Physical Geography Flashcards
What are the factors affecting temperatures?
Altitude , Latitude, Cloud Cover and Distance from Sea.
How does Latitude affect temperature?
-The suns rays strike the earth at different angles of incidence.
-At lower latitudes which are places nearer the equator, the concentration of the sun’s rays are spread over a smaller area which creates a higher temperature over the area.
-At higher latitudes such as places nearer the poles, the concentration of the sun’s rays are spread over a wider area which creates a lower temperature over the area.
-Therefore, an increase in latitude leads to a decrease in temperature.
How does Altitude affects temperature?
-When the Earth’s surface receives the sun’s energy from the sun, it emits it in the form of longwave radiation.
-Hence, the particles near the Earth’s surface would receive more heat from longwave radiation than the layers of particles above it.
-Moreover, the density of the particles is higher at lower altitudes while it is lower at higher altitudes. This means that the particles at the lower altitudes absorb more heat from longwave radiation compared to particles at the top of the mountain.
-The higher up you are in the atmosphere, the further you are from Earth’s surface. This means that the higher the altitude, the lower the temperature.
How does Cloud Cover affect temperature?
During the day, the absence of clouds allows most of the sun’s energy to reach the earth’s surface which causes the air near the earth’s surface to be warm.
During the night, the absence of clouds allows most of the heat energy radiated from the earth’s surface to escape into space causing the air to be cool at night.
With the presence of clouds, most of the heat radiated from the sun will be reflected off into space.Moreover, the clouds trapped heat in the earth’s surface.Overall, the air near the earth’s surface is cool.
During the Night, the presence of clouds absorb most of the heat radiated from the earth’s surface which trapped the heat causing the air near the earth’s surface to be warm at night.
Describe the distribution of Volcanoes.
-Most of the volcanoes are formed at convergent plate boundaries where they formed along the Pacific Ring of Fire where there are several converging plate boundaries around the Pacific Ocean.
-For Example, the plates associated with the Pacific Ring of Fire which are the Pacific Plate, Phillipine plate,
Nazca Plate, Eurasian plate, Australian plate.
-Volcanoes are also formed at places associated with divergent plate boundaries such as the Atlantic Ocean and East Africa.
Describe the locations of Earthquakes.
-Earthquakes can occur at convergent,divergent and transform plate boundaries, but mostly occurring at convergent plate boundaries as more stress can be build up.
-For example, earthquakes occur in Tohoku, Japan in 2011 and the earthquake in the Indian Ocean in 2004 are examples of earthquakes caused by convergent plate boundaries.
-3/4 of the earthquakes occurred along the Pacific Ring of Fire every year.
-However, some earthquakes occur a distance away from plate boundaries.
-For example, the earthquake in Sichuan, China in 2008 occurred on the Eurasian plate. This was due to the subduction of the Indian plate under the Eurasian plate.
What are the characteristics of monsoon rain? Give one example of a country that have this.
MAT:High
ATR:Low
TAP:High
MMP:Seasonally high and low with distinct wet and dry seasons
Ex:Nepal
What are the characteristics of Equatorial climate?Give one example of a country that have this.
MAT:High
ATR:Low
TAP:High
MMP:Consistently high with no distinct wet and dry season.
Ex:Singapore
What are the characteristics of Cool temperate climate?Give one example of a country that have this.
MAT:Low
ATR:High
TAP:Low
MMP:Consistently low with 4 seasons
Ex:Japan
