Table Of

Contents
01 Geography as a Discipline

The Origin and Evolution of the

02 Earth

03 Interior of the Earth

Distribution of Oceans and

04 Continents

05 Minerals and Rocks

Geomorphic Processes
06
Landforms and their Evolution
07
08 The Earth and it’s System

09 Atmosphere

10 Climate

11 Rainfall
Nebular Hypothesis (Theory) BIG BANG THEORY

 This theory was developed by  The Big Bang Theory explains the
Immanuel Kant and modified in origin of the universe. It is also
1796 by Pierre Laplace. According called the expanding universe
to this hypothesis, the planets were hypothesis.
formed out of a cloud of material
associated with a youthful sun,  In 1927, Abbe Georges Lemaitre, a
which was slowly rotating. Belgian astronomer was the first to
provide a theory on the origin of the
 In 1900, Chamberlain and Moulton Universe. It was Edwin Hubble who
considered that a wandering star provided evidence that the universe
approached the sun which resulted in is expanding.
the formation of a cigar-shaped
extension of material that got  According to this theory, all matter
separated from the solar surface. that formed the universe existed in
This separated material continued to one point (tiny ball) called
revolve around the sun and slowly singularity having an unimaginable
got condensed into planets. small volume, infinite temperature,
and infinite density.
 The binary theories considered a
companion to be coexisting with the  The great event of the big bang
sun. happened some 13.7 billion years
ago. The tiny ball exploded which
 In 1950, the Nebular Hypothesis was led to a huge expansion and this
revised by Otto Schmidt (in Russia) expansion continues even today.
and Carl Weizascar (in Germany). There was rapid expansion within
According to them, the sun was fractions of a second after the bang.
surrounded by a solar nebula Thereafter, the expansion slowed
consisting mainly of hydrogen and down.
helium along with dust. The friction
and collision of particles led to the  With the expansion some of the
formation of a disk-shaped cloud and energy was converted into matter.
planets were formed through the Within the first three minutes of the
process of accretion.
 big bang event, the first atom began
to form. FORMATION OF STARS

 Within 300,000 years from the big The formation of stars is believed to have
bang, temperature dropped down to taken place some 5-6 billion years ago.
4500 K and gave rise to atomic There are several stages involved in the
matter. The majority of atoms formation of the stars. They include:
formed were hydrogen, along with
helium and traces of lithium. Huge  Nebula – It is a cloud of gas (mainly
clouds of these elements fused hydrogen and helium) and dust in
through gravity to form stars and space. It is a star’s birthplace.
galaxies.
 Protostar – It is an early stage of a
 Once there were two theories for star formation where nuclear fusion
explaining the origin of the universe is yet to begin. It looks like a star, but
– Big Bang theory and Hoyle’s its core is not yet hot enough for
concept of steady state. nuclear fusion to take place.

o The steady state theory  T Tauri Star – It represents an

considered the universe to be intermediate stage between a
roughly the same at any point protostar and a low mass main
in time. sequence star like the sun. It is a
young, low weight star, less than 10
 However, with greater evidence million years old that is still
becoming available about the undergoing gravitational
expanding universe, the Big Bang contraction.
theory was confirmed which
proposes that the universe originated  Main Sequence Star – At this stage,
from a single explosion of a very the core temperature is enough to
minute amount (tiny ball) of matter start the fusion reactions i.e., fusing
of high density and temperature. hydrogen atoms to form helium
atoms. The sun is the main sequence
star.

 Red Giant – A red giant is formed

during the later stages of evolution
as the star runs out of hydrogen fuel
at its centre. However, it still fuses
hydrogen into helium in a shell
surrounding a hot, dense degenerate
helium core. This fusion of hydrogen
into helium around the core releases
much greater energy and pushes
much harder against gravity and
expands the volume of the star.

 Fusion of Heavier Elements – As

the star expends, helium molecules
fuse at the core which prevents the
core from collapsing. When the
fusion of helium ends, the core
 shrinks and begins fusing carbon.  The eight planets namely Mercury,
This process repeats until iron Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
appears at the core. The iron fusion Uranus, and Neptune revolve around
reaction absorbs energy, which the sun in fixed elliptical orbits.
causes the core to collapse. This
implosion transforms massive stars o Mercury, Venus, Earth, and
into supernovae and smaller stars Mars are called the “inner
(sun) into white dwarfs. planets” and terrestrial
planets, which means earth-
 Supernovae and Planetary Nebulae like as they are made up of
– Planetary nebula is an outer layer rocks and metals.
of gas and dust that is lost when the
star changes from Red Giant to o The other four planets –
White Dwarf. This white dwarf Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
becomes a black dwarf when it stops Neptune are called “outer
emitting light. planets” as well as Jovian
(jupiter-like) or Gas Giant
*Supernova is the explosive death of a bigger planets. They are mostly
star, and it obtains the brightness of 100 million larger than terrestrial planets
suns for a short time. Neutron stars are produced and have a thick atmosphere
after a supernova (protons and electrons mainly of helium and
combine to produce neutron stars). hydrogen.

 Pluto was earlier considered a

planet; however, it is now believed
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM to be a “dwarf planet”.

o Dwarf planets are tiny

 Our solar system consists of the sun planets in our solar system.
(the star), eight planets, moons, Any celestial body orbiting
asteroids, comets and huge amounts around the sun, weighing for
of dust-grains and gases. self-gravity and nearly round
is called a dwarf planet.
 The solar system is believed to have
been formed about 5 – 5.6 billion
years ago and the planets were
formed about 4.6 billion years ago.
 the fifth largest natural satellite of
**Updated till November 2023
the solar system.

Dist.* Density@ Radius # Satellites  It is believed that the formation of

Mercury 0.387 5.44 0.383 0 the moon is a result of a giant impact
Venus 0.723 5.245 0.949 0 called ‘big splat’. A large body
Earth 1.000 5.517 1.000 1 (somewhat one to three times the
Mars 1.524 3.945 0.533 2 size of Mars) collided with the earth
Jupiter 5.203 1.33 11.19 95 just after it was formed.
Saturn 9.539 0.70 9.460 146
Uranus 19.182 1.17 4.11 27
Neptune 30.058 1.66 3.88 14
Pluto 39.785 0.5-0.9 -0.3 1

* Distance from the sun in astronomical unit i.e., average

mean distance of the earth is 149.598.000 km = 1
@ Density in gm/cm3
# Radius: Equatorial radius 6378.137 km = 1

MOON

 The moon is the only natural satellite

on the earth. The word satellite
means “companion”. The satellites
move around a planet from west to
east. They do not have their own
light but reflect the light of the sun.

 The moon takes 27 days, 7 hours,

and 43 minutes for both its rotation
and revolution around the earth. It is
  Due to this heavy impact, a large part stages in the evolution of the present
of earth got separated. This portion atmosphere. The first stage is
of blasted material continued to marked by the loss of primordial
revolve around the earth and atmosphere. In the second stage, the
eventually formed the present moon hot interior of the earth contributed
(4.44 billion years ago). to the evolution of the atmosphere.
Finally, the composition of the
atmosphere was modified by the
living world through the process of
photosynthesis.
EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH
 The early atmosphere, with
hydrogen and helium, is supposed to
The earth was a barren, rocky and hot object have been stripped off because of the
with a thin atmosphere of hydrogen and solar wind. During the cooling of the
helium. earth, gases and water vapor were
released from the interior solid earth.
Lithosphere: - This started the evolution of the
present atmosphere. The early
 With the increasing density, the atmosphere largely contained water
temperature inside the earth vapor, nitrogen, carbon dioxide,
increased and the materials started methane, ammonia, and very little
getting separated depending on their free oxygen.
densities. The heavier elements like
iron moved towards the centre and  The process through which the gases
lighter ones moved towards the were outpoured from the interior is
surface. called degassing. Continuous
volcanic eruptions contributed water
 With the passage of time the earth vapor and gases to the atmosphere.
cooled, solidified, and condensed As the earth cooled, the water vapor
into a smaller size and formed the released started getting condensed.
crust (the outer layer of the earth).
The different layers of the earth  The carbon dioxide in the
starting from the surface are crust, atmosphere got dissolved in
mantle, outer core, and inner core. rainwater and the temperature
From crust to the core, density further decreased causing more
increases. condensation and more rain. The
rainwater falling onto the surface got
 It is through the process of collected in the depressions to give
differentiation that the earth forming rise to oceans.
material got separated into different
layers, From the crust to the core, the  The earth’s oceans were formed
density of the material increases. within 500 million years from the
formation of the earth. This tells us
that the oceans are as old as 4,000
Atmosphere: – million years. 2,000 million years
ago, oxygen began to flood the
 The present composition of earth’s atmosphere. The record of life that
atmosphere is chiefly contributed by existed on this planet in different
nitrogen and oxygen. There are three periods is found in rocks in the form
of fossils. The microscopic
structures closely related to the
present form of blue algae have been
found in geological formations much
older than some 3,000 million years.
It can be assumed that life began
to evolve sometime 3,800 million
years ago.
 o The word “astheno” means
STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH weak. Asthenosphere extends
up to 400 km and is the main
source of magma which comes
Crust: - over to the surface during
volcanic eruptions.
 It is the outermost solid part of the
 The boundary which divides the
earth.
lower crust, and the upper mantle is
 The crust is further divided into called the “Mohorovicic”.
upper crust (continental crust)
 Its density is 3.9g/ cm3.
composed of silica and aluminum
(sial) and lower crust (oceanic crust)  The crust and the uppermost part of
made up of silica and magnesium the mantle is called lithosphere. Its
(sima). The boundary between the thickness ranges from 10 – 200 km.
upper crust and the lower crust is
called the “Conorod boundary”.  The mantle accounts for around 84
percent of the Earth’s volume and 67
 The thickness of the crust varies percent of its mass.
under the oceanic and continental
areas. Continental crust is thicker  The mesosphere is also known as the
as compared to the oceanic crust. lower mantle.
The mean thickness of the
continental crust is about 32 km
whereas that of oceanic crust is 5 km.
Core: -
 The continental crust is thicker in the
areas of major mountain systems. It  The core is composed of heavy
is about 70 km in the Himalayan material mainly iron and nickel
region. which is called NiFe (Barysphere).
 The density of the crust is less than  It forms the centre of the earth, and
2.7g/ cm3. its density is 13g/ cm3.
 Crust accounts for about 1% of the  The outer core is in liquid state and
Earth’s volume and 0.5% of its mass. the inner core is in solid state.

 The temperature of the core ranges

between 5500℃ – 6000℃.
Mantle: -
 Guttenberg margin is the boundary
 The portion of the earth beyond the between the lower mantle and the
crust is called the mantle. It is made outer core. The Lehmann boundary
up of magnesium, silica, and iron. separates the outer core and the inner
It extends to a depth of about 2900 core.
km.
 The core extends from 2900 km to
 The mantle is divided into upper 6378 km from the surface of the
mantle and lower mantle. The upper earth.
portion of the mantle is called the
“asthenosphere”.
  The core accounts for almost 15% of exogenic geomorphic
the Earth’s volume and 32.5 percent processes.
of its mass
o Volcanism and Diastrophism
are endogenic geomorphic
processes.

Endogenic Processes:

The energy emanating from within the earth

is the main force behind endogenic
geomorphic processes. This energy is
mostly generated by radioactivity, rotational
and tidal friction, and primordial heat from
the origin of the earth.

 Diastrophism – The process by

which the earth’s surface is reshaped
through rock movements and
displacement is termed
diastrophism. Diastrophism includes
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES –

o Orogenic processes
(mountain building) – which
 The earth’s surface is being
involves mountain building
continuously reshaped by both
through severe folding and
internal (endogenic) and external
affecting long and narrow
forces (exogenic). The changes that
belts of the earth’s crust.
the endogenic and exogenic forces
bring about in the appearance of the o Epeirogeny processes
surface of the earth are collectively (continent building) – which
known as “geomorphic processes”. involves uplifting or warping
of large parts of the earth’s
o Geomorphological processes
crust.
are natural mechanisms of
erosion, weathering, and o Earthquakes involving local
deposition that result in the relatively minor movements.
alteration of the surficial
materials and landforms at o Plate tectonics involving
the surface of the earth. horizontal movements of
crustal plates.
 The endogenic processes are mainly
land building forces while exogenic All the above processes cause pressure,
forces are mainly land wearing volume, and temperature (PVT) changes
forces. which result in the metamorphism of
rocks.
o Mass wasting, weathering,
deposition, and erosion are
 Exogenic Process Endogenic Process ii. physical or mechanical
i. Weathering – iii. biological weathering processes
i. Volcanism
Physical,
ii. Diastrophism
Chemical and
iii. Metamorphis
Biological
m
ii. Erosion/ Physical Weathering: -
iv. Earthquake
Degradation
v. Landslides
iii. Transportation Physical or mechanical weathering is the
vi. Folding and
iv. Deposition disintegration of rocks mainly induced by
faulting
elements of weather. It is caused by the
change in pressure, temperature, wind, and
Exogenic Processes: - water. It is further categorized into thermal
weathering, frost weathering and
The exogenic processes derive their energy exfoliation.
from atmosphere determined by the ultimate
energy from the sun and the gradients a. Thermal weathering: Due to high
created by tectonic factors. temperature in arid and semi-arid
areas, rocks expand during the day
All the exogenic geomorphic processes are and contract at night due to the fall
covered under a general term, denudation. of temperature. Under extreme
The word ‘denude’ means to strip off or to temperature conditions, the rocks
uncover. Weathering, mass wasting/ crack and eventually split due to
movements, erosion and transportation are alternate expansion and contraction.
included in denudation.

