SSV 3013:

Environmental Science

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

March 26, 2023

 Group Activity – Landslide and
mud flood in Cameron highlands

 Discuss the possible causes of landslide and mud flood

in Cameron Highlands
 How the physical environment affected by human
activities?
Outline
Atmosphere
Hydrosphere
Lithosphere
 INTRODUCTION

 Earth component:
atmosphere, hydrosphere,
lithosphere and
biosphere/ecosphere
 Biosphere (living things) Biosphere
depends and interrelated
with 3 others spheres (non Lithosphere
living things)
 Atmosphere
 Composition: gases, particulate/aerosol and
water vapor
 Circulate due to heating and cooling
 Moves horizontally to the earth surface
 Combination of air movements create wind and
weather pattern
 Divided into 4 layers: troposphere, stratosphere,
mesosphere & thermosphere
Major atmospheric gases
Gas Percentage (volume)
Nitrogen 78.08
Oxygen 20.94
Argon 0.934
Carbon dioxide 0.035
Neon 0.00182
Helium 0.00052
Methane 0.00015
Krypton 0.00011
Hydrogen 0.00005
Nitrous oxide 0.00005
Xenon 0.000009

Source: Cunningham & Saigo pg.371

Atmospheric layers
 Troposphere

 Lower part of atm (10-12km above the earth)

 Weather occurs
 Compose 75% of atm mass
 Temperature declines 6oC for every km above the
surface
 Produce cold trap that causes condensation of
atm water vapor
 Condensation of water vapor produces clouds
 Stratosphere
 Extent from the top of troposphere for about
50km
 Warms with increasing altitude
 Composition: similar to troposphere except
water vapor (1000x lower) and Ozone (1000x
greater)
 Mesosphere
 Above stratosphere
 50-80 km from earth’s surface
 Temperature decrease with increasing
altitude
 Lowest temperature -80oC
 Thermosphere
 Compose of highly ionized gases
 Extent up to 300 km
 Increase in temperature (>800oC)
 Heated by high energy solar
 Processes that removes
materials from the
atmosphere
 Sedimentation
 Particles heavier than air settle out as a
result of gravitational attraction to earth
 Ex.Particulates from volcanic eruptions or
burning coal
 Rain out
 Precipitation (rain, ice, snow) can
physically and chemically flush material
from atmosphere
 Ex. CO2 + H2O H2CO3
 Oxidation
 Oxygen chemically combined with another
substance
 Ex. Sulfur dioxide oxides to sulfur trioxide
(SO3) dissolved in water form sulfuric acid
 Photo dissociation
 Solarradiation can break down chemical
bonds
 Ex.Ozone O3 in the atmosphere may
break down to O2
 Hydrosphere

Earth’s water
Compartments
 70% of earth’s surface
covered by water
 Freshwater only 2.4%
Freshwater resources

Source: Enger & Smith pg. 351

Hydrologic Cycle
 Explain movement of water between
aquatic, atmospheric and terrestrial
compartments driven by solar energy

Source: Enger & Smith, pg. 353

 Hydrologic Cycle
 All water is locked into a constant recycling process
- Hydrologic Cycle.
 Solar energy evaporates water.
Evapotranspiration - Plants giving off water.
Warm, moist air rises, cools, condenses,
and falls as precipitation.
Some precipitation remains on the
surface and evaporates, while most sinks
into the soil or returns to the oceans.
 Hydrologic Cycle

 Runoff - Surface water that moves across the

surface of the land and enters streams and rivers.
 Groundwater - Water that fills spaces in the
substrate.
 Water entering the soil is either taken up by
plants roots or moves downward until it
reaches an impervious layer of rock, and
accumulates in porous strata called an aquifer.
Human Influences on
Hydrologic Cycle
 Water used for cooling in power plant
or irrigate crops evaporation will
increase
 Affect local atm conditions
 Remove vegetation increase runoff and
decrease infiltration: More erosion
 Urban: high impervious and paved
surfaces increase runoff and reduced
infiltration: flooding problems
 Lithosphere
 Compose of crust and upper layer of mantle
 Earth can be divided into 3 layers
 Crust
 Mantle
 Core
Structure of the earth

Source: Enger & Smith; pg.304

Core
 Inner layer
 Consist of mineral eg. Fe (dense and hot)
 Thousand diameter in km
 Inner core is solid , outer core is semisolid
 Produced electromagnetic field of earth
Mantle
 Rock layered
 Less dense compared to core
 Consist of Oxygen, Silicon and Magnesium
Crust
 Outermost layer: cool, lightweight, brittle
rock
 Consist > 200 types of mineral
 Major element O2, Silicon, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, Na,
K
 Rock Cycle
 Consist of processes of creation, destruction and
metamorphosis
 Each rock types can converted to other types
 Three major rock classification
 Igneous rocks
 Sedimentary rocks
 Metamorphic rocks
 Igneous Rocks
 Igni (Latin) means fire
 Solidified from hot, molten magma or lava
 Most rock in earth’s crust is igneous
 Magma extruded from volcanic vents cool
quickly formed finely crystalline rocks (basalt,
rhyolite, andesite)
 Magma cools slowly makes coarsely crystalline
rocks such as gabro (rich in iron and silica),
granite (rich in Al and silica)
 Sedimentory Rocks
 Go through weathering process
 Produced when loose grain or other consolidated by
time and pressure (involved erosion and
sedimentation)
 Sandstone from layers of sand
 Mudstone consist of hardened mud and clay
 Tuff formed from volcanic ash
 Conglomerates are aggregates of sand and gravel
 Limestone composed of cemented remains of marine
organisms
Sedimentary Rock
 Metamorphic Rocks
 Form from melting, contorting and
recrystalizing of other rocks (by heat and
pressure)
 Chemical reactions alter both composition and
structure
 Extreme pressure and heat form diamonds, jade
 Moderate condition: graphite, talc
 Common: marble (limestone), quartzite
(sandstone) and slate (mudstone and shale)
 Klang Gates
Quartzite Ridge
 Rock Cycle

Weathering
Igneous Heat
Erosion
Pressure
Sedimentation Subduction

Melting Melting
Heat
Pressure

Weathering
Erosion
Sedimentary Sedimentation Metamorphic
 Soil
 Thin covering over the land
 Consist of minerals, organic material, living
organism, air, water
 Formed from combination of physical, chemical
and biological events over the time
 Good soil:45% mineral, 25% air, 25% water and
5% organic
Component of soil

Source: Enger & Smith, pg. 307

 Soil Properties

 Include soil texture, structure, moisture

biotic content and chemical composition
 Soil texture determined by size of particle
 Gravel (>2mm in diameter), sand (0.05-
2.0mm), silt (0.002-0.05) and clay
(<0.002mm)
 Many different soil classification
 Ideal: loam for agriculture
 Soil texture

Source: Enger & Smith, pg. 308

 Soil Profile
 A series of horizontal layers in soil that differ
in chemical composition, physical
properties, particle size and organic matter
 Each layer know as horizon
O Horizon
 Layer of litter (undecomposed or
decomposed organic matter)
 Forest soil have an horizon O
A Horizon
 Topsoil
 Organic matter decomposed
 Most of living organism and nutrients found
 Dark color: humus
E Horizon
 E: eluviations; contains few nutrient because
water flowing down through soil dissolves and
transport nutrient to B horizon
 Lighter-colored layer
B Horizon
 Called subsoil
 Contains less organic material and fewer organism
than A horizon
 Contains accumulation of nutrient from higher
level
 Rich with Fe, Al and Ca, clay mineral
 Yellow reddish in color
C Horizon
 Weathered parent material
 Contain no organic matter
Source: Enger & Smith, pg. 310