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Course Conclusions

Two General Course Goals:

1. To instill an appreciation of natural characteristics of the environment, and in particular, Earth's landforms, through an understanding the natural processes that shape these landforms

• Geography as WHERE and WHY
  

  Chippewa Moraine, Northern Wisconsin: Glacial Landforms

An introduction to the geographic contributions to environmental science: traditional fields such as geology, biology, botany, meteorology with a focus on the natural environment

• focus on natural processes in the environment

• focus of many of the lectures and exams

• material in the McKnight textbook: Physical Geography

2. To introduce you to some major environmental issues and concerns: in essence, issues that arise out of the intersection of the natural environment and human activities in that environment.

Areas of the US Crossed by more than one cloud of nuclear fallout

An introduction to environmental studies: involves basic understanding of natural processes, but broader: pull together elements from the diverse environmental sciences and add a focus on human relationships to and activities in the environment

• focus on relations between human and natural processes in the environment

• focus of some lectures, and course project

• material in the Middleton textbook: The Global Casino

Geography has always been a mixture of environmental science (physical geography) and environmental studies (environmental geography)

Introduction to Earth's Physical Environment

The Four Earthly Spheres

1. Defining Geography

2. Introduction to Earth's Physical Environment

• earth size, shape, geographic grid, earth movement, seasons

3. Classifying the Natural World

• environmental spheres, ecosystems, biomes

4. Natural Cycles

• hydro cycle

5. Time and Space and Environmental Change

Introduction to Human Environmental Relations

The Centralia PA Mine Fire

1. Human Environmental Relations: Introduction

• environmental determinism, cultural determinism, human/environmental interaction

2. Human Environmental Relations: Examples

• climate, vegetation, landforms

• Centralia PA case study

3. Human Perspectives on the Physical Environment

4. Human Forces Behind Environmental Issues

5. Human Induced Imbalances

6. Interest in Environmental Issues

7. Sustainable Development

Portraying the Earth

Map from the Color Landform Atlas of the USA

1. The Nature of Maps

• scale, graticule, projections, generalization, content, symbolization

2. Developments in Mapping: Computer aided Mapping

• GPS, GIS, Remote Sensing

Introduction to the Atmosphere

1. Composition of the Atmosphere

• gasses, particles

2. Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere

• temperature, pressure, composition

3. Weather and Climate

4. Elements of Weather and Climate

• temperature, pressure, wind, and moisture content

• latitude, atmospheric and ocean circulation, land/water, elevation, topography

Introduction to the Hydrosphere

The Earth's Hydrosphere

1. The Nature of Water

2. The Hydrologic Cycle

2a. Surface to Air Water Movement

2b. Air to Surface Water Movement

2c. Movement on and Beneath Earth's Surface

2d. The Oceans

2e. Permanent Ice

2f. Surface Waters

2g. Underground Water

The Process of Studying Landforms

• Knowing Where particular landforms are

• Knowing What the characteristics of the landforms are

• Knowing Why the landform came to be: internal and external processes

• Internal vs External Forces

Internal Processes: building up landforms

1. Crustal Rearrangement: Earth's dynamic crust and the consequences

2. Vulcanism: origin and movement of molten rock

3. Diastrophism: deformation of rock in the Earth's crust due to pressure from below

External Processes: breaking down landforms: forces in atmosphere + hydrosphere

Weathering, Mass Wasting, and Erosion

Denudation: disintegration, wearing away, and removal of rock material; implies a lowering of earth's surface

• three processes: weathering, mass wasting, erosion

1. Weathering: processes that break up rock at the earth's surface

1a. A Typology of Cracks and Crevices in Rock:

• microscopic spaces, joints, faults, lava vesicles, solution cavities

1b. Weathering Agents

• mechanical, chemical, biological

2. Mass Wasting: processes that move fragmented rock short distances down slope

• fall, slide, slump, flow, creep

3. Erosion

• processes that move fragmented rock relatively long distances

• Fluvial Processes in the natural environment

Fluvial Processes: any environmental processes involving the flow and movement of water on the Earth's surface

• overland flow: unchanneled down-slope movement of surface water
  
• stream flow: channeled movement of water along a valley bottom

1. Impact of Fluvial Processes on the Landscape

• effects great: major theories of landform development based on fluvial processes

1a. Traditional Theory of Landform Development: The Geomorphic Cycle

• evolution: initial surface, youth, maturity, old age (peneplain), rejuvenation

1b. Critique of Davisian Theory: Crustal Change and Slope Development

1c. Equilibrium Theory

• dynamic equilibrium rather than evolution

2. Fundamental Definitions and Concepts of Fluvial Processes

2a. Valleys and Interfluves

2b. Drainage Basins - Watersheds - Drainage Divides

2c. Erosion: by overland flow vs. streamflow: splash, rill, gulley, and stream erosion

2d. Transportation of rock particles overland / streamflow: stream-load, competence, capacity

2e. Deposition: of alluvium

3. Stream Channels: Key Characteristics of individual streams and rivers

3a. Structural Relationships: relation to bedrock: dendritic, trellis, radial, centripetal

3b. Channel Flow: friction

3c. Turbulence

3d. Channel Changes: depth, straight, meandering

4. Stream Systems: how streams and rivers relate to each other

4a. Drainage Basins: hierarchy

4b. Stream Orders: first, second, third,...

4c. Permanence of Flow: perennial vs intermittent

5. Shaping and Reshaping of Valleys by Fluvial Processes

• valley deepening, widening, lengthening, deposition, rejuvenation

Karst and Hydrothermal Processes: Underground Water and Landforms

1. Karst Processes and Landscapes

Related to chemical weathering: breakdown and removal of rock due to chemical reaction between water and rock

Relatively widespread effect on earth's surface

• effect greater in areas with higher precipitation

• requires limestone bedrock

1a. Solution and Precipitation

• water: pure vs weak solution of carbonic acid (water as a solvent)

• chemical reaction with limestone

1b. Caverns and Related Features

• Caverns: solution cavities large enough for a human to get into

• Speleothems: Cave Deposits (from water)

1c. Karst Topography

• development of Karst landscape

• dolines (sinkholes), uvala, tower karst (mogotes)

2. Hydrothermal Features

In essence: underground water heated by magma then forced to earth's surface

• very localized features; leave only small imprint on earth's surface

2a. Hot Springs

• phenomena and deposits: terraces, domes, cones

2b. Geysers

• eruption of heated water from underground: water slowly fills underground chamber; heated; pressure expels water

2c. Fumaroles

• what are they

Glaciers and Glacial Landforms

The role of ice, and in particular moving ice - glaciers - in shaping landforms

What we can see today in the landscape is the result of existing glaciers and the most recent ice age: the Pleistocene

• periglacial processes

• sea level changes

• crustal depression (up to 4000 feet)

• precipitation changes

1. Glaciers Formation and Flow

• glaciers form when there is a year to year accumulation of snow

• new snow accumulates on top of the old snow - compacting it into ice

• gravitational forces pull ice downslope

• accumulation zones and ablation zones

Overall result of glacial flow is a form of erosion by water

• moving and shaping soil and rock particles into landforms

• scraping and polishing bedrock

2. Mountain Glaciers (skip this section)

3. Continental Ice Sheets and Glaciers

3a. Development and Flow of Pleistocene Glaciers

• where glaciers developed

3b. Erosion by Ice Sheets

• effectiveness of erosion by glaciers, plucking, roche moutonnee

• glacial abrasion: grooves (bigger), striations (smaller)

...Transportation by glaciers...

3c. Deposition by Ice Sheets and Glaciers during Pleistocene

• identify and explain origin

• Unstratified, no patterns:
  • drift, till, till plain

• Unstratified, patterns:
  • moraine, terminal moraine, recessional moraine, ground moraine, drumlins

• Stratified, patterns due to glacial runoff:
  • outwash plains, eskers, kame, kettles

• Geography Courses at OWU

• Geology Courses at OWU

Broadest Goals of Course:

Appreciation that our environment is dynamic and constantly being modified by natural processes and human activities.

Basic understanding of the natural processes

• class lectures

Basic understanding of human induced changes in the environment, why they occur, their impact, and complexity

• course project

Heightened awareness of the complexity and importance of the environment we live in and depend upon in so many ways. Basis for a lifelong appreciation for, and concern about, the Earth's environment.

E-mail: jbkrygie@owu.edu

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