Gravitational/ Molecular
Weathering Stresses/ and or Chemical
Actions

DENUDATIONAL
PROCESSES Mass Movements Gravitational Force

Erosion/
Transportation Kinetic Energy

Thermal weathering is of two types

– granular disintegration and block
disintegration.
Weathering
b. Frost wedging – Frozen water takes
up more space. When water enters
the cracks of rocks and freezes, the
Weathering is the process of disintegration pressure of the frozen water becomes
and decomposition of rocks through the sufficient to expand and further
actions of various elements of weather and deepen the crack.
climate. It involves very little or no motion
of materials, so it is an in-situ or on-site c. Exfoliation – Due to weather
process. variations, rocks generally heat or
cool more on the surface layers.
There are three major groups of weathering These alternate changes in
processes: temperature cause the outer layers to
i. chemical peel off from the main mass of the
 rock in concentric layers just as the e. Hydration – Hydration (absorption
skin of an onion. of water) expands volume and
results in rock deformation. For
i. This process of breaking example, absorption of water by
away curved layers of a rock anhydrite (CaSO₄) leading to the
from the rock beneath and formation of gypsum (CaSO₄.2H₂O).
leaving behind a dome-
shaped monolith is called
exfoliation. Exfoliation
usually occurs in arid areas Biological weathering: -
and is also called onion
weathering. It is the alteration of rock by the action of
plants, animals, and humans. Burrowing and
wedging by organisms like termites,
rodents, earthworms, etc. help in exposing
Chemical weathering: – the rock surfaces to chemical changes with
the penetration of moisture and air.
Several weathering processes e.g., solution
formation, oxidation, reduction, hydration,
and carbonation act on the rocks to
disintegrate, decompose and dissolve them Importance of Weathering
into a fine state. The presence of water,
oxygen, carbon dioxide and temperature  Weathering processes help in the
speed up the chemical reactions. formation of regolith and soils. It
also prepares the soil for erosion and
a. Solution – Soluble minerals present mass movements.
in the rocks get dissolved in water.
Over a long period of time, soluble  Due to the processes of weathering,
minerals get washed away from the some materials are removed through
rocks and this can even lead to the physical or chemical leaching by
formation of caves. groundwater, thereby increasing the
concentration of remaining valuable
b. Hydrolysis – It is the chemical materials.
breakdown of a rock material when
it comes in contact with water and
forms an insoluble precipitate like
clay mineral. For example,
hydrolysis of feldspar, found in
granite changing to clay.

c. Carbonation – It is the formation of

carbonic acid when water reacts with
carbon dioxide. This acid reacts with
minerals in the rocks. This reaction
is important for the formation of
caves.

d. Oxidation – When oxygen

combines with water and iron, it
weakens the rock and disintegrates
it. For example, rusting of iron.
 7. Creep – It is a slow and gradual
MASS MOVEMENTS movement of soil downhill. Its
velocity is usually less than a
centimeters per year.
These movements transfer the mass of rock
debris down the slopes under the direct
influence of gravity. The debris may carry
along with its water, air, or ice. It is also Soil Formation (Pedogenesis): -
called “mass wasting”.
Soil formation, pedogenesis, depends
Types of mass movements: primarily on weathering. The depth of the
weathered material (weathering mantle)
1. Rock falls – Rock fall is the free- forms the basic source for soil formation.
falling of rock blocks over any steep The following five factors control the
slope keeping itself away from the formation of soil:
slope. It occurs from the superficial
layers of the rock face. The  Parent material
accumulation of rock debris at the
 Topography
base of a steep slope is called talus.
 Climate
2. Rockslides – Rockslides usually
 Biological activity
follow a zone of weakness. The
presence of water increases slippage.  Time.
Collisions down the slope generally
break the rock mass into rubble that
eventually results in rockslides.
Rockslides affect the materials up to
a substantial depth. Multiple Choice Questions
i. Which one of the following
3. Landslides – Landslides occur when
processes is a gradational process?
a large piece of rock breaks off and
slides down a hill. It is often initiated a) Deposition
by earthquakes and very heavy rain. b) Diastrophism
c) Volcanism
4. Slump – Great mass of bedrock
moves downward by a rotational slip d) Erosion
from a high cliff is known as slump. ii. Which one of the following materials
The main cause of slumping is is affected by hydration process?
erosion at the base of the slope which a) Granite
reduces the support for overlying
sediments. b) Clay
c) Quartz
5. Debris slide – Debris slide is more d) Salts
extensive and occurs on a large iii. Debris avalanches can be included in
scale. The materials involved in the category of:
debris slide are a mixture of soils and
rock fragments. a) Landslides
b) Slow flow mass movements
6. Debris flow – Debris flow includes
c) Rapid flow mass movements
mudflow, earth flow and debris
avalanches. d) Subsidence
 5. Colour – The colour of a mineral
MINERALS depends on its molecular structure.
Some minerals show specific
colours like malachite (green),
About 98% of the total crust of the earth is azurite (blue), chalcopyrite (golden
composed of eight elements namely, yellow), etc. Some minerals due to
oxygen, sodium, calcium, iron, magnesium, the presence of different impurities
silicon, aluminum and potassium, and the show different colours, such as
rest is constituted by titanium, hydrogen, quartz – it can be red, white, green,
phosphorus, manganese, carbon, sulfur, etc.
nickel, and other elements. These elements
combine with other elements to form 6. Streak – It is the colour of the
substances called minerals. ground powder of any mineral. It
may be of the same colour as the
mineral or different. For example,
Malachite is green and gives a green
streak, Fluorite is purple or green but
gives a white streak, chromite and
magnetite are almost black and can
be distinguished by their streaks –
brown for chromite and black for
magnetite.

7. Specific gravity – It is the ratio

between the weight of a given
mineral and the weight of an equal
Physical characteristics of minerals: - amount of water. Since it is a ratio, it
has no units. For instance, the
1. External crystal form – External specific gravity of quartz is 2.65.
shape of a mineral is determined by
its internal arrangement of 8. Hardness – The hardness of a
molecules. It can be cubic, mineral is measured by its ability to
tetrahedral, tabular, hexagonal, etc. resist scratching. In order to have a
standard method of expressing the
2. Cleavage – The property of hardness of minerals, a standard
breaking along specific planes is scale called the Mohs scale is
called cleavage. Crystals have one commonly adopted.
plane along which the bonding
between the atoms is weaker than 9. Structure – It refers to the
along other planes. arrangement of the individual
crystals.
3. Fracture – When the internal
molecular arrangement is so 10. Transparency – Transparent when
complex that there are no planes of the light rays pass through so that the
molecules, the crystal will break in objects can be seen. Translucent,
an irregular manner. when light rays pass through but get
diffused and the objects cannot be
4. Lustre – Lustre describes the seen. Opaque, when the light will not
shining quality of an object. Each pass through.
mineral has a distinctive lustre like
metallic, glossy, silky, etc.
Minerals can be classified into metallic and  Extrusive rocks are formed when
non-metallic minerals. Furthermore, cooling and solidification takes place
metals can also be classified as: on the surface of the earth.

1. Precious metals – Platinum, gold, The igneous rocks are the oldest of all the
silver, etc. rocks. Pegmatite, gabbro, granite, basalt,
tuff are some of the examples of igneous
2. Ferrous metals – Iron mixed with rocks.
other metals.

3. Non-ferrous metals – Metals other

than iron like copper, aluminum,
lead, zinc, tin, etc.

Metallic minerals are generally obtained

from igneous rocks and are malleable and
ductile.

Non-Metallic Minerals are composed of

non-metals like Sulphur, silicon,
phosphorus. Non-metallic minerals are
generally obtained from sedimentary rocks,
lacking malleability, and ductility.

ROCKS

Based on the origin, rocks are of three types Sedimentary Rocks: -

– igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.
 Sedimentary rocks are also called
detrital rocks.

Igneous rocks: -  The word ‘sedimentary’ is derived

from the Latin word sedimentum,
Igneous rocks are formed out of magma and which means settling. Rocks of the
lava from the interior of the earth. When earth’s surface undergo denudation
magma in its upward movement cools and and are broken into various
turns into solid form, it is called igneous fragments.
rock.
 Sedimentary rocks occupy only 5%
 Intrusive rocks are formed when of the earth. They are layered or
magma rises and cools within the stratified of varying thickness.
crust which gives rise to various
forms like batholiths, laccoliths,  Sedimentary rocks are of three types
dyke, etc. depending upon the mode of
formation –
 o Mechanically formed
sedimentary rocks – For
example, conglomerate,
loess, limestone, sandstone,
etc.

o Chemically formed – For

example, potash, halite, etc.

o Organically formed – For

example, chalk, coal,
limestone, geyserites, etc.

The primary and secondary rocks under the

certain influences changes itself into its
tertiary or metamorphized form. The table
shows below:

Igneous/
Metamorphic Rocks: - Sedimentary Influence
Metamorphosed
rock
Rocks
 The word metamorphic means
‘change of form’. The metamorphic Granite Pressure Gneiss
rocks form under the action of
pressure, volume, and temperature Clay, Shale Pressure Schist
(PVT change). Sandstone Heat Quartzite

 Metamorphism is a process by which Clay, Shale Heat Slate Phyllite

the already consolidated rocks
undergo recrystallisation and Anthracite 
Coal Heat
reorganization of materials within Graphite
original rocks. The igneous and
Limestone Heat Marble
metamorphic rocks together
account for 95% of the earth.

EARTHQUAKES

An earthquake is the sudden shaking of the

earth’s surface. Earthquakes occur due to
the release of energy which generates
seismic waves that travel in all directions.
The study of seismic waves provides crust). S-waves only travel
information about the interior of the earth. through solid materials. This
characteristic feature of S-waves
 Focus is the point where the energy helps in understanding the
is released during an earthquake, structure of the interior of the
also called hypocenter. The seismic earth. S-waves vibrate
waves travel in all directions and perpendicular to the wave
reach the surface. direction in the vertical plane.
They create crests and troughs in
 Epicenter is the point on the surface the material through which they
nearest to the focus. It is directly travel.
above the focus.
Surface waves – The body waves interact
 An instrument called a with the surface rocks and generate new
“seismograph” records the waves sets of waves called surface waves. These
reaching the earth’s surface. The waves move along the surface. These
earthquake waves/seismic waves are waves are more destructive, causing the
broadly of two types – body waves displacement of rocks thereby collapsing
and surface waves. the structure.

Body waves – Body waves are generated

due to release of energy at the focus and
these waves travel in all directions Shadow Zone
through the interior of the earth. There
are two types of body waves:  Seismographs are located at far off
places to record the seismic waves.
o P-waves or Primary waves or However, there are certain areas
Compressional waves – P- where the waves are not reported.
waves travel faster, about 6 km Such a zone is called a “shadow
per sec in the upper crust and are zone”. For each earthquake, there
first to arrive at the surface. exists an altogether different shadow
These waves are like sound zone.
waves as they travel through
gas, liquid as well as solid  When a seismograph is located at
materials. any distance within 105° from the
epicenter, it records both P-waves
o P-waves vibrate parallel to the and S-waves.
direction of the wave. These
waves exert pressure on the  When a seismograph is located
material in the direction of beyond 145° from the epicenter, it
propagation thereby, creating a records only P-waves. A zone
density difference in the material between 105° and 145° from the
leading to stretching and epicenter was identified as the
compression of the material. shadow zone for both types of
seismic waves.
o S-waves or Secondary waves
or Shear waves – S-waves  The shadow zone of S-waves is
arrive at the surface with some much larger than that of P-waves and
time lag and are slower (about is over 40% of the earth’s surface.
3.5 km per sec in the upper The shadow zone of P-waves
 appears as a band around the earth  Plate tectonic movements – These
between 105°-145° away from the are generated due to the sliding of
epicenter. rocks along a fault plane.

 Volcanic eruptions – Earthquakes

due to volcanic activity are confined
to areas of active volcanoes.

 Construction of large dams results in

an earthquake e.g., Koyna dam
(Maharashtra).

 Nuclear explosions release

enormous energy which causes
tremors in the earth’s crust.

 In the areas of intense mining

activity, sometimes the roofs of
underground mines collapse causing
minor tremors.

Distribution of Earthquakes

 Circum-Pacific region (Ring of

fire) – This belt is located around the
coast of the Pacific Ocean. It extends
through the coasts of Alaska,
Aleutian Islands, Japan, the
Philippines, New Zealand, west
coast of north and south America.
This belt has about 68% of the total
earthquakes that are recorded in the
world. These belts being the zones of
 Earthquakes are measured either in convergent plate boundaries (the
terms of magnitude or intensity of the subduction zones) are isostatically
shock. Earthquake magnitude is very unstable. Japan experiences
measured on the Richter Scale. about 1500 earthquakes every year.
 Earthquake intensity is measured on  Mediterranean-Himalayan region
the modified Mercalli Scale, which – This extends from the Alps
ranges from 0 to 12 depending upon Mountains to the Himalayan
the intensity. mountains and Tibet to China. About
31% of the world’s earthquakes
Causes of Earthquakes occur in this region.
Some of the major factors which cause  Other areas – These include
earthquakes are – Northern Africa and rift valley areas
of the Red Sea and the Dead Sea.
Effects of Earthquake  The materials that reach the earth’s
surface include lava flows,
 Earthquakes are a natural hazard. If pyroclastic debris, volcanic bombs,
a tremor of high magnitude takes ash, dust, and gases such as sulphur
place, it can cause heavy damage to compounds, nitrogen compounds
the life and property of people. The and some amounts of chlorine,
following are the immediate hydrogen, and argon.
hazardous effects of earthquake:
 Fumaroles are the gushing fumes
o Ground Shaking and through the gap in the volcano.
displacements Crater is a saucer shaped depression
in the mouth of a volcano. When the
o Differential ground
crater is widened it is called
settlement
Caldera. Volcano generally erupts
o Land and mudslides either through the vent (Mt.
Fujiyama, Japan) or fissure (The
o Fires Deccan Plateau, India).

o Ground lurching

o Avalanches Types of Volcanoes

o Floods from dam and levee There are three types of volcanoes based on
failures the frequency of eruption. These are –
o Tsunamis  Active Volcanoes – A volcano is
called an active volcano if the
eruptions are frequent. Their vent
usually remains open. For example,
VOLCANO Mount Etna (in Italy), Cotopaxi (in
Ecuador is the world’s highest active
volcano).
A volcano is an opening in the earth’s crust
 Dormant Volcano – These
through which gases, ashes and molten rock
volcanoes may not have erupted in
material are released to the earth’s surface.
the recent past but there is a
possibility of eruption at any time.
 The upper position of the mantle of
For example, Mt. Vesuvius (Italy)
the earth is called the asthenosphere
and Mt. Fujiyama (Japan).
which is a weaker zone. It is from
this weaker zone the molten rock  Extinct Volcano – These volcanoes
materials find their way to the have not erupted during the known
surface. geological period. Their vent
remains closed with solidified lava.
 The molten rock material found in
The craters may be filled with water
the interior of the earth is
giving rise to crater lakes. The slopes
called magma. Once the magma
of these landforms may be covered
reaches the earth’s surface it is
with vegetation. For example, Popa
called lava.
(Myanmar) and Mt. Kenya (Eastern
Africa).
Based on the nature of eruption and form km long that stretches through all the
developed at the surface, volcanoes are ocean basins. The central portion of
classified into the following types – this ridge experiences frequent
eruptions.
 Shield Volcanoes – These volcanoes
are mostly made up of basalt, a type
of lava that is very fluid when
erupted. They become explosive if
water gets into the vent, otherwise
they are less explosive. The
upcoming lava moves in the form of
a fountain and throws out the cone at
the top of the vent and develops into
a cinder cone. For example,
Hawaiian volcanoes.

 Composite
volcanoes/Stratovolcanoes – Along
with the lava, large quantities of
pyroclastic material and ashes form
part of the eruptions. This material
accumulates in the vicinity of the
vent openings resultingin the
formation of layers which makes the Volcanic Landforms
mount appear as composite
volcanoes. These volcanoes often The lava that cools within the crust assumes
result in explosive eruptions. For different forms called intrusive forms. These
example, Mount Vesuvius (Italy), are as follows: -
Mount Fuji in Japan.
 Batholiths – These are large rock
 Caldera – These volcanoes are most masses that are formed due to
explosive. When these volcanoes cooling and solidification of hot
erupt, they collapse on themselves magma inside the earth. These are
rather than building any tall granitic bodies.
structure. The resulting depressions
are called calderas.  Laccoliths – Laccoliths are large
dome-shaped intrusive rock
 Flood Basalt Provinces – These connected by a pipe-like conduit
volcanoes erupt highly fluid lava that from below. It resembles the surface
flows for long distances. There are volcanic domes of composite
some regions in the world which are volcanoes, only these are located at
covered by thousands of sq. km of deeper depths. The Karnataka
thick basalt lava flows. Individual plateau is spotted with domal hills of
flows may extend for hundreds of granite rocks. Most of these, now
kilometers. For example, the Deccan exfoliated, are examples of
Traps in Maharashtra, India. Laccoliths or Batholiths.

 Mid Ocean Ridge Volcanoes –  Lapoliths – When the magma

These volcanoes are found in the moves upwards, a saucer-shaped,
oceanic areas. There is a system of concave-shaped body called lapolith
mid-ocean ridges more than 70,000 is formed.
 Phacoliths – A wavy mass of
intrusive rocks, at times, is found at CONTINENTAL DRIFT THEORY
the base of synclines or at the top of
anticlines in folded igneous country.
Such wavy materials have a definite  In 1912, Alfred Wegener, a German
conduit to source beneath in the form meteorologist put forth a
of magma chambers (subsequently comprehensive argument in the form
developed as batholiths). These are of “The Continental Drift Theory”
called phacoliths. regarding the distribution of the
oceans and the continents.
 Sill or Sheet – The near-horizontal
solidified lava layer (intrusive  According to him, all the continents
igneous rocks) is called sill or sheet, once were together forming a single
depending on the thickness of the continent.
lava. The thick deposits are called
sills while the thinner ones are called  About 250 million years ago, the
sheets. earth was made up of a single
landmass (supercontinent) called
 Dykes – When magma makes its Pangaea (meaning “all lands”) and a
way through cracks and the fissures single ocean surrounding it called
developed in the land, it solidifies Panthalassa (all water).
almost perpendicular to the ground.
It gets cooled in the same position to  He argued that around 200 million
develop a wall-like structure. Such years ago, the supercontinent
structures are called dykes. Mostly Pangaea began to split.
found in the western Maharashtra
region. These are believed to be the  Pangaea first broke into two large
feeders for the eruptions that led to continental masses namely Laurasia
the formation of the Deccan Trap. in the north and Gondwanaland in
the south. Laurasia further broke into
Eurasia and North America.
  Gondwanaland split into Africa, counterparts in different landmasses
South America, Antarctica, of the Southern Hemisphere –
Australia, and India. Africa, Falkland Island, Antarctica,
Madagascar, and Australia.

 The resemblance of Gondwana type

sediments clearly indicates that these
landmasses had remarkably similar
histories. These glacial tillites
provide evidence of paleoclimates
and of drifting of continents.

 Certain identical rare fossils have

been found on different continents.
For example, the fossils of
Mesosaurus (a small Permian
reptile) have been found only in
Africa and Antarctica. The fossils of
a fern tree have been found only in
India and Antarctica.

 The rich placer deposits of gold

occur on the Ghana coast, however,
there is no source rock in the region.
The gold-bearing veins are in Brazil,
Evidence to support Continental Drift and it suggests that the gold deposits
Theory of Ghana are derived from the Brazil
plateau when the two continents lay
The continental drift theory is supported by side by side.
the following evidence –

 The corresponding edges of the

continents fit together. For example, Force for Drifting of Continents
the western side of Africa and the
eastern side of South America fit According to Wegener, two forces are
together. responsible for the drifting of the continents
–
 The belt of ancient rocks from
Brazil’s coast matches with those  The polar-fleeing force which is due
from western Africa. The earliest to the rotation of the earth and,
marine deposits along the coastline
of South America and Africa are of  The tidal force which is due to the
the Jurassic age which clearly attraction of the moon and the sun
suggests that the ocean did not exist that generates tides in oceanic
prior to that time. waters.

 Tillite is the sedimentary rock

formed out of deposits of glaciers.
The Gondwana system of sediments
from India is known to have its
Ocean Floor Configuration These lithospheric plates are also called
crustal plates or tectonic plates.
On the basis of depth and relief, the ocean
floor is divided into three main parts. These  A plate may be called the
are: continental plate or oceanic plate
depending on which of the two
 Continental Margins – These occupy a larger portion of the plate.
include continental shelf, continental For example, the Eurasian plate is
slope, continental rise, and deep called a continental plate, and the
oceanic trenches. These form the Pacific plate is largely an oceanic
transition between continental plate.
shores and deep-sea basins.
 According to the theory of plate
 Abyssal Plains – These are regions tectonics, the earth’s lithosphere is
where the continental sediments that divided into seven major and several
move beyond the margins get minor plates.
deposited. These are extensive plains
between continental margins and  The major plates are surrounded by
mid-oceanic ridges. folded mountains, ridges, trenches,
and faults. The movement of the
 Mid-Oceanic Ridges – This is an plates builds stress which leads to
interconnected chain of mountain folding, faulting, and volcanic
systems within the ocean. It consists activities.
of a central rift system at the crest, a
fractionated plateau and flank zone The seven major plates are –
all along its length. The rift system at
the crest is the zone of high volcanic i. Antarctica and the surrounding
activity. oceanic plate.

ii. Pacific plate.

iii. India- Australia- New Zealand plate.

PLATE TECTONICS
iv. Africa with the eastern Atlantic floor
plate.
 In 1967, McKenzie and Parker, v. Eurasia and the adjacent oceanic
and Morgan independently plate.
formulated a theory called “plate
tectonics”. The earth’s surface is vi. North American plate and
composed of rigid lithospheric slabs
(both continental and oceanic) vii. South American plate.
technically called “plates”.
Some important minor plates are – the East Pacific rises in the South Pacific
moves at a faster rate of more than 15 cm/yr.
i. Nazca plate – between South
America and Pacific plate. There are three main types of plate
boundaries: -
ii. Arabian plate – mostly the Saudi
i. Divergent boundaries,
Arabian landmass.
ii. Convergent boundaries and
iii. Cocos plate – between Central iii. Transform boundaries.
America and Pacific plate.

iv. Philippine plate – between the

Asiatic and Pacific plate. Divergent Boundary:

v. Fuji plate – North-east of Australia.

vi. Caroline plate – between the

Philippine and Indian plate (North of
New Guinea).

All the plates have moved in the geological  Divergent plate boundary is the
past and shall continue to do so in the future margin where the two plates move
as well. GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite apart from each other. The sites
System) measures the speed of the plate where the plates move away from
movements. each other are called spreading sites.
A fissure is created when the oceanic
The rate of plate movements varies lithosphere separates along the
considerably. For example, the arctic ridge oceanic plate boundary. The gap is
has the slowest rate, less than 2.5 cm/ yr and
 filled by magma that rises from the is denser than the continental plate.
asthenosphere. For example, the Mariana Trench in
the Pacific Ocean (deepest trench in
 The magma cools and solidifies to the world) is formed when the
create a new oceanic crust. Hence, Pacific plate sinks down the
the divergent plate boundary is also Eurasian plate. It is about 10.99 km
termed as “constructive plate deep.
boundary”. It is also called an
accreting plate margin.  The convergent boundaries can also
give rise to fold mountains. For
 Divergent boundaries within example, the Himalayas were
continents initially form rifts which formed due to the collision of the
eventually become rift valleys e.g., Indian Plate with the Eurasian Plate.
the African Rift Valley in east The zone marking the boundary of
Africa. Most of the active divergent the two colliding plates is known as
plate boundaries occur between the the suture line.
oceanic plates and exist as mid-
ocean ridges.

 The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is an ideal Transform Boundary:

example of a mountain ridge in the
Atlantic Ocean. It is the longest
mountain ridge in the world.

Convergent Boundary:

 Transform plate boundary is the

margin where two plates move side
by side. The lithosphere is neither
created nor destroyed by the
transform plate boundary.

 Hence, it is called the conservative

 Convergent plate boundary is the or passive plate boundary.
margin where two plates collide with
each other. The location where the  The San Andreas Fault, California is
sinking of a plate occurs is called a a transform boundary that separates
subduction zone. the North American plate and Pacific
plates.
 There are three ways in which
subduction can occur. These are
between an oceanic and continental
plate, between two oceanic plates
and between two continental plates. LANDFORMS – FORMATION & THEIR EVOLUTION

 A trench is formed when the oceanic

plate slides down underneath the Landform is a result of the action of
continental plate as the oceanic plate certain geomorphic processes (endogenic
and exogenic) and agents (rainfall, wind, very high because the slope is steep.
glacier, waves). Each landform has its own Vertical erosion takes place and V-
physical shape, size, nature and once shaped valleys are formed here.
formed, these landforms may change over
time due to the continued action of Streams are few during this stage
geomorphic processes and agents. with poor integration.

Running Water: The valleys have no floodplains or

narrow flood plains along trunk
 Running water is considered the streams.
most important geomorphic agent
responsible for the degradation of Stream divides are broad and flat
the land surface. Running water can with marshes, swamps, and lakes.
exist as streams, rivers in valleys or
in the form of overland flow on the Waterfalls and rapids may exist
general land surface as a sheet. where local hard rock bodies are
exposed.
 The vigorous and youthful rivers
(running water) flowing over steep
slopes mostly give rise to the  Mature or Middle Stage
erosional landforms.
During this stage, there are many
 With time, streams lose their streams with good integration.
velocity due to continued erosion,
turn gentler and thereby facilitate Lateral erosion is dominant here due
active deposition. to which widening of the valley
occurs. The volume of the river
 The gentler the river channels in
water increases, and the slope of the
slope/gradient, the greater the
river is moderate.
deposition. So, the depositional
forms are mainly associated with
rivers flowing over medium to Streams may flow in meanders
gentler slopes. confined within the valley.

 When the stream beds turn gentler The swamps and marshes of the
due to continued erosion, downward youth disappear, and the stream
cutting becomes less dominant and divide turns sharp.
lateral (sideways) erosion of banks
increases which reduces the hills and Waterfalls and rapids disappear.
valleys to plains.

 Old or Lower Stage

The characteristics of each of the stages of
landscapes developing in running water Streams meander freely over vast
regimes may be summarized as follows: floodplains showing natural levees,
ox-bow lakes, etc.
 Youth
Divides are broad with swamps,
Also called the mountain stage. The marshes, and lakes.
velocity and speed of the stream is
 The depth of the river is shallow Pradesh is known as the
here. Great Canyon of India.

Most of the landscape is at or slightly iii. V-shaped Valley – Due to

above sea level. the steep slope and large
volume of water, the river
cuts its bed vertically
forming a narrow and deep
Erosional Landforms: river valley. This is called a
V-shaped valley.
The following are some of the
major erosional landforms:  Potholes
Small depressions in the rocky beds
 Valleys of the river valleys are called
potholes. They are cylindrical in
The valleys made by rivers are shape. Potholes are generally formed
erosional landforms. Small and in coarse-grained rocks such as
narrow rills gradually develop into sandstones and granites.
long and wide gullies; these gullies
further deepen, widen, and lengthen  Plunge Pool
to give rise to valleys. Depending It is a deep depression in a stream
upon dimensions and shape, there bed at the base of a waterfall. It is
are various types of valleys like V- created by the erosional forces of
shaped valleys, canyons, and gorges. falling water at the base of a
waterfall.
i. Gorge – Gorge is formed
due to active down-cutting of  Incised or Entrenched Meanders
the valleys. A gorge is a Streams flowing over gentler slopes
narrow and deep river valley undergo active lateral erosion and
which has steep slopes. A develop sinuous or meandering
gorge is almost equal in courses. Meandering is commonly
width at its top as well as at found over floodplains and delta
its bottom. Gorges usually plains where slopes are gentle. But
form in hard rocks. very deep and wide meanders can
also be found cut in hard rocks. Such
ii. Canyon– A canyon is meanders are called incised or
characterized by steep step- entrenched meanders.
like side slopes and may be
as deep as a gorge. A canyon  River Terraces
is wider at its top than at its The narrow steps like flat surfaces on
bottom. Canyons usually either side of the valley floor are
form in horizontal bedded called river terraces. They represent
sedimentary rocks. The the level of former valley floors.
Great Canyon of Colorado
River in the state of Arizona,
U.S.A is the largest canyon Depositional Landforms:
in the world. The canyon of
Gandikota, situated on the The major depositional landforms are as
Pennar river in Andhra follows:
 Alluvial fans ones like clays and silts are carried
out into the sea.
Alluvial fans are often found at the
foot of mountain ranges. When the  Floodplain
streams flow over mountainous
slopes, they usually carry a very Floodplain is a major landform of
coarse load. This load is too heavy river deposition. A floodplain is a
for the streams to be carried over flat area of land adjacent to a river. It
gentler slopes and gets deposited as stretches from the bank of its channel
a broad low to high cone-shaped to the base of the enclosed valley
deposit known as an alluvial fan. walls which experience flooding
during the period of high discharge.
An alluvial fan can be defined as a
fan-shaped deposit of gravel, sand, A riverbed made of river deposits is
and other smaller particles of the active floodplain and the
sediments. floodplain which lies above the bank
is an inactive floodplain.
With time, the streams which flow
over these fans change their course  Natural Levees and Point bars
forming many channels called
distributaries.

In humid regions, alluvial fans with

low cones and gentler slopes are
formed. In arid and semi-arid
regions, alluvial fans appear as high
cones with steep slopes.

 Delta
Both are associated with floodplains.
The Delta is found in the old stage of
a river. It is a triangular-shaped Natural levees are formed along the
landform made up of alluvial banks of large rivers. These are
deposition in the mouth of the river. linear, low, and parallel ridges of
coarse deposits along the riverbanks,
Unlike in alluvial fans, the deposits usually cut into individual mounds.
making up deltas are very well sorted
with clear stratification. The coarsest Point bars are also called meander
materials settle first and the finer bars. They occur on the concave side
of meanders of large rivers. These
are formed by sediments deposited
in a linear arrangement by flowing
waters along the banks. They contain
a mixed size of sediments and are
almost uniform in profile and width.

 Meanders

Loop-like channel patterns called

meanders develop over flood and
 delta plains. Meander is a type of
channel pattern.

Meanders are the result of both

erosional and depositional processes.
They are typical landforms of the
middle and lower course of a river.

Meanders are formed because:

i. Water flowing over gentler

slopes have a tendency to
work laterally on banks.

ii. The unconsolidated nature of

alluvial deposits makes up
the banks with many
irregularities which can be
used by water exerting
pressure laterally.  In rocks like dolomite, limestone
which are rich in calcium carbonate,
iii. Coriolis force acts on the the groundwater as well as surface
fluid water, deflecting it like water through the chemical action of
it deflects the wind. solution and precipitation deposition
form varieties of landforms. The
iv. In meanders, there is active
processes of solution and deposition
deposition along the concave
are active on limestones or dolomites
bank and erosion along the
which occur either exclusively or
convex bank.
interbedded with other rocks.
v. As meanders grow into deep
 Any limestone, dolomite or gypsum
loops, they may cut off due to
region showing typical landforms
erosion at inflection points
produced by the action of
resulting in ox-bow lakes.
groundwater through the process of
solution and deposition is called
Karst topography after the typical
topography developed in the
Groundwater:
limestone rock of the Karst region in
the Balkans adjacent to the Adriatic
In this section, we discuss the role of
Sea.
groundwater in the erosion of landmasses
and the evolution of landforms.  The Karst topography is
characterized by erosional and
 The result of the work of depositional landforms.
groundwater cannot be seen in all
types of rocks. Physical or Erosional Landforms due to Groundwater:
mechanical removal of materials by
moving groundwater is insignificant The following are the erosional landforms
in developing landforms. formed due to the action of groundwater –
 Sinkhole  Lappies

A sinkhole is an opening more or less These are irregular grooves and

circular at the top and funnel-shaped ridges formed when most of the
towards the bottom. The area of surfaces of limestone are removed
these sinkholes may vary from a few by a solution process.
square metres to a hectare and the
depth ranges from less than half a  Caves
meter to thirty metres or more.
Caves normally have an opening
When a sinkhole is formed solely through which streams are
through the process of solution, it is discharged. Caves having an
called a solution sink. Quite often, opening at both ends are called
sinkholes are covered up with soil tunnel caves. Cave formation is
mantle and appear as shallow water prominent in areas where there are
pools. alternating beds of rocks (sandstone,
shales, quartzite) with dolomites or
 Doline/Collapse sinks limestone in between or in areas
where limestones are massive, dense
and occur as thick beds.

Depositional Landforms due to

Groundwater:

The following are the depositional

landforms formed within the limestone
caves:

 Stalactite – Stalactites are calcium

carbonate deposits hanging as
icicles. They are usually broad at the
base and taper towards the free ends.
The stalactites that stretch towards
the sides are known as helactites.
When the bottom of the sinkhole
forms the roof of a void or cave  Stalagmite – Stalagmites are
underground, it might collapse calcium carbonate deposits that
leaving a large hole opening into a grow upwards from the cave floor.
void or a cave below which is called Stalagmites may take the shape of a
collapse sinks. The term doline is column, a disc with either a smooth,
sometimes used for collapse sinks. rounded building end or a miniature
crater-like depression.
 Uvala
The stalactite and stalagmite eventually fuse
When a series of smaller sinkholes to give rise to columns and pillars of varying
coalesce into a compound sinkhole, diameters.
it is called uvala or valley sinks.
Glaciers:

 The term glacier comes from the Erosional Landforms due to Glaciers:
French word “glace” meaning ice.
 Cirques
 A glacier is a huge mass of ice
moving as sheets. When the ice These are the most common
sheets move over the land, it is called landforms in glaciated mountains
a continental glacier, and if a vast and are often found at the heads of
sheet of ice is spread over the plains glacial valleys.
at the foot of mountains, it is called a
piedmont glacier. The mountain and A glacier cuts these cirques while
valley glaciers flow down the slopes moving down the mountainous
of mountains in broad trough-like slopes. They are long, deep, and
valleys. wide troughs or basins with steep
concave to vertically dropping high
 The movement of glaciers is mainly walls at its head as well as sides.
due to the gravitational force. The
movement of glaciers is slow, it When the glacier disappears, very
could be a few centimeters to a few often, a lake of water can be seen
metres a day or even less or more. within the cirques which are called
cirque or tarn lakes. There can be
 Over 96% of the glaciers occur in two or more cirques one leading into
Antarctica and Greenland. The another down below in a stepped
world’s largest glacier is the sequence.
Lambert Glacier in Antarctica.

 Sometimes, the surface of the glacier

develops cracks known as crevasses.  Horns and Aretes
These are deep fissures of variable
width in the surface of a glacier. Horns are formed by the headward
erosion of the cirque walls. When
 A glacier during its lifetime creates three or more radiating glaciers cut
various landforms due to erosional headward and their cirques meet,
and depositional activities. Erosion high, sharp-pointed, and steep-sided
takes place by the action of plucking peaks called horns are formed.
and abrasion.
The highest peak in the Himalayas –
 Due to the movement of glaciers, Everest and the highest peak in the
debris gets removed, divides get Alps – Matterhorn are formed by
lowered and eventually the slope headward erosion of radiating
gets reduced to such an extent that cirques.
glaciers stop moving, leaving only a
mass of low hills and vast outwash Due to the progressive erosion, the
plains along with other depositional divides between cirque side walls or
features. headwalls get narrow and form
serrated or saw-toothed edges
sometimes called aretes with a very
sharp crest and a zig-zag outline.
 Glacial Valleys/Troughs Depositional Landforms due to Glaciers:

Since glacial mass is heavy and The melting glaciers deposit unassorted
slow-moving, erosional activity is coarse and fine debris called glacial till. The
uniform in all directions. A steep- rock fragments in the till are mostly angular
sided curved bottom valley has a U- to sub-angular in shape. Streams of water
shaped profile. The U-shaped valley formed by the melting of glaciers carry some
is a typical glacial feature. amount of rock debris (relatively fine) and
deposit it.
When tributary glaciers are unable to
cut as deeply as the main glacier, Such glacio-fluvial deposits are
hanging valleys are formed. These called outwash deposits. The outward
are at higher levels than the main deposits are roughly stratified and assorted
valley and appear hanging over the (unlike till deposits) and rock fragments in
main valley. They enter the main them are somewhat rounded at their edges.
valley at some height.
The following are the depositional
Very deep glacial troughs filled with landforms commonly found in glaciated
seawater and making up shorelines regions:
(in high altitude) are called
fjords/fiords. Fjords are common in  Moraines
Norway, New Zealand, and
Greenland. Moraines are the deposits of glacial
till. These debris fields exist in
places where glaciers have moved
through in the past. There are various
types of moraines, and these are
classified based on their location.
 Terminal moraines – These are These are formed when the receding
long ridges of debris deposited at the glacier pauses at certain places for a
end (toe) of the glaciers. long time before moving further.

 Lateral moraines –

These ridges of deposits run parallel

to the sides of a glacier.

The lateral moraine may join a

terminal moraine forming a horse-
shoe shaped ridge.

There can be many lateral moraines

on either side in a glacial valley.

These moraines partly or fully owe

their origin to glacio-fluvial waters
pushing up materials/debris to the
sides of glaciers.  Eskers

 Ground moraines – These are With the melting of glaciers in

glacial deposits (irregular sheets of summer, the water flows on the
till) formed on the floor of a glacial surface of ice or moves down along
valley. the margins or even moves down
through the holes in the ice.
 Medial moraines –
These waters flow as streams in a
The moraines formed in the centre of channel under the ice. These streams
the glacial valley and flanked by flow over the ground (not in a valley
lateral moraines are called medial cut in the ground) with ice forming
moraines. its banks. Boulders and blocks, as
well as rock debris carried into this
Sometimes medial moraines are stream, settle in the valley of ice
difficult to distinguish from ground beneath the glacier and when the ice
moraines. melts it is seen as a sinuous ridge
called esker.
These are formed in the middle of
two glaciers. They are the result of  Outwash Plains
the merging of two lateral moraines
which continue as medial moraines. When the glacier reaches its lowest
point and melts, it leaves behind a
 Recessional moraines – layered deposition of rock debris,
sand, clay, gravel, etc. This layered
The recessional moraines run across surface is called an outwash plain.
the landscape behind a terminal
moraine.  Drumlins

These are oval-shaped ridge-like

depositions of glacial till with some
 masses of gravel and sand. They are  whether the coast is advancing
usually 1 km in length and (emerging) or retreating
approximately 30m in height. (submerging) landward.

The end of the drumlins facing the

glacier is called the stoss end which
is steeper, and the other end is called Types of Coasts
the tail. Drumlins give an indication
of the direction of glacier movement. Assuming the sea level to be constant, two
types of coasts are considered to explain the
Waves and Currents: concept of evolution of coastal landforms:

Coastal processes are the most dynamic and  High rocky coasts – submerged
therefore, most destructive. The changes coasts
along the coasts are mainly due to waves.
 Low, smooth, and gently sloping
When waves break, the water is thrown with
sedimentary coasts – emerged
great force onto the shore which results in
coasts.
great churning of sediments on the sea
bottom.

The constant impact of breaking waves High Rocky Coasts

drastically affects the coasts. Tsunami
waves and storm waves cause far-reaching  Along the high rocky coasts, erosion
changes in a short span of time than normal features dominate, and shores don’t
breaking waves. show any depositional landform
initially. The rivers appear to have
The coastal landforms also depend upon: been drowned with a highly irregular
coastline.
 the configuration of land and
seafloor.  The coastline is highly indented with
the extension of water into land
where glacial valleys (fjords) are
 present. The hillsides drop off o A barrier bar that gets keyed
sharply into the water. up to the headland of a bay is
called a spit.
 Along high coasts, waves break with
high force against the land, shaping o When the barrier bars and
the hillsides into cliffs. With spits form at the mouth of a
constant hitting by waves, the cliffs bay and block it, a lagoon is
recede leaving a wave-cut platform formed.
in front of the sea cliff. Waves
gradually minimize the irregularities o These lagoons get gradually
along the shore. filled up by sediments from
the land giving rise to a
 The materials which fall off from the coastal plain.
cliff, gradually break into smaller
fragments and become rounded. Low Sedimentary Coasts
These fragments get deposited in the
offshore. After a considerable  Along low sedimentary coasts, the
period, with more addition of rivers appear to extend their length
material to this deposit in the off- by building coastal plains and deltas.
shore, a wave-built terrace would
develop in front of the wave-cut  The coastline appears smooth with
terrace. occasional incursions of water in the
form of lagoons and tidal creeks.
 As the erosion along the coast takes
place, a good supply of material  Depositional features dominate over
becomes available to longshore erosional ones.
currents and waves to deposit them
as beaches and as bars, which are  When waves break over a low
long ridges of sand and/or shingle sedimentary coast, the sediments in
parallel to the coast in the nearshore the bottom get churned and move
zone. readily to build bars, spits, barrier
bars and lagoons. Lagoons would
o Bars are submerged and eventually turn into swamps which
when they emerge above would subsequently turn into coastal
water, they are called barrier plains.
bars.
  Tsunami waves and storms cause coastal plains, and with a rush of
drastic changes irrespective of the deposits from over the land behind
supply of sediments. Large rivers may get covered up by alluvium or
that carry huge sediments build may get covered up by shingle or
deltas along low sedimentary coasts. sand to form a wide beach.

 The east coast of India is a low

sedimentary coast and depositional
forms dominate the east coast. The Depositional Landforms:
west coast is a high rocky retreating
coast and erosional forms dominate  Beach:
the west coast.
It is an elongated stretch of sand,
pebbles, gravels, etc. deposited
along the coast. Most of the
Erosional Landforms:
sediments making up the beaches
comes from land carried by the
 When erosion is the dominant shore
streams and rivers or from wave
process, wave-cut cliffs and terraces
erosion.
are two forms that are usually found.

 At the foot of the cliffs, there may be The sandy beach which appears so
a gentle sloping or flat platform permanent may be reduced to a very
covered by rock debris. Such narrow strip of coarse pebbles in
platforms which occur at elevations some other season, so these beaches
above the average height of waves are temporary features.
are called wave-cut terraces.
Praia da Casino beach in Brazil is
 The lashing of the waves against the the world’s longest beach. Marina
base of the cliff and the rock debris beach, Chennai is the second longest
that gets hit against the cliff along beach in the world.
with lashing waves create hollows
and these hollows deepen and widen  Bars – The bar is a stretch of sand
to form sea caves. deposition off the shoreline.

o A 90m long sea cave was  Barrier Bar – The further addition
found on the Loliem beach in of sand to the off-shore bar results in
Canacona in Goa. The a barrier bar.
world’s most extensive cave
is the 1.5 km long Matainaka  Spits – When the barrier bars get
cave in New Zealand. keyed up to one end of the bay, spits
are formed. Spits may also get
 The resistant masses of rock that attached to headlands/hills.
appear as rocks standing isolated as
small islands just off the shore,  Lagoon
originally parts of a cliff or hill, are
called sea stacks.  The bars, barriers and spits formed at
the mouth of the bay gradually
 All the above features are temporary extend leaving only a small opening
and eventually disappear because of of the bay into the sea and the bay
wave erosion giving rise to narrow eventually develop into a lagoon.
 The lagoon is eventually replaced by temperature, decay faster and the
a wide coastal plain. These lagoons torrential rains remove the weathered
get filled up gradually by sediments debris easily.
coming from the land or from the
beach itself (aided by wind). Thus, the weathered materials in the
deserts are moved not only by wind
 Tombolo – A tombolo is a bar but also by rain (sheet wash). The
connecting an island with the coast. general mass erosion is carried mainly
by sheet floods and the wind moves
fine particles.

Depositional features of waves:

 Wind Erosional Landforms due to Wind

The wind is the main geomorphic  Pediplains – When the high relief
agent in the arid region. structures in deserts are reduced to
low featureless plains by the
The desert floors being dry and barren activities of wind, they are called as
heat up very fast. They heat up the air pediplains.
directly above them resulting in
upward movements in the hot light air  Mushroom, Table and Pedestal
with turbulence, and any obstruction rocks – In deserts, a greater amount
in its path sets up whirlwinds, eddies, of sand and rock particles are
downdrafts, and updrafts. transported close to the ground by
the winds which cause more erosion
Winds also move along the desert in the lower part of the rock than the
floors with great speed and the top.
obstruction on their path results in
turbulence. There are also storm winds
which are very destructive.

Winds cause deflation, abrasion, and

impact. Deflation involves the lifting
and removal of dust and smaller
particles from the surface of rocks. In
the transportation process, sand, and
silt act as effective tools to abrade the
land surface. The impact is the sheer
 These results in the formation of
force of momentum which occurs
rock pillars shaped like mushrooms
when sand is blown onto or against a
with narrow pillars with broad top
rock surface.
surfaces. Sometimes, the top surface
is broad like a table-top and quite
The rainfall is scarce in arid regions,
often, the remnants stand out like
however, torrential rains come down
pedestals.
in a short period of time. The desert
rocks which are devoid of any  Deflation hollows – When deflation
vegetation get exposed to chemical causes a shallow depression by
and mechanical weathering due to persistent movement of winds, they
drastic diurnal changes in are called deflation hollows.
  Playas - In basins with mountains o Longitudinal dunes – These
and hills around and along, the appear as long ridges of
drainage is towards the centre of the considerable length but are low
basin and due to gradual deposition in height. These are found when
of sediment from basin margins a the supply of sand is poor and
nearly level plain forms at the centre wind direction is constant.
of the basin. When there is sufficient
water, this plain is covered up by a o Transverse dunes – These
shallow water body and such types dunes are formed when the wind
of shallow lakes are termed direction is constant, and the
“playas”. source of sand is an elongated
feature at right angles to the
In playas, water is retained for a wind direction.
short duration only (evaporation)
and quite often the playas contain a
good deposition of salts. The playa
plain covered up by salts is called
alkali flats.

Depositional Landforms due to Wind:

 Sand Dunes– Dry hot deserts are

good places for sand dune formation.
According to the shape of a sand
dune, there are varieties of sand
forms:

o Barchans – Barchans are one of

the classic desert landforms.
These are crescent shaped dunes
with points or wings directed
away from the wind direction.

o Parabolic dunes – These are

reversed barchans with wind
direction being the same. These
are formed when sand surfaces
are partially covered with
vegetation.

o Seif dunes – These are like

barchans but have only one wing
or point. These are formed when
there is a shift in wind
conditions. The long wings of
seif can grow very long and
high.
Geography for NDA

CHAPTER

08
03
The Earth
and it’s systems
• It is estimated that our Earth is
• Earth is the only known planet around 4.5 billion years old.
where life exists. Its surface area is • Earth revolves around the Sun once
covered with two-third of water that every 365.25 days – this is known as
is why we call it a blue planet. one Earth year.
• The atmosphere of the Earth is • Only 3% of Earth’s water is
primarily nitrogen, but there is fresh and 97% of it is salty.
plenty of oxygen for us to breathe. • Earth has only one satellite – the
• It is slightly flattened at the poles, Moon, and also has a couple of
that is why its shape is described as artificial satellites.
a Geoid.
• Earth average distance from sun is
149 million kilometres (1 AU).

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Earth’s position • Earth’s circumference and diameter

• Earth, as the third planet from the differ because its shape is classified
sun, fifth-largest (in terms of size) as an oblate spheroid or ellipsoid.
and largest among all terrestrial • The equatorial bulge at Earth’s
planets. equator is measured at 26.5 miles
• Along with Venus, Mercury, and (42.72 km) and is caused by the
Mars, it is one of four rocky planets. planet’s rotation and gravity.

• At 92-million miles, Earth is located

within the solar system's "habitable
zone," making it unique within the
system.
• The Earth is constantly in motion,
• This zone is defined as the distance revolving around the Sun and
from the sun where solid and liquid rotating on its axis.
water can be found. • These motions account for many of
the phenomena occurrences: night
and day, changing of the seasons,
Shape and Size of Earth
and different climates, etc.
• Earth is not perfect circle it is an
• The earth has two movements,
oblate spheroid, but the distance
rotation and revolution.
from pole to pole is less than the
distance around the equator
(middle). Rotation
• Movement of the earth on its axis.
• The shape of the Earth is called
“geoid” that is, ‘an earth-like • Earth rotates along its axis from west
shape’. to east.
• It takes 23 hours 56 minutes and
• Earth is bulged out at equator and
4.09 seconds to complete on
flattered at poles because of
rotation.
centrifugal force.
• Days and nights occur due to
• The earth spins at constant rate rotation of the earth.
but rate of movement is different
• The circle that divides the day from
the equator is moving fastest and
night on the globe is called the circle
poles are not moving.
of illumination.
• Because of this movement • Earth’s rotational axis makes an
centrifugal force is pulling matter angle of 23.5° with the normal i.e., it
closer to equator which structure makes an angle of 66.5° with the
outwards giving earth slightly non- orbital plane.
spherical shape.

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Revolution • Due to this, the earth attains four

• Movement of the earth around critical positions with reference to
the sun in a fixed path or orbit. the sun.

• It takes 365 ¼ days (one year) to

revolve around the sun.
Leap Year

It takes approximately 365.25 days for Earth

to orbit the Sun — a solar year.
In an ordinary year, if you were to count all
the days in a calendar from January to
December, you’d count 365 days.
But approximately every four years,
February has 29 days instead of 28.
So, there are 366 days in the year. This is
called a leap year.

Earth rotates in an elliptical path

around the sun • These are imaginary lines used to
• The orbit of the Earth around the sun determine the location of a place on
is elliptical and not circular. earth.

• Due to this, the distance between the Latitudes

Earth and the sun keeps changing.
• The Parallel of Latitudes extends
• When this distance is minimum, the from the Equator to 90 N and 90 S.
Earth is said to be in perihelion (on • If the latitude is drawn at an interval
January 3, 147-million kms). of 1 degree, then in each of the
• When the distance is the maximum, hemispheres there will be 89 latitude
it is said to be in aphelion (on July lines that will add up to 179 total
4, 152-million kms). lines.
• They are mainly the east-west circles
• The Earth’s axis points constantly to that connect all the locations of the
the same point (the polar star) in the Earth.
celestial sphere.
• The distance between two parallel
• As a consequence, the latitude on the latitudes is 111km. All the latitudes
surface of the earth at which the are parallel to the Equator.
sun’s rays fall vertically keeps
changing as the earth moves its orbit
around the sun.

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Major parallel lines to latitudes • It is an imaginary line located at 0

Besides the equator, the north pole latitude, halfway between the North
(90°N) and the south pole (90° S), there and South poles.
are four important parallels of • The equator runs
latitudes– through Indonesia, Ecuador,
• Tropic of Cancer (23½° N) in the northern Brazil, the Democratic
northern hemisphere. Republic of the Congo, and
Kenya, among other countries.
• Tropic of Capricorn (23½° S) in
the southern hemisphere. • On the equator, the sun is directly
overhead at noon on the two
• Arctic circle (66½° N) of the equinoxes – near March 22 and
equator. September 23.
• Antarctic circle (66½° S) of the • It is the longest line of latitude.
equator.
• On the equator, the length of day and
Equator night is equal every day of the year-
day is always 12 hours long and
• The equator is located at zero night is always 12 hours long.
degrees latitude.
• The Equator is a circle of latitude, Arctic Circle
about 40,075 km in circumference, • Out of the five parallel latitudes,
that divides Earth into the Northern Arctic Circle is the northern-most
and Southern hemispheres. circle which is at 66 and ½ degrees
north of the Equator.

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• The position of the Arctic is not Egypt, Saudi Arabia, India, and
always fixed. southern China.
• The Arctic Circle is 16000km long
which covers 4% of the Earth’s Tropic of Capricorn
surface.
• It is the Southern Tropic which is
Antarctic Circle currently at 23 and a ½ degree south.
• The Antarctic Circle is one of the • The length of the Tropic of
five major circles or parallels of Capricorn is the same as the Tropic
latitude that mark maps of the Earth. of Cancer.
• The region south of this circle is • The Southern Tropic covers 3% of
known as the Antarctic. the total world’s population.
• South of the Antarctic Circle, the • The sun is overhead once a year in
Sun is above the horizon for 24 December and therefore experiences
continuous hours at least once per maximum heat.
year and the centre of the Sun is
below the horizon for 24 continuous • The Tropic of Capricorn lies at 23.5°
hours at least once per year; this is South of the equator and runs
also true within the equivalent polar through Australia, Chile, southern
circle in the Northern Hemisphere, Brazil, and northern South Africa.
the Arctic Circle.
• The position of the Antarctic Circle
is not fixed and currently runs
66°33′49.0″ south of the Equator.

Tropic of Cancer
• It is also known as Northern Tropic
and the Sun is directly overhead at
this position in June.
• The Tropic of Cancer is located at 23
½ degrees in the Northern
Hemisphere.
• The length of the Tropic of Cancer is
36,788 km.
• The Tropic of Cancer is located at
23.5° North of the equator and runs
through Mexico, the Bahamas,

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Asia, Europe, Australia, and the

islands of Oceania.
• The landmass of the Eastern
• Longitude is the east-west Hemisphere is larger than the
measurement of the prime meridian. western part. Therefore, 80% of the
• There are 180 vertical east human population survives in the
longitudes of the Prime Meridian Eastern Hemisphere.
and 180 vertical west longitudes of • Eastern Hemisphere is also termed
the Prime Meridian. as Oriental Hemisphere.

Major lines to longitudes Western Hemisphere

Prime Meridian • It is the west of the Prime Meridian
that covers North and South America
• The line that passes through the and some parts of Africa, Europe,
Greenwich, British Royal Antarctica, and also Asia.
Observatory is regarded as Prime
• The centre of the Western
meridian.
Hemisphere is at the Pacific Ocean
• It is the base Longitude which is 0 whose nearest land is Genovesa
from where 180 degrees east and Island.
west directions are considered.
• Hence, Prime of Meridian is the base
of world time.
• The Earth takes 24 hours’ time to
complete one Rotation.
• The Sun crosses 15-degree of
Longitude per hour in every four
minutes of time.
• To keep uniform the time range in all
the territorial limits of the country,
the central meridian is regarded as
the Standard Meridian.
• There are a total of 24 time zones in
the world.
Eastern Hemisphere
• The International Date Line passes
• It is the east of the Prime Meridian through the 180-degree line of
that covers the country like Africa, longitude.

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• The difference between 0-degree • The local time at this meridian is

longitude and International Date taken as the standard time for the
Line is 12 hours. whole country. It is known as the
Indian Standard Time (IST).
Calculation of Time • Earth is divided into 24 time
• The calculation of time stands like zones of one hour each and Each
this: zone covers 15° of longitude.
i. the earth rotates 1-degree in 4 • The larger country like the USA,
minutes. Canada, and U.S.S.R. which have a
ii. When it is noon at Greenwich, great east-west stretch, these
time at 15-degree east of countries have to adopt several time
Greenwich will be (15*4=60 zones for a practical purpose.
minutes) which is 1 hour ahead
of Greenwich Time. • Both Canada and U.S.A. have five
time zones—the Atlantic, Eastern,
Central, Mountain and Pacific Time
Zones.
• USSR, the largest country used to
have 11 time zones. Russia now
has nine time zones.
• France, including their all-overseas
territories have total 12 time zones.

Standard Time and Time Zones

• If each town were to keep the time of
• The Indian Government has accep-
its own meridian, there would be
ted the meridian of 82.5°E for the
much difference in local time
standard time which is 5 hours 30
between one town and the other.
minutes ahead of Greenwich
• To avoid all difficulties, a system of Meridian Time.
standard time is observed by all
countries.
• In India, for instance, there will be a
difference of about two hours in
the local times of Dwarka in Gujarat
and Dibrugarh in Assam.
• In India, the longitude of 82½° E is
treated as the standard meridian.

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• Anyone crossing the dateline from

• A traveller going eastwards gains east to west loses a day (because of
time from Greenwich until he the loss in time he has made),
reaches the meridian 180°E when he and while crossing the dateline from
will be 12 hours ahead of G.M.T. west to east gains a day (because of
the gain in time he encountered).
• Similarly, in going westwards, he
loses 12 hours when he reaches
180°W.
• There is thus a total difference of 24
hours or a whole day between the Equinox
two sides of the 180° meridian.
• On 21st March and 23rd Sept,
• This is the International Date Line direct rays of the sun fall on the
where the date changes by exactly equator.
one day when it is crossed.
• At this position, neither of the poles
is tilted towards the sun; so, the
whole earth experiences equal days
and equal nights. This is called an
equinox.
• On 23rd September, it is autumn
season in the northern hemisphere
and spring season in the southern
hemisphere.
• The opposite is the case on 21st
March, when it is spring in the
northern and autumn in the southern
hemisphere respectively.

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Solstice • It is winter season there. The nights

• On 21st June, the northern are longer than the days. This
hemisphere is tilted towards the sun. position of the earth is called
The rays of the sun fall directly on the summer solstice.
the Tropic of Cancer. As a result, • On 22nd December, the Tropic of
these areas receive more heat. Capricorn receives direct rays of the
• On 22nd December, the Tropic of sun as the south pole tilts towards it.
Capricorn receives direct rays of the • As the sun’s rays fall vertically at
sun as the south pole tilts towards it, the Tropic of Capricorn (23½° S), a
a larger portion of the southern larger portion of the southern
hemisphere gets light. hemisphere gets light.
• The north pole is inclined towards • Therefore, it is summer in the
the sun and the places beyond southern hemisphere with longer
the Arctic Circle experience days and shorter nights.
continuous daylight for about six
months. • The reverse happens in the northern
hemisphere. This position of the
• Since a large portion of the northern earth is called the winter solstice.
hemisphere is getting light from the
sun, it is summer in the regions north
of the equator.
• The longest day and the shortest
night at these places occur on 21st
• The atmosphere receives a very low
June.
amount of heat energy from the Sun
• At this time in the southern as it receives most of its energy
hemisphere all these conditions are from the long-wave terrestrial
reversed. radiation.

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• The heating and cooling of the • The angle of the sun’s rays goes on
atmosphere are accomplished decreasing towards the poles.
through direct solar radiation and
through the transfer of energy from • As such, the areas bounded by the
the earth through the processes Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic
of conduction, convection, and circle in the northern hemisphere,
radiation. and the Tropic of Capricorn and the
Antarctic circle in the southern
hemisphere, have moderate
The three major heat zones of the Earth temperatures. These are, therefore,
are (based on the distance they have called temperate zones.
from Equator):
• Temperate Zone Frigid Zones
• Torrid Zone • Areas lying between the Arctic circle
and the north pole in the northern
• Frigid Zone hemisphere and the Antarctic circle
and the south pole in the southern
Torrid Zone hemisphere, are very cold.
• The mid-day sun is exactly • It is because here the sun does not
overhead at least once a year on all raise much above the horizon.
latitudes in between the Tropic of
Cancer and the Tropic of • Therefore, its rays are always
Capricorn. slanting. These are, therefore,
• This area, therefore, receives the called frigid zones.
maximum heat and is called
the torrid zone.

Temperate Zone
• The mid-day sun never shines • Its diameter is only one-quarter that
overhead on any latitude beyond the of the earth.
Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of
Capricorn. • It is about 3,84,400 km away from
us.

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• A ray of light from the sun takes ii. a point of time when the distance
about eight minutes to reach the is the most (called the apogee).
earth. Light takes only a second to
reach us from the moon. • Since a full Moon appears at the
point of least distance from earth, not
• The moon is tidally locked to the only does it appear to be brighter but
earth, meaning that the moon it is also larger than a regular full
revolves around the earth in about 27 moon.
days which is the same time it takes
to complete one spin. Phases of the Moon
• As a result of tidal locking, only one • When this heavenly body is behind
side of the moon is visible to us on the earth and sun, we can see the
the earth. entire illuminated portion – this is a
full-moon (Purnima).
• The moon is a significant stabiliser • When it is between the sun and
of Earth’s orbital axis. earth, we can only see the dark
• Without it, Earth’s tilt could vary as portion and a new moon
much as 85 degrees (at present the (Amavasya) occurs.
Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted at an • Between these two extremes, we see
angle of 23.5֯ relative to our orbital intermediate phases such as a half-
plane). moon and crescent.
• Neil Armstrong was the first,
and Buzz Aldrin was the second to
step on the surface of the moon
on 29 July 1969 (Apollo 11
mission).
• Till date, only Twelve astronauts
walked on the Moon’s surface.

Supermoon
• A supermoon occurs when the
Moon’s orbit is closest to the
Earth at the same time that
the Moon is full.
• As the Moon orbits the Earth,
i. there is a point of time when
the distance between the two is
the least (called the perigee)

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ii. The penumbra is a half-shadow

that occurs when a light source is
only partly covered by an object.
• An eclipse happens when a planet or
a moon gets in the way of the sun’s • Total Eclipse: This occurs when the
light. Sun is completely obscured from the
rich.
• When the light of the Sun or the
Moon is blocked by another body, • Annular Eclipse: Occurs when the
the sun or Moon is said to be Sun and Moon are exactly in line but
in eclipse. Moon appears smaller than the Sun.

• Here on Earth, we can experience • Partial Eclipse: Occurs when the

two kinds of eclipses: Sun and Moon are not completely
aligned and the Sun is partially
i. solar eclipses, obscured.

ii. lunar eclipses.

Lunar Eclipse

Solar Eclipse • known as the eclipse of the moon,

• Also known as the eclipse of the sun, • it occurs when the earth comes in
it occurs when the moon comes in between the sun and the moon.
between the sun and the earth. • As a result, the earth blocks the light
• This occurs on a new moon phase. of the sun from reaching the moon’s
surface and casts its shadow on the
• We can observe up to 5 solar moon.
eclipses per year.
• It can last as long as 1 hour 40

Types of Solar Eclipses

• Eclipses may be classified into 3
types i.e., Annular, Total and
Partial.
• Both the Moon and Earth cast 3
shadows: umbra, penumbra, and an
minutes.
antumbra.
• The colour appears red because of
i. The umbra is a shadow’s dark
refraction in the atmosphere, as it
core: It means if you are standing
scatters all other colour present in
within the umbra, you will not be
the sunlight.
able to see any part of the light
source as the object blocks all
direct light rays.
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• It occurs on a full moon day. We can Spring tides - The position of both the
observe up to 3 lunar eclipses per sun and the moon in relation to the earth
year. has direct bearing on tide height.
• When the sun, the moon and the
There are 3 kinds of lunar eclipses: earth are in a straight line, the
• A total lunar eclipse occurs when height of the tide will be higher.
Earth’s umbra – the central, dark part • They occur twice a month, one
of its shadow – obscures all of the on full moon period and another
Moon’s surface. during new moon period.
• A partial lunar eclipse can be
observed when only part of the
Neap tide - Normally, there is a seven-
Moon’s surface is obscured by
day interval between the spring tides
Earth’s umbra.
and neap tides.
• A penumbral lunar eclipse
• At this time the sun and moon are
happens when the Moon travels
at right angles to each other and
through the faint penumbral portion
the forces of the sun and moon tend
of Earth’s shadow.
to counteract one another.
• Like spring tides, these tides also
occur twice a month.

• The periodical rise and fall of the sea

level, once or twice a day, mainly
due to the attraction of the sun and
the moon, is called a tide.
• The interval between two tides is
about 12 hours and 26 minutes.
i. Tides can be based on frequency –
semi diurnal tides, diurnal tides and
mixed tide.

Tides of Bay of Fundy

The highest tides in the world occur in the Bay
of Fundy, Canada. The tidal bulge is 15 – 16 m.
Because there are two high tides and two low
tides every day (slightly more than a 24-hour

…
period); then a tide must come in within about a
six-hour period.

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CHAPTER

06 09CHAPTER

06

Atmosphere
• The envelope of gases surrounding atmospheric pressure at sea level
the earth is called the atmosphere. is 1034 gm per square centimetre.
It forms a protective boundary
between the outer space and
the biosphere. Importance of Earth’s Atmosphere

• The atmosphere is a dynamic • Plants require carbon dioxide to

collection of gases that constantly survive while animals and many
move and change. other organisms need oxygen,
atmosphere supplies these gases.
• It protects the earth from the
harmful radiation from the sun. • The atmosphere absorbs certain
frequencies and lets through some
• It acts as a greenhouse by allowing other frequencies of
short-wave radiation (from Sun). solar radiation, regulating the
entry of solar radiation.
• Like land (lithosphere) and water
(hydrosphere), the atmosphere is an • The atmosphere also takes care of
integral part of the earth. extra-terrestrial objects like
meteors which get burnt up while
• Compared to the earth’s radius, the
passing through the atmosphere.
atmosphere appears to be only a very
thin layer of gases.

Atmospheric pressure:
• The air exerts pressure on earth’s
surface by virtue of its weight. This
pressure is called atmospheric
pressure.
• Atmospheric pressure is the most
important climatic element. The

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CHAPTER
• The gases in the atmosphere are • It is a relatively inert gas,
composed of neutral, uncharged and is an important constituent of all
particles. organic compounds.
• The Earth’s atmosphere consists of a • The main function of nitrogen is
mixture of noble gas atoms and to control combustion by diluting
many kinds of molecules. oxygen.
• It also indirectly helps in oxidation
• In addition, it contains huge numbers of different kinds.
of solid and liquid particles,
collectively called aerosols.
Carbon Dioxide
• The third important gas is Carbon
Gases Dioxide which constitutes only
• Some of the gases may be regarded about 0.038% of the dry air.
as permanent atmospheric • Carbon dioxide is considered to be a
components which remain in fixed very important factor in the heat
proportion to the total gas volume. energy budget.
• Nitrogen and oxygen make up • This could significantly raise the
nearly 99% of the clean, dry air. temperature at lower levels of the
• Besides these gases, large quantities atmosphere inducing drastic climatic
of water vapour and dust particles changes.
are also present in the atmosphere.
These solid and liquid particles are Ozone (03)
of great climatic significance.
• Ozone (03) is another important gas
in the atmosphere, which is actually
Oxygen a type of oxygen molecule consisting
• Oxygen, although constituting of three atoms.
only 21% of total volume of • It forms less than 0.00005% by
atmosphere, is the most important volume of the atmosphere and
component among gases. is unevenly distributed.
• All living organisms inhale oxygen. • It is found between 20 km and 25 km
• Besides, oxygen can combine with altitude with the greatest conc.
other elements to form important • It plays a crucial role in blocking the
compounds, such as, oxides. harmful ultraviolet radiation.
Water Vapour
Nitrogen
• Water Vapour is one of the most
• Nitrogen accounts for 78% of total variable gaseous substances –
atmospheric volume. constituting between 2% and 4% of
the total volume.

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• It absorbs not only the long-wave

terrestrial radiation, but also a part
of the incoming solar radiation.
• Water vapour is the source of
precipitation and clouds.

Solid Particles (Particulate Matter)

• The solid particles present in the
atmosphere consist of sand particle,
pollen grains, small organisms, soot,
ocean salts.
• The upper layer of the atmosphere
may even have fragments of meteors
which got burnt up in the
atmosphere.
• The sky appears blue in colour due
to the selective scattering of solar
radiation by dust particles.

• The fall in temperature is

called ‘lapse rate’.
• The troposphere is marked by
The atmosphere can be divided into five
temperature inversion, eddies and
layers according to the diversity of
turbulence.
temperature and density. They are:
• The troposphere is the theatre for
weather because all cyclones,
anticyclones, storms and
• It is the atmospheric layer between
precipitation occur here.
the earth’s surface and an altitude
of 8 km at the poles and 18 km at
Tropopause
the equator.
• Top most layer of troposphere.
• The thickness is greater at the
equator, because the heated air • It acts as a boundary between
rises to greater heights. troposphere and stratosphere.
• The temperature in this layer, as one
goes upwards, falls at the rate of 5°C
per km, and reaches -45°C at the • It lies beyond troposphere, up to an
poles and -80°C over the equator. altitude of 50 km from the earth’s
surface.

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• The temperature in this layer • Because of the presence of ozone

remains constant for some distance molecules, this layer reflects the
but then rises to reach a level of 0°C harmful ultraviolet radiation.
at 50 km altitude. • The ozonosphere is also
• This rise is due to the presence of called chemosphere because, a lot
ozone. of chemical activity goes on here.
• This layer is almost free from • The temperature rises at a rate
clouds and associated weather of 5°C per km through the
phenomenon, making conditions ozonosphere.
most ideal for flying aeroplanes.
• Sometimes, cirrus clouds are
present at lower levels in this layer. • This is an intermediate layer beyond
the ozone layer and continues up to
Ozonosphere an altitude of 80 km from the
• It lies at an altitude between 30 km earth’s surface.
and 60 km from the earth’s surface • The temperature gradually falls to -
and spans the stratosphere and lower 100°C at 80 km altitude.
mesosphere.
• Meteorites burn up in this layer on
entering from the space.

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• In thermosphere, temperature rises

very rapidly with increasing height.
• Heat Budget of the Earth is the
• Ionosphere is a part of this layer. It balance between incoming solar
extends between 80-400 km. insolation and outgoing terrestrial
• This layer helps in radio radiation which maintains the
transmission. average annual temperature of the
earth at 15 celsius.
• International Space Station and
satellites orbit in this layer. • Solar energy received by earth’s
surface is called solar insolation.
• Aurora’s is observed in lower parts
of this layer. Heat Budget and Atmosphere
Ionosphere • The total solar radiation reaching a
horizontal surface on the ground is
• This layer is located between 80 km called global radiation.
and 400 km and is an electrically
charged layer. • It comprises the direct shortwave
radiation from the sun + the
• This layer is characterized diffuse radiation scattered
by ionization of atoms. by atmosphere.
• Thus, the earth after being heated
also radiates energy in the form
• This is the uppermost layer of the of long-wave radiation.
atmosphere extending beyond the
ionosphere above a height of about • The radiation from the sun towards
400 km. the earth is called incoming
shortwave solar radiation and from
• The air is extremely rarefied and the the earth towards the atmosphere is
temperature gradually increases called outgoing longwave terrestrial
through the layer. radiation.
• Light gases like helium and
hydrogen float into the space from How it is calculated
here.
• Temperature gradually increases
through the layer.
• This layer coincides with space.

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• Total 35 units are reflected back into

space, (known as albedo of the
earth). Now, the units received by
earth and its atmosphere = 100 – 35 • Air expands when heated and gets
i.e., 65 units. compressed when cooled. This
results in variations in the
Heat Budget of Earth atmospheric pressure.
• 51 units of solar insolation are • The differences in atmospheric
received by the earth as direct pressure causes the movement of air
radiation which can be from high pressure to low pressure,
segregated as follows: setting the air in motion.
i. Received through direct • Air in horizontal motion is wind.
radiation = 34units. • The wind redistributes the heat and
ii. Received as diffused day light = moisture across latitudes, thereby,
17 units which comes out to be maintaining a constant temperature
51 units. for the planet as a whole.

Heat Budget of Atmosphere Air Pressure

iii. Absorption by atmospheric • The weight of a column of air
gases in different vertical zones contained in a unit area from the
of atmosphere - 14 units. mean sea level to the top of the
atmosphere is called the
iv. Now 51 units + 14 units = 65
atmospheric pressure.
units (total solar insolation
received by earth and
atmosphere). Measurement of Air Pressure
v. Out of the solar radiation • It is measured by means of an
received directly by earth i.e., instrument called barometer.
51 units, 17 units are re-radiated • The units used by meteorologists for
back into outer space, and rest this purpose are called millibars
34 units is absorbed by the (mb).
atmosphere in the form of
outgoing terrestrial radiations. • A pressure of 1000 millibars is equal
to the weight of 1.053 kilograms per
square centimetre.
• The normal pressure at sea level is
taken to be about 76 centimetres
(1013.25 millibars).

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Pressure Gradient
• The rate of change of atmospheric
pressure between two points on the
• On the earth’s surface, there
earth’s surface is called the pressure
are seven pressure belts. They are –
gradient.
i. Equatorial Low
• Isobars are lines connecting places
having equal pressure. ii. The two Sub-tropical Highs
iii. The two Sub-polar Lows
iv. The two Polar Highs.

• Except for the Equatorial low, the

others form matching pairs in the
Northern and Southern hemispheres.

• Lies between 10N and 10S

• The mass of air above in the column latitudes.
of air compresses the air under it
• Width may vary between 5°N and
hence its lower layers are denser
5°S and 20°N and 20°S.
than the upper layers;
• This belt happens to be the zone of
• As a result, the lower layers of the
convergence of trade winds from
atmosphere have higher density,
two hemispheres from sub-tropical
hence, exert more pressure.
high-pressure belts.
• Conversely, the higher layers are
• This belt is also called
less compressed and, hence, they
the Doldrums, because of the
have low density and low pressure.
extremely calm air movements.
• The position of the belt varies with
the apparent movement of the Sun.
• The factors responsible for variation
in the horizontal distribution of • As the larger part of the low-pressure
pressure are as follows: belt passes along the oceans, the
winds obtain huge amount of
• Air temperature – Equator Polar moisture.
regions
• Vertical winds carrying moisture
• The earth’s rotation – Coriolis form cumulonimbus clouds and lead
force to thunderstorms.
• Presence of water vapor –
Inversely related to pressure

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• The descending air currents feed the

• The air moving away from winds blowing towards adjoining
equatorial low-pressure belt in the low pressure belts.
upper troposphere becomes dry and • This belt is frequently invaded by
cold. tropical and extra-tropical
• This dry and cold wind subsides at disturbances.
30°N and S.
Horse Latitudes
• So, the high pressure along this belt
is due to subsidence of air coming • The corresponding latitudes of sub-
from the equatorial region which tropical high-pressure belt are
descends after becoming heavy. called horse latitudes.
• The high pressure is also due to the
blocking effect of air at upper levels
because of the Coriolis force. • Located between 45°N and S
latitudes and the Arctic and the
• A calm condition (anticyclonic) with
Antarctic circles (66.5° N and S
feeble winds is created in this high-
latitudes).
pressure belt.

54 | P a g e
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• These are dynamically produced due • The pressure belts shift slightly north
to: - of their annual average locations.
i. Coriolis Force produced by
rotation of the earth on its axis, Pressure Belts in June
and. • During winter, these conditions are
ii. Ascent of air as a result of completely reversed and the pressure
convergence of westerlies and belts shift south of their annual mean
polar easterlies. locations.

• The area of contrast between cold • Opposite conditions prevail in the

and warm air masses southern hemisphere.
produces polar jet streams which • The amount of shift is, however, less
encircles the earth at 60 latitudes in the southern hemisphere due to
and is focused in these low-pressure predominance of water.
areas.

• The rotation of the earth about its

• The polar highs are small in area and
axis affects the direction of the wind.
extend around the poles.
• This force is called the Coriolis
• They lie around poles between 80 –
force. It has great impact on the
90° N and S latitudes.
direction of wind movement.
• The air from sub-polar low-pressure
• Due to the earth’s rotation, winds do
belts after saturation becomes dry.
not cross the isobars at right angles
• This dry air becomes cold while as the pressure gradient force directs,
moving towards poles through upper but get deflected from their original
troposphere. path.
• The lowest temperatures are found • This deviation is the result of the
over the poles. earth’s rotation and is called the
• These areas of Polar high pressure Coriolis effect or Coriolis force.
are known as the Polar Highs. • Due to this effect, winds in the
• These regions are characterized by northern hemisphere get deflected to
permanent Ice Caps. the right of their path and those in
the southern hemisphere to their left,
Pressure Belts in January following Farrell’s Law.

• In the northern hemisphere, during • Farrell’s Law: - The law that wind
summer, with the apparent is deflected to the right in the
northward shift of the sun, the Northern Hemisphere and to the left
thermal equator is located north of in the Southern Hemisphere.
the geographical equator.

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• The Coriolis force acts beneath the ocean to move

perpendicular to the pressure upward.
gradient force. • Surface waters of the ocean are
warm and the water under oceanic
beds is cold and contains various
types of nutrients that are helpful for
aquatic life.
• So, fishing is a thriving occupation
along the eastern coast of South
America.
• The western pacific and Australia
receive precipitation due to Walker
circulation.
• On the other hand, when the trade
winds are weak, the warm water of
• The Southern Hemisphere has a the central Pacific Ocean slowly
horizontal air circulation cell called drifts towards the South American
as Walker Cell responsible for coast and replaces the cool Peruvian
upwelling along the South American current.
Coast and bringing rains in
Australia. • Such an appearance of warm water
off the coast of Peru is known as El
• The Walker circulation is the result Nino.
of a difference in surface pressure
and temperature over the western • The El Nino event is closely
and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. associated with the pressure changes
in the Central Pacific and Australia.
• A pressure gradient from east to the
west creates an air circulation from • This change in pressure conditions
the Eastern pacific to the western over the Pacific is known as the
Pacific. southern oscillation.
• This air circulation displaces • The combined phenomenon of
surface water towards the western southern oscillation and El Nino is
pacific causing cold water from known as ENSO.

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pressure areas towards the

equatorial low-pressure belt.
• Therefore, these are confined to a
• The wind in simple terms is
region between 30N and 30°S
the horizontal movement of Air.
throughout the earth’s surface.
• This horizontal movement is caused
• They flow as the north-eastern
by differences in air pressure
trades in the northern hemisphere
within our atmosphere.
and the south-eastern trades in the
• Wind under high pressure moves southern hemisphere.
toward areas of low pressure.
• The trade winds from two
hemispheres meet at the equator,
and due to convergence, they rise
Permanent winds or Primary winds and cause heavy rainfall.
• The trade winds, westerlies and • The eastern parts of the trade winds
easterlies. associated with the cool ocean
currents are drier and more stable
Secondary or Periodic Winds than the western parts of the ocean.
• Seasonal winds: These winds change
Westerlies
their direction in different seasons.
For example, monsoons in India. • The westerlies are the winds blowing
from the subtropical high-pressure
• Periodic winds: Land and sea
belts (30°-35°) towards the sub-
breeze, mountain, and valley
polar low-pressure belts (60°-65°)
breeze.
in both hemispheres.
Local winds • They blow from southwest to
north-east in the northern
• These blow only during a particular
hemisphere and north-west to
period of the day or year in a small
south-east in the southern
area.
hemisphere.
• Winds like Loo, Mistral, Foehn,
• The westerlies of the southern
Bora.
hemisphere are stronger and
persistent due to the vast expanse of
water, while those of the northern
• These are the planetary winds which hemisphere is irregular because of
blow extensively over continents the uneven relief of vast land-
and oceans. masses.
• The westerlies are best developed
Trade Winds between 40° and 65°S latitudes.
• The trade winds are those blowing
from the sub-tropical high-

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• These latitudes are often • The monsoons are characterized

called Roaring Forties, Furious by seasonal reversal of wind
Fifties, and Shrieking Sixties – direction.
dreaded terms for sailors. • During summer, the trade winds of
the southern hemisphere are pulled
northwards by an apparent
northward movement of the sun and
by an intense low-pressure core in
the north-west of the Indian sub-
continent.
• While crossing the equator, these
winds get deflected to their right
under the effect of Coriolis force.
• Since they travel a long distance
Polar Easterlies
over a vast expanse of water, by the
• The Polar easterlies are dry, cold time they reach the south-western
prevailing winds blowing from coast of India, they are over-
north-east to south-west direction saturated with moisture and cause
in Northern Hemisphere and south- heavy rainfall in India.
east to the north-west in Southern
• Divergent winds are produced by
Hemisphere.
the anticyclonic movement which
• They blow from the polar high- travels southwards towards the
pressure areas of the sub-polar equator.
lows.
• These are north-east or winter
monsoons which are responsible for
some precipitation along the east
coast of India.
• These winds change their direction • The monsoon winds flow over India,
with change in season. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Sri
• Monsoons, land and sea breeze, Lanka, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal,
mountain and valley breeze, south-eastern Asia, northern
cyclones and anticyclones, and air Australia, China and outside India.
masses.
Land Breeze and Sea Breeze
Monsoons
• During the day the land heats up
• They were considered a faster and becomes warmer than the
convectional circulation on a giant sea.
scale.
• Therefore, over the land, the air rises
giving rise to a low-pressure area,
whereas the sea is relatively cool and

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the pressure oversea is relatively Foehn or Fohn

high. • Beneficial Wind
• At the night the reversal of condition • Foehn is a hot wind of local
takes place. importance in the Alps.
• The land loses heat faster and is • It is a strong, gusty, dry and warm
cooler than the sea. wind which develops on the leeward
• The pressure gradient is from the side of a mountain range.
land to the sea and hence land • The temperature of the wind varies
breeze results. between 15°C and 20°C.
• The wind helps animal grazing by
melting snow and aids the ripening
• Local differences in temperature and of grapes.
pressure produce local winds.
Chinook
Loo • Beneficial Wind
• Harmful Wind • Foehn like winds in USA and
• In the plains of northern India and Canada move down the west slopes
Pakistan, sometimes a very hot and of the Rockies.
dry wind blows from the west in the • It is beneficial to ranchers east of
months of May and June, usually in the Rockies as it keeps the
the afternoons. grasslands clear of snow during
• It is known as Its temperature much of the winter.
invariably ranges between 45°C and
50°C. It may cause sunstroke to Mistral
people.
• Harmful Wind

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• Mistral is one of the local names

given to such winds that blow from
the Alps over France towards the
Mediterranean Sea.
• It is channelled through the Rhone
River valley. It is very cold and
dry with a high speed.
• It brings blizzards into southern
France.

…
60 | P a g e
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• About 65% of cyclonic activity Stationary Front

occurs between 10° and 20°
latitude. • When the surface position of a
front does not change, a stationary
• Because of the rising warm humid front is formed.
air, a true cyclonic vortex may
develop very rapidly. However, • The wind motion on both sides of
only a few of these disturbances the front is parallel to the front.
develop into cyclones.
• The convergence of trade winds air
masses of different temperatures
and the resulting instability are the
prerequisites for the origin and
growth of violent tropical storms.

Cold Front
• Such a front is formed when a cold
air mass replaces a warm air
mass by advancing into it or that
the warm air mass retreats and cold
• When the air remains over a air mass advances.
homogenous area for a sufficiently
longer time, it acquires the • In such a situation, the transition
characteristics of the area. zone between the two is a cold
front.
• The air with distinctive
characteristics in terms of • Cold front moves up to twice as
temperature and humidity is quickly as warm fronts.
called an air mass.
• Air masses form an integral part of
the global planetary wind system.
Therefore, they are associated with
one or other wind belts.

• Fronts are boundaries between air

masses of different temperatures.
• Fronts are actually zones of
transition called a frontal zone.

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CHAPTER

10
08

The Climate
atmospheric pressure, and wind
• Weather, state of the atmosphere at (speed and direction).
a particular place during a short
period of time.
• It involves such atmospheric
phenomena as temperature,
humidity, precipitation, air pressure,
wind, and cloud cover.
• The weather differs from the climate
as it includes weather conditions that
have prevailed over an area during a
long time period – generally 30
years.
• Weather, as most commonly
defined, occurs in the troposphere.

• Climate, conditions of the Distribution

atmosphere at a particular • 50 N – 100 S from equator
location over a long period of time.
• No impact of trade winds.
• It is the long-term summation of
the atmospheric elements that, • Examples of some countries are:
over short time periods, constitute Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Peru,
weather. Nigeria, Liberia, Myanmar,
Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia,
• These elements are temperature, Java.
humidity, precipitation,

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Climate South America (Llano’s grasslands

• The mean monthly temperatures are of Orinoco River basin).
always around 24 to 27ºC, with • In the southern hemisphere, this
very little variation. climate is spread through South
• There is no winter. America (Campos grasslands of the
Brazilian Highlands), and Australia.
• The diurnal and annual range of
temperature is small. Temperature

• Precipitation is heavy between 6o' • Monthly temperatures in this

and 10', throughout the year. region can range between 20 to 32
C, and annual average
• The double rainfall peaks, temperature is around 18 C.
coinciding with the equinoxes.
Precipitation
• The region is characterized by a hot,
rainy season and cool, dry season.
• In the northern hemisphere, the hot
and wet season starts in May and
continues until September. The
rest of the year is dry and cool.
• In the southern hemisphere, the
(Tropical Wet and Dry Climate) rainy season begins in October and
ends in March.
• It is confined within the tropics and
is best developed in Sudan, where
dry & wet climate are most distinct, Winds
hence named Sudan climate. • Trade-winds are the prevailing
winds of the region which bring
• It covers much of Africa (Kenya, rainfall in the coastal areas.
Nigeria, Gambia) as well as large
areas of Australia, South America • Trade winds are the strongest in
(Brazilian highlands), and India. summer when the ITCZ is
positioned over the hot desert.
Distribution
• It is situated within the tropical
latitudes on either side of the
equator.
• In the northern hemisphere, this
climate is found in Africa, and

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• The overall temperature range of

• Monsoon climate, is found in the 30 to 45 C.
region bounded by the Tropic of
Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Precipitation
• The region experiences very high
• The region is influenced by the
rainfall, which is concentrated in a
movement of the inter-tropical
few months.
convergence zone (ITCZ).
• Annual average rainfall is around
• Monsoons are seasonal winds,
200-250 cm.
blowing over the landmasses from
the seas and vice-versa. • In India, Mawsynram and
Cherrapunji of Khasi Hills
(Meghalaya) experience an annual
Distribution rainfall of over 1000 cm.
• They are confined within 5 – 30
degrees latitudes on either side of the
equator.
• Indian subcontinent, Indo-China
(Laos. Vietnam, Cambodia),
Thailand. southern China and
northern Australia are the regions
experiencing this climate.
• Desert regions are characterized by
Winds very little rainfall and scanty
• During the summers, a low-pressure vegetation.
region develops over Central Asia.
• The length of the growing period is
• This causes the Asian landmass to limited to a small rainy season.
heat up faster, higher pressure in the
• The landscape of the region is
northern hemisphere.
devoid of trees and animals due to
• In the southern hemisphere, winter the lack of moisture and food.
conditions prevail, leading to a high-
• They can be of two types:
pressure zone over northern
Australia. i. hot deserts – like Saharan
desert
Temperature
ii. mid-latitude deserts – like
• Average monthly temperature is Gobi Desert.
above 18 C, but in summers the
maximum can reach as high as 45
C.
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Hot deserts – Distribution • The prevailing winds in these

• Major hot deserts of the world are regions are the trade winds.
situated on the western edges of the • Atacama Desert is the driest
continents between latitudes 15 to region in the world with an annual
30 north and south. precipitation of less than 2 cm.
• Sahara Desert is the largest of hot
deserts, covering an area of 3.5 Mid-Latitude deserts – distribution
million sq. miles. • These deserts are often situated on
• Other prominent hot deserts include plateaux and are a part of
the Great Australian Desert, continental interiors.
Arabian Desert, Kalahari Desert, • They include Gobi Desert,
Thar Desert, etc. Turkestan Desert and Patagonian
Desert etc.
Hot deserts – Temperature
• In India, Ladakh desert falls under
• These deserts are some of the hottest this category.
places on earth and have high
temperatures all around the year.
Mid-latitude deserts – Climate
• They do not have a distinct cold • In many ways, the climatic
weather season. conditions of these deserts are
similar to those of the hot deserts.
• The average summer
temperatures are always above • Average annual precipitation does
30 C. not exceed 25 cm.
• However, coastal areas of these • These regions have a very range of
deserts have a relatively moderate annual temperatures, greater than
climate due to the moderating that of hot deserts.
influence of seas.
• The reason behind such extreme
• The cooling effect of cold currents temperatures is “Continentality” – a
also reduces the temperatures. phenomenon associated with
landmasses which are at great
• The average diurnal range of
distances from the coast.
temperatures is around 14 to 25 C.

Hot deserts – Precipitation

• Average annual precipitation in
these regions is not more than 25
cm.

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iii. Velds (High Veld) – South

• Steppes are intermediate regions, Africa
not receiving enough rainfall to
support a forest but are also not as iv. Downs – Australia
dry as a desert. v. Canterbury – New Zealand
• Steppe Climatic region is also
known as Temperate Grasslands. Precipitation
• The average annual rainfall over
Distribution the steppes varies from 25 to 75 cm,
depending upon the region.
• Steppes are found in the
continental interiors. • The highest rainfall occurs in the
spring season, or just prior to the
• They are usually found in the onset of summers.
temperate latitudes and hence come
under the influence of Westerly
Temperature
winds.
• Summers are warm with the
• Steppes are known by their regional average temperature in the range
names in different parts of the world. of 18-20 C.
They include,
• Winters are usually cold with
i. Prairies – North America occasional snowfall.
ii. Pampas – Argentina and
Uruguay

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Winds i. During the summer months, the

• The prevailing winds of these sun is overhead the Tropic of
regions are the Westerlies, which Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.
are responsible for precipitation ii. Hence the regions are practically
during the winters. rainless in summers and hence
• Apart from these, there are many remain dry.
local winds such as Mistral iii. The relative humidity is
(France); Loo (Gangetic plains), generally low.
Sirocco (Sahara), Foehn (Alps) etc.
Wet, cold winters with on-shore
Westerlies:

(Western Margin Climate) • The Westerlies belt shifts

equatorward and the
• The warm temperate western margin Mediterranean regions are under the
climate or the Mediterranean climate influence of on-shore Westerlies.
is found between 30 and 45 N and
S of the Equator. • Hence, these lands receive almost
all of their precipitation during the
• This climate is witnessed in winter months.
relatively fewer parts of the world
and is confined to western margins
Local winds
of the continental landmasses.
• The Mediterranean climatic region
• The basic cause of this climate is the in Europe experiences many local
seasonal shift of the wind belts. winds due to the topography of the
region.
Distribution
The two most important local winds
• Central Chile, are:
• California (around San Francisco), Sirocco
• The southwestern tip of Africa • This is a hot, dry and dusty wind.
(around Cape Town),
• It originates in the Sahara Desert.
• Southern Australia (in southern
Victoria. • Normally it lasts only for a few
days.
Climate • It blows from the desert interiors of
• Dry, warm summers with off-shore Sahara into the Mediterranean Sea.
Tradewinds: • It is also called “Blood Rain”
because it is carrying the red dust of
the Sahara Desert.
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Natal and Parana-Paraguay-

Mistral Uruguay basin.
• Mistral is a cold wind from the
north. • This is often referred to as Natal
Type of climate and is influenced by
• It rushes down the Rhone valley. the on-shore Tradewinds all-round
the year.

Climate
• It is a warm moist summer and a
cool, dry winter.
• The relative humidity is little high in
mid-summer but for most of the
time, the climate is pleasantly warm.
• Rainfall is more than moderate and
(Eastern Margin Climate) ranges between 60 cm to 150 cm.
• It is found along the eastern margins
of the continents between 20 and • Local storms also occur. Example:
typhoons, hurricanes.
35 N and S latitude.
• The climatic features in the region
are similar to the monsoonal climate
with rain during the summer and
dry weather during winter.

Variations of warm temperate eastern

margin climate
• China Type: Temperate monsoon
or China type found in most parts of
China and is a modified form of (Coniferous Forests & Lumbering)
monsoonal climate.
• Taiga Climate is also known as Cool
• Gulf Type: It is found in the south- Temperate Continental Climate
eastern parts of the USA bordering and is popular by various other
the Gulf of Mexico. names such as Siberian Climate,
Boreal Climate.
• The continental heating during
summers induces an inflow of air • This type of climate is mainly found
from the cooler Atlantic Ocean. in the Northern Hemisphere.
• Natal Type: This climate is
witnessed in New South Wales,
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• Koppen has defined Taiga Climatic • Annual range of temperature is very

region as D type in his climatic high, almost 50 C to 60 C.
classification. • The coolest place on earth,
• The summer months are warm Verkhoyansk is situated in this
with temperature more than 10 C climatic region.
while the winter temperature can
be less than 3 C. Precipitation
• Maritime influences are nearly
Distribution: absent and hence the annual
precipitation is low, generally
• It stretches from 50 N to 70 N along around 38 cm to 63 cm.
a continuous belt across Canada,
Scandinavian Europe and central • In winter, the precipitation is in the
and southern Russian. form of snow.

• On the north, it merges into the

Arctic tundra of Canada and Eurasia.
Hence this climate is also called (Tundra & Ice Caps)
“Sub-arctic climate”.
• Polar climate has cold climatic
• On the south, the climate becomes conditions all through the year.
less severe and merges into the
• Koppen classified Polar Climate as
temperate Steppe climate.
E type in his climatic classification.

Climate • According to Koppen the summer

temperature in this region is less
• In Taiga climatic region the summer
than 10. He further divided the
may be warm or cool while the
polar climate as Polar Tundra and
winter is bitterly cold due to the
Polar Ice Caps.
strong wind and snowstorms which
flow from the continental polar and
Arctic air mass. Distribution
Northern Hemisphere
Temperature
• The polar type of climate is
• The climate of these regions is primarily found north of the
characterized by extremely cold Arctic Circle.
winters of long duration, with
temperatures ranging around -30 C • The ice-caps are confined to
to -40 C. Greenland and to the highlands of
• The summers are cool and brief. the high-latitude regions.
Spring and autumn are very brief and • This includes the coastal strip of
transitional periods. Greenland, the barren grounds of

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northern Canada and Alaska and

the Arctic seaboard of Eurasia.
Southern Hemisphere
• In the southern hemisphere, the
uninhabited land of Antarctica is
the greatest single stretch of ice-cap.

Temperature
• A very low mean annual
temperature. • The modified Koppen system
• Only four months have a describes five major climate
temperature above freezing point. groups (groups A, B, C, D, and
E) which are subdivided into a total
• Winters are long and very severe; of 14 individual climate types,
summers are cool and brief. along with the special category of
highland (H) climate.
• Frosts and blizzards that occur are
very hazardous to the polar • He classified the entire world
inhabitants. climate by assigning alphabetical
letters (capital letters) – A, B, C, D,
E, and H.
Precipitation
• These categories are further
• Precipitation is mainly in the form subdivided into subdivisions and
of snow, falling in winter and being types by indicating small letters like
drafted by the blizzards. – a, b, c, d, h, f, m, w, k, and s.
• In summer, there is a maximum and
the precipitation is in the form of
rain or sleet.

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• The third is Aw, or the tropical wet

and dry climate, or the savanna
climate.

• Tropical moist climates can be

found about 15 to 25 latitude
northwards and southwards of the
equator.
• The climactic zone is that • Temperature is not as much of a
temperatures in these zones remain factor in these climatic zones.
above 18 C all throughout the
year. • These climactic regions extend 20
to 35 latitude northwards and
• Annual precipitation in this southwards from the equator.
climactic zone is usually above
1,500 mm.
There are four broad sub-divisions of
this climactic zone.
Within this broad climatic zone:
• The first is Af, or tropical wet • The first is BW, or dry arid
climate, where the climate is climate also called the true desert
tropical with precipitation all year climate.
round. • The letters h and k are suffixed after
• The second is a tropical monsoon BW to signify whether the dry arid
climate, designated as Am. zone or the mid-latitudes
respectively.

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• The second is BS, or dry semi-arid • In moist continental mid-latitude

climate, also referred to as steppe climates, summers are
climate. warm and can also be cool while
winters are cold.
• The letters h and k are suffixed in a
similar way to BW zones to define • Average temperatures in the
the location of the climatic zone in warmest months are usually more
the sub-tropics or in the mid- than 10 C, while temperatures in
latitudes respectively. the coldest months can be less than
-3 C.
• There are three sub-divisions,
namely, Dw – with dry winters, Ds –
with dry summers, and Df – with
precipitation all year round.

• In this climactic zone, summers are

usually warm and humid while
winters are mild.
• These climactic zones extend 30 to • In Polar climates, temperatures are
50 latitude northwards and low all year round with the warmest
southwards from the equator. month having temperatures less
than 10 C.
Three subdivisions exist for this form • Polar climates occur in the northern
of the climactic zone. coastal areas of Asia, Europe, and
• The first is the humid subtropical North America and on Greenland
climate or Cfa, where summers are and Antarctica.
hot and humid with frequent Polar climates have two sub-divisions:
thunderstorms. • The first is ET or Polar Tundra in
• The second is the Cfb marine which soil occurs as permanently
climates that are usually found on frozen as permafrost extending
the western coasts of continents. hundreds of meters in depth.
• The third is the Mediterranean • The second is EF or Polar Ice Caps,
climatic zone or Cs, where rainfall which have a surface that
mostly occurs during the mild is permanently covered with ice or
winters. snow.

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11
CHAPTER

09
Rainfall
• Rainfall: drop size more than 0.5
mm.
• The process of continuous
condensation in free air helps the • Mist: evaporation occurs before
condensed particles to grow in size. reaching the ground leading to foggy
weather.
• When the resistance of the air fails to
hold them against the force of • Snowfall: fine flakes of snow fall
gravity, they fall on to the earth’s when the temperature is less than
surface. 0°C.
• So, after the condensation of water • Hail: precipitation in the form of
vapour, the release of moisture is hard rounded pellets is known as
known as precipitation. hail; 5 mm and 50 mm.
• This may take place in liquid or solid
form.
• Precipitation in the form of drops of
water is called rainfall, when the
• On the basis of origin, rainfall may
drop size is more than 5 mm.
be classified into three main types –
the convectional, orographic or
Different forms of precipitation relief and the cyclonic or frontal.
• It is called Virage when raindrops
evaporate before reaching the earth
while passing through dry air. • The, air on being heated, becomes
• Drizzle is light rainfall with drop light and rises up in convection
size being less than 0.5 mm. currents.
• Sleet is frozen raindrops and • As it rises, it expands and loses heat
refrozen melted snow-water. and consequently, condensation
takes place and cumulous clouds
• Raindrops, which leave the warmer
are formed.
air, encounter the colder air below.
• Convectional precipitation is heavy
but of short duration, highly
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localised and is associated with • The area situated on the leeward

minimum amount of cloudiness. side, which gets less rainfall is
• It occurs mainly during summer known as the rain-shadow area.
and is common over equatorial • It is also known as the relief rain.
doldrums in the Congo basin, the • Example: Mahabaleshwar, situated
Amazon basin and the islands of on the Western Ghats, receives more
south-east Asia. than 600 cm of rainfall, whereas
Pune, lying in the rain shadow area,
has only about 70 cm.

• When two air masses with

different temperatures meet,
turbulent conditions are produced.

• When the saturated air mass comes

across a mountain, it is forced to
ascend and as it rises, it expands; the
temperature falls, and the moisture is
condensed.
• This type of precipitation occurs
when warm, humid air strikes an
orographic barrier head on.
• The chief characteristic of this sort
of rain is that the windward slopes
receive greater rainfall. • El Niño is the occasional
development of warm ocean
surface waters along the coast
of Ecuador and Peru.
• El Niño normally occurs around
Christmas and usually lasts for a
few weeks to a few months.

Normal Conditions
• In a normal year, surface low
pressure develops in the region of
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northern Australia and Indonesia • This accumulation of warm water

and a high-pressure system over the causes the thermocline to drop in
coast of Peru. the eastern part of Pacific Ocean
• As a result, the trade winds over the which cuts off the upwelling of cold
Pacific Ocean move strongly from deep ocean water along the coast of
east to west. Peru.

• The easterly flow of the trade • Climatically, the development of an

winds carries warm surface El Niño brings drought to the
waters westward, bringing western Pacific, rains to the
convective storms to Indonesia and equatorial coast of South America,
coastal Australia. and convective storms and
hurricanes to the central Pacific.
• Along the coast of Peru, cold bottom
cold nutrient rich water wells up to
the surface to replace the warm
water that is pulled to the west. • The formation of an El Niño is
linked with Pacific Ocean
During El Nino year circulation pattern known as
the southern oscillation.
• In an El Niño year, air pressure
drops over large areas of the • Southern Oscillation, is a coherent
central Pacific and along the coast inter-annual fluctuation of
of South America. atmospheric pressure over the
tropical Indo-Pacific region.
• The normal low-pressure system is
replaced by a weak high in the • El Nino and Southern Oscillation
western Pacific. coincide most of the times hence
their combination is called ENSO.
• This change in pressure pattern
causes the trade winds to be reduced, • Only El Nino == (Warm water in
weak walker cell. Eastern Pacific + Cold water in
Western Pacific).
• This reduction allows the equatorial
counter current to accumulate • Only SO == (Low Pressure over
warm ocean water along the Eastern Pacific + High Pressure over
coastlines of Peru and Ecuador. Western Pacific).
During Normal conditions During El Nino year

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• ENSO = (Warm water in Eastern

Pacific + Low Pressure over Eastern
Pacific) + (Cold water in Western
Pacific + High Pressure over • Water vapour present in the air is
Western Pacific). known as Humidity.

• The actual amount of the water

vapour present in the atmosphere
is known as the absolute humidity.
• It is the weight of water vapour per
unit volume of air and is expressed
in terms of grams per cubic metre.
• The absolute
humidity differs from place to
place on the surface of the earth.

• The percentage of moisture

• After an El Niño event weather present in the atmosphere as
conditions usually return back to compared to its full capacity at a
normal. given temperature is known as the
relative humidity.
• However, in some years the trade
winds can become extremely strong • 𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐻𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦(× 100) =
𝑎𝑏𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑢𝑚𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑡𝑦
and an abnormal accumulation of 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑣𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑎 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝.
cold water can occur in the central
and eastern Pacific. • With the change of air temperature,
the capacity to retain moisture
• This event is called a La Niña. increases or decreases and the
relative humidity is also affected.

• The air containing moisture to its full

capacity at a given temperature is
said to be saturated.
• It means that the air at the given
temperature is incapable of holding
any additional amount of moisture at
that stage.

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• The temperature at which

saturation occurs in a given
sample of air is known as dew
point.
• Dew point occurs when Relative
Humidity = 100%.

• It is expressed as the weight of

water vapour per unit weight of
air.
• Since it is measured in units of
weight, the specific humidity is not
affected by changes in pressure or

…
temperature.

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