Workspace for 'world geo final ncert'

Page 1 (row 1, column 1)

Laplace revised it in 1796. It is

known as Nebular Hypothesis. The
hypothesis considered that the
planets were formed out of a cloud of
material associated with a youthful
sun, which was slowly rotating.

Otto Schmidt in Russia and Carl

Weizascar in Germany somewhat
revised the ‘nebular hypothesis’,

origin of the universe is the Big

Bang Theory. It is also called
expanding universe hypothesis. Edwin
Hubble, in 1920, provided evidence
that the universe is expanding

The Star Formation The distribution of matter and energy was not even in the early
universe. These initial density differences gave rise to differences in gravitational forces
and it caused the matter to get drawn together. These formed the bases for development
of galaxies. A galaxy contains a large number of stars. Galaxies spread over vast
distances that are measured in thousands of light-years. The diameters of individual
galaxies range from 80,000-150,000 light years. A galaxy starts to form by accumulation
of hydrogen gas in the form of a very large cloud called nebula. Eventually, growing nebula
develops localised clumps of gas. These clumps continue to grow into even denser
gaseous bodies, giving rise to formation of stars. The formation of stars is believed to have
taken place some 5-6 billion years ago.

The following are considered to be the stages in the development of planets :

(i) The stars are localised lumps of gas within a nebula. The gravitational force within
the lumps leads to the formation of a core to the gas cloud and a huge rotating disc of
gas and dust develops around the gas core.

(ii) In the next stage, the gas cloud starts getting condensed and the matter around the
core develops into small- rounded objects. These small-rounded objects by the process
of cohesion develop into what is called planetesimals. Larger bodies start forming by
collision, and gravitational attraction causes the material to stick together. Planetesimals
are a large number of smaller bodies. (iii) In the final stage, these large number of small
planetesimals accrete to form a fewer large bodies in the form of planets.
 The following are considered to be the stages in the development of planets :

(i) The stars are localised lumps of gas within a nebula. The gravitational force within
Workspace for 'world geo
the lumps leads tofinal ncert'
the formation of a core to the gas cloud and a huge rotating disc of

Page 2 (row 2, column 1)gas and dust develops around the gas core.
(ii) In the next stage, the gas cloud starts getting condensed and the matter around the
core develops into small- rounded objects. These small-rounded objects by the process
of cohesion develop into what is called planetesimals. Larger bodies start forming by
collision, and gravitational attraction causes the material to stick together. Planetesimals
are a large number of smaller bodies. (iii) In the final stage, these large number of small
planetesimals accrete to form a fewer large bodies in the form of planets.

planets. The tenth planet 2003 UB313 has also been recently sighted

Out of the nine planets, other five planets are

mercury, venus, earth and called the outer planets. A
mars are called as the
inner planets as they lie
between the sun and the
The rest five are called
belt of asteroids
Jovian or Gas Giant
planets. Jovian means
the first four are called jupiter-like
Terrestrial, meaning earth-like
as they are made up of rock
and metals, and have
relatively high densities

The difference between terrestrial and jovian planets can be attributed to the following
conditions: (i) The terrestrial planets were formed in the close vicinity of the parent star where
it was too warm for gases to condense to solid particles. Jovian planets were formed at quite
a distant location. (ii) The solar wind was most intense nearer the sun; so, it blew off lots of
gas and dust from the terrestrial planets. The solar winds were not all that intense to cause
similar removal of gases from the Jovian planets. (iii) The terrestrial planets are smaller and
their lower gravity could not hold the escaping gases.

Project”. The deepest drill at Kola, in Arctic Ocean, has so far reached a depth of 12 km

The point where the energy is released is called the focus of an earthquake, alternatively, it is called
the hypocentre

The point on the surface, nearest to the focus, is called epicentre

All natural earthquakes take place in the lithosphere

 UNIT
I

GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE
This unit deals with
• Geography as an integrating discipline; as a science of spatial
attributes
• Branches of geography; importance of physical geography
CHAPTER
Y
ou have studied geography as one of the
components of your social studies course
upto the secondary stage. You are
already aware of some of the phenomena of
geographical nature in the world and its
different parts. Now, you will study ‘Geography’
as an independent subject and learn about the
physical environment of the earth, human
activities and their interactive relationships.
Therefore, a pertinent question you can ask at
this stage is — Why should we study
geography? We live on the surface of the earth.
Our lives are affected by our surroundings in
many ways. We depend on the resources to
sustain ourselves in the surrounding areas.
Primitive societies subsisted on ‘natural means
of subsistence’, i.e. edible plants and animals.
With the passage of time, we developed
technologies and started producing our food
using natural resources such as land, soil and
water. We adjusted our food habits and
clothing according to the prevailing weather
conditions. There are variations in the natural
resource base, technological development,
adaptation with and modification of physical
environment, social organisations and cultural
development. As a student of geography, you
should be curious to know about all the
phenomena which vary over space. You learn
about the diverse lands and people. You
should also be interested in understanding the
changes which have taken place over time.
Geography equips you to appreciate diversity
and investigate into the causes responsible for
creating such variations over time and space.
You will develop skills to understand the globe
converted into maps and have a visual sense
GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE
of the earth’s surface. The understanding and
the skills obtained in modern scientific
techniques such as GIS and computer
cartography equip you to meaningfully
contribute to the national endeavour for
development.
Now the next question which you may like
to ask is — What is geography? You know that
earth is our home. It is also the home of many
other creatures, big and small, which live on
the earth and sustain. The earth’s surface is
not uniform. It has variations in its physical
features. There are mountains, hills, valleys,
plains, plateaus, oceans, lakes, deserts and
wilderness. There are variations in its social
and cultural features too. There are villages,
cities, roads, railways, ports, markets and
many other elements created by human beings
across the entire period of their cultural
development.
This variation provides a clue to the
understanding of the relationship between the
physical environment and social/cultural
features. The physical environment has
provided the stage, on which human societies
enacted the drama of their creative skills with
the tools and techniques which they invented
and evolved in the process of their cultural
development. Now, you should be able to
attempt the answer of the question posed
earlier as to “What is geography”? In very
simple words, it can be said that geography
is the description of the earth. The term
geography was first coined by Eratosthenese,
a Greek scholar (276-194 BC.). The word has
been derived from two roots from Greek
language geo (earth) and graphos (description).
GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE
Put together, they mean description of the earth.
The earth has always been seen as the abode
of human beings and thus, scholars defined
geography as, “the description of the earth as
the abode of human beings”. You are aware of
the fact that reality is always multifaceted and
the ‘earth’ is also multi-dimensional, that is
why many disciplines from natural sciences
such as geology, pedology, oceanography,
botany, zoology and meteorology and a
number of sister disciplines in social sciences
such as economics, history, sociology, political
science, anthropology, etc. study different
aspects of the earth’s surface. Geography is
different from other sciences in its subject
matter and methodology but at the same time,
it is closely related to other disciplines.
Geography derives its data base from all the
natural and social sciences and attempts their
synthesis.
We have noted that there exist variations
over the surface of the earth in its physical as
well as cultural environment. A number of
phenomena are similar and many are dissimilar.
It was, therefore, logical to perceive geography
as the study of areal differentiation. Thus,
geography was perceived to study all those
phenomena which vary over space.
Geographers do not study only the variations
in the phenomena over the earth’s surface
(space) but also study the associations with
the other factors which cause these variations.
For example, cropping patterns differ from
region to region but this variation in cropping
pattern, as a phenomenon, is related to
variations in soils, climates, demands in the
market, capacity of the farmer to invest and
technological inputs available to her/him.
Thus, the concern of geography is to find out
the causal relationship between any two
phenomena or between more than one
phenomenon.
A geographer explains the phenomena in
a frame of cause and effect relationship, as it
does not only help in interpretation but also
foresees the phenomena in future.
The geographical phenomena, both the
physical and human, are not static but highly
dynamic. They change over time as a result of
the interactive processes between ever
3
changing earth and untiring and ever-active
human beings. Primitive human societies were
directly dependent on their immediate
environment. Geography, thus, is concerned
with the study of Nature and Human
interactions as an integrated whole. ‘Human’
is an integral part of ‘nature’ and ‘nature’ has
the imprints of ‘human’. ‘Nature’ has influenced
different aspects of human life. Its imprints can
be noticed on food, clothing, shelter and
occupation. Human beings have come to terms
with nature through adaptation and
modification. As you already know, the present
society has passed the stage of primitive
societies, which were directly dependent on
their immediate physical environment for
sustenance. Present societies have modified
their natural environment by inventing and
using technology and thus, have expanded the
horizon of their operation by appropriating and
utilising the resources provided by nature. With
the gradual development of technology, human
beings were able to loosen the shackles of their
physical environment. Technology helped in
reducing the harshness of labour, increased
labour efficiency and provided leisure to
human beings to attend to the higher needs of
life. It also increased the scale of production
and the mobility of labour.
The interaction between the physical
environment and human beings has been very
succinctly described by a poet in the following
dialogue between ‘human’ and ‘nature’ (God).
You created the soil, I created the cup, you
created night, I created the lamp. You created
wilderness, hilly terrains and deserts; I
created flower beds and gardens. Human
beings have claimed their contribution using
natural resources. With the help of technology,
human beings moved from the stage of
necessity to a stage of freedom. They have put
their imprints everywhere and created new
possibilities in collaboration with nature. Thus,
we now find humanised nature and
naturalised human beings and geography
studies this interactive relationship. The space
got organised with the help of the means of
transportation and communication network.
The links (routes) and nodes (settlements of all
types and hierarchies) integrated the space and
4 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
gradually, it got organised. As a social science
discipline, geography studies the ‘spatial
organisation’ and ‘spatial integration’.
Geography as a discipline is concerned with
three sets of questions:
(i) Some questions are related to the
identification of the patterns of natural
and cultural features as found over the
surface of the earth. These are the
questions about what?
(ii) Some questions are related to the
distribution of the natural and human/
cultural features over the surface of the
earth. These are the questions about
where?
Taken together, both these questions take
care of distributional and locational aspects of
the natural and cultural features. These
questions provided inventorised information of
what features and where located. It was a very
popular approach during the colonial period.
These two questions did not make geography
a scientific discipline till the third question was
added. The third question is related to the
explanation or the causal relationships
between features and the processes and
phenomena. This aspect of geography is related
to the question, why?
Geography as a discipline is related to
space and takes note of spatial characteristics
and attributes. It studies the patterns of
distribution, location and concentration of
phenomena over space and interprets them
providing explanations for these patterns. It
takes note of the associations and inter -
relationships between the phenomena over
space and interprets them providing
explanations for these patterns. It also takes
note of the associations and inter-relationships
between the phenomena resulting from the
dynamic interaction between human beings
and their physical environment.
GEOGRAPHY AS AN INTEGRATING DISCIPLINE
Geography is a discipline of synthesis. It
attempts spatial synthesis, and history
attempts temporal synthesis. Its approach is
holistic in nature. It recognises the fact that
the world is a system of interdependencies. The
present world is being perceived as a global
village. The distances have been reduced by
better means of transportation increasing
accessibility. The audio-visual media and
information technology have enriched the data
base. Technology has provided better chances
of monitoring natural phenomena as well as
the economic and social parameters.
Geography as an integrating discipline has
interface with numerous natural and social
sciences. All the sciences, whether natural or
social, have one basic objective, of
understanding the reality. Geography
attempts to comprehend the associations of
phenomena as related in sections of reality.
Figure 1.1 shows the relationship of geography
with other sciences. Every discipline, concerned
with scientific knowledge is linked with
geography as many of their elements vary over
space. Geography helps in understanding the
reality in totality in its spatial perspective.
Geography, thus, not only takes note of the
differences in the phenomena from place to
place but integrates them holistically which
may be different at other places. A geographer
is required to have a broad understanding of
all the related fields, to be able to logically
integrate them. This integration can be
understood with some examples. Geography
influences historical events. Spatial distance
itself has been a very potent factor to alter the
course of history of the world. Spatial depth
provided defence to many countries,
particularly in the last century. In traditional
warfare, countries with large size in area, gain
time at the cost of space. The defence provided
by oceanic expanse around the countries of
the new world has protected them from wars
being imposed on their soil. If we look at the
historical events world over, each one of them
can be interpreted geographically.
In India, Himalayas have acted as great
barriers and provided protection but the
passes provided routes to the migrants and
invaders from Central Asia. The sea coast has
encouraged contact with people from East and
Southeast Asia, Europe and Africa. Navigation
technology helped European countries to
colonise a number of countries of Asia and
Africa, including India as they got accessibility
GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE
through oceans. The geographical factors have
modified the course of history in different parts
of the world.
Every geographical phenomenon undergoes
change through time and can be explained
temporally. The changes in landforms, climate,
vegetation, economic activities occupations and
cultural developments have followed a definite
historical course. Many geographical features
result from the decision making process by
different institutions at a particular point of
time. It is possible to convert time in terms of
space and space in terms of time. For example,
it can be said that place A is 1,500 km from
place B or alternately, it can also be said that
place A is two hours away (if one travels by
plane) or seventeen hours away (if one travels
by a fast moving train). It is for this reason,
time is an integral part of geographical studies
as the fourth dimension. Please mention other
three dimensions?
Figure1.1 amply depicts the linkages of
geography with different natural and social
sciences. This linkage can be put under two
segments.
Physical Geography and Natural Sciences
All the branches of physical geography, as
shown in Figure 1.1, have interface with natural
sciences. The traditional physical geography
is linked with geology, meteorology, hydrology
and pedology, and thus, geomorphology,
climatology, oceanography and soil geography
respectively have very close link with the
natural sciences as these derive their data from
these sciences. Bio-Geography is closely related
to botany, zoology as well as ecology as human
beings are located in different locational niche.
A geographer should have some proficiency
in mathematics and art, particularly in drawing
maps. Geography is very much linked with the
study of astronomical locations and deals with
latitudes and longitudes. The shape of the earth
is Geoid but the basic tool of a geographer is a
map which is two dimensional representation
of the earth. The problem of converting geoids
into two dimensions can be tackled by
projections constructed graphically or
mathematically. The cartographic and
quantitative techniques require sufficient
proficiency in mathematics, statistics and
5
econometrics. Maps are prepared through
artistic imagination. Making sketches, mental
maps and cartographic work require
proficiency in arts.
Geography and Social Sciences
Each social science sketched in Figure 1.1 has
interface with one branch of geography. The
relationships between geography and history
have already been outlined in detail. Every
discipline has a philosophy which is the raison
d’etre for that discipline. Philosophy provides
roots to a discipline and in the process of its
evolution, it also experiences distinct historical
processes. Thus, the history of geographical
thought as mother branch of geography is
included universally in its curricula. All the
social science disciplines, viz. sociology,
political science, economics and demography
study different aspects of social reality. The
branches of geography, viz. social, political,
economic and population and settlements are
closely linked with these disciplines as each
one of them has spatial attributes. The core
concern of political science is territory, people
and sovereignty while political geography is
also interested in the study of the state as a
spatial unit as well as people and their political
behaviour. Economics deals with basic
attributes of the economy such as production,
distribution, exchange and consumption. Each
of these attributes also has spatial aspects and
here comes the role of economic geography to
study the spatial aspects of production,
distribution, exchange and consumption.
Likewise, population geography is closely
linked with the discipline of demography.
The above discussion shows that
geography has strong interface with natural
and social sciences. It follows its own
methodology of study which makes it distinct
from others. It has osmotic relationship with
other disciplines. While all the disciplines have
their own individual scope, this individuality
does not obstruct the flow of information as in
case of all cells in the body that have individual
identity separated by membranes but the flow
of blood is not obstructed. Geographers use
data obtained from sister disciplines and
 6

Figure 1.1 : Geography and its relation with other subjects

FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE
attempt synthesis over space. Maps are very
effective tools of geographers in which the
tabular data is converted into visual form to
bring out the spatial pattern.
BRANCHES OF GEOGRAPHY
Please study Figure 1.1 for recapitulation. It has
very clearly brought out that geography is an
interdisciplinary subject of study. The study of
every subject is done according to some
approach. The major approaches to study
geography have been (i) Systematic and
(ii) Regional. The systematic geography approach
is the same as that of general geography. This
approach was introduced by Alexander Von
Humboldt, a German geographer (1769-1859)
while regional geography approach was
developed by another German geographer and a
contemporary of Humboldt, Karl Ritter
(1779-1859).
In systematic approach (Figure 1.2), a
phenomenon is studied world over as a whole,
and then the identification of typologies or
spatial patterns is done. For example, if one is
interested in studying natural vegetation, the
study will be done at the world level as a first
step. The typologies such as equatorial rain
forests or softwood conical forests or monsoon
forests, etc. will be identified, discussed and
delimited. In the regional approach, the world
is divided into regions at different hierarchical
levels and then all the geographical phenomena
in a particular region are studied. These
regions may be natural, political or designated
region. The phenomena in a region are studied
in a holistic manner searching for unity in
diversity.
Dualism is one of the main characteristics
of geography which got introduced from the
very beginning. This dualism depended on the
aspect emphasised in the study. Earlier scholars
laid emphasis on physical geography. But
human beings are an integral part of the earth’s
surface. They are part and parcel of nature. They
also have contributed through their cultural
development. Thus developed human
geography with emphasis on human activities.
7
BRANCHES OF GEOGRAPHY (BASED ON
SYSTEMATIC APPROACH)
1. Physical Geography
(i) Geomorphology is devoted to the study
of landforms, their evolution and related
processes.
(ii) Climatology encompasses the study of
structure of atmosphere and elements
of weather and climates and climatic
types and regions.
(iii) Hydrology studies the realm of water
over the surface of the earth including
oceans, lakes, rivers and other water
bodies and its effect on different life
forms including human life and their
activities.
(iv) Soil Geography is devoted to study the
processes of soil formation, soil types,
their fertility status, distribution and
use.
2. Human Geography
(i) Social/Cultural Geography encom-
passes the study of society and its
spatial dynamics as well as the cultural
elements contributed by the society.
(ii) Population and Settlement Geography
(Rural and Urban). It studies population
growth, distribution, density, sex ratio,
migration and occupational structure
etc. Settlement geography studies the
characteristics of rural and urban
settlements.
(iii) Economic Geography studies economic
activities of the people including
agriculture, industry, tourism, trade,
and transport, infrastructure and
services, etc.
(iv) Historical Geography studies the
historical processes through which the
space gets organised. Every region has
undergone some historical experiences
before attaining the present day status.
The geographical features also
experience temporal changes and these
form the concerns of historical
geography.
8 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Figure 1.2 : Branches of geography based on systematic approach

(v) Political Geography looks at the space 3. Biogeography

from the angle of political events and
studies boundaries, space relations
between neighbouring political units,
delimitation of constituencies, election
scenario and develops theoretical
framework to understand the political
behaviour of the population.
The interface between physical geography
and human geography has lead to the
development of Biogeography which
includes:
(i) Plant Geography which studies the
spatial pattern of natural vegetation in
their habitats.
GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE
(ii) Zoo Geography which studies the
spatial patterns and geographic
characteristics of animals and their
habitats.
(iii) Ecology /Ecosystem deals with the
scientific study of the habitats
characteristic of species.
(iv) Environmental Geography concerns
world over leading to the realisation of
environmental problems such as land
gradation, pollution and concerns for
conservation has resulted in the
introduction of this new branch in
geography.
BRANCHES OF GEOGRAPHY BASED ON REGIONAL
APPROACH (FIGURE1.3)
1. Regional Studies/Area Studies
Comprising Macro, Meso and Micro
Regional Studies
2. Regional Planning
Comprising Country/Rural and Town/
Urban Planning
3. Regional Development
4. Regional Analysis
There are two aspects which are common
to every discipline, these are:
(i) Philosophy
(a) Geographical Thought
(b) Land and Human Interaction/
Human Ecology
(ii) Methods and Techniques
(a) Cartography including Computer
Cartography
(b) Quantitative Techniques/Statistical
Techniques
Figure 1.3 : Branches of geography based on regional approach
9
(c) Field Survey Methods
(d) Geo-informatics comprising
techniques such as Remote
Sensing, GIS, GPS, etc.
The above classification gives a
comprehensive format of the branches of
geography. Generally geography curricula is
taught and learnt in this format but this
format is not static. Any discipline is bound
to grow with new ideas, problems, methods
and techniques. For example, what was once
manual cartography has now been
transformed into computer cartography.
Technology has enabled scholars to handle
large quantum of data. The internet provides
extensive information. Thus, the capacity to
attempt analysis has increased tremendously.
GIS has further opened vistas of knowledge.
GPS has become a handy tool to find out exact
locations. Technologies have enhanced the
capacity of attempting synthesis with sound
theoretical understanding.
You will learn some preliminary aspects of
these techniques in your book, Practical work
in Geography – Part I (NCERT, 2006). You will
continue to improve upon your skills and
learn about their application.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AND ITS IMPORTANCE
This chapter appears in the book entitled
Fundamentals of Physical Geography. The
contents of the book clearly reflect its scope.
It is therefore, appropriate to know the
importance of this branch of geography.
10
Physical geography includes the study of
lithosphere (landforms, drainage, relief and
physiography), atmosphere (its composition,
structure, elements and controls of weather
and climate; temperature, pressure, winds,
precipitation, climatic types, etc.), hydrosphere
(oceans, seas, lakes and associated features
with water realm) and biosphere ( life forms
including human being and macro-organism
and their sustaining mechanism, viz. food
chain, ecological parameters and ecological
balance). Soils are formed through the process
of pedogenesis and depend upon the parent
rocks, climate, biological activity and time.
Time provides maturity to soils and helps in
the development of soil profiles. Each element
is important for human beings. Landforms
provide the base on which human activities are
located. The plains are utilised for agriculture.
Plateaus provide forests and minerals.
Mountains provide pastures, forests, tourist
spots and are sources of rivers providing water
to lowlands. Climate influences our house
types, clothing and food habits. The climate
has a profound effect on vegetation, cropping
pattern, livestock farming and some
industries, etc. Human beings have developed
technologies which modify climatic elements
in a restricted space such as air conditioners
and coolers. Temperature and precipitation
ensure the density of forests and quality of
grassland. In India, monsoonal rainfall sets the
agriculture rhythm in motion. Precipitation
recharges the ground water aquifers which
later provides water for agriculture and
domestic use. We study oceans which are the
store house of resources. Besides fish and other
EXERCISES
1. Multiple choice questions.
(i) Which one of the following scholars coined the term ‘Geography’?
(a) Herodotus
(b) Erathosthenese
(ii) Which one of the following features can be termed as ‘physical feature’?
(a) Port
(b) Road
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
sea-food, oceans are rich in mineral resources.
India has developed the technology for
collecting manganese nodules from oceanic
bed. Soils are renewable resources, which
influence a number of economic activities such
as agriculture. The fertility of the soil is both
naturally determined and culturally induced.
Soils also provide the basis for the biosphere
accommodating plants, animals and micro
organisms.
What is Geography?
Geography is concerned with the description
and explanation of the areal differentiation of
the earth’s surface.
Richard Hartshorne
Geography studies the differences of
phenomena usually related in different parts
of the earth’s surface.
Hettner
The study of physical geography is
emerging as a discipline of evaluating and
managing natural resources. In order to
achieve this objective, it is essential to
understand the intricate relationship between
physical environment and human beings.
Physical environment provides resources, and
human beings utilise these resources and
ensure their economic and cultural
development. Accelerated pace of resource
utilisation with the help of modern technology
has created ecological imbalance in the world.
Hence, a better understanding of physical
environment is absolutely essential for
sustainable development.
(c) Galileo
(d) Aristotle
(c) Plain
(d) Water park
GEOGRAPHY AS A DISCIPLINE 11

(iii) Make correct pairs from the following two columns and mark the correct
option.

1. Meteorology A. Population Geography

2. Demography B. Soil Geography
3. Sociology C. Climatology
4. Pedology D. Social Geography

(a) 1B,2C,3A,4D (c) 1D,2B,3C,4A

(b) 1A,2D,3B,4C (d) 1C,2A,3D,4B
(iv) Which one of the following questions is related to cause-effect relationship?
(a) Why (c) What
(b) Where (d) When
(v) Which one of the following disciplines attempts temporal synthesis?
(a) Sociology (c) Anthropology
(b) Geography (d) History
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What important cultural features do you observe while going to school?
Are they similar or dissimilar? Should they be included in the study of
geography or not? If yes, why?
(ii) You have seen a tennis ball, a cricket ball, an orange and a pumpkin.
Which one amongst these resembles the shape of the earth? Why have
you chosen this particular item to describe the shape of the earth?
(iii) Do you celebrate Van Mahotsava in your school? Why do we plant so many
trees? How do the trees maintain ecological balance?
(iv) You have seen elephants, deer, earthworms, trees and grasses. Where do
they live or grow? What is the name given to this sphere? Can you describe
some of the important features of this sphere?
(v) How much time do you take to reach your school from your house? Had
the school been located across the road from your house, how much time
would you have taken to reach school? What is the effect of the distance
between your residence and the school on the time taken in commuting?
Can you convert time into space and vice versa?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) You observe every day in your surroundings that there is variation in
natural as well as cultural phenomena. All the trees are not of the same
variety. All the birds and animals you see, are different. All these different
elements are found on the earth. Can you now argue that geography is
the study of “areal differentiation”?

(ii) You have already studied geography, history, civics and economics as
parts of social studies. Attempt an integration of these disciplines
highlighting their interface.
12 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Project Work
Select forest as a natural resource.
(i) Prepare a map of India showing the distribution of different types of forests.
(ii) Write about the economic importance of forests for the country.
(iii) Prepare a historical account of conservation of forests in India with focus
on Chipko movements in Rajasthan and Uttaranchal.
 UNIT
II

THE EARTH
This unit deals with
• Origin and evolution of the earth; Interior of the earth; Wegener’s
continental drift theory and plate tectonics; earthquakes and
volcanoes
CHAPTER
D
o you remember the nursery rhyme
“…Twinkle, Twinkle little star…”?
Starry nights have always attracted us since
the childhood. You may also have thought of
these stars and had numerous questions in
your mind. Questions such as how many stars
are there in the sky? How did they come into
existence? Can one reach the end of the sky?
May be many more such questions are still
there in your mind. In this chapter, you will
learn how these “twinkling little stars” were
formed. With that you will eventually also read
the story of origin and evolution of the earth.
ORIGIN OF THE EARTH
Early Theories
A large number of hypotheses were put forth
by different philosophers and scientists
regarding the origin of the earth. One of the
earlier and popular arguments was by German
philosopher Immanuel Kant. Mathematician
Laplace revised it in 1796. It is known as
Nebular Hypothesis. The hypothesis considered
that the planets were formed out of a cloud of
material associated with a youthful sun, which
was slowly rotating. Later in 1900, Chamberlain
and Moulton considered that a wandering star
approached the sun. As a result, a cigar-shaped
extension of material was separated from the
solar surface. As the passing star moved away,
the material separated from the solar surface
continued to revolve around the sun and it
slowly condensed into planets. Sir James Jeans
and later Sir Harold Jeffrey supported this
THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION
OF THE EARTH
argument. At a later date, the arguments
considered of a companion to the sun to have
been coexisting. These arguments are called
binary theories. In 1950, Otto Schmidt in
Russia and Carl Weizascar in Germany
somewhat revised the ‘nebular hypothesis’,
though differing in details. They considered that
the sun was surrounded by solar nebula
containing mostly the hydrogen and helium
along with what may be termed as dust. The
friction and collision of particles led to
formation of a disk-shaped cloud and the
planets were formed through the process of
accretion.
Modern Theories
However, scientists in later period took up the
problems of origin of universe rather than that
of just the earth or the planets. The most
popular argument regarding the origin of the
universe is the Big Bang Theory. It is also called
expanding universe hypothesis. Edwin
Hubble, in 1920, provided evidence that the
universe is expanding. As time passes, galaxies
move further and further apart. You can
experiment and find what does the expanding
universe mean. Take a balloon and mark some
points on it to represent the galaxies. Now, if
you start inflating the balloon, the points
marked on the balloon will appear to be moving
away from each other as the balloon expands.
Similarly, the distance between the galaxies is
also found to be increasing and thereby, the
universe is considered to be expanding.
However, you will find that besides the increase
in the distances between the points on the
THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH
balloon, the points themselves are expanding.
This is not in accordance with the fact.
Scientists believe that though the space
between the galaxies is increasing, observations
do not support the expansion of galaxies. So,
the balloon example is only partially correct.
Figure 2.1 : The Big Bang
The Big Bang Theory considers the
following stages in the development of the
universe.
(i) In the beginning, all matter forming the
universe existed in one place in the form
of a “tiny ball” (singular atom) with an
unimaginably small volume, infinite
temperature and infinite density.
(ii) At the Big Bang the “tiny ball” exploded
violently. This led to a huge expansion.
It is now generally accepted that the
event of big bang took place 13.7 billion
years before the present. The expansion
continues even to the present day. As it
grew, some energy was converted into
matter. There was particularly rapid
expansion within fractions of a second
after the bang. Thereafter, the
expansion has slowed down. Within first
three minutes from the Big Bang event,
the first atom began to form.
(iii) Within 300,000 years from the Big
Bang, temperature dropped to 4,500 K
and gave rise to atomic matter. The
universe became transparent.
15
The expansion of universe means increase
in space between the galaxies. An alternative
to this was Hoyle’s concept of steady state. It
considered the universe to be roughly the same
at any point of time. However, with greater
evidence becoming available about the
expanding universe, scientific community at
present favours argument of expanding
universe.
The Star Formation
The distribution of matter and energy was not
even in the early universe. These initial density
differences gave rise to differences in
gravitational forces and it caused the matter
to get drawn together. These formed the bases
for development of galaxies. A galaxy contains
a large number of stars. Galaxies spread over
vast distances that are measured in thousands
of light-years. The diameters of individual
galaxies range from 80,000-150,000 light
years. A galaxy starts to form by accumulation
of hydrogen gas in the form of a very large
cloud called nebula. Eventually, growing
nebula develops localised clumps of gas. These
clumps continue to grow into even denser
gaseous bodies, giving rise to formation of
stars. The formation of stars is believed to have
taken place some 5-6 billion years ago.
A light year is a measure of distance and
not of time. Light travels at a speed of
300,000 km/second. Considering this,
the distances the light will travel in one
year is taken to be one light year. This
equals to 9.461×10 12 km. The mean
distance between the sun and the earth
is 149,598,000 km. In terms of light
years, it is 8.311 minutes of a year.
Formation of Planets
The following are considered to be the stages
in the development of planets :
(i) The stars are localised lumps of gas
within a nebula. The gravitational force
within the lumps leads to the formation
of a core to the gas cloud and a huge
rotating disc of gas and dust develops
around the gas core.
16
(ii) In the next stage, the gas cloud starts
getting condensed and the matter
around the core develops into small-
rounded objects. These small-rounded
objects by the process of cohesion develop
into what is called planetesimals.
Larger bodies start forming by collision,
and gravitational attraction causes the
material to stick together. Planetesimals
are a large number of smaller bodies.
(iii) In the final stage, these large number
of small planetesimals accrete to form
a fewer large bodies in the form of
planets.
OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
Our Solar system consists of nine planets. The
tenth planet 2003 UB313 has also been recently
sighted. The nebula from which our Solar
system is supposed to have been formed,
started its collapse and core formation some
time 5-5.6 billion years ago and the planets
were formed about 4.6 billion years ago. Our
solar system consists of the sun (the star), 9
planets, 63 moons, millions of smaller bodies
like asteroids and comets and huge quantity
of dust-grains and gases.
Out of the nine planets, mercury, venus,
earth and mars are called as the inner planets
as they lie between the sun and the belt of
asteroids the other five planets are called the outer
planets. Alternatively, the first four are called
Terrestrial, meaning earth-like as they are made
up of rock and metals, and have relatively high
densities. The rest five are called Jovian or Gas
Giant planets. Jovian means jupiter-like. Most
The Solar System
Mercury Venus Earth Mars
Distance* 0.387 0.723 1.000 1.524
Density@ 5.44 5.245 5.517 3.945
Radius# 0.383 0.949 1.000 0.533
Satellites 0 0 1 2
* 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
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
of them are much larger than the terrestrial
planets and have thick atmosphere, mostly of
helium and hydrogen. All the planets were formed
in the same period sometime about 4.6 billion
years ago. Some data regarding our solar system
are given in the box below.
Why are the inner planets rocky while
others are mostly in gaseous form?
The difference between terrestrial and jovian
planets can be attributed to the following
conditions:
(i) The terrestrial planets were formed in
the close vicinity of the parent star
where it was too warm for gases to
condense to solid particles. Jovian
planets were formed at quite a distant
location.
(ii) The solar wind was most intense nearer
the sun; so, it blew off lots of gas and
dust from the terrestrial planets. The
solar winds were not all that intense to
cause similar removal of gases from the
Jovian planets.
(iii) The terrestrial planets are smaller and
their lower gravity could not hold the
escaping gases.
The Moon
The moon is the only natural satellite of the
earth. Like the origin of the earth, there have
been attempts to explain how the moon was
formed. In 1838, Sir George Darwin suggested
that initially, the earth and the moon formed a
single rapidly rotating body. The whole mass
Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Pluto
5.203 9.539 19.182 30.058 39.785
1.33 0.70 1.17 1.66 0.5-0.9
11.19 9.460 4.11 3.88 -0.3
16 about 18 about 17 8 1
THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH
became a dumb-bell-shaped body and
eventually it broke. It was also suggested that
the material forming the moon was separated
from what we have at present the depression
occupied by the Pacific Ocean.
However, the present scientists do not
accept either of the explanations. It is now
generally believed that the formation of moon,
as a satellite of the earth, is an outcome of ‘giant
impact’ or what is described as “the big splat”.
A body of the size of one to three times that of
mars collided into the earth sometime shortly
after the earth was formed. It blasted a large
part of the earth into space. This portion of
blasted material then continued to orbit the
earth and eventually formed into the present
moon about 4.44 billion years ago.
EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH
Do you know that the planet earth initially was
a barren, rocky and hot object with a thin
atmosphere of hydrogen and helium. This is
far from the present day picture of the earth.
Hence, there must have been some events–
processes, which may have caused this change
from rocky, barren and hot earth to a beautiful
planet with ample amount of water and
conducive atmosphere favouring the existence
of life. In the following section, you will find
out how the period, between the 4,600 million
years and the present, led to the evolution of
life on the surface of the planet.
The earth has a layered structure. From
the outermost end of the atmosphere to the
centre of the earth, the material that exists is
not uniform. The atmospheric matter has the
least density. From the surface to deeper
depths, the earth’s interior has different zones
and each of these contains materials with
different characteristics.
How was the layered structure of the
earth developed?
Development of Lithosphere
The earth was mostly in a volatile state during
its primordial stage. Due to gradual increase
in density the temperature inside has
increased. As a result the material inside
17
started getting separated depending on their
densities. This allowed heavier materials (like
iron) to sink towards the centre of the earth
and the lighter ones to move towards the
surface. With passage of time it cooled further
and solidified and condensed into a smaller size.
This later led to the development of the outer
surface in the form of a crust. During the
formation of the moon, due to the giant impact,
the earth was further heated up. It is through
the process of differentiation that the earth
forming material got separated into different
layers. Starting from the surface to the central
parts, we have layers like the crust, mantle,
outer core and inner core. From the crust to the
core, the density of the material increases. We
shall discuss in detail the properties of each of
this layer in the next chapter.
Evolution of Atmosphere and Hydrosphere
The present composition of earth’s atmosphere
is chiefly contributed by nitrogen and oxygen.
You will be dealing with the composition and
structure of the earth’s atmosphere in Chapter 8.
There are three stages in the evolution of
the present atmosphere. The first stage is
marked by the loss of primordial atmosphere.
In the second stage, the hot interior of the earth
contributed to the evolution of the atmosphere.
Finally, the composition of the atmosphere was
modified by the living world through the
process of photosynthesis.
The early atmosphere, with hydrogen and
helium, is supposed to have been stripped off
as a result of the solar winds. This happened
not only in case of the earth, but also in all the
terrestrial planets, which were supposed to
have lost their primordial atmosphere through
the impact of solar winds.
During the cooling of the earth, gases and
water vapour were released from the interior
solid earth. This started the evolution of the
present atmosphere. The early atmosphere
largely contained water vapour, nitrogen,
carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia and very
little of free oxygen. The process through which
the gases were outpoured from the interior is
called degassing. Continuous volcanic
eruptions contributed water vapour and gases
18 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Geological Time Scale

Eons Era Period Epoch Age/ Years Life/ Major Events
Before Present
Quaternary Holocene 0 - 10,000 Modern Man
Pleistocene 10,000 - 2 million Homo Sapiens
Cainozoic Tertiary Pliocene 2 - 5 million Early Human Ancestor
(From 65 Miocene 5 - 24 million Ape: Flowering Plants
million years and Trees
to the Oligocene 24 - 37 Ma Anthropoid Ape
present Eocene 37 - 58 Million Rabbits and Hare
times)
Palaeocene 57 - 65 Million Small Mammals :
Rats – Mice
Mesozoic Cretaceous 65 - 144 Million Extinction of Dinosaurs
65 - 245
Jurassic 144 - 208 Million Age of Dinosaurs
Million
Mammals Triassic 208 - 245 Million Frogs and turtles
Permian 245 - 286 Million Reptile dominate-replace
amphibians
Carboniferous 286 - 360 Million First Reptiles:
Palaeozoic Vertebrates: Coal beds
245 - 570 Devonian 360 - 408 Million Amphibians
Million Silurian 408 - 438 Million First trace of life on land:
Plants
Ordovician 438 - 505 Million First Fish
Cambrian 505 - 570 Million No terrestrial Life :
Marine Invertebrate
Proterozoic 570 - 2,500 Million Soft-bodied arthropods
Archean 2,500 - 3,800 Million Blue green Algae:
Pre- Unicellular bacteria
Cambrian
Hadean 3,800 - 4,800 Million Oceans and Continents
570 Million
- 4,800 form – Ocean and
Million Atmosphere are rich in
Carbon dioxide
Origin of 5,000 Million Origin of the sun
Stars 5,000 -
13,700
Supernova Million 12,000 Million Origin of the universe
Big Bang 13,700 Million

to the atmosphere. As the earth cooled, the
water vapour released started getting
condensed. The carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere got dissolved in rainwater and the
temperature further decreased causing more
condensation and more rains. The rainwater
falling onto the surface got collected in the
depressions to give rise to oceans. The earth’s
oceans were formed within 500 million years
from the formation of the earth. This tells us
that the oceans are as old as 4,000 million
years. Sometime around 3,800 million years
ago, life began to evolve. However, around
2,500-3,000 million years before the present,
the process of photosynthesis got evolved. Life
was confined to the oceans for a long time.
Oceans began to have the contribution of
oxygen through the process of photosynthesis.
Eventually, oceans were saturated with oxygen,
and 2,000 million years ago, oxygen began to
flood the atmosphere.
THE ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE EARTH 19

Origin of Life living substance. The record of life that existed

The last phase in the evolution of the earth
relates to the origin and evolution of life. It is
undoubtedly clear that the initial or even the
atmosphere of the earth was not conducive for
the development of life. Modern scientists refer
to the origin of life as a kind of chemical
reaction, which first generated complex organic
molecules and assembled them. This
assemblage was such that they could duplicate
themselves converting inanimate matter into
on this planet in different 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 that are much older than these were
some 3,000 million years ago. It can be
assumed that life began to evolve sometime
3,800 million years ago. The summary of
evolution of life from unicellular bacteria to the
modern man is given in the Geological Time
Scale on page 18.

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Which one of the following figures represents the age of the earth?
(a) 4.6 million years (c) 4.6 billion years
(b) 13.7 billion years (d) 13.7 trillion years
(ii) Which one of the following has the longest duration?
(a) Eons (c) Era
(b) Period (d) Epoch
(iii) Which one of the following is not related to the formation or modification
of the present atmosphere?
(a) Solar winds (c) Degassing
(b) Differentiation (d) Photosynthesis
(iv) Which one of the following represents the inner planets?
(a) Planets between the sun and the earth
(b) Planets between the sun and the belt of asteroids
(c) Planets in gaseous state
(d) Planets without satellite(s)
(v) Life on the earth appeared around how many years before the present?
(a) 13.7 billion (c) 4.6 billion
(b) 3.8 million (d) 3.8 billion

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) Why are the terrestrial planets rocky?
(ii) What is the basic difference in the arguments related to the origin of the
earth given by :
(a) Kant and Laplace
(b) Chamberlain and Moulton
20 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

(iii) What is meant by the process of differentiation?

(iv) What was the nature of the earth surface initially?
(v) What were the gases which initially formed the earth’s atmosphere?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Write an explanatory note on the ‘Big Bang Theory’.
(ii) List the stages in the evolution of the earth and explain each stage in
brief.

Project Work
Collect information about the project “Stardust” (website: www.sci.edu/public.html
and www.nasm.edu) along the following lines.
(i) Which is the agency that has launched this project?
(ii) Why are scientists interested in collecting Stardust?
(iii) Where from has the Stardust been collected?

INTERIOR OF THE EARTH
W
hat do you imagine about the nature
of the earth? Do you imagine it to be
a solid ball like cricket ball or a
hollow ball with a thick cover of rocks i.e.
lithosphere? Have you ever seen photographs
or images of a volcanic eruption on the
television screen? Can you recollect the
emergence of hot molten lava, dust, smoke, fire
and magma flowing out of the volcanic crater?
The interior of the earth can be understood only
by indirect evidences as neither any one has nor
any one can reach the interior of the earth.
The configuration of the surface of the earth
is largely a product of the processes operating
in the interior of the earth. Exogenic as well as
endogenic processes are constantly shaping
the landscape. A proper understanding of the
physiographic character of a region remains
incomplete if the effects of endogenic processes
are ignored. Human life is largely influenced
by the physiography of the region. Therefore,
it is necessary that one gets acquainted with
the forces that influence landscape
development. To understand why the earth
shakes or how a tsunami wave is generated, it
is necessary that we know certain details of the
interior of the earth. In the previous chapter,
you have noted that the earth-forming
materials have been distributed in the form of
layers from the crust to the core. It is interesting
to know how scientists have gathered
information about these layers and what are
the characteristics of each of these layers. This
is exactly what this chapter deals with.
CHAPTER
SOURCES OF INFORMATION ABOUT THE INTERIOR
The earth’s radius is 6,370 km. No one can
reach the centre of the earth and make
observations or collect samples of the material.
Under such conditions, you may wonder how
scientists tell us about the earth’s interior and
the type of materials that exist at such depths.
Most of our knowledge about the interior of
the earth is largely based on estimates and
inferences. Yet, a part of the information is
obtained through direct observations and
analysis of materials.
Direct Sources
The most easily available solid earth material
is surface rock or the rocks we get from mining
areas. Gold mines in South Africa are as deep
as 3 - 4 km. Going beyond this depth is not
possible as it is very hot at this depth. Besides
mining, scientists have taken up a number of
projects to penetrate deeper depths to explore
the conditions in the crustal portions. Scientists
world over are working on two major projects
such as “Deep Ocean Drilling Project” and
“Integrated Ocean Drilling Project”. The
deepest drill at Kola, in Arctic Ocean, has so
far reached a depth of 12 km. This and many
deep drilling projects have provided large
volume of information through the analysis of
materials collected at different depths.
Volcanic eruption forms another source of
obtaining direct information. As and when the
molten material (magma) is thrown onto the
surface of the earth, during volcanic eruption
it becomes available for laboratory analysis.
However, it is difficult to ascertain the depth of
the source of such magma.
22
Indirect Sources
Analysis of properties of matter indirectly
provides information about the interior. We
know through the mining activity that
temperature and pressure increase with the
increasing distance from the surface towards
the interior in deeper depths. Moreover, it is
also known that the density of the material also
increases with depth. It is possible to find the
rate of change of these characteristics. Knowing
the total thickness of the earth, scientists have
estimated the values of temperature, pressure
and the density of materials at different depths.
The details of these characteristics with
reference to each layer of the interior are
discussed later in this chapter.
Another source of information are the
meteors that at times reach the earth. However,
it may be noted that the material that becomes
available for analysis from meteors, is not from
the interior of the earth. The material and the
structure observed in the meteors are similar
to that of the earth. They are solid bodies
developed out of materials same as, or similar
to, our planet. Hence, this becomes yet another
source of information about the interior of the
earth.
The other indirect sources include
gravitation, magnetic field, and seismic activity.
The gravitation force (g) is not the same at
different latitudes on the surface. It is greater
near the poles and less at the equator. This is
because of the distance from the centre at the
equator being greater than that at the poles.
The gravity values also differ according to the
mass of material. The uneven distribution of
mass of material within the earth influences
this value. The reading of the gravity at different
places is influenced by many other factors.
These readings differ from the expected values.
Such a difference is called gravity anomaly.
Gravity anomalies give us information about
the distribution of mass of the material in the
crust of the earth. Magnetic surveys also
provide information about the distribution of
magnetic materials in the crustal portion, and
thus, provide information about the
distribution of materials in this part. Seismic
activity is one of the most important sources of
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
information about the interior of the earth.
Hence, we shall discuss it in some detail.
Earthquake
The study of seismic waves provides a complete
picture of the layered interior. An earthquake
in simple words is shaking of the earth. It is a
natural event. It is caused due to release of
energy, which generates waves that travel in
all directions.
Why does the earth shake?
The release of energy occurs along a fault. A
fault is a sharp break in the crustal rocks.
Rocks along a fault tend to move in opposite
directions. As the overlying rock strata press
them, the friction locks them together. However,
their tendency to move apart at some point of
time overcomes the friction. As a result, the
blocks get deformed and eventually, they slide
past one another abruptly. This causes a
release of energy, and the energy waves travel
in all directions. The point where the energy is
released is called the focus of an earthquake,
alternatively, it is called the hypocentre. The
energy waves travelling in different directions
reach the surface. The point on the surface,
nearest to the focus, is called epicentre. It is
the first one to experience the waves. It is a point
directly above the focus.
Earthquake Waves
All natural earthquakes take place in the
lithosphere. You will learn about different
layers of the earth later in this chapter. It is
sufficient to note here that the lithosphere refers
to the portion of depth up to 200 km from the
surface of the earth. An instrument called
‘seismograph’ records the waves reaching the
surface. A curve of earthquake waves recorded
on the seismograph is given in Figure 3.1. Note
that the curve shows three distinct sections
each representing different types of wave
patterns. Earthquake waves are basically of two
types — body waves and surface waves. Body
waves are generated due to the release of energy
at the focus and move in all directions travelling
through the body of the earth. Hence, the name
INTERIOR OF THE EARTH
body waves. The body waves interact with the
surface rocks and generate new set of waves
called surface waves. These waves move along
the surface. The velocity of waves changes as
they travel through materials with different
densities. The denser the material, the higher
is the velocity. Their direction also changes as
they reflect or refract when coming across
materials with different densities.
Figure 3.1 : Earthquake Waves
There are two types of body waves. They
are called P and S-waves. P-waves move faster
and are the first to arrive at the surface. These
are also called ‘primary waves’. The P-waves
are similar to sound waves. They travel
through gaseous, liquid and solid materials.
S-waves arrive at the surface with some time
lag. These are called secondary waves. An
important fact about S-waves is that they can
travel only through solid materials. This
characteristic of the S-waves is quite
important. It has helped scientists to
understand the structure of the interior of the
earth. Reflection causes waves to rebound
whereas refraction makes waves move in
different directions. The variations in the
direction of waves are inferred with the help of
their record on seismograph. The surface
waves are the last to report on seismograph.
These waves are more destructive. They cause
displacement of rocks, and hence, the collapse
of structures occurs.
Propagation of Earthquake Waves
Different types of earthquake waves travel in
different manners. As they move or propagate,
they cause vibration in the body of the rocks
through which they pass. P-waves vibrate
parallel to the direction of the wave. This exerts
pressure on the material in the direction of the
23
propagation. As a result, it creates density
differences in the material leading to stretching
and squeezing of the material. Other three
waves vibrate perpendicular to the direction of
propagation. The direction of vibrations of
S-waves is perpendicular to the wave direction
in the vertical plane. Hence, they create troughs
and crests in the material through which they
pass. Surface waves are considered to be the
most damaging waves.
Emergence of Shadow Zone
Earthquake waves get recorded in seismo-
graphs located at far off locations. However,
there exist some specific areas where the waves
are not reported. Such a zone is called the
‘shadow zone’. The study of different events
reveals that for each earthquake, there exists
an altogether different shadow zone. Figure 3.2
(a) and (b) show the shadow zones of P and
S-waves. It was observed that seismographs
located at any distance within 105° from the
epicentre, recorded the arrival of both P and
S-waves. However, the seismographs located
beyond 145° from epicentre, record the arrival
of P-waves, but not that of S-waves. Thus, a
zone between 105° and 145° from epicentre was
identified as the shadow zone for both the types
of waves. The entire zone beyond 105° does not
receive S-waves. The shadow zone of S-wave is
much larger than that of the P-waves. The
shadow zone of P-waves appears as a band
around the earth between 105° and 145° away
from the epicentre. The shadow zone of S-waves
is not only larger in extent but it is also a little
over 40 per cent of the earth surface. You can
draw the shadow zone for any earthquake
provided you know the location of the epicentre.
(See the activity box on page 28 to know how to
locate the epicentre of a quake event).
Types of Earthquakes
(i) The most common ones are the tectonic
earthquakes. These are generated due to
sliding of rocks along a fault plane.
(ii) A special class of tectonic earthquake is
sometimes recognised as volcanic
earthquake. However, these are confined
to areas of active volcanoes.
24
Figure 3.2 (a) and (b) : Earthquake Shadow Zones
(iii) In the areas of intense mining activity,
sometimes the roofs of underground
mines collapse causing minor tremors.
These are called collapse earthquakes.
(iv) Ground shaking may also occur due to
the explosion of chemical or nuclear
devices. Such tremors are called explosion
earthquakes.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
(v) The earthquakes that occur in the areas
of large reservoirs are referred to as
reservoir induced earthquakes.
Measuring Earthquakes
The earthquake events are scaled either
according to the magnitude or intensity of the
shock. The magnitude scale is known as the
Richter scale. The magnitude relates to the
energy released during the quake. The
magnitude is expressed in absolute numbers,
0-10. The intensity scale is named after
Mercalli, an Italian seismologist. The intensity
scale takes into account the visible damage
caused by the event. The range of intensity scale
is from 1-12.
EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKE
Earthquake is a natural hazard. The following
are the immediate hazardous effects of
earthquake:
(i) Ground Shaking
(ii) Differential ground settlement
(iii) Land and mud slides
(iv) Soil liquefaction
(v) Ground lurching
(vi) Avalanches
(vii) Ground displacement
(viii) Floods from dam and levee failures
(ix) Fires
(x) Structural collapse
(xi) Falling objects
(xii) Tsunami
The first six listed above have some bearings
upon landforms, while others may be
considered the effects causing immediate
concern to the life and properties of people in
the region. The effect of tsunami would occur
only if the epicentre of the tremor is below
oceanic waters and the magnitude is
sufficiently high. Tsunamis are waves
generated by the tremors and not an
earthquake in itself. Though the actual quake
activity lasts for a few seconds, its effects are
devastating provided the magnitude of the
quake is more than 5 on the Richter scale.
INTERIOR OF THE EARTH
Frequency of Earthquake Occurrences
The earthquake is a natural hazard. If a tremor
of high magnitude takes place, it can cause
heavy damage to the life and property of
people. However, not all the parts of the globe
necessarily experience major shocks. We shall
be discussing the distribution of earthquakes
and volcanoes with some details in the next
A view of the damaged Aman Setu at the LOC
in Uri, due to an earthquake
chapter. Note that the quakes of high
magnitude, i.e. 8+ are quite rare; they occur
once in 1-2 years whereas those of ‘tiny’ types
occur almost every minute.
25
STRUCTURE OF THE EARTH
The Crust
It is the outermost solid part of the earth. It is
brittle in nature. The thickness of the crust
varies under the oceanic and continental areas.
Oceanic crust is thinner as compared to the
continental crust. The mean thickness of
oceanic crust is 5 km whereas that of the
continental is around 30 km. The continental
crust is thicker in the areas of major mountain
systems. It is as much as 70 km thick in the
Himalayan region.
It is made up of heavier rocks having
density of 3 g/cm3. This type of rock found in
the oceanic crust is basalt. The mean density
of material in oceanic crust is 2.7 g/cm3.
The Mantle
The portion of the interior beyond the crust is
called the mantle. The mantle extends from
Moho’s discontinuity to a depth of 2,900 km.
The upper portion of the mantle is called
asthenosphere. The word astheno means
weak. It is considered to be extending upto 400
km. It is the main source of magma that finds
26 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

been released out in the recent past. The layer

below the solid crust is mantle. It has higher
density than that of the crust. The mantle
contains a weaker zone called asthenosphere.
It is from this that the molten rock materials
find their way to the surface. The material in
the upper mantle portion is called magma.
Once it starts moving towards the crust or it
reaches the surface, it is referred to as lava.
The material that reaches the ground includes
lava flows, pyroclastic debris, volcanic bombs,
ash and dust and gases such as nitrogen
compounds, sulphur compounds and minor
amounts of chlorene, hydrogen and argon.

