and lateral wind shear. high pressure at the poles and genesis
• They are relatively narrow belts of swift- of the circumpolar whirl above the poles
moving winds having velocity in the caused by tropospheric low pressure are
range of 100km/hr to 900km/hr. the major causes of the origin of the Jet
Streams.
• In the narrow belt of jet streams, the wind
speed increases toward a central core of • Due to the subsidence of the cool air
greatest strength. over the Arctic region, the surface high
pressure is intensified while upper air
low pressure develops in the upper
Characteristics of the Jet troposphere.
Streams • Because of this phenomenon, a cyclonic
• Jet streams follow curved and system of air circulation, whose direction
meandering paths and such paths are is from west to east in the form of whirl
because of the Coriolis effect and due develops around upper-tropospheric
to the tendency of large scale systems to low pressure and the equatorward
conserve the angular momentum. meandering part of this upper air
• The height of Jet stream varies and in circulation, is called Jet Stream.
general, their height decreases from the
equator towards poles since the height of Types of Jet Streams
troposphere decreases from the equator • Permanent Jet Streams
towards poles.
 Polar Jet Streams
• They are embedded in the upper air
westerlies or in the core of westerlies  Sub- Tropical Jet Streams
where the maximum velocity is found
since away from core there is increased
wind shearing.
• Their length profile varies from 1600-
3200 Km.
• The high velocity is due to the intense
pressure gradient and thermal contrast. COURTESY: SOUTHAMPTONWEATHER.CO.UK
• Jet streams are characterized by great • Polar Jet Streams:

seasonal variations as during colder  One Polar Jet Streams in the Northern
part of the year they migrate towards Hemisphere and Other in Southern
the equator and their velocity also gets Hemisphere.
increased while during summer the wind
speed of the Jet streams is reduced to  It lies between 50-600 N and 50-600
approximately half of what it is in the S and greatly influences climates
of regions lying close to 60 degree
118

latitude. disappears while its arrival heralds the

 The Polar jets are strong and continuous onset of the South West Monsoon.
in winter. • Somali Jet Stream
 It determines the path and speed and  Somali Jet is among the most well-
intensity of temperate cyclones. known of the tropical LLJs (Low-Level
• Sub-Tropical Jet Streams: Jet Streams)
 Sub-tropical Jet Streams in the  The Somali jet occurs during the
Northern Hemisphere and Other in summer over northern Madagascar
Southern Hemisphere. and off the coast of Somalia.
 They originate at the meeting point  The jet is most intense from June
of Hadley and Ferrel Cell which lies to August with average monthly
between 20-300 N and 20-300 S. maximum speeds of 18 m/s
 It is continuous in both hemispheres  Maximum wind speed near the

during winter. northern tip of Madagascar and off
the Somali coast.
 Unlike the polar front jet stream,
it travels in lower latitudes and at  A major cross-equatorial flow from the
slightly higher elevations, owing to the southern Indian Ocean to the central
increase in height of the tropopause at Arabian Sea.
lower latitudes  A relative minimum in speed along the
 It is closely connected to the Indian axis of strong winds near the equator.
and African summer monsoons.  A split in the axis of the jet over the
• Local Jet Streams: These jet streams are Arabian Sea, the more northern branch
formed locally due to local thermal and intersecting the west coast of India
dynamic conditions and have limited near 17°N, while the southerly branch
local importance. These jet streams are moves eastward just south of India
also temporary in nature.
• Tropical Easterly Jet Streams GLOBAL WARMING
 The establishment and maintenance of
the Tropical Easterly Jet Stream is not Greenhouse Effect
fully understood but it is considered • Due to the presence of greenhouse
that the intense heating of Tibetan gases, the atmosphere is behaving like a
plateau during summer is the major greenhouse.
cause behind the formation of this jet
stream. • The atmosphere also transmits the
incoming solar radiation but absorbs
 It is located at an altitude of 10-12 km the vast majority of long wave radiation
above the Gangetic Plain and roughly emitted upwards by the earth’s surface.
parallel to the 25-degree North
Latitude. • The gases that absorb long wave
radiation are called greenhouse gases.
 TEJ flows from east to west over
peninsular India at 6 – 9 km and over • The processes that warm the atmosphere
the Northern African region. are often collectively referred to as the
greenhouse effect
 During the onset of winter, it suddenly
119

Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) • Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are products

of human activity composed by chlorine,
• The primary GHGs of concern fluorine, and carbon, have a long lifecycle,
today are carbon dioxide (CO2), which favours their accumulation.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), methane
(CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone • This extreme stability allows CFC’s
(O3). to slowly make their way into the
stratosphere and destroy the ozone
• Some other gases such as nitric oxide present there.
(NO) and carbon monoxide (CO) easily
react with GHGs and affect their • Chlorine is able to destroy so much of
concentration in the atmosphere. the ozone because it acts as a catalyst.
One chlorine atom can thereby destroy
• The effectiveness of any given GHG thousands of ozone molecules.
molecule will depend on the magnitude
of the increase in its concentration, its • Large depletion of ozone occurs over
life time in the atmosphere and the Antarctica. The depletion of ozone
wavelength of radiation that it absorbs. concentration in the stratosphere is called
the ozone hole. This allows the ultraviolet
• The chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are rays to pass through the troposphere.
highly effective. Ozone which absorbs
ultraviolet radiation in the stratosphere • The ozone hole over Antarctica is
is very effective in absorbing terrestrial formed by a slew of unique atmospheric
radiation when it is present in the lower conditions over the continent that
troposphere. combine to create an ideal environment
for ozone destruction.
• The largest concentration of GHGs in
the atmosphere is carbon dioxide. The • Because Antarctica is surrounded by
emission of CO2 comes mainly from water, winds over the continent blow in
fossil fuel combustion (oil, gas and coal). a unique clockwise direction creating a
so called “polar vortex” that effectively
contains a single static air mass over the
Ozone Hole continent. As a result, air over Antarctica
• Ozone occurs in the stratosphere where does not mix with air in the rest of the
ultra-violet rays convert oxygen into earth’s atmosphere.
ozone. energetic ultraviolet (UV) radiation • Antarctica has the coldest winter
dissociates molecules of oxygen, O2, into temperatures on earth, often reaching -110
separate oxygen atoms. Free oxygen F. These chilling temperatures result in the
atoms can recombine to form oxygen formation of polar stratospheric clouds
molecules but if a free oxygen atom (PSC’s) which are a conglomeration
collides with an oxygen molecule, it joins of frozen H2O and HNO3. Due to their
up, forming ozone. Thus, ultraviolet rays extremely cold temperatures, PSC’s form
do not reach the earth’s surface. an electrostatic attraction with CFC
Ozone Formation: molecules as well as other halogenated
compounds.
O2 + UV => O + O
2 O + 2 O2 + third molecule => 2 O3 + third • Resent research suggests that the
molecule strength of the polar vortex from any
given year is directly correlated to the
Net Reaction: 3 O2 + UV => 2 O3
size of the ozone hole. In years with a
120

strong polar vortex, the ozone hole is leading to social problems.

seen to expand in diameter, whereas in • This is another cause for serious concern
years with a weaker polar vortex, the for the world community.
ozone hole is noted to shrink.
• Efforts have already been initiated to
International Efforts control the emission of GHGs and to
arrest the trend towards global warming.
i. International efforts have been initiated
for reducing the emission of GHGs into
the atmosphere. The most important one INDIAN MONSOON
is the Kyoto protocol proclaimed in 1997.
This protocol went into effect in 2005, Introduction
ratified by 141 nations. • The word ‘monsoon’ is believed to have
ii. Kyoto protocol bounds the 35 originated from the Arabic word for
industrialized countries to reduce their season ‘mawsim’.
emissions by the year 2012 to 5 percent • Monsoons are basically seasonal winds
less than the levels prevalent in the year that reverse their direction according to
1990. the change in season. They are hence,
iii. A historic global climate deal was reached Periodic winds.
in Kigali, Rwanda at the Twenty-Eighth • The monsoons travel from the sea to the
Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal land in summers and from land to the
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the sea during winters, hence, they are a
Ozone Layer (MOP28) double system of seasonal winds.
iv. The so-called Kigali Amendment which • Historically the monsoons have been
amends the 1987 Montreal Protocol aims very important because these winds were
to phase out Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), used by traders and seafarers to move
a family of potent greenhouse gases by from place to place.
the late 2040s.
India gets southwest monsoon winds in the
summers and northeast monsoons during
Global Warming the winters. The former arise because
v. The increasing trend in the concentration of the formation of intense low-pressure
of GHGs in the atmosphere may, in the systems over the Tibetan Plateau. The latter
long run, warm up the earth. Once global arises due to the high-pressure cells that
warming sets in, it will be difficult to are formed over the Siberian and Tibetan
reverse it. plateaus.
vi. The effect of global warming may not be
uniform everywhere. Nevertheless, the
adverse effect due to global warming
will adversely affect the life-supporting
system.
• Rise in the sea level due to melting
of glaciers and ice-caps and thermal
expansion of the sea may inundate large
parts of the coastal area and islands,
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also related to the phenomenon of the

withdrawal of the westerly jet stream
from its position over the north Indian
plain, south of the Himalayas.
• The easterly jet stream sets in along 15°N
latitude only after the western jet stream
has withdrawn itself from the region. This
easterly jet stream is held responsible for
the burst of the monsoon in India.
• Entry of Monsoon into India
 The southwest monsoon sets in over
the Kerala coast by 1st June and moves
swiftly to reach Mumbai and Kolkata
between 10th and 13th June.
 By mid- July, the southwest monsoon
engulfs the entire subcontinent.
Southwest Monsoon
• As a result of the rapid increase of
temperature in May over the northwestern
plains, the low-pressure conditions over
Onset of the Monsoon there get further intensified. By early June,
i. During April and May when the sun shines they are powerful enough to attract the
vertically over the Tropic of Cancer, the trade winds of the Southern Hemisphere
large landmass in the north of the Indian coming from the Indian Ocean.
ocean gets intensely heated. • These southeast trade winds cross the
ii. This causes the formation of intense equator and enter the Bay of Bengal and
low pressure in the northwestern part the Arabian Sea, only to be caught up in
of the subcontinent. Since the pressure the air circulation over India.
in the Indian Ocean in the south of the • Passing over the equatorial warm
landmass is high as the water gets heated currents, they bring with them moisture
slowly, the low-pressure cell attracts the in abundance. After crossing the equator,
southeast trades across the Equator. they follow a southwesterly direction.
iii. These conditions help in the northward That is why they are known as southwest
shift in the position of the ITCZ (Inter monsoons.
Tropical Convergence Zone). The • Southwest monsoon season begins from
southwest monsoon may thus, be seen June and continues up to the middle of
as a continuation of the southeast September over the Indian subcontinent.
trades deflected towards the Indian This season brings close to 70 % of
subcontinent after crossing the Equator. the annual rainfall received by India.
These winds cross the Equator between However, the rainfall is not uniformly
40°E and 60°E longitudes. distributed across time and space.
iv. The shift in the position of the ITCZ is • The rain in the southwest monsoon
122

season begins rather abruptly. One result branch. Thereafter, they enter the
of the first rain is that it brings down the Ganga plains and mingle with the
temperature substantially. This sudden Bay of Bengal branch.
onset of the moisture-laden winds  The third branch of this monsoon
associated with violent thunder and wind strikes the Saurashtra Peninsula
lightning is often termed as the “break” and the Kachchh.
or “burst” of the monsoons.
i. It then passes over west Rajasthan
• The monsoon approaches the landmass and along the Aravallis, causing
in two branches: only a scanty rainfall.
 The Arabian Sea branch. ii. In Punjab and Haryana, it too joins
 The Bay of Bengal branch. the Bay of Bengal branch. These
two branches, reinforced by each
Monsoon Winds of the Arabian Sea other, cause rains in the western
• The monsoon winds originating over Himalayas.
the Arabian Sea further split into three
Monsoon Winds of the Bay of Bengal
branches:
 Its one branch is obstructed by the • The Bay of Bengal branch strikes the
Western Ghats. coast of Myanmar and part of southeast
Bangladesh. But the Arakan Hills along
i. These winds climb the slopes of the coast of Myanmar deflect a big
the Western Ghats from 900-1200 portion of this branch towards the Indian
m. Soon, they become cool, and as subcontinent.
a result, the windward side of the
Sahyadris and Western Coastal • The monsoon, therefore, enters West
Plain receive very heavy rainfall Bengal and Bangladesh from south and
ranging between 250 cm and 400 southeast instead of from the south-
cm. westerly direction.
ii. After crossing the Western Ghats, • From here, this branch splits into two
these winds descend and get under the influence of the Himalayas
heated up. This reduces humidity and the thermal low is northwest India.
in the winds. As a result, these It’s one branch that moves westward
winds cause little rainfall east of along the Ganga plains reaching as far
the Western Ghats. This region of as the Punjab plains.
low rainfall is known as the rain- • The other branch moves up the
shadow area. Brahmaputra valley in the north and the
 Another branch of the Arabian Sea northeast, causing widespread rains. Its
monsoon strikes the coast north of sub-branch strikes the Garo and Khasi
Mumbai. Hills of Meghalaya. Mawsynram, located
on the crest of Khasi hills, receives the
i. Moving along the Narmada and highest average annual rainfall in the
Tapi River valleys, these winds world.
cause rainfall in extensive areas of
central India. • Here it is important to know why the
Tamil Nadu coast remains dry during
ii. The Chotanagpur plateau gets 15 this season. There are two factors
cm rainfall from this part of the responsible for it:
123

 The Tamil Nadu coast is situated • By the beginning of October, the low
parallel to the Bay of Bengal branch of pressure covers northern parts of the
southwest monsoon. Bay of Bengal and by early November, it
 It lies in the rain shadow area of the moves over Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Arabian Sea branch of the south-west By the middle of December, the center of
monsoon. low pressure is completely removed from
the Peninsula.
Reasons for Onset of Advancing • The retreating southwest monsoon
Monsoon (Southwest Monsoon) season is marked by clear skies and a rise
• Low Pressure over North India. in temperature. The land is still moist.
• The shift of Inter-Tropical Convergence • Owing to the conditions of high
Zone (ITCZ) northwards to the Ganga temperature and humidity, the weather
Plains. becomes rather oppressive. This is
commonly known as the ‘October heat’.
• The Himalayas acting as a barrier for the
monsoon to stop it from reaching Tibet • In the second half of October, the
and also intensifying the Low Pressure in mercury begins to fall rapidly, particularly
North India. in northern India. The weather in the
retreating monsoon is dry in north India
• Tropical Easterly Jet Streams above
but it is associated with rain in the eastern
Tibetan Plateau helping the Monsoon part of the Peninsula.
maintain its strength.
• Here, October and November are
• High Pressure at Madagascar. the rainiest months of the year. The
• Southern Oscillations (ENSO), Indian widespread rain in this season is
Ocean Dipole also have a role in helping associated with the passage of cyclonic
or disrupting the South-West Monsoon. depressions which originate over the
• Jet stream from the coast of Somalia Andaman Sea and manage to cross the
towards the Indian Peninsula strengthens eastern coast of the southern Peninsula.
the Monsoon winds. These tropical cyclones are very
destructive.
Northeast Monsoon (Retreating • The thickly populated deltas of the
Monsoon) Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri are their
preferred targets. Every year cyclones
• The months of October and November bring disaster here.
are known for retreating monsoons. By
• A few cyclonic storms also strike the
the end of September, the southwest
coast of West Bengal, Bangladesh and
monsoon becomes weak as the low-
Myanmar. A bulk of the rainfall of the
pressure trough of the Ganga plain starts
Coromandel Coast is derived from these
moving southward in response to the
depressions and cyclones. Such cyclonic
southward march of the sun.
storms are less frequent in the Arabian
• The monsoon retreats from the western Sea.
Rajasthan by the first week of September.
It withdraws from Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Western Ganga plain and the Central
Highlands by the end of the month.
124

Monsoons and Economic Life in • Agricultural prosperity of India depends

very much on timely and adequately
India distributed rainfall. If it fails, agriculture
• Monsoon is that axis around which is adversely affected particularly in those
revolves the entire agricultural cycle of regions where means of irrigation are not
India. developed.
• It is because about 64 percent of the • Sudden monsoon bursts create problems
people of India depend on agriculture of soil erosion over large areas in India.
for their livelihood and agriculture itself • Winter rainfall by temperate cyclones in
is based on southwest monsoon. north India is highly beneficial for rabi
• Except Himalayas, all parts of the country crops.
have a temperature above the threshold • Regional climatic variation in India is
level to grow crops or plants throughout reflected in the vast variety of food,
the year. clothes and house types.
• Regional variations in monsoon climate
help in growing various types of crops.
• Variability of rainfall brings droughts or
floods every year in some parts of the
country.
125

CHAPTER - 11
CYCLONES AND ASSOCIATED

FEATURES
TROPICAL CYCLONE • Presence of the Coriolis force which
provides energy to rotate or curve in anti-
Tropical cyclones are violent and intense clockwise (in the northern hemisphere) or
storms that originate over oceans near the clockwise (in the southern hemisphere)
tropical areas and move over to the coastal
areas bringing about large-scale demolition • Small variations in the vertical wind or
caused by violent winds, very heavy rainfall speed low wind shear which allows the
and storm surges.it is considered a one of storm clouds to rise vertically to high
the most devastating natural calamities. levels.
Favorable conditions required for the • A pre-existing weak-low-pressure region
formation and intensification of tropical or low-level-cyclonic circulation.
cyclone are:
• Upper divergence above the sea level
• warm, moist air derived from tropical system.
oceans having large sea surface with
temperature around or higher than 27° C.
126

Formation of Tropical Cyclone that produces Thunderstorms.

and Other Important Features  The whole system of clouds as well
as wind spins and grows, fed by the
• The energy that intensifies the storm ocean’s heat and water evaporating
originates from the condensation process from the ocean surface.
in the towering cumulonimbus clouds,
surrounding the centre of the storm. With • Eye and Eye-wall
regular supply of moisture from the sea,  A mature tropical cyclone is
the storm is further strengthened. characterized by the strong spirally
• After coming in contact with the land the circulating wind around the centre
moisture supply is cut off and the storm called the eye. The eye is a calm zone
dissipates. Thearea where a tropical with subsiding air.
cyclone crosses the coast is called the  Around the eye is the eye wall, where
landfall of the cyclone. there is a powerful spiralling ascent
• The tropical cyclones, which cross 20° N of air to greater height reaching
latitude generally, recurve and they are the tropopause. The wind reaches
maximum velocity in this area,
more destructive.
reaching as high as 250 km per hour.
• A mature tropical cyclone is characterized Torrential rain occurs here. From the
by the strong spirally circulating wind eye wall rain bands may radiate and
around the centre(eye). trains of cumulus and cumulonimbus
• The diameter of the circulating cyclone clouds may drift into the outer region
system can vary between 150 and 250  The diameter of the circulating cyclone
km. system can vary between 150 and 250
• Process of formation of Tropical Cyclone km.
 Warm, moist air of the ocean rises
upward leaving less air near the
surface. This causes low air pressure
area below.
 Air from surrounding areas with
higher air pressure pushes into the
low-pressure area and undergoes
deflection because of Coriolis force
which is responsible for creating a
cyclonic vortex (spiraling air column).
 The new “cool” air becomes warm Tropical Cyclone Distribution
and moist and rises too and this cycle and Their Regional Names
continues.
Cyclones are addressed by different names
 The condensation of the rising warmed,
in different regions.
moist air responsible for the formation
of clouds. • Hurricanes – In the Atlantic and Eastern
Pacific.
 Heat is emitted during this process and
a reaction between the moisture from • Typhoons – In Southeast Asia
the evaporation of water takes place • Cyclone – In the Indian Ocean and
127

Western Pacific around Australia. • Pressure drops along the front leads
movement of the warm air northwards
and the cold air southward.
 Results in counter-clockwise cyclonic
circulation.
• The cyclonic circulation leads to a
well-developed extra tropical cyclone
(consisting of a warm front and a cold
front).
• There are different pockets of warm air
or warm sector wedged between the
forward and the rear cold air or cold
EXTRA-TROPICAL / sector.
MIDDLE-LATITUDE /  The warm air slides over the cold air.

A sequence of clouds emerges over
TEMPERATE CYCLONES the sky ahead of the warm front and
cause precipitation.
The complex systems developing in the mid
and high latitude, beyond the tropics are  The cold front approaches the warm
called the middle latitude or extra tropical air from behind and pushes the warm
cyclones. The passage of front causes abrupt air up due to which, cumulus clouds
changes in the weather phenomenon over develop along the cold front.
the area in the middle and high latitudes. • The cold front moves quicker than the
warm front ultimately overtaking the
warm front.
• At the end warm air is completely lifted up
and the front is occluded and Ultimately
the cyclone gets dissipates.
Stages of Formation and

Disappearance
• Front is stationary initially.
 Warm air blows northern hemisphere
from the south.
 Cold air blows from the north of the
front.
128

Difference between Tropical and Temperate Cyclone

Feature Tropical Cyclone Temperate Cyclone
Dynamic Due to Coriolis force and air
Origin Thermal
masses etc.
Confined to 350 – 650 N and S of equator.
Latitude Confined to 10 – 30 N and S of equator.
0 0
More noticeable in Northern hemisphere
due to greater temperature contrast.
formation is due to frontogenesis. [Occluded
Frontal system Non-existence
Front]
They form only on seas with temperature
Formation more than 26-270 C. It can form both on land as well as seas
Gradually disappear on reaching the land.
In a temperate cyclone, rainfall is slow and
Heavy rainfall but does not last beyond a
Rainfall continues for many days, occasionally even
few hours.
weeks.
Shape Elliptical Inverted ‘V’
Much greater (100 – 250 kmph) (200 – 1200 Comparatively low. Typical range: 30 – 150
Wind Velocity kmph in upper troposphere) kmph.
and destruction Greater destruction and very intense due Less destruction because of winds but more
to winds, storm surges and torrential rains. destruction due to flooding.
Complete circles and the pressure gradient Isobars are usually ‘V’ shaped and the
Isobars
is steep pressure gradient is low.
Lifetime Doesn’t last for more than a week Last for 2-3 weeks.
East – West. Turn North at 200 latitude
and west at 300 latitude.
Move away from equator.
The movement of Cyclones in Arabian Sea
West – East (Westerlies – Jet Streams). Move
and Bay of Bengal is a little different.
away from equator.
Here, these storms are superimposed upon
the monsoon circulation of the summer
months, and they move in northerly
Path direction along with the monsoon currents.
Temper atur e The temperature at the center is almost All the sectors of the cyclone have different-
distribution evenly distributed. different temperatures
The relationship between tropical cyclones On the other side the temperate cyclones
Influence of Jet
and the upper-level airflow is not very easy have a distinct relationship with upper-level
streams
to understand. air flow (jet streams, Rossby waves etc.)
129

CHAPTER - 12
KOEPPEN’S SCHEME OF CLASSIFICATION

OF CLIMATE AND CLIMATIC REGION
KOEPPEN’S SCHEME characteristics.
• The most widely used and popular • The seasons of dryness are specified by
classification of climate is the climate the small letters: f, m, w and s,
classification scheme developed • f --> no dry season,
by German climatologist and plant • m - monsoon climate,
geographer V. Koeppen in 1918.
• w- winter dry season and
• Koeppen recognized a close link between
the distribution of Vegetation and • s - summer dry season.
Climate. He selected particular values of • The small letter alphabets a, b, c and
Temperature and precipitation and linked d refer to the degree of severity of
them to the distribution of Vegetation. Temperature.
• Koeppen used these values for classifying The B- Dry Climates are subdivided using
the various climates. It is an empirical the capital letters S for steppe or semi-arid
categorization based on mean annual and W for desserts.
& mean monthly temperature and
precipitation data.
• He introduced the use of capital and
small alphabetical letters to designate
climatic groups and types.
MAJOR CLIMATIC GROUPS

Koeppen identified five major climatic
groups, four of them are based on
Temperature and one on the basis of
precipitation.
• The capital alphabets: A, C, D and E
are for humid climates and B is for dry
climates.
Subdivision
• The climatic groups are subdivided
into different types which is designated
by small letters, based on seasonality
of precipitation and Temperature
130

DIFFERENT CLIMATIC • Heavy precipitation, between 60 inches

and 100 inches, and well distributed
REGIONS throughout the year.
• no month without rain and a distinct dry
Equatorial Climatic Region season like those of the Savannah or the
Tropical Monsoon Climates, is absent.
Distribution
• Because of the great heat in the
• Situated between 5° and 10° N and S of equatorial belt, mornings are bright, and
the equator. sunny.
• Greatest stretch equatorial climate • Evaporation and convectional air
found in the lowlands of the Amazon, the currents followed by heavy downpours.
Congo, Malaysia and the East Indies.
Natural Vegetation
• away from the equator, the influence of
the on-shore Trade Winds, gives rise to a • encouraged a luxuriant type of vegetation
modified type of equatorial climate with – the tropical rain forest.
monsoonal effect • Amazon tropical rain forest is also called
as Selvas.
• comprises a multiple type of evergreen
trees that yield tropical hardwood, e.g.
mahogany, ebony, greenheart, cabinet
wood. Lianas, epiphytic and parasitic
plants are also found.
• Trees of single species are very less in
such vegetation.
Life and Development in the
Equatorial Regions
Climatic Conditions • sparsely populated.
Temperature • most primitive people live as hunters and
collectors
• great uniformity of temperature
throughout the year • the more advanced ones practise shifting
cultivation.
• mean monthly temperatures are always
around 27°C with very little variation. • The Indian tribes of Amazon basin collect
wild rubber, in the Congo Basin the
• There is no winter.
Pygmies gather nuts and in the jungles of
• Cloudiness and heavy precipitation Malaysia the Orang Asli make different
moderate the daily temperature. types of cane products and sell them to
Therefore, even at the equator itself, the people in villages and towns.
climate is not unbearable.
• The diurnal range of temperature is small,
and so is the annual range.
TROPICAL MONSOON
Precipitation CLIMATE AND TROPICAL
131
MARINE CLIMATE and 32°C.

• During summer session in Northern
Distribution Hemisphere
• Situated in the zones between 5° and 30°  when the sun is overhead at the Tropic
latitudes on both sides of the equator. of Cancer, the great land masses of
the northern hemisphere are heated.
• These zones are the tropical monsoon The seas, which warm up much slower,
lands with on-shore wet monsoons in the remain comparatively cool.
summer and off-shore dry monsoons in
the winter.  During the same time, the southern
hemisphere experiences winter, and a
• best developed in the Indian sub- region of high pressure is set up in the
continent, Burma, Thailand, Laos, interior land of Australia. From here
Cambodia, parts of Vietnam and south winds blow outwards as the South East
China and northern Australia. Monsoon, to Java, and after crossing
• Outside this region, the climate is altered the equator line they are drawn
by the influence of the on-shore Trade towards the continental low-pressure
Winds all the year round and has a area reaching the Indian sub-continent
more equally distributed rainfall. Such region as the South-West Monsoon.
types of climate, better termed as the • During the winter in Northern Hemisphere
Tropical Marine Climate, is experienced
in Central America, north-eastern  Conditions are reversed.
Australia, the Philippines, parts of East  The sun is overhead at the Tropic of
Africa, Madagascar, the Guinea Coast Capricorn due to which central Asia is
and eastern Brazil. extremely cold and resulting in rapid
cooling of the land.
 An area of high pressure is created
with out-blowing winds-the North-
East Monsoon.
• The Seasons of Tropical Monsoon
Climate:
 Three different seasons are
distinguishable
i. The cool, dry season (October to
February)
ii. the hot dry season (March to mid-
June)
Climatic Conditions: iii. the rainy season (mid-June to
September).
• Important cause of monsoon climates is
the difference in the rate of heating and • The Tropical Marine Climate:
cooling of land and sea.  is experienced along the eastern coasts
• Average temperature of warm dry of tropical land region and receiving
summer months ranges between 27°C steady rainfall from the Trade Winds
132
all the time. • Confined within the tropics and is best

 Both type of rainfall developed in the Sudan region where the
dry and wet seasons are most distinct,
i. Orographic-where the moist trades therefore its name the Sudan Climate.
meet upland masses as in eastern
Brazil • This belt comprises West African Sudan,
and then curves southwards into East
ii. Convectional due to intense heating Africa and southern Africa north of the
during the day and in summer.
Tropic of Capricorn.
 Its tendency is towards a summer
• South America: -there are two different
maximum as in monsoon lands, zones of savannah north and south of
however without any distinct dry
the equator
period.
 the llanos of the Orinoco basin
Natural Vegetation  the Campos of the Brazilian Highlands.
• The natural vegetation of this region
depends on the amount of the summer
rainfall.
• Deciduous trees because of the marked
dry period, during which they shed their
leaves to withstand the drought period.
• The regions (southern Burma, peninsular
India, northern Australia and coastal
regions with a tropical marine climate)
where the rainfall is heavy, the resultant
vegetation is forest.
• more open and less luxuriant forest than
the equatorial jungle
• there are far fewer species.
• Most of the forests yield valuable timber Climatic Conditions
and are prized for their good quality • distinct wet and dry seasons.
and durable hardwood. Teaks is the best
• Temperature:
known one.
 Mean high temperature throughout
Economy: important economic activity of
the year is between 24°C -27° C.
the people is agriculture. Major agriculture
crops are rice, cane sugar, jute etc.  The annual range of temperature is
between 3°C-8°C, but this range rises
The Savannah or Sudan as one move further away from the
Climate equator.
 The extreme diurnal range of
Distribution temperature is a characteristic of
• a transitional type of climate found in the Sudan type of climate.
middle of the equatorial forest and the • Rainfall: The average annual rainfall
trade wind hot deserts. ranges between 100 cm-150 cm.
133
 The prevailing winds of this zone are killed every year by people from all over
the Trade Winds which bring rain to the world.
the coastal areas. • Some animals are killed down for their
skins, horns, tusks, bones or hair.
Natural Vegetation:
• Some of the others are captured alive
• Characterized by tall grass and short trees. and sent out of Africa as zoo animals,
• The terms ‘parkland’ or ‘bush-veld’ perhaps laboratory specimens or pets.
best describe the landscape of this region Economy:
• This region is occupied by many tribes.
• Some tribes live here as pastoralists like
the Masai and other as settled cultivators
like the Hausa of northern Nigeria.
• Agriculture is not much developed in this
region.
Desert Climate
Distribution:
• Desert areas are the regions of scanty
• Characteristics of trees rainfall which may be hot like the hot
 Trees grow best near the equatorial deserts of the Saharan type or temperate
humid latitudes area or along as are the mid- latitude deserts e.g. the
riverbanks but decrease in their height Gobi.
and density as move away from the • Important deserts are situated on the
equator. western coasts of continents between
 Deciduous trees which shed their leaves latitudes 15º -30ºN and S.
in the cool, dry season to prevent itself • Sahara Desert: the largest single stretch
from excessive loss of water through of desert, which is stretched over 3,200
transpiration, e.g. acacias. miles from east to west and at least 1,000
 Other trees have broad trunks, with miles wide.
water-storing features to survive • The next biggest desert of the world is
through the prolonged drought e.g. the Great Australian Desert which covers
baobabs and bottle trees. around almost half of the continent.
 mostly hard, gnarled and thorny and • The other important hot deserts are the
may exude gum like gum arabic. Arabian Desert, Iranian Desert, Thar
Desert, Kalahari and Namib Deserts.
Animal Life of the Savannah • North America: the desert extends
• specially in Africa, it is the home of wild from Mexico to USA and is known by
animals. various names at different places like
• Also called as the ‘big game country’ the Mohave Sonoran, Californian and
and thousands of animals are trapped or Mexican Deserts.
134
• South America: the Atacama Desert or condensation almost impossible.

Peruvian Desert is the driest amongst  Mostly rainfall occurs here due to
all deserts with less than 0.5 inches of convectional rainfall process and with
rainfall annually. The Patagonian Desert thunderstorms.
is formed more due to its rain- shadow
position on the leeward side of the lofty  In cold deserts in Asia: mostly rainfall
Andes than to continentality. happens due to occasional western
disturbances and in form of snow.
• Temperature:
 Hot deserts are some of the hottest
spots on earth and have high
temperatures during the entire year.
 no cold season in the hot deserts and
the average summer temperature is
around 30°C.
 The highest shade temperature
recorded in history is 58°C at Al
Azizia,(25 miles south of Tripoli, Libya,
in the Sahara).
 The diurnal range of temperature in
the deserts is very huge.
 Coastal deserts generally have less
Climatic Conditions: temperature than interiors due to cold
• Rainfall: currents
 aridity of deserts is the important Annual range of temperature is higher in
characteristic of the desert climate. cold deserts region as compared to hot
deserts (because they are mostly situated in
 whether hot or mid-latitude: few mid-latitudes where insolation variation is
deserts have an annual precipitation highest and because they are situated deep
of more than 10 inches while in others inside continents.
less than 0.02 inches.
 Most of the hot desert situated near
the Sub- Tropical High-Pressure Belts
(the air is descending), which is a least
favourable condition for precipitation
of any kind to take place.
 The rain bearing trade winds blow
offshore and the Westerlies, that are
on-shore, blow outside the desert
limits.
 Whatever winds reaches the desert
regions flow from the cooler to the
Natural Vegetation
warmer regions, and their relative • grass, scrub, herbs, weeds, roots or bulbs.
humidity is lowered which makes
135
• deficient in moisture and so excessive in continental masses, between 30°-45° N

heat which is most unfavourable condition and S of the equator. Important reason
for plant growth and development of this type of climate is the shifting of
• The predominant and significant the wind belts.
vegetation of both deserts are xerophytes • the Mediterranean Sea region has the
(drought-resistant scrub). greatest extent of this type of ‘winter rain
• This comprises the bulbous cacti, thorny climate’
bushes, long-rooted wiry grasses and Other Mediterranean regions comprise
scattered dwarf acacia. California (around San Francisco), the
south-western tip of Africa (around Cape
• Trees are very rare except the region
Town), southern Australia (in southern
where there is good amount of ground
Victoria and around Adelaide, bordering
water to support clusters of date palms. the St. Vincent and Spencer Gulfs), and
south-west Australia (Swanland).
Life in the Deserts
• Despite its extreme climatic features,
the desert has always been occupied by
different groups of inhabitants.
• The people of this region struggle against
an environment which is insufficient in
water, food and other means of livelihood.
• following categories of settlement can
be seen
 The primitive hunters and collectors
(The Bushmen and The Bindibu),
Climatic Conditions
 the nomadic herdsmen (The Tuaregs
of the Sahara, the Gobi Mongols and • Very distinctive climatic characteristics -
The Bedouin of Arabia) a warm summer with off-shore trades, a
concentration of rainfall in winter season
 the caravan traders, the settled
with onshore westerlies, bright, sunny
cultivators and the mining settlers.
weather with hot dry summers and wet,
mild winters and the prominence of local
Important Mineral Region winds around the Mediterranean Sea
Gold is mined in Australia, diamonds and (Sirocco, Mistral).
copper in Kalahari Desert, copper and • These climatic regions are situated
nitrates in Atacama Desert.
near large bodies of water; therefore,
temperatures are generally moderate
Mediterranean Climate with a comparatively small range of
Distribution temperature res between the winter low
and summer high.
• Relatively the Warm Temperate Western
• Regions with this climate receive
Margin Climate is found in few areas in
almost all their yearly rainfall during the
the world.
wintertime and summer may go without
• entirely confined to the western part of having any significant precipitation.
136
Natural Vegetation • Grasslands in Southern hemisphere

are less continental due to proximity to
• small broad leaves trees are widely maritime features.
spaced and never very tall. Though there
• Very fewer extreme temperatures (milder
are many branches they are short and
winters and less annual range) and
carry few leaves.
rainfall is higher as well.
• The absence of shade
• They are called the Steppes in Eurasian
• Growth of plant is slow in the cooler and region
wetter season, even though more rain
• stretch eastwards from the shores of the
comes in winter.
Black Sea across the Great Russian plain
• The Mediterranean regions are also to the foothills of the Altai Mountains, a
called as the world’s orchard lands. distance of well over 2,000 miles. There
• Wide range of citrus fruits e.g. oranges, are isolated portions in the Pustaz of
lemons, limes, citrons and grapefruit Hungary and the plains of Manchuria.
• Wine production is also the specialty • North America: the grasslands are also
of this region, because the best wine is quite extensive and are called Prairies.
essentially made from grapes. Around It is situated between the foothills of the
85 per cent of grapes produced, go into Rockies and the Great Lakes astride the
wine. The long, sunny summer allows American Canadian border.
the grapes to ripen and then they are • In the case of the Pampas of Argentina
handpicked. and Uruguay, the grasslands extend
Economy right to the sea and enjoy much maritime
influence.
• Significant for fruit cultivation, cereal The grassland regions are sandwiched
growing, winemaking and agricultural between the Drakensberg and the Kalahari
industries along with engineering and Desert in South Africa, and are further
mining. subdivided into the more tropical Bushveld
in the north, and the more temperate High
Temperate Continental Veld in the south.
Grasslands / Steppe Climate
Distribution (30° - 45°)
• This climate is situated around the
deserts and lie in the interiors of the
continents in Northern hemisphere and
near the oceans in Southern hemisphere
of the earth.
• far removed from the maritime influence.
• Mostly this region is grassland and
treeless due to the absence of maritime
influence.
• Stretched extensive in northern Climatic Conditions
hemisphere • Temperature:
137
 The climate of this region is continental varies with seasons.

type with extremes of temperature and • Trees are very scarce in the steppes due
have little maritime influence. to the scanty rainfall, long droughts and
 very warm summer, over 19°C. severe winters.
 Winters are very cold in the continental
steppes of Eurasia due to the long
distances from the nearest sea. The
winter months are well below freezing
temperature.
 On the other side the steppe type of
climate in the southern hemisphere
is never severe. The winters are mild.
Temperatures below freezing point Economy
even in midwinter (July in the southern
• These regions have been ploughed up for
hemisphere) are very rare.
extensive, mechanized wheat cultivation
• Precipitation: and are now known as the ‘granaries of
 The annual precipitation of the Steppe the world’.
Climatic region is light. The average • Wheat and maize is increasingly
rainfall may be taken as about cultivated in the warmer and wetter
20 inches, but this again changes areas.
according to location from 10 inches
• The tufted grasses have been replaced
to 30 inches.
by the more nutritious Lucerne or alfalfa
 The marine influence in the steppe type grass.
of climate of the southern hemisphere
is even better brought out by the The Warm Temperate Eastern
rainfall regime. Annual precipitation
of this region is always more than the Margin (China Type) Climate
average 20 inches due to the warm Distribution
ocean currents.
• This climatic type situated on the eastern
Natural Vegetation margins of continents in warm temperate
latitudes, just outside the tropics.
• The steppes are grass covered, dissimilar
only in the density and quality of the • Compare to Mediterranean climate in
grass. the same latitudes It has more rainfall,
coming mainly in the summer.
• Their greatest difference as compare to
the tropical savannah is that they are • It is, in fact, the climate of most parts of
practically treeless, and the grasses od China –a modified form of monsoon type
these regions are much shorter. of climate.
• The region with moderate rainfall, above • Therefore, it is also known as the
20 inches, the grasses are tall, fresh and Temperate Monsoon or China Type of
nutritious and are better described as climate.
long prairie grass. • In south-eastern U.S.A., near the Gulf of
• the temperate grasslands appearance Mexico, continental heating in summer
138
brings an inflow of air from the cooler • Local storms like typhoons and
Atlantic Ocean. hurricanes, also occur in this region.
• Sometimes it is also referred as the Gulf • It can be sub-divided into three important
type of climate. types –
In the southern hemisphere, this climate  The China type: central and north
is experienced near the warm temperate China including southern Japan:
eastern coastlands of all the three -temperate monsoonal.
continents: in New South Wales with its
 The Gulf type: south-eastern United
eucalyptus forests; in Natal, South Africa
States: -slight-monsoonal.
where cane sugar thrives; and in the maize
belt of the Parana-Paraguay-Uruguay  The Natal type: the entire warm
basin. temperate eastern margin area (non-
monsoonal region) of the southern
hemisphere including Natal, eastern
Australia and southern Brazil-
Paraguay-Uruguay and northern
Argentina.
Natural Vegetation
The eastern margins of warm temperate
region have a much heavier rainfall as
compare to the western margins or the
continental interiors and therefore have
luxuriant vegetation.
The lowlands include both evergreen broad-
• The Warm Temperate Eastern Margin leaved forests and deciduous trees quite
Climate is characterized by a warm moist like those of the tropical monsoon forests
region.
summer and a cool, dry winter.
Different species of conifers such as pines
• The mean monthly temperature changes and cypresses are found on the highlands
between 5°C and 25°C and is strongly that are important softwood.
modified by maritime effect.
Economy
• The relative humidity is a little high in
mid-summer. • the most productive parts of the middle
• Rainfall is more than moderate, anything latitudes.
from 25 inches to 60 inches. • Long with the widespread cultivation of
• Another significant property is the fairly Maize and cotton in the Corn and Cotton
uniform distribution of rainfall throughout Belts of U.S.A. fruit and tobacco are also
the year. There is rain in each month, cultivated.
except in the interior of central China, • Rice, tea and mulberries are extensively
where there is a distinct dry season. cultivated in monsoon China.
Rainfall occurs either from convectional • Some other important products of
sources or as orographic rain in summer, economic significance e.g. cane sugar in
or from depressions in prolonged showers Natal, coffee and maize in South America
in winter.
139
and dairying in New South Wales and very low.

Victoria.  Summers are, in fact, never very warm.
 Monthly temperatures of over 18°C
British Type of Climate
even in mid-summer are exceptional.
Distribution • Precipitation:
• Situated to the western margin in cool  has adequate rainfall in the entire year
temperate zone (45°-65°) North and with a tendency towards a slight winter
South. or autumn maximum from cyclonic
• The cool temperate western margins are sources.
under the permanent influence of the  Since the rain bearing winds come from
Westerlies during the entire year. the west, the western margin regions
• Zones of much cyclonic activity, typical of have the heaviest rainfall. The amount
Britain, and therefore said to experience of rainfall decreases eastwards with
the British type of climate. increasing distance from the sea.
• From Britain, the climatic belt extends
Natural Vegetation
far inland into the lowlands North-West
Europe, comprising such regions as • The natural vegetation of this climatic
northern and western France, Belgium, region is deciduous forest and trees shed
the Netherlands, Denmark, western their leaves in the cold season. This is
Norway and also north-western Iberia. an adaptation evolved by the trees for
In the southern hemisphere, this climate protecting themselves against the winter
is experienced near the southern Chile, snow and frost.
Tasmania and most parts of New Zealand, • Shedding of leaves begins in autumn, the
specifically in South Island. ‘fall’ season,
• Some of the more common and important
species are oak, elm, ash, birch, beech,
poplar, and hornbeam.
• Unlike the equatorial forests, the
deciduous trees occur in pure stands
and have greater lumbering value from
the commercial point of view (unlike the
equatorial forests).
• The deciduous hardwoods are of excellent
quality for both fuel and industrial
purposes.
Economy
Climatic Conditions • This region is different from many
• Temperature: others in its unprecedented industrial
 The mean annual temperatures are advancement.
usually between 5°C-15°C. • Mostly involved in the production of
 The annual range of temperature is machinery, chemicals, textiles and
140
other manufactured articles rather

than agriculture activities, fishing or
lumbering, though these activities are
well represented in some of the countries.
• Fishing is specifically significant in Britain,
Norway and British Columbia.
• A very large part of the deciduous trees
has been cleared for fuel, timber or
agriculture.
Cool Temperate Eastern/

Laurentian Climate
Distribution
• It is found in cool temperate eastern Climatic Conditions
margin (45°- 65°) of northern hemisphere.
• has cold, dry winters and warm, wet
• is an intermediate variety of climate
summers.
between the British and the Siberian type
of climate. • In Winter temperatures may go well
below freezing point and snow falls to
• Comprises both features i.e. the maritime
quite a depth.
and the continental climates.
• Summers are as warm as the tropics (21°
• This climate found only in two regions.
- 27°C) and if the region would not have
 north-eastern North America, including the cooling effects of the off-shore cold
eastern Canada, north-east U.S.A., currents from the Arctic, the summer
(i.e. Maritime Provinces and the New might be even hotter.
England states), and Newfoundland.
• Though rain falls during the entire year,
It can also be referred to as the North there is a distinct summer maximum
American region.
from the easterly winds from the ocean
 eastern coastlands of Asia, including regions
eastern Siberia, North China,
• Of the annual precipitation of 30 to 60
Manchuria, Korea and northern Japan.
inches, 2/3rd come in the summer.
It can also be referred to as the Asiatic
region. • Winter is dry and cold due to the winds
that are dry Westerlies which blowout
• This climatic type is absent in the southern
from the continental interiors.
hemisphere because only a small part of
the southern continents extends south of
the latitude of 40° S.
Natural Vegetation
• The predominant variety of vegetation
in the Laurentian type of climate is cool
temperate forest. The heavy rainfall,
the warm summers and the damp air
from fogs, all favour the growth and
development of trees.
141
• Mostly, the forest tends to be coniferous hemisphere due to the narrowness of the
in the 50° N. latitude. southern continents in the high latitudes.
• The increase in the length and severity of The strong oceanic effect decreases the
the winter eliminates forests that are not severity of the winter and coniferous forests
adaptable to cold surroundings. are seen only on the mountainous uplands
of southern Chile, New Zealand, Tasmania
• Important species: - Oak, beech, maple
and south-east Australia.
and birch
Economy
• Lumbering and its associated timber,
paper and pulp industries are the most
significant economic undertaking.
• Agriculture is less important because of
the severity of the winter and its long
duration.
• Luckily, the maritime effect and the Climatic Condition
heavy rainfall enable some hardy crops
to be raised for local needs. • Temperature:
• The fertile Annapolis valley in Nova • Featured by a bitterly cold winter of long
Scotia is the world’s most popular region duration, and a cool brief summer.
for apples. • Spring and autumn are merely brief
• However, Fishing is the most outstanding transitional time span.
economic activity of the Laurentian • The extremes of temperature are so
climatic zones. great in Siberia that it is often known as
the ‘cold pole of the earth’.
The Cool Temperate • Verkhoyansk is known for some of the
Continental (Siberian) Climate lowest temperatures in the world
Distribution Precipitation
• It extends along a continuous belt • The hinterland of the Eurasian continent
across central Canada, some parts of is so remote from maritime influence that
Scandinavian Europe and most of central annual precipitation cannot go high.
and southern Russian (50° to 70° N).
• mostly a total of 15 to 25 inches is typical
• experienced only in the northern of the annual precipitation of this sub-
hemisphere where the continents within Arctic type of climate.
the high latitudes have a broad east-
west spread. • It is quite well disseminated during the
entire year, with a summer maximum
• Towards the pole side, it merges into the from convectional rain.
Arctic tundra of Canada and Eurasia at
around the Arctic Circle.
Natural Vegetation
• The Siberian type of Climate is
conspicuously absent in the southern • No other variety of trees are as well
adapted as the conifers to withstand
142
such an extreme and severe environment found mainly north of the Arctic Circle
as the Siberian type of climate. in the northern hemisphere and south of
• The coniferous forest region of Eurasia Antarctic Circle.
and North America are the richest • The icecap is confined to Greenland and
sources of softwood for use in building to the highlands of these high latitude
construction, furniture, matches, paper zones, where the ground is permanently
and pulp, rayon and other branches of snow-covered.
the chemical industry • The lowlands, with a few months ice-free,
• U.S.S.R, U.S.A., Canada and the have tundra type of vegetation.
Fennoscandian countries (Finland, They consist the coastal strip of Greenland,
Norway and Sweden) are the world’s the barren grounds of northern Canada and
greatest softwood producers. Alaska and the Arctic seaboard of Eurasia.
• Related to newsprint, Canada has
outstripped all other producers,
accounting for almost ½ of the world’s
total annual production.
• Important species of Coniferous forest –
 Pine, e.g. white pine, red pine, Scots
pine, Jack pine
 Fir, e.g., Douglas fir and balsam fir
 Spruce
 Larch.
Economy
• Climatic regions of the northern
hemisphere are comparatively little Climatic Conditions
developed • Temperature:
• Only in the more accessible and  Featured by a very low mean annual
reachable areas, the forests have been temperature and its warmest month in
cleared for lumbering. June seldom goes to more than 10°C.
• Agriculture is not much developed, as  During mid-winter (January)
few crops can survive in the sub-Arctic temperatures are as low as – 35°C and
climate of these northerly lands. much colder in the hinterland.
• Many of Samoyeds and Yakuts of Siberia,  Winters are extreme, long and very
and some Canadians are involved in severe; summers are cool and short
hunting, trapping and fishing. period.
Tundra Climate / Polar Climate • Precipitation:
/ Arctic Climate  Mainly falls in the form of snow, falling

in winter and being drifted about
Distribution during blizzards. Snowfall differs with
locality; it may come down either as
• This type of climate and vegetation is
143
ice crystals or large, amalgamated snow-covered) increase the altitude, it is

snowflakes. uninhabitable.
 Convectional rainfall is generally • The few people of this region live a
absent due to the low rate of semi-nomadic life and have to adapt
evaporation process and insufficient themselves to the severe environment.
moisture in the cold polar air. • Once it was regarded as completely
useless but now it is considered as of
Natural Vegetation some economic significance.
• In such an adverse and extreme • Apart from the efforts of the different
atmosphere as the tundra, only few governments of the world in assisting the
plants survive. advancement of the Arctic inhabitants
• Insufficient Heat is greatest inhibiting the Eskimos, Lapps, Samoyeds etc., new
factor is this region. settlements have sprung up due to the
finding of minerals.
• With a growing season of only less than
three months and the warmest month not
exceeding 10°C (the tree-survival line),
there are no trees in the tundra region.
Such an environment can support only
the lowest form of vegetation like mosses,
lichens and sedges.
• Poor drainage due to sub soil which is

permanently frozen.
• Ponds and marshes and waterlogged
areas are seen in hollows.
Economy
• Human activities of the tundra are
mostly restricted to the coast. Where
plateaux and mountains (permanently
144
CHAPTER - 13
MOVEMENTS OF OCEAN WATER
INTRODUCTION the energy is released on shorelines.
• The ocean water is dynamic. Its physical • As a wave approaches the beach, it slows
characteristics like temperature, salinity, down because of the friction occurring
density and the external forces like of the between the dynamic water and the
sun, moon and the winds influence the seafloor. And, when the depth of water
movement of ocean water. is less than half the wavelength of the
wave, the wave breaks.
• The horizontal and vertical motions are
common in ocean water bodies. • Waves continue to grow larger as they
move and absorb energy from the wind
• The horizontal motion refers to ocean and the largest waves are found in the
currents and waves. The vertical motion open oceans.
refers to tides.
• A wave’s size and shape reveal its origin.
• Ocean currents are the continuous Steep waves are fairly young ones and
flow of huge amounts of water in a are probably formed by local wind.
definite direction while the waves are the Slow and steady waves originate from
horizontal motion of water. far away places, possibly from another
• Water moves ahead from one place to hemisphere.
another through ocean currents while
the water in the waves does not move,
but the wave trains move ahead.
• The vertical motion refers to the rise
and fall of water in the oceans and seas.
Due to the attraction of the sun and the
moon, the ocean water is raised up and
falls down twice a day. The upwelling of
cold water from the subsurface and the
sinking of surface water are also forms
of vertical motion of ocean water. • The maximum wave height is determined
by the strength of the wind, i.e. how long
it blows and the area over which it blows
WAVES in a single direction.
• Waves are actually the energy, not the
• Waves travel because the wind pushes
water as such, which moves across the
the water body in its course while gravity
ocean surface. Water particles only
pulls the crests of the waves downward.
travel in a small circle as a wave passes.
The falling water pushes the former
• Wind provides energy to the waves and troughs upward, and the wave moves to
causes waves to travel in the ocean and a new position (Figure).
145
• The actual motion of the water beneath How does Tides Occur?
the waves is circular. It indicates that
things are carried up and forward as the • The moon’s gravitational pull to a great
wave approaches, and down and back extent and to a lesser extent the sun’s
as it passes. gravitational pull, are the major causes
for the occurrence of tides. Another
Characteristics of Waves factor is centrifugal force, which is the
force that acts to counterbalance gravity.
• Wave crest and trough: The highest and
• Together, the gravitational pull and the
lowest points of a wave are called the
centrifugal force are responsible for
crest and trough respectively.
creating the two major tidal bulges on
• Wave height: It is the vertical distance the earth.
from the bottom of a trough to the top of
• On the side of the earth facing the moon,
a crest of a wave.
a tidal bulge occurs while on the opposite
• Wave amplitude: It is one-half of the side though the gravitational attraction
wave height. of the moon is less as it is farther away,
• Wave period: It is merely the time interval the centrifugal force causes a tidal bulge
between two successive wave crests or on the other side (Figure).
troughs as they pass a fixed point. • The ‘tide-generating’ force is the
• Wavelength: It is the horizontal distance difference between these two forces; i.e.
between two successive crests. the gravitational attraction of the moon
and the centrifugal force.
• Wave Speed: It is the rate at which the
wave moves through the water, and is • On the surface of the earth, nearest the
measured in knots. moon, pull or the attractive force of the
moon is greater than the centrifugal
• Wave Frequency: It is the number of
force, and so there is a net force causing
waves passing a given point during a
a bulge towards the moon.
one-second time interval.
• On the opposite side of the earth, the
attractive force is less, as it is farther
TIDES away from the moon, the centrifugal
• The periodical rise and fall of the sea force is dominant. Hence, there is a net
level, once or twice a day, mainly due to force away from the moon. It creates the
the attraction of the sun and the moon, second bulge away from the moon.
is called a tide.
• Movements of water caused by
meteorological effects (winds and
atmospheric pressure changes) are
called surges. Surges are not regular like
tides.
• It is high tide when water covers much
of the shore by rising to its highest level.
It is low tide when waterfalls to its lowest
level and recedes from the shore.
146
Tides based on Frequency

• Semi-diurnal tide:
 The most common tidal pattern,
featuring two high tides and two low
tides each day.
 The successive high or low tides are
approximately of the same height.
• Diurnal tide:
 There is only one high tide and one
low tide during each day.
 The successive high and low tides are
approximately of the same height.
• Mixed tide:
 Tides having variations in height are
known as mixed tides.
• On the surface of the earth, the  These tides generally occur along the
horizontal tide generating forces are west coast of North America and on
more important than the vertical forces many islands of the Pacific Ocean.
in generating the tidal bulges.
Tides based on the Sun, Moon and
• The tidal bulges on wide continental the Earth Positions
shelves have greater height. When tidal
bulges hit the mid-oceanic islands they • The height of rising water (high tide)
become low. varies appreciably depending upon the
position of sun and moon with respect
• The shape of bays and estuaries along a
to the earth. Spring tides and neap tides
coastline can also magnify the intensity
come under this category.
of tides. Funnel-shaped bays greatly
change tidal magnitudes. (Ex: Bay of • Spring tides:
Fundy Highest tidal range)  The position of both the sun and the
• When the tide is channeled between moon in relation to the earth has a
islands or into bays and estuaries they direct bearing on tide height.
are called tidal currents.
Types of Tides
• Tides vary in their frequency, direction,
and movement from place to place and
also from time to time.
• Tides may be grouped into various types
based on their frequency of occurrence
in one day or 24 hours or based on their
height.
147
During this time the tidal range (height

difference between high tide and low
tide) is greater than normal.
 Two weeks later, when the moon is
farthest from Earth (apogee), the
moon’s gravitational force is limited
and the tidal ranges are less than
their average heights.
• The magnitude of tides based on Perigee
and Apogee of earth
 When the earth is closest to the sun
(perihelion), around 3rd January each
year, tidal ranges are also much
greater, with unusually high and
unusually low tides.
 When the earth is farthest from the
sun (aphelion), around 4th July each
year, tidal ranges are much less than
average.
 When the sun, the moon, and the
earth are in a straight line, the height • The time between the high tide and low
of the tide will be higher. tide, when the water level is falling, is
called the ebb.
 These are called spring tides and they
occur twice a month, one on full moon • The time between the low tide and high
period and another during the new tide, when the tide is rising, is called the
moon period. flow or flood.
• Neap tides:
Importance of Tides
 Normally, there is a seven-day interval
between the spring tides and neap • Navigation:
tides.  Tidal heights are very important,
 At this time the sun and moon are at especially harbours near rivers and
right angles to each other and the within estuaries having shallow ‘bars’
forces of the sun and moon tend to [Marine Landforms] at the entrance,
counteract one another. which prevent ships and boats from
entering into the harbour.
 The Moon’s attraction, though more
than twice as strong as the sun’s, is  High tides help in navigation. They
diminished by the counteracting force raise the water level close to the shores
of the sun’s gravitational pull. which helps the ships to arrive at the
harbour more easily.
• The magnitude of tides based on Perigee
and apogee of moon  Tides generally help in making some
of the rivers navigable for ocean-
 Once in a month, when the moon’s going vessels. London and Calcutta
orbit is closest to the earth (perigee), [Tidal Ports] have become important
unusually high and low tides occur. ports owing to the tidal nature of the
148
mouths of the Thames and Hooghly reverses, and the tide pushes water
respectively. up the river. The Indian rivers like the
• Fishing: Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus, etc exhibits
tidal bores.
 The high tides also help in fishing.
Much more fish come closer to the • Tidal bores occur every day but are not
shore during the high tide. This enables common all over the planet. Special
fishermen to get a plentiful catch. conditions are required for one to occur.
• Desilting: • Let’s go through the conditions that

cause tidal bores:
 Tides are also helpful in desilting the
sediments and in removing polluted  The river where a tidal bore occurs
water from river estuaries. must not be too deep.
• Weather:  Its estuary, or mouth of the river, needs

to be relatively shallow and fairly
 Tides stirred the ocean water that wide compared to the inland part of
makes habitable climatic condition the river to produce a sort of funneling
and balances the temperatures on the effect.
planets.
 The estuary acts as the wide part of
• Tidal Energy: the funnel, channeling water into the
 Every 24 hour, two high tides and two narrower river, where the water rises to
low tides occur. compensate for this influx of volume.
 Hence, the fast movement of water • The name ‘bore’ is because of the sound
during the inflow and outflow will the tidal current makes when it travels
provide a source of renewable energy through narrow channels.
to communities living along the coast. • A tidal bore takes place during the flood
• Tidal Zone Foods: tide and never during the ebb tide(Tidal
bores almost never occur during neap
 Edible sea creatures like crabs,
tides. Neap tides happen during quarter
mussels, snails, seaweed, etc. inhabit
moons when tides are weakest).
the tidal zone and without the regular
washing of the tides, these complex Impact of Tidal Bore
and abundant creatures would die and
food resources would diminish. • Tidal bores are less predictable and
hence can be dangerous.
• Tides are used to generate electrical
power (in Canada, France, Russia, and • The tidal bores adversely affect the
China). A 3 MW tidal power project shipping and navigation in the estuarine
at Durgaduani in Sunderbans of West zone.
Bengal is underway. • Tidal bores of considerable magnitude
can capsize boats and ships of
Tidal Bore considerable size.
• Rivers generally flow from higher • Strong tidal bores disrupt fishing zones
elevations to the ocean or seas. A in estuaries and gulfs.
tidal bore is a situation where the flow • Tidal bores have an adverse impact
of water from the river into the ocean on the ecology of the river mouth. The
149
tidal-bore affected estuaries are the rich the water body in its course.
feeding zones and breeding grounds of  Winds are responsible for both
several forms of wildlife. magnitude and direction [Coriolis
force also affects direction] of the
OCEAN CURRENTS ocean currents. Example: Monsoon
winds are responsible for the seasonal
Introduction reversal of ocean currents in the
Indian ocean.
• Ocean currents are large masses of
• Gravity:
surface water that circulate in regular
patterns around the oceans.  Gravity tends to pull the water down
to pile and create gradient variation.
• The Ocean Currents in the northern
hemisphere deflects towards their right • Coriolis force:
and in the southern hemisphere deflect  The Coriolis force intervenes and
towards their left due to the Coriolis causes the water to move to the right
force. in the northern hemisphere and to the
• The only exception to this rule of the flow left in the southern hemisphere.
of ocean water is found in the Indian  These large accumulations of water
Ocean, where the direction of current and the flow around them are called
flow changes with the change in the Gyres. These produce large circular
direction of monsoon wind flow. currents in all the ocean basins.
• It is noteworthy that the cold currents  One such circular current is the
are lesser in number as compared to the Sargasso Sea.
warm or hot current.
SARGASSO SEA
Forces Responsible for Ocean • The Sargasso Sea, located entirely
Currents within the Atlantic Ocean, is the only sea
in the world without a land boundary.
Primary forces that initiate the movement
of water includes • Instead of being bounded by land, it is
• Heating by solar energy: defined by four ocean currents. These
currents form a clockwise-circulating
 Heating by solar energy causes the gyre that surrounds the Sargasso Sea
water to expand. That is why near the much like a terrestrial coastline would.
equator the ocean water is about 8
cm higher in level than in the middle • It borders the North Atlantic Current on
latitudes. the north, the Gulf Stream on the west,
the North Atlantic Equatorial Current
 This causes a very slight gradient and on the south, and the Canary Current
water tends to flow down the slope. on the east.
The flow is normally from east to west.
• This vast patch of ocean named for a
• Wind: genus of free-floating seaweed called
 Wind blowing on the surface of the Sargassum.
ocean pushes the water to move. Secondary forces that influence the
Friction between the wind and the currents to flow includes
water surface affects the movement of
150
• Temperature difference:  Deep water currents make up the other

 The differential heating of the Sun at 90 percent of the ocean water.
the equator and the poles causes a  These waters move around the ocean
difference in the temperature of ocean basins due to variations in the density
water. and gravity.
 At the equator, since the temperature  Deep waters sink into the deep ocean
is higher the ocean water gets heated basins at high latitudes, where the
up and expands. temperatures are cold enough to
 This makes the warm water lighter and cause the density to increase.
hence rises while at the poles, cold  It is also called Thermohaline Currents.
water is denser and sinks.
On the Basis of Temperature
 Warm water from the equator slowly
moves along the surface towards the • Cold Currents:
poles, while the cold water from the  Cold currents bring cold water into
poles slowly creeps along the bottom warm water areas.
of the sea towards the equator.
 Those that flow from Polar Regions
 Hence, the differences in heating and to equatorward have a lower surface
surface temperatures play a key role temperature and are called cold
in the movements of ocean water. currents (from higher latitudes to
• Salinity difference: lower latitudes).
 The density of water also depends on  These currents are usually found on
its salinity and the salinity of water the west coast of the continents in the
varies from place to place. low and middle latitudes (true in both
hemispheres) and on the east coast in
 Waters of low salinity flow on the
the higher latitudes in the Northern
surface of waters of high salinity while
Hemisphere.
waters of high salinity flow at the
bottom.  They flow in the anti-clockwise
direction in the northern hemisphere
Types of Ocean Currents and in the clockwise direction in the
southern hemisphere.
On the Basis of Depth • Warm Currents:
• Surface currents  Warm currents bring warm water into
 Surface currents constitute about 10 cold water areas.
percent of all the water in the ocean;  Those that flow from equatorial
these waters are the upper 400 m of regions polewards have a higher
the ocean. surface temperature and are warm
 It is also called Wind-Driven Currents. currents (from lower latitudes to
higher latitudes).
 The Surface Currents are a result of
the Wind-stress and are modified by  These currents are usually observed
Coriolis force. Hence Surface currents on the east coast of continents in
mimic Atmospheric Wind Circulations. the low and middle latitudes (true in
both hemispheres) and in the northern
• Deep Water Currents
151
hemisphere they are found on the west • It reaches Europe as the North Atlantic
coasts of continents in high latitudes. drift. This current, flowing at 10 miles per
 These currents flow in the clockwise day, carries the warm equatorial water
direction in the northern hemisphere for over a thousand miles to the coasts
and in the anti-clockwise direction of Europe.
in the southern hemisphere due to • From the North Atlantic, it fans out in
Coriolis force. three directions, eastwards to Britain,
northwards to the Arctic and southwards
Circulation of Atlantic Ocean along the Iberian coast, as the cool
canaries current.
• We shall begin with the North and South
Equatorial Current at the Equator. The • Almost two-thirds of the waters brought
steady trade winds constantly drift two by the Gulf Stream to the Arctic regions is
streams of water from east to west. returned annually to the tropical latitudes
by dense, cold polar water that creeps
• At the shoulder of north-east Brazil, the southwards in the ocean depths.
protruding land mass splits the South
equatorial current into the Cayenne • The canaries current flowing southwards
current which flows along the Guiana eventually merges with the North
coast, and the Brazilian current which Equatorial Current, completing the
flows Southwards along the east coast of clockwise circuit in the North Atlantic
Brazil. Ocean.
• Within this ring of currents, an area in the
North Atlantic Ocean middle of the Atlantic has no perceptible
• In the North Atlantic Ocean, the Cayenne current. A large amount of floating sea-
current is joined and reinforced by the weed gathers and the area is called the
North Equatorial Current and heads Sargasso Sea.
north-westwards as a large mass of • Apart from the clockwise circulation of
equatorial water into the Caribbean Sea. the currents, there are also currents that
• The part of the current enters the Gulf enter the North Atlantic from the Arctic
of Mexico and emerges from the Florida regions. These cold water are blown
Strait between Florida and Cuba as the south by the out-flowing polar winds.
Florida current. • The Irminger Current or East Greenland
• The rest of the equatorial water flows current flows between Iceland and
northwards east of the Antilles to join the Greenland and cools the North Atlantic
Gulf Stream off the south- eastern U.S.A. drift at the point of convergence.
• The Gulf Stream Drift is one of the • The cold Labrador Current drifts south-
strongest ocean currents, 35 to 100 miles eastwards between West Greenland
wide, 2000 feet deep and with a velocity and Baffin Island to meet the warm Gulf
of 3 miles an hour. Stream off Newfoundland, as far South
• The current hugs the coast of America as 50° N Where the icebergs carried
as far as Cape Hatteras (latitude 350 N), South by the labrador current melt.
Where it is deflected eastwards under South Atlantic Ocean
the combined influence of the westerlies
and the rotation of the earth. • The South Atlantic Ocean follows the
same pattern of circulation as the North
152
Atlantic Ocean. • Brazilian Current (Warm)

• The major differences are that the circuit • Falkland Current (Cold)
is anticlockwise and the collection of • South Atlantic Drift (Cold)
sea-weed in the still waters of the mid-
South Atlantic is not so distinctive. • Benguela Current (Cold)
• Where the South equatorial current is split
at Cape Sao Roque, one branch turns
south as the warm Brazilian current.
• Its deep blue is easily distinguishable
from the yellow, muddy waters carried
hundreds of miles out to sea by the
Amazon further north.
• At about 400 S, the influence of the
prevailing westerlies and the rotation of
the earth propel the current eastwards
to merge with the cold West Wind Drift
as the South Atlantic Current.
Circulation of the Pacific Ocean
• On reaching the west coast of Africa the The pattern of circulation in the pacific is
current is diverted northwards as the similar to that of the Atlantic except in
modifications which can be expected from
cold Benguela Current (the counterpart
the greater size and the more open nature
of the canaries current). It brings the cold
of the Pacific Ocean.
polar waters of the west wind drift into
tropical latitudes. North Pacific Ocean
• Driven by the regular South East Trade • The North Equatorial Current flows
Winds, the Benguela current surges westwards with a compensating
equator wards in north- westerly direction Equatorial Counter Current running in
to join the South Equatorial Current. the opposite direction.
• This completes the circulation of the • Due to the greater expanse of the Pacific
current in the South Atlantic Ocean. and the absence of an obstructing land
Between the North and South Equatorial mass the volume of water is much greater
Currents is the east-flowing Equatorial than that of the Atlantic equatorial
Counter Current. current.
Currents in the Atlantic Ocean • The North-East Trade Winds blow the
North Equatorial Current off the coasts
• North Equatorial Current (warm) of the Philippines and Formosa into the
• South Equatorial Current (warm) East China Sea as the Kuroshio or Kuro
• Equatorial Counter Current Siwo or Japan Current.
• Gulf Stream (warm) • Its warm waters are carried polewards as

the North Pacific Drift, keeping the ports
• Florida Current (Warm) of the Alaskan coast ice-free in winter.
• Canaries Current (Cold) • The cold Bering Current or Alaskan
• Labrador Current (Cold) Current creeps southwards from the
narrow Bering Strait and is joined by
153
the Okhotsk Current to meet the warm • Counter Equatorial Current (Warm)
Japan Current as the Oyashio, off • Kuroshio System (Warm)
Hokkaido.
• Oyashio Current (Cold)
• The cold water eventually sinks beneath
the warmer waters of the North Pacific • California Current (Cold)
Drift. The part of it drifts eastwards as • Peruvian or Humboldt Current (Cold)
the cool Californian Current along the • East Australian Current (Warm)
coasts of the western U.S.A. and coalesces
with the North Equatorial Current to • North Pacific Drift (Warm)
complete the clockwise circulation.
Circulation of the Indian Ocean
South Pacific Ocean
• The Equatorial Current, turning
• The current system of the South Pacific is southwards past Madagascar as the
the same as that of the South Atlantic. Agulhas or Mozambique Current
• The South equatorial current, driven merges with the West Wind Drift, flowing
by the south east trade winds, flows eastwards and turns equatorwards as
Southwards along the coast of the west Australian Current.
Queensland as the east Australian • In the North Indian Ocean, there is a
current, bringing warm equatorial waters complete reversal of the direction of
into temperate waters. currents between summer and winter,
• The current turns eastwards towards due to the changes of monsoon winds.
New Zealand under the full force of the • In summer from June to October, when
westerlies in the Tasman Sea and merges the dominant wind is the South-West
with part of the cold West wind drift as Monsoon, the currents are blown from
the South Pacific current. a south-westerly direction as the South
• Obstructed by the tip of Southern Chile, West Monsoon Drift.
the current turns northwards along the • This is reversed in winter, beginning
Western coast of South America as the from December, when the North-East
cold humboldt or Peruvian current. Monsoon blows the currents from the
• The cold water chills any wind that north-east as the North-East Monsoon
blows on-shore so that the chilean and Drift.
peruvian coasts are practically rainless. • The currents of the North Indian Ocean,
• The region is rich in microscopic marine demonstrates most convincingly the
plants and animals that attract huge dominant effects of winds on the
shoals of fish. circulation of ocean currents.
• The Peruvian current eventually links up Currents in the Indian Ocean
with the South equatorial current and
completes the cycle of current in the • The North East Monsoon Drift
South Pacific Ocean. • The South West Monsoon Drift
Currents in the Pacific Ocean • North Equatorial Current (Warm)
• North Equatorial Current (Warm) • South Equatorial Current (Warm)
• South Equatorial Current (Warm) • Somali Current (Cold)
154
• Mozambique Current (Warm)  Currents are referred to by their drift.

• Madagascar Current (Warm)  Usually, the currents are strongest near
• Agulhas Current (Warm) the surface and may attain speeds
over five knots (1 knot = ~1.8 km). [At
• West Australian Current (Cold) depths, currents are generally slow
with speeds less than 0.5 knots].
Effects of Ocean Currents  Ships usually follow routes which are
• Rains: aided by ocean currents and winds.
 Warm ocean currents bring rain to
coastal areas and even interiors. UPWELLING AND
Example: Summer Rainfall in British
Type climate. DOWNWELLING IN THE
 Warm currents flow parallel to the east
coasts of the continents in tropical OCEAN
and subtropical latitudes. This results • Upwelling and downwelling describe
in warm and rainy climates. These mass movements of the ocean, which
areas lie in the western margins of the affect both surface and deep currents.
subtropical anticyclones. • These movements are essential in stirring
• Desert formation: the ocean, delivering oxygen to depth,
 Cold ocean currents have a direct distributing heat, and bringing nutrients
effect on desert formation in west to the surface.
coast regions of the tropical and
subtropical continents. Upwelling
 There is fog and most of the areas are • Upwelling is the movement of cold, deep,
arid due to desiccating effect (loss of often nutrient-rich water to the surface
moisture). mixed layer; and downwelling is the
• Fishing: movement of surface water to deeper
depths.
 Mixing of cold and warm ocean
currents bear the richest fishing • It occurs when surface waters diverge
grounds in the world. (move apart), enabling upward movement
of water. Some of the most important
 Example: Grand Banks around upwelling regions are along the coasts
Newfoundland, Canada (Labrador of continents. In these coastal upwelling
current and Gulf Stream), and North- regions, surface winds push water away
Eastern Coast of Japan (Oyashio and from the shore and create a divergence
Kuroshio currents). at the coast, which is replaced by water
 The mixing of warm and cold currents from depth.
helps to replenish the oxygen and • Upwelling brings water to the surface
favor the growth of planktons, the that is enriched with nutrients important
primary food for fish population. for primary productivity (algal growth)
 The best fishing grounds of the world that in turn supports richly productive
exist mainly in these mixing zones. marine ecosystems.
• Navigation: • So, Upwelling regions are often measured
155
by their productivity due to the influx of because of the nutrients get used up and
nutrients to the surface mixed layer and are not continuously resupplied by the
euphotic zone (sunlit layer) by upwelling cold, nutrient-rich water from below the
currents. surface.
• For example, the rich fishing grounds • Seasonal upwelling and downwelling
along the west coasts of Africa and also occur along the West Coast of the
South America are supported by year- United States. In winter, winds blow
round coastal upwelling. from the south to the north, resulting
in downwelling. During the summer,
Downwelling winds blow from the north to the south,
and water moves offshore, resulting in
• Downwelling occurs when surface waters
upwelling along the coast.
converge (come together), pushing
the surface water downwards. Regions
of downwelling have low productivity
156
CHAPTER - 14
OCEAN TEMPERATURE AND

SALINITY
OCEAN TEMPERATURE  But highest temperature is not found
near the equator instead but noticed
at the tropics (high rainfall, cloud cover
Introduction = high albedo/ reflection of sunrays)
• The study and research of the temperature • Variation due to Hemisphere
of the oceans is very significant for
determining the  Unequal distribution of land and water.
 Movement of huge volumes of water  Northern hemisphere is warmer than
(vertical and horizontal ocean currents), southern because of large land mass
in northern hemisphere (High specific
 Type and distribution of marine heat of water causes slower heating of
organisms at different depths of it).
oceans,
• Prevailing winds (Longitudinal variation
 Climate of coastal region, etc. of temperature)
• Insolation (Incoming Solar Radiation)  The offshore winds (Winds blow
is the main energy source for ocean towards the ocean from the land) drive
temperature. warm surface water away from coast.
• Oceans play a vital role in energy and  This results in upwelling of cold water
temperature regulation on earth (it from below.
warms slowly in comparison of land due
to its specific heat of the water).  The onshore winds raise the
temperature at coast by piling up
• Average temperature of ocean = 3-5 warm water near it.
degree Celsius
• Ocean currents
• However average surface temperature of
ocean water = 25 degree  Oceanic currents describe the
movement of water from one location
Factors affecting the Temperature to another.
distribution on Ocean water  Warm ocean currents - Increases the

temperature of cold areas (like Gulf
• Latitude stream)
 Surface water temperature reduces  Cold ocean currents - Lowers the
from the equator towards the pole. temperature in cold areas (Like Canary
 It is because of the declining intensity current)
of insolation per unit area while moving • Enclosed and open sea
towards pole.
 Temperature at Lower latitudes =
157

Enclosed sea > Open sea is situated below the thermocline in the
 Temperature at Higher latitude = Open deep ocean.
sea > Enclosed sea • One thing we can notice that the
• Physical characteristics of the sea maximum Temperature of the oceans
surface: is always noticed around the surface
water because they directly receive the
 Boiling point of the sea water increases heat from the Sun and the same heat
with increasing salinity and vice versa. is transmitted to the lower sections
 Salinity increased --> Boiling point of the oceans through the process of
increased --> Evaporation decreased conduction.
• Diurnal range of temperature • Therefore, it results into decrease of
 Maximum temperature in day and Temperature with the increasing depth,
minimum temperature in nighttime. but the rate at which temperature
reduces is not uniform throughout.
 Tropical water has higher diurnal range
(due to less cloud) than equatorial • The temperature reduces very rapidly
waters. Because heating and cooling up to the depth of 200 m and after that
of water rapid under clear sky. the rate of decrease of Temperature is
slowed down.
• Annual range of temperature
 Bigger the size of ocean is related to: Vertical distribution of
Better mixing of water and heat + Slow Temperature
heating. Hence, lower annual range of
temperature. The Temperature profile of oceans over
middle and low latitudes can be expressed
 Pacific Ocean –> Lower annual range as a three-layer system from surface to the
than Atlantic Ocean bottom.
• First layer – Represents the top layer
Horizontal and Vertical of warm oceanic waters. It is around
Distribution of Temperature 500 meters thick with the range of
Temperature between 20 – 25° c. This
Basic information about the ocean layer is present during the entire year in
temperature Tropical/low latitudinal areas, but it is
• The Temperature – depth profile for the present only during summer in the high
ocean waters reveal how the Temperature latitudes of the earth.
reduces with increasing depth. The profile • Second / Thermocline Layer – it lies
also shows the Boundary region between below the first layer and is featured by
the surface waters and the deeper layers. rapid decrease in Temperature with
• Mostly the boundary usually begins at increasing depth and is 500 -1,000 m
around 100 –400 meters below the sea thick.
surface and extends several hundreds of • Third layer -It is very cold and stretches
Kilometers. up to the deep ocean floor. Near the
• This boundary region is known as Arctic and Antarctic circles, the surface
THERMOCLINE. water Temperatures are close to 0° C and
therefore the Temperature change with
• Around 90% of the total volume of water the depth is very slight. In this region only
158
one layer of cold water appears, which as the upper limit to demarcate ‘brackish
extends from surface to deep ocean floor. water’.
• Even small difference in ocean surface
Horizontal distribution of salinity (i.e., concentration of dissolved
Temperature salts) can have dramatic impact on the
• The average Temperature of surface water cycle and ocean circulation.
water of the oceans is around 27°C and it
slowly reduces from the equator towards
the poles. VARIOUS SOURCES OF SALTS IN
OCEAN WATER
• The rate of decrease of Temperature with
increasing latitude is generally 0.5°C/ • Sediments carried by rivers.
latitude. • Submarine volcanism at Oceanic Ridge.
• The mean Temperature is around 22°C at • Chemical reaction between rocks of
20° latitudes, 14° C at 40° latitudes and geothermal vent
0° C near poles. The ocean water in the • of volcano and cold water.
Northern hemisphere record relatively
higher Temperature as compare to the • Erosion of oceanic rocks.
Southern hemisphere.
• However, the highest Temperature is
Factors affecting the salinity of
not recorded at the equator but slightly sea/ocean waters
towards North of it. The mean annual • Factors that increase salinity (due
Temperatures for the Northern and to increase in salt concentration by
Southern hemisphere are around 19° C extracting freshwater from the ocean)
and 16° C respectively.
 Evaporation process is responsible for
• This difference is because of the unequal removing the water molecules from
distribution of land and water in the the ocean’s surface waters, leaving the
northern and southern hemispheres. salt behind.
 Ice formation as freezing of ice leaves
OCEAN SALINITY salt in the water.
 Advection of more saline water
Introduction
 Mixing with more saline deep water
• Throughout history of earth, certain (Due to the ocean currents)
procedures have served to make the
 Solution of salt deposits
ocean salty. The erosion of rocks delivers
minerals, including salt, into the ocean. • Factors that decrease salinity (due to
the decrease in salt concentration by
• Salinity is an important property of sea
incorporating freshwater into the ocean)
water and it is determined by the amount
of salt (in gm) dissolved in 1,000 gm (1 kg)  Precipitation on the ocean surface
of seawater. waters adds water molecules.
• It is usually manifested as parts per  Melting of ice which dilutes the
thousand (o/oo) or ppt. concentration of salt in the water.
• Salinity of 24.7 o/oo has been regarded  Advection of less saline water
159
 Mixing with less saline deep water (Due • The Mediterranean Sea -very higher
to the ocean currents) salinity due to high process of evaporation.
 Inflow of fresh water from land • Black Sea - Salinity is very low in Black
Sea because of enormous freshwater
Horizontal Distribution of Salinity brought by Rivers.
• The salinity for normal open ocean varies • Indian Ocean - The mean salinity of the
between 33 ‰ and 37 ‰. In the Land Indian Ocean is 35 ‰.
locked Red Sea, it is as high as 41 ‰, • Bay of Bengal - The low salinity trend is
on the other side in estuaries and the noticed in the Bay of Bengal due to influx
Arctic, the salinity changes from 0 - 35 of fresh river water by the River Ganga.
‰, seasonally. In hot and dry areas, • Arabian Sea – as compare to Bay of
where evaporation is high, sometimes Bengal, the Arabian Sea shows higher
the salinity reaches to 70 ‰. salinity due to high evaporation and low
• Highest salinity is noticed near tropics. influx of fresh water.
• It reduces towards equator and pole
 Equator = Heavier rains causes
Vertical Distribution of Salinity
incorporation of freshwater • Salinity gets altered with depth, however
 Poles = Less evaporation prevents the way it changes depends upon the
removal of water molecule from the location of the sea/ocean.
surface • Salinity at the surface water increases by
• Pacific Ocean - The salinity difference in the loss of water to ice or evaporation or
the Pacific Ocean is mostly because of reduces by the influx of fresh waters e.g.
its shape and larger areal extent. Salinity from the Rivers.
reduces from 35 ‰- 31 ‰ near the • Salinity at greater depth is very much
western parts of the Northern hemisphere fixed, because there is no way that water
due to the influx of melted water from the is ‘lost’ by evaporation, or the salt is
Arctic region. In the same way, after 15° - ‘added.’
20° South, it reduces to 33 ‰. • There is a noticeable difference in the
• Atlantic Ocean - The mean salinity of salinity between the surface water and
the Atlantic Ocean is around 36 ‰. The the deep zones of the oceans. The lower
highest salinity is noticed between 15°- salinity water rests above the higher
20° latitudes. Highest salinity (37 ‰) is salinity dense ocean water.
observed between 20° N-30° N and 20° • Mostly Salinity increases with depth and
W - 60° W. It gradually reduces towards there is a distinct zone known as the
the North region. halocline, where salinity increases very
• The North Sea - despite its location in sharply.
higher latitudes, records higher salinity • If we keep the other factors being
due to more saline water carried by the constant, increasing salinity of seawater
North Atlantic Drift. causes its density to increase. High
• Baltic Sea - records low salinity due salinity seawater mostly sinks below
to influx of fresh river waters in large the lower salinity water which leads to
quantity. stratification by salinity.
160
Relation between Salinity, cooled further it expands and becomes

less dense than the surrounding water
Temperature and Density which is why when water freezes at 0°C
Note: Salinity, Temperature and density of it floats.
water are interrelated. Hence, any change • Density = Mass/Volume
in the Temperature or density influences the
salinity of an area. • Example = Let the mass of a definite
water body is 20 and volume is 10, which
gives density is equal to 2. If the volume
increases to 20 keeping mass constant,
the density reduces to 1.
Positive relationship between

Salinity and density
• As density increases, the amount of salts
in the water (also known as salinity),
increases.
• The ocean water is constantly churning
underneath, bringing nutrients up to the
top.
• The difference in density of cold water
Inverse relationship between
versus density of warmer water is
Temperature and density responsible for ocean currents and
• As temperature increases, the space upwelling.
between water molecules increases • Warm seawater floats and cold (4° C),
(hence volume increases) which therefore dense (1 g/cm3) seawater sinks, so ocean
decreases the salinity. temperatures also vary across the surface
• If the temperature of water decreases its and into the depths.
density increases, but only to a point.
• At a temperature of 4°C pure water
reaches its maximum or peak density,
161
REFERENCES
https://ncert.nic.in/
https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/interior/
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov
https://southamptonweather.co.uk
https://www.space.com/
https://www.geomorphology.org.uk/what-geomorphology
https://igws.indiana.edu/RocksAndMinerals
https://theozonehole.org
https://www.isro.gov.in
https://www.nationalgeographic.org
https://pnsn.org/outreach/earthquakesources/volcanic
https://www.esc.cam.ac.uk/research/
http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals
https://www.qld.gov.au/environment/land/management/soil/soil-explained
https://www.sciencedirect.com
https://www.britannica.com
https://www.noaa.gov/
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov
https://www.livescience.com/
https://earth.usc.edu/
http://thebritishgeographer.weebly.com/the-climate-of-tropical-regions
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CHAPTER – 2 Stages of Continental Drift................................... 30

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Geomorphic Processes Vs Geomorphic Agents 59 Running Water as a Geomorphic Agent ......................... 77

Exogenic Forces: Weathering ......................................... 59 Courses of a River ............................................... 77

Physical/Mechanical Weathering......................... 59 Running Water: Erosion, Transportation,

CHAPTER – 9 Northeast Monsoon (Retreating Monsoon) ....... 124

Humidity ............................................................. 104 Extra-Tropical/Middle-Latitude/Temperate Cyclones .... 128

Clouds ............................................................... 104 Stages of Formation and Disappearance ..................... 128

Solar Radiation .................................................. 108 Climatic Conditions................................................. 131

Temperature ...................................................... 111 Distribution ............................................................. 132

Inversion of Temperature .................................. 111 Climatic Conditions:................................................ 132

Land and Sea Breeze........................................ 112 Natural Vegetation .................................................. 133

Air Masses ......................................................... 113 Climatic Conditions................................................. 133

Fronts ................................................................ 113 Natural Vegetation: ................................................. 134

Characteristics of the Jet Streams .................... 118 Desert Climate........................................................ 134

Development of the Jet Streams ....................... 118 Climatic Conditions:................................................ 135

Types of Jet Streams......................................... 118 Natural Vegetation .................................................. 135

Global Warming ............................................................. 119 Life in the Deserts .................................................. 136

Greenhouse Effect ............................................. 119 Important Mineral Region ....................................... 136

Greenhouse Gases (GHGs) .............................. 120 Mediterranean Climate ........................................... 136

Ozone Hole........................................................ 120 Climatic Conditions................................................. 136

International Efforts............................................ 121 Natural Vegetation .................................................. 137

Global Warming ................................................. 121 Temperate Continental Grasslands /

Climatic Conditions ................................................. 137 Ocean Currents ............................................................. 150

THE EARTH ANDTHE UNIVERSE

Earth. dioxide but has no water.

• The tropics thus mark the limit of the

is absorbed by the Earth’s atmosphere latitude and longitude.

• Longitudes are also called Meridians. Longitude and Time

• The whole world is divided into 24

International Date Line

FIG: INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE

THE ORIGIN AND

MODERN THEORIES: Steady State Theory

FORMATION OF STARS FORMATION OF PLANETS

• A planetesimal is an object formed was declared a dwarf planet.

• Among the eight planets the first four

• Configuration of the surface of the • Gold mines go to a depth of 5 km

to a dynamo effect which is responsible  The mean density of material in

200km) is a highly viscous, mechanically

• The core is made up of very heavy

to lie somewhere between 30000°C and types of processes or forces: Exogenic

ash and cinders. Such a volcanic cone is

• These plateaus are formed by the uplift rocks.

Stages of Continental Drift

Argument for the Continental glaciation. Counterparts of this

 equator wards due to the interaction consideration.

the earth’s surface. causing thermal differences in the mantle

continental slope.  They are very common in the Pacific

 Abyssal plains are as irregular as the • Mid-Oceanic Ridges

in the Pacific Ocean which is known as • Atoll

1 Paleomagnetism is the study of

(Pacific plate), sometimes a combination • Nazca plate: Between South America

• Rates of Plate Movement • Iranian plate.

 The Arctic Ridge has the slowest rate

Major Tectonic Plates

Transcurrent Edge Or Conservative

• The normal temperature gradient on DISTRIBUTION OF

VOLCANISM AND EARTHQUAKES