Volcanoes
Volcanoes are classified on the basis of nature
of eruption and the form developed at the
surface. Major types of volcanoes are as follows:
Figure 3.4 : The interior of the earth

its way to the surface during volcanic Shield Volcanoes

eruptions. It has a density higher than the Barring the basalt flows, the shield volcanoes
crust’s (3.4 g/cm 3 ). The crust and the are the largest of all the volcanoes on the earth.
uppermost part of the mantle are called The Hawaiian volcanoes are the most famous
lithosphere. Its thickness ranges from 10-200 km.
The lower mantle extends beyond the
asthenosphere. It is in solid state.

The Core
As indicated earlier, the earthquake wave
velocities helped in understanding the
existence of the core of the earth. The core-
mantle boundary is located at the depth of
2,900 km. The outer core is in liquid state while
the inner core is in solid state. The density of
material at the mantle core boundary is around
5 g/cm3 and at the centre of the earth at 6,300 Shield Volcano
km, the density value is around 13g/cm3. The
core is made up of very heavy material mostly
constituted by nickel and iron. It is sometimes
referred to as the nife layer.

VOLCANOES AND VOLCANIC LANDFORMS

You may have seen photographs or pictures of
volcanoes on a number of occasions. A volcano
is a place where gases, ashes and/or molten
rock material – lava – escape to the ground. A
volcano is called an active volcano if the
materials mentioned are being released or have Cinder Cone
INTERIOR OF THE EARTH
examples. These volcanoes are mostly made
up of basalt, a type of lava that is very fluid
when erupted. For this reason, these volcanoes
are not steep. They become explosive if
somehow water gets into the vent; otherwise,
they are characterised by low-explosivity. The
upcoming lava moves in the form of a fountain
and throws out the cone at the top of the vent
and develops into cinder cone.
Composite Volcanoes
These volcanoes are characterised by
eruptions of cooler and more viscous lavas
than basalt. These volcanoes often result in
explosive eruptions. Along with lava, large
quantities of pyroclastic material and ashes
find their way to the ground. This material
accumulates in the vicinity of the vent openings
leading to formation of layers, and this makes
the mounts appear as composite volcanoes.
Composite Volcano
Caldera
These are the most explosive of the earth’s
volcanoes. They are usually so explosive that
when they erupt they tend to collapse on
themselves rather than building any tall
structure. The collapsed depressions are called
calderas. Their explosiveness indicates that
the magma chamber supplying the lava is not
only huge but is also in close vicinity.
Flood Basalt Provinces
These volcanoes outpour highly fluid lava that
flows for long distances. Some parts of the
world are covered by thousands of sq. km of
thick basalt lava flows. There can be a series of
flows with some flows attaining thickness of
27
more than 50 m. Individual flows may extend
for hundreds of km. The Deccan Traps from
India, presently covering most of the
Maharashtra plateau, are a much larger flood
basalt province. It is believed that initially the
trap formations covered a much larger area
than the present.
Mid-Ocean Ridge Volcanoes
These volcanoes occur in the oceanic areas.
There is a system of mid-ocean ridges more
than 70,000 km long that stretches through
all the ocean basins. The central portion of this
ridge experiences frequent eruptions. We shall
be discussing this in detail in the next chapter.
VOLCANIC LANDFORMS
Intrusive Forms
The lava that is released during volcanic
eruptions on cooling develops into igneous
rocks. The cooling may take place either on
reaching the surface or also while the lava is
still in the crustal portion. Depending on the
location of the cooling of the lava, igneous rocks
are classified as volcanic rocks (cooling at the
surface) and plutonic rocks (cooling in the
crust). The lava that cools within the crustal
portions assumes different forms. These forms
are called intrusive forms. Some of the forms
are shown in Figure 3.5.
Figure 3.5 : Volcanic Landforms
28 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Batholiths conduit from below. It resembles the surface

A large body of magmatic material that cools
in the deeper depth of the crust develops in the
form of large domes. They appear on the surface
only after the denudational processes remove
the overlying materials. They cover large areas,
and at times, assume depth that may be several
km. These are granitic bodies. Batholiths are
the cooled portion of magma chambers.
Lacoliths
These are large dome-shaped intrusive bodies
with a level base and connected by a pipe-like
volcanic domes of composite volcano, only
these are located at deeper depths. It can be
regarded as the localised source of lava that
finds its way to the surface. The Karnataka
plateau is spotted with domal hills of granite
rocks. Most of these, now exfoliated, are
examples of lacoliths or batholiths.
Lapolith, Phacolith and Sills
As and when the lava moves upwards, a
portion of the same may tend to move in a
horizontal direction wherever it finds a weak

Activity : Locating an Epicentre

For this you will need

Data from 3 seismograph stations about the time of arrival of P-waves, S-waves.
Procedure
1. Find the time of arrival of P and S-waves of the given quake for the three stations for which
you have the data.
2. Compute the time lag between the arrival of P and S-waves for each station; it is called time
lag. (Note that it is directly related to the distance of the seismograph from the focus.)
A. Basic rule : For every second of time lag, the earthquake is roughly 8 km away from you.
3. Using the rule quoted above, convert the time lag into distance ( # seconds of time lag * 8)
for each station.
4. On a map locate the seismograph stations.
5. Draw circles, taking the seismograph stations as the centre, with the radius equal to the
distance you have calculated in the previous step. (Do not forget to convert distance as per
the map scale.)
6. These circles will intersect each other in a point. This point is the location of the epicentre.
In normal practice, the epicentres are located using computer models. They take into account
the structure of the earth’s crust. The locations with accuracy within a few hundred metres
can be achieved. The procedure outlined here is a much simplified version of what is normally
done, although the principle is the same.
In the following diagram, the epicentre is located using this procedure. It also contains a
table giving necessary data. Why don’t you try for yourself ?

Data
Arrival time of
Station P-waves S-waves
Hour Min. Sec. Hour Min. Sec.
S1 03 23 20 03 24 45
S2 03 22 17 03 23 57
S3 03 22 00 03 23 55
Scale of the map 1cm = 40km
INTERIOR OF THE EARTH 29

plane. It may get rested in different forms. In
case it develops into a saucer shape, concave
to the sky body, it is called lapolith. A wavy
mass of intrusive rocks, at times, is found at
the base of synclines or at the top of anticline
in folded igneous country. Such wavy materials
have a definite conduit to source beneath in
the form of magma chambers (subsequently
developed as batholiths). These are called the
phacoliths.
The near horizontal bodies of the
intrusive igneous rocks are called sill or
sheet, depending on the thickness of the
material. The thinner ones are called sheets
while the thick horizontal deposits are
called sills.
Dykes
When the lava makes its way through cracks
and the fissures developed in the land, it
solidifies almost perpendicular to the ground.
It gets cooled in the same position to develop a
wall-like structure. Such structures are called
dykes. These are the most commonly found
intrusive forms in the western Maharashtra area.
These are considered the feeders for the eruptions
that led to the development of the Deccan traps.

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Which one of the following earthquake waves is more destructive?
(a) P-waves (c) Surface waves
(b) S-waves (d) None of the above
(ii) Which one of the following is a direct source of information about the
interior of the earth?
(a) Earthquake waves (c) Gravitational force
(b) Volcanoes (d) Earth magnetism
(iii) Which type of volcanic eruptions have caused Deccan Trap formations?
(a) Shield (c) Composite
(b) Flood (d) Caldera
(iv) Which one of the following describes the lithosphere:
(a) upper and lower mantle (c) crust and core
(b) crust and upper mantle (d) mantle and core

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) What are body waves?
(ii) Name the direct sources of information about the interior of the earth.
(iii) Why do earthquake waves develop shadow zone?
(iv) Briefly explain the indirect sources of information of the interior of the
earth other than those of seismic activity.
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) What are the effects of propagation of earthquake waves on the rock mass
through which they travel?
(ii) What do you understand by intrusive forms? Briefly describe various
intrusive forms.
CHAPTER
In the previous chapter, you have studied the
interior of the earth. You are already familiar
with the world map. You know that continents
cover 29 per cent of the surface of the earth
and the remainder is under oceanic waters.
The positions of the continents and the ocean
bodies, as we see them in the map, have not
been the same in the past. Moreover, it is now
a well-accepted fact that oceans and
continents will not continue to enjoy their
present positions in times to come. If this is
so, the question arises what were their positions
in the past? Why and how do they change their
positions? Even if it is true that the continents
and oceans have changed and are changing
their positions, you may wonder as to how
scientists know this. How have they determined
their earlier positions? You will find the answers
to some of these and related questions in this
chapter.
CONTINENTAL DRIFT
Observe the shape of the coastline of the Atlantic
Ocean. You will be surprised by the symmetry
of the coastlines on either side of the ocean. No
wonder, many scientists thought of this
similarity and considered the possibility of the
two Americas, Europe and Africa, to be once
joined together. From the known records of the
history of science, it was Abraham Ortelius, a
Dutch map maker, who first proposed such a
possibility as early as 1596. Antonio Pellegrini
drew a map showing the three continents together.
However, it was Alfred Wegener—a German
meteorologist who put forth a comprehensive
argument in the form of “the continental drift
DISTRIBUTION OF OCEANS
AND CONTINENTS
theory” in 1912. This was regarding the
distribution of the oceans and the continents.
According to Wegener, all the continents
formed a single continental mass, a mega ocean
surrounded by the same. The super continent
was named PANGAEA, which meant all earth.
The mega-ocean was called PANTHALASSA,
meaning all water. He argued that, around 200
million years ago, the super continent,
Pangaea, began to split. Pangaea first broke
into two large continental masses as Laurasia
and Gondwanaland forming the northern and
southern components respectively. Subse-
quently, Laurasia and Gondwanaland
continued to break into various smaller
continents that exist today. A variety of evidence
was offered in support of the continental drift.
Some of these are given below.
Evidence in Support of the Continental Drift
The Matching of Continents (Jig-Saw-Fit)
The shorelines of Africa and South America
facing each other have a remarkable and
unmistakable match. It may be noted that a
map produced using a computer programme
to find the best fit of the Atlantic margin was
presented by Bullard in 1964. It proved to be
quite perfect. The match was tried at 1,000-
fathom line instead of the present shoreline.
Rocks of Same Age Across the Oceans
The radiometric dating methods developed in
the recent period have facilitated correlating the
rock formation from different continents across
DISTRIBUTION OF OCEANS AND CONTINENTS
the vast ocean. The belt of ancient rocks of
2,000 million years from Brazil coast matches
with those from western Africa. The earliest
marine deposits along the coastline of South
America and Africa are of the Jurassic age.
This suggests that the ocean did not exist prior
to that time.
Tillite
It is the sedimentary rock formed out of
deposits of glaciers. The Gondawana system
of sediments from India is known to have its
counter parts in six different landmasses of the
Southern Hemisphere. At the base the system
has thick tillite indicating extensive and
prolonged glaciation. Counter parts of this
succession are found in Africa, Falkland Island,
Madagascar, Antarctica and Australia besides
India. Overall resemblance of the Gondawana
type sediments clearly demonstrates that these
landmasses had remarkably similar histories.
The glacial tillite provides unambiguous
evidence of palaeoclimates and also of drifting
of continents.
Placer Deposits
The occurrence of rich placer deposits of gold
in the Ghana coast and the absolute absence
of source rock in the region is an amazing fact.
The gold bearing veins are in Brazil and it is
obvious that the gold deposits of the Ghana
are derived from the Brazil plateau when the
two continents lay side by side.
Distribution of Fossils
When identical species of plants and animals
adapted to living on land or in fresh water are
found on either side of the marine barriers, a
problem arises regarding accounting for such
distribution. The observations that Lemurs
occur in India, Madagascar and Africa led some
to consider a contiguous landmass “Lemuria”
linking these three landmasses. Mesosaurus
was a small reptile adapted to shallow brackish
water. The skeletons of these are found only
in two localities : the Southern Cape province
of South Africa and Iraver formations of Brazil.
The two localities presently are 4,800 km apart
with an ocean in between them.
31
Force for Drifting
Wegener suggested that the movement
responsible for the drifting of the continents
was caused by pole-fleeing force and tidal force.
The polar-fleeing force relates to the rotation
of the earth. You are aware of the fact that the
earth is not a perfect sphere; it has a bulge at
the equator. This bulge is due to the rotation
of the earth. The second force that was
suggested by Wegener—the tidal force—is due
to the attraction of the moon and the sun that
develops tides in oceanic waters. Wegener
believed that these forces would become
effective when applied over many million years.
However, most of scholars considered these
forces to be totally inadequate.
Post-Drift Studies
It is interesting to note that for continental drift,
most of the evidence was collected from the
continental areas in the form of distribution of
flora and fauna or deposits like tillite. A number
of discoveries during the post-war period
added new information to geological literature.
Particularly, the information collected from the
ocean floor mapping provided new dimensions
for the study of distribution of oceans and
continents.
Convectional Current Theory
Arthur Holmes in 1930s discussed the
possibility of convection currents operating in
the mantle portion. These currents are
generated due to radioactive elements causing
thermal differences in the mantle portion.
Holmes argued that there exists a system of
such currents in the entire mantle portion. This
was an attempt to provide an explanation to
the issue of force, on the basis of which
contemporary scientists discarded the
continental drift theory.
Mapping of the Ocean Floor
Detailed research of the ocean configuration
revealed that the ocean floor is not just a vast
plain but it is full of relief. Expeditions to map
the oceanic floor in the post-war period
provided a detailed picture of the ocean relief
and indicated the existence of submerged
32
mountain ranges as well as deep trenches,
mostly located closer to the continent margins.
The mid-oceanic ridges were found to be most
active in terms of volcanic eruptions. The dating
of the rocks from the oceanic crust revealed
the fact that the latter is much younger than
the continental areas. Rocks on either side of
the crest of oceanic ridges and having equi-
distant locations from the crest were found to
have remarkable similarities both in terms of
their constituents and their age.
Ocean Floor Configuration
In this section we shall note a few things related
to the ocean floor configuration that help us in
the understanding of the distribution of
continents and oceans. You will be studying
the details of ocean floor relief in Chapter
13. The ocean floor may be segmented into
three major divisions based on the depth
as well as the forms of relief. These divisions
are continental margins, deep-sea basins and
mid-ocean ridges.
Figure 4.1 : Ocean Floor
Continental Margins
These form the transition between continental
shores and deep-sea basins. They include
continental shelf, continental slope, continental
rise and deep-oceanic trenches. Of these, the
deep-sea trenches are the areas which are of
considerable interest in so far as the
distribution of oceans and continents is
concerned.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Abyssal Plains
These are extensive plains that lie between the
continental margins and mid-oceanic ridges.
The abyssal plains are the areas where the
continental sediments that move beyond the
margins get deposited.
Mid-Oceanic Ridges
This forms an interconnected chain of
mountain system within the ocean. It is the
longest mountain-chain on the surface of the
earth though submerged under the oceanic
waters. It is characterised by a central rift
system at the crest, a fractionated plateau and
flank zone all along its length. The rift system
at the crest is the zone of intense volcanic
activity. In the previous chapter, you have been
introduced to this type of volcanoes as mid-
oceanic volcanoes.
Distribution of Earthquakes and Volcanoes
Study the maps showing the distribution of
seismic activity and volcanoes given in Figure
4.2. You will notice a line of dots in the central
parts of the Atlantic Ocean almost parallel to
the coastlines. It further extends into the Indian
Ocean. It bifurcates a little south of the Indian
subcontinent with one branch moving into
East Africa and the other meeting a similar line
from Myanmar to New Guiana. You will notice
that this line of dots coincides with the mid-
oceanic ridges. The shaded belt showing
another area of concentration coincides with
the Alpine-Himalayan system and the rim of
the Pacific Ocean. In general, the foci of the
earthquake in the areas of mid-oceanic ridges
are at shallow depths whereas along the
Alpine-Himalayan belt as well as the rim of the
Pacific, the earthquakes are deep-seated ones.
The map of volcanoes also shows a similar
pattern. The rim of the Pacific is also called rim
of fire due to the existence of active volcanoes in
this area.
CONCEPT OF SEA FLOOR SPREADING
As mentioned above, the post-drift studies
provided considerable information that was not
DISTRIBUTION OF OCEANS AND CONTINENTS
Figure 4. 2 : Distribution of earthquakes and volcanoes
available at the time Wegener put forth his
concept of continental drift. Particularly, the
mapping of the ocean floor and palaeomagnetic
studies of rocks from oceanic regions revealed
the following facts :
(i) It was realised that all along the mid-
oceanic ridges, volcanic eruptions are
common and they bring huge amounts of
lava to the surface in this area.
(ii) The rocks equidistant on either sides of the
crest of mid-oceanic ridges show
remarkable similarities in terms of period
of formation, chemical compositions and
magnetic properties. Rocks closer to the
mid-oceanic ridges are normal polarity and
are the youngest. The age of the rocks
increases as one moves away from the
crest.
(iii) The ocean crust rocks are much younger
than the continental rocks. The age of rocks
in the oceanic crust is nowhere more than
200 million years old. Some of the continental
rock formations are as old as 3,200 million
years.
33
(iv) The sediments on the ocean floor are
unexpectedly very thin. Scientists were
expecting, if the ocean floors were as old
as the continent, to have a complete
sequence of sediments for a period of much
longer duration. However, nowhere was the
sediment column found to be older than
200 million years.
(v) The deep trenches have deep-seated
earthquake occurrences while in the mid-
oceanic ridge areas, the quake foci have
shallow depths.
These facts and a detailed analysis of magnetic
properties of the rocks on either sides of the
mid-oceanic ridge led Hess (1961) to propose
his hypothesis, known as the “sea floor
spreading”. Hess argued that constant
eruptions at the crest of oceanic ridges cause
the rupture of the oceanic crust and the new
lava wedges into it, pushing the oceanic crust
on either side. The ocean floor, thus spreads.
The younger age of the oceanic crust as well
as the fact that the spreading of one ocean does
not cause the shrinking of the other, made Hess
34 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Figure 4. 3 : Sea floor spreading

think about the consumption of the oceanic PLATE TECTONICS

crust. He further maintained that the ocean
floor that gets pushed due to volcanic
eruptions at the crest, sinks down at the
oceanic trenches and gets consumed.
The basic concept of sea floor spreading has
been depicted in Figure 4.3.
Since the advent of the concept of sea floor
spreading, the interest in the problem of
distribution of oceans and continents was
revived. It was in 1967, McKenzie and Parker
and also Morgan, independently collected the
available ideas and came out with another

The motions of the continents during the past 540

million years. 1. Africa; 2. South America;
3. Antarctica; 4. Australia; 5. India; 6. China; 7. North
America; 8. Europe; 9. and 10. Siberia (Emilani, 1992)

Figure 4.4 : Position of continents through geological past

DISTRIBUTION OF OCEANS AND CONTINENTS
concept termed Plate Tectonics. A tectonic
plate (also called lithospheric plate) is a
massive, irregularly-shaped slab of solid rock,
generally composed of both continental and
oceanic lithosphere. Plates move horizontally
over the asthenosphere as rigid units. The
lithosphere includes the crust and top mantle
with its thickness range varying between 5-100
km in oceanic parts and about 200 km in the
continental areas. A plate may be referred to
as the continental plate or oceanic plate
depending on which of the two occupy a larger
portion of the plate. Pacific plate is largely an
oceanic plate whereas the Eurasian plate may be
called a continental plate. The theory of plate
tectonics proposes that the earth’s lithosphere is
divided into seven major and some minor plates.
Young Fold Mountain ridges, trenches, and/or
faults surround these major plates (Figure 4.5).
The major plates are as follows :
(i) Antarctica and the surrounding oceanic
plate
Figure 4.5 : Major and minor plates of the world
35
(ii) North American (with western Atlantic
floor separated from the South American
plate along the Caribbean islands) plate
(iii) South American (with western Atlantic
floor separated from the North American
plate along the Caribbean islands) plate
(iv) Pacific plate
(v) India-Australia-New Zealand plate
(vi) Africa with the eastern Atlantic floor plate
(vii) Eurasia and the adjacent oceanic plate.
Some important minor plates are listed
below:
(i) Cocos plate : Between Central America
and Pacific plate
(ii) Nazca plate : Between South America
and Pacific plate
(iii) Arabian plate : Mostly the Saudi Arabian
landmass
(iv) Philippine plate : Between the Asiatic and
Pacific plate
36
(v) Caroline plate : Between the Philippine
and Indian plate (North of New Guinea)
(vi) Fuji plate : North-east of Australia.
These plates have been constantly moving
over the globe throughout the history of the
earth. It is not the continent that moves as
believed by Wegener. Continents are part of a
plate and what moves is the plate. Moreover, it
may be noted that all the plates, without
exception, have moved in the geological past,
and shall continue to move in the future period
as well. Wegener had thought of all the
continents to have initially existed as a super
continent in the form of Pangaea. However,
later discoveries reveal that the continental
masses, resting on the plates, have been
wandering all through the geological period,
and Pangaea was a result of converging of
different continental masses that were parts
of one or the other plates. Scientists using the
palaeomagnetic data have determined the
positions held by each of the present continental
landmass in different geological periods.
Position of the Indian sub-continent (mostly
Peninsular India) is traced with the help of the
rocks analysed from the Nagpur area.
There are three types of plate boundaries:
Divergent Boundaries
Where new crust is generated as the plates pull
away from each other. The sites where the
plates move away from each other are called
spreading sites. The best-known example of
divergent boundaries is the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
At this, the American Plate(s) is/are separated
from the Eurasian and African Plates.
Convergent Boundaries
Where the crust is destroyed as one plate dived
under another. The location where sinking of
a plate occurs is called a subduction zone.
There are three ways in which convergence can
occur. These are: (i) between an oceanic and
continental plate; (ii) between two oceanic
plates; and (iii) between two continental
plates.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Transform Boundaries
Where the crust is neither produced nor
destroyed as the plates slide horizontally past
each other. Transform faults are the planes of
separation generally perpendicular to the mid-
oceanic ridges. As the eruptions do not take
all along the entire crest at the same time, there
is a differential movement of a portion of the
plate away from the axis of the earth. Also, the
rotation of the earth has its effect on the
separated blocks of the plate portions.
How do you think the rate of plate
movement is determined?
Rates of Plate Movement
The strips of normal and reverse magnetic field
that parallel the mid-oceanic ridges help
scientists determine the rates of plate
movement. These rates vary considerably. The
Arctic Ridge has the slowest rate (less than 2.5
cm/yr), and the East Pacific Rise near Easter
Island, in the South Pacific about 3,400 km
west of Chile, has the fastest rate (more than
15 cm/yr).
Force for the Plate Movement
At the time that Wegener proposed his theory
of continental drift, most scientists believed
that the earth was a solid, motionless body.
However, concepts of sea floor spreading and
the unified theory of plate tectonics have
emphasised that both the surface of the earth
and the interior are not static and motionless
but are dynamic. The fact that the plates move
is now a well-accepted fact. The mobile rock
beneath the rigid plates is believed to be
moving in a circular manner. The heated
material rises to the surface, spreads and
begins to cool, and then sinks back into deeper
depths. This cycle is repeated over and over to
generate what scientists call a convection cell
or convective flow. Heat within the earth comes
from two main sources: radioactive decay and
residual heat. Arthur Holmes first considered
DISTRIBUTION OF OCEANS AND CONTINENTS 37

this idea in the 1930s, which later influenced

Harry Hess’ thinking about seafloor spreading.
The slow movement of hot, softened mantle
that lies below the rigid plates is the driving
force behind the plate movement.

MOVEMENT OF THE INDIAN PLATE

The Indian plate includes Peninsular India
and the Australian continental portions. The
subduction zone along the Himalayas forms
the northern plate boundary in the form of
continent— continent convergence. In the east,
it extends through Rakinyoma Mountains of
Myanmar towards the island arc along the
Java T rench. The eastern margin is a
spreading site lying to the east of Australia in
the form of an oceanic ridge in SW Pacific. The
Western margin follows Kirthar Mountain of
Pakistan. It further extends along the Makrana
coast and joins the spreading site from the
Red Sea rift southeastward along the Chagos
Archipelago. The boundary between India
and the Antarctic plate is also marked by
oceanic ridge (divergent boundary) running
in roughly W-E direction and merging into the
spreading site, a little south of New Zealand.
India was a large island situated off the
Australian coast, in a vast ocean. The Tethys
Sea separated it from the Asian continent till
about 225 million years ago. India is supposed
to have started her northward journey about
200 million years ago at the time when Pangaea
broke. India collided with Asia about 40-50 Figure 4.6 : Movement of the Indian plate
million years ago causing rapid uplift of the plate towards the Asiatic plate, a major event
Himalayas. The positions of India since about that occurred was the outpouring of lava and
71 million years till the present are shown in formation of the Deccan Traps. This started
the Figure 4.6. It also shows the position of somewhere around 60 million years ago and
the Indian subcontinent and the Eurasian continued for a long period of time. Note that
plate. About 140 million years before the the subcontinent was still close to the equator.
present, the subcontinent was located as From 40 million years ago and thereafter, the
south as 50oS. latitude. The two major plates event of formation of the Himalayas took place.
were separated by the Tethys Sea and the Scientists believe that the process is still
Tibetan block was closer to the Asiatic continuing and the height of the Himalayas is
landmass. During the movement of the Indian rising even to this date.
38 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Who amongst the following was the first to consider the possibility of
Europe, Africa and America having been located side by side.
(a) Alfred Wegener (c) Abraham Ortelius
(b) Antonio Pellegrini (d) Edmond Hess
(ii) Polar fleeing force relates to:
(a) Revolution of the Earth (c) Rotation of the earth
(b) Gravitation (d) Tides
(iii) Which one of the following is not a minor plate?
(a) Nazca (c) Philippines
(b) Arabia (d) Antarctica
(iv) Which one of the following facts was not considered by those while
discussing the concept of sea floor spreading?
(a) Volcanic activity along the mid-oceanic ridges.
(b) Stripes of normal and reverse magnetic field observed in rocks of ocean
floor.
(c) Distribution of fossils in different continents.
(d) Age of rocks from the ocean floor.
(v) Which one of the following is the type of plate boundary of the Indian plate
along the Himalayan mountains?
(a) Ocean-continent convergence
(b) Divergent boundary
(c) Transform boundary
(d) Continent-continent convergence
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What were the forces suggested by Wegener for the movement of the
continents?
(ii) How are the convectional currents in the mantle initiated and maintained?
(iii) What is the major difference between the transform boundary and the
convergent or divergent boundaries of plates?
(iv) What was the location of the Indian landmass during the formation of the
Deccan Traps?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) What are the evidences in support of the continental drift theory?
(ii) Bring about the basic difference between the drift theory and Plate
tectonics.
(iii) What were the major post-drift discoveries that rejuvenated the interest
of scientists in the study of distribution of oceans and continents?

Project Work
Prepare a collage related to damages caused by an earthquake.
 UNIT
III

LANDFORMS
This unit deals with
• Rocks and minerals — major types of rocks and their
characteristics
• Landforms and their evolution
• Geomorphic processes — weathering, mass wasting, erosion
and deposition; soils — formation
CHAPTER

MINERALS AND ROCKS

T
he earth is composed of various kinds Though the number of elements making
of elements. These elements are in solid up the lithosphere are limited they are
form in the outer layer of the earth and combined in many different ways to make up
in hot and molten form in the interior. many varieties of minerals. There are at least
About 98 per cent of the total crust of the 2,000 minerals that have been named and
earth is composed of eight elements like identified in the earth crust; but almost all the
oxygen, silicon, aluminium, iron, calcium,
commonly occurring ones are related to six
sodium, potassium and magnesium (Table 5.1),
major mineral groups that are known as major
and the rest is constituted by titanium,
hydrogen, phosphorous, manganese, sulphur, rock forming minerals.
carbon, nickel and other elements. The basic source of all minerals is the hot
magma in the interior of the earth. When
Table 5.1 : The Major Elements of the Earth’s Crust
magma cools, crystals of minerals appear and
Sl. No. Elements By Weight(%) a systematic series of minerals are formed in
1. Oxygen 46.60 sequence to solidify so as to form rocks.
2. Silicon 27.72 Minerals such as coal, petroleum and natural
3. Aluminium 8.13
4. Iron 5.00
gas are organic substances found in solid,
5. Calcium 3.63 liquid and gaseous forms respectively.
6. Sodium 2.83 A brief information about some important
7. Potassium 2.59
minerals in terms of their nature and physical
8. Magnesium 2.09
9. Others 1.41 characteristics is given below :

The elements in the earth’s crust are rarely

found exclusively but are usually combined with
other elements to make various substances.
These substances are recognised as minerals.
Thus, a mineral is a naturally occurring
inorganic substance, having an orderly
atomic structure and a definite chemical
composition and physical properties. A
mineral is composed of two or more
elements. But, sometimes single element
minerals like sulphur, copper, silver, gold,
graphite etc. are found.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
(i) Exter nal crystal for m — deter -
mined by internal arrangement of
the molecules — cubes, octahe-
drons, hexagonal prisms, etc.
(ii) Cleavage — tendency to break in
given directions producing
relatively plane surfaces — result
of internal arrangement of the
molecules — may cleave in one or
more directions and at any angle
to each other.
MINERALS AND ROCKS
(iii) Fracture — internal molecular
arrangement so complex there are
no planes of molecules; the crystal
will break in an irregular manner,
not along planes of cleavage.
(iv) Lustre — appearance of a material
without regard to colour; each
mineral has a distinctive lustre like
metallic, silky, glossy etc.
(v) Colour — some minerals have
characteristic colour determined
by their molecular structure —
malachite, azurite, chalcopyrite etc.,
and some minerals are coloured by
impurities. For example, because
of impurities quartz may be white,
green, red, yellow etc.
(vi) Streak — colour of the ground powder
of any mineral. It may be of the
same colour as the mineral or may
differ — malachite is green and gives
green streak, fluorite is purple or
green but gives a white streak.
(vii) Transparency — transparent: light
rays pass through so that objects
can be seen plainly; translucent
— light rays pass through but will
get diffused so that objects cannot
be seen; opaque — light will not pass
at all.
(viii) Structure — particular arrange-
ment of the individual crystals;
fine, medium or coarse grained;
fibrous — separable, divergent,
radiating.
(ix) Hardness — relative resistance
being scratched; ten minerals are
selected to measure the degree of
hardness from 1-10. They are:
1. talc; 2. gypsum; 3. calcite;
4. fluorite; 5. apatite; 6. feldspar;
7. quartz; 8. topaz; 9. corundum;
10. diamond. Compared to this for
example, a fingernail is 2.5 and
glass or knife blade is 5.5.
(x) Specific gravity — the ratio between
the weight of a given object and
the weight of an equal volume of
water; object weighed in air and
then weighed in water and divide
weight in air by the difference of the
two weights.
41
SOME MAJOR MINERALS AND
THEIR CHARACTERISTICS
Feldspar
Silicon and oxygen are common elements in
all types of feldspar and sodium, potassium,
calcium, aluminium etc. are found in specific
feldspar variety. Half of the earth’s crust is
composed of feldspar. It has light cream to
salmon pink colour. It is used in ceramics and
glass making.
Quartz
It is one of the most important components of
sand and granite. It consists of silica. It is a
hard mineral virtually insoluble in water. It is
white or colourless and used in radio and radar.
It is one of the most important components of
granite.
Pyroxene
Pyroxene consists of calcium, aluminum,
magnesium, iron and silica. Pyroxene forms
10 per cent of the earth’s crust. It is commonly
found in meteorites. It is in green or black
colour.
Amphibole
Aluminium, calcium, silica, iron, magnesium
are the major elements of amphiboles. They
form 7 per cent of the earth’s crust. It is in
green or black colour and is used in asbestos
industry. Hornblende is another form of
amphiboles.
Mica
It comprises of potassium, aluminium,
magnesium, iron, silica etc. It forms 4 per cent
of the earth’s crust. It is commonly found in
igneous and metamorphic rocks. It is used in
electrical instruments.
Olivine
Magnesium, iron and silica are major elements
of olivine. It is used in jewellery. It is usually a
greenish crystal, often found in basaltic rocks.
Besides these main minerals, other minerals
like chlorite, calcite, magnetite, haematite,
bauxite and barite are also present in some
quantities in the rocks.
42
Metallic Minerals
These minerals contain metal content and can
be sub-divided into three types:
(i) Precious metals : gold, silver, platinum
etc.
(ii) Ferrous metals : iron and other metals
often mixed with iron to form various
kinds of steel.
(iii) Non-ferrous metals : include metals
like copper, lead, zinc, tin, aluminium
etc.
Non-Metallic Minerals
These minerals do not contain metal content.
Sulphur, phosphates and nitrates are examples
of non-metallic minerals. Cement is a mixture
of non-metallic minerals.
ROCKS
The earth’s crust is composed of rocks. A
rock is an aggregate of one or more minerals.
Rock may be hard or soft and in varied
colours. For example, granite is hard, soapstone
is soft. Gabbro is black and quartzite can be
milky white. Rocks do not have definite
composition of mineral constituents.
Feldspar and quartz are the most common
minerals found in rocks.
Petrology is science of rocks. A petrologist
studies rocks in all their aspects viz.,
mineral composition, texture, structure,
origin, occurrence, alteration and
relationship with other rocks.
As there is a close relation between rocks
and landforms, rocks and soils, a geographer
requires basic knowledge of rocks. There are
many different kinds of rocks which are
grouped under three families on the basis of
their mode of formation. They are: (i) Igneous
Rocks — solidified from magma and lava;
(ii) Sedimentary Rocks — the result of
deposition of fragments of rocks by exogenous
processes; (iii) Metamorphic Rocks — formed out
of existing rocks undergoing recrystallisation.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Igneous Rocks
As igneous rocks form out of magma and lava
from the interior of the earth, they are known
as primary rocks. The igneous rocks (Ignis –
in Latin means ‘Fire’) are formed when magma
cools and solidifies. You already know what
magma is. When magma in its upward
movement cools and turns into solid form it is
called igneous rock. The process of cooling and
solidification can happen in the earth’s crust
or on the surface of the earth.
Igneous rocks are classified based on
texture. Texture depends upon size and
arrangement of grains or other physical
conditions of the materials. If molten material
is cooled slowly at great depths, mineral grains
may be very large. Sudden cooling (at the
surface) results in small and smooth grains.
Intermediate conditions of cooling would result
in intermediate sizes of grains making up
igneous rocks. Granite, gabbro, pegmatite,
basalt, volcanic breccia and tuff are some of
the examples of igneous rocks.
Sedimentary Rocks
The word ‘sedimentary’ is derived from the Latin
word sedimentum, which means settling. Rocks
(igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic) of the
earth’s surface are exposed to denudational
agents, and are broken up into various sizes
of fragments. Such fragments are transported
by different exogenous agencies and
deposited. These deposits through compaction
turn into rocks. This process is called
lithification. In many sedimentary rocks, the
layers of deposits retain their characteristics
even after lithification. Hence, we see a number
of layers of varying thickness in sedimentary
rocks like sandstone, shale etc.
Depending upon the mode of formation,
sedimentary rocks are classified into three major
groups: (i) mechanically formed — sandstone,
conglomerate, limestone, shale, loess etc. are
examples; (ii) organically formed — geyserite,
chalk, limestone, coal etc. are some examples;
(iii) chemically formed — chert, limestone, halite,
potash etc. are some examples.
MINERALS AND ROCKS 43

Metamorphic Rocks major groups — foliated rocks and non-foliated

rocks. Gneissoid, granite, syenite, slate, schist,
The word metamorphic means ‘change of form’.
marble, quartzite etc. are some examples of
These rocks form under the action of pressure,
metamorphic rocks.
volume and temperature (PVT) changes.
Metamorphism occurs when rocks are forced
ROCK CYCLE
down to lower levels by tectonic processes or
when molten magma rising through the crust Rocks do not remain in their original form for
comes in contact with the crustal rocks or the long but may undergo transformation. Rock
underlying rocks are subjected to great cycle is a continuous process through which
amounts of pressure by overlying rocks. old rocks are transformed into new ones.
Metamorphism is a process by which already Igneous rocks are primary rocks and other
consolidated rocks undergo recrystallisation rocks (sedimentary and metamorphic) form
and reorganisation of materials within original from these primary rocks. Igneous rocks can
rocks. be changed into metamorphic rocks. The
Mechanical disruption and reorganisation fragments derived out of igneous and
of the original minerals within rocks due to metamorphic rocks form into sedimentary
breaking and crushing without any
appreciable chemical changes is called dynamic
metamorphism. The materials of rocks
chemically alter and recrystallise due to
thermal metamorphism. There are two types
of thermal metamorphism — contact meta-
morphism and regional metamorphism. In
contact metamorphism the rocks come in
contact with hot intruding magma and lava
and the rock materials recrystallise under high
temperatures. Quite often new materials form
out of magma or lava are added to the rocks.
In regional metamorphism, rocks undergo
recrystallisation due to deformation caused by Fig 5.1 : Rock Cycle
tectonic shearing together with high
temperature or pressure or both. In the process
rocks. Sedimentary rocks themselves can turn
of metamorphism in some rocks grains or
into fragments and the fragments can be a
minerals get arranged in layers or lines. Such
source for formation of sedimentary rocks. The
an arrangement of minerals or grains in
crustal rocks (igneous, metamorphic and
metamorphic rocks is called foliation or
lineation. Sometimes minerals or materials of sedimentary) once formed may be carried
different groups are arranged into alternating down into the mantle (interior of the earth)
thin to thick layers appearing in light and dark through subduction process (parts or whole
shades. Such a structure in metamorphic of crustal plates going down under another
rocks is called banding and rocks displaying plate in zones of plate convergence) and the
banding are called banded rocks. Types of same melt down due to increase in
metamorphic rocks depend upon original temperature in the interior and turn into
rocks that were subjected to metamorphism. molten magma, the original source for
Metamorphic rocks are classified into two igneous rocks (Figure 5.1).
44 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Which one of the following are the two main constituents of granite?
(a) Iron and nickel (c) Silica and aluminium
(b) Iron and silver (d) Iron Oxide and potassium
(ii) Which one of the following is the salient feature of metamorphic rocks?
(a) Changeable (c) Crystalline
(b) Quite (d) Foliation
(iii) Which one of the following is not a single element mineral?
(a) Gold (c) Mica
(b) Silver (d) Graphite
(iv) Which one of the following is the hardest mineral?
(a) Topaz (c) Quartz
(b) Diamond (d) Feldspar
(v) Which one of the following is not a sedimentary rock?
(a) Tillite (c) Breccia
(b) Borax (d) Marble
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What do you mean by rocks? Name the three major classes of rocks.
(ii) What is an igneous rock? Describe the method of formation and
characteristics of igneous rock.
(iii) What is meant by sedimentary rock? Describe the mode of formation of
sedimentary rock.
(iv) What relationship explained by rock cycle between the major type of rock?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Define the term ‘mineral’ and name the major classes of minerals with
their physical characteristics.
(ii) Describe the nature and mode of origin of the chief types of rock at the
earth’s crust. How will you distinguish them?
(iii) What are metamorphic rocks? Describe the types of metamorphic rock
and how are they formed?

Project Work
Collect different rock samples and try to recognise them from their physical
characteristics and identify their family.

GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
A
fter learning about how the earth was
born, how it evolved its crust and other
inner layers, how its crustal plates
moved and are moving, and other information
on earthquakes, the forms of volcanism and
about the rocks and minerals the crust is
composed of, it is time to know in detail about
the surface of the earth on which we live. Let
us start with this question.
Why is the surface of the earth uneven?
First of all, the earth’s crust is dynamic. You
are well aware that it has moved and moves
vertically and horizontally. Of course, it moved
a bit faster in the past than the rate at which it
is moving now. The differences in the internal
forces operating from within the earth which
built up the crust have been responsible for
the variations in the outer surface of the crust.
The earth’s surface is being continuously
subjected to external forces induced basically
by energy (sunlight). Of course, the internal
forces are still active though with different
intensities. That means, the earth’s surface is
being continuously subjected to by external
forces originating within the earth’s atmosphere
and by internal forces from within the earth.
The external forces are known as exogenic
forces and the internal forces are known as
endogenic forces. The actions of exogenic
forces result in wearing down (degradation) of
relief/elevations and filling up (aggradation) of
basins/depressions, on the earth’s surface. The
phenomenon of wearing down of relief
variations of the surface of the earth through
erosion is known as gradation. The endogenic
CHAPTER
forces continuously elevate or build up parts
of the earth’s surface and hence the exogenic
processes fail to even out the relief variations
of the surface of the earth. So, variations remain
as long as the opposing actions of exogenic and
endogenic forces continue. In general terms,
the endogenic forces are mainly land building
forces and the exogenic processes are mainly
land wearing forces. The surface of the earth is
sensitive. Humans depend on it for their
sustenance and have been using it extensively
and intensively. So, it is essential to understand
its nature in order to use it effectively without
disturbing its balance and diminishing its
potential for the future. Almost all organisms
contribute to sustain the earth’s environment.
However, humans have caused over use of
resources. Use we must, but must also leave it
potential enough to sustain life through the
future. Most of the surface of the earth had and
has been shaped over very long periods of time
(hundreds and thousands of years) and
because of its use and misuse by humans its
potential is being diminished at a fast rate. If
the processes which shaped and are shaping
the surface of the earth into varieties of forms
(shapes) and the nature of materials of which
it is composed of, are understood, precautions
can be taken to minimise the detrimental effects
of human use and to preserve it for posterity.
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
You would like to know the meaning of
geomorphic processes. The endogenic and
exogenic forces causing physical stresses and
chemical actions on earth materials and
46
bringing about changes in the configuration
of the surface of the earth are known as
geomorphic processes. Diastrophism and
volcanism are endogenic geomorphic
processes. These have already been discussed
in brief in the preceding unit. Weathering, mass
wasting, erosion and deposition are exogenic
geomorphic processes. These exogenic
processes are dealt with in detail in this chapter.
Any exogenic element of nature (like water,
ice, wind, etc.,) capable of acquiring and
transporting earth materials can be called a
geomorphic agent. When these elements of
nature become mobile due to gradients, they
remove the materials and transport them over
slopes and deposit them at lower level.
Geomorphic processes and geomorphic agents
especially exogenic, unless stated separately,
are one and the same.
A process is a force applied on earth
materials affecting the same. An agent is a
mobile medium (like running water, moving ice
masses, wind, waves and currents etc.) which
removes, transports and deposits earth
materials. Running water, groundwater,
glaciers, wind, waves and currents, etc., can
be called geomorphic agents.
Do you think it is essential to distinguish
geomorphic agents and geomorphic
processes?
Gravity besides being a directional force
activating all downslope movements of matter
also causes stresses on the earth’s materials.
Indirect gravitational stresses activate wave and
tide induced currents and winds. Without
gravity and gradients there would be no
mobility and hence no erosion, transportation
and deposition are possible. So, gravitational
stresses are as important as the other
geomorphic processes. Gravity is the force that
is keeping us in contact with the surface and it
is the force that switches on the movement of
all surface material on earth. All the movements
either within the earth or on the surface of the
earth occur due to gradients — from higher
levels to lower levels, from high pressure to low
pressure areas etc.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
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.
This energy due to geothermal gradients and
heat flow from within induces diastrophism
and volcanism in the lithosphere. Due to
variations in geothermal gradients and heat flow
from within, crustal thickness and strength,
the action of endogenic forces are not uniform
and hence the tectonically controlled original
crustal surface is uneven.
Diastrophism
All processes that move, elevate or build up
portions of the earth’s crust come under
diastrophism. They include: (i) orogenic
processes involving mountain building
through severe folding and affecting long and
narrow belts of the earth’s crust; (ii) epeirogenic
processes involving uplift or warping of large
parts of the earth’s crust; (iii) earthquakes
involving local relatively minor movements;
(iv) plate tectonics involving horizontal
movements of crustal plates.
In the process of orogeny, the crust is
severely deformed into folds. Due to epeirogeny,
there may be simple deformation. Orogeny is
a mountain building process whereas
epeirogeny is continental building process.
Through the processes of orogeny, epeirogeny,
earthquakes and plate tectonics, there can be
faulting and fracturing of the crust. All these
processes cause pressure, volume and
temperature (PVT) changes which in turn
induce metamorphism of rocks.
Epeirogeny and orogeny, cite the
differences.
Volcanism
Volcanism includes the movement of molten
rock (magma) onto or toward the earth’s
surface and also formation of many intrusive
and extrusive volcanic forms. Many aspects of
volcanism have already been dealt in detail
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
under volcanoes in the Unit II and under
igneous rocks in the preceding chapter in this
unit.
What do the words volcanism and
volcanoes indicate?
EXOGENIC PROCESSES
The exogenic processes derive their energy
from atmosphere determined by the ultimate
energy from the sun and also the gradients
created by tectonic factors.
Why do you think that the slopes or
gradients are created by tectonic factors?
Gravitational force acts upon all earth
materials having a sloping surface and tend to
produce movement of matter in down slope
direction. Force applied per unit area is called
stress. Stress is produced in a solid by pushing
or pulling. This induces deformation. Forces
acting along the faces of earth materials are
shear stresses (separating forces). It is this
stress that breaks rocks and other earth
materials. The shear stresses result in angular
displacement or slippage. Besides the
gravitational stress earth materials become
subjected to molecular stresses that may be
caused by a number of factors amongst which
temperature changes, crystallisation and
melting are the most common. Chemical
processes normally lead to loosening of bonds
between grains, dissolving of soluble minerals
or cementing materials. Thus, the basic reason
that leads to weathering, mass movements,
erosion and deposition is development of
stresses in the body of the earth materials.
As there are different climatic regions on
the earth’s surface the exogenic geomorphic
processes vary from region to region.
Temperature and precipitation are the two
important climatic elements that control
various processes.
All the exogenic geomorphic processes are
covered under a general term, denudation. The
word ‘denude’ means to strip off or to uncover.
Weathering, mass wasting/movements, erosion
and transportation are included in denudation.
The flow chart (Figure 6.1) gives the denudation
47
processes and their respective driving forces.
It should become clear from this chart that for
each process there exists a distinct driving force
or energy.
As there are different climatic regions on
the earth’s surface owing to thermal gradients
created by latitudinal, seasonal and land and
water spread variations, the exogenic
geomorphic processes vary from region to
region. The density, type and distribution of
vegetation which largely depend upon
Figure 6.1 : Denudational processes and their
driving forces
precipitation and temperature exert influence
indirectly on exogenic geomorphic processes.
Within different climatic regions there may be
local variations of the effects of different climatic
elements due to altitudinal differences, aspect
variations and the variation in the amount of
insolation received by north and south facing
slopes as compared to east and west facing
slopes. Further, due to differences in wind
velocities and directions, amount and kind of
precipitation, its intensity, the relation between
precipitation and evaporation, daily range of
temperature, freezing and thawing frequency,
depth of frost penetration, the geomorphic
processes vary within any climatic region.
What is the sole driving force behind all
the exogenic processes?
Climatic factors being equal, the intensity
of action of exogenic geomorphic processes
depends upon type and structure of rocks. The
term structure includes such aspects of rocks
as folds, faults, orientation and inclination of
beds, presence or absence of joints, bedding
planes, hardness or softness of constituent
minerals, chemical susceptibility of mineral
constituents; the permeability or impermeability
48 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

etc. Different types of rocks with differences in

their structure offer varying resistances to
various geomorphic processes. A particular
rock may be resistant to one process and non-
resistant to another. And, under varying
climatic conditions, particular rocks may
exhibit different degrees of resistance to
geomorphic processes and hence they operate
at differential rates and give rise to differences
in topography. The effects of most of the
exogenic geomorphic processes are small and
slow and may be imperceptible in a short time
span, but will in the long run affect the rocks
severely due to continued fatigue.
Finally, it boils down to one fact that the
Figure 6.2 : Climatic regimes and depth of weathering
differences on the surface of the earth though
mantles (adapted and modified from Strakhov, 1967)
originally related to the crustal evolution
continue to exist in some form or the other due
to differences in the type and structure of earth Activity
materials, differences in geomorphic processes
and in their rates of operation. Mark the latitude values of different
Some of the exogenic geomorphic processes climatic regimes in Figure 6.2 and
have been dealt in detail here. compare the details.

WEATHERING There are three major groups of weathering

Weathering is action of elements of weather and
climate over earth materials. There are a
number of processes within weathering which
act either individually or together to affect the
earth materials in order to reduce them to
fragmental state.
Weathering is defined as mechanical
disintegration and chemical decom-
position of rocks through the actions of
various elements of weather and climate.
As very little or no motion of materials
takes place in weathering, it is an in-situ or
on-site process.
Is this little motion which can occur
sometimes due to weathering synonymous
with transportation? If not, why?
Weathering processes are conditioned by
many complex geological, climatic, topographic
and vegetative factors. Climate is of particular
importance. Not only weathering processes
differ from climate to climate, but also the depth
of the weathering mantle (Figure 6.2).
processes : (i) chemical; (ii) physical or
mechanical; (iii) biological weathering processes.
Very rarely does any one of these processes ever
operate completely by itself, but quite often a
dominance of one process can be seen.
Chemical Weathering Processes
A group of weathering processes viz; solution,
carbonation, hydration, oxidation and
reduction act on the rocks to decompose,
dissolve or reduce them to a fine clastic state
through chemical reactions by oxygen, surface
and/or soil water and other acids. Water and
air (oxygen and carbon dioxide) along with
heat must be present to speed up all chemical
reactions. Over and above the carbon dioxide
present in the air, decomposition of plants and
animals increases the quantity of carbon
dioxide underground. These chemical
reactions on various minerals are very much
similar to the chemical reactions in a laboratory.
Solution
When something is dissolved in water or acids,
the water or acid with dissolved contents is
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
called solution. This process involves removal
of solids in solution and depends upon
solubility of a mineral in water or weak acids.
On coming in contact with water many solids
disintegrate and mix up as suspension in
water. Soluble rock forming minerals like
nitrates, sulphates, and potassium etc. are
affected by this process. So, these minerals are
easily leached out without leaving any residue
in rainy climates and accumulate in dry
regions. Minerals like calcium carbonate and
calcium magnesium bicarbonate present in
limestones are soluble in water containing
carbonic acid (formed with the addition of
carbon dioxide in water), and are carried away
in water as solution. Carbon dioxide produced
by decaying organic matter along with soil
water greatly aids in this reaction. Common
salt (sodium chloride) is also a rock forming
mineral and is susceptible to this process of
solution.
Carbonation
Carbonation is the reaction of carbonate and
bicarbonate with minerals and is a common
process helping the breaking down of
feldspars and carbonate minerals. Carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere and soil air is
absorbed by water, to form carbonic acid that
acts as a weak acid. Calcium carbonates and
magnesium carbonates are dissolved in
carbonic acid and are removed in a solution
without leaving any residue resulting in cave
formation.
Why are clay minerals easily erodible?
Hydration
Hydration is the chemical addition of water.
Minerals take up water and expand; this
expansion causes an increase in the volume of
the material itself or rock. Calcium sulphate
takes in water and turns to gypsum, which is
more unstable than calcium sulphate. This
process is reversible and long, continued
repetition of this process causes fatigue in the
rocks and may lead to their disintegration.
49
Many clay minerals swell and contract during
wetting and drying and a repetition of this
process results in cracking of overlying
materials. Salts in pore spaces undergo rapid
and repeated hydration and help in rock
fracturing. The volume changes in minerals
due to hydration will also help in physical
weathering through exfoliation and granular
disintegration.
Oxidation and Reduction
In weathering, oxidation means a combination
of a mineral with oxygen to form oxides or
hydroxides. Oxidation occurs where there is
ready access to the atmosphere and
oxygenated waters. The minerals most
commonly involved in this process are iron,
manganese, sulphur etc. In the process of
oxidation rock breakdown occurs due to the
disturbance caused by addition of oxygen. Red
colour of iron upon oxidation turns to brown
or yellow. When oxidised minerals are placed
in an environment where oxygen is absent,
reduction takes place. Such conditions exist
usually below the water table, in areas of
stagnant water and waterlogged ground. Red
colour of iron upon reduction turns to greenish
or bluish grey.
These weathering processes are inter-
related. Hydration, carbonation and oxidation
go hand in hand and hasten the weathering
process.
Can we give iron rusting as an example
of oxidation? How essential is water in
chemical weathering processes? Can
chemical weathering processes dominate
in water scarce hot deserts?
Physical Weathering Processes
Physical or mechanical weathering processes
depend on some applied forces. The applied
forces could be: (i) gravitational forces such as
overburden pressure, load and shearing stress;
(ii) expansion forces due to temperature
changes, crystal growth or animal activity;
(iii) water pressures controlled by wetting and
50
drying cycles. Many of these forces are applied
both at the surface and within different earth
materials leading to rock fracture. Most of the
physical weathering processes are caused by
thermal expansion and pressure release. These
processes are small and slow but can cause
great damage to the rocks because of
continued fatigue the rocks suffer due to
repetition of contraction and expansion.
Unloading and Expansion
Removal of overlying rock load because of
continued erosion causes vertical pressure
release with the result that the upper layers of
the rock expand producing disintegration of
rock masses. Fractures will develop roughly
parallel to the ground surface. In areas of
curved ground surface, arched fractures tend
to produce massive sheets or exfoliation slabs
of rock. Exfoliation sheets resulting from
expansion due to unloading and pressure
release may measure hundreds or even
thousands of metres in horizontal extent. Large,
smooth rounded domes called exfoliation
domes (Figure 6.3) result due to this process.
Figure 6.3 : A large exfoliation dome in granite rock
near bhongir (Bhuvanagiri) town in Andhra Pradesh
Temperature Changes and Expansion
Various minerals in rocks possess their own
limits of expansion and contraction. With rise
in temperature, every mineral expands and
pushes against its neighbour and as
temperature falls, a corresponding contraction
takes place. Because of diurnal changes in the
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
temperatures, this internal movement among
the mineral grains of the superficial layers of
rocks takes place regularly. This process is
most effective in dry climates and high
elevations where diurnal temperature changes
are drastic. As has been mentioned earlier
though these movements are very small they
make the rocks weak due to continued fatigue.
The surface layers of the rocks tend to expand
more than the rock at depth and this leads to
the formation of stress within the rock resulting
in heaving and fracturing parallel to the
surface. Due to differential heating and
resulting expansion and contraction of surface
layers and their subsequent exfoliation from
the surface results in smooth rounded surfaces
in rocks. In rocks like granites, smooth
surfaced and rounded small to big boulders
called tors form due to such exfoliation.
What is the difference between exfoliation
domes and exfoliated tors?
Freezing, Thawing and Frost Wedging
Frost weathering occurs due to growth of ice
within pores and cracks of rocks during
repeated cycles of freezing and melting. This
process is most effective at high elevations in
mid-latitudes where freezing and melting is
often repeated. Glacial areas are subject to frost
wedging daily. In this process, the rate of
freezing is important. Rapid freezing of water
causes its sudden expansion and high pressure.
The resulting expansion affects joints, cracks
and small inter granular fractures to become
wider and wider till the rock breaks apart.
Salt Weathering
Salts in rocks expand due to thermal action,
hydration and crystallisation. Many salts like
calcium, sodium, magnesium, potassium and
barium have a tendency to expand. Expansion
of these salts depends on temperature and
their thermal properties. High temperature
ranges between 30 and 50 oC of surface
temperatures in deserts favour such salt
expansion. Salt crystals in near-surface pores
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
cause splitting of individual grains within
rocks, which eventually fall off. This process of
falling off of individual grains may result in
granular disintegration or granular foliation.
Salt crystallisation is most effective of all
salt-weathering processes. In areas with
alternating wetting and drying conditions salt
crystal growth is favoured and the neighbouring
grains are pushed aside. Sodium chloride and
gypsum crystals in desert areas heave up
overlying layers of materials and with the result
polygonal cracks develop all over the heaved
surface. With salt crystal growth, chalk breaks
down most readily, followed by limestone,
sandstone, shale, gneiss and granite etc.
BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY AND WEATHERING
Biological weathering is contribution to or
removal of minerals and ions from the
weathering environment and physical changes
due to growth or movement of organisms.
Burrowing and wedging by organisms like
earthworms, termites, rodents etc., help in
exposing the new surfaces to chemical attack
and assists in the penetration of moisture and
air. Human beings by disturbing vegetation,
ploughing and cultivating soils, also help in
mixing and creating new contacts between air,
water and minerals in the earth materials.
Decaying plant and animal matter help in the
production of humic, carbonic and other acids
which enhance decay and solubility of some
elements. Algae utilise mineral nutrients for
growth and help in concentration of iron and
manganese oxides. Plant roots exert a
tremendous pressure on the earth materials
mechanically breaking them apart.
SOME SPECIAL EFFECTS OF WEATHERING
This has already been explained under
physical weathering processes of unloading,
thermal contraction and expansion and salt
weathering. Exfoliation is a result but not a
process. Flaking off of more or less curved
sheets of shells from over rocks or bedrock
results in smooth and rounded surfaces
(Figure 6.4). Exfoliation can occur due to
expansion and contraction induced by
51
Fig.6.4 : Exfoliation (Flacking) and granular
disintegration
temperature changes. Exfoliation domes and
tors result due to unloading and thermal
expansion respectively.
SIGNIFICANCE OF WEATHERING
Weathering processes are responsible for
breaking down the rocks into smaller
fragments and preparing the way for formation
of not only regolith and soils, but also erosion
and mass movements. Biomes and bio-
diversity is basically a result of forests
(vegetation) and forests depend upon the depth
of weathering mantles. Erosion cannot be
significant if the rocks are not weathered. That
means, weathering aids mass wasting, erosion
and reduction of relief and changes in
landforms are a consequence of erosion.
Weathering of rocks and deposits helps in the
enrichment and concentrations of certain
valuable ores of iron, manganese, aluminium,
copper etc., which are of great importance for
the national economy. Weathering is an
important process in the formation of soils.
When rocks undergo weathering, some
materials are removed through chemical
or physical leaching by groundwater and
thereby the concentration of remaining
(valuable) materials increases. Without
such a weathering taking place, the
concentration of the same valuable
material may not be sufficient and
economically viable to exploit, process and
refine. This is what is called enrichment.
52 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

MASS MOVEMENTS the three forms of movements. Figure 6.5 shows

the relationships among different types of mass
These movements transfer the mass of rock
movements, their relative rates of movement
debris down the slopes under the direct
and moisture limits.
influence of gravity. That means, air, water or
ice do not carry debris with them from place to
place but on the other hand the debris may
carry with it air, water or ice. The movements
of mass may range from slow to rapid,
affecting shallow to deep columns of materials
and include creep, flow, slide and fall. Gravity
exerts its force on all matter, both bedrock and
the products of weathering. So, weathering is
not a pre-requisite for mass movement though
it aids mass movements. Mass movements are
very active over weathered slopes rather than
over unweathered materials.
Mass movements are aided by gravity and
no geomorphic agent like running water,
glaciers, wind, waves and currents participate
in the process of mass movements. That means Figure 6.5 : Relationships among different types of
mass movements, their relative rates of movement
mass movements do not come under erosion and moisture limits (after Whitehead, 2001)
though there is a shift (aided by gravity) of
materials from one place to another. Materials Mass movements can be grouped under
over the slopes have their own resistance to three major classes: (i) slow movements;
disturbing forces and will yield only when force (ii) rapid movements; (iii) landslides.
is greater than the shearing resistance of the
materials. Weak unconsolidated materials, Slow Movements
thinly bedded rocks, faults, steeply dipping Creep is one type under this category which
beds, vertical cliffs or steep slopes, abundant can occur on moderately steep, soil covered
precipitation and torrential rains and scarcity slopes. Movement of materials is extremely
of vegetation etc., favour mass movements. slow and imperceptible except through
Several activating causes precede mass extended observation. Materials involved can
movements. They are : (i) removal of support be soil or rock debris. Have you ever seen fence
from below to materials above through natural posts, telephone poles lean downslope from
or artificial means; (ii) increase in gradient and their vertical position and in their linear
height of slopes; (iii) overloading through alignment? If you have, that is due to the creep
addition of materials naturally or by artificial effect. Depending upon the type of material
involved, several types of creep viz., soil creep,
filling; (iv) overloading due to heavy rainfall,
talus creep, rock creep, rock-glacier creep etc.,
saturation and lubrication of slope materials;
can be identified. Also included in this group
(v) removal of material or load from over the
is solifluction which involves slow downslope
original slope surfaces; (vi) occurrence of flowing soil mass or fine grained rock debris
earthquakes, explosions or machinery; saturated or lubricated with water. This process
(vii) excessive natural seepage; (viii) heavy is quite common in moist temperate areas
drawdown of water from lakes, reservoirs and where surface melting of deeply frozen ground
rivers leading to slow outflow of water from and long continued rain respectively, occur
under the slopes or river banks; (ix) indis- frequently. When the upper portions get
criminate removal of natural vegetation. saturated and when the lower parts are
Heave (heaving up of soils due to frost impervious to water percolation, flowing occurs
growth and other causes), flow and slide are in the upper parts.
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES 53

Rapid Movements discontinuities in the rock, the degree of

weathering and the steepness of the slope.
These movements are mostly prevalent in
Depending upon the type of movement of
humid climatic regions and occur over gentle materials several types are identified in this
to steep slopes. Movement of water-saturated category.
clayey or silty earth materials down low-angle Slump is slipping of one or several units of
terraces or hillsides is known as earthflow. rock debris with a backward rotation with
Quite often, the materials slump making step- respect to the slope over which the movement
like terraces and leaving arcuate scarps at their takes place (Figure 6.6). Rapid rolling or sliding
heads and an accumulation bulge at the toe.
When slopes are steeper, even the bedrock
especially of soft sedimentary rocks like shale
or deeply weathered igneous rock may slide
downslope.
Another type in this category is mudflow.
In the absence of vegetation cover and with
heavy rainfall, thick layers of weathered
materials get saturated with water and either
slowly or rapidly flow down along definite
channels. It looks like a stream of mud within
a valley. When the mudflows emerge out of
Figure 6.6 : Slumping of debris with backward rotation
channels onto the piedmont or plains, they can
be very destructive engulfing roads, bridges
of earth debris without backward rotation of
and houses. Mudflows occur frequently on the
mass is known as debris slide. Debris fall is
slopes of erupting or recently erupted volcanoes.
nearly a free fall of earth debris from a vertical
Volcanic ash, dust and other fragments turn
or overhanging face. Sliding of individual rock
into mud due to heavy rains and flow down as
masses down bedding, joint or fault surfaces
tongues or streams of mud causing great
is rockslide. Over steep slopes, rock sliding is
destruction to human habitations.
very fast and destructive. Figure 6.7 shows
A third type is the debris avalanche, which
landslide scars over steep slopes. Slides occur
is more characteristic of humid regions with
as planar failures along discontinuities like
or without vegetation cover and occurs in
bedding planes that dip steeply. Rock fall is
narrow tracks on steep slopes. This debris
free falling of rock blocks over any steep slope
avalanche can be much faster than the
keeping itself away from the slope. Rock falls
mudflow. Debris avalanche is similar to snow
occur from the superficial layers of the rock
avalanche.

In Andes mountains of South America

and the Rockies mountains of North
America, there are a few volcanoes which
erupted during the last decade and very
devastating mudflows occurred down
their slopes during eruption as well as
after eruption.

Landslides
These are known as relatively rapid and
perceptible movements. The materials involved
are relatively dry. The size and shape of the Figure 6.7 : Landslide scars in Shiwalik Himalayan ranges
detached mass depends on the nature of near river Sarada at India-Nepal border, Uttar Pradesh
54
face, an occurrence that distinguishes it from
rockslide which affects materials up to a
substantial depth.
Between mass wasting and mass
movements, which term do you feel is
most appropriate? Why? Can solifluction
be included under rapid flow movements?
Why it can be and can’t be?
In our country, debris avalanche and
landslides occur very frequently in the
Himalayas. There are many reasons for
this. One, the Himalayas are tectonically
active. They are mostly made up of
sedimentary rocks and unconsolidated
and semi-consolidated deposits. The
slopes are very steep. Compared to the
Himalayas, the Nilgiris bordering
Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala and the
Western Ghats along the west coast are
relatively tectonically stable and are
mostly made up of very hard rocks; but,
still, debris avalanches and landslides
occur though not as frequently as in the
Himalayas, in these hills. Why? Many
slopes are steeper with almost vertical
cliffs and escarpments in the Western
Ghats and Nilgiris. Mechanical weathering
due to temperature changes and ranges
is pronounced. They receive heavy
amounts of rainfall over short periods.
So, there is almost direct rock fall quite
frequently in these places along with
landslides and debris avalanches.
EROSION AND DEPOSITION
Erosion involves acquisition and transportation
of rock debris. When massive rocks break into
smaller fragments through weathering and
any other process, erosional geomorphic
agents like running water, groundwater,
glaciers, wind and waves remove and
transport it to other places depending upon
the dynamics of each of these agents. Abrasion
by rock debris carried by these geomorphic
agents also aids greatly in erosion. By erosion,
relief degrades, i.e., the landscape is worn
down. That means, though weathering aids
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
erosion it is not a pre-condition for erosion to
take place. Weathering, mass-wasting and
erosion are degradational processes. It is
erosion that is largely responsible for
continuous changes that the earth’s surface is
undergoing. As indicated in Figure 6.1,
denudational processes like erosion and
transportation are controlled by kinetic energy.
The erosion and transportation of earth
materials is brought about by wind, running
water, glaciers, waves and ground water. Of
these the first three agents are controlled by
climatic conditions.
Can you compare the three climatically
controlled agents?
They represent three states of matter —
gaseous (wind), liquid (running water) and
solid (glacier) respectively. The erosion can be
defined as “application of the kinetic energy
associated with the agent to the surface of the
land along which it moves”. Kinetic energy is
computed as KE = 1/2 mv2 where ‘m’ is the mass
and ‘v’ is the velocity. Hence the energy
available to perform work will depend on the
mass of the material and the velocity with
which it is moving. Obviously then you will find
that though the glaciers move at very low
velocities due to tremendous mass are more
effective as the agents of erosion and wind,
being in gaseous state, are less effective.
The work of the other two agents of erosion-
waves and ground water is not controlled by
climate. In case of waves it is the location along
the interface of litho and hydro sphere —
coastal region — that will determine the work
of waves, whereas the work of ground water is
determined more by the lithological character
of the region. If the rocks are permeable and
soluble and water is available only then karst
topography develops. In the next chapter we
shall be dealing with the landforms produced
by each of the agents of erosion.
Deposition is a consequence of erosion. The
erosional agents loose their velocity and hence
energy on gentler slopes and the materials
carried by them start to settle themselves. In
other words, deposition is not actually the work
of any agent. The coarser materials get
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES
deposited first and finer ones later. By
deposition depressions get filled up. The same
erosional agents viz., running water, glaciers,
wind, waves and groundwater act as
aggradational or depositional agents also.
What happens to the surface of the earth
due to erosion and deposition is elaborated in
the next chapter on landforms and their
evolution.
There is a shift of materials in mass
movements as well as in erosion from one
place to the other. So, why can’t both be
treated as one and the same? Can there
be appreciable erosion without rocks
undergoing weathering?
SOIL FORMATION
Soil and Soil Contents
You see plants growing in soils. You play in
the ground and come into contact with soil.
You touch and feel soil and soil your clothes
while playing. Can you describe it?
A pedologist who studies soils defines soil
as a collection of natural bodies on the earth’s
surface containing living matter and
supporting or capable of supporting plants.
Soil is a dynamic medium in which many
chemical, physical and biological activities go
on constantly. Soil is a result of decay, it is also
the medium for growth. It is a changing and
developing body. It has many characteristics
that fluctuate with the seasons. It may be
alternatively cold and warm or dry and moist.
Biological activity is slowed or stopped if the
soil becomes too cold or too dry. Organic matter
increases when leaves fall or grasses die. The
soil chemistry, the amount of organic matter,
the soil flora and fauna, the temperature and
the moisture, all change with the seasons as
well as with more extended periods of time.
That means, soil becomes adjusted to
conditions of climate, landform and vegetation
and will change internally when these
controlling conditions change.
Process of Soil Formation
Soil formation or pedogenesis depends first on
weathering. It is this weathering mantle (depth
55
of the weathered material) which is the basic
input for soil to form. First, the weathered
material or transported deposits are colonised
by bacteria and other inferior plant bodies like
mosses and lichens. Also, several minor
organisms may take shelter within the mantle
and deposits. The dead remains of organisms
and plants help in humus accumulation. Minor
grasses and ferns may grow; later, bushes and
trees will start growing through seeds brought
in by birds and wind. Plant roots penetrate
down, burrowing animals bring up particles,
mass of material becomes porous and sponge-
like with a capacity to retain water and to permit
the passage of air and finally a mature soil, a
complex mixture of mineral and organic
products forms.
Is weathering solely responsible for soil
formation? If not, why?
Pedology is soil science. A pedologist is a
soil-scientist.
Soil-forming Factors
Five basic factors control the formation of soils:
(i) parent material; (ii) topography; (iii) climate;
(iv) biological activity; (v) time. In fact soil
forming factors act in union and affect the
action of one another.
Parent Material
Parent material is a passive control factor in
soil formation. Parent materials can be any in-
situ or on-site weathered rock debris (residual
soils) or transported deposits (transported
soils). Soil formation depends upon the texture
(sizes of debris) and structure (disposition of
individual grains/particles of debris) as well
as the mineral and chemical composition of the
rock debris/deposits.
Nature and rate of weathering and depth of
weathering mantle are important consideration
under parent materials. There may be
differences in soil over similar bedrock and
dissimilar bedrocks may have similar soils
above them. But when soils are very young
and have not matured these show strong links
56
with the type of parent rock. Also, in case of
some limestone areas, where the weathering
processes are specific and peculiar, soils will
show clear relation with the parent rock.
Topography
Topography like parent materials is another
passive control factor. The influence of
topography is felt through the amount of
exposure of a surface covered by parent
materials to sunlight and the amount of
surface and sub-surface drainage over and
through the parent materials. Soils will be thin
on steep slopes and thick over flat upland
areas. Over gentle slopes where erosion is slow
and percolation of water is good, soil formation
is very favourable. Soils over flat areas may
develop a thick layer of clay with good
accumulation of organic matter giving the soil
dark colour. In middle latitudes, the south
facing slopes exposed to sunlight have different
conditions of vegetation and soils and the north
facing slopes with cool, moist conditions have
some other soils and vegetation.
Climate
Climate is an important active factor in soil
formation. The climatic elements involved in soil
development are : (i) moisture in terms of its
intensity, frequency and duration of
precipitation - evaporation and humidity;
(ii) temperature in terms of seasonal and
diurnal variations.
Precipitation gives soil its moisture content
which makes the chemical and biological
activities possible. Excess of water helps in the
downward transportation of soil components
through the soil (eluviation) and deposits the
same down below (illuviation). In climates like
wet equatorial rainy areas with high rainfall,
not only calcium, sodium, magnesium,
potassium etc. but also a major part of silica is
removed from the soil. Removal of silica from
the soil is known as desilication. In dry climates,
because of high temperature, evaporation
exceeds precipitation and hence ground water
is brought up to the surface by capillary action
and in the process the water evaporates leaving
behind salts in the soil. Such salts form into a
crust in the soil known as hardpans. In tropical
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
climates and in areas with intermediate
precipitation conditions, calcium carbonate
nodules (kanker) are formed.
Temperature acts in two ways — increasing
or reducing chemical and biological activity.
Chemical activity is increased in higher
temperatures, reduced in cooler temperatures
(with an exception of carbonation) and stops
in freezing conditions. That is why, tropical soils
with higher temperatures show deeper profiles
and in the frozen tundra regions soils contain
largely mechanically broken materials.
Biological Activity
The vegetative cover and organisms that occupy
the parent materials from the beginning and also
at later stages help in adding organic matter,
moisture retention, nitrogen etc. Dead plants
provide humus, the finely divided organic matter
of the soil. Some organic acids which form
during humification aid in decomposing the
minerals of the soil parent materials.
Intensity of bacterial activity shows up
differences between soils of cold and warm
climates. Humus accumulates in cold climates
as bacterial growth is slow. With undecomposed
organic matter because of low bacterial activity,
layers of peat develop in sub-arctic and tundra
climates. In humid tropical and equatorial
climates, bacterial growth and action is intense
and dead vegetation is rapidly oxidised leaving
very low humus content in the soil. Further,
bacteria and other soil organisms take gaseous
nitrogen from the air and convert it into a
chemical form that can be used by plants. This
process is known as nitrogen fixation.
Rhizobium, a type of bacteria, lives in the root
nodules of leguminous plants and fixes nitrogen
beneficial to the host plant. The influence of large
animals like ants, termites, earthworms, rodents
etc., is mechanical, but, it is nevertheless
important in soil formation as they rework the
soil up and down. In case of earthworms, as
they feed on soil, the texture and chemistry of
the soil that comes out of their body changes.
Time
Time is the third important controlling factor
in soil formation. The length of time the soil
forming processes operate, determines
GEOMORPHIC PROCESSES 57

maturation of soils and profile development. A

Is it necessary to separate the process of
soil formation and the soil forming control
factors?
Why are time, topography and parent
material considered as passive control
factors in soil formation?
soil becomes mature when all soil-forming
processes act for a sufficiently long time
developing a profile. Soils developing from
recently deposited alluvium or glacial till are
considered young and they exhibit no horizons
or only poorly developed horizons. No specific
length of time in absolute terms can be fixed
for soils to develop and mature.

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Which one of the following processes is a gradational process?
(a) Deposition (c) Volcanism
(b) Diastrophism (d) Erosion
(ii) Which one of the following materials is affected by hydration process?
(a) Granite (c) Quartz
(b) Clay (d) Salts
(iii) Debris avalanche can be included in the category of:
(a) Landslides (c) Rapid flow mass movements
(b) Slow flow mass movements (d) Subsidence

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) It is weathering that is responsible for bio-diversity on the earth. How?
(ii) What are mass movements that are real rapid and perceptible? List.
(iii) What are the various mobile and mighty exogenic geomorphic agents and
what is the prime job they perform?
(iv) Is weathering essential as a pre-requisite in the formation of soils? Why?

3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

(i) “Our earth is a playfield for two opposing groups of geomorphic processes.”
Discuss.
(ii) Exogenic geomorphic processes derive their ultimate energy from the sun’s
heat. Explain.
(iii) Are physical and chemical weathering processes independent of each
other? If not, why? Explain with examples.
(iv) How do you distinguish between the process of soil formation and soil-
forming factors? What is the role of climate and biological activity as two
important control factors in the formation of soils?

Project Work
Depending upon the topography and materials around you, observe and record
climate, possible weathering process and soil contents and characteristics.
CHAPTER
A
fter weathering processes have had
their actions on the earth materials
making up the surface of the earth, the
geomorphic agents like running water, ground
water, wind, glaciers, waves perform erosion.
It is already known to you that erosion causes
changes on the surface of the earth. Deposition
follows erosion and because of deposition too,
changes occur on the surface of the earth.
As this chapter deals with landforms and
their evolution first start with the question,
what is a landform? In simple words, small to
medium tracts or parcels of the earth’s surface
are called landforms.
If landform is a small to medium sized part
of the surface of the earth, what is a landscape?
Several related landforms together make
up landscapes, (large tracts of earth’s surface).
Each landform has its own physical shape, size,
materials and is a result of the action of certain
geomorphic processes and agent(s). Actions
of most of the geomorphic processes and
agents are slow, and hence the results take a
long time to take shape. Every landform has a
beginning. Landforms once formed may
change in their shape, size and nature slowly
or fast due to continued action of geomorphic
processes and agents.
Due to changes in climatic conditions and
vertical or horizontal movements of land-
masses, either the intensity of processes or the
processes themselves might change leading to
new modifications in the landforms. Evolution
here implies stages of transformation of either
a part of the earth’s surface from one landform
into another or transformation of individual
landforms after they are once formed. That
LANDFORMS AND THEIR
EVOLUTION
means, each and every landform has a history
of development and changes through time. A
landmass passes through stages of
development somewhat comparable to the
stages of life — youth, mature and old age.
What are the two important aspects of
the evolution of landforms?
The evolutionary history of the continually
changing surface of the earth is essential to be
understood in order to use it effectively without
disturbing its balance and diminishing its
potential for the future. Geomorphology deals
with the reconstruction of the history of the
surface of the earth through a study of its
forms, the materials of which it is made up of
and the processes that shape it.
Changes on the surface of the earth owe
mostly to erosion by various geomorphic
agents. Of course, the process of deposition too,
by covering the land surfaces and filling the
basins, valleys or depressions, brings changes
in the surface of the land. Deposition follows
erosion and the depositional surfaces too are
ultimately subjected to erosion. Running water,
ground-water, glaciers, wind and waves are
powerful erosional and depositional agents
shaping and changing the surface of the earth
aided by weathering and mass wasting
processes. These geomorphic agents acting
over long periods of time produce systematic
changes leading to sequential development of
landforms. Each geomorphic agent produces
its own assemblage of landforms. Not only this,
each geomorphic process and agent leave their
distinct imprints on the landforms they
LANDFORMS AND THEIR EVOLUTION
produce. You know that most of the
geomorphic processes are imperceptible
functions and can only be seen and measured
through their results. What are the results?
These results are nothing but landforms and
their characteristics. Hence, a study of
landforms, will reveal to us the process and
agent which has made or has been making
those landforms.
Most of the geomorphic processes are
imperceptible. Cite a few processes which
can be seen and a few which can’t be
seen.
As the geomorphic agents are capable of
erosion and deposition, two sets — erosional
or destructional and depositional or
constructional — of landforms are produced
by them. Many varieties of landforms develop
by the action of each of the geomorphic agents
depending upon especially the type and
structure i.e. folds, faults, joints, fractures,
hardness and softness, permeability and
impermeability, etc. come under structure of
rocks. There are some other independent
controls like (i) stability of sea level; (ii) tectonic
stability of landmasses; (iii) climate, which
influence the evolution of landforms. Any
disturbance in any of these three controlling
factors can upset the systematic and
sequential stages in the development and
evolution of landforms.
In the following pages, under each of the
geomorphic regimes i.e. running water;
groundwater, glaciers, waves, and winds, first
a brief discussion is presented as to how
landmasses are reduced in their relief through
erosion and then, development of some of the
erosional and depositional landforms is dealt
with.
RUNNING WATER
In humid regions, which receive heavy rainfall
running water is considered the most
important of the geomorphic agents in
bringing about the degradation of the land
surface. There are two components of running
water. One is overland flow on general land
surface as a sheet. Another is linear flow as
59
streams and rivers in valleys. Most of the
erosional landforms made by running water
are associated with vigorous and youthful
rivers flowing along gradients. With time,
stream channels over steep gradients turn
gentler due to continued erosion, and as a
consequence, lose their velocity, facilitating
active deposition. There may be depositional
forms associated with streams flowing over
steep slopes. But these phenomena will be on
a small scale compared to those associated
with rivers flowing over medium to gentle
slopes. The gentler the river channels in
gradient or slope, the greater is the deposition.
When the stream beds turn gentler due to
continued erosion, downward cutting becomes
less dominant and lateral erosion of banks
increases and as a consequence the hills and
valleys are reduced to plains.
Is complete reduction of relief of a high
land mass possible?
Overland flow causes sheet erosion.
Depending upon irregularities of the land
surface, the overland flow may concentrate into
narrow to wide paths. Because of the sheer
friction of the column of flowing water, minor
or major quantities of materials from the
surface of the land are removed in the direction
of flow and gradually small and narrow rills
will form. These rills will gradually develop into
long and wide gullies; the gullies will further
deepen, widen, lengthen and unite to give rise
to a network of valleys. In the early stages,
down-cutting dominates during which
irregularities such as waterfalls and cascades
will be removed. In the middle stages, streams
cut their beds slower, and lateral erosion of
valley sides becomes severe. Gradually, the
valley sides are reduced to lower and lower
slopes. The divides between drainage basins
are likewise lowered until they are almost
completely flattened leaving finally, a lowland
of faint relief with some low resistant remnants
called monadnocks standing out here and
there. This type of plain forming as a result of
stream erosion is called a peneplain (an almost
plain). The characteristics of each of the stages
of landscapes developing in running water
regimes may be summarised as follows:
60 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Youth
Streams are few during this stage with poor
integration and flow over original slopes
showing shallow V-shaped valleys with no
floodplains or with very narrow floodplains
along trunk streams. Streams divides are broad
and flat with marshes, swamp and lakes.
Meanders if present develop over these broad
upland surfaces. These meanders may
eventually entrench themselves into the
uplands. Waterfalls and rapids may exist where
local hard rock bodies are exposed.

Mature
During this stage streams are plenty with good
integration. The valleys are still V-shaped but
deep; trunk streams are broad enough to have
wider floodplains within which streams may
flow in meanders confined within the valley.
The flat and broad inter stream areas and
swamps and marshes of youth disappear and
the stream divides turn sharp. Waterfalls and
rapids disappear.

Old
Smaller tributaries during old age are few with Figure 7.1 : The Valley of Kaveri river near Hogenekal,
gentle gradients. Streams meander freely over Dharmapuri district, Tamilnadu in the form of gorge
vast floodplains showing natural levees, oxbow
lakes, etc. Divides are broad and flat with lakes,
swamps and marshes. Most of the landscape
is at or slightly above sea level.

EROSIONAL LANDFORMS

Valleys
Valleys start as small and narrow rills; the rills
will gradually develop into long and wide
gullies; the gullies will further deepen, widen
and lengthen to give rise to valleys. Depending
upon dimensions and shape, many types of
valleys like V-shaped valley, gorge, canyon,
etc. can be recognised. A gorge is a deep valley
with very steep to straight sides (Figure 7.1) and
a canyon is characterised by steep step-like
side slopes (Figure 7.2) and may be as deep as
a gorge. A gorge is almost equal in width at its
top as well as its bottom. In contrast, a canyon
Figure 7.2 : An entrenched meander loop of river Colorado
in USA showing step-like side slopes of its valley
typical of a canyon
is wider at its top than at its bottom. In fact, a
canyon is a variant of gorge. Valley types depend
upon the type and structure of rocks in which
they form. For example, canyons commonly
form in horizontal bedded sedimentary rocks
and gorges form in hard rocks.
LANDFORMS AND THEIR EVOLUTION
Potholes and Plunge Pools
Over the rocky beds of hill-streams more or less
circular depressions called potholes form
because of stream erosion aided by the abrasion
of rock fragments. Once a small and shallow
depression forms, pebbles and boulders get
collected in those depressions and get rotated
by flowing water and consequently the
depressions grow in dimensions. A series of such
depressions eventually join and the stream
valley gets deepened. At the foot of waterfalls
also, large potholes, quite deep and wide, form
because of the sheer impact of water and
rotation of boulders. Such large and deep holes
at the base of waterfalls are called plunge pools.
These pools also help in the deepening of valleys.
Waterfalls are also transitory like any other
landform and will recede gradually and bring
the floor of the valley above waterfalls to the
level below.
INCISED OR ENTRENCHED MEANDERS
In streams that flow rapidly over steep
gradients, normally erosion is concentrated on
the bottom of the stream channel. Also, in the
case of steep gradient streams, lateral erosion
on the sides of the valleys is not much when
compared to the streams flowing on low and
gentle slopes. Because of active lateral erosion,
streams flowing over gentle slopes, develop
sinuous or meandering courses. It is common
to find meandering courses over floodplains
and delta plains where stream gradients are
very gentle. But very deep and wide meanders
can also be found cut in hard rocks. Such
meanders are called incised or entrenched
meanders (Figure 7.2). Meander loops develop
over original gentle surfaces in the initial stages
of development of streams and the same loops
get entrenched into the rocks normally due to
erosion or slow, continued uplift of the land
over which they start. They widen and deepen
over time and can be found as deep gorges and
canyons in hard rock areas. They give an
indication on the status of original land
surfaces over which streams have developed.
What are the differences between incised
meanders and meanders over flood and
delta plains?
61
River Terraces
River terraces are surfaces marking old valley
floor or floodplain levels. They may be bedrock
surfaces without any alluvial cover or alluvial
terraces consisting of stream deposits. River
terraces are basically products of erosion as
they result due to vertical erosion by the stream
into its own depositional floodplain. There can
be a number of such terraces at different
heights indicating former river bed levels. The
river terraces may occur at the same elevation
on either side of the rivers in which case they
are called paired terraces (Figure 7.3).
Figure 7.3 : Paired and unpaired river terraces
When a terrace is present only on one side
of the stream and with none on the other side
or one at quite a different elevation on the other
side, the terraces are called non-paired
terraces. Unpaired terraces are typical in areas
of slow uplift of land or where the water column
changes are not uniform along both the banks.
The terraces may result due to (i) receding water
after a peak flow; (ii) change in hydrological
regime due to climatic changes; (iii) tectonic
uplift of land; (iv) sea level changes in case of
rivers closer to the sea.
DEPOSITIONAL LANDFORMS
Alluvial Fans
Alluvial fans (Figure 7.4) are formed when
streams flowing from higher levels break into
foot slope plains of low gradient. Normally very
coarse load is carried by streams flowing over
mountain slopes. This load becomes too heavy
for the streams to be carried over gentler
62
gradients and gets dumped and spread as a
broad low to high cone shaped deposit called
alluvial fan. Usually, the streams which flow
over fans are not confined to their original
channels for long and shift their position across
the fan forming many channels called
distributaries. Alluvial fans in humid areas
show normally low cones with gentle slope from
Figure 7.4 : An alluvial fan deposited by a hill stream
on the way to Amarnath, Jammu and Kashmir
head to toe and they appear as high cones with
steep slope in arid and semi-arid climates.
Deltas
Deltas are like alluvial fans but develop at a
different location. The load carried by the rivers
is dumped and spread into the sea. If this load
is not carried away far into the sea or distributed
along the coast, it spreads and accumulates
Figure 7.5 : A satellite view of part of Krishna river
delta, Andhra Pradesh
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
as a low cone. Unlike in alluvial fans, the
deposits making up deltas are very well sorted
with clear stratification. The coarsest materials
settle out first and the finer fractions like silts
and clays are carried out into the sea. As the
delta grows, the river distributaries continue
to increase in length (Figure 7.5) and delta
continues to build up into the sea.
Floodplains, Natural Levees and Point Bars
Deposition develops a floodplain just as
erosion makes valleys. Floodplain is a major
landform of river deposition. Large sized
materials are deposited first when stream
channel breaks into a gentle slope. Thus,
normally, fine sized materials like sand, silt and
clay are carried by relatively slow moving
waters in gentler channels usually found in the
plains and deposited over the bed and when
the waters spill over the banks during flooding
above the bed. A river bed made of river
deposits is the active floodplain. The floodplain
above the bank is inactive floodplain. Inactive
floodplain above the banks basically contain
two types of deposits — flood deposits and
channel deposits. In plains, channels shift
laterally and change their courses occasionally
leaving cut-off courses which get filled up
gradually. Such areas over flood plains built
up by abandoned or cut-off channels contain
coarse deposits. The flood deposits of spilled
waters carry relatively finer materials like silt
and clay. The flood plains in a delta are called
delta plains.
Natural levees and point bars (Figure 7.6)
are some of the important landforms found
associated with floodplains. Natural levees are
found along the banks of large rivers. They are
low, linear and parallel ridges of coarse deposits
along the banks of rivers, quite often cut into
individual mounds. During flooding as the
water spills over the bank, the velocity of the
water comes down and large sized and high
specific gravity materials get dumped in the
immediate vicinity of the bank as ridges. They
are high nearer the banks and slope gently
away from the river. The levee deposits are
coarser than the deposits spread by flood
waters away from the river. When rivers shift
laterally, a series of natural levees can form.
LANDFORMS AND THEIR EVOLUTION
Figure 7.6 : Natural levee and point bars
Point bars are also known as meander bars.
They are found on the convex side of meanders
of large rivers and are sediments deposited in
a linear fashion by flowing waters along the
bank. They are almost uniform in profile and in
width and contain mixed sizes of sediments. If
there more than one ridge, narrow and elongated
depressions are found in between the point bars.
Rivers build a series of them depending upon
the water flow and supply of sediment. As the
rivers build the point bars on the convex side,
the bank on the concave side will erode actively.
In what way do natural levees differ from
point bars?
Meanders
In large flood and delta plains, rivers rarely flow
in straight courses. Loop-like channel patterns
called meanders develop over flood and delta
plains (Figure 7.7).
Figure 7.7 : A satellite scene showing meandering
Burhi Gandak river near Muzaffarpur, Bihar, showing
a number of oxbow lakes and cut-offs
63
Meander is not a landform but is only a
type of channel pattern. This is because of
(i) propensity of water flowing over very gentle
gradients to work laterally on the banks;
(ii) unconsolidated nature of alluvial deposits
making up the banks with many irregularities
which can be used by water exerting pressure
laterally; (iii) coriolis force acting on the fluid
water deflecting it like it deflects the wind. When
the gradient of the channel becomes extremely
low, water flows leisurely and starts working
laterally. Slight irregularities along the banks
slowly get transformed into a small curvature
in the banks; the curvature deepens due to
deposition on the inside of the curve and
erosion along the bank on the outside. If there
is no deposition and no erosion or undercutting,
the tendency to meander is reduced. Normally,
in meanders of large rivers, there is active
deposition along the convex bank and
undercutting along the concave bank.
Figure 7.8 : Meander growth and cut-off loops and
slip-off and undercut banks
64 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

The concave bank is known as cut-off bank
which shows up as a steep scarp and the
convex bank presents a long, gentle profile and
is known as slip-off bank (Figure 7.8). As
meanders grow into deep loops, the same may
get cut-off due to erosion at the inflection points
and are left as ox-bow lakes.
is more in the valley, channel bars and islands
of sand, gravel and pebbles develop on the floor
of the channel and the water flow is divided
into multiple threads. These thread-like streams
of water rejoin and subdivide repeatedly to give
a typical braided pattern (Figure 7.9).

Braided Channels
When rivers carry coarse material, there can be
selective deposition of coarser materials causing
formation of a central bar which diverts the flow
towards the banks; and this flow increases
lateral erosion on the banks. As the valley
widens, the water column is reduced and more
and more materials get deposited as islands
and lateral bars developing a number of
separate channels of water flow. Deposition
and lateral erosion of banks are essential for Figure 7.9 : Satellite scenes showing braided channel
the for mation of braided patter n. Or, segments of Gandak (left) and Son (right) rivers
alternatively, when discharge is less and load Arrows show the direction of flow

Figure 7.10 : Various karst features

LANDFORMS AND THEIR EVOLUTION
GROUNDWATER
Here the interest is not on groundwater as a
resource. Our focus is on the work of
groundwater in the erosion of landmasses and
evolution of landforms. The surface water
percolates well when the rocks are permeable,
thinly bedded and highly jointed and cracked.
After vertically going down to some depth, the
water under the ground flows horizontally
through the bedding planes, joints or through
the materials themselves. It is this downward
and horizontal movement of water which
causes the rocks to erode. Physical or
mechanical removal of materials by moving
groundwater is insignificant in developing
landforms. That is why, the results of the work
of groundwater cannot be seen in all types of
rocks. But in rocks like limestones or dolomites
rich in calcium carbonate, the surface water
as well as groundwater through the chemical
process of solution and precipitation
deposition develop varieties of landforms. These
two processes of solution and precipitation are
active in limestones or dolomites occurring
either exclusively or interbedded with other
rocks. Any limestone or dolomitic region
showing typical landforms produced by the
action of groundwater through the processes
of solution and deposition is called Karst
topography after the typical topography
developed in limestone rocks of Karst region
in the Balkans adjacent to Adriatic sea.
The karst topography is also characterised
by erosional and depositional landforms.
EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
Pools, Sinkholes, Lapies and
Limestone Pavements
Small to medium sized round to sub-rounded
shallow depressions called swallow holes form
on the surface of limestones through solution.
Sinkholes are very common in limestone/karst
areas. A sinkhole is an opening more or less
circular at the top and funnel-shapped towards
the bottom with sizes varying in area from a
few sq. m to a hectare and with depth from a
less than half a metre to thirty metres or more.
Some of these form solely through solution
action (solution sinks) and others might start
65
as solution forms first and if the bottom of a
sinkhole forms the roof of a void or cave
underground, it might collapse leaving a large
hole opening into a cave or a void below
(collapse sinks). Quite often, sinkholes are
covered up with soil mantle and appear as
shallow water pools. Anybody stepping over
such pools would go down like it happens in
quicksands in deserts. The term doline is
sometimes used to refer the collapse sinks.
Solution sinks are more common than collapse
sinks. Quite often the surface run-off simply
goes down swallow and sink holes and flow as
underground streams and re-emerge at a
distance downstream through a cave opening.
When sink holes and dolines join together
because of slumping of materials along their
margins or due to roof collapse of caves, long,
narrow to wide trenches called valley sinks or
Uvalas form. Gradually, most of the surface of
the limestone is eaten away by these pits and
trenches, leaving it extremely irregular with a
maze of points, grooves and ridges or lapies.
Especially, these ridges or lapies form due to
differential solution activity along parallel to
sub-parallel joints. The lapie field may
eventually turn into somewhat smooth
limestone pavements.
Caves
In areas where there are alternating beds of
rocks (shales, sandstones, quartzites) with
limestones or dolomites in between or in areas
where limestones are dense, massive and
occurring as thick beds, cave formation is
prominent. Water percolates down either
through the materials or through cracks and
joints and moves horizontally along bedding
planes. It is along these bedding planes that
the limestone dissolves and long and narrow
to wide gaps called caves result. There can be
a maze of caves at different elevations
depending upon the limestone beds and
intervening rocks. Caves normally have an
opening through which cave streams are
discharged. Caves having openings at both the
ends are called tunnels.
Depositional Landforms
Many depositional forms develop within the
limestone caves. The chief chemical in limestone
66
is calcium carbonate which is easily soluble in
carbonated water (carbon dioxide absorbed
rainwater). This calcium carbonate is deposited
when the water carrying it in solution
evaporates or loses its carbon dioxide as it
trickles over rough rock surfaces.
Stalactites, Stalagmites and Pillars
Stalactites hang as icicles of different
diameters. Normally they are broad at their
bases and taper towards the free ends showing
up in a variety of forms. Stalagmites rise up
from the floor of the caves. In fact, stalagmites
form due to dripping water from the surface or
through the thin pipe, of the stalactite,
immediately below it (Figure 7.11).
Figure 7.11 : Stalactites and stalagmites in a limestone cave
Stalagmites may take the shape of a
column, a disc, with either a smooth, rounded
bulging end or a miniature crater like
depression. The stalagmite and stalactites
eventually fuse to give rise to columns and
pillars of different diameters.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
GLACIERS
Masses of ice moving as sheets over the land
(continental glacier or pidmont glacier if a vast
sheet of ice is spread over the plains at the foot
of mountains) or as linear flows down the
slopes of mountains in broad trough-like
valleys (mountain and valley glaciers) are called
glaciers (Figure 7.12). The movement of glaciers
Figure 7.12 : A glacier in its valley
is slow unlike water flow. The movement could
be a few centimetres to a few metres a day or
even less or more. Glaciers move basically
because of the force of gravity.
We have many glaciers in our country
moving down the slopes and valleys in
Himalayas. Higher reaches of Uttaranchal,
Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and
Kashmir, are places to see some of them.
Do you know where one can see river
Bhagirathi is basically fed by meltwaters
from under the snout (Gaumukh) of the
Gangotri glacier. In fact, Alkapuri glacier
feeds waters to Alakananda river. Rivers
Alkananda and Bhagirathi join to make
river Ganga near Deoprayag.
Erosion by glaciers is tremendous because
of friction caused by sheer weight of the ice.
The material plucked from the land by glaciers
(usually large-sized angular blocks and
fragments) get dragged along the floors or sides
of the valleys and cause great damage through
abrasion and plucking. Glaciers can cause
significant damage to even un-weathered rocks
and can reduce high mountains into low hills
and plains.
LANDFORMS AND THEIR EVOLUTION
As glaciers continue to move, debris gets
removed, divides get lowered and eventually
the slope is reduced to such an extent that
glaciers will stop moving leaving only a mass
of low hills and vast outwash plains along with
other depositional features. Figures 7.13 and
7.14 show various glacial erosional and
depositional forms described in the text.
EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
Cirque
Cirques are the most common of landforms in
glaciated mountains. The cirques quite often
are found at the heads of glacial valleys. The
accumulated ice cuts these cirques while
moving down the mountain tops. They are
deep, long and wide troughs or basins with
very steep concave to vertically dropping high
walls at its head as well as sides. A lake of water
can be seen quite often within the cirques after
Figure 7.13 : Some glacial erosional and depositional forms (adapted and modified from Spencer, 1962)
67
the glacier disappears. Such lakes are called
cirque or tarn lakes. There can be two or more
cirques one leading into another down below
in a stepped sequence.
Horns and Serrated Ridges
Horns form through head ward erosion of the
cirque walls. If three or more radiating glaciers
cut headward until their cirques meet, high,
sharp pointed and steep sided peaks called
horns form. The divides between cirque side
walls or head walls get narrow because of
progressive erosion and turn into serrated or
saw-toothed ridges sometimes referred to as
arêtes with very sharp crest and a zig-zag
outline.
The highest peak in the Alps, Matterhorn
and the highest peak in the Himalayas,
Everest are in fact horns formed through
headward erosion of radiating cirques.
68
Glacial Valleys/Troughs
Glaciated valleys are trough-like and U-shaped
with broad floors and relatively smooth, and
steep sides. The valleys may contain littered
debris or debris shaped as moraines with
swampy appearance. There may be lakes
gouged out of rocky floor or formed by debris
within the valleys. There can be hanging valleys
at an elevation on one or both sides of the main
glacial valley. The faces of divides or spurs of
such hanging valleys opening into main glacial
valleys are quite often truncated to give them
an appearance like triangular facets. Very deep
glacial troughs filled with sea water and
making up shorelines (in high latitudes) are
called fjords/fiords.
What are the basic differences between
glacial valleys and river valleys?
Depositional Landforms
The unassorted coarse and fine debris dropped
by the melting glaciers is called glacial till. Most
of the rock fragments in till are angular to sub-
angular in form. Streams form by melting ice
at the bottom, sides or lower ends of glaciers.
Figure 7.14 : A panoramic diagram of glacial landscape with various depositional landforms
(adapted and modified from Spencer, 1962)
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Some amount of rock debris small enough to
be carried by such melt-water streams is
washed down and deposited. Such glacio-
fluvial deposits are called outwash deposits.
Unlike till deposits, the outwash deposits are
roughly stratified and assorted. The rock
fragments in outwash deposits are somewhat
rounded at their edges. Figure 7.14 shows a
few depositional landforms commonly found
in glaciated areas.
Moraines
They are long ridges of deposits of glacial till.
Terminal moraines are long ridges of debris
deposited at the end (toe) of the glaciers. Lateral
moraines form along the sides parallel to the
glacial valleys. The lateral moraines 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 to the sides of
glaciers. Many valley glaciers retreating rapidly
leave an irregular sheet of till over their valley
floors. Such deposits varying greatly in thickness
and in surface topography are called ground
moraines. The moraine in the centre of the
LANDFORMS AND THEIR EVOLUTION
glacial valley flanked by lateral moraines is
called medial moraine. They are imperfectly
formed as compared to lateral moraines.
Sometimes medial moraines are indistinguishable
from ground moraines.
Eskers
When glaciers melt in summer, the water flows
on the surface of the ice or seeps down along
the margins or even moves through holes in
the ice. These waters accumulate beneath the
glacier and flow like streams in a channel
beneath the ice. Such streams flow over the
ground (not in a valley cut in the ground) with
ice forming its banks. Very coarse materials like
boulders and blocks along with some minor
fractions of rock debris carried into this stream
settle in the valley of ice beneath the glacier
and after the ice melts can be found as a
sinuous ridge called esker.
Outwash Plains
The plains at the foot of the glacial mountains
or beyond the limits of continental ice sheets
are covered with glacio-fluvial deposits in the
form of broad flat alluvial fans which may join
to form outwash plains of gravel, silt, sand and
clay.
Distinguish between river alluvial plains
and glacial outwash plains.
Drumlins
Drumlins are smooth oval shaped ridge-like
features composed mainly of glacial till with
some masses of gravel and sand. The long axes
of drumlins are parallel to the direction of ice
movement. They may measure up to 1 km in
length and 30 m or so in height. One end of
the drumlins facing the glacier called the stoss
end is blunter and steeper than the other end
called tail. The drumlins form due to dumping
of rock debris beneath heavily loaded ice
through fissures in the glacier. The stoss end
gets blunted due to pushing by moving ice.
Drumlins give an indication of direction of
glacier movement.
69
What is the difference between till and
alluvium?
WAVES AND CURRENTS
Coastal processes are the most dynamic and
hence most destructive. So, don’t you think it
is important to know about the coastal
processes and forms?
Some of the changes along the coasts take
place very fast. At one place, there can be
erosion in one season and deposition in
another. Most of the changes along the coasts
are accomplished by waves. When waves break,
the water is thrown with great force onto the
shore, and simultaneously, there is a great
churning of sediments on the sea bottom.
Constant impact of breaking waves drastically
affects the coasts. Storm waves and tsunami
waves can cause far-reaching changes in a
short period of time than normal breaking
waves. As wave environment changes, the
intensity of the force of breaking waves changes.
Do you know about the generating forces
behind waves and currents? If not, refer
to the chapter on movements in ocean
waters.
Other than the action of waves, the coastal
landforms depend upon (i) the configuration
of land and sea floor; (ii) whether the coast is
advancing (emerging) seaward or retreating
(submerging) landward. Assuming sea level to
be constant, two types of coasts are considered
to explain the concept of evolution of coastal
landforms: (i) high, rocky coasts (submerged
coasts); (ii) low, smooth and gently sloping
sedimentary coasts (emerged coasts).
HIGH ROCKY COASTS
Along the high rocky coasts, the rivers appear
to have been drowned with highly irregular
coastline. The coastline appears highly
indented with extension of water into the land
where glacial valleys (fjords) are present. The
hill sides drop off sharply into the water. Shores
do not show any depositional landforms
initially. Erosion features dominate.
70
Along high rocky coasts, waves break with
great force against the land shaping the hill
sides into cliffs. With constant pounding by
waves, the cliffs recede leaving a wave-cut
platform in front of the sea cliff. Waves
gradually minimise the irregularities along the
shore.
The materials which fall off, and removed
from the sea cliffs, gradually break into smaller
fragments and roll to roundness, will get
deposited in the offshore. After a considerable
period of cliff development and retreat when
coastline turns somewhat smooth, with the
addition of some more material to this deposit
in the offshore, a wave-built terrace would
develop in front of wave-cut terrace. As the
erosion along the coast takes place a good
supply material becomes available to longshore
currents and waves to deposit them as beaches
along the shore and as bars (long ridges of sand
and/or shingle parallel to the coast) in the
nearshore zone. Bars are submerged features
and when bars show up above water, they are
called barrier bars. Barrier bar which get keyed
up to the headland of a bay is called a spit.
When barrier bars and spits form at the mouth
of a bay and block it, a lagoon forms. The
lagoons would gradually get filled up by
sediments from the land giving rise to a coastal
plain.
LOW SEDIMENTARY COASTS
Along low sedimentary coasts the rivers appear
to extend their length by building coastal
plains and deltas. The coastline appears
smooth with occasional incursions of water in
the form of lagoons and tidal creeks. The land
slopes gently into the water. Marshes and
swamps may abound along the coasts.
Depositional features dominate.
When waves break over a gently sloping
sedimentary coast, the bottom sediments get
churned and move readily building bars,
barrier bars, spits and lagoons. Lagoons
would eventually turn into a swamp which
would subsequently turn into a coastal plain.
The maintenance of these depositional features
depends upon the steady supply of materials.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Storm and tsunami waves cause drastic
changes irrespective of supply of sediments.
Large rivers which bring lots of sediments build
deltas along low sedimentary coasts.
The west coast of our country is a high
rocky retreating coast. Erosional forms
dominate in the west coast. The east
coast of India is a low sedimentary coast.
Depositional forms dominate in the east
coast.
What are the various differences between
a high rocky coast and a low sedimentary
coast in terms of processes and
landforms?
EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
Cliffs, Terraces, Caves and Stacks
Wave-cut cliffs and terraces are two forms
usually found where erosion is the dominant
shore process. Almost all sea cliffs are steep
and may range from a few m to 30 m or even
more. At the foot of such cliffs there may be a
flat or gently sloping platform covered by rock
debris derived from the sea cliff behind. Such
platforms occurring at elevations above the
average height of waves is called a wave-cut
terrace. The lashing of waves against the base
of the cliff and the rock debris that gets
smashed against the cliff along with lashing
waves create hollows and these hollows get
widened and deepened to form sea caves. The
roofs of caves collapse and the sea cliffs recede
further inland. Retreat of the cliff may leave
some remnants of rock standing isolated as
small islands just off the shore. Such resistant
masses of rock, originally parts of a cliff or hill
are called sea stacks. Like all other features,
sea stacks are also temporary and eventually
coastal hills and cliffs will disappear because
of wave erosion giving rise to narrow coastal
plains, and with onrush of deposits from over
the land behind may get covered up by
alluvium or may get covered up by shingle or
sand to form a wide beach.
LANDFORMS AND THEIR EVOLUTION
DEPOSITIONAL LANDFORMS
Beaches and Dunes
Beaches are characteristic of shorelines that are
dominated by deposition, but may occur as
patches along even the rugged shores. Most of
the sediment making up the beaches comes
from land carried by the streams and rivers or
from wave erosion. Beaches are temporary
features. The sandy beach which appears so
permanent may be reduced to a very narrow
strip of coarse pebbles in some other season.
Most of the beaches are made up of sand sized
materials. Beaches called shingle beaches
contain excessively small pebbles and even
cobbles.
Just behind the beach, the sands lifted and
winnowed from over the beach surfaces will be
deposited as sand dunes. Sand dunes forming
long ridges parallel to the coastline are very
common along low sedimentary coasts.
Bars, Barriers and Spits
A ridge of sand and shingle formed in the sea
in the off-shore zone (from the position of low
tide waterline to seaward) lying approximately
parallel to the coast is called an off-shore bar.
An off-shore bar which is exposed due to
further addition of sand is termed a barrier
bar. The off-shore bars and barriers commonly
form across the mouth of a river or at the
entrance of a bay. Sometimes such barrier bars
get keyed up to one end of the bay when they
are called spits (Figure 7.15). Spits may also
Figure 7.15 : A satellite picture of a part of Godavari
river delta showing a spit
71
develop attached to headlands/hills. The
barriers, bars and spits at the mouth of the
bay gradually extend leaving only a small
opening of the bay into the sea and the bay
will eventually develop into a lagoon. The
lagoons get filled up gradually by sediment
coming from the land or from the beach itself
(aided by wind) and a broad and wide coastal
plain may develop replacing a lagoon.
Do you know, the coastal off-shore bars
offer the first buffer or defence against
storm or tsunami by absorbing most of
their destructive force. Then come the
barriers, beaches, beach dunes and
mangroves, if any, to absorb the
destructive force of storm and tsunami
waves. So, if we do anything which
disturbs the ‘sediment budget’ and the
mangroves along the coast, these coastal
forms will get eroded away leaving human
habitations to bear first strike of storm
and tsunami waves.
WINDS
Wind is one of the two dominant agents in hot
deserts. The desert floors get heated up too
much and too quickly because of being dry
and barren. The heated floors heat up the air
directly above them and result in upward
movements in the hot lighter air with
turbulence, and any obstructions in its path
sets up eddies, whirlwinds, updrafts and
downdrafts. Winds also move along the desert
floors with great speed and the obstructions
in their path create turbulence. Of course, there
are storm winds which are very destructive.
Winds cause deflation, abrasion and impact.
Deflation includes 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 simply sheer force of momentum
which occurs when sand is blown into or
against a rock surface. It is similar to sand-
blasting operation. The wind action creates a
number of interesting erosional and
depositional features in the deserts.
In fact, many features of deserts owe their
72
formation to mass wasting and running water
as sheet floods. Though rain is scarce in deserts,
it comes down torrentially in a short period of
time. The desert rocks devoid of vegetation,
exposed to mechanical and chemical
weathering processes due to drastic diurnal
temperature changes, decay faster and the
torrential rains help in removing the weathered
materials easily. That means, the weathered
debris in deserts is moved by not only wind
but also by rain/sheet wash. The wind moves
fine materials and general mass erosion is
accomplished mainly through sheet floods or
sheet wash. Stream channels in desert areas
are broad, smooth and indefinite and flow for
a brief time after rains.
EROSIONAL LANDFORMS
Pediments and Pediplains
Landscape evolution in deserts is primarily
concerned with the formation and extension of
pediments. Gently inclined rocky floors close
to the mountains at their foot with or without
a thin cover of debris, are called pediments.
Such rocky floors form through the erosion of
mountain front through a combination of
lateral erosion by streams and sheet flooding.
Erosion starts along the steep margins of
the landmass or the steep sides of the
tectonically controlled steep incision features
over the landmass. Once, pediments are formed
with a steep wash slope followed by cliff or free
face above it, the steep wash slope and free face
retreat backwards. This method of erosion is
termed as parallel retreat of slopes through
backwasting. So, through parallel retreat of
slopes, the pediments extend backwards at the
expense of mountain front, and gradually, the
mountain gets reduced leaving an inselberg
which is a remnant of the mountain. That’s how
the high relief in desert areas is reduced to low
featureless plains called pediplains.
Playas
Plains are by far the most prominent landforms
in the deserts. In basins with mountains and
hills around and along, the drainage is towards
the centre of the basin and due to gradual
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
deposition of sediment from basin margins, a
nearly level plain forms at the centre of the
basin. In times of sufficient water, this plain is
covered up by a shallow water body. Such
types of shallow lakes are called as playas
where water is retained only for short duration
due to evaporation and quite often the playas
contain good deposition of salts. The playa
plain covered up by salts is called alkali flats.
Deflation Hollows and Caves
Weathered mantle from over the rocks or bare
soil, gets blown out by persistent movement
of wind currents in one direction. This process
may create shallow depressions called
deflation hollows. Deflation also creates
numerous small pits or cavities over rock
surfaces. The rock faces suffer impact and
abrasion of wind-borne sand and first shallow
depressions called blow outs are created, and
some of the blow outs become deeper and
wider fit to be called caves.
Mushroom, Table and Pedestal Rocks
Many rock-outcrops in the deserts easily
susceptible to wind deflation and abrasion are
worn out quickly leaving some remnants of
resistant rocks polished beautifully in the
shape of mushroom with a slender stalk and a
broad and rounded pear shaped cap above.
Sometimes, the top surface is broad like a table
top and quite often, the remnants stand out
like pedestals.
List the erosional features carved out by
wind action and action of sheet floods.
Depositional Landforms
Wind is a good sorting agent. Depending upon
the velocity of wind, different sizes of grains are
moved along the floors by rolling or saltation
and carried in suspension and in this process
of transportation itself, the materials get sorted.
When the wind slows or begins to die down,
depending upon sizes of grains and their
critical velocities, the grains will begin to settle.
So, in depositional landforms made by wind,
good sorting of grains can be found. Since
LANDFORMS AND THEIR EVOLUTION 73

wind is there everywhere and wherever there
is good source of sand and with constant wind
directions, depositional features in arid regions
can develop anywhere.
Sand Dunes
Dry hot deserts are good places for sand dune
formation. Obstacles to initiate dune formation
Figure 7.16 : Various types of sand dunes
Arrows indicate wind direction
are equally important. There can be a great
variety of dune forms (Figure 7.16).
Barchans
Crescent shaped dunes called barchans with
the points or wings directed away from wind
direction i.e., downwind, form where the wind
direction is constant and moderate and where
the original surface over which sand is moving
is almost uniform. Parabolic dunes form when
sandy surfaces are partially covered with
vegetation. That means parabolic dunes are
reversed barchans with wind direction being
the same. Seif is similar to barchan with a small
difference. Seif has only one wing or point. This
happens when there is shift in wind conditions.
The lone wings of seifs can grow very long and
high. Longitudinal dunes form when supply
of sand is poor and wind direction is constant.
They appear as long ridges of considerable
length but low in height. Transverse dunes
are aligned perpendicular to wind direction.
These dunes form when the wind direction is
constant and the source of sand is an
elongated feature at right angles to the wind
direction. They may be very long and low in
height. When sand is plenty, quite often, the
regular shaped dunes coalesce and lose their
individual characteristics. Most of the dunes
in the deserts shift and a few of them will get
stabilised especially near human habitations.

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) In which of the following stages of landform development, downward cutting
is dominated?
(a) Youth stage (c) Early mature stage
(b) Late mature stage (d) Old stage
(ii) A deep valley characterised by steep step-like side slopes is known as
(a) U-shaped valley (c) Blind valley
(b) Gorge (d) Canyon
(iii) In which one of the following regions the chemical weathering process is
more dominant than the mechanical process?
(a) Humid region (c) Arid region
(b) Limestone region (d) Glacier region
74 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

(iv) Which one of the following sentences best defines the term ‘Lapies’ ?
(a) A small to medium sized shallow depression
(b) A landform whose opening is more or less circular at the top and
funnel shaped towards bottom
(c) A landform forms due to dripping water from surface
(d) An irregular surface with sharp pinnacles, grooves and ridges
(v) A deep, long and wide trough or basin with very steep concave high walls
at its head as well as in sides is known as:
(a) Cirque (c) Lateral Moraine
(b) Glacial valley (d) Esker
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What do incised meanders in rocks and meanders in plains of alluvium
indicate?
(ii) Explain the evolution of valley sinks or uvalas.
(iii) Underground flow of water is more common than surface run-off in
limestone areas. Why?
(iv) Glacial valleys show up many linear depositional forms. Give their
locations and names.
(v) How does wind perform its task in desert areas? Is it the only agent
responsible for the erosional features in the deserts?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Running water is by far the most dominating geomorphic agent in shaping
the earth’s surface in humid as well as in arid climates. Explain.
(ii) Limestones behave differently in humid and arid climates. Why? What is
the dominant and almost exclusive geomorphic process in limestone areas
and what are its results?
(iii) How do glaciers accomplish the work of reducing high mountains into low
hills and plains?

Project Work
Identify the landforms, materials and processes around your area.
 UNIT
IV

CLIMATE
This unit deals with
• Atmosphere — compositions and structure; elements of weather
and climate
• Insolation — angle of incidence and distribution; heat budget
of the earth — heating and cooling of atmosphere (conduction,
convection, terrestrial radiation, advection); temperature — factors
controlling temperature; distribution of temperature — horizontal
and vertical; inversion of temperature
• Pressure — pressure belts; winds-planetary seasonal and local,
air masses and fronts; tropical and extra tropical cyclones
• Precipitation — evaporation; condensation — dew, frost, fog,
mist and cloud; rainfall — types and world distributon
• World climates — classification (Koeppen), greenhouse effect,
global warming and climatic changes
CHAPTER

COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE

OF ATMOSPHERE

C
an a person live without air? We eat Table 8.1 : Permanent Gases of the Atmosphere
food two - three times a day and drink
Constituent Formula Percentage by Volume
water more frequently but breathe
every few seconds. Air is essential to the Nitrogen N2 78.08
survival of all organisms. Some organisms like Oxygen O2 20.95
Argon Ar 0.93
humans may survive for some time without
Carbon dioxide CO2 0.036
food and water but can’t survive even a few
Neon Ne 0.002
minutes without breathing air. That shows the Helium He 0.0005
reason why we should understand the Krypto Kr 0.001
atmosphere in greater detail. Atmosphere is a Xenon Xe 0.00009
mixture of different gases and it envelopes the Hydrogen H2 0.00005
earth all round. It contains life-giving gases like
oxygen for humans and animals and carbon Gases
dioxide for plants. The air is an integral part of
Carbon dioxide is meteorologically a very
the earth’s mass and 99 per cent of the total
important gas as it is transparent to the
mass of the atmosphere is confined to the
incoming solar radiation but opaque to the
height of 32 km from the earth’s surface. The
outgoing terrestrial radiation. It absorbs a part
air is colourless and odourless and can be felt of terrestrial radiation and reflects back some
only when it blows as wind. part of it towards the earth’s surface. It is
largely responsible for the green house effect.
Can you imagine what will happen
The volume of other gases is constant but the
to us in the absence of ozone in the
volume of carbon dioxide has been rising in
atmosphere?
the past few decades mainly because of the
burning of fossil fuels. This has also increased
the temperature of the air. Ozone is another
COMPOSITION OF THE ATMOSPHERE
important component of the atmosphere found
The atmosphere is composed of gases, water between 10 and 50 km above the earth’s
vapour and dust particles. Table 8.1 shows surface and acts as a filter and absorbs the
details of various gases in the air, particularly ultra-violet rays radiating from the sun and
in the lower atmosphere. The proportion of prevents them from reaching the surface of the
gases changes in the higher layers of the earth.
atmosphere in such a way that oxygen will be
almost in negligible quantity at the height of Water Vapour
120 km. Similarly, carbon dioxide and water Water vapour is also a variable gas in the
vapour are found only up to 90 km from the atmosphere, which decreases with altitude. In
surface of the earth. the warm and wet tropics, it may account for
COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE OF ATMOSPHERE 77

four per cent of the air by volume, while in the
dry and cold areas of desert and polar regions,
it may be less than one per cent of the air. Water
vapour also decreases from the equator
towards the poles. It also absorbs parts of the
insolation from the sun and preserves the
earth’s radiated heat. It thus, acts like a blanket
allowing the earth neither to become too cold
nor too hot. Water vapour also contributes to
the stability and instability in the air.
Dust Particles
Atmosphere has a sufficient capacity to keep
small solid particles, which may originate from
different sources and include sea salts, fine soil,
smoke-soot, ash, pollen, dust and disintegrated
particles of meteors. Dust particles are
generally concentrated in the lower layers of
the atmosphere; yet, convectional air currents
may transport them to great heights. The
higher concentration of dust particles is found
in subtropical and temperate regions due to
dry winds in comparison to equatorial and
polar regions. Dust and salt particles act as
hygroscopic nuclei around which water vapour
condenses to produce clouds.
The zone separating the tropsophere from
stratosphere is known as the tropopause. The
air temperature at the tropopause is about
minus 800C over the equator and about minus
45oC over the poles. The temperature here is
nearly constant, and hence, it is called the
tropopause. The stratosphere is found above
the tropopause and extends up to a height of
50 km. One important feature of the
stratosphere is that it contains the ozone layer.
This layer absorbs ultra-violet radiation and
shields life on the earth from intense, harmful
form of energy.
The mesosphere lies above the stratosphere,
which extends up to a height of 80 km. In this
layer, once again, temperature starts
decreasing with the increase in altitude and
reaches up to minus 100°C at the height of 80
km. The upper limit of mesosphere is known
as the mesopause. The ionosphere is located
between 80 and 400 km above the mesopause.
It contains electrically charged particles known
as ions, and hence, it is known as ionosphere.
Radio waves transmitted from the earth are
reflected back to the earth by this layer.
Temperature here starts increasing with height.
The uppermost layer of the atmosphere above

STRUCTURE OF THE ATMOSPHERE

The atmosphere consists of different layers with
varying density and temperature. Density is
highest near the surface of the earth and
decreases with increasing altitude. The column
of atmosphere is divided into five different
layers depending upon the temperature
condition. They are: troposphere, stratosphere,
mesosphere, ionosphere and exosphere.
The troposphere is the lowermost layer of
the atmosphere. Its average height is 13 km
and extends roughly to a height of 8 km near
the poles and about 18 km at the equator.
Thickness of the troposphere is greatest at the
equator because heat is transported to great
heights by strong convectional currents. This
layer contains dust particles and water vapour.
All changes in climate and weather take place
in this layer. The temperature in this layer
decreases at the rate of 1°C for every 165m of
height. This is the most important layer for all
biological activity. Figure 8.1 : Structure of atmosphere
78 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

the ionosphere is known as the exosphere. This
is the highest layer but very little is known about
it. Whatever contents are there, these are
extremely rarefied in this layer, and it gradually
merges with the outer space. Although all
layers of the atmosphere must be exercising
influence on us, geographers are concerned
with the first two layers of the atmosphere.
Elements of Weather and Climate
The main elements of atmosphere which are
subject to change and which influence human
life on earth are temperature, pressure, winds,
humidity, clouds and precipitation. These
elements have been dealt in detail in Chapters
9, 10 and 11.

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Which one of the following gases constitutes the major portion of the
atmosphere?
(a) Oxygen (c) Argon
(b) Nitrogen (d) Carbon dioxide
(ii) Atmospheric layer important for human beings is:
(a) Stratosphere (c) Troposphere
(b) Mesosphere (d) Ionosphere
(iii) Sea salt, pollen, ash, smoke soot, fine soil — these are associated with:
(a) Gases (c) Water vapour
(b) Dust particles (d) Meteors
(iv) Oxygen gas is in negligible quantity at the height of atmosphere:
(a) 90 km (c) 100 km
(b) 120 km (d) 150 km
(v) Which one of the following gases is transparent to incoming solar radiation
and opaque to outgoing terrestrial radiation?
(a) Oxygen (c) Helium
(b) Nitrogen (d) Carbon dioxide
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What do you understand by atmosphere?
(ii) What are the elements of weather and climate?
(iii) Describe the composition of atmosphere.
(iv) Why is troposphere the most important of all the layers of the atmosphere?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Describe the composition of the atmosphere.
(ii) Draw a suitable diagram for the structure of the atmosphere and label it
and describe it.

SOLAR RADIATION, HEAT BALANCE
AND TEMPERATURE
D
o you feel air around you? Do you
know that we live at the bottom of a
huge pile of air? We inhale and exhale
but we feel the air when it is in motion. It means
air in motion is wind. You have already learnt
about the fact that earth is surrounded by air
all around. This envelop of air is atmosphere
which is composed of numerous gases. These
gases support life over the earth’s surface.
The earth receives almost all of its energy
from the sun. The earth in turn radiates back
to space the energy received from the sun. As
a result, the earth neither warms up nor does
it get cooled over a period of time. Thus, the
amount of heat received by different parts of
the earth is not the same. This variation causes
pressure differences in the atmosphere. This
leads to transfer of heat from one region to the
other by winds. This chapter explains the
process of heating and cooling of the
atmosphere and the resultant temperature
distribution over the earth’s surface.
SOLAR RADIATION
The earth’s surface receives most of its energy
in short wavelengths. The energy received by
the earth is known as incoming solar radiation
which in short is termed as insolation.
As the earth is a geoid resembling a sphere,
the sun’s rays fall obliquely at the top of the
atmosphere and the earth intercepts a very
small portion of the sun’s energy. On an
average the earth receives 1.94 calories per sq.
cm per minute at the top of its atmosphere.
CHAPTER
The solar output received at the top of the
atmosphere varies slightly in a year due to the
variations in the distance between the earth and
the sun. During its revolution around the sun,
the earth is farthest from the sun (152 million
km on 4th July). This position of the earth is
called aphelion. On 3rd January, the earth is
the nearest to the sun (147 million km). This
position is called perihelion. Therefore, the
annual insolation received by the earth on 3rd
January is slightly more than the amount
received on 4th July. However, the effect of this
variation in the solar output is masked by
other factors like the distribution of land and
sea and the atmospheric circulation. Hence, this
variation in the solar output does not have
great effect on daily weather changes on the
surface of the earth.
Variability of Insolation at
the Surface of the Earth
The amount and the intensity of insolation vary
during a day, in a season and in a year. The factors
that cause these variations in insolation are : (i)
the rotation of earth on its axis; (ii) the angle of
inclination of the sun’s rays; (iii) the length of the
day; (iv) the transparency of the atmosphere; (v)
the configuration of land in terms of its aspect.
The last two however, have less influence.
The fact that the earth’s axis makes an angle
of 66½ with the plane of its orbit round the sun
has a greater influence on the amount of
insolation received at different latitudes. Note the
variations in the duration of the day at different
latitudes on solstices given in Table 9.1.
80
The second factor that determines the
amount of insolation received is the angle of
Table 9.1 : Length of the Day in Hours and Minutes on Winter and Summer Solstices in the Northern Hemisphere
Latitude 0° 20°
December 22 12h 00m 10h 48m
June 21 12 h 13h 12m
inclination of the rays. This depends on the
latitude of a place. The higher the latitude the
less is the angle they make with the surface of
the earth resulting in slant sun rays. The area
covered by vertical rays is always less than the
slant rays. If more area is covered, the energy
gets distributed and the net energy received
per unit area decreases. Moreover, the slant rays
are required to pass through greater depth of
the atmosphere resulting in more absorption,
scattering and diffusion.
Figure 9.1 : Summer Solstice
The Passage of Solar Radiation
through the Atmosphere
The atmosphere is largely transparent to short
wave solar radiation. The incoming solar
radiation passes through the atmosphere
before striking the earth’s surface. Within the
troposphere water vapour, ozone and other
gases absorb much of the near infrared
radiation.
Very small-suspended particles in the
troposphere scatter visible spectrum both to
the space and towards the earth surface. This
process adds colour to the sky. The red colour
of the rising and the setting sun and the blue
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
colour of the sky are the result of scattering of
light within the atmosphere.
40° 60° 90°
9h 8m 5h 33m 0
14h 52m 18h 27m 6 months
Spatial Distribution of Insolation
at the Earth’s Surface
The insolation received at the surface varies
from about 320 Watt/m2 in the tropics to about
70 Watt/m2 in the poles. Maximum insolation
is received over the subtropical deserts, where
the cloudiness is the least. Equator receives
comparatively less insolation than the tropics.
Generally, at the same latitude the insolation
is more over the continent than over the oceans.
In winter, the middle and higher latitudes
receive less radiation than in summer.
HEATING AND COOLING OF ATMOSPHERE
There are different ways of heating and cooling
of the atmosphere.
The earth after being heated by insolation
transmits the heat to the atmospheric layers near
to the earth in long wave form. The air in contact
with the land gets heated slowly and the upper
layers in contact with the lower layers also get
heated. This process is called conduction.
Conduction takes place when two bodies of
unequal temperature are in contact with one
another, there is a flow of energy from the warmer
to cooler body. The transfer of heat continues until
both the bodies attain the same temperature or
the contact is broken. Conduction is important
in heating the lower layers of the atmosphere.
The air in contact with the earth rises
vertically on heating in the form of currents
and further transmits the heat of the
atmsphere. This process of vertical heating of
the atmosphere is known as convection. The
convective transfer of energy is confined only
to the troposphere.
The transfer of heat through horizontal
movement of air is called advection. Horizontal
movement of the air is relatively more important
SOLAR RADIATION, HEAT BALANCE AND TEMPERATURE
than the vertical movement. In middle latitudes,
most of dirunal (day and night) variation in
daily weather are caused by advection alone.
In tropical regions particularly in northern
India during summer season local winds called
‘loo’ is the outcome of advection process.
Terrestrial Radiation
The insolation received by the earth is in short
waves forms and heats up its surface. The earth
after being heated itself becomes a radiating
body and it radiates energy to the atmosphere
in long wave form. This energy heats up the
atmosphere from below. This process is known
as terrestrial radiation.
The long wave radiation is absorbed by the
atmospheric gases particularly by carbon
dioxide and the other green house gases. Thus,
the atmosphere is indirectly heated by the
earth’s radiation.
The atmosphere in turn radiates and
transmits heat to the space. Finally the amount
of heat received from the sun is returned to
space, thereby maintaining constant temperature
at the earth’s surface and in the atmosphere.
Heat Budget of the Planet Earth
Figure 9.2 depicts the heat budget of the planet
earth. The earth as a whole does not
Figure 9.2 : Heat budget of the earth
81
accumulate or loose heat. It maintains its
temperature. This can happen only if the
amount of heat received in the form of insolation
equals the amount lost by the earth through
terrestrial radiation.
Consider that the insolation received at the
top of the atmosphere is 100 per cent. While
passing through the atmosphere some amount
of energy is reflected, scattered and absorbed.
Only the remaining part reaches the earth
surface. Roughly 35 units are reflected back
to space even before reaching the earth’s
surface. Of these, 27 units are reflected back
from the top of the clouds and 2 units from the
snow and ice-covered areas of the earth. The
reflected amount of radiation is called the
albedo of the earth.
The remaining 65 units are absorbed, 14
units within the atmosphere and 51 units by
the earth’s surface. The earth radiates back
51 units in the form of terrestrial radiation.
Of these, 17 units are radiated to space
directly and the remaining 34 units are
absorbed by the atmosphere (6 units
absorbed directly by the atmosphere, 9 units
through convection and turbulence and 19
units through latent heat of condensation).
48 units absorbed by the atmosphere
(14 units from insolation +34 units from
82
terrestrial radiation) are also radiated back
into space. Thus, the total radiation
returning from the earth and the atmosphere
respectively is 17+48=65 units which
balance the total of 65 units received from
the sun. This is termed the heat budget or
heat balance of the earth.
This explains, why the earth neither warms
up nor cools down despite the huge transfer of
heat that takes place.
Variation in the Net Heat Budget at the
Earth’s Surface
As explained earlier, there are variations in the
amount of radiation received at the earth’s
surface. Some part of the earth has surplus
radiation balance while the other part has
deficit.
Figure 9.3 depicts the latitudinal variation
in the net radiation balance of the earth — the
atmosphere system. The figure shows that
there is a surplus of net radiation balance
between 40 degrees north and south and the
regions near the poles have a deficit. The
surplus heat energy from the tropics is
redistributed pole wards and as a result the
tropics do not get progressively heated up due
to the accumulation of excess heat or the high
latitudes get permanently frozen due to excess
deficit.
Figure 9.3 : Latitudinal variation in net
radiation balance
Temperature
The interaction of insolation with the
atmosphere and the earth’s surface creates
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
heat which is measured in terms of
temperature. While heat represents the
molecular movement of particles comprising a
substance, the temperature is the measurement
in degrees of how hot (or cold) a thing (or a
place) is.
Factors Controlling Temperature Distribution
The temperature of air at any place is influenced
by (i) the latitude of the place; (ii) the altitude
of the place; (iii) distance from the sea, the air-
mass circulation; (iv) the presence of warm and
cold ocean currents; (v) local aspects.
The latitude : The temperature of a place
depends on the insolation received. It has been
explained earlier that the insolation varies
according to the latitude hence the
temperature also varies accordingly.
The altitude : The atmosphere is indirectly
heated by terrestrial radiation from below.
Therefore, the places near the sea-level record
higher temperature than the places situated
at higher elevations. In other words, the
temperature generally decreases with
increasing height. The rate of decrease of
temperature with height is termed as the
normal lapse rate. It is 6.5°C per 1,000 m.
Distance from the sea : Another factor that
influences the temperature is the location of a
place with respect to the sea. Compared to land,
the sea gets heated slowly and loses heat
slowly. Land heats up and cools down quickly.
Therefore, the variation in temperature over the
sea is less compared to land. The places
situated near the sea come under the
moderating influence of the sea and land
breezes which moderate the temperature.
Air-mass and Ocean currents : Like the land
and sea breezes, the passage of air masses also
affects the temperature. The places, which
come under the influence of warm air-masses
experience higher temperature and the places
that come under the influence of cold air-
masses experience low temperature. Similarly,
SOLAR RADIATION, HEAT BALANCE AND TEMPERATURE
the places located on the coast where the warm
ocean currents flow record higher temperature
than the places located on the coast where the
cold currents flow.
Distribution of Temperature
The global distribution of temperature can well
be understood by studying the temperature
distribution in January and July. The
temperature distribution is generally shown
on the map with the help of isotherms. The
Isotherms are lines joining places having equal
temperature. Figure 9.4 (a) and (b) show the
distribution of surface air temperature in the
month of January and July.
In general the effect of the latitude on
temperature is well pronounced on the map,
as the isotherms are generally parallel to the
latitude. The deviation from this general trend
is more pronounced in January than in July,
especially in the northern hemisphere. In the
Figure 9.4 (a) : The distribution of surface air temperature in the month of January
83
northern hemisphere the land surface area is
much larger than in the southern hemisphere.
Hence, the effects of land mass and the ocean
currents are well pronounced. In January the
isotherms deviate to the north over the ocean
and to the south over the continent. This can
be seen on the North Atlantic Ocean. The
presence of warm ocean currents, Gulf Stream
and North Atlantic drift, make the Northern
Atlantic Ocean warmer and the isotherms bend
towards the north. Over the land the
temperature decreases sharply and the
isotherms bend towards south in Europe.
It is much pronounced in the Siberian
plain. The mean January temperature along
60° E longitude is minus 20° C both at 80° N
and 50° N latitudes. The mean monthly
temperature for January is over 27° C, in
equatorial oceans over 24° C in the tropics
and 2° C - 0° C in the middle latitudes
and –18° C to –48° C in the Eurasian
continental interior.
84 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Figure 9.4 (b) : The distribution of surface air temperature in the month of July

Figure 9.5 : The range of temperature between January and July

SOLAR RADIATION, HEAT BALANCE AND TEMPERATURE 85

The effect of the ocean is well pronounced
in the southern hemisphere. Here the isotherms
are more or less parallel to the latitudes and
the variation in temperature is more gradual
than in the northern hemisphere. The isotherm
of 20° C, 10° C, and 0° C runs parallel to 35° S,
45° S and 60° S latitudes respectively.
In July the isotherms generally run
parallel to the latitude. The equatorial oceans
record warmer temperature, more than 27°C.
Over the land more than 30°C is noticed in
the subtropical continental region of Asia,
along the 30° N latitude. Along the 40° N runs
the isotherm of 10° C and along the 40° S the
temperature is 10° C.
Figure 9.5 shows the range of
temperature between January and July. The
highest range of temperature is more than 60°
C over the north-eastern part of Eurasian
continent. This is due to continentality. The
least range of temperature, 3°C, is found
between 20° S and 15° N.

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) The sun is directly overhead at noon on 21st June at:
(a) The equator (c) 23.5° N
(b) 23.5° S (d) 66.5° N
(ii) In which one of the following cities, are the days the longest?
(a) Tiruvanantpuram (c) Hyderabad
(b) Chandigarh (d) Nagpur
(iii) The atmosphere is mainly heated by the:
(a) Short wave solar radiation (c) Long wave terrestrial radiation
(b) Reflected solar radiation (d) Scattered solar radiation
(iv) Make correct pairs from the following two columns.
(i) Insolation (a) The difference between the mean
temperature of the warmest and the coldest
months
(ii) Albedo (b) The lines joining the places of equal
temperature
(iii) Isotherm (c) The incoming solar radiation
(iv) Annual range (d) The percentage of visible light reflected by
an object
(v) The main reason that the earth experiences highest temperatures in the
subtropics in the northern hemisphere rather than at the equator is :
(a) Subtropical areas tend to have less cloud cover than equatorial
areas.
(b) Subtropical areas have longer day hours in the summer than the
equatorial.
(c) Subtropical areas have an enhanced “green house effect” compared
to equatorial areas.
(d) Subtropical areas are nearer to the oceanic areas than the equatorial
locations.
86 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.

(i) How does the unequal distribution of heat over the planet earth in space
and time cause variations in weather and climate?
(ii) What are the factors that control temperature distribution on the surface
of the earth?
(iii) In India, why is the day temperature maximum in May and why not after
the summer solstice?
(iv) Why is the annual range of temperature high in the Siberian plains?

3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

(i) How do the latitude and the tilt in the axis of rotation of the earth affect
the amount of radiation received at the earth’s surface?
(ii) Discuss the processes through which the earth-atmosphere system
maintains heat balance.
(iii) Compare the global distribution of temperature in January over the
northern and the southern hemisphere of the earth.

Project Work
Select a meteorological observatory located in your city or near your town. Tabulate
the temperature data as given in the climatological table of observatories :
(i) Note the altitude, latitude of the observatory and the period for which the
mean is calculated.
(ii) Define the terms related to temperature as given in the table.
(iii) Calculate the daily mean monthly temperature.
(iv) Draw a graph to show the daily mean maximum, the daily mean minimum
and the mean temperature.
(v) Calculate the annual range of temperature.
(vi) Find out in which months the daily range of temperature is the highest
and the lowest.
(vii) List out the factors that determine the temperature of the place and
explain the possible causes for temperature variation in the months of
January, May, July and October.
Example
Observatory : New Delhi (Safdarjung)
Latitude : 28°35°’ N
Based on observations : 1951 - 1980
Altitude above mean sea level : 216 m

Month Mean of Mean of Highest Lowest

Daily Daily Recorded Recorded
Max.(°C) Min.(°C) (°C) (°C)
January 21.1 7.3 29.3 0.6
May 39.6 25.9 47.2 17.5
SOLAR RADIATION, HEAT BALANCE AND TEMPERATURE 87

Daily mean monthly temperature

21.1+7.3
January = 14.2OC
2

39.6+25.9
May = 32.75OC
2
Annual range of temperature
Mean Max. Temperature in May - Mean Temperature in January
Annual range of temperature = 32.75°C – 14.2°C = 18.55°C
CHAPTER
E
arlier Chapter 9 described the uneven
distribution of temperature over the
surface of the earth. Air expands when
heated and gets compressed when cooled. This
results in variations in the atmospheric
pressure. The result is that it causes the
movement of air from high pressure to low
pressure, setting the air in motion. You already
know that air in horizontal motion is wind.
Atmospheric pressure also determines when
the air will rise or sink. The wind redistributes
the heat and moisture across the planet,
thereby, maintaining a constant temperature
for the planet as a whole. The vertical rising of
moist air cools it down to form the clouds and
bring precipitation. This chapter has been
devoted to explain the causes of pressure
differences, the forces that control the
atmospheric circulation, the turbulent pattern
of wind, the formation of air masses, the
disturbed weather when air masses interact
with each other and the phenomenon of violent
tropical storms.
ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE
Do you realise that our body is subjected to a
lot of air pressure. As one moves up the air
gets varified and one feels breathless.
The weight of a column of air contained in
a unit area from the mean sea level to the top
of the atmosphere is called the atmospheric
pressure. The atmospheric pressure is
expressed in units of mb and Pascals. The
widely used unit is kilo Pascal written as hPa.
At sea level the average atmospheric pressure
is 1,013.2 mb or 1,013.2 hPa. Due to gravity
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
AND WEATHER SYSTEMS
the air at the surface is denser and hence has
higher pressure. Air pressure is measured with
the help of a mercury barometer or the aneroid
barometer. Consult your book, Practical Work
in Geography — Part I (NCERT, 2006) and
learn about these instruments. The pressure
decreases with height. At any elevation it varies
from place to place and its variation is the
primary cause of air motion, i.e. wind which
moves from high pressure areas to low
pressure areas.
Vertical Variation of Pressure
In the lower atmosphere the pressure
decreases rapidly with height. The decrease
amounts to about 1 mb for each 10 m increase
in elevation. It does not always decrease at the
same rate. Table 10.1 gives the average
pressure and temperature at selected levels of
elevation for a standard atmosphere.
Table 10.1 : Standard Pressure and Temperature at
Selected Levels
Level Pressure in mb Temperature °C
Sea Level 1,013.25 15.2
1 km 898.76 8.7
5 km 540.48 –17. 3
10 km 265.00 – 49.7
The vertical pressure gradient force is much
larger than that of the horizontal pressure
gradient. But, it is generally balanced by a
nearly equal but opposite gravitational force.
Hence, we do not experience strong upward
winds.
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION AND WEATHER SYSTEMS
Horizontal Distribution of Pressure
Small differences in pressure are highly
significant in terms of the wind direction and
Figure 10.1 : Isobars, pressure and wind systems in
Northern Hemisphere
velocity. Horizontal distribution of pressure is
studied by drawing isobars at constant levels.
Isobars are lines connecting places having
equal pressure. In order to eliminate the effect
of altitude on pressure, it is measured at any
station after being reduced to sea level for
Figure 10.2 : Distribution of pressure (in millibars) — January
89
purposes of comparison. The sea level pressure
distribution is shown on weather maps.
Figure 10.1 shows the patterns of isobars
corresponding to pressure systems. Low-
pressure system is enclosed by one or more
isobars with the lowest pressure in the centre.
High-pressure system is also enclosed by one
or more isobars with the highest pressure in
the centre.
World Distribution of Sea Level Pressure
The world distribution of sea level pressure in
January and July has been shown in Figures
10.2 and 10.3. Near the equator the sea level
pressure is low and the area is known as
equatorial low. Along 30° N and 30o S are
found the high-pressure areas known as the
subtropical highs. Further pole wards along
60o N and 60o S, the low-pressure belts are
termed as the sub polar lows. Near the poles
the pressure is high and it is known as the polar
high. These pressure belts are not permanent
90
Figure 10.3 : Distribution of pressure (in millibars) — July
in nature. They oscillate with the apparent
movement of the sun. In the northern
hemisphere in winter they move southwards
and in the summer northwards.
Forces Affecting the Velocity
and Direction of Wind
You already know that the air is set in motion
due to the differences in atmospheric pressure.
The air in motion is called wind. The wind
blows from high pressure to low pressure. The
wind at the surface experiences friction. In
addition, rotation of the earth also affects the
wind movement. The force exerted by the
rotation of the earth is known as the Coriolis
force. Thus, the horizontal winds near the
earth surface respond to the combined effect
of three forces – the pressure gradient force,
the frictional force and the Coriolis force. In
addition, the gravitational force acts
downward.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Pressure Gradient Force
The differences in atmospheric pressure
produces a force. The rate of change of pressure
with respect to distance is the pressure
gradient. The pressure gradient is strong where
the isobars are close to each other and is weak
where the isobars are apart.
Frictional Force
It affects the speed of the wind. It is greatest at
the surface and its influence generally extends
upto an elevation of 1 - 3 km. Over the sea
surface the friction is minimal.
Coriolis Force
The rotation of the earth about its axis affects
the direction of the wind. This force is called
the Coriolis force after the French physicist who
described it in 1844. It deflects the wind to the
right direction in the northern hemisphere and
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION AND WEATHER SYSTEMS
to the left in the southern hemisphere. The
deflection is more when the wind velocity is
high. The Coriolis force is directly proportional
to the angle of latitude. It is maximum at the
poles and is absent at the equator.
The Coriolis force acts perpendicular to the
pressure gradient force. The pressure gradient
force is perpendicular to an isobar. The higher
the pressure gradient force, the more is the
velocity of the wind and the larger is the
deflection in the direction of wind. As a result of
these two forces operating perpendicular to each
other, in the low-pressure areas the wind blows
around it. At the equator, the Coriolis force is
zero and the wind blows perpendicular to the
isobars. The low pressure gets filled instead of
getting intensified. That is the reason why tropical
cyclones are not formed near the equator.
Pressure and Wind
The velocity and direction of the wind are the
net result of the wind generating forces. The
winds in the upper atmosphere, 2 - 3 km above
the surface, are free from frictional effect of the
surface and are controlled by the pressure
gradient and the Coriolis force. When isobars
are straight and when there is no friction, the
pressure gradient force is balanced by the
Coriolis force and the resultant wind blows
parallel to the isobar. This wind is known as
the geostrophic wind (Figure 10.4).
Figure 10.4 : Geostropic Wind
Table 10.2 : Pattern of Wind Direction in Cyclones and Anticyclones
Pressure System Pressure Condition
at the Centre
Cyclone Low
Anticyclone High
91
The wind circulation around a low is
called cyclonic circulation. Around a high
it is called anti cyclonic circulation. The
direction of winds around such systems
changes according to their location in
different hemispheres (Table 10.2).
The wind circulation at the earth’s surface
around low and high on many occasions is
closely related to the wind circulation at higher
level. Generally, over low pressure area the air
will converge and rise. Over high pressure area
the air will subside from above and diverge at
the surface (Figure10.5). Apart from
convergence, some eddies, convection
currents, orographic uplift and uplift along
fronts cause the rising of air, which is essential
for the formation of clouds and precipitation.
Figure 10.5 : Convergence and divergence of winds
General circulation of the atmosphere
The pattern of planetary winds largely depends
on : (i) latitudinal variation of atmospheric
heating; (ii) emergence of pressure belts; (iii)
the migration of belts following apparent path
of the sun; (iv) the distribution of continents
and oceans; (v) the rotation of earth. The pattern
of the movement of the planetary winds is
called the general circulation of the
atmosphere. The general circulation of the
atmosphere also sets in motion the ocean water
circulation which influences the earth’s
Pattern of Wind Direction
Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere
Anticlockwise Clockwise
Clockwise Anticlockwise
92
climate. A schematic description of the general
circulation is shown in Figure 10.6.
Figure 10. 6 : Simplified general circulation
of the atmosphere
The air at the Inter Tropical Convergence
Zone (ITCZ) rises because of convection caused
by high insolation and a low pressure is
created. The winds from the tropics converge
at this low pressure zone. The converged air
rises along with the convective cell. It reaches
the top of the troposphere up to an altitude of
14 km. and moves towards the poles. This
causes accumulation of air at about 30o N and
S. Part of the accumulated air sinks to the
ground and forms a subtropical high. Another
reason for sinking is the cooling of air when it
reaches 30o N and S latitudes. Down below
near the land surface the air flows towards the
equator as the easterlies. The easterlies from
either side of the equator converge in the Inter
Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Such
circulations from the surface upwards and
vice-versa are called cells. Such a cell in the
tropics is called Hadley Cell. In the middle
latitudes the circulation is that of sinking cold
air that comes from the poles and the rising
warm air that blows from the subtropical high.
At the surface these winds are called westerlies
and the cell is known as the Ferrel cell. At polar
latitudes the cold dense air subsides near the
poles and blows towards middle latitudes as
the polar easterlies. This cell is called the polar
cell. These three cells set the pattern for the
general circulation of the atmosphere. The
transfer of heat energy from lower latitudes to
higher latitudes maintains the general
circulation.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
The general circulation of the atmosphere
also affects the oceans. The large-scale winds
of the atmosphere initiate large and slow
moving currents of the ocean. Oceans in turn
provide input of energy and water vapour into
the air. These interactions take place rather
slowly over a large part of the ocean.
General Atmospheric Circulation and
its Effects on Oceans
Warming and cooling of the Pacific Ocean
is most important in terms of general
atmospheric circulation. The warm water
of the central Pacific Ocean slowly drifts
towards South American coast and
replaces the cool Peruvian current. Such
appearance of warm water off the coast
of Peru is known as the El Nino. The El
Nino event is closely associated with the
pressure changes in the Central Pacific
and Australia. This change in pressure
condition over Pacific is known as the
southern oscillation. The combined
phenomenon of southern oscillation and
El Nino is known as ENSO. In the years
when the ENSO is strong, large-scale
variations in weather occur over the
world. The arid west coast of South
America receives heavy rainfall, drought
occurs in Australia and sometimes in
India and floods in China. This
phenomenon is closely monitored and is
used for long range forecasting in major
parts of the world.
Seasonal Wind
The pattern of wind circulation is modified in
different seasons due to the shifting of regions
of maximum heating, pressure and wind belts.
The most pronounced effect of such a shift is
noticed in the monsoons, especially over
southeast Asia. You would be studying the
details of monsoon in the book India : Physical
Environment (NCERT, 2006). The other local
deviations from the general circulation system
are as follows.
Local Winds
Differences in the heating and cooling of earth
surfaces and the cycles those develop daily or
annually can create several common, local or
regional winds.
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION AND WEATHER SYSTEMS
Land and Sea Breezes
As explained earlier, the land and sea absorb
and transfer heat differently. During the day the
land heats up faster and becomes warmer than
the sea. Therefore, over the land the air rises
giving rise to a low pressure area, whereas the
sea is relatively cool and the pressure over sea
is relatively high. Thus, pressure gradient from
sea to land is created and the wind blows from
the sea to the land as the sea breeze. In the night
the reversal of condition takes place. The land
loses heat faster and is cooler than the sea. The
pressure gradient is from the land to the sea
and hence land breeze results (Figure 10.7).
Figure 10.7 : Land and sea breezes
Mountain and Valley Winds
In mountainous regions, during the day the
slopes get heated up and air moves upslope
and to fill the resulting gap the air from the
valley blows up the valley. This wind is known
93
as the valley breeze. During the night the
slopes get cooled and the dense air descends
into the valley as the mountain wind. The cool
air, of the high plateaus and ice fields draining
into the valley is called katabatic wind. Another
type of warm wind occurs on the leeward side
of the mountain ranges. The moisture in these
winds, while crossing the mountain ranges
condense and precipitate. When it descends
down the leeward side of the slope the dry air
gets warmed up by adiabatic process. This dry
air may melt the snow in a short time.
Air Masses
When the air remains over a homogenous area
for a sufficiently longer time, it acquires the
characteristics of the area. The homogenous
regions can be the vast ocean surface or vast
plains. The air with distinctive characteristics
in terms of temperature and humidity is called
an airmass. It is defined as a large body of air
having little horizontal variation in temperature
and moisture. The homogenous surfaces, over
which air masses form, are called the source
regions.
The air masses are classified according to
the source regions. There are five major source
regions. These are: (i) Warm tropical and
subtropical oceans; (ii) The subtropical hot
deserts; (iii) The relatively cold high latitude
oceans; (iv) The very cold snow covered
continents in high latitudes; (v) Permanently
ice covered continents in the Arctic and
Antarctica. Accordingly, following types of air-
masses are recognised: (i) Maritime tropical
(mT); (ii) Continental tropical (cT); (iii) Maritime
polar (mP); (iv) Continental polar (cP);
(v) Continental arctic (cA). Tropical air masses
are warm and polar air masses are cold.
Fronts
When two different air masses meet, the
boundary zone between them is called a front.
The process of formation of the fronts is known
as frontogenesis. There are four types of
fronts: (a) Cold; (b) Warm; (c) Stationary;
(d) Occluded [(Figure10.8 (a), (b), (c)]. When the
front remains stationary, it is called a
stationary front. When the cold air moves
94 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

anticlockwise cyclonic circulation. The cyclonic

Figure 10.8 : Vertical Sections of : (a) Warm Front;
(b) Cold Front; (c) Occluded Front
towards the warm air mass, its contact zone is
called the cold front, whereas if the warm air
mass moves towards the cold air mass, the
contact zone is a warm front. If an air mass is
fully lifted above the land surface, it is called
the occluded front. The fronts occur in middle
latitudes and are characterised by steep gradient
in temperature and pressure. They bring
abrupt changes in temperature and cause the
air to rise to form clouds and cause precipitation.
circulation leads to a well developed extra
tropical cyclone, with a warm front and a cold
front. The plan and cross section of a well
developed cyclone is given in Figure 10.9.
There are pockets of warm air or warm sector
wedged between the forward and the rear cold
air or cold sector. The warm air glides over the
cold air and a sequence of clouds appear over
the sky ahead of the warm front and cause
precipitation. The cold front approaches the
warm air from behind and pushes the warm
air up. As a result, cumulus clouds develop
along the cold front. The cold front moves faster
than the warm front ultimately overtaking the
warm front. The warm air is completely lifted
up and the front is occluded and the cyclone
dissipates.
The processes of wind circulation both at
the surface and aloft are closely interlinked.
The extra tropical cyclone differs from the
tropical cyclone in number of ways. The extra
tropical cyclones have a clear frontal system

Extra Tropical Cyclones

The systems developing in the mid and high
latitude, beyond the tropics are called the
middle latitude or extra tropical cyclones. The
passage of front causes abrupt changes in the
weather conditions over the area in the middle
and high latitudes.
Extra tropical cyclones form along the polar
front. Initially, the front is stationary. In the
northern hemisphere, warm air blows from the
south and cold air from the north of the front.
When the pressure drops along the front, the
warm air moves northwards and the cold air
move towards, south setting in motion an Figure 10. 9 : Extra tropical cyclones
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION AND WEATHER SYSTEMS 95

which is not present in the tropical cyclones. A schematic representation of the vertical
They cover a larger area and can originate over structure of a mature tropical cyclonic storm
the land and sea. Whereas the tropical cyclones is shown in Figure 10.10.
originate only over the seas and on reaching A mature tropical cyclone is characterised
the land they dissipate. The extra tropical by the strong spirally circulating wind around
cyclone affects a much larger area as the centre, called the eye. The diameter of the
compared to the tropical cyclone. The wind circulating system can vary between 150 and
velocity in a tropical cyclone is much higher 250 km.
and it is more destructive. The extra tropical The eye is a region of calm with subsiding
cyclones move from west to east but tropical air. Around the eye is the eye wall, where there
cyclones, move from east to west. is a strong spiralling ascent of air to greater
height reaching the tropopause. The wind
reaches maximum velocity in this region,
Tropical Cyclones
reaching as high as 250 km per hour.
Tropical cyclones are violent storms that Torrential rain occurs here. From the eye wall
originate over oceans in tropical areas and rain bands may radiate and trains of cumulus
move over to the coastal areas bringing about and cumulonimbus clouds may drift into the
large scale destruction caused by violent outer region. The diameter of the storm over
winds, very heavy rainfall and storm surges. the Bay of Bengal, Arabian sea and Indian
This is one of the most devastating natural ocean is between 600 - 1200 km. The system
calamities. They are known as Cyclones in the moves slowly about 300 - 500 km per day.
Indian Ocean, Hurricanes in the Atlantic, The cyclone creates storm surges and they
Typhoons in the Western Pacific and South inundate the coastal low lands. The storm
China Sea, and Willy-willies in the Western peters out on the land.
Australia.
Tropical cyclones originate and intensify
over warm tropical oceans. The conditions
favourable for the formation and intensification
of tropical storms are: (i) Large sea surface with
temperature higher than 27° C; (ii) Presence
of the Coriolis force; (iii) Small variations in the
vertical wind speed; (iv) A pre-existing weak-
low-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic
circulation; (v) Upper divergence above the sea
level system.
The energy that intensifies the storm, comes
from the condensation process in the towering
cumulonimbus clouds, surrounding the
centre of the storm. With continuous supply
of moisture from the sea, the storm is further
strengthened. On reaching the land the
moisture supply is cut off and the storm
dissipates. The place where a tropical cyclone
crosses the coast is called the landfall of the
cyclone. The cyclones, which cross 20o N
latitude generally, recurve and they are more Figure 10.10 : Vertical section of the tropical cyclone
destructive. (after Rama Sastry)
96 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Thunderstorms and Tornadoes greater height. This causes precipitation. Later,

Other severe local storms are thunderstorms
and tornadoes. They are of short duration,
occurring over a small area but are violent.
Thunderstor ms are caused by intense
convection on moist hot days. A thunderstorm
is a well-grown cumulonimbus cloud
producing thunder and lightening. When the
clouds extend to heights where sub-zero
temperature prevails, hails are formed and they
come down as hailstorm. If there is insufficient
moisture, a thunderstorm can generate dust-
storms. A thunderstorm is characterised by
intense updraft of rising warm air, which
causes the clouds to grow bigger and rise to
downdraft brings down to earth the cool air
and the rain. From severe thunderstorms
sometimes spiralling wind descends like a
trunk of an elephant with great force, with very
low pressure at the centre, causing massive
destruction on its way. Such a phenomenon is
called a tornado. Tornadoes generally occur
in middle latitudes. The tornado over the sea
is called water sprouts.
These violent storms are the manifestation
of the atmosphere’s adjustments to varying
energy distribution. The potential and heat
energies are converted into kinetic energy in
these storms and the restless atmosphere again
returns to its stable state.

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) If the surface air pressure is 1,000 mb, the air pressure at 1 km above the
surface will be:
(a) 700 mb (c) 900 mb
(b) 1,100 mb (d) 1,300 mb
(ii) The Inter Tropical Convergence Zone normally occurs:
(a) near the Equator (b) near the Tropic of Cancer
(c) near the Tropic of Capricorn (d) near the Arctic Circle
(iii) The direction of wind around a low pressure in northern hemisphere is:
(a) clockwise (c) anti-clock wise
(b) perpendicular to isobars (d) parallel to isobars
(iv) Which one of the following is the source region for the formation of air
masses?
(a) the Equatorial forest (c) the Siberian Plain
(b) the Himalayas (d) the Deccan Plateau
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What is the unit used in measuring pressure? Why is the pressure measured
at station level reduced to the sea level in preparation of weather maps?
(ii) While the pressure gradient force is from north to south, i.e. from the
subtropical high pressure to the equator in the northern hemisphere,
why are the winds north easterlies in the tropics.
(iii) What are the geotrophic winds?
(iv) Explain the land and sea breezes.
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION AND WEATHER SYSTEMS 97

3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

(i) Discuss the factors affecting the speed and direction of wind.
(ii) Draw a simplified diagram to show the general circulation of the
atmosphere over the globe. What are the possible reasons for the formation
of subtropical high pressure over 30o N and S latitudes?
(iii) Why does tropical cyclone originate over the seas? In which part of the
tropical cyclone do torrential rains and high velocity winds blow and why?

Project Work
(i) Collect weather information over media such as newspaper, TV and radio
for understanding the weather systems.
(ii) Read the section on weather in any newspaper, preferably, one having a
map showing a satellite picture. Mark the area of cloudiness. Attempt to
infer the atmospheric circulation from the distribution of clouds. Compare
the forecast given in the newspaper with the TV coverage, if you have
access to TV. Estimate, how many days in a week was the forecast were
accurate.
CHAPTER
Y
ou have already learnt that the air
contains water vapour. It varies from
zero to four per cent by volume of the
atmosphere and plays an important role in the
weather phenomena. Water is present in the
atmosphere in three forms namely – gaseous,
liquid and solid. The moisture in the
atmosphere is derived from water bodies
through evaporation and from plants through
transpiration. Thus, there is a continuous
exchange of water between the atmosphere, the
oceans and the continents through the
processes of evaporation, transpiration,
condensation and precipitation.
Water vapour present in the air is known
as humidity. It is expressed quantitatively in
different ways. 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 ability
of the air to hold water vapour depends entirely
on its temperature. The absolute humidity
differs from place to place on the surface of the
earth. The percentage of moisture present in
the atmosphere as compared to its full capacity
at a given temperature is known as the relative
humidity. With the change of air temperature,
the capacity to retain moisture increases or
decreases and the relative humidity is also
affected. It is greater over the oceans and least
over the continents.
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.
The temperature at which saturation occurs
in a given sample of air is known as dew point.
WATER IN THE ATMOSPHERE
EVAPORATION AND CONDENSATION
The amount of water vapour in the atmosphere
is added or withdrawn due to evaporation and
condensation respectively. Evaporation is a
process by which water is transformed from
liquid to gaseous state. Heat is the main cause
for evaporation. The temperature at which the
water starts evaporating is referred to as the
latent heat of vapourisation.
Increase in temperature increases water
absorption and retention capacity of the given
parcel of air. Similarly, if the moisture content
is low, air has a potentiality of absorbing and
retaining moisture. Movement of air replaces
the saturated layer with the unsaturated layer.
Hence, the greater the movement of air, the
greater is the evaporation.
The transformation of water vapour into
water is called condensation. Condensation is
caused by the loss of heat. When moist air is
cooled, it may reach a level when its capacity
to hold water vapour ceases. Then, the excess
water vapour condenses into liquid form. If it
directly condenses into solid form, it is known
as sublimation. In free air, condensation results
from cooling around very small particles
termed as hygroscopic condensation nuclei.
Particles of dust, smoke and salt from the ocean
are particularly good nuclei because they
absorb water. Condensation also takes place
when the moist air comes in contact with some
colder object and it may also take place when
the temperature is close to the dew point.
Condensation, therefore, depends upon the
amount of cooling and the relative humidity of
the air. Condensation is influenced by the
volume of air, temperature, pressure and
humidity. Condensation takes place: (i) when
WATER IN THE ATMOSPHERE
the temperature of the air is reduced to dew
point with its volume remaining constant; (ii)
when both the volume and the temperature are
reduced; (iv) when moisture is added to the air
through evaporation. However, the most
favourable condition for condensation is the
decrease in air temperature.
After condensation the water vapour or the
moisture in the atmosphere takes one of the
following forms — dew, frost, fog and clouds.
Forms of condensation can be classified on the
basis of temperature and location.
Condensation takes place when the dew point
is lower than the freezing point as well as
higher than the freezing point.
Dew
When the moisture is deposited in the form of
water droplets on cooler surfaces of solid
objects (rather than nuclei in air above the
surface) such as stones, grass blades and plant
leaves, it is known as dew. The ideal conditions
for its formation are clear sky, calm air, high
relative humidity, and cold and long nights.
For the formation of dew, it is necessary that
the dew point is above the freezing point.
Frost
Frost forms on cold surfaces when
condensation takes place below freezing point
(00C), i.e. the dew point is at or below the
freezing point. The excess moisture is deposited
in the form of minute ice crystals instead of
water droplets. The ideal conditions for the
formation of white frost are the same as those
for the formation of dew, except that the air
temperature must be at or below the freezing
point.
Fog and Mist
When the temperature of an air mass
containing a large quantity of water vapour falls
all of a sudden, condensation takes place within
itself on fine dust particles. So, the fog is a cloud
with its base at or very near to the ground.
Because of the fog and mist, the visibility
becomes poor to zero. In urban and industrial
centres smoke provides plenty of nuclei which
help the formation of fog and mist. Such a
99
condition when fog is mixed with smoke, is
described as smog. The only difference between
the mist and fog is that mist contains more
moisture than the fog. In mist each nuceli
contains a thicker layer of moisture. Mists are
frequent over mountains as the rising warm
air up the slopes meets a cold surface. Fogs
are drier than mist and they are prevalent where
warm currents of air come in contact with cold
currents. Fogs are mini clouds in which
condensation takes place around nuclei
provided by the dust, smoke, and the salt
particles.
Clouds
Cloud is a mass of minute water droplets or
tiny crystals of ice formed by the condensation
of the water vapour in free air at considerable
elevations. As the clouds are formed at some
height over the surface of the earth, they take
various shapes. According to their height,
expanse, density and transparency or
opaqueness clouds are grouped under four
types : (i) cirrus; (ii) cumulus; (iii) stratus;
(iv) nimbus.
Cirrus
Cirrus clouds are formed at high altitudes
(8,000 - 12,000m). They are thin and detatched
clouds having a feathery appearance. They are
always white in colour.
Cumulus
Cumulus clouds look like cotton wool. They
are generally formed at a height of 4,000 -
7,000 m. They exist in patches and can be seen
scattered here and there. They have a flat base.
Stratus
As their name implies, these are layered clouds
covering large portions of the sky. These clouds
are generally formed either due to loss of heat
or the mixing of air masses with different
temperatures.
Nimbus
Nimbus clouds are black or dark gray. They
form at middle levels or very near to the surface
100
of the earth. These are extremely dense and
opaque to the rays of the sun. Sometimes, the
clouds are so low that they seem to touch the
ground. Nimbus clouds are shapeless masses
of thick vapour.
Figure 11.1
Figure 11.2
Identify these cloud types which are
shown in Figure 11.1 and 11.2.
A combination of these four basic types can
give rise to the following types of clouds: high
clouds – cirrus, cirrostratus, cirrocumulus;
middle clouds – altostratus and altocumulus;
low clouds – stratocumulus and nimbostratus
and clouds with extensive vertical
development – cumulus and cumulonimbus.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Precipitation
The process of continuous condensation in free
air helps the condensed particles to grow in
size. When the resistance of the air fails to hold
them against the force of gravity, they fall on to
the earth’s surface. So after the condensation
of water vapour, the release of moisture is
known as precipitation. This may take place
in liquid or solid form. The precipitation in the
form of water is called rainfall, when the
temperature is lower than the 00C, precipitation
takes place in the form of fine flakes of snow
and is called snowfall. Moisture is released in
the form of hexagonal crystals. These crystals
form flakes of snow. Besides rain and snow,
other forms of precipitation are sleet and hail,
though the latter are limited in occurrence and
are sporadic in both time and space.
Sleet is frozen raindrops and refrozen
melted snow-water. When a layer of air with
the temperature above freezing point overlies
a subfreezing layer near the ground,
precipitation takes place in the form of sleet.
Raindrops, which leave the warmer air,
encounter the colder air below. As a result, they
solidify and reach the ground as small pellets
of ice not bigger than the raindrops from which
they are formed.
Sometimes, drops of rain after being
released by the clouds become solidified into
small rounded solid pieces of ice and which
reach the surface of the earth are called
hailstones. These are formed by the rainwater
passing through the colder layers. Hailstones
have several concentric layers of ice one over
the other.
Types of Rainfall
On the basis of origin, rainfall may be classified
into three main types – the convectional,
orographic or relief and the cyclonic or frontal.
Conventional Rain
The, air on being heated, becomes light and
rises up in convection currents. As it rises, it
expands and loses heat and consequently,
condensation takes place and cumulous
clouds are formed. With thunder and lightening,
heavy rainfall takes place but this does not last
WATER IN THE ATMOSPHERE
long. Such rain is common in the summer or
in the hotter part of the day. It is very common
in the equatorial regions and interior parts of
the continents, particularly in the northern
hemisphere.
Orographic Rain
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. The chief characteristic
of this sort of rain is that the windward slopes
receive greater rainfall. After giving rain on the
windward side, when these winds reach the
other slope, they descend, and their
temperature rises. Then their capacity to take
in moisture increases and hence, these leeward
slopes remain rainless and dry. The area
situated on the leeward side, which gets less
rainfall is known as the rain-shadow area. It
is also known as the relief rain.
Cyclonic Rain
You have already read about extra tropical
cyclones and cyclonic rain in Chapter 10.
Please consult Chapter 10 to understand
cyclonic rainfall.
World Distribution of Rainfall
Different places on the earth’s surface receive
different amounts of rainfall in a year and that
too in different seasons.
In general, as we proceed from the equator
towards the poles, rainfall goes on decreasing
steadily. The coastal areas of the world receive
greater amounts of rainfall than the interior of
EXERCISES
1. Multiple choice questions.
(i) Which one of the following is the most important constituent of the
atmosphere for human beings?
(a) Water vapour
(b) Nitrogen
101
the continents. The rainfall is more over the
oceans than on the landmasses of the world
because of being great sources of water.
Between the latitudes 350 and 400 N and S of
the equator, the rain is heavier on the eastern
coasts and goes on decreasing towards the
west. But, between 450 and 650 N and S of
equator, due to the westerlies, the rainfall is
first received on the western margins of the
continents and it goes on decreasing towards
the east. Wherever mountains run parallel to
the coast, the rain is greater on the coastal
plain, on the windward side and it decreases
towards the leeward side.
On the basis of the total amount of annual
precipitation, major precipitation regimes of the
world are identified as follows.
The equatorial belt, the windward slopes
of the mountains along the western coasts in
the cool temperate zone and the coastal areas
of the monsoon land receive heavy rainfall of
over 200 cm per annum. Interior continental
areas receive moderate rainfall varying from
100 - 200 cm per annum. The coastal areas of
the continents receive moderate amount of
rainfall. The central parts of the tropical land
and the eastern and interior parts of the
temperate lands receive rainfall varying
between 50 - 100 cm per annum. Areas lying
in the rain shadow zone of the interior of the
continents and high latitudes receive very low
rainfall-less than 50 cm per annum. Seasonal
distribution of rainfall provides an important
aspect to judge its effectiveness. In some
regions rainfall is distributed evenly
throughout the year such as in the equatorial
belt and in the western parts of cool temperate
regions.
(c) Dust particle
(d) Oxygen
102 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

(ii) Which one of the following process is responsible for transforming liquid
into vapour?
(a) Condensation (c) Evaporation
(b) Transpiration (d) Precipitation
(iii) The air that contains moisture to its full capacity :
(a) Relative humidity (c) Absolute humidity
(b) Specific humidity (d) Saturated air
(iv) Which one of the following is the highest cloud in the sky?
(a) Cirrus (c) Nimbus
(b) Stratus (d) Cumulus
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Name the three types of precipitation.
(ii) Explain relative humidity.
(iii) Why does the amount of water vapour decreases rapidly with altitude?
(iv) How are clouds formed? Classify them.
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Discuss the salient features of the world distribution of precipitation.
(ii) What are forms of condensation? Describe the process of dew and frost
formation.

Project Work
Browse through the newspaper from 1st June to 31st December and note the news
about extreme rainfall in different parts of the country.
 CHAPTER

WORLD CLIMATE AND

CLIMATE CHANGE

T
he world climate can be studied by
organising information and data on
climate and synthesising them in
smaller units for easy understanding,
description and analysis. Three broad
approaches have been adopted for classifying
climate. They are empirical, genetic and
applied. Empirical classification is based on
observed data, particularly on temperature
and precipitation. Genetic classification
attempts to organise climates according to their
causes. Applied classification is for specific
purpose.
KOEPP E N ’ S SCHEME OF CLASSIFICATION
OFCLIMATE
The most widely used classification of climate
is the empirical climate classification scheme
developed by V. Koeppen. Koeppen identified
a close relationship between the distribution
of vegetation and climate. He selected certain
values of temperature and precipitation and
Table 12.1 : Climatic Groups According to Koeppen
related them to the distribution of vegetation
and used these values for classifying the
climates. It is an empirical classification based
on mean annual and mean monthly
temperature and precipitation data. He
introduced the use of capital and small letters
to designate climatic groups and types.
Although developed in 1918 and modified over
a period of time, Koeppen’s scheme is still
popular and in use.
Koeppen recognised five major climatic
groups, four of them are based on temperature
and one on precipitation. Table 12.1 lists the
climatic groups and their characteristics
according to Koeppen. The capital letters : A,C,
D and E delineate humid climates and B dry
climates.
The climatic groups are subdivided into
types, designated by small letters, based on
seasonality of precipitation and temperature
characteristics. The seasons of dryness are
indicated by the small letters : f, m, w and s,
where f corresponds to no dry season,

Group Characteristics

A - Tropical Average temperature of the coldest month is 18° C or higher

B - Dry Climates Potential evaporation exceeds precipitation

C - Warm Temperate The average temperature of the coldest month of the (Mid-latitude) climates
years is higher than minus 3°C but below 18°C

D - Cold Snow Forest Climates The average temperature of the coldest month is minus 3° C or below

E - Cold Climates Average temperature for all months is below 10° C

H - High Land Cold due to elevation

104 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

m - monsoon climate, w- winter dry season and
s - summer dry season. The small letters a, b,
c and d refer to the degree of severity of
temperature. The B- Dry Climates are
subdivided using the capital letters S for steppe
or semi-arid and W for deserts. The climatic
types are listed in Table 12.2. The distribution
of climatic groups and types is shown in
Table 12.1.
Table 12.2 : Climatic Types According to Koeppen
islands of East Indies. Significant amount of
rainfall occurs in every month of the year as
thunder showers in the afternoon. The
temperature is uniformly high and the annual
range of temperature is negligible. The
maximum temperature on any day is around
30°C while the minimum temperature is
around 20°C. Tropical evergreen forests with
dense canopy cover and large biodiversity are
found in this climate.

Group Type Letter Code Characteristics

Tropical wet Af No dry season
A-Tropical Humid
Climate Tropical monsoon Am Monsoonal, short dry season
Tropical wet and dry Aw Winter dry season
Subtropical steppe BSh Low-latitude semi arid or dry
Subtropical desert BWh Low-latitude arid or dry
B-Dry Climate
Mid-latitude steppe BSk Mid-latitude semi arid or dry
Mid-latitude desert BWk Mid-latitude arid or dry
Humid subtropical Cfa No dry season, warm summer
C-Warm
temperate (Mid- Mediterranean Cs Dry hot summer
latitude) Climates
Marine west coast Cfb No dry season, warm and cool summer

D-Cold Snow- Humid continental Df No dry season, severe winter

forest Climates Subarctic Dw Winter dry and very severe
Tundra ET No true summer
E-Cold Climates
Polar ice cap EF Perennial ice

H-Highland Highland H Highland with snow cover

Group A : Tropical Humid Climates Tropical Monsoon Climate (Am)

Tropical humid climates exist between Tropic
of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn. The sun
being overhead throughout the year and the
presence of Inter Tropical Convergence Zone
(INTCZ) make the climate hot and humid.
Annual range of temperature is very low and
annual rainfall is high. The tropical group is
divided into three types, namely (i) Af- Tropical
wet climate; (ii) Am - Tropical monsoon climate;
(iii) Aw- Tropical wet and dry climate.
Tropical Wet Climate (Af)
Tropical wet climate is found near the equator.
The major areas are the Amazon Basin in South
America, western equatorial Africa and the
Tropical monsoon climate (Am) is found over
the Indian sub-continent, North Eastern part
of South America and Northern Australia.
Heavy rainfall occurs mostly in summer. Winter
is dry. The detailed climatic account of this
climatic type is given in the book on India:
Physical Environment.
Tropical Wet and Dry Climate (Aw)
Tropical wet and dry climate occurs north and
south of Af type climate regions. It borders with
dry climate on the western part of the continent
and Cf or Cw on the eastern part. Extensive
Aw climate is found to the north and south of
the Amazon forest in Brazil and adjoining parts
WORLD CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
of Bolivia and Paraguay in South America,
Sudan and south of Central Africa. The annual
rainfall in this climate is considerably less than
that in Af and Am climate types and is variable
also. The wet season is shorter and the dry
season is longer with the drought being more
severe. Temperature is high throughout the
year and diurnal ranges of temperature are the
greatest in the dry season. Deciduous forest and
tree-shredded grasslands occur in this climate.
Dry Climates : B
Dry climates are characterised by very low
rainfall that is not adequate for the growth of
plants. These climates cover a very large area
of the planet extending over large latitudes from
15° - 60° north and south of the equator. At
low latitudes, from 15° - 30°, they occur in the
area of subtropical high where subsidence and
inversion of temperature do not produce
rainfall. On the western margin of the
continents, adjoining the cold current,
particularly over the west coast of South
America, they extend more equatorwards and
occur on the coast land. In middle latitudes,
from 35° - 60° north and south of equator, they
are confined to the interior of continents where
maritime-humid winds do not reach and to
areas often surrounded by mountains.
Dry climates are divided into steppe or
semi-arid climate (BS) and desert climate (BW).
They are further subdivided as subtropical
steppe (BSh) and subtropical desert (BWh) at
latitudes from 15° - 35° and mid-latitude
steppe (BSk) and mid-latitude desert (BWk) at
latitudes between 35° - 60°.
Subtropical Steppe (BSh) and Subtropical
Desert (BWh) Climates
Subtropical steppe (BSh) and subtropical
desert (BWh) have common precipitation and
temperature characteristics. Located in the
transition zone between humid and dry
climates, subtropical steppe receives slightly
more rainfall than the desert, adequate enough
for the growth of sparse grasslands. The rainfall
in both the climates is highly variable. The
variability in the rainfall affects the life in the
steppe much more than in the desert, more
105
often causing famine. Rain occurs in short
intense thundershowers in deserts and is
ineffective in building soil moisture. Fog is
common in coastal deserts bordering cold
currents. Maximum temperature in the summer
is very high. The highest shade temperature of
58° C was recorded at Al Aziziyah, Libya on
13 September 1922. The annual and diurnal
ranges of temperature are also high.
Warm Temperate (Mid-Latitude) Climates-C
Warm temperate (mid-latitude) climates extend
from 30° - 50° of latitude mainly on the eastern
and western margins of continents. These
climates generally have warm summers with
mild winters. They are grouped into four types:
(i) Humid subtropical, i.e. dry in winter and
hot in summer (Cwa); (ii) Mediterranean (Cs);
(iii) Humid subtropical, i.e. no dry season and
mild winter (Cfa); (iv) Marine west coast climate
(Cfb).
Humid Subtropical Climate (Cwa)
Humid subtropical climate occurs poleward of
Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, mainly in
North Indian plains and South China interior
plains. The climate is similar to Aw climate
except that the temperature in winter is warm.
Mediterranean Climate (Cs)
As the name suggests, Mediterranean climate
occurs around Mediterranean sea, along the
west coast of continents in subtropical latitudes
between 30° - 40° latitudes e.g. — Central
California, Central Chile, along the coast in
south eastern and south western Australia.
These areas come under the influence of sub
tropical high in summer and westerly wind in
winter. Hence, the climate is characterised by
hot, dry summer and mild, rainy winter. Monthly
average temperature in summer is around
25° C and in winter below 10°C. The annual
precipitation ranges between 35 - 90 cm.
Humid Subtropical (Cfa) Climate
Humid subtropical climate lies on the eastern
parts of the continent in subtropical latitudes.
In this region the air masses are generally
106
unstable and cause rainfall throughout the
year. They occur in eastern United States of
America, southern and eastern China,
southern Japan, northeastern Argentina,
coastal south Africa and eastern coast of
Australia. The annual averages of precipitation
vary from 75-150 cm. Thunderstorms in
summer and frontal precipitation in winter are
common. Mean monthly temperature in
summer is around 27°C, and in winter it varies
from 5°-12° C. The daily range of temperature
is small.
Marine West Coast Climate (Cfb)
Marine west coast climate is located poleward
from the Mediterranean climate on the west
coast of the continents. The main areas are:
Northwestern Europe, west coast of North
America, north of California, southern Chile,
southeastern Australia and New Zealand. Due
to marine influence, the temperature is
moderate and in winter, it is warmer than for
its latitude. The mean temperature in summer
months ranges from 15°-20°C and in winter
4°-10°C. The annual and daily ranges of
temperature are small. Precipitation occurs
throughout the year. Precipitation varies
greatly from 50-250cm.
Cold Snow Forest Climates (D)
Cold snow forest climates occur in the large
continental area in the northern hemisphere
between 40°-70° north latitudes in Europe,
Asia and North America. Cold snow forest
climates are divided into two types: (i) Df- cold
climate with humid winter; (ii) Dw- cold climate
with dry winter. The severity of winter is more
pronounced in higher latitudes.
Cold Climate with Humid Winters (Df)
Cold climate with humid winter occurs
poleward of marine west coast climate and mid
latitude steppe. The winters are cold and
snowy. The frost free season is short. The
annual ranges of temperature are large. The
weather changes are abrupt and short.
Poleward, the winters are more severe.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Cold Climate with Dry Winters (Dw)
Cold climate with dry winter occurs mainly
over Northeastern Asia. The development of
pronounced winter anti cyclone and its
weakening in summer sets in monsoon like
reversal of wind in this region. Poleward
summer temperatures are lower and winter
temperatures are extremely low with many
locations experiencing below freezing point
temperatures for up to seven months in a year.
Precipitation occurs in summer. The annual
precipitation is low from 12-15 cm.
Polar Climates (E)
Polar climates exist poleward beyond 70°
latitude. Polar climates consist of two types:
(i) Tundra (ET); (ii) Ice Cap (EF).
Tundra Climate (ET)
The tundra climate (ET) is so called after the
types of vegetation, like low growing mosses,
lichens and flowering plants. This is the region
of permafrost where the sub soil is permanently
frozen. The short growing season and water
logging support only low growing plants.
During summer, the tundra regions have very
long duration of day light.
Ice Cap Climate (EF)
The ice cap climate (EF) occurs over interior
Greenland and Antartica. Even in summer, the
temperature is below freezing point. This area
receives very little precipitation. The snow and
ice get accumulated and the mounting pressure
causes the deformation of the ice sheets and
they break. They move as icebergs that float in
the Arctic and Antarctic waters. Plateau Station
, Antarctica ,79°S, portray this climate.
Highland Climates (H)
Highland climates are governed by topography.
In high mountains, large changes in mean
temperature occur over short distances.
Precipitation types and intensity also vary
spatially across high lands. There is vertical
zonation of layering of climatic types with
elevation in the mountain environment.
WORLD CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
CLIMATE CHANGE
The earlier chapters on climate summarised
our understanding of climate as it prevails now.
The type of climate we experience now might
be prevailing over the last 10,000 years with
minor and occasionally wide fluctuations. The
planet earth has witnessed many variations in
climate since the beginning. Geological records
show alteration of glacial and inter-glacial
periods. The geomorphological features,
especially in high altitudes and high latitudes,
exhibit traces of advances and retreats of
glaciers. The sediment deposits in glacial lakes
also reveal the occurrence of warm and cold
periods. The rings in the trees provide clues
about wet and dry periods. Historical records
describe the vagaries in climate. All these
evidences indicate that change in climate is a
natural and continuous process.
India also witnessed alternate wet and dry
periods. Archaeological findings show that the
Rajasthan desert experienced wet and cool
climate around 8,000 B.C. The period 3,000-
1,700 B.C. had higher rainfall. From about
2,000-1,700 B.C., this region was the centre
of the Harappan civilisation. Dry conditions
accentuated since then.
In the geological past, the earth was warm
some 500-300 million years ago, through the
Cambrian, Ordovician and Silurian periods.
During the Pleistocene epoch, glacial and
inter-glacial periods occurred, the last major
peak glacial period was about 18,000 years
ago. The present inter-glacial period started
10,000 years ago.
Climate in the recent past
Variability in climate occurs all the time. The
nineties decade of the last century witnessed
extreme weather events. The 1990s recorded
the warmest temperature of the century and
some of the worst floods around the world. The
worst devastating drought in the Sahel region,
south of the Sahara desert, from 1967-1977
is one such variability. During the 1930s,
severe drought occurred in southwestern Great
Plains of the United States, described as the
dust bowl. Historical records of crop yield or
107
crop failures, of floods and migration of people
tell about the effects of changing climate. A
number of times Europe witnessed warm, wet,
cold and dry periods, the significant episodes
were the warm and dry conditions in the tenth
and eleventh centuries, when the Vikings
settled in Greenland. Europe witnessed “Little
Ice Age” from 1550 to about 1850. From about
1885-1940 world temperature showed an
upward trend. After 1940, the rate of increase
in temperature slowed down.
Causes of Climate Change
The causes for climate change are many. They
can be grouped into astronomical and
terrestrial causes. The astronomical causes are
the changes in solar output associated with
sunspot activities. Sunspots are dark and
cooler patches on the sun which increase and
decrease in a cyclical manner. According to
some meteorologists, when the number of
sunspots increase, cooler and wetter weather
and greater storminess occur. A decrease in
sunspot numbers is associated with warm and
drier conditions. Yet, these findings are not
statistically significant.
An another astronomical theory is
Millankovitch oscillations, which infer cycles
in the variations in the earth’s orbital
characteristics around the sun, the wobbling
of the earth and the changes in the earth’s axial
tilt. All these alter the amount of insolation
received from the sun, which in turn, might
have a bearing on the climate.
Volcanism is considered as another cause
for climate change. Volcanic eruption throws
up lots of aerosols into the atmosphere. These
aerosols remain in the atmosphere for a
considerable period of time reducing the sun’s
radiation reaching the Earth’s surface. After the
recent Pinatoba and El Cion volcanic
eruptions, the average temperature of the earth
fell to some extent for some years.
The most important anthropogenic effect
on the climate is the increasing trend in the
concentration of greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere which is likely to cause global
warming.
108
Global Warming
Due to the presence of greenhouse gases, the
atmosphere is behaving like a greenhouse. The
atmosphere also transmits the incoming solar
radiation but absorbs the vast majority of long
wave radiation emitted upwards by the earth’s
surface. The gases that absorb long wave
radiation are called greenhouse gases. The
processes that warm the atmosphere are often
collectively referred to as the greenhouse effect.
The term greenhouse is derived from the
analogy to a greenhouse used in cold
areas for preserving heat. A greenhouse
is made up of glass. The glass which is
transparent to incoming short wave solar
radiation is opaque to outgoing long wave
radiation. The glass, therefore, allows in
more radiation and prevents the long
wave radiation going outside the glass
house, causing the temperature inside
the glasshouse structure warmer than
outside. When you enter a car or a bus,
during summers, where windows are
closed, you feel more heat than outside.
Likewise during winter the vehicles with
closed doors and windows remain warmer
than the temperature outside. This is
another example of the greenhouse effect.
Greenhouse Gases(GHGs)
The primary GHGs of concern today are carbon
dioxide (CO2), Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs),
methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) and ozone
(O3). Some other gases such as nitric oxide (NO)
and carbon monoxide (CO) easily react with
GHGs and affect their concentration in the
atmosphere.
The effectiveness of any given GHG
molecule will depend on the magnitude of the
increase in its concentration, its life time in the
atmosphere and the wavelength of radiation
that it absorbs. The chlorofluorocarbons
(CFCs) are highly effective. Ozone which
absorbs ultra violet radiation in the
stratosphere is very effective in absorbing
terrestrial radiation when it is present in the
lower troposphere. Another important point to
be noted is that the more time the GHG
molecule remains in the atmosphere, the longer
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
it will take for earth’s atmospheric system to
recover from any change brought about by the
latter.
The largest concentration of GHGs in the
atmosphere is carbon dioxide. The emission
of CO 2 comes mainly from fossil fuel
combustion (oil, gas and coal). Forests and
oceans are the sinks for the carbon dioxide.
Forests use CO 2 in their growth. So,
deforestation due to changes in land use, also
increases the concentration of Co2. The time
taken for atmospheric CO2 to adjust to changes
in sources to sinks is 20-50 years. It is rising
at about 0.5 per cent annually. Doubling of
concentration of CO2 over pre-industrial level
is used as an index for estimating the changes
in climate in climatic models.
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are products
of human activity. Ozone occurs in the
stratosphere where ultra-violet rays convert
oxygen into ozone. Thus, ultra violet rays do
not reach the earth’s surface. The CFCs which
drift into the stratosphere destroy the ozone.
Large depletion of ozone occurs over Antarctica.
The depletion of ozone concentration in the
stratosphere is called the ozone hole. This
allows the ultra violet rays to pass through the
troposphere.
International efforts have been initiated for
reducing the emission of GHGs into the
atmosphere. The most important one is the
Kyoto protocol proclaimed in 1997. This
protocol went into effect in 2005, ratified by
141 nations. Kyoto protocol bounds the 35
industrialised countries to reduce their
emissions by the year 2012 to 5 per cent less
than the levels prevalent in the year 1990.
The increasing trend in the concentration
of GHGs in the atmosphere may, in the long
run, warm up the earth. Once the global
warming sets in, it will be difficult to reverse it.
The effect of global warming may not be
uniform everywhere. Nevertheless, the adverse
effect due to global warming will adversely affect
the life supporting system. Rise in the sea level
due to melting of glaciers and ice-caps and
thermal expansion of the sea may inundate
large parts of the coastal area and islands,
leading to social problems. This is another
cause for serious concern for the world
WORLD CLIMATE AND CLIMATE CHANGE
community. Efforts have already been initiated
to control the emission of GHGs and to arrest
the trend towards global warming. Let us hope
the world community responds to this challenge
and adopts a lifestyle that leaves behind a
livable world for the generations to come.
One of the major concerns of the world
today is global warming. Let us look at how
much the planet has warmed up from the
temperature records.
Temperature data are available from the
middle of the 19th century mostly for western
Europe. The reference period for this study is
1961-90. The temperature anomalies for the
earlier and later periods are estimated from the
average temperature for the period 1961-90.
The annual average near -surface air
temperature of the world is approximately
14°C. The time series show anomalies of
Write an explanatory note
on “global warming”.
109
annual near surface temperature over land
from 1856-2000, relative to the period
1961-90 as normal for the globe.
An increasing trend in temperature was
discernible in the 20th century. The greatest
warming of the 20th century was during the
two periods, 1901-44 and 1977-99. Over each
of these two periods, global temperatures rose
by about 0.4°C. In between, there was a slight
cooling, which was more marked in the
Northern Hemisphere.
The globally averaged annual mean
temperature at the end of the 20th century was
about 0.6°C above that recorded at the end of
the 19th century. The seven warmest years
during the 1856-2000 were recorded in the
last decade. The year 1998 was the warmest
year, probably not only for the 20th century
but also for the whole millennium.
110 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Which one of the following is suitable for Koeppen’s “A” type of climate?
(a) High rainfall in all the months
(b) Mean monthly temperature of the coldest month more than freezing
point
(c) Mean monthly temperature of all the months more than 18o C
(d) Average temperature for all the months below 10° C
(ii) Koeppen’s system of classification of climates can be termed as :
(a) Applied (b) Systematic (c) Genetic (d) Empirical
(iii) Most of the Indian Peninsula will be grouped according to Koeppen’s system
under:
(a) “Af” (b) “BSh” (c) “Cfb” (d) “Am”
(iv) Which one of the following years is supposed to have recorded the warmest
temperature the world over?
(a) 1990 (b) 1998 (c) 1885 (d) 1950
(v) Which one of the following groups of four climates represents humid
conditions?
(a) A—B—C—E
(b) A—C—D—E
(c) B—C—D—E
(d) A—C—D—F
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Which two climatic variables are used by Koeppen for classification of the
climate?
(ii) How is the “genetic” system of classification different from the “empirical
one”?
(iii) Which types of climates have very low range of temperature?
(iv) What type of climatic conditions would prevail if the sun spots increase?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Make a comparison of the climatic conditions between the “A” and “B”
types of climate.
(ii) What type of vegetation would you find in the “C” and “A” type(s) of climate?
(iii) What do you understand by the term “Greenhouse Gases”? Make a list of
greenhouse gases.

Project Work
Collect information about Kyoto declaration related to global climate changes.
 UNIT
V

WATER (OCEANS)
This unit deals with
• Hydrological Cycle
• Oceans — submarine relief; distribution of temperature and
salinity; movements of ocean water-waves, tides and currents
CHAPTER
C
an we think of life without water? It is
said that the water is life. Water is an
essential component of all life forms that
exist over the surface of the earth. The creatures
on the earth are lucky that it is a water planet,
otherwise we all would have no existence. Water
is a rare commodity in our solar system. There
is no water on the sun or anywhere else in the
solar system. The earth, fortunately has an
abundant supply of water on its surface. Hence,
our planet is called the ‘Blue Planet’.
HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE
Water is a cyclic resource. It can be used and
re-used. Water also undergoes a cycle from
Figure 13.1 : Hydrological Cycle
WATER (OCEANS)
the ocean to land and land to ocean. The
hydrological cycle describes the movement of
water on, in, and above the earth. The water
cycle has been working for billions of years
and all the life on earth depends on it. Next to
air, water is the most important element
required for the existence of life on earth. The
distribution of water on earth is quite uneven.
Many locations have plenty of water while
others have very limited quantity. The
hydrological cycle, is the circulation of water
within the earth’s hydrosphere in different
forms i.e. the liquid, solid and the gaseous
phases. It also refers to the continuous
exchange of water between the oceans,
WATER (OCEANS) 113

Table 13.1 : Water on the Earth’s surface crisis in different parts of the world — spatially
Reservoir Volume Percentage and temporally. The pollution of river waters
(Million of the Total has further aggravated the crisis. How can you
Cubic km ) intervene in improving the water quality and
augmenting the available quantity of water?
Oceans 1,370 97.25
Ice Caps 29 2.05
RELIEF OF THE OCEAN FLOOR
and Glaciers
Groundwater 9.5 0.68 The oceans are confined to the great
Lakes 0.125 0.01 depressions of the earth’s outer layer. In this
Soil Moisture 0.065 0.005 section, we shall see the nature of the ocean
Atmosphere 0.013 0.001 basins of the earth and their topography. The
Streams 0.0017 0.0001
oceans, unlike the continents, merge so
and Rivers naturally into one another that it is hard to
Biosphere 0.0006 0.00004 demarcate them. The geographers have divided
the oceanic part of the earth into four oceans,
namely the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Indian and
Table 13.2 : Components and Processes
the Arctic. The various seas, bays, gulfs and
of the Water Cycle
other inlets are parts of these four large oceans.
Components Processes A major portion of the ocean floor is found
between 3-6 km below the sea level. The ‘land’
Water storage Evaporation
in oceans Evapotranspiration under the waters of the oceans, that is, the
Sublimation ocean floor exhibits complex and varied
Water in the Condensation
features as those observed over the land
atmosphere Precipitation (Figure 13.2). The floors of the oceans are
rugged with the world’s largest mountain
Water storage in Snowmelt runoff
ice and snow to streams ranges, deepest trenches and the largest plains.
These features are formed, like those of the
Surface runoff Stream flow freshwater
storage infiltration
continents, by the factors of tectonic, volcanic
and depositional processes.
Groundwater storage Groundwater
discharge springs
Divisions of the Ocean Floors

atmosphere, landsurface and subsurface and
the organisms.
Table 13.1 shows distribution of water on
the surface of the earth. About 71 per cent of
the planetary water is found in the oceans. The
remaining is held as freshwater in glaciers and
icecaps, groundwater sources, lakes, soil
moisture, atmosphere, streams and within life.
Nearly 59 per cent of the water that falls on
land returns to the atmosphere through
evaporation from over the oceans as well as
from other places. The remainder runs-off on
the surface, infiltrates into the ground or a part
of it becomes glacier (Figure 13.1).
It is to be noted that the renewable water
on the earth is constant while the demand is
increasing tremendously. This leads to water
The ocean floors can be divided into four major
divisions: (i) the Continental Shelf; (ii) the
Continental Slope; (iii) the Deep Sea Plain;
(iv) the Oceanic Deeps. Besides, these divisions
there are also major and minor relief features
in the ocean floors like ridges, hills, sea
mounts, guyots, trenches, canyons, etc.
Continental Shelf
The continental shelf is the extended margin
of each continent occupied by relatively
shallow seas and gulfs. It is the shallowest part
of the ocean showing an average gradient of
1° or even less. The shelf typically ends at a
very steep slope, called the shelf break.
The width of the continental shelves vary
from one ocean to another. The average width
114
of continental shelves is about 80 km. The
shelves are almost absent or very narrow along
some of the margins like the coasts of Chile,
the west coast of Sumatra, etc. On the contrary,
the Siberian shelf in the Arctic Ocean, the
largest in the world, stretches to 1,500 km in
width. The depth of the shelves also varies. It
may be as shallow as 30 m in some areas while
in some areas it is as deep as 600 m.
The continental shelves are covered with
variable thicknesses of sediments brought
down by rivers, glaciers, wind, from the land
and distributed by waves and currents. Massive
sedimentary deposits received over a long time
by the continental shelves, become the source
of fossil fuels.
Figure 13.2 : Relief features of ocean floors
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Continental Slope
The continental slope connects the continental
shelf and the ocean basins. It begins where the
bottom of the continental shelf sharply drops
off into a steep slope. The gradient of the slope
region varies between 2-5°. The depth of the
slope region varies between 200 and 3,000 m.
The slope boundary indicates the end of the
continents. Canyons and trenches are observed
in this region.
Deep Sea Plain
Deep sea plains are gently sloping areas of the
ocean basins. These are the flattest and
smoothest regions of the world. The depths
vary between 3,000 and 6,000m. These plains
are covered with fine-grained sediments like
clay and silt.
Oceanic Deeps or Trenches
These areas are the deepest parts of the oceans.
The trenches are relatively steep sided, narrow
basins. They are some 3-5 km deeper than
the surrounding ocean floor. They occur at the
bases of continental slopes and along island
arcs and are associated with active volcanoes
and strong earthquakes. That is why they are
very significant in the study of plate
movements. As many as 57 deeps have been
explored so far; of which 32 are in the Pacific
Ocean; 19 in the Atlantic Ocean and 6 in the
Indian Ocean.
Minor Relief Features
Apart from the above mentioned major relief
features of the ocean floor, some minor but
significant features predominate in different
parts of the oceans.
Mid-Oceanic Ridges
A mid-oceanic ridge is composed of two chains
of mountains separated by a large depression.
The mountain ranges can have peaks as high
as 2,500 m and some even reach above the
ocean’s surface. Iceland, a part of the mid-
Atlantic Ridge, is an example.
WATER (OCEANS)
Seamount
It is a mountain with pointed summits, rising
from the seafloor that does not reach the surface
of the ocean. Seamounts are volcanic in origin.
These can be 3,000-4,500 m tall. The Emperor
seamount, an extension of the Hawaiian Islands
in the Pacific Ocean, is a good example.
Submarine Canyons
These are deep valleys, some comparable to
the Grand Canyon of the Colorado river. They
are sometimes found cutting across the
continental shelves and slopes, often extending
from the mouths of large rivers. The Hudson
Canyon is the best known canyon in the world.
Guyots
It is a flat topped seamount. They show
evidences of gradual subsidence through
stages to become flat topped submerged
mountains. It is estimated that more than
10,000 seamounts and guyots exist in the
Pacific Ocean alone.
Atoll
These are low islands found in the tropical
oceans consisting of coral reefs surrounding
a central depression. It may be a part of the
sea (lagoon), or sometimes form enclosing a
body of fresh, brackish, or highly saline water.
TEMPERATURE OF OCEAN WATERS
This section deals with the spatial and vertical
variations of temperature in various oceans.
Ocean waters get heated up by the solar energy
just as land. The process of heating and cooling
of the oceanic water is slower than land.
Factors Affecting Temperature Distribution
The factors which affect the distribution of
temperature of ocean water are :
(i) Latitude : the temperature of surface water
decreases from the equator towards the
poles because the amount of insolation
decreases poleward.
(ii) Unequal distribution of land and water :
the oceans in the northern hemisphere
115
receive more heat due to their contact with
larger extent of land than the oceans in
the southern hemisphere.
(iii) Prevailing wind : the winds blowing from
the land towards the oceans drive warm
surface water away form the coast
resulting in the upwelling of cold water
from below. It results into the longitudinal
variation in the temperature. Contrary to
this, the onshore winds pile up warm
water near the coast and this raises the
temperature.
(iv) Ocean currents : warm ocean currents
raise the temperature in cold areas while
the cold currents decrease the
temperature in warm ocean areas. Gulf
stream (warm current) raises the
temperature near the eastern coast of
North America and the West Coast of
Europe while the Labrador current (cold
current) lowers the temperature near the
north-east coast of North America.
All these factors influence the temperature
of the ocean currents locally. The enclosed seas
in the low latitudes record relatively higher
temperature than the open seas; whereas the
enclosed seas in the high latitudes have lower
temperature than the open seas.
Horizontal and Vertical Distribution
of Temperature
The temperature-depth profile for the ocean
water shows how the temperature decreases
with the increasing depth. The profile shows a
boundary region between the surface waters
of the ocean and the deeper layers. The
boundary usually begins around 100 - 400 m
below the sea surface and extends several
hundred of m downward (Figure 13.3). This
boundary region, from where there is a rapid
decrease of temperature, is called the
thermocline. About 90 per cent of the total
volume of water is found below the thermocline
in the deep ocean. In this zone, temperatures
approach 0° C.
The temperature structure of oceans over
middle and low latitudes can be described as
a three-layer system from surface to the bottom.
The first layer represents the top layer of
116
warm oceanic water and it is about 500m thick
with temperatures ranging between 20° and
25° C. This layer, within the tropical region, is
present throughout the year but in mid
latitudes it develops only during summer.
The second layer called the thermocline
layer lies below the first layer and is characterised
by rapid decrease in temperature with increasing
depth. The thermocline is 500 -1,000 m thick.
Figure 13.3 : Thermocline
The third layer is very cold and extends
upto the deep ocean floor. In the Arctic and
Antartic circles, the surface water temperatures
are close to 0° C and so the temperature change
with the depth is very slight. Here, only one
layer of cold water exists, which extends from
surface to deep ocean floor.
The average temperature of surface water
of the oceans is about 27°C and it gradually
decreases from the equator towards the poles.
The rate of decrease of temperature with
increasing latitude is generally 0.5°C per
latitude. The average temperature is around
22°C at 20° latitudes, 14° C at 40° latitudes
and 0° C near poles. The oceans in the northern
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
hemisphere record relatively higher temperature
than in the southern hemisphere. The highest
temperature is not recorded at the equator but
slightly towards north of it. The average annual
temperatures for the northern and southern
hemisphere are around 19° C and 16° C
respectively. This variation is due to the
unequal distribution of land and water in the
northern and southern hemispheres. Figure
13.4 shows the spatial pattern of surface
temperature of the oceans.
It is a well known fact that the maximum
temperature of the oceans is always at their
surfaces because they directly receive the heat
from the sun and the heat is transmitted to
the lower sections of the oceans through the
process of conduction. It results into decrease
of temperature with the increasing depth, but
the rate of decrease is not uniform throughout.
The temperature falls very rapidly up to the
depth of 200 m and thereafter, the rate of
decrease of temperature is slowed down.
SALINITY OF OCEAN WATERS
All waters in nature, whether rain water or
ocean water, contain dissolved mineral salts.
Salinity is the term used to define the total
content of dissolved salts in sea water
(Table 13.4). It is calculated as the amount of
salt (in gm) dissolved in 1,000 gm (1 kg) of
seawater. It is usually expressed as parts per
thousand (o/oo) or ppt. Salinity is an important
property of sea water. Salinity of 24.7 o/oo has
been considered as the upper limit to
demarcate ‘brackish water’.
Factors affecting ocean salinity are
mentioned below:
(i) The salinity of water in the surface layer
of oceans depend mainly on evaporation
and precipitation.
(ii) Surface salinity is greatly influenced in
coastal regions by the fresh water flow
from rivers, and in polar regions by the
processes of freezing and thawing of ice.
(iii) Wind, also influences salinity of an area
by transferring water to other areas.
(iv) The ocean currents contribute to the
salinity variations. Salinity, temperature
and density of water are interrelated.
Hence, any change in the temperature or
density influences the salinity of an area.
WATER (OCEANS) 117

Figure 13.4 : Spatial pattern of surface temperature (°C) of the oceans

Red Sea, it is as high as 41o/oo, while in the

Highest salinity in water bodies
estuaries and the Arctic, the salinity fluctuates
Lake Van in Turkey (330 o/oo),
Dead Sea (238 o/oo), from 0 - 35 o/oo, seasonally. In hot and dry
Great Salt Lake (220 o/oo) regions, where evaporation is high, the salinity
sometimes reaches to 70 o/oo.
The salinity variation in the Pacific Ocean
Table 13.4 : Dissolved Salts in Sea Water is mainly due to its shape and larger areal
(gm of Salt per kg of Water) extent. Salinity decreases from 35 o/oo - 31 o/oo
on the western parts of the northern
Chlorine 18.97
hemisphere because of the influx of melted
Sodium 10.47
water from the Arctic region. In the same way,
Sulphate 2.65
Magnesium 1.28
after 15° - 20° south, it decreases to 33 o/oo .
Calcium 0.41
The average salinity of the Atlantic Ocean
Potassium 0.38
is around 36 o/oo. The highest salinity is
Bicarbonate 0.14 recorded between 15° and 20° latitudes.
Bromine 0.06 Maximum salinity (37 o/oo) is observed between
Borate 0.02 20° N and 30° N and 20° W - 60° W. It gradually
Strontium 0.01 decreases towards the north. The North Sea,
in spite of its location in higher latitudes,
records higher salinity due to more saline water
HORIZONTAL DISTRIBUTION OF SALINITY brought by the North Atlantic Drift. Baltic Sea
The salinity for normal open ocean ranges records low salinity due to influx of river waters
between 33o/oo and 37 o/oo. In the land locked in large quantity. The Mediterranean Sea
118 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Figure13.5 : Surface salinity of the World’s Oceans

records higher salinity due to high evaporation.
Salinity is, however, very low in Black Sea due
to enormous fresh water influx by rivers. See
the atlas to find out the rivers joining Black Sea.
The average salinity of the Indian Ocean is
o
35 /oo. The low salinity trend is observed in
the Bay of Bengal due to influx of river water
by the river Ganga. On the contrary, the
Arabian Sea shows higher salinity due to high
evaporation and low influx of fresh water. Figure
13.5 shows the salinity of the World’s oceans.
Vertical Distribution of Salinity
Salinity changes with depth, but the way it
changes depends upon the location of the sea.
Salinity at the surface increases by the loss of
water to ice or evaporation, or decreased by
the input of fresh waters, such as from the
rivers. Salinity at depth is very much fixed,
because there is no way that water is ‘lost’, or
the salt is ‘added.’ There is a marked difference
in the salinity between the surface zones and
the deep zones of the oceans. The lower salinity
water rests above the higher salinity dense
water. Salinity, generally, increases with depth
and there is a distinct zone called the halocline,
where salinity increases sharply. Other factors
being constant, increasing salinity of seawater
causes its density to increase. High salinity
seawater, generally, sinks below the lower
salinity water. This leads to stratification by
salinity.

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Identify the element which is not a part of the hydrological cycle
(a) Evaporation (c) Precipitation
(b) Hydration (d) Condensation
WATER (OCEANS) 119

(ii) The average depth of continental slope varies between

(a) 2-20m (c) 20-200m
(b) 200-2,000m (d) 2,000-20,000m
(iii) Which one of the following is not a minor relief feature in the oceans:
(a) Seamount (c) Oceanic Deep
(b) Atoll (d) Guyot
(iv) Salinity is expressed as the amount of salt in grams dissolved in sea
water per
(a) 10 gm (c) 100 gm
(b) 1,000 gm (d) 10,000 gm
(v) Which one of the following is the smallest ocean:
(a) Indian Ocean (c) Atlantic Ocean
(b) Arctic Ocean (d) Pacific Ocean
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Why do we call the earth a Blue Planet?
(ii) What is a continental margin?
(iii) List out the deepest trenches of various oceans.
(iv) What is a thermocline?
(v) When you move into the ocean what thermal layers would you encounter?
Why the temperature varies with depth?
(vi) What is salinity of sea water?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) How are various elements of the hydrological cycle interrelated?
(ii) Examine the factors that influence the temperature distribution of the
oceans.

Project Work
(i) Consult the atlas and show ocean floor relief on the outline of the world
map.
(ii) Identify the areas of mid oceanic ridges from the Indian Ocean.
CHAPTER
T
he ocean water is dynamic. Its physical
characteristics like temperature,
salinity, density and the external
forces like of the sun, moon and the winds
influence the movement of ocean water. The
horizontal and vertical motions are common
in ocean water bodies. The horizontal motion
refers to the ocean currents and waves. The
vertical motion refers to tides. Ocean currents
are the continuous flow of huge amount of
water in a definite direction while the waves
are the horizontal motion of water. Water moves
ahead from one place to another through ocean
currents while the water in the waves does not
move, but the wave trains move ahead. The
vertical motion refers to the rise and fall of water
in the oceans and seas. Due to attraction of
the sun and the moon, the ocean water is raised
up and falls down twice a day. The upwelling
of cold water from subsurface and the sinking
of surface water are also forms of vertical
motion of ocean water.
WAVES
Waves are actually the energy, not the water
as such, which moves across the ocean surface.
Water particles only travel in a small circle as a
wave passes. Wind provides energy to the
waves. Wind causes waves to travel in the ocean
and the energy is released on shorelines. The
motion of the surface water seldom affects the
stagnant deep bottom water of the oceans. As
a wave approaches the beach, it slows down.
This is due to the friction occurring between
the dynamic water and the sea floor. And, when
the depth of water is less than half the
MOVEMENTS OF OCEAN WATER
wavelength of the wave, the wave breaks. The
largest waves are found in the open oceans.
Waves continue to grow larger as they move
and absorb energy from the wind.
Most of the waves are caused by the wind
driving against water. When a breeze of two
knots or less blows over calm water, small
ripples form and grow as the wind speed
increases until white caps appear in the
breaking waves. Waves may travel thousands
of km before rolling ashore, breaking and
dissolving as surf.
A wave’s size and shape reveal its origin.
Steep waves are fairly young ones and are
probably formed by local wind. Slow and
steady waves originate from far away places,
possibly from another hemisphere. The
maximum wave height is determined by the
strength of the wind, i.e. how long it blows and
the area over which it blows in a single direction.
Waves travel because wind pushes the
water body in its course while gravity pulls the
crests of the waves downward. The falling water
pushes the former troughs upward, and the
Figure14.1 : Motion of waves and water molecules
MOVEMENTS OF OCEAN WATER
wave moves to a new position (Figure 14.1).
The actual motion of the water beneath the
waves is circular. It indicates that things are
carried up and forward as the wave
approaches, and down and back as it passes.
Characteristics of Waves
Wave crest and trough : The highest and
lowest points of a wave are called the crest
and trough respectively.
Wave height : It is the vertical distance
from the bottom of a trough to the top of
a crest of a wave.
Wave amplitude : It is one-half of the wave
height.
Wave period : It is merely the time interval
between two successive wave crests or
troughs as they pass a fixed point.
Wavelength : It is the horizontal distance
between two successive crests.
Wave speed : It is the rate at which the
wave moves through the water, and is
measured in knots.
Wave frequency : It is the number of waves
passing a given point during a one-
second time interval.
TIDES
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.
Movement of water caused by meteorological
effects (winds and atmospheric pressure
changes) are called surges. Surges are not
regular like tides. The study of tides is very
complex, spatially and temporally, as it has great
variations in frequency, magnitude and height.
The moon’s gravitational pull to a great
extent and to a lesser extent the sun’s
gravitational pull, are the major causes for the
occurrence of tides. Another factor is centrifugal
force, which is the force that acts to counter
the balance the gravity. Together, the
gravitational pull and the centrifugal force are
responsible for creating the two major tidal
bulges on the earth. On the side of the earth
facing the moon, a tidal bulge occurs while on
the opposite side though the gravitational
121
attraction of the moon is less as it is farther
away, the centrifugal force causes tidal bulge
on the other side (Figure 14.2).
The ‘tide-generating’ force is the difference
between these two forces; i.e. the gravitational
attraction of the moon and the centrifugal force.
On the surface of the earth, nearest the moon,
pull or the attractive force of the moon is greater
than the centrifugal force, and so there is a net
force causing a bulge towards the moon. On
the opposite side of the earth, the attractive
force is less, as it is farther away from the moon,
the centrifugal force is dominant. Hence, there
is a net force away from the moon. It creates
the second bulge away from the moon. On the
surface of the earth, the horizontal tide
generating forces are more important than the
vertical forces in generating the tidal bulges.
Figure14.2 : Relation between gravitational
forces and tides
The tidal bulges on wide continental
shelves, have greater height. When tidal bulges
hit the mid-oceanic islands they become low.
The shape of bays and estuaries along a
coastline can also magnify the intensity of tides.
Funnel-shaped bays greatly change tidal
magnitudes. When the tide is channelled
between islands or into bays and estuaries
they are called tidal currents.
122
Tides of Bay of Fundy, Canada
The highest tides in the world occur in
the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia, Canada.
The tidal bulge is 15 - 16 m. Because
there are two high tides and two low tides
every day (roughly a 24 hour period); then
a tide must come in within about a six
hour period. As a rough estimate, the tide
rises about 240 cm an hour (1,440 cm
divided by 6 hours). If you have walked
down a beach with a steep cliff alongside
(which is common there), make sure you
watch the tides. If you walk for about an
hour and then notice that the tide is
coming in, the water will be over your
head before you get back to where you
started!
Types of Tides
Tides vary in their frequency, direction and
movement from place to place and also from
time to time. Tides may be grouped into various
types based on their frequency of occurrence
in one day or 24 hours or based on their height.
Tides based on Frequency
Semi-diurnal tide : The most common tidal
pattern, featuring two high tides and two low
tides each day. The successive high or low tides
are approximately of the same height.
Diurnal tide : There is only one high tide and
one low tide during each day. The successive
high and low tides are approximately of the
same height.
Mixed tide : Tides having variations in height
are known as mixed tides. These tides generally
occur along the west coast of North America
and on many islands of the Pacific Ocean.
Tides based on the Sun, Moon and the Earth
Positions
The height of rising water (high tide) varies
appreciably depending upon the position of
sun and moon with respect to the earth.
Spring tides and neap tides come under this
category.
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Spring tides : The position of both the sun and
the moon in relation to the earth has direct
bearing on tide height. When the sun, the moon
and the earth are in a straight line, the height
of the tide will be higher. These are called spring
tides and they occur twice a month, one on
full moon period and another during new moon
period.
Neap tides : Normally, there is a seven day
interval between the spring tides and neap
tides. At this time the sun and moon are at
right angles to each other and the forces of the
sun and moon tend to counteract one another.
The Moon’s attraction, though more than twice
as strong as the sun’s, is diminished by the
counteracting force of the sun’s gravitational
pull.
Once in a month, when the moon’s orbit is
closest to the earth (perigee), unusually high
and low tides occur. During this time the tidal
range is greater than normal. Two weeks later,
when the moon is farthest from earth (apogee),
the moon’s gravitational force is limited and
the tidal ranges are less than their average
heights.
When the earth is closest to the sun
(perihelion), around 3rd January each year,
tidal ranges are also much greater, with
unusually high and unusually low tides. When
the earth is farthest from the sun (aphelion),
around 4th July each year, tidal ranges are
much less than average.
The time between the high tide and low tide,
when the water level is falling, is called the ebb.
The time between the low tide and high tide,
when the tide is rising, is called the flow or flood.
Importance of Tides
Since tides are caused by the earth-moon-sun
positions which are known accurately, the
tides can be predicted well in advance. This
helps the navigators and fishermen plan their
activities. Tidal flows are of great importance
in navigation. Tidal heights are very important,
especially harbours near rivers and within
estuaries having shallow ‘bars’ at the entrance,
which prevent ships and boats from entering
into the harbour. Tides are also helpful in
MOVEMENTS OF OCEAN WATER
desilting the sediments and in removing
polluted water from river estuaries. Tides are
used to generate electrical power (in Canada,
France, Russia, and China). A 3 MW tidal
power project at Durgaduani in Sunderbans
of West Bengal is under way.
OCEAN CURRENTS
Ocean currents are like river flow in oceans.
They represent a regular volume of water in a
definite path and direction. Ocean currents are
influenced by two types of forces namely :
(i) primary forces that initiate the movement of
water; (ii) secondary forces that influence the
currents to flow.
The primary forces that influence the
currents are: (i) heating by solar energy;
(ii) wind; (iii) gravity; (iv) coriolis force. Heating
by solar energy causes the water to expand.
That is why, near the equator the ocean water
is about 8 cm higher in level than in the middle
latitudes. This causes a very slight gradient
and water tends to flow down the slope. Wind
blowing on the surface of the ocean pushes the
water to move. Friction between the wind and
the water surface affects the movement of the
water body in its course. Gravity tends to pull
the water down to pile and create gradient
variation. The Coriolis force intervenes and
causes the water to move to the right in the
northern hemisphere and to the left in the
southern hemisphere. These large accumulations
of water and the flow around them are called
Gyres. These produce large circular currents
in all the ocean basins.
Characteristics of Ocean Currents
Currents are referred to by their “drift”.
Usually, the currents are strongest near
the surface and may attain speeds over
five knots. At depths, currents are
generally slow with speeds less than 0.5
knots. We refer to the speed of a current
as its “drift.” Drift is measured in terms
of knots. The strength of a current refers
to the speed of the current. A fast current
is considered strong. A current is usually
strongest at the surface and decreases
in strength (speed) with depth. Most
currents have speeds less than or equal
to 5 knots.
123
Differences in water density affect vertical
mobility of ocean currents. Water with high
salinity is denser than water with low salinity
and in the same way cold water is denser than
warm water. Denser water tends to sink, while
relatively lighter water tends to rise. Cold-water
ocean currents occur when the cold water at
the poles sinks and slowly moves towards the
equator. Warm-water currents travel out from
the equator along the surface, flowing towards
the poles to replace the sinking cold water.
Types of Ocean Currents
The ocean currents may be classified based on
their depth as surface currents and deep water
currents : (i) surface currents constitute about
10 per cent of all the water in the ocean, these
waters are the upper 400 m of the ocean;
(ii) deep water currents make up the other 90
per cent of the ocean water. These waters move
around the ocean basins due to variations in
the density and gravity. Deep waters sink into
the deep ocean basins at high latitudes, where
the temperatures are cold enough to cause the
density to increase.
Ocean currents can also be classified
based on temperature : as cold currents and
warm currents: (i) cold currents bring cold
water into warm water areas. These currents
are usually found on the west coast of the
continents in the low and middle latitudes
(true in both hemispheres) and on the east
coast in the higher latitudes in the Northern
Hemisphere; (ii) warm currents bring warm
water into cold water areas and are usually
observed on the east coast of continents in the
low and middle latitudes (true in both
hemispheres). In the northern hemisphere
they are found on the west coasts of continents
in high latitudes.
Major Ocean Currents
Major ocean currents are greatly influenced by
the stresses exerted by the prevailing winds and
coriolis force. The oceanic circulation pattern
roughly corresponds to the earth’s atmospheric
circulation pattern. The air circulation over the
oceans in the middle latitudes is mainly
anticyclonic (more pronounced in the southern
hemisphere than in the northern hemisphere).
The oceanic circulation pattern also
corresponds with the same. At higher latitudes,
124 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Fig.14.3 : Major currents in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans

where the wind flow is mostly cyclonic, the Effects of Ocean Currents
oceanic circulation follows this pattern. In
Ocean currents have a number of direct and
regions of pronounced monsoonal flow, the
indirect influences on human activities. West
monsoon winds influence the current
coasts of the continents in tropical and
movements. Due to the coriolis force, the warm
subtropical latitudes (except close to the
currents from low latitudes tend to move to the
equator) are bordered by cool waters. Their
right in the northern hemisphere and to their
average temperatures are relatively low with a
left in the southern hemisphere.
narrow diurnal and annual ranges. There is
The oceanic circulation transports heat
fog, but generally the areas are arid. West coasts
from one latitude belt to another in a manner
of the continents in the middle and higher
similar to the heat transported by the general
latitudes are bordered by warm waters which
circulation of the atmosphere. The cold waters
cause a distinct marine climate. They are
of the Arctic and Antarctic circles move towards
characterised by cool summers and relatively
warmer water in tropical and equatorial
mild winters with a narrow annual range of
regions, while the warm waters of the lower
temperatures. Warm currents flow parallel to
latitudes move polewards. The major currents
the east coasts of the continents in tropical and
in the different oceans are shown in Figure14.3.
subtropical latitudes. This results in warm and
rainy climates. These areas lie in the western
Prepare a list of currents which are margins of the subtropical anti-cyclones. The
found in Pacific, Atlantic and Indian
mixing of warm and cold currents help to
Oceans.
replenish the oxygen and favour the growth of
How is the movement of currents is
planktons, the primary food for fish population.
influenced by prevailing winds? Give
The best fishing grounds of the world exist
some examples from Figure14.3.
mainly in these mixing zones.
MOVEMENTS OF OCEAN WATER 125

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Upward and downward movement of ocean water is known as the :
(a) tide (c) wave
(b) current (d) none of the above
(ii) Spring tides are caused :
(a) As result of the moon and the sun pulling the earth gravitationally
in the same direction.
(b) As result of the moon and the sun pulling the earth gravitationally
in the opposite direction.
(c) Indention in the coast line.
(d) None of the above.
(iii) The distance between the earth and the moon is minimum when the moon
is in :
(a) Aphelion (c) Perihelion
(b) Perigee (d) Apogee
(iv) The earth reaches its perihelion in:
(a) October (c) July
(b) September (d) January
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What are waves?
(ii) Where do waves in the ocean get their energy from?
(iii) What are tides?
(iv) How are tides caused?
(v) How are tides related to navigation?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) How do currents affect the temperature? How does it affect the temperature
of coastal areas in the N. W. Europe?
(ii) What are the causes of currents?

Project Work
(i) Visit a lake or a pond and observe the movement of waves. Throw a stone
and notice how waves are generated. Draw the diagram of a wave and
measure its length, distance and amplitude and record them in your note.
(ii) Take a globe and a map showing the currents of the oceans. Discuss why
certain currents are warm or cold and why they deflect in certain places
and examine the reasons.
 UNIT
VI

LIFE ON THE EARTH

This unit deals with
• Biosphere — importance of plants and other organisms;
ecosystems, bio-geo chemical cycle and ecological balance;
biodiversity and conservation

LIFE ON THE EARTH
B
y now you might have realised that all
units of this book have acquainted you
with the three major realms of the
environment, that is, the lithosphere, the
atmosphere and the hydrosphere. You know
that living organisms of the earth, constituting
the biosphere, interact with other environmental
realms. The biosphere includes all the living
components of the earth. It consists of all plants
and animals, including all the micro-
Life on the earth is found almost
everywhere. Living organisms are found
from the poles to the equator, from the
bottom of the sea to several km in the
air, from freezing waters to dry valleys,
from under the sea to underground water
lying below the earth’s surface.
organisms that live on the planet earth and their
interactions with the surrounding environment.
Most of the organisms exist on the lithosphere
and/or the hydrosphere as well as in the
atmosphere. There are also many organisms
that move freely from one realm to the other.
The biosphere and its components are very
significant elements of the environment. These
elements interact with other components of the
natural landscape such as land, water and
soil. They are also influenced by the
atmospheric elements such as the temperature,
rainfall, moisture and sunlight. The
interactions of biosphere with land, air and
water are important to the growth,
development and evolution of the organism.
CHAPTER
E COLOGY
You have been reading about ecological and
environmental problems in newspapers and
magazines. Have you ever thought what
ecology is? The environment as you know, is
made up of abiotic and biotic components. It
would be interesting to understand how the
diversity of life-forms is maintained to bring a
kind of balance. This balance is maintained in
a particular proportion so that a healthy
interaction between the biotic and the abiotic
components goes on.
The interactions of a particular group of
organisms with abiotic factors within a
particular habitat resulting in clearly defined
energy flows and material cycles on land, water
and air, are called ecological systems.
The term ecology is derived from the Greek
word ‘oikos’ meaning ‘house’, combined
with the word ‘logy’ meaning the ‘science
of’ or ‘the study of ’. Literally, ecology is
the study of the earth as a ‘household’,
of plants, human beings, animals and
micro-organisms. They all live together
as interdependent components. A
German zoologist Ernst Haeckel, who
used the term as ‘oekologie’ in 1869,
became the first person to use the term
‘ecology’. The study of interactions
between life forms (biotic) and the
physical environment (abiotic) is the
science of ecology. Hence, ecology can be
defined as a scientific study of the
interactions of organisms with their
physical environment and with each other.
128
A habitat in the ecological sense is the totality
of the physical and chemical factors that
constitute the general environment. A system
consisting of biotic and abiotic components is
known as ecosystem. All these components in
ecosystem are inter related and interact with
each other. Different types of ecosystems exist
with varying ranges of environmental
conditions where various plants and animal
species have got adapted through evolution.
This phenomenon is known as ecological
adaptation.
Types of Ecosystems
Ecosystems are of two major types: terrestrial
and aquatic. Terrestrial ecosystem can be
further be classified into ‘biomes’. A biome is a
plant and animal community that covers a
large geographical area. The boundaries of
different biomes on land are determined mainly
by climate. Therefore, a biome can be defined
as the total assemblage of plant and animal
species interacting within specific conditions.
These include rainfall, temperature, humidity
and soil conditions. Some of the major biomes
of the world are: forest, grassland, desert and
tundra biomes. Aquatic ecosystems can be
classed as marine and freshwater ecosystems.
Marine ecosystem includes the oceans, coastal
estuaries and coral reefs. Freshwater
Figure 15.1 : Structure and functions of ecosystems
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
ecosystem includes lakes, ponds, streams,
marshes and bogs.
Structure and Functions of Ecosystems
The structure of an ecosystem involves a
description of the available plant and animal
species. From a structural point of view, all
ecosystems consist of abiotic and biotic factors.
Abiotic factors include rainfall, temperature,
sunlight, atmospheric humidity, soil
conditions, inorganic substances (carbon
dioxide, water, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus,
potassium, etc.). Biotic factors include the
producers, (primary, secondary, tertiary) the
consumers and the decomposers. The
producers include all the green plants, which
manufacture their own food through
photosynthesis. The primary consumers
include herbivorous animals like deer, goats,
mice and all plant-eating animals. The
carnivores include all the flesh-eating animals
like snakes, tigers and lions. Certain carnivores
that feed also on carnivores are known as top
carnivores like hawks and mongooses.
Decomposers are those that feed on dead
organisms (for example, scavengers like
vultures and crows), and further breaking
down of the dead matter by other decomposing
agents like bacteria and various micro-
organisms.
LIFE ON THE EARTH
The producers are consumed by the
primary consumers whereas the primary
consumers are, in turn, being eaten by the
secondary consumers. Further, the secondary
consumers are consumed by the tertiary
consumers. The decomposers feed on the dead
at each and every level. They change them into
various substances such as nutrients, organic
and inorganic salts essential for soil fertility.
Organisms of an ecosystem are linked together
through a foodchain (Figure 15.1). For
example, a plant eating beetle feeding on a
paddy stalk is eaten by a frog, which is, in turn,
eaten by a snake, which is then consumed by
a hawk. This sequence of eating and being
eaten and the resultant transfer of energy from
one level to another is known as the food-chain.
Transfer of energy that occurs during the
process of a foodchain from one level to
another is known as flow of energy. However,
food-chains are not isolated from one another.
For example, a mouse feeding on grain may
be eaten by different secondary consumers
(carnivores) and these carnivores may be eaten
by other different tertiary consumers (top
carnivores). In such situations, each of the
carnivores may consume more than one type
of prey. As a result, the food- chains get
interlocked with one another. This inter-
connecting network of species is known as food
web. Generally, two types of food-chains are
recognised: grazing food-chain and detritus
food-chain. In a grazing food-chain, the first
level starts with plants as producers and ends
with carnivores as consumers as the last level,
with the herbivores being at the intermediate
level. There is a loss of energy at each level
which may be through respiration, excretion
or decomposition. The levels involved in a food-
chain range between three to five and energy
is lost at each level. A detritus food-chain is
based on autotrophs energy capture initiated
by grazing animals and involves the
decomposition or breaking down of organic
wastes and dead matter derived from the
grazing food-chain.
Types of Biomes
In the earlier paragraphs, you have learnt the
meaning of the term ‘biome’. Let us now try to
identify the major biomes of the world. There
are five major biomes — forest, desert, grassland,
129
aquatic and altitudinal biomes. Some features
of these biomes are given in Table 15.1.
Biogeochemical Cycles
The sun is the basic source of energy on which
all life depends. This energy initiates life
processes in the biosphere through
photosynthesis, the main source of food and
energy for green plants. During photosynthesis,
carbon dioxide is converted into organic
compounds and oxygen. Out of the total solar
insolation that reaches the earth’s surface, only
a very small fraction (0.1 per cent) is fixed in
photosynthesis. More than half is used for plant
respiration and the remaining part is
temporarily stored or is shifted to other
portions of the plant.
Life on earth consists of a great variety of
living organisms. These living organisms exist
and survive in a diversity of associations. Such
survival involves the presence of systemic flows
such as flows of energy, water and nutrients.
These flows show variations in different parts
of the world, in different seasons of the year
and under varying local circumstances. Studies
have shown that for the last one billion years,
the atmosphere and hydrosphere have been
composed of approximately the same balance
of chemical components. This balance of the
chemical elements is maintained by a cyclic
passage through the tissues of plants and
animals. The cycle starts by absorbing the
chemical elements by the organism and is
returned to the air, water and soil through
decomposition. These cycles are largely
energised by solar insolation. These cyclic
movements of chemical elements of the
biosphere between the organism and the
environment are referred to as biogeochemical
cycles. Bio refers to living organisms and geo
to rocks, soil, air and water of the earth.
There are two types of biogeochemical
cycles : the gaseous and the sedimentary cycle.
In the gaseous cycle, the main reservoir of
nutrients is the atmosphere and the ocean. In
the sedimentary cycle, the main reservoir is the
soil and the sedimentary and other rocks of
the earth’s crust.
The Water Cycle
All living organisms, the atmosphere and the
lithosphere maintain between them a
130 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

Table 15.1 : World Biomes

Climatic
Biomes Subtypes Regions Soil Flora and Fauna
Characteristics
Forest A. Tropical A1. 10° N-S A1. Temp. 20-25°C, A1. Acidic, A1. M u l t i - l a y e r e d
1. Equitorial A2. 10° - 25° N-S evenly distributed poor in canopy tall and
2. Deciduous B. Eastern North A2. Temp. 25-30°C, nutrients large trees
B. Temperate America, N.E. Rainfall, ave. ann. A2. Rich in A2. Less dense, trees
C. Boreal Asia, Western 1,000mm, seasonal nutrients of medium height;
and Central B. Temp. 20-30° C, B. Fertile, many varieties co-
Europe Rainfall evenly en-riched exis t. Insects,
C. Broad belt of distributed 750- with bats, birds and
Eurasia and 1,500mm, Well- decaying mammals are
North America, defined seasons litter common species
parts of and distinct winter. C. Acidic and in both
Siberia, C. Short moist moder- poor in B. Moderately dense
Alaska, ately warm nutrients, broad leaved trees.
Canada and summers and long thin soil With less diversity
Scandinavia cold dry winter; cover of plant species.
very low Oack, Beach,
temperatures. Maple etc. are
Precipitation mostly some common
snowfall species. Squirrels,
400 -1,000mm rabbits, skunks,
birds, black bears,
mountain lions etc.
C. Evergreen conifers
like pine, fur and
spruce etc. Wood
peckers, hawks,
bears, wolves,
deer, hares and
bats are common
animals

Desert A. Hot and Dry A. S a h a r a , A. Temp. 20 - 45°C. Rich in A-C. Scanty vege-
desert Kalahari, B. 21 - 38°C. nutrients with tation; few large
B. Semi arid Marusthali, C. 15 - 35°C. little or no mammals,
desert Rub-el-Khali D. 2 - 25°C organic matter insects, reptiles
C. Coastal B. Marginal areas A-D Rainfall is less than and birds
desert of hot deserts 50 mm D. Rabbits, rats,
D. Cold desert C. Atacama antelopes
D. Tundra climatic and ground
regions squirrels
Grassland A. Tropical A. Large areas A. Warm hot A. Porous with A. Grasses; trees
Savannah of A f r i c a , climates, Rainfall thin layer of and large shrubs
B. Temperate Australia, 500-1,250 mm humus. absent; giraffes
Steppe South B. Hot summers and B. Thin floccu- zebras, buffalos,
America and cold winter. lated soil, leopards, hyenas,
India Rainfall 500 - rich in bases elephants, mice,
B. P a r t s of 900 mm moles, snakes
Eurasia and and worms etc.,
North America are common
animals
B. Grasses; occ-
asional trees
such as cotton-
woods, oaks and
willows; gazelles,
zebras, rhin-
LIFE ON THE EARTH 131

oceros, wild
horses, lions,
varieties of birds,
worms, snakes
etc., are common
animals

Aquatic A. Freshwater A. Lakes, streams, A-B Temperatures vary A. Water, swamps Algal and other aquatic
B. Marine rivers and widely with cooler air and marshes and marine plant
wetlands temperatures and communities with
B. Oceans, coral high humidity B.Water, tidal varieties of water
reefs, lagoons swamps and dwelling animals
and estuaries marshes

Altitudinal ——— Slopes of high Temperature and Regolith over Deciduous to tundra
mountain ranges precipitation vary slopes vegetation varying
like the Himalayas, depending upon according to altitude
the Andes and the latitudinal zone
Rockies

circulation of water in solid, liquid or gaseous dioxide and are returned to the atmosphere
form referred to as the water or hydrologic cycle (Figure 15.2).
(Chapter 13 of this book).

The Carbon Cycle

Carbon is one of the basic elements of all living
organisms. It forms the basic constituent of
all the organic compounds. The biosphere
contains over half a million carbon compounds
in them. The carbon cycle is mainly the
conversion of carbon dioxide. This conversion
is initiated by the fixation of carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere through photosynthesis.
Such conversion results in the production of
carbohydrate, glucose that may be converted
to other organic compounds such as sucrose,
starch, cellulose, etc. Here, some of the
carbohydrates are utilised directly by the plant Figure 15.2 : Carbon Cycle
itself. During this process, more carbon dioxide
The Oxygen Cycle
is generated and is released through its leaves
or roots during the day. The remaining Oxygen is the main by-product of
carbohydrates not being utilised by the plant photosynthesis. It is involved in the oxidation
become part of the plant tissue. Plant tissues of carbohydrates with the release of energy,
are either being eaten by the herbivorous carbon dioxide and water. The cycling of
animals or get decomposed by the micro- oxygen is a highly complex process. Oxygen
organisms. The herbivores convert some of the occurs in a number of chemical forms and
consumed carbohydrates into carbon dioxide combinations. It combines with nitrogen to
for release into the air through respiration. The form nitrates and with many other minerals
micro-organisms decompose the remaining and elements to form various oxides such as
carbohydrates after the animal dies. The the iron oxide, aluminium oxide and others.
carbohydrates that are decomposed by the Much of oxygen is produced from the
micro-organisms then get oxidised into carbon decomposition of water molecules by sunlight
132
during photosynthesis and is released in the
atmosphere through transpiration and
respiration processes of plants.
The Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is a major constituent of the
atmosphere comprising about seventy-nine
per cent of the atmospheric gases. It is also an
essential constituent of different organic
compounds such as the amino acids, nucleic
acids, proteins, vitamins and pigments. Only
a few types of organisms like certain species of
soil bacteria and blue green algae are capable
of utilising it directly in its gaseous form.
Generally, nitrogen is usable only after it is
fixed. Ninety per cent of fixed nitrogen is
biological. The principal source of free nitrogen
is the action of soil micro-organisms and
associated plant roots on atmospheric nitrogen
found in pore spaces of the soil. Nitrogen can
also be fixed in the atmosphere by lightning and
cosmic radiation. In the oceans, some marine
animals can fix it. After atmospheric nitrogen
has been fixed into an available form, green
plants can assimilate it. Herbivorous animals
feeding on plants, in turn, consume some of it.
Dead plants and animals, excretion of
nitrogenous wastes are converted into nitrites
by the action of bacteria present in the soil.
Some bacteria can even convert nitrites into
nitrates that can be used again by green plants.
There are still other types of bacteria capable
of converting nitrates into free nitrogen, a
process known as denitrification (Figure 15.3).
Figure 15.3 : Nitrogen Cycle
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
Other Mineral Cycles
Other than carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and
hydrogen being the principal geochemical
components of the biosphere, many other
minerals also occur as critical nutrients for
plant and animal life. These mineral elements
required by living organisms are obtained
initially from inorganic sources such as
phosphorus, sulphur, calcium and potassium.
They usually occur as salts dissolved in soil
water or lakes, streams and seas. Mineral salts
come directly from the earth’s crust by
weathering where the soluble salts enter the
water cycle, eventually reaching the sea. Other
salts are returned to the earth’s surface through
sedimentation, and after weathering, they again
enter the cycle. All living organisms fulfill their
mineral requirements from mineral solutions
in their environments. Other animals receive
their mineral needs from the plants and animals
they consume. After the death of living
organisms, the minerals are returned to the soil
and water through decomposition and flow.
Ecological Balance
Ecological balance is a state of dynamic
equilibrium within a community of organisms
in a habitat or ecosystem. It can happen when
the diversity of the living organisms remains
relatively stable. Gradual changes do take
place but that happens only through natural
succession. It can also be explained as a stable
balance in the numbers of each species in an
ecosystem. This occurs through competition
and cooperation between different organisms
where population remains stable. This balance
is brought about by the fact that certain species
compete with one another determined by the
environment in which they grow. This balance
is also attained by the fact that some species
depend on others for their food and
sustenance. Such accounts are encountered
in vast grasslands where the herbivorous
animals (deer, zebras, buffaloes, etc.) are found
in plenty. On the other hand, the carnivorous
animals (tigers, lions, etc.) that are not usually
in large numbers, hunt and feed on the
herbivores, thereby controlling their
population. In the plants, any disturbance in
the native forests such as clearing the forest
for shifting cultivation usually brings about a
LIFE ON THE EARTH 133

change in the species distribution. This change
is due to competition where the secondary
forest species such as grasses, bamboos or
pines overtakes the native species changing
the original forest structure. This is called
succession.
Ecological balance may be disturbed due
to the introduction of new species, natural
hazards or human causes. Human interference
has affected the balance of plant communities
leading to disturbances in the ecosystems.
Such disturbances bring about numerous
secondary successions. Human pressure on
the earth’s resources has put a heavy toll on
the ecosystem. This has destroyed its originality
and has caused adverse effects to the general
environment. Ecological imbalances have
brought many natural calamities like
floods, landslides, diseases, erratic climatic
occurrences, etc.
There is a very close relationship between
the plant and animal communities within
particular habitats. Diversity of life in a
particular area can be employed as an
indicator of the habitat factor. Proper
knowledge and understanding of such factors
provide a strong base for protecting and
conserving the ecosystems.

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Which one of the following is included in biosphere?
(a) only plants (c) only animals
(b) all living and non-living organisms (d) all living organisms
(ii) Tropical grasslands are also known as :
(a) the prairies (c) the steppes
(b) the savannas (d) none of the above
(iii) Oxygen combines with iron found in the rocks to form :
(a) iron carbonate (c) iron oxides
(b) iron nitrites (d) iron sulphate
(iv) During photosynthesis, carbon dioxide combines with water in the
presence of sunlight to form :
(a) proteins (c) carbohydrates
(b) amino acids (d) vitamins
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What do you understand by the term ‘ecology’?
(ii) What is an ecological system? Identify the major types of ecosystems in
the world.
(iii) What is a food-chain? Give one example of a grazing food-chain identifying
the various levels.
(iv) What do you understand by the term ‘food web’? Give examples.
(v) What is a biome?
134 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.

(i) What are bio-geochemical cycles? Explain how nitrogen is fixed in the
atmosphere.
(ii) What is an ecological balance? Discuss the important measures needed
to prevent ecological imbalances.

Project Work
(i) Show the distribution of the different biomes on the outline map of the
world with a note highlighting the important characteristics of each biome.
(ii) Make a note of trees, shrubs and perennial plants in your school campus
and devote half a day to observe the types of birds which come to the
garden. Can you describe the diversity of birds?

BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION
Y
ou have already learnt about the
geomorphic processes particularly
weathering and depth of weathering
mantle in different climatic zones. See the
Figure 6.2 in Chapter 6 in order to recapitulate.
You should know that this weathering mantle
is the basis for the diversity of vegetation and
hence, the biodiversity. The basic cause for
such weathering variations and resultant
biodiversity is the input of solar energy and
water. No wonder that the areas that are rich
in these inputs are the areas of wide spectrum
of biodiversity.
Biodiversity as we have today is the result
of 2.5-3.5 billion years of evolution. Before
the advent of humans, our earth
supported more biodiversity than in any
other period. Since, the emergence of
humans, however, biodiversity has begun
a rapid decline, with one species after
another bearing the brunt of extinction
due to overuse. The number of species
globally vary from 2 million to 100 million,
with 10 million being the best estimate.
New species are regularly discovered
most of which are yet to be classified (an
estimate states that about 40 per cent of
fresh water fishes from South America
are not classified yet). Tropical forests are
very rich in bio-diversity.
Biodiversity is a system in constant
evolution, from a view point of species, as well
as from view point of an individual organism.
The average half-life of a species is estimated
at between one and four million years, and 99
per cent of the species that have ever lived on
CHAPTER
the earth are today extinct. Biodiversity is not
found evenly on the earth. It is consistently
richer in the tropics. As one approaches the
polar regions, one finds larger and larger
populations of fewer and fewer species.
Biodiversity itself is a combination of two
words, Bio (life) and diversity (variety). In
simple terms, biodiversity is the number and
variety of organisms found within a specified
geographic region. It refers to the varieties of
plants, animals and micro-organisms, the
genes they contain and the ecosystems they
form. It relates to the variability among living
organisms on the earth, including the
variability within and between the species and
that within and between the ecosystems.
Biodiversity is our living wealth. It is a result
of hundreds of millions of years of evolutionary
history.
Biodiversity can be discussed at three
levels : (i) Genetic diversity; (ii) Species diversity;
(iii) Ecosystem diversity.
Genetic Diversity
Genes are the basic building blocks of various
life forms. Genetic biodiversity refers to the
variation of genes within species. Groups of
individual organisms having certain
similarities in their physical characteristics are
called species. Human beings genetically
belong to the homo sapiens group and also
differ in their characteristics such as height,
colour, physical appearance, etc., considerably.
This is due to genetic diversity. This genetic
diversity is essential for a healthy breeding of
population of species.
136
Species Diversity
This refers to the variety of species. It relates to
the number of species in a defined area. The
diversity of species can be measured through
its richness, abundance and types. Some areas
are more rich in species than others. Areas rich
in species diversity are called hotspots of
diversity (Figure 16.5).
Ecosystem Diversity
You have studied about the ecosystem in the
earlier chapter. The broad differences between
ecosystem types and the diversity of habitats
and ecological processes occurring within each
ecosystem type constitute the ecosystem
diversity. The ‘boundaries’ of communities
(associations of species) and ecosystems are not
very rigidly defined. Thus, the demarcation of
ecosystem boundaries is difficult and complex.
Figure 16.1 : Grasslands and sholas in Indira Gandhi
National Park, Annamalai, Western Ghats — an
example of ecosystem diversity
Importance of Biodiversity
Biodiversity has contributed in many ways to
the development of human culture and, in
turn, human communities have played a major
role in shaping the diversity of nature at the
genetic, species and ecological levels.
Biodiversity plays the following roles:
ecological, economic and scientific.
Ecological Role of Biodiversity
Species of many kinds perform some function
or the other in an ecosystem. Nothing in an
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
ecosystem evolves and sustains without any
reason. That means, every organism, besides
extracting its needs, also contributes something
of useful to other organisms. Can you think of
the way we, humans contribute to the
sustenance of ecosystems. Species capture
and store energy, produce and decompose
organic materials, help to cycle water and
nutrients throughout the ecosystem, fix
atmospheric gases and help regulate the
climate. These functions are important for
ecosystem function and human survival. The
more diverse an ecosystem, better are the
chances for the species to survive through
adversities and attacks, and consequently, is
more productive. Hence, the loss of species
would decrease the ability of the system to
maintain itself. Just like a species with a high
genetic diversity, an ecosystem with high
biodiversity may have a greater chance of
adapting to environmental change. In other
words, the more the variety of species in an
ecosystem, the more stable the ecosystem is
likely to be.
Economic Role of Biodiversity
For all humans, biodiversity is an important
resource in their day-to-day life. One important
part of biodiversity is ‘crop diversity’, which is
also called agro-biodiversity. Biodiversity is
seen as a reservoir of resources to be drawn
upon for the manufacture of food,
pharmaceutical, and cosmetic products. This
concept of biological resources is responsible
for the deterioration of biodiversity. At the same
time, it is also the origin of new conflicts dealing
with rules of division and appropriation of
natural resources. Some of the important
economic commodities that biodiversity
supplies to humankind are: food crops,
livestock, forestry, fish, medicinal resources,
etc.
Scientific Role of Biodiversity
Biodiversity is important because each species
can give us some clue as to how life evolved
and will continue to evolve. Biodiversity also
helps in understanding how life functions and
the role of each species in sustaining
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION 137

ecosystems of which we are also a species. This The International Union of Conservation of
fact must be drawn upon every one of us so Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) has
that we live and let other species also live their classified the threatened species of plants and
lives. animals into three categories for the purpose
It is our ethical responsibility to consider of their conservation.
that each and every species along with us have
an intrinsic right to exist. Hence, it is morally Endangered Species
wrong to voluntarily cause the extinction of any
It includes those species which are in danger
species. The level of biodiversity is a good
of extinction. The IUCN publishes information
indicator of the state of our relationships with
about endangered species world-wide as the
other living species. In fact, the concept of
Red List of threatened species.
biodiversity is an integral part of many human
cultures.

LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY
Since the last few decades, growth in human
population has increased the rate of
consumption of natural resources. It has
accelerated the loss of species and habitation
in different parts of the world. Tropical regions
which occupy only about one-fourth of the
total area of the world, contain about three-
fourth of the world human population. Over-
exploitation of resources and deforestation
have become rampant to fulfil the needs of large
population. As these tropical rain forests
contain 50 per cent of the species on the earth, Figure 16.2 : Red Panda — an endangered species
destruction of natural habitats have proved
disastrous for the entire biosphere.
Natural calamities such as earthquakes,
floods, volcanic eruptions, forest fires,
droughts, etc. cause damage to the flora and
fauna of the earth, bringing change the
biodiversity of respective affected regions.
Pesticides and other pollutants such as
hydrocarbons and toxic heavy metals destroy
the weak and sensitive species. Species which
are not the natural inhabitants of the local
habitat but are introduced into the system, are
called exotic species. There are many
examples when a natural biotic community of Figure 16.3 : Zenkeria Sebastinei — a critically
endangered grass in Agasthiyamalai peak (India)
the ecosystem suffered extensive damage
because of the introduction of exotic species.
Vulnerable Species
During the last few decades, some animals like
tigers, elephants, rhinoceros, crocodiles, minks This includes the species which are likely to
and birds were hunted mercilessly by poachers be in danger of extinction in near future if the
for their horn, tusks, hides, etc. It has resulted factors threatening to their extinction continue.
in the rendering of certain types of organisms Survival of these species is not assured as their
as endangered category. population has reduced greatly.
138
Rare Species
Population of these species is very small in the
world; they are confined to limited areas or
thinly scattered over a wider area.
Figure 16.4 : Humbodtia decurrens Bedd — highly rare
endemic tree of Southern Western Ghats (India)
CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity is important for human existence.
All forms of life are so closely interlinked that
disturbance in one gives rise to imbalance in
the others. If species of plants and animals
become endangered, they cause degradation
in the environment, which may threaten
human being’s own existence.
There is an urgent need to educate people to
adopt environment-friendly practices and
reorient their activities in such a way that our
development is harmonious with other life forms
and is sustainable. There is an increasing
consciousness of the fact that such conservation
with sustainable use is possible only with the
involvement and cooperation of local
communities and individuals. For this, the
development of institutional structures at local
levels is necessary. The critical problem is not
merely the conservation of species nor the habitat
but the continuation of process of conservation.
The Government of India along with 155
other nations have signed the Convention of
Biodiversity at the Earth Summit held at Riode
Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992. The world
conservation strategy has suggested the
following steps for biodiversity conservation:
FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
(i) Efforts should be made to preserve the
species that are endangered.
(ii) Prevention of extinction requires proper
planning and management.
(iii) Varieties of food crops, forage plants,
timber trees, livestock, animals and
their wild relatives should be preserved;
(iv) Each country should identify habitats
of wild relatives and ensure their
protection.
(v) Habitats where species feed, breed, rest
and nurse their young should be
safeguarded and protected.
(vi) International trade in wild plants and
animals be regulated.
To protect, preserve and propagate the
variety of species within natural boundaries,
the Government of India passed the Wild Life
(Protection) Act, 1972, under which national
parks and sanctuaries were established and
biosphere reserves declared. Details of these
biosphere reserves are given in the book India:
Physical Environment (NCERT, 2006).
There are some countries which are
situated in the tropical region; they possess a
large number of the world’s species diversity.
They are called mega diversity centres. There
are 12 such countries, namely Mexico,
Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Zaire,
Madagascar, China, India, Malaysia,
Indonesia and Australia in which these centres
are located (Figure 16.5). In order to
concentrate resources on those areas that are
most vulnerable, the International Union for
the Conservation of Nature and Natural
Resources (IUCN) has identified certain areas
as biodiversity hotspots. Hotspots are defined
according to their vegetation. Plants are
important because these determine the
primary productivity of an ecosystem. Most,
but not all, of the hotspots rely on species-
rich ecosystems for food, firewood, cropland,
and income from timber. In Madagascar, for
example, about 85 per cent of the plants and
animals are not only found nowhere else in
the world, but its people are also among the
world’s poorest and rely on slash and burn
agriculture for subsistence farming. Other
hotspots in wealthy countries are facing
BIODIVERSITY AND CONSERVATION 139

Figure 16.5 : Ecological ‘hotspots’ in the world

different types of pressures. The islands of that are threatened by introduced species and
Hawaii have many unique plants and animals land development.

EXERCISES

1. Multiple choice questions.

(i) Conservation of biodiversity is important for :
(a) Animals (c) Plants
(b) Animals and plants (d) All organisms
(ii) Threatened species are those which :
(a) threaten others
(b) Lion and tiger
(c) are abundant in number
(d) are suffering from the danger of extinction
(iii) National parks and sanctuaries are established for the purpose of :
(a) Recreation (c) Pets
(b) Hunting (d) Conservation
140 FUNDAMENTALS OF PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

(iv) Biodiversity is richer in :

(a) Tropical Regions (c) Temperate Regions
(b) Polar Regions (d) Oceans
(v) In which one of the following countries, the ‘Earth Summit’ was held?
(a) the UK (c) Brazil
(b) Mexico (d) China
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What is biodiversity?
(ii) What are the different levels of biodiversity?
(iii) What do you understand by ‘hotspots’?
(iv) Discuss briefly the importance of animals to human kind.
(v) What do you understand by ‘exotic species’?
3. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) What are the roles played by biodiversity in the shaping of nature?
(ii) What are the major factors that are responsible for the loss of biodiversity?
What steps are needed to prevent them?

Project Work
Collect the names of national parks, sanctuaries and biosphere reserves of the
state where your school is located and show their location on the map of India.
 You have already studied ‘Geography as a
Unit-I Discipline’ in Chapter I of the book,
Chapter-1 Fundamentals of Physical Geography (NCERT,
2006). Do you recall the contents? This chapter
has broadly covered and introduced you to the
nature of geography. You are also acquainted
with the important branches that sprout from
the body of geography. If you re-read the
chapter you will be able to recall the link of
human geography with the mother discipline
i.e. geography. As you know geography as a
field of study is integrative, empirical, and
practical. Thus, the reach of geography is
extensive and each and every event or
phenomenon which varies over space and time
can be studied geographically. How do you see
Human Geography the earth’s surface? Do you realise that the earth
comprises two major components: nature
Nature and Scope (physical environment) and life forms including
human beings? Make a list of physical and
human components of your surroundings.
Physical geography studies physical
environment and human geography studies
“the relationship between the physical/natural
and the human worlds, the spatial distributions
of human phenomena and how they come
about, the social and economic differences
between different parts of the world”.1
You are already aware of the fact that the
core concern of geography as a discipline is to
understand the earth as home of human beings
and to study all those elements which have
sustained them. Thus, emphasis is on study of
nature and human beings. You will realise that
geography got subjected to dualism and the
wide-ranging debates started whether
geography as a discipline should be a law
making/theorising (nomothetic) or
descriptive (idiographic). Whether its subject
matter should be organised and approach of
the study should be regional or systematic?
Whether geographical phenomena be
interpreted theoretically or through historic-
institutional approach? These have been issues
for intellectual exercise but finally you will
appreciate that the dichotomy between physical
and human is not a very valid one because
nature and human are inseparable elements
and should be seen holistically. It is interesting
to note that both physical and human
1
Agnew J. Livingstone, David N. and Rogers, A.; (1996) Blackwell
Publishing Limited, Malden, U.S.A. p. 1 and 2.
phenomena are described in metaphors using
symbols from the human anatomy.
We often talk of the ‘face’ of the earth, ‘eye’
of the storm, ‘mouth’ of the river, ‘snout’ (nose)
of the glacier, ‘neck’ of the isthmus and ‘profile’
of the soil. Similarly regions, villages, towns
have been described as ‘organisms’. German
geographers describe the ‘state/country’ as a
‘living organism’. Networks of road, railways
and water ways have often been described as
“arteries of circulation”. Can you collect such
terms and expressions from your own
language? The basic questions now arises, can
we separate nature and human when they are
so intricately intertwined?
Human Geography Defined
• “Human geography is the synthetic study
of relationship between human societies and
earth’s surface”. Ratzel
Synthesis has been emphasised in the
above definition.
• “Human geography is the study of “the
changing relationship between the unresting
man and the unstable earth.”
Ellen C. Semple
Dynamism in the relationship is the keyword
in Semple’s definition.
• “Conception resulting from a more
synthetic knowledge of thephysical laws
governing our earth and of the relations
between the living beings which inhabit it”.
Paul Vidal de la Blache
Human geography offers a new conception
of the interrelationships between earth and
human beings.
NATURE OF HUMAN GEOGRAPHY
Human geography studies the inter-relationship
between the physical environment and socio-
cultural environment created by human beings
through mutual interaction with each other. You
2 Fundamentals of Human Geography
have already studied the elements of physical
environment in class XI in the book entitled
Fundamentals of Physical Geography (NCERT
2006). You know that these elements are
landforms, soils, climate, water, natural vegetation
and diverse flora and fauna. Can you make a list
of elements which human beings have created
through their activities on the stage provided by
the physical environment? Houses, villages, cities,
road-rail networks, industries, farms, ports, items
of our daily use and all other elements of material
culture have been created by human beings
using the resources provided by the physical
environment. While physical environment has
been greatly modified by human beings, it has
also, in turn, impacted human lives.
Naturalisation of Humans and
Humanisation of Nature
Human beings interact with their physical
environment with the help of technology. It is
not important what human beings produce and
create but it is extremely important ‘with the
help of what tools and techniques do they
produce and create’.
Technology indicates the level of cultural
development of society. Human beings were
able to develop technology after they developed
better understanding of natural laws. For
example, the understanding of concepts of
friction and heat helped us discover fire.
Similarly, understanding of the secrets of DNA
and genetics enabled us to conquer many
diseases. We use the laws of aerodynamics to
develop faster planes. You can see that
knowledge about Nature is extremely important
to develop technology and technology loosens
the shackles of environment on human beings.
In the early stages of their interaction with their
natural environment humans were greatly
influenced by it. They adapted to the dictates
of Nature. This is so because the level of
technology was very low and the stage of
human social development was also primitive.
This type of interaction between primitive
human society and strong forces of nature was
termed as environmental determinism. At
that stage of very low technological development
we can imagine the presence of a naturalised
human, who listened to Nature, was afraid of
its fury and worshipped it.

The Naturalisation of Humans
Benda lives in the wilds of the Abujh Maad
area of central India. His village consists of
three huts deep in the wilds. Not even birds
or stray dogs that usually crowd villages can
be seen in these areas. Wearing a small
loin cloth and armed with his axe he slowly
surveys the penda (forest) where his tribe
practices a primitive form of agriculture called
shifting cultivation. Benda and his friends
burn small patches of forest to clear them
for cultivation. The ash is used for making
the soil fertile. Benda is happy that the
Mahua trees around him are in bloom. How
lucky I am to be a part of this beautiful
universe, he thinks as he looks up to see
the Mahua, Palash and Sal trees that have
sheltered him since childhood. Crossing the
penda in a gliding motion, Benda makes
his way to a stream. As he bends down to
scoop up a palmful of water, he remembers
to thank Loi-Lugi, the spirit of the forest for
allowing him to quench his thirst. Moving
on with his friends, Benda chews on
succulent leaves and roots. The boys have
been trying to collect Gajjhara and Kuchla,
from the forest. These are special plants
that Benda and his people use. He hopes
the spirits of the forest will be kind and lead
him to these herbs. These are needed to
barter in the madhai or tribal fair coming up
the next full moon. He closes his eyes and
tries hard to recall what the elders had taught
him about these herbs and the places they
are found in. He wishes he had listened more
carefully. Suddenly there is a rustling of
leaves. Benda and his friends know it is the
outsiders who have come searching for them
in the wilds. In a single fluid motion Benda
and his friends disappear behind the thick
canopy of trees and become one with the
spirit of the forest.
The story in the box represents the direct
relationship of a household belonging to an
economically primitive society with nature. Read
about other primitive societies which live in
complete harmony with their natural
environment. You will realise that in all such cases
nature is a powerful force, worshipped, revered
and conserved. There is direct dependence of
human beings on nature for resources which
sustain them. The physical environment for such
societies becomes the “Mother Nature”.
The people begin to understand their
environment and the forces of nature with the
passage of time. With social and cultural
development, humans develop better and more
efficient technology. They move from a state of
necessity to a state of freedom. They create
possibilities with the resources obtained from
the environment. The human activities create
cultural landscape. The imprints of human
activities are created everywhere; health resorts
on highlands, huge urban sprawls, fields,
orchards and pastures in plains and rolling
hills, ports on the coasts, oceanic routes on the
oceanic surface and satellites in the space. The
earlier scholars termed this as possibilism.
Nature provides opportunities and human
being make use of these and slowly nature gets
humanised and starts bearing the imprints of
human endeavour.
Humanisation of Nature
Winters in the town of Trondheim mean fierce
winds and heavy snow. The skies are dark
for months. Kari drives to work in the dark at
8 am. She has special tyres for the winter
and keeps the headlights of her powerful car
switched on. Her office is artificially heated
at a comfortable 23 degrees Celsius. The
campus of the university she works in is built
under a huge glass dome. This dome keeps
the snow out in winter and lets in the sunshine
in the summer. The temperature is controlled
carefully and there is adequate lighting. Even
though fresh vegetables and plants don’t grow
in such harsh weather, Kari keeps an orchid
on her desk and enjoys eating tropical fruits
like banana and kiwi. These are flown in from
warmer areas regularly. With a click of the
mouse, Kari can network with colleagues in
New Delhi. She frequently takes a morning
flight to London and returns in the evening in
time to watch her favourite television serial.
Though Kari is fifty-eight years old, she is
fitter and looks younger than many thirty-
year- olds in other parts of the world.
Human Geography: Nature and Scope 3
 Can you imagine what has made such a
life style possible? It is technology that has
allowed the people of Trondheim and others to
overcome the constraints imposed by nature. Do
you know about some other such instances?
Such examples are not difficult to find.
A geographer, Griffith Taylor introduced
another concept which reflects a middle path
(Madhyam Marg) between the two ideas of
environmental determinism and possibilism.
He termed it as Neodeterminism or stop and
go determinism. Those of you who live in cities
and those who have visited a city, might have
seen that traffic is regulated by lights on the
cross-roads. Red light means ‘stop’, amber light
provides a gap between red and green lights ‘to
get set’ and green light means ‘go’. The concept
shows that neither is there a situation of
absolute necessity (environmental determinism)
nor is there a condition of absolute freedom
(possibilism). It means that human beings can
conquer nature by obeying it. They have to
respond to the red signals and can proceed in
their pursuits of development when nature
permits the modifications. It means that
possibilities can be created within the limits
which do not damage the environment and there
is no free run without accidents. The free run
which the developed economies attempted to
take has already resulted in the green house
effect, ozone layer depletion, global warming,
receding glaciers and degrading lands. The
neo-determinism conceptually attempts to
bring a balance nullifying the ‘either’ ‘or’
dichotomy.
Human Geography through
the Corridors of Time
The process of adaptation, adjustment with and
modification of the environment started with the
appearance of human beings over the surface
of the earth in different ecological niches. Thus,
if we imagine the beginning of human
geography with the interaction of environment
and human beings, it has its roots deep in
history. Thus, the concerns of human
geography have a long temporal continuum
though the approaches to articulate them have
changed over time. This dynamism in
4 Fundamentals of Human Geography
approaches and thrusts shows the vibrant
nature of the discipline. Earlier there was little
interaction between different societies and the
knowledge about each other was limited.
Travellers and explorers used to disseminate
information about the areas of their visits.
Navigational skills were not developed and
voyages were fraught with dangers. The late
fifteenth century witnessed attempts of
explorations in Europe and slowly the myths
and mysteries about countries and people
started to open up. The colonial period provided
impetus to further explorations in order to
access the resources of the regions and to obtain
inventorised information. The intention here is
not to present an in-depth historical account
but to make you aware of the processes of steady
development of human geography. The
summarised Table 1.1 will introduce you to the
broad stages and the thrust of human
geography as a sub-field of geography.
• Welfare or humanistic school of thought
in human geography was mainly concerned
with the different aspects of social well-being
of the people. These included aspects such
as housing, health and education.
Geographers have already introduced a
paper as Geography of Social well-being in
the Post Graduate curriculum’.
• Radical school of thought employed
Marxian theory to explain the basic cause
of poverty, deprivation and social inequality.
Contemporary social problems were related
to the development of capitalism.
• Behavioural school of thought laid great
emphasis on lived experience and also on
the perception of space by social categories
based on ethnicity, race and religion, etc.
Fields and Sub-fields of Human Geography
Human geography, as you have seen, attempts
to explain the relationship between all elements
of human life and the space they occur over.
Thus, human geography assumes a highly
inter-disciplinary nature. It develops close
 Table 1.1: Broad Stages and Thrust of Human Geography

Period Approaches Broad Features

Colonial period Exploration and Imperial and trade interests prompted the discovery and
description exploration of new areas. An encyclopaedic description of
the area formed an important aspect of the geographer’s
account.

Colonial period Regional analysis Elaborate description of all aspects of a region were
undertaken. The idea was that all the regions were part of
a whole, ie (the earth); so, understanding the parts in
totality would lead to an understanding of the whole.

1930s through the Areal differentiation The focus was on identifying the uniqueness of any region
inter-War period and understanding how and why it was different from
others.

Late 1950s to the Spatial organisation Marked by the use of computers and sophisticated
late 1960s statistical tools. Laws of physics were often applied to
map and analyse human phenomena. This phase was
called the quantitative revolution. The main objective was
to identify mappable patterns for different human
activities.

1970s Emergence of Discontentment with the quantitative revolution and its

humanistic, radical dehumanised manner of doing geography led to the
and behavioural emergence of three new schools of thought of human
schools geography in the 1970s. Human geography was made more
relevant to the socio-political reality by the emergence of
these schools of thought. Consult the box below to know
a little bit more about these schools of thought.

1990s Post-modernism in The grand generalisations and the applicability of universal

geography theories to explain the human conditions were questioned.
The importance of understanding each local context in
its own right was emphasised.

interface with other sister disciplines in social
sciences in order to understand and explain
human elements on the surface of the earth.
With the expansion of knowledge, new sub-
fields emerge and it has also happened to
human geography. Let us examine these fields
and sub-fields of Human Geography (Table 1.2).
You would have noticed that the list is
large and comprehensive. It reflects the
expanding realm of human geography. The
boundaries between sub-fields often overlap.
What follows in this book in the form of
chapters will provide you a fairly widespread
coverage of different aspects of human
geography. The exercises, the activities and the
case studies will provide you with some
empirical instances so as to have a batter
understanding of its subject matter.

Human Geography: Nature and Scope 5

 Table 1.2: Human Geography and Sister Disciplines of Social Sciences

Fields of Sub-fields Interface with Sister

Human Disciplines of Social Sciences
Geography
Social — Social Sciences – Sociology
Geography Behavioural Geography Psychology
Geography of Social Welfare Economics
Well-being
Geography of Leisure Sociology
Cultural Geography Anthropology
Gender Geography Sociology, Anthropology, Women’s Studies
Historical Geography History
Medical Geography Epidemology
Urban — Urban Studies and Planning
Geography
Political — Political Science
Geography Electoral Geography Psephology
Military Geography Military Science
Population — Demography
Geography
Settlement — Urban/Rural Planning
Geography
Economic — Economics
Geography Geography of Resources Resource Economics
Geography of Agriculture Agricultural Sciences
Geography of Industries Industrial Economics
Geography of Marketing Business Studies, Economics, Commerce
Geography of Tourism Tourism and Travel Management
Geography of International International Trade
Trade

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following statements does not describe geography?
(a) an integrative discipline
(b) study of the inter-relationship between humans and environment

6 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 (c) subjected to dualism
(d) not relevant in the present time due to the development of technology.
(ii) Which one of the following is not a source of geographical information?
(a) traveller’s accounts
(b) old maps
(c) samples of rock materials from the moon
(d) ancient epics
(iii) Which one of the following is the most important factor in the interaction
between people and environment?
(a) human intelligence (c) technology
(b) people’s perception (d) human brotherhood
(iv) Which one of the following is not an approach in human geography?
(a) Areal differentiation (c) Quantitative revolution
(b) Spatial organisation (d) Exploration and description
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Define human geography.
(ii) Name some sub-fields of human geography.
(iii) How is human geography related to other social sciences?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Explain naturalisation of humans.
(ii) Write a note on the scope of human geography.

Human Geography: Nature and Scope 7

 The people of a country are its real wealth. It
Unit-II is they who make use of the country’s resources
Chapter-2 and decide its policies. Ultimately a country is
known by its people.
It is important to know how many women
and men a country has, how many children are
born each year, how many people die and how?
Whether they live in cities or villages, can they
read or write and what work do they do? These
are what you will study about in this unit.
The world at the beginning of 21st century
recorded the presence of over 6 billion
population. We shall discuss the patterns of
their distribution and density here.

Why do people prefer to live in certain

The World Population regions and not in others?
The population of the world is unevenly
Distribution, Density and distributed. The remark of George B. Cressey
Growth about the population of Asia that “Asia has many
places where people are few and few place where
people are very many” is true about the pattern
of population distribution of the world also.

PATTERNS OF POPULATION
DISTRIBUTION IN THE WORLD
Patterns of population distribution and density
help us to understand the demographic
characteristics of any area. The term population
distribution refers to the way people are spaced
over the earth’s surface. Broadly, 90 per cent of
the world population lives in about 10 per cent
of its land area.
The 10 most populous countries of the
world contribute about 60 per cent of the world’s
population. Of these 10 countries, 6 are located
in Asia. Identify these six countries of Asia.
130
120
Not gold but only (Wo)men can make 110
Population (in crore)

100
a people great and strong. 90
80
(Wo)men who for truth and
127.76

70
honour’s sake, stand fast and suffer 60
102.7

50
long (Wo)men who toil while others 40
30
sleep – who dare while others flee – 20
28.14

ia 21.21

il 17.01

15.65

14.69

10
an 12.69
12.92

11.15

they build a nation’s pillars deep and 0

esh
tan
ina

ia

eria
A

CIS

lift it to the sky.

es

az
Ind

US

Jap
kis

lad

Nig
Ch

on

Br

Pa

ng
Ind

Ba

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Fig. 2.1: Most Populous Countries
DENSITY OF POPULATION
Each unit of land has limited capacity to
support people living on it. Hence, it is
necessary to understand the ratio between the
numbers of people to the size of land. This ratio
is the density of population. It is usually
measured in persons per sq km
Population
Density of Population =
Area
For example, area of Region X is 100 sq
km and the population is 1,50,000 persons.
The density of population is calculated as:
1,50,000
Density =
100
= 1,500 person/sq km
What does this tell you about Region X?
Look at the map given below:
Do you observe that some areas are really
crowded? These are the densely populated
parts of the world with more than 200 persons
Fig. 2.2: World Density of Population, 2001
The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth
on every sq km. These are the North -Eastern
part of U.S.A., North-Western part of Europe,
South, South-East and East Asia.
Other areas like those near the North and
South Poles, the hot and the cold deserts and
high rainfall zones near the Equator have very
low density of population. These are the
sparsely populated regions of the world with
less than 01 person per sq km.
In between these two types are the areas
of medium density. There are 11 to 50 persons
per sq km in these areas. Western China,
Southern India in Asia, Norway, Sweden in
Europe are some examples. Look at the Fig. 2.2
and identify some other areas.
FACTORS INFLUENCING THE
DISTRIBUTION OF POPULATION
I. Geographical Factors
(i) Availability of water: It is the most
important factor for life. So, people prefer
9
 to live in areas where fresh water is easily
available. Water is used for drinking,
bathing and cooking – and also for cattle,
crops, industries and navigation. It is
because of this that river valleys are among
the most densely populated areas of the
world.
(ii) Landforms: People prefer living on flat
plains and gentle slopes. This is because
such areas are favourable for the
production of crops and to build roads and
industries. The mountainous and hilly
areas hinder the development of transport
network and hence initially do not favour
agricultural and industrial development.
So, these areas tend to be less populated.
The Ganga plains are among the most
densely populated areas of the world while
the mountains zones in the Himalayas are
scarcely populated.
(iii) Climate: An extreme climate such as very
hot or cold deserts are uncomfortable for
human habitation. Areas with a
comfortable climate, where there is not
much seasonal variation attract more
people. Areas with very heavy rainfall or
extreme and harsh climates have low
population. Mediterranean regions were
inhabited from early periods in history due
to their pleasant climate.
(iv) Soils: Fertile soils are important for
agricultural and allied activities. Therefore,
areas which have fertile loamy soils have
more people living on them as these can
support intensive agriculture. Can you
name some areas in India which are thinly
populated due to poor soils?
II. Economic Factors
(i) Minerals: Areas with mineral deposits
attract industries. Mining and industrial
activities generate employment. So, skilled
and semi–skilled workers move to these
areas and make them densely populated.
Katanga Zambia copper belt in Africa is
one such good example.
(ii) Urbanisation: Cities offer better
employment opportunities, educational
and medical facilities, better means of
transport and communication. Good civic
10 Fundamentals of Human Geography
amenities and the attraction of city life draw
people to the cities. It leads to rural to
urban migration and cities grow in size.
Mega cities of the world continue to attract
large number of migrants every year.
Yet city life can be very taxing…. think
of some of the unpleasant aspects of city
life.
(iii) Industrialisation: Industrial belts provide
job opportunities and attract large
numbers of people. These include not just
factory workers but also transport
operators, shopkeepers, bank employees,
doctors, teachers and other service
providers. The Kobe-Osaka region of
Japan is thickly populated because of the
presence of a number of industries.
III. Social and Cultural Factors
Some places attract more people because they
have religious or cultural significance. In the
same way – people tend to move away from
places where there is social and political
unrest. Many a times governments offer
incentives to people to live in sparsely
populated areas or move away from
overcrowded places. Can you think of some
examples from your region?
POPULATION GROWTH
The population growth or population change
refers to the change in number of inhabitants of
a territory during a specific period of time. This
change may be positive as well as negative. It
can be expressed either in terms of absolute
numbers or in terms of percentage. Population
change in an area is an important indicator of
economic development, social upliftment and
historical and cultural background of the region.
Some Basic Concepts of
Population Geography
Growth of Population : Change of
population in particular area between two
points of time is known as growth of
 population. For example, if we deduct the
population of India 1991 (84.63 crore) from
population of 2001 (102.70 crore) then we
shall get the growth of population (18.07
crores) in actual numbers.
Growth Rate of Population : This is the
change of population expressed in
percentage.
Natural Growth of Population: This is the
population increased by difference between
births and deaths in a particular region
between two points of time.
Natural Growth = Births – Deaths
Actual Growth of Population : This is
Births – Deaths + In Migration – Out
Migration
Positive Growth of Population: This
happens when the birth rate is more than
the death rate between two points of time
or when people from other countries migrate
permanently to a region.
Negative Growth of Population: If the
population decreases between two points
of time it is known as negative growth of
population. It occurs when the birth rate falls
below the death rate or people migrate to
other countries.
Components of Population Change
There are three components of population
change – births, deaths and migration.
The crude birth rate (CBR) is expressed as
number of live births in a year per thousand of
women. It is calculated as:
Bi
CBR = ¥ 1000
P
Here, CBR = Crude Birth Rate; Bi = live
births during the year; P=Mid year population
of the area.
Death rate plays an active role in
population change. Population growth occurs
not only by increasing births rate but also due
to decreasing death rate. Crude Death Rate
(CDR) is a simple method of measuring
mortality of any area. CDR is expressed in terms
of number of deaths in a particular year per
The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth
thousand of population in a particular region.
CDR is calculated as:
D
CDR = ¥ 1000
P
Here, CDR=Crude Death Rate; D= Number
of deaths; P=Estimated mid-year population of
that year.
By and large mortality rates are affected
by the region’s demographic structure, social
advancement and levels of its economic
development.
Migration
Apart from birth and death there is another way
by which the population size changes.
When people move from one place to
another, the place they move from is called the
Place of Origin and the place they move to is
called the Place of Destination. The place of
origin shows a decrease in population while the
population increases in the place of destination.
Migration may be interpreted as a spontaneous
effort to achieve a better balance between
population and resources.
Migration may be permanent, temporary
or seasonal. It may take place from rural to
rural areas, rural to urban areas, urban to
urban areas and urban to rural areas.
Do you realise that the same person is both
an immigrant and an emigrant?
Immigration: Migrants who move into a new
place are called Immigrants.
Emigration: Migrants who move out of a
place are called Emigrants.
Can you think of reasons why people
migrate?
People migrate for a better economic and
social life. There are two sets of factors that
influence migration.
The Push factors make the place of origin
seem less attractive for reasons like
unemployment, poor living conditions, political
turmoil, unpleasant climate, natural disasters,
epidemics and socio-economic backwardness.
The Pull factors make the place of
destination seem more attractive than the place
11
Observe the news items and think of some reasons why certain countries become attractive destinations for migrants.

Migration to cities are traditionally age and sex selective i.e. more men of working age groups move to cities.
Can you think of some reason why 22 per cent of migrants to Mumbai are kids?
of origin for reasons like better job opportunities grew very slowly. It is only during the last few
and living conditions, peace and stability, hundred years that population has increased
security of life and property and pleasant climate. at an alarming rate.
Fig. 2.3 tells the story of population
TRENDS IN POPULATION GROWTH growth. After the evolution and introduction
The population on the earth is more than six of agriculture about 8,000 to 12,000 years
billion. It has grown to this size over centuries. ago, the size of population was small – roughly
In the early periods population of the world 8 million. In the first century A.D. it was below
World Number of years for world
population population to increase
in billions by 1 billion
Technological revolutions 6 billion 1999 (12 years)
1650 to present 5 billion 1987
(12 years)
4 billion 1975
Information and computers (15 years)
3 billion 1960
Biotechnology (30 years)
2 billion 1930
Sanitation and Medical
Transportation

Industrial
(100 years)
Development and
spread of agriculture Age of European exploration,
colonisation and settlement
(0.25 billion)
(0.5 billion)
1 billion 1830
12000 years Birth of 1600 1700 1800 1900 2000
before Christ Present
present
Time

Fig. 2.3: Resource, Technology and Population Growth

12 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Table 2.1: Doubling Time of World Population

Period Population Time in which

Population Doubles
10,000 B.C. 5 million
1650 A.D. 500 million 1,500 years
1850 A.D. 1,000 million 200 years
1930 A.D. 2,000 million 80 years
1975 A.D. 4,000 million 45 years
2012 A.D. 8,000 million projected figure 37 years

300 million. The expanding world trade during
the sixteenth and seventeenth century, set the
stage for rapid population growth. Around
1750, at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution,
the world population was 550 million. World
population exploded in the eighteenth century
after the Industrial Revolution. Technological
advancement achieved so far helped in the
reduction of birth rate and provided a stage for
accelerated population growth.
How Science and Technology
helped Population Growth?
it took only 12 years for it to rise from 5 billion
to 6 billion. See the Table 2.1 carefully which
shows that doubling time of world population
is reducing fast.
There is a great variation among regions
in doubling their population. Table 2.2 shows
that developed countries are taking more time
to double their population as compared to
developing countries. Most of the population
growth is taking place in the developing world,
where population is exploding. Why is this so?
Table 2.2: Population Growth Rates (%) 1995-2000

The steam engine replaced human and High Low

animal energy and also provided
Liberia 8.2 Latvia –1.5
mechanised energy of water and wind. This Somalia 4.2 Estonia –1.2
increased agricultural and industrial Yemen 3.7 Russia, Ukraine –0.6
production. Saudi Arabia 3.4 Albania, Bulgaria
Inoculation against epidemics and other Oman 3.3 Croatia
communicable diseases, improvement in Slovania, Czech Republic
Germany, Portugal –0.1
medical facilities and sanitation contributed
Spain, Italy
to a rapid decline in death rates throughout
the world. Denmark 0

SPATIAL PATTERN OF POPULATION CHANGE

Human population increased more than ten times in
the past 500 hundred years.
In the twentieth century itself the population has
increased four times.
Nearly 80 million people are added each year.
DOUBLING TIME OF WORLD POPULATION
It took more than a million years for the human
population to attain the one billion mark. But
Population growth in different parts of the world
can be compared. The growth of population is
low in developed countries as compared to
developing countries. There is negative
correlation between economic development and
population growth.
Although the annual rate of population
change (1.4 per cent) seems to be low (Table
2.3), it is actually not so. This is because:
• When a small annual rate is applied to a
very large population, it will lead to a large
population change.

The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth 13

 Figure 2.4: Population Doubling Time

• Even if the growth rate continues to decline, these the depletion of resources is the most
the total population grows each year. The serious. Population decline is also a matter of
infant mortality rate may have increased concern. It indicates that resources that had
as has the death rate during childbirth. supported a population earlier are now
insufficient to maintain the population.
Table 2.3: Growth of Population 2004-05 over 1990-95 The deadly HIV/AIDS epidemics in Africa and
some parts of the Commonwealth of Independent
Growth Rate States (CIS) and Asia have pushed up death rates
Region 1990-95 2004-05 and reduced average life expectancy. This has
(Estimated) slowed down population growth.
World 1.6 1.4
Africa 2.4 2.6
Europe 0.2 0.0 The Doubling Story... It will
North & Central America 1.4 1.1 take 36 years
South America 1.7 1.4
Asia 1.6 1.4 The annual population growth rate in India
Oceania 1.5 1.3 is 1.9 per cent. At this rate India’s population
(Australia, New Zealand and Fiji) of over 1 billion will double in 36 years.
Some developed countries will take 318
years to double their population whereas
IMPACT OF POPULATION CHANGE some countries still do not show symptoms
A small increase in population is desirable in a of doubling their population.
growing economy. However, population growth
beyond a certain level leads to problems. Of

14 Fundamentals of Human Geography

DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSITION
Demographic transition theory can be used to
describe and predict the future population of
any area. The theory tells us that population of
any region changes from high births and high
deaths to low births and low deaths as society
progresses from rural agrarian and illiterate to
urban industrial and literate society. These
changes occur in stages which are collectively
known as the demographic cycle.
Rural, Demographic Urban,
Agrarian Transition Industrial
The Fig. 2.5 explains the three-staged
model of Demographic Transition Theory:
High Fluctuating
Stage Stage
I II
Expanding
BR
35
CBR/CDR
engaged in agriculture where large families are
an asset. Life expectancy is low, people are
mostly illiterate and have low levels of
technology. Two hundred years ago all the
countries of the world were in this stage.
Fertility remains high in the beginning of
second stage but it declines with time. This is
accompanied by reduced mortality rate.
Improvements in sanitation and health
conditions lead to decline in mortality. Because
of this gap the net addition to population is
high.
In the last stage, both fertility and mortality
decline considerably. The population is either
stable or grows slowly. The population becomes
urbanised, literate and has high technical know-
how and deliberately controls the family size.
This shows that human beings are
extremely flexible and are able to adjust their
Stage
fertility.
III In the present day, different countries are
at different stages of demographic transition.

Natural POPULATION CONTROL MEASURES

Increase in Low Fluctuating
Population
Family planning is the spacing or preventing
DR the birth of children. Access to family planning
15
services is a significant factor in limiting
population growth and improving women’s
Bangladesh Peru Sri Lanka Canada health. Propaganda, free availability of
Present Rainforest Kenya Japan
World tribes USA contraceptives and tax disincentives for large
examples Time families are some of the measures which can
help population control.
Thomas Malthus in his theory (1793)
stated that the number of people would
Fig. 2.5: Demographic Transition Theory increase faster than the food supply. Any
further increase would result in a population
The first stage has high fertility and high crash caused by famine, disease and war. The
mortality because people reproduce more to preventive checks are better than the physical
compensate for the deaths due to epidemics checks. For the sustainability of our resources,
and variable food supply. The population the world will have to control the rapid
growth is slow and most of the people are population increase

The World Population: Distribution, Density and Growth 15

 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following continents has the highest growth of
population?
(a) Africa (c) Asia
(b) South America (d) North America
(ii) Which one of the following is not an area of sparse population?
(a) The Atacama (c) Equatorial region
(b) South-east Asia (d) Polar regions
(iii) Which one of the following is not a push factor ?
(a) Water shortage (c) Unemployment
(b) Medical/educational facilities (d) Epidemics
(iv) Which one of the following is not a fact ?
(a) Human population increased more than ten times during the past
500 years.
(b) Nearly 80 million people are added to the world population each year.
(c) It took 100 years for the population to rise from 5 billion to 6 billion.
(d) Population growth is high in the first stage of demographic transition?
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Name three geographical factors that influence the distribution of
population.
(ii) There are a number of areas with high population density in the world.
Why does this happen?
(iii) What are the three components of population change?
3. Distinguish between:
(i) Birth rate and death rate.
(ii) Push factors and pull factors of migration.
4. Answer the following questions in about 150 words.
(i) Discuss the factors influencing the distribution and density of population
in the world.
(ii) Discuss the three stages of demographic transition.

Map Skill
On the outline map of the world, show and name the following.
(i) Countries of Europe and Asia with negative growth rate of population.
(ii) African countries with growth rate of population more than three per
cent. (You may refer to Appendix 1).

Project/Activity
(i) Has someone in your family migrated? Write about her/his place of
destination. What made her/him migrate?
(ii) Write a brief report on the distribution and density of population in
your state.

16 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Unit-II People of any country are diverse in many
respects. Each person is unique in her/his own
Chapter-3 way. People can be distinguished by their age,
sex and their place of residence. Some of the
other distinguishing attributes of the population
are occupation, education and life expectancy.

SEX COMPOSITION
The number of women and men in a country is
an important demographic characteristic. The
ratio between the number of women and men in
the population is called the Sex Ratio. In some
countries it is calculated by using the formula:
Male Population
× 1000
Population
Female Population
or the number of males per thousand

Composition females.

In India, the sex ratio is worked out using the

formula:
Female Population
× 1000
Male Population
or the number of females per thousand males.

The sex ratio is an important information

about the status of women in a country.
In regions where gender discrimination is
rampant, the sex ratio is bound to be
unfavourable to women. Such areas are those
where the practice of female foeticide, female
infanticide and domestic violence against women
are prevalent. One of the reasons could be lower
socio-economic status of women in these areas.
You must remember that more women in the
population does not mean they have a better
status. It could be that the men might have
migrated to other areas for employment.

Natural Advantage v/s

Social Disadvantage
Females have a biological advantage over
males as they tend to be more resilient than
males yet this advantage is cancelled out
by the social disadvantages and
discriminations that they face.
 On an average, the world population Fig. 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 show different types
reflects a sex ratio of 990 females per 1000 of population pyramids.
males. The highest sex ratio in the world has
been recorded in Latvia which is 1187 females Expanding Populations
per 1000 males. In contrast, the lowest sex ratio
The age-sex pyramid of Nigeria as you can see
occurs in U.A.E. which is 468 females per 1000
is a triangular shaped pyramid with a wide
males.
base and is typical of less developed countries.
The world pattern of sex ratio does not
These have larger populations in lower age
exhibit variations in the developed regions of
groups due to high birth rates. If you construct
the world. The sex ratio is favourable for females
the pyramids for Bangladesh and Mexico, it
in 139 countries of the world and unfavourable
would look the same.
for them in the remaining 72 countries listed
by the United Nations. NIGERIA, 2003
In general, Asia has a low sex ratio. 80+
75-79
Countries like China, India, Saudi Arabia, 70-74
65-69
Pakistan, Afghanistan have a lower sex ratio.

Age Groups Years

60-64
On the other extreme is greater part of 55-59
50-54 MALE FEMALE
Europe (including Russia) where males are in 45-49
40-44
minority. A deficit of males in the populations 35-39
30-34
of many European countries is attributed to 25-29
better status of women, and an excessively 20-24
15-19
male-dominated out-migration to different 10-14
5-9
parts of the world in the past. 0-4
10 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10
Per cent
Age Structure Data source: Demographic Year Book, 2003, United Nations Statistics Division.
Data refer to national projection
Age structure represents the number of people Fig. 3.1: Expanding Population
of different age groups. This is an important
indicator of population composition, since a Constant Population
large size of population in the age group of 15-
59 indicates a large working population. A Australia’s age-sex pyramid is bell shaped and
greater proportion of population above 60 years tapered towards the top. This shows birth and
represents an ageing population which requires death rates are almost equal leading to a near
more expenditure on health care facilities. constant population.
Similarly high proportion of young population
would mean that the region has a high birth AUSTRALIA, 2003
85+
rate and the population is youthful. 80-84
75-79
70-74
Age-Sex Pyramid 65-69
Age Groups Years

60-64
55-59 MALE FEMALE
The age-sex structure of a population refers 50-54
45-49
to the number of females and males in 40-44
35-39
different age groups. A population pyramid 30-34
is used to show the age-sex structure of the 25-29
20-24
population. 15-19
10-14
The shape of the population pyramid 5-9
0-4
reflects the characteristics of the population. 10 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10
The left side shows the percentage of males while Per cent
Data source: Demographic Year Book, 2003, United Nations Statistics Division.
the right side shows the percentage of women
in each age group. Fig. 3.2: Constant Population

18 Fundamentals of Human Geography

Declining Populations The criteria for differentiating rural and
urban population varies from country to country.
The Japan pyramid has a narrow base and a
In general terms rural areas are those where
tapered top showing low birth and death rates.
people are engaged in primary activities and urban
The population growth in developed countries
areas are those when majority of the working
is usually zero or negative.
population is engaged in non-primary activities.
JAPAN, 2003 Fig. 3.4 shows rural urban sex composition
85+
80-84 of selected countries. The rural and urban
75-79
70-74
differences in sex ratio in Canada and West
Age Groups Years

65-69
60-64
European countries like Finland are just the
55-59
MALE FEMALE
opposite of those in African and Asian countries
50-54
45-49 like Zimbabwe and Nepal respectively. In
40-44
35-39 Western countries, males outnumber females
30-34
25-29 in rural areas and females outnumber the males
20-24
15-19
in urban areas. In countries like Nepal, Pakistan
10-14
5-9
and India the case is reverse. The excess of
0-4 females in urban areas of U.S.A., Canada and
10 8 6 4 2 0 2 4 6 8 10
Per cent Europe is the result of influx of females from
Data source: Demographic Year Book, 2003, United Nations Statistics Division. rural areas to avail of the vast job opportunities.
Excluding diplomatic personnel outside the country and foreign military and Farming in these developed countries is also
civilian personnel and their dependants stationed in the area
highly mechanised and remains largely a male
Fig. 3.3: Declining Population occupation. By contrast the sex ratio in Asian
urban areas remains male dominated due to
the predominance of male migration. It is also
worth noting that in countries like India, female
Draw a population pyramid of the children in your school participation in farming activity in rural area is
and describe its characteristics. fairly high. Shortage of housing, high cost of
living, paucity of job opportunities and lack of
security in cities, discourage women to migrate
Ageing Population from rural to urban areas.
Population ageing is the process by which
the share of the older population becomes Literacy
proportionally larger. This is a new Proportion of literate population of a country
phenomenon of the twentieth century. In most
of the developed countries of the world, in an indicator of its socio-economic
population in higher age groups has increased development as it reveals the standard of living,
due to increased life expectancy. With a social status of females, availability of
reduction in birth rates, the proportion of educational facilities and policies of
children in the population has declined. government. Level of economic development is
both a cause and consequence of literacy. In
India – literacy rate denotes the percentage of
RURAL URBAN COMPOSITION population above 7 years of age, who is able to
read, write and have the ability to do arithmetic
The division of population into rural and urban
calculations with understanding.
is based on the residence. This division is
necessary because rural and urban life styles
differ from each other in terms of their livelihood
Occupational Structure
and social conditions. The age-sex-occupational The working population (i.e. women and men
structure, density of population and level of of the age group – 15 to 59) take part in various
development vary between rural and urban areas. occupations ranging from agriculture, forestry,

Population Composition 19
 1200
1129 Rural
1083 1063
1040 1051 Urban
986 1007 1012
1000
941 935 908 939
Females per 1000 Males

800

600

400

200

0
Finland Canada New Zealand Brazil Zimbabwe Nepal

Fig. 3.4: Rural Urban Sex Composition, 2003 (Selected Countries)

fishing, manufacturing construction, sectors is a good indicator of the levels of

commercial transport, services, communication economic development of a nation. This is
and other unclassified services. because only a developed economy with
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining industries and infrastructure can
are classified as primary activities accommodate more workers in the secondary,
manufacturing as secondary, transport, tertiary and quaternary sector. If the economy
communication and other services as tertiary is still in the primitive stages, then the
and the jobs related to research and developing proportion of people engaged in primary
ideas as quaternary activities. The proportion activities world be high as it involves extraction
of working population engaged in these four of natural resources.

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following has caused the sex ratio of the United Arab
Emirates to be low?
(a) Selective migration of male working population
(b) High birth rate of males
(c) Low birth rate of females
(d) High out migration of females

20 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 (ii) Which one of the following figures represents the working age group of the
population?
(a) 15 to 65 years (c) 15 to 66 years
(b) 15 to 64 years (d) 15 to 59 years
(iii) Which one of the following countries has the highest sex ratio in the world?
(a) Latvia (c) Japan
(b) United Arab Emirates (d) France
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What do you understand by population composition?
(ii) What is the significance of age-structure?
(iii) How is sex-ratio measured?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Describe the rural-urban composition of the population.
(ii) Discuss the factors responsible for imbalances in the sex-age found in
different parts of the world and occupational structure.

Project/Activity
Construct an age-sex pyramid for your district/state.

Population Composition 21
 Unit-II The words ‘growth’ and ‘development’ are not
new to you. Look around you, almost everything
Chapter-4 that you can see (and many that you cannot)
grows and develops. These may be plants, cities,
ideas, nations, relationships or even you
yourself! What does this mean?

Do growth and development mean

the same thing?
Do they accompany each other?

This chapter discusses the concept of

human development as it pertains to nations
and communities.

Human Development GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Both growth and development refer to changes
over a period of time. The difference is that
growth is quantitative and value neutral. It may
have a positive or a negative sign. This means
that the change may be either positive (showing
an increase) or negative (indicating a decrease).
Development means a qualitative change
which is always value positive. This means that
development cannot take place unless there is
an increment or addition to the existing
conditions. Development occurs when positive
growth takes place. Yet, positive growth does
not always lead to development. Development
occurs when there is a positive change in
quality.
For example, if the population of a city
grows from one lakh to two lakhs over a period
of time, we say the city has grown. However, if a
facilities like housing, provision of basic services
and other characteristics remain the same, then
this growth has not been accompanied by
development.
Can you think of a few more examples to
differentiate between growth and development?

Write a short essay or draw a set of pictures illustrating

growth without development and growth with
development.
For many decades, a country’s level of
development was measured only in terms of its
 Band Aceh, June, 2004 Band Aceh, December, 2004

Do you know that cities can also grow negatively? Look at the photographs of this tsunami
affected city. Are natural disasters the only reasons for negative growth in a city’s size?

economic growth. This meant that the bigger
the economy of the country, the more developed
it was considered, even though this growth did
not really mean much change in the lives of most
people.
The idea that the quality of life people enjoy
in a country, the opportunities they have and
freedoms they enjoy, are important aspects of
development, is not new.
These ideas were clearly spelt out for the
first time in the late eighties and early nineties.
The works of two South Asian economists,
Mahbub-ul-Haq and Amartya Sen are
important in this regard.
The concept of human development was
introduced by Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq. Dr Haq has
described human development as development
that enlarges people’s choices and improves
their lives. People are central to all development
under this concept. These choices are not fixed
but keep on changing. The basic goal of
development is to create conditions where
people can live meaningful lives.
A meaningful life is not just a long one. It
must be a life with some purpose. This means
that people must be healthy, be able to develop
their talents, participate in society and be free
to achieve their goals.

Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq and Prof Amartya Sen were close friends and have worked together under the leadership of Dr
Haq to bring out the initial Human Development Reports. Both these South Asian economists have been able to
provide an alternative view of development.

A man of vision and compassion, Pakistani economist Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq created the Human Development
Index in 1990. According to him, development is all about enlarging people’s choices in order to lead long,
healthy lives with dignity. The United Nations Development Programme has used his concept of human development
to publish the Human Development Report annually since 1990.

Dr Haq’s flexibility of mind and ability to think out of the box can be illustrated from one of his speeches where
he quoted Shaw saying, “‘You see things that are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why
not?’

Nobel Laureate Prof Amartya Sen saw an increase in freedom (or decrease in unfreedom) as the main objective
of development. Interestingly, increasing freedoms is also one of the most effective ways of bringing about
development. His work explores the role of social and political institutions and processes in increasing freedom.

The works of these economists are path breaking and have succeeded in bringing people to the centre of any
discussion on development.

Human Development 23
 What is a Meaningful Life?

Which of these lives is a meaningful life?

Who do you think leads more meaningful life? What makes one of these more meaningful than the other?

24 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Leading a long and healthy life, being able
to gain knowledge and having enough means
to be able to live a decent life are the most
important aspects of human development.
Therefore, access to resources, health and
education are the key areas in human
development. Suitable indicators have been
developed to measure each of these aspects. Can
you think of some?
Very often, people do not have the
capability and freedom to make even basic
choices. This may be due to their inability to
acquire knowledge, their material poverty,
social discrimination, inefficiency of institutions
and other reasons. This prevents them from
leading healthy lives, being able to get educated
or to have the means to live a decent life.
Building people’s capabilities in the areas
of health, education and access to resources is
therefore, important in enlarging their choices.
If people do not have capabilities in these areas,
their choices also get limited.
For example, an uneducated child cannot
make the choice to be a doctor because her
choice has got limited by her lack of education.
Similarly, very often poor people cannot choose
to take medical treatment for disease because
their choice is limited by their lack of resources.
Enact a five-minute play with your classmates showing
how choices are limited due to lack of capability in the
areas of either income, education or health.
THE FOUR PILLARS OF HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
Just as any building is supported by pillars,
the idea of human development is supported
by the concepts of equity, sustainability,
productivity and empowerment.
Equity refers to making equal access to
opportunities available to everybody. The
opportunities available to people must be equal
irrespective of their gender, race, income and
in the Indian case, caste. Yet this is very often
not the case and happens in almost every
society.
For example, in any country, it is interesting
to see which group the most of the school
dropouts belong to. This should then lead to an
understanding of the reasons for such behaviour.
In India, a large number of women and persons
belonging to socially and economically
backward groups drop out of school. This shows
how the choices of these groups get limited by
not having access to knowledge.
Sustainability means continuity in the
availability of opportunities. To have
sustainable human development, each
generation must have the same opportunities.
All environmental, financial and human
resources must be used keeping in mind the
future. Misuse of any of these resources will
lead to fewer opportunities for future
generations.
A good example is about the importance
of sending girls to school. If a community does
not stress the importance of sending its girl
children to school, many opportunities will be
lost to these young women when they grow up.
Their career choices will be severely curtailed
and this would affect other aspects of their lives.
So each generation must ensure the availability
of choices and opportunities to its future
generations.
Productivity here means human labour
productivity or productivity in terms of human
work. Such productivity must be constantly
enriched by building capabilities in people.
Ultimately, it is people who are the real wealth
of nations. Therefore, efforts to increase their
knowledge, or provide better health facilities
ultimately leads to better work efficiency.
Empowerment means to have the power
to make choices. Such power comes from
increasing freedom and capability. Good
governance and people-oriented policies are
required to empower people. The empowerment
of socially and economically disadvantaged
groups is of special importance.
Talk to the vegetable vendor in your neighbourhood and
find out if she has gone to school. Did she drop out of
school? Why? What does this tell you about her choices
and the freedom she has? Note how her opportunities
were limited because of her gender, caste and income.
Human Development 25
APPROACHES TO HUMAN
DEVELOPMENT
There are many ways of looking at the problem
of human development. Some of the important
approaches are: (a) The income approach; (b) The
welfare approach; (c) Minimum needs approach;
and (d) Capabilities approach (Table 4.1).
MEASURING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
The human development index (HDI) ranks the
countries based on their performance in the key
areas of health, education and access to
resources. These rankings are based on a score
between 0 to 1 that a country earns from its
record in the key areas of human development.
The indicator chosen to assess health is
the life expectancy at birth. A higher life
expectancy means that people have a greater
chance of living longer and healthier lives.
The adult literacy rate and the gross
enrolment ratio represent access to knowledge.
The number of adults who are able to read and
write and the number of children enrolled in
schools show how easy or difficult it is to access
knowledge in a particular country.
Access to resources is measured in terms
of purchasing power (in U.S. dollars).
Each of these dimensions is given a
weightage of 1/3. The human development
index is a sum total of the weights assigned to
all these dimensions.
The closer a score is to one, the greater is
the level of human development. Therefore, a
score of 0.983 would be considered very high
while 0.268 would mean a very low level of
human development.
The human development index measures
attainments in human development. It reflects
what has been achieved in the key areas of
human development. Yet it is not the most
reliable measure. This is because it does not
say anything about the distribution.
The human poverty index is related to the
human development index. This index
measures the shortfall in human development.

Table 4.1: Approaches to Human Development

(a) Income Approach This is one of the oldest approaches to human

development. Human development is seen as being
linked to income. The idea is that the level of income
reflects the level of freedom an individual enjoys.
Higher the level of income, the higher is the level of
human development.

(b) Welfare Approach This approach looks at human beings as beneficiaries

or targets of all development activities. The approach
argues for higher government expenditure on
education, health, social secondary and amenities.
People are not participants in development but only
passive recipients. The government is responsible for
increasing levels of human development by
maximising expenditure on welfare.

(c) Basic Needs Approach This approach was initially proposed by the
International Labour Organisation (ILO). Six basic
needs i.e.: health, education, food, water supply,
sanitation, and housing were identified. The question
of human choices is ignored and the emphasis is on
the provision of basic needs of defined sections.

(d) Capability Approach This approach is associated with Prof. Amartya Sen.
Building human capabilities in the areas of health,
education and access to resources is the key to
increasing human development.

26 Fundamentals of Human Geography


Since 1990, the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) has been
publishing the Human Development Report
every year. This report provides a rank-wise
list of all member countries according to the
level of human development. The Human
Development index and the Human Poverty
index are two important indices to measure
human development used by the UNDP.
It is a non-income measure. The probability of
not surviving till the age of 40, the adult illiteracy
rate, the number of people who do not have
access to clean water, and the number of small
children who are underweight are all taken into
account to show the shortfall in human
development in any region. Often the human
poverty index is more revealing than the human
development index.
Looking at both these measures of human
development together gives an accurate picture
of the human development situation in a
country.
The ways to measure human development
are constantly being refined and newer ways of
capturing different elements of human
development are being researched. Researchers
have found links between the level of corruption
or political freedom in a particular region. There
is also a discussion regarding a political
freedom index and, a listing of the most corrupt
countries. Can you think of other links to the
level of human development?
Bhutan is the only country in the world to
officially proclaim the Gross National
Happiness (GNH) as the measure of the
country’s progress. Material progress and
technological developments are approached
more cautiously taking into consideration the
possible harm they might bring to the
environment or the other aspects of cultural
and spiritual life of the Bhutanese. This simply
means material progress cannot come at the
cost of happiness. GNH encourages us to
think of the spiritual, non-material and
qualitative aspects of development.
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
International comparisons of human
development are interesting. Size of the territory
and per capita income are not directly related
to human development. Often smaller countries
have done better than larger ones in human
development. Similarly, relatively poorer
nations have been ranked higher than richer
neighbours in terms of human development.
For example, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and
Tobago have a higher rank than India in the
human development index despite having
smaller economies. Similarly, within India,
Kerala performs much better than Punjab and
Gujarat in human development despite having
lower per capita income.
Countries can be classified into three
groups on the basis of the human development
scores earned by them (Table 4.2).
Table 4.2: Human Development: Categories, Criteria
and Countries
Level of Human Score in Number of
Development Development Countries
Index
High above 0.8 57
Medium between 0.5 up to 88
0.799
Low below 0.5 32
Source: Human Development Report, 2005
Countries with High Index Value
Countries with high human development index
are those which have a score of over 0.8.
Human Development 27
According to the Human Development Report You will notice that many of these countries
of 2005, this group includes 57 countries. Table have been the former imperial powers. The degree
4.3 shows the countries in this group. of social diversity in these countries is not very
high. Many of the countries with a high human
Table 4.3: Top Ten Countries with High Value Index
development score are located in Europe and
Sl. No. Country Sl. No. Country represent the industrialised western world. Yet
1. Norway 6. Sweden there are striking numbers of non-European
2. Iceland 7. Switzerland
3. Australia 8. Ireland
countries also who have made it to this list.
4. Luxembourg 9. Belgium
5. Canada 10. United States Countries with Medium Index Value
Source: Human Development Report, 2005 Countries with medium levels of human
development form the largest group. There are
Try to locate these countries on a map. a total of 88 countries in this group. Most of
Can you see what these countries have in these are countries which have emerged in the
common? To find out more visit the official period after the Second World War. Some
government websites of these countries. countries from this group were former colonies
while many others have emerged after the break
Providing education and healthcare is an
up of the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1990. Many
important government priority. Countries with
of these countries have been rapidly improving
higher human development are those where a
their human development score by adopting
lot of investment in the social sector has taken
more people-oriented policies and reducing
place. Altogether, a higher investment in people
social discrimination. Most of these countries
and good governance has set this group of
countries apart from the others. have a much higher social diversity than the
Try to find out the percentage of the countries with higher human development
country’s income spent on these sectors. Can scores. Many in this group have faced political
you think of some other characteristics that instability and social uprisings at some point
these countries have in common? of time in their recent history.

What could be
the reasons for
India to be
behind 125
countries in
HDI?

28 Fundamentals of Human Geography

Countries with Low Index Value
As many as 32 countries record low levels of
human development. A large proportion of
these are small countries which have been going
through political turmoil and social instability
in the form of civil war, famine or a high
incidence of diseases. There is an urgent need
to address the human development
requirements of this group through well
thought out policies.
International comparisons of human
development can show some very interesting
results. Often people tend to blame low levels
of human development on the culture of the
people. For example, X country has lower
human development because its people follow
Y religion, or belong to Z community. Such
statements are misleading.
To understand why a particular region
keeps reporting low or high levels of human
development it is important to look at the
pattern of government expenditure on the
social sector. The political environment of the
country and the amount of freedom people
have is also important. Countries with high
levels of human development invest more in
the social sectors and are generally free from
political turmoil and instability. Distribution
of the country’s resources is also far more
equitable.
On the other hand, places with low levels
of human development tend to spend more on
defence rather than social sectors. This shows
that these countries tend to be located in areas
of political instability and have not been able
to initiate accelerated economic development.

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following best describes development?
(a) an increase in size (c) a positive change in quality
(b) a constant in size (d) a simple change in the quality
(ii) Which one of the following scholars introduced the concept of Human
Development?
(a) Prof. Amartya Sen (c) Dr Mahabub-ul-Haq
(b) Ellen C. Semple (d) Ratzel
(iii) Which one of the following is not a country with high human development?
(a) Norway (c) Argentina
(b) Japan (d) Egypt
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What are the three basic areas of human development?
(ii) Name the four main components of human development?
(iii) How are countries classified on the basis of human development index?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) What do you understand by the term human development?
(ii) What do equity and sustainability refer to within the concept of human
development?

Human Development 29
 Project/Activity
Make a list of the ten most corrupt countries and ten least corrupt countries.
Compare their scores on the human development index. What inferences can
you draw?
Consult the latest Human Development Report for this.

30 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Unit-III All economic activities namely primary,
secondary, tertiary and quaternary, revolve
Chapter-6 around obtaining and utilising resources
necessary for survival.
Secondary activities add value to natural
resources by transforming raw materials into
valuable products. Cotton in the boll has limited
use but after it is transformed into yarn,
becomes more valuable and can be used for
making clothes. Iron ore, cannot be used;
directly from the mines, but after being
converted into steel it gets its value and can be
used for making many valuable machines,
tools, etc. The same is true of most of the
materials from the farm, forest, mine and the
Secondary Activities sea. Secondary activities, therefore, are
concerned with manufacturing, processing and
construction (infrastructure) industries.

MANUFACTURING
Manufacturing involves a full array of
production from handicrafts to moulding iron
and steel and stamping out plastic toys to
assembling delicate computer components or
space vehicles. In each of these processes, the
common characteristics are the application of
power, mass production of identical products
and specialised labour in factory settings for
the production of standardised commodities.
Manufacturing may be done with modern
power and machinery or it may still be very
primitive. Most of the Third World countries still
‘manufacture’ in the literal sense of the term. It
is difficult to present a full picture of all the
manufacturers in these countries. More
emphasis is given to the kind of ‘industrial’
activity which involves less complicated systems
of production.

Characteristics of Modern Large Scale

Manufacturing
Modern large scale manufacturing has the
following characteristics:

Specialisation of Skills/Methods of
Production
Under the ‘craft’ method factories produce only
a few pieces which are made-to-order. So the
costs are high. On the other hand, mass
production involves production of large
quantities of standardised parts by each worker
performing only one task repeatedly.
‘Manufacturing’ Industry and
‘Manufacturing Industry’
Manufacturing literally means ‘to
make by hand’. However, now it
includes goods ‘made by machines’.
It is essentially a process which
involves transforming raw materials
into finished goods of higher value
for sale in local or distant markets.
Conceptually, an industry is a
geographically located manufacturing
unit maintaining books of accounts
and, records under a management
system. As the term industry is
comprehensive, it is also used as
synonymous with ‘manufacturing’
When one uses terms like ‘steel
industry’ and ‘chemical industry’ one
thinks of factories and processes.
But there are many secondary
activities which are not carried on in
factories such as what is now called
the ‘entertainment industry’ and
Tourism industry, etc. So for clarity
the longer expression ‘manufacturing
industry’ is used.
Mechanisation
Mechanisation refers to using gadgets which
accomplish tasks. Automation (without aid of
human thinking during the manufacturing
process) is the advanced stage of mechanisation.
Automatic factories with feedback and closed-
loop computer control systems where machines
are developed to ‘think’, have sprung up all over
the world.
Technological Innovation
Technological innovations through research
and development strategy are an important
aspect of modern manufacturing for quality
control, eliminating waste and inefficiency, and
combating pollution.
46 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Organisational Structure and Stratification
Modern manufacturing is characterised by:
(i) a complex machine technology
(ii) extreme specialisation and division of
labour for producing more goods with less
effort, and low costs
(iii) vast capital
(iv) large organisations
(v) executive bureaucracy.
Uneven Geographic Distribution
Major concentrations of modern manufacturing
have flourished in a few number of places. These
cover less than 10 per cent of the world’s land
area. These nations have become the centres of
economic and political power. However, in terms
of the total area covered, manufacturing sites
are much less conspicuous and concentrated
on much smaller areas than that of agriculture
due to greater intensity of processes. For
example, 2.5 sq km of the American corn belt
usually includes about four large farms
employing about 10-20 workers supporting
50-100 persons. But this same area could
contain several large integrated factories and
employ thousands of workers.
Why do Large-scale Industries choose
different locations?
Industries maximise profits by reducing
costs. Therefore, industries should be located
at points where the production costs are
minimum. Some of the factors influencing
industrial locations are as under:
Access to Market
The existence of a market for manufactured
goods is the most important factor in the location
of industries. ‘Market’ means people who have a
demand for these goods and also have the
purchasing power (ability to purchase) to be able
to purchase from the sellers at a place. Remote
areas inhabited by a few people offer small
markets. The developed regions of Europe, North
America, Japan and Australia provide large
global markets as the purchasing power of the
people is very high. The densely populated
regions of South and South-east Asia also
provide large markets. Some industries, such
as aircraft manufacturing, have a global market.
The arms industry also has global markets.
Access to Raw Material
Raw material used by industries should be
cheap and easy to transport. Industries based
on cheap, bulky and weight-losing material
(ores) are located close to the sources of raw
material such as steel, sugar, and cement
industries. Perishability is a vital factor for the
industry to be located closer to the source of
the raw material. Agro-processing and dairy
products are processed close to the sources of
farm produce or milk supply respectively.
Access to Labour Supply
Labour supply is an important factor in the
location of industries. Some types of
manufacturing still require skilled labour.
Increasing mechanisation, automation and
flexibility of industrial processes have reduced
the dependence of industry upon the labours.
Access to Sources of Energy
Industries which use more power are located
close to the source of the energy supply such
as the aluminium industry.
Earlier coal was the main source of energy,
today hydroelectricity and petroleum are also
important sources of energy for many
industries.
Access to Transportation and
Communication Facilities
Speedy and efficient transport facilities to carry
raw materials to the factory and to move finished
goods to the market are essential for the
development of industries. The cost of transport
plays an important role in the location of
industrial units. Western Europe and eastern
North America have a highly developed transport
system which has always induced the
concentration of industries in these areas. Modern
industry is inseparably tied to transportation
systems. Improvements in transportation led to
integrated economic development and regional
specialisation of manufacturing.
Communication is also an important need
for industries for the exchange and
management of information.
Government Policy
Governments adopt ‘regional policies’ to
promote ‘balanced’ economic development and
hence set up industries in particular areas.
Access to Agglomeration Economies/
Links between Industries
Many industries benefit from nearness to a
leader-industry and other industries. These
benefits are termed as agglomeration
economies. Savings are derived from the
linkages which exist between different
industries.
These factors operate together to determine
industrial location.
Foot Loose Industries
Foot loose industries can be located
in a wide variety of places. They are
not dependent on any specific raw
material, weight losing or otherwise.
They largely depend on component
parts which can be obtained
anywhere. They produce in small
quantity and also employ a small
labour force. These are generally not
polluting industries. The important
factor in their location is accessibility
by road network.
Classification of Manufacturing Industries
Manufacturing industries are classified on the
basis of their size, inputs/raw materials,
output/products and ownership (Fig. 6.1).
Industries based on Size
The amount of capital invested, number of
workers employed and volume of production
determine the size of industry. Accordingly,
industries may be classified into household or
cottage, small-scale and large-scale.
Secondary Activities 47
48
Classification of Industries

Based on

Size Inputs/Raw Materials Output/Product Size

Cottage Small Large Agro Mineral Chemical Forest Animal Basic Consumer Public Private Joint
or Scale Scale based based based based based goods Sector Sector Sector
Household
Iron and

Fundamentals of Human Geography

Sugar, Petro- Timber, Leather, Steel
Artifacts edible oil, chemical, lac, wool
cotton textile, plastic, terpentine,
coffee, synthetic, paper
tea, rubber, fibre,
etc. salts,
chemicals
fertilisers Biscuits Textiles Vehicles,
e.g. cars,
scooters,
cycles

Metallic Non-Metallic

Cement, Pottery
Ferrous Non-ferrous

Iron and Copper,

Steel aluminium,
gems and
jewellery

Fig. 6.1 : Classification of Industries

HOUSEHOLD INDUSTRIES OR
COTTAGE MANUFACTURING
It is the smallest manufacturing unit. The
craftsmen or artisans use local raw materials
and simple hand tools to produce everyday
goods in their homes with the help of their family
members or part-time labour. Finished
products may be for consumption in the same
household or, for sale in local (village) markets,
or, for barter. Capital and transportation do not
wield much influence as this type of
manufacturing has low commercial significance
and most of the tools are devised locally.
Fig. 6.2 (a) : A man making pots in his courtyard-
example of household industry in Nagaland
Fig. 6.2 (b) : A man weaving a bamboo basket by the
roadside in Arunachal Pradesh
Some common everyday products
produced in this sector of manufacturing
include foodstuffs, fabrics, mats, containers,
tools, furniture, shoes, and figurines from wood
lot and forest, shoes, thongs and other articles from
leather; pottery and bricks from clays and stones.
Goldsmiths make jewellery of gold, silver and
bronze. Some artefacts and crafts are made out of
bamboo, wood obtained locally from the forests.
Small Scale Manufacturing
Small scale manufacturing is distinguished
from household industries by its production
techniques and place of manufacture (a
workshop outside the home/cottage of the
producer). This type of manufacturing uses
local raw material, simple power -driven
machines and semi-skilled labour. It provides
employment and raises local purchasing power.
Therefore, countries like India, China, Indonesia
and Brazil, etc. have developed labour-intensive
small scale manufacturing in order to provide
employment to their population.
Fig. 6.3: Products of Cottage Industry on Sale
in Assam
Large Scale Manufacturing
Large scale manufacturing involves a large
market, various raw materials, enormous
energy, specialised workers, advanced
technology, assembly-line mass production and
large capital. This kind of manufacturing
developed in the last 200 years, in the United
Kingdom, north-eastern U.S.A. and Europe. Now
it has diffused in almost all over the world.
Secondary Activities 49
 On the basis of the system of large scale
manufacturing, the world’s major industrial
regions may be grouped under two broad types,
namely
(i) traditional large-scale industrial regions
which are thickly clustered in a few more
developed countries.
(ii) high-technology large scale industrial
regions which have diffused to less
developed countries.
Fig. 6.4 : Passenger car assembly hires at a plant of
the Motor Company in Japan
Industries based on Inputs/Raw Materials
On the basis of the raw materials used, the
industries are classified as: (a) agro-based; (b)
mineral based; (c) chemical based; (d) forest
based: and (e) animal based.
(a) Agro based Industries
Agro processing involves the processing of raw
materials from the field and the farm into finished
products for rural and urban markets. Major
agro-processing industries are food processing,
sugar, pickles, fruits juices, beverages (tea, coffee
and cocoa), spices and oils fats and textiles
(cotton, jute, silk), rubber, etc.
Food Processing
Agro processing includes canning, producing
cream, fruit processing and confectionery. While
some preserving techniques, such as drying,
fermenting and pickling, have been known since
ancient times, these had limited applications to
cater to the pre-Industrial Revolution demands.
50 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Fig. 6.5: Tea Garden and a Tea Factory in the Nilgiri
Hills of Tamil Nadu
Agri-business is commercial farming
on an industrial scale often financed
by business whose main interests lie
outside agriculture, for example, large
corporations in tea plantation
business. Agri-business farms are
mechanised, large in size, highly
structured, reliant on chemicals, and
may be described as ‘agro-factories’.
(b) Mineral based Industries
These industries use minerals as a raw material.
Some industries use ferrous metallic minerals
which contain ferrous (iron), such as iron and
steel industries but some use non-ferrous
metallic minerals, such as aluminium, copper
and jewellery industries. Many industries use
non-metallic minerals such as cement and
pottery industries.
(c) Chemical based Industries
Such industries use natural chemical minerals,
e.g. mineral-oil (petroleum) is used in petro-
chemical industry. Salts, sulphur and potash
industries also use natural minerals. Chemical
industries are also based on raw materials
obtained from wood and coal. Synthetic fibre,
plastic, etc. are other examples of chemical based
industries.
(d) Forest based Raw Material using
Industries
The forests provide many major and minor
products which are used as raw material.
Timber for furniture industry, wood, bamboo
and grass for paper industry, lac for lac
industries come from forests.
Fig. 6.6: A pulp mill in the heart of the Ketchikan’s
timber area of Alaska
(e) Animal based Industries
Leather for leather industry and wool for
woollen textiles are obtained from animals.
Besides, ivory is also obtained from
elephant’s tusks.
Industries Based On Output/Product
You have seen some machines and tools made
of iron or steel. The raw material for such
machines and tools is iron and steel. Which is
itself an industry. The industry whose products
are used to make other goods by using them
as raw materials are basic industries. Can you
identify the links? Iron/steel machines
for textile industry clothes for use by
consumers.
The consumer goods industries produced
goods which are consumed by consumers
directly. For example, industries producing
breads and biscuits, tea, soaps and toiletries,
paper for writing, televisions, etc. are consumer
goods or non-basic industries.
INDUSTRIES BASED ON OWNERSHIP
(a) Public Sector Industries are owned and
managed by governments. In India, there
were a number of Public Sector
Undertakings (PSUs). Socialist countries
have many state owned industries. Mixed
economies have both Public and Private
sector enterprises.
(b) Private Sector Industries are owned by
individual investors. These are managed
by private organisations. In capitalist
countries, industries are generally owned
privately.
(c) Joint Sector Industries are managed by
joint stock companies or sometimes the
private and public sectors together
establish and manage the industries. Can
you make a list of such industries?
Traditional Large-Scale Industrial Regions
These are based on heavy industry, often
located near coal-fields and engaged in metal
smelting, heavy engineering, chemical
manufacture or textile production. These
industries are now known as smokestack
industries. Traditional industrial regions can
be recognised by:
• High proportion of employment in
manufacturing industry.
High-density housing, often of inferior
type, and poor services.
Unattractive environment, for example,
pollution, waste heaps, and so on.
• Problems of unemployment, emigration
and derelict land areas caused by closure
of factories because of a worldwide fall in
demand.
The Ruhr Coal-field, Germany
This has been one of the major industrial
regions of Europe for a long time. Coal and iron
and steel formed the basis of the economy, but
as the demand for coal declined, the industry
started shrinking. Even after the iron ore was
exhausted, the industry remained, using
imported ore brought by waterways to the Ruhr.
The Ruhr region is responsible for 80 per
cent of Germany’s total steel production.
Secondary Activities 51
Changes in the industrial structure have led to
the decay of some areas, and there are problems
of industrial waste and pollution. The future
prosperity of the Ruhr is based less on the
products of coal and steel, for which it was
initially famous, and more on the new
industries like the huge Opel car assembly
plant, new chemical plants, universities. Out-
of-town shopping centres have appeared
resulting in a ‘New Ruhr’ landscape.
Concept of High Technology Industry
High technology, or simply high-tech, is the
latest generation of manufacturing activities. It
is best understood as the application of
intensive research and development (R and D)
efforts leading to the manufacture of products
of an advanced scientific and engineering
character. Professional (white collar) workers
make up a large share of the total workforce.
These highly skilled specialists greatly
outnumber the actual production (blue collar)
workers. Robotics on the assembly line,
computer -aided design (CAD) and
manufacturing, electronic controls of smelting
and refining processes, and the constant
development of new chemical and
pharmaceutical products are notable examples
of a high-tech industry.
Neatly spaced, low, modern, dispersed,
office-plant-lab buildings rather than massive
assembly structures, factories and storage
areas mark the high-tech industrial landscape.
Planned business parks for high-tech start-ups
have become part of regional and local
development schemes.
High-tech industries which are regionally
concentrated, self-sustained and highly
specialised are called technopolies. The Silicon
Valley near San Francisco and Silicon Forest
near Seattle are examples of technopolies. Are
some technopolies developing in India?
Manufacturing contributes significantly to
the world economy. Iron and steel, textiles,
automobiles, petrochemicals and electronics
are some of the world’s most important
manufacturing industries.
52 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Iron and Steel Industry
The iron and steel industry forms the base of
all other industries and, therefore, it is called a
basic industry. It is basic because it provides
raw material for other industries such as
machine tools used for further production. It
may also be called a heavy industry because it
uses large quantities of bulky raw materials and
its products are also heavy.
Iron is extracted from iron ore by smelting
in a blast furnace with carbon (coke) and
limestone. The molten iron is cooled and
moulded to form pig iron which is used for
converting into steel by adding strengthening
materials like manganese.
The large integrated steel industry is
traditionally located close to the sources of raw
materials – iron ore, coal, manganese and
limestone – or at places where these could be
easily brought, e.g. near ports. But in mini steel
mills access to markets is more important than
inputs. These are less expensive to build and
operate and can be located near markets
because of the abundance of scrap metal, which
is the main input. Traditionally, most of the steel
was produced at large integrated plants, but
mini mills are limited to just one-step process –
steel making – and are gaining ground.
Distribution : The industry is one of the
most complex and capital-intensive industries
and is concentrated in the advanced countries
of North America, Europe and Asia. In U.S.A,
most of the production comes from the north
Appalachian region (Pittsburgh), Great Lake
region (Chicago-Gary, Erie, Cleveland, Lorain,
Buffalo and Duluth) and the Atlantic Coast
(Sparrows Point and Morisville). The industry
has also moved towards the southern state of
Alabama. Pittsburg area is now losing ground.
It has now become the “rust bowl” of U.S.A. In
Europe, U.K., Germany, France, Belgium,
Luxembourgh, the Netherlands and Russia are
the leading producers. The important steel
centres are Birmingham and Sheffield in the
U.K.; Duisburg, Dortmund, Dusseldorf and
Essen in Germany; Le Creusot and St. Ettienne
in France; and Moscow, St. Petersburgh,
Lipetsk, Tula, in Russia and Krivoi Rog, and
Donetsk in Ukraine. In Asia, the important
centres include Nagasaki and Tokyo-Yokohama
in Japan; Shanghai, Tienstin and Wuhan in
China; and Jamshedpur, Kulti-Burnpur,
Durgapur, Rourkela, Bhilai, Bokaro, Salem,
Visakhapatnam and Bhadravati in India.
Consult your atlas to locate these places/
centres.
Cotton Textile Industry
Cotton textile industry has three sub-sectors
i.e. handloom, powerloom and mill sectors.
Handloom sector is labour -intensive and
provides employment to semi-skilled workers.
It requires small capital investment. Why did
Mahatma Gandhi propagate Khadi as part of
the independence movement? This sector
involves spinning, weaving and finishing of the
fabrics. The powerloom sector introduces
machines and becomes less labour intensive
and the volume of production increases. Cotton
textile mill sector is highly capital intensive and
produces fine clothes in bulk.
Cotton textile manufacturing requires good
quality cotton as raw material. India, China,
U.S.A, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Egypt produce
more than half of the world’s raw cotton. The
U.K, NW European countries and Japan also
produce cotton textile made from imported
yarn. Europe alone accounts for nearly half of
the world’s cotton imports. The industry has to
face very stiff competition with synthetic fibres
hence it has now shown a declining trend in
many countries. With the scientific advancement
and technological improvements the structure
of industries changes. For example, Germany
recorded constant growth in cotton textile
industry since Second World War till the
seventies but now it has declined. It has shifted
to less developed countries where labour costs
are low.

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following statements is wrong?
(a) Cheap water transport has facilitated the jute mill industry along
the Hugli.
(b) Sugar, cotton textiles and vegetable oils are footloose industries.
(c) The development of hydro-electricity and petroleum reduced, to a great
extent, the importance of coal energy as a locational factor for
industry.
(d) Port towns in India have attracted industries.
(ii) In which one of the following types of economy are the factors of production
owned individually ?
(a) Capitalist (c) Socialist
(b) Mixed (d) None
(iii) Which one of the following types of industries produces raw materials
for other industries?
(a) Cottage Industries (c) Basic Industries
(b) Small-scale Industries (d) Footloose Industries

Secondary Activities 53
 (iv) Which one of the following pairs is correctly matched ?
(a) Automobile industry … Los Angeles
(b) Shipbuilding industry … Lusaka
(c) Aircraft industry … Florence
(d) Iron and Steel industry … Pittsburgh
2. Write a short note on the following in about 30 words.
(i) High-Tech industry
(ii) Manufacturing
(iii) Footloose industries
3. Answer the following in not more than 150 words.
(i) Differentiate between primary and secondary activities.
(ii) Discuss the major trends of modern industrial activities especially in
the developed countries of the world.
(iii) Explain why high-tech industries in many countries are being attracted
to the peripheral areas of major metropolitan centres.
(iv) Africa has immense natural resources and yet it is industrially the most
backward continent. Comment.

Project/Activity
(i) Carry out a survey in your school premises of the factory-made goods
used by students and the staff.
(ii) Find out the meaning of the terms bio-degradable and non-
biodegradable. Which kind of material is better to use? Why?
(iii) Look around and make a list of the global brands, their logos and
products.

54 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 When you fall ill you go to your family doctor
Unit-III or you call a doctor. Sometimes your parents
Chapter-7 take you to a hospital for treatment. While in
school, you are taught by your teachers. In the
event of any dispute, legal opinion is obtained
from a lawyer. Likewise, there are many
professionals who provide their services against
payment of their fee. Thus, all types of services
are special skills provided in exchange of
payments. Health, education, law, governance
and recreation etc. require professional skills.
These services require other theoretical
knowledge and practical training. Tertiary
activities are related to the service sector.
Manpower is an important component of the
Tertiary and service sector as most of the tertiary activities
are performed by skilled labour, professionally
Quaternary Activities trained experts and consultants.
In the initial stages of economic
development, larger proportion of people
worked in the primary sector. In a developed
economy, the majority of workers get
employment in tertiary activity and a moderate
proportion is employed in the secondary sector.
Tertiary activities include both production
and exchange. The production involves the
‘provision’ of services that are ‘consumed’. The
output is indirectly measured in terms of wages
and salaries. Exchange, involves trade,
transport and communication facilities that are
used to overcome distance. Tertiary activities,
therefore, involve the commercial output of
services rather than the production of tangible
goods. They are not directly involved in the
processing of physical raw materials. Common
examples are the work of a plumber, electrician,
technician, launderer, barber, shopkeeper,
driver, cashier, teacher, doctor, lawyer and
publisher etc. The main difference between
secondary activities and tertiary activities is that
the expertise provided by services relies more
heavily on specialised skills, experience and
knowledge of the workers rather than on the
production techniques, machinery and factory
processes.

TYPES OF TERTIAR
TERTIARY ACTIVITIES
TIARY
By now you know that you purchase your
books, stationery from traders shop, travel by
 Fig. 7.1: Service Sector

56 Fundamentals of Human Geography

bus or rail, send letters, talk on telephone and
obtain services of teachers for studies and
doctors at the time of illness.
Thus, trade, transport, communication
and services are some of the tertiary activities
discussed in this section. The chart provides
the basis for classifying the tertiary activities.
TRADE AND COMMERCE
Trade is essentially buying and selling of items
produced elsewhere. All the services in retail
and wholesale trading or commerce are
specifically intended for profit. All this work
takes place in towns and cities also known as
trading centres.
The rise of trading from barter at the local
level to money-exchange of international scale
has produced many centres and institutions
such as trading centres or collection and
distribution points.
Trading centres may be divided into rural
and urban marketing centres.
Rural marketing centres cater to nearby
settlements. These are quasi-urban centres.
They serve as trading centres of the most
rudimentary type. Here personal and
professional services are not well-developed.
These form local collecting and distributing
centres. Most of these have mandis (wholesale
markets) and also retailing areas. They are not
urban centres per se but are significant centres
for making available goods and services which
are most frequently demanded by rural folk.
Fig. 7.2: A Wholesale Vegetable Market
Periodic markets in rural areas are found
where there are no regular markets and local
periodic markets are organised at different
temporal intervals. These may be weekly, bi-
weekly markets from where people from the
surrounding areas meet their temporally
accumulated demand. These markets are
held on specified dates and move from one
place to another. The shopkeepers thus,
remain busy on all the days while a large area
is served by them.
Urban marketing centres have more widely
specialised urban services. They provide
ordinary goods and services as well as many of
the specialised goods and services required by
people. Urban centres, therefore, offer
manufactured goods as well as many
specialised markets develop, e.g. markets for
labour, housing, semi or finished products.
Services of educational institutions and
professionals such as teachers, lawyers,
consultants, physicians, dentists and veterinary
doctors are available.
Fig. 7.3: Packed Food Market in U.S.A.
RETAIL TRADING SER
RETAIL VICES
SERVICES
This is the business activity concerned with the
sale of goods directly to the consumers. Most
of the retail trading take place in fixed
establishments or stores solely devoted to
selling. Street peddling, handcarts, trucks,
door-to-door, mail-order, telephone, automatic
vending machines and internet are examples
of non-store retail selling.
Tertiary and Quaternary Activities 57

More on Stores
Consumer cooperatives were the first of
the large-scale innovations in retailing.
Departmental stores delegate the
responsibility and authority to departmental
heads for purchasing of commodities and
for overseeing the sale in different sections
of the stores.
Chain stores are able to purchase
merchandise most economically, often
going so far as to direct the goods to be
manufactured to their specification. They
employ highly skilled specialists in many
executive tasks. They have the ability to
experiment in one store and apply the
results to many.
WHOLESALE TRADING SERVICE
Wholesale trading constitutes bulk business
through numerous intermediary merchants
and supply houses and not through retail
stores. Some large stores including chain stores
are able to buy directly from the manufacturers.
However, most retail stores procure supplies
from an intermediary source. Wholesalers often
extend credit to retail stores to such an extent
that the retailer operates very largely on the
wholesaler’s capital.
COMMUNICATION SERVICES
TRANSPOR
TRANSPORTT AND COMMUNICATION
COMMUNICATION
Communication services involve the
SERVICES
transmission of words and messages, facts
Transport is a service or facility by which
persons, manufactured goods, and property are
physically carried from one location to another.
It is an organised industry created to satisfy
man’s basic need of mobility. Modern society
requires speedy and efficient transport systems
to assist in the production, distribution and
consumption of goods. At every stage in this
complex system, the value of the material is
significantly enhanced by transportation.
Transport distance can be measured as:
km distance or actual distance of route length;
time distance or the time taken to travel on a
58 Fundamentals of Human Geography
particular route; and cost distance or the
expense of travelling on a route. In selecting the
mode of transport, distance, in terms of time or
cost, is the determining factor. Isochrone lines
are drawn on a map to joins places equal in
terms of the time taken to reach them.
Network and Accessibility
As transport systems develop, different
places are linked together to form a
network. Networks are made up of nodes
and links. A node or vertex, is the meeting
point of two or more routes, a point of origin,
a point of destination or any sizeable town
along a route, Every road that joins two
nodes is called a link or edge. A developed
network has many links, which means that
places are well-connected.
Factors Affecting Transport Services
Demand for transport is influenced by the size
of population. The larger the population size,
the greater is the demand for transport.
Routes depend on: location of cities,
towns, villages, industrial centres and raw
materials, pattern of trade between them, nature
of the landscape between them, type of climate,
and funds available for overcoming obstacles
along the length of the route.
and ideas. The invention of writing preserved
messages and helped to make communication
dependent on means of transport. These were
actually carried by hand, animals, boat, road,
rail and air. That is why all forms of transport
are also referred to as lines of communication.
Where the transport network is efficient,
communications are easily disseminated.
Certain developments, such as mobile
telephony and satellites, have made
communications independent of transport. All
forms are not fully disassociated because of the
cheapness of the older systems. Thus, very
large volumes of mail continue to be handled
by post offices all over the world.
Some of the communication services are
discussed below.
Telecommunications
The use of telecommunications is linked to the
development of electrical technology. It has
revolutionised communications because of the
speed with which messages are sent. The time
reduced is from weeks to minutes and recent
advancements like mobile telephony have made
communications direct and instantaneous at
any time and from anywhere. The telegraph,
morse code and telex have almost become
things of the past.
Radio and television also help to relay
news, pictures, and telephone calls to vast
audiences around the world and hence they are
termed as mass media. They are vital for
advertising and entertainment. Newspapers are
able to cover events in all corners of the world.
Satellite communication relays information of
the earth and from space. The internet has truly
revolutionised the global communication
system .
SERVICES
Services occur at many different levels. Some
are geared to industry, some to people; and some
to both industry and people, e.g. the transport
systems. Low-order services, such as grocery
shops and laundries, are more common and
widespread than high-order services or more
specialised ones like those of accountants,
consultants and physicians. Services are
provided to individual consumers who can
afford to pay for them. For example the
gardener, the launderers and the barber do
primarily physical labour. Teacher, lawyers,
physicians, musicians and others perform
mental labour.
Many services have now been regulated.
Making and maintaining highways and
bridges, maintaining fire fighting departments
and supplying or supervising education and
customer -care are among the important
services most often supervised or performed by
governments or companies. State and union
legislation have established corporations to
supervise and control the marketing of such
services as transport, telecommunication,
energy and water supply. Professional services
are primarily health care, engineering, law and
management. The location of recreational and
entertainment services depends on the market.
Multiplexes and restaurants might find location
within or near the Central Business District
(CBD), whereas a golf course would choose a
site where land costs are lower than in the CBD.
Informal/Non-Formal Sector
Personal services are made available to the
people to facilitate their work in daily life. The
workers migrate from rural areas in search of
employment and are unskilled. They are
employed in domestic services as
housekeepers, cooks, and gardeners. This
segment of workers is unorganised. One such
example in India is Mumbai’s dabbawala
(Tiffin) service provided to about 1,75,000
customers all over the city.
Fig. 7.4: Dabbawala Service in Mumbai
PEOPLE ENG AGED IN
ENGA
TERTIAR
TERTIARY ACTIVITIES
TIARY
Today most people are service workers. Services
are provided in all societies. But in more
developed countries a higher percentage of
workers is employed in provision of services in
contrast to less than 10 per cent in the less
developed countries. In U.S.A. over 75 per cent
of workers are engaged in services. The trend
Tertiary and Quaternary Activities 59
in employment in this sector has been
increasing while it has remained unchanged or
decreasing in the primary and secondary
activities.
Some Selected Examples
Tourism
Tourism is travel undertaken for purposes of
recreation rather than business. It has become
the world’s single largest tertiary activity in total
registered jobs (250 million) and total revenue
(40 per cent of the total GDP). Besides, many
local persons, are employed to provide services
like accommodation, meals, transport,
entertainment and special shops serving the
tourists. Tourism fosters the growth of
infrastructure industries, retail trading, and craft
industries (souvenirs). In some regions, tourism
is seasonal because the vacation period is
dependent on favourable weather conditions,
but many regions attract visitors all the year
round.
Fig. 7.5: Tourists skiing in the snow capped
mountain slopes of Switzerland
Tourist Regions
The warmer places around the Mediterranean
Coast and the West Coast of India are some of
the popular tourist destinations in the world.
Others include winter sports regions, found
mainly in mountainous areas, and various
scenic landscapes and national parks, which
are scattered. Historic towns also attract
60 Fundamentals of Human Geography
tourists, because of the monument, heritage
sites and cultural activities.
Factors Affecting Tourism
Demand : Since the last century, the demand
for holidays has increased rapidly.
Improvements in the standard of living and
increased leisure time, permit many more
people to go on holidays for leisure.
Transport : The opening-up of tourist
areas has been aided by improvement in
transport facilities. Travel is easier by car, with
better road systems. More significant in recent
years has been the expansion in air transport.
For example, air travel allows one to travel
anywhere in the world in a few hours of flying-
time from their homes. The advent of package
holidays has reduced the costs.
Tourist Attractions
Climate: Most people from colder regions expect
to have warm, sunny weather for beach
holidays. This is one of the main reasons for
the importance of tourism in Southern Europe
and the Mediterranean lands. The
Mediterranean climate offers almost consistently
higher temperatures, than in other parts of
Europe, long hours of sunshine and low rainfall
throughout the peak holiday season. People
taking winter holidays have specific climatic
requirements, either higher temperatures than
their own homelands, or snow cover suitable
for skiing.
Landscape: Many people like to spend
their holidays in an attractive environment,
which often means mountains, lakes,
spectacular sea coasts and landscapes not
completely altered by man.
History and Art: The history and art of an
area have potential attractiveness. People visit
ancient or picturesque towns and
archaeological sites, and enjoy exploring
castles, palaces and churches.
Culture and Economy: These attract
tourists with a penchant for experiencing ethnic
and local customs. Besides, if a region provides
for the needs of tourists at a cheap cost, it is
likely to become very popular. Home-stay has
emerged as a profitable business such as
heritage homes in Goa, Madikere and Coorg No one can be sure where all this change
in Karnataka. will lead to but some patterns do point strongly
to the future. As ideas and freedom of
Empowered Workers information and communication grow, people
will expect their applications at the workplace.
Entrepreneurs are the empowered workers of
More employees will receive training and
the quarternary sector and the slowly emerging
become highly skilled. They will work more and
quinrary sector. They represent an important
more on their own initiative. Many will have
stage of development in the hierarchy of
flexible working arrangements. Some will
economic activity where the need for self-
choose work – paid and unpaid – that is
actualisation is not motivated by wealth and
personally fulfilling and accords with their
security alone but by other factors. They have
concern for natural environment and social
predominantly a value system which
issues.
emphasises quality of life and believe in
creativity and individual values.
These are just predictions. But part of
the future belongs to you. By the
The illiterate of the twenty first century will
choices made, you, too, can affect the
not be those who do not read or write but
changing patterns and work without
those who do not learn, re-learn and un-learn.
increasing the strain upon natural
–Alvin Toffler
resources and help save the planet.

QUATERN
QUA AR
TERNARY ACTIVITIES
ARY
Where Will it All Lead to?
What do a CEO of an MNC in Copenhagen, at
New York and a medical transcriptionist at
Bangalore have in common? All these people
work in a segment of the service sector that is
knowledge oriented. This sector can be divided
into quaternary and quinary activities.
Quaternary activities involve some of the
following: the collection, production and
dissemination of information or even the
production of information. Quaternary activities
centre around research, development and may
be seen as an advanced form of services
involving specialised knowledge, technical
skills, and administrative competence.

The Quaternary Sector

The Quaternary Sector along with the
Tertiary Sector has replaced all primary and
secondary employment as the basis for
economic growth. Over half of all workers
In developed economies are in the
‘Knowledge Sector’ and there has been a
very high growth in demand for and
consumption of information-based services

Tertiary and Quaternary Activities 61

 from mutual fund managers to tax
consultants, software developers and
statisticians. Personnel working in office
buildings, elementary schools and
university classrooms, hospitals and
doctors’ offices, theatres, accounting and
brokerage firms all belong to this category
of services.
Like some of the tertiary functions,
quaternary activities can also be outsourced.
They are not tied to resources, affected by
the environment, or necessarily localised by
market.
QUINAR
QUINAR Y ACTIVITIES
ARY
The highest level of decision makers or policy
makers perform quinary activities. These are
subtly different from the knowledge based
industries that the quinary sector in general
deals with.
Quinary activities are services that focus on
the creation, re-arrangement and
interpretation of new and existing ideas; data
interpretation and the use and evaluation of
new technologies. Often referred to as ‘gold
collar’ professions, they represent another
subdivision of the tertiary sector representing
special and highly paid skills of senior
business executives, government officials,
research scientists, financial and legal
consultants, etc. Their importance in the
structure of advanced economies far
outweighs their numbers.
Outsourcing has resulted in the opening
up of a large number of call centres in India,
China, Eastern Europe, Israel, Philippines and
Costa Rica. It has created new jobs in these
countries. Outsourcing is coming to those
countries where cheap and skilled workers are
available. These are also out-migrating
countries. With the work available though
outsourcing, the migration in these countries
62 Fundamentals of Human Geography
may come down. Outsourcing countries are
facing resistance from job-seeking youths in
their respective countries. The comparative
advantage is the main reason for continuing
outsourcing. New trends in quarternary services
include knowledge processing outsourcing
(KPO) and ‘home shoring’, the latter as an
alternative to outsourcing. The KPO industry
is distinct from Business Process Outsourcing
(BPO) as it involves more high skilled workers.
It is information driven knowledge outsourcing.
KPO enables companies to create additional
business opportunities. Examples of KPOs
include research and development (R and D)
activities, e-learning, business research,
intellectual property (IP) research, legal
profession and the banking sector.
Outsourcing
Outsourcing or contracting out is giving work
to an outside agency to improve efficiency
and reduce costs. When outsourcing
involves transferring work to overseas
locations, it is described by the term off -
shoring, although both off - shoring and
outsourcing are used together. Business
activities that are outsourced include
information technology (IT), human
resources, customer support and call centre
services and at times also manufacturing
and engineering.
Data processing is an IT related service
easily be carried out in Asian, East
European and African countries, In these
countries IT skilled staff with good English
language skills are available at lower wages
than those in the developed countries. Thus,
a company in Hyderabad or Manila does
work on a project based on GIS techniques
for a country like U.S.A or Japan. Overhead
costs are also much lower making it
profitable to get job-work carried out
overseas, whether it is in India, China or
even a less populous country like Botswana
in Africa.
 Outsourcing holds tremendous advantages for
patients, if it is focused on improving quality or
providing specialised care.
Describe the nature of work against each colour-name
Colour of the collar Nature of work
Medical Tourism
Red ?
Gold ? When medical treatment is combined with
White ? international tourism activity, it lends itself
Grey ? to what is commonly known as medical
Blue ? tourism.
Pink ?

Medical Services for Overseas Patients in India

About 55,000 patients from U.S.A. visited India
in 2005 for treatment. This is still a small
number compared with the millions of surgeries
performed each year in the U.S. healthcare
system. India has emerged as the leading
country of medical tourism in the world. World
class hospitals located in metropolitan cities
cater to patients all over the world. Medical
tourism brings abundant benefits to developing
countries like India, Thailand, Singapore and
Malaysia. Beyond medical tourism, is the trend
of outsourcing of medical tests and data
interpretation. Hospitals in India, Switzerland
and Australia have been performing certain
medical services – ranging from reading
radiology images, to interpreting Magnetic
Resonance Images (MRIs) and ultrasound tests.
THE DIGITAL DIVIDE
DIGITAL
Opportunities emerging from the Information
and Communication Technology based
development is unevenly distributed across the
globe. There are wide ranging economic,
political and social differences among countries.
How quickly countries can provide ICT access
and benefits to its citizens is the deciding factor.
While developed countries in general have
surged forward, the developing countries have
lagged behind and this is known as the digital
divide. Similarly digital divides exist within
countries. For example, in a large country like
India or Russia, it is inevitable that certain areas
like metropolitan centres possess better
connectivity and access to the digital world
versus peripheral rural areas.

Organise an informal debate session in your class about how could the emerging medical
industry of our country become a boom as well as doom?

Tertiary and Quaternary Activities 63

 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following is a tertiary activity?
(a) Farming (c) Weaving
(b) Trading (d) Hunting
(ii) Which one of the following activities is NOT a secondary sector activity?
(a) Iron Smelting (c) Making garments
(b) Catching fish (d) Basket Weaving
(iii) Which one of the following sectors provides most of the employment in Delhi,
Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.
(a) Primary (c) Secondary
(b) Quaternary (d) Service
(iv) Jobs that involve high degrees and level of innovations are known as:
(a) Secondary activities (c) Quinary activities
(b) Quaternary activities (d) Primary activities
(v) Which one of the following activities is related to quaternary sector?
(a) Manufacturing computers (c) University teaching
(b) Paper and Raw pulp production (d) Printing books
(vi) Which one out of the following statements is not true?
(a) Outsourcing reduces costs and increases efficiency.
(b) At times engineering and manufacturing jobs can also be outsourced.
(c) BPOs have better business opportunities as compared to KPOs.
(d) There may be dissatisfaction among job seekers in the countries that
outsource the job.
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Explain retail trading service.
(ii) Describe quaternary services.
(iii) Name the fast emerging countries of medical tourism in the world.
(iv) What is digital divide?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Discuss the significance and growth of the service sector in modern
economic development.
(ii) Explain in detail the significance of transport and communication services.

Project/Activity

(i) Find out the activities of BPO.

(ii) Find out from a travel agent the documents you need to travel abroad.

64 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Natural resources, economic activities and
Unit-III markets are rarely found in one place.
Chapter-8 Transport, communication and trade establish
links between producing centres and
consuming centres. The system of mass
production and exchange is complex. Each
region produces the items for which it is best
suited. T rade or the exchange of such
commodities relies on transportation and
communication. Likewise, the high living
standards and quality of life depend on efficient
transportation, communications and trade. In
earlier days, the means of transport and
communication were the same. But today both
have acquired distinct and specialised forms.
Transport and Transport provides the network of links and
carriers through which trade takes place.
Communication TRANSPORT
TRANSPORT
Transport is a service or facility for the carriage
of persons and goods from one place to the other
using humans, animals and different kinds of
vehicles. Such movements take place over land,
water and air. Roads and railways form part of
land transport; while shipping and waterways
and airways are the other two modes. Pipelines
carry materials like petroleum, natural gas, and
ores in liquidified form.
Moreover, transportation is an organised
service industry created to satisfy the basic
needs of society. It includes transport arteries,
vehicles to carry people and goods, and the
organisation to maintain arteries, and to handle
loading, unloading and delivery. Every nation
has developed various kinds of transportation
for defence purposes. Assured and speedy
transportation, along with efficient
communication, promote cooperation and
unity among scattered peoples.

What is a Transport Network ?

Several places (nodes) joined together by a
series of routes (links) to form a pattern.

MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
TRANSPORT
The principal modes of world transportation,
as already mentioned are land, water, air and
pipelines. These are used for inter-regional and
intra-regional transport, and each one (except
pipelines) carries both passengers and freight.
The significance of a mode depends on the type
of goods and services to be transported, costs
of transport and the mode available.
International movement of goods is handled by
ocean freighters. Road transport is cheaper and
faster over short distances and for door-to-
door services. Railways are most suited for large
volumes of bulky materials over long distances
within a country. High-value, light and
Fig. 8.1: Ropeway and Cable cars in Austria
perishable goods are best moved by airways.
In a well-managed transport system, these This means of transport is usually found on steep
various modes complement each other. mountain slopes and mines which are not suitable for
building roads.
Land Transport transportation and large freighters are the
cheapest. They are important in supplementing
Most of the movement of goods and services
modern channels and carriers which penetrate
takes place over land. In early days, humans
the interiors in large countries. In the densely
themselves were carriers. Have you ever seen a
populated districts of India and China, overland
bride being carried on a palanquin (palki/doli)
transport still takes place by human porters or
by four persons (Kahars in north India). Later
carts drawn or pushed by humans.
animals were used as beasts of burden. Have
you seen mules, horses and camels, carrying
loads of cargo in rural areas? With the invention Pack Animals
of the wheel, the use of carts and wagons
Horses are used as a draught animal even
became important. The revolution in transport
in the Western countries. Dogs and
came about only after the invention of the steam
reindeer are used in North America, North
engine in the eighteenth century. Perhaps the
Europe and Siberia to draw sledges over
first public railway line was opened in 1825 snow-covered ground. Mules are preferred
between Stockton and Darlington in northern in the mountainous regions; while camels
England and then onwards, railways became are used for caravan movement in deserts.
the most popular and fastest form of transport In India, bullocks are used for pulling carts.
in the nineteenth century. It opened up
continental interiors for commercial grain
farming, mining and manufacturing in U.S.A.
The invention of the internal combustion engine
revolutionised road transport in terms of road
quality and vehicles (motor cars and trucks)
plying over them. Among the newer
developments in land transportation are
pipelines, ropeways and cableways. Liquids like
mineral oil, water, sludge and sewers are
transported by pipelines. The great freight
carriers are the railways, ocean vessels, barges,
boats and motor trucks and pipelines.
In general, the old and elementary forms Fig. 8.2: A horse cart in a village Tefki,
like the human porter, pack animal, cart or in Ethiopia
wagon are the most expensive means of

66 Fundamentals of Human Geography

Roads
Road transport is the most economical for short
distances compared to railways. Freight
transport by road is gaining importance
because it offers door -to-door service. But
unmetalled roads, though simple in
construction, are not effective and serviceable
for all seasons. During the rainy season these
become unmotorable and even the metalled
ones are seriously handicapped during heavy
rains and floods. In such conditions, the high
embankment of rail-tracks and the efficient
maintenance of railway transport service, is an
effective solution. But the rail kilometrage being
small cannot serve the needs of vast and
developing countries at a low cost. Roads,
therefore, play a vital role in a nation’s trade
and commerce and for promoting tourism.
The quality of the roads varies greatly
between developed and developing countries
because road construction and maintenance
require heavy expenditure. In developed
countries good quality roads are universal and
provide long-distance links in the form of
motorways, autobahns (Germany), and inter–
state highways for speedy movement. Lorries,
of increasing size and power to carry heavy
loads, are common. But unfortunately, the
world’s road system is not well developed.
The world’s total motorable road length
is only about 15 million km, of which North
America accounts for 33 per cent. The highest
road density and the highest number of
vehicles are registered in this continent
compared to Western Europe.
Table 8.1: Length of the Roads
the road network cannot cope with the demands
of traffic, congestion occurs. City roads suffer
from chronic traffic congestion. Peaks (high
points) and troughs (low points) of traffic flow
can be seen on roads at particular times of the
day, for example, peaks occurring during the
rush hour before and after work. Most of the
cities in the world have been facing the problem
of congestion.
Think on these lines for a
better tomorrow . . .
URBAN TRANSPORT SOLUTIONS
Higher Parking Fee
Mass Rapid Transit (MRT)
Improved Public Bus Service
Expressways
Highways
Highways are metalled roads connecting distant
places. They are constructed in a manner for
unobstructed vehicular movement. As such
these are 80 m wide, with separate traffic lanes,
bridges, flyovers and dual carriageways to
facilitate uninterrupted traffic flow. In developed
countries, every city and port town is linked
through highways.

Sl. Countries For every

No. 100 km2
area
1. India 105
2. Japan 327
3. France 164
4. U.K. 162
5. U.S.A. 67
6. Spain 68
7. Sri Lanka 151
Source : Encyclopedia Britannica – Year Book, 2005.

Traffic Flows: Traffic on roads has

Fig. 8.3 : Dharmavaram Tuni National Highway,
increased dramatically in recent years. When India

Transport and Communication 67

 In North America, highway density is high, Border Roads
about 0.65 km per sq km. Every place is within
Roads laid along international boundaries are
20 km distance from a highway. Cities located
called border roads. They play an important
on the Pacific coast (west) are well-connected
role in integrating people in remote areas with
with those of the Atlantic Coast (east). Likewise,
major cities and providing defence. Almost all
the cities of Canada in the north are linked with
countries have such roads to transport goods
those of Mexico in the south. The Trans- to border villages and military camps.
Canadian Highway links Vancouver in British
Columbia(west coast) to St. John’s City in Railways
Newfoundland (east coast) and the Alaskan
Highway links Edmonton (Canada) to Railways are a mode of land transport for
Anchorage (Alaska). bulky goods and passengers over long
The Pan-American Highway, a large distances. The railway gauges vary in different
portion of which has been constructed, will countries and are roughly classified as broad
connect the countries of South America, Central (more than 1.5 m), standard (1.44 m), metre
America and U.S.A.-Canada. The Trans- gauge (1 m) and smaller gauges. The standard
Continental Stuart Highway connects Darwin gauge is used in the U.K.
(north coast) and Melbourne via Tennant Creek Commuter trains are very popular in U.K.,
and Alice Springs in Australia. U.S.A, Japan and India. These carry millions
of passengers daily to and fro in the city. There
Europe has a large number of vehicles and
are about 13 lakh km of railways open for traffic
a well-developed highway network. But
in the world.
highways face a lot of competition from railways
and waterways.
In Russia, a dense highway network is
developed in the industrialised region west of
the Urals with Moscow as the hub. The
important Moscow-Vladivostok Highway serves
the region to the east. Due to the vast
geographical area, highways in Russia are not
as important as railways.
In China, highways criss-cross the country
connecting all major cities such as Tsungtso
(near Vietnam boundary), Shanghai (central
China), Guangzhou (south) and Beijing (north). Fig. 8.4: Tube Train in Vienna
A new highway links Chengdu with Lhasa in
Tibet. Table 8.2: Total Length of Railways in Selected
In India, there are many highways Countries (in 100 sq km)

linking the major towns and cities. For Sl. Countries For every
example, National Highway No. 7 (NH 7), No. 100/km2 area
connecting Varanasi with Kanya Kumari, is 1. U.S.A. 278.3
the longest in the country. The Golden 2. Russia 160.8
3. India 144.7
Quadrilateral (GQ) or Super Expressway is 4. Canada 93.5
underway to connect the four metropolitan 5. Germany 90.8
cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, 6. China 70.1
Chennai, Kolkata and Hyderabad. 7. Australia 40.0
8. U.K. 37.9
In Africa, a highway joins Algiers in the 9. France 34.5
north to Conakry in Guinea. Similarly, Cairo 10. Brazil 30.1
is also connected to Cape Town. Source : Encyclopaedia Britanica – Year Book, 2005.

68 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Europe has one of the most dense rail
networks in the world. There are about
4,40,000 km of railways, most of which is
double or multiple-tracked. Belgium has the
highest density of 1 km of railway for every 6.5
sq kms area. The industrial regions exhibit
some of the highest densities in the world. The
important rail heads are London, Paris,
Brussels, Milan, Berlin and Warsaw. Passenger
transport is more important than freight in
many of these countries. Underground railways
are important in London and Paris. Channel
Tunnel, operated by Euro Tunnel Group
through England, connects London with Paris.
Trans-continental railway lines have now lost
their importance to quicker and more flexible
transport systems of airways and roadways.
In Russia, railways account for about 90
per cent of the country’s total transport with a
very dense network west of the Urals. Moscow
is the most important rail head with major lines
radiating to different parts of the country’s vast
geographical area. Underground railways and
commuter trains are also important in Moscow.
North America has one of the most
extensive rail networks accounting for nearly
40 per cent of the world’s total? In contrast to
many European countries, the railways are
used more for long-distance bulky freight like
ores, grains, timber and machinery than for
passengers. The most dense rail network is
found in the highly industrialised and
urbanised region of East Central U.S.A. and
adjoining Canada.
In Canada, railways are in the public
sector and distributed all over the sparsely
populated areas. The transcontinental railways
carry the bulk of wheat and coal tonnage.
Australia has about 40,000 km of
railways, of which 25 per cent are found in New
South Wales alone. The west-east Australian
National Railway line runs across the country
from Perth to Sydney. New Zealand’s railways
are mainly in the North Island to serve the
farming areas.
In South America, the rail network is the
most dense in two regions, namely, the Pampas
of Argentina and the coffee growing region of
Brazil which together account for 40 per cent
of South America’s total route length. Only Chile,
among the remaining countries has a
considerable route length linking coastal centres
with the mining sites in the interior. Peru, Bolivia,
Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela have short
single-track rail-lines from ports to the interior
with no inter-connecting links.
There is only one trans-continental rail
route linking Buenos Aires (Argentina) with
Valparaiso (Chile) across the Andes Mountains
through the Uspallatta Pass located at a height
of 3,900 m.
In Asia, rail network is the most dense in
the thickly populated areas of Japan, China and
India. Other countries have relatively few rail
routes. West Asia is the least developed in rail
facilities because of vast deserts and sparsely
populated regions.
Africa continent, despite being the
second largest, has only 40,000 km of
railways with South Africa alone accounting
for 18,000 km due to the concentration of
gold, diamond and copper mining activities.
The important routes of the continent are: (i)
the Benguela Railway through Angola to
Katanga-Zambia Copper Belt; (ii) the Tanzania
Railway from the Zambian Copper Belt to
Dar-es-Salaam on the coast; (iii) the Railway
through Botswana and Zimbabwe linking the
landlocked states to the South African
network; and (iv) the Blue Train from Cape
Town to Pretoria in the Republic of South
Africa. Elsewhere, as in Algeria, Senegal,
Nigeria, Kenya and Ethiopia, railway lines
connect port cities to interior centres but do
not form a good network with other countries.
Transport and Communication 69
Trans–Continental Railways
Trans–continental railways run across the
continent and link its two ends. They were
constructed for economic and political reasons
to facilitate long runs in different directions.
The following are the most important of these:
Trans–Siberian Railway
This is a trans–siberian Railways major rail
route of Russia runs from St. Petersburg in the
west to Vladivostok on the Pacific Coast in the
east passing through Moscow, Ufa, Novosibirsk,
Irkutsk, Chita and Khabarovsk. It is the most
important route in Asia and the longest (9,332
km) double-tracked and electrified trans–
continental railway in the world. It has helped
in opening up its Asian region to West European
markets. It runs across the Ural Mountains Ob
and Yenisei rivers Chita is an important agro-
Fig. 8.5: Trans–Siberian Railway
70 Fundamentals of Human Geography
centre and Irkutsk, a fur centre. There are
connecting links to the south, namely, to Odessa
(Ukraine), Baku on the Caspian Coast,
Tashkent (Uzbekistan), Ulan Bator (Mongolia),
and Shenyang (Mukden) and Beijing in China.
Trans–Canadian Railways
This 7,050 km long rail-line in Canada runs from
Halifax in the east to Vancouver on the Pacific
Coast passing through Montreal, Ottawa,
Winnipeg and Calgary (Fig. 8.6). It was
constructed in 1886, initially as part of an
agreement to make British Columbia on the west
coast join the Federation of States. Later on, it
gained economic significance because it
connected the Quebec-Montreal Industrial
Region with the wheat belt of the Prairie Region
and the Coniferous Forest region in the north.
Thus each of these regions became
complementary to the other. A loop line from
 Fig. 8.6: Trans–Canadian Railway
Winnipeg to Thunder Bay (Lake Superior)
connects this rail-line with one of the important
waterways of the world. This line is the economic
artery of Canada. Wheat and meat are the
important exports on this route.
The Union and Pacific Railway
This rail-line connects New York on the Atlantic
Coast to San Francisco on the Pacific Coast
passing through Cleveland, Chicago, Omaha,
Evans, Ogden and Sacramento. The most
valuable exports on this route are ores, grain,
paper, chemicals and machinery.
The Australian Trans–Continental
Railway
This rail-line runs west-east across the southern
part of the continent from Perth on the west
coast, to Sydney on the east coast. passing
through Kalgoorlie, Broken Hill and Port
Augusta (Fig. 8.7).
Another major north-south line connects
Adelaide and Alice Spring and to be joined
further to the Darwin–Birdum line.
The Orient Express
This line runs from Paris to Istanbul passing
through Strasbourg, Munich, Vienna,
Budapest and Belgrade. The journey time from
London to Istanbul by this Express is now
reduced to 96 hours as against 10 days by the
sea-route. The chief exports on this rail-route
are cheese, bacon, oats, wine, fruits, and
machinery.
There is a proposal to build a Trans–Asiatic
Railway linking Istanbul with Bangkok via
Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and
Myanmar.
WATER TRANSPOR
WATER T
TRANSPORT
One of the great advantages of water
transportation is that it does not require route
construction. The oceans are linked with each
Transport and Communication 71
 Fig. 8.7: Australian Trans–Continental Railway
other and are negotiable with ships of various
sizes. All that is needed is to provide port
facilities at the two ends. It is much cheaper
because the friction of water is far less than that
of land. The energy cost of water transportation
is lower. Water transport is divided into ocean
routes and inland waterways.
Fig. 8.8: The view of Seine River from the Eiffel
Tower (One can see how the river has become an
important Inland waterway)
72 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Ocean Routes
The oceans offer a smooth highway traversable
in all directions with no maintenance costs. Its
transformation into a routeway by sea-going
vessels is an important development in human
adaptation to the physical environment.
Compared to land and air, ocean transport is a
cheaper means of haulage (carrying of load) of
bulky material over long distances from one
continent to another.
Modern passenger liners (ships) and cargo
ships are equipped with radar, wireless and other
navigation aids. The development of refrigerated
chambers for perishable goods, tankers and
specialised ships has also improved cargo
transport. The use of containers has made cargo
handling at the world’s major ports easier.
Important Ocean Routes
Major ocean trade routes are shown in the Fig.
8.9. Some important ocean routes have been
discussed in the following pages.
 Fig. 8.9: Major Ocean Trade Routes and Sea Ports
The Northern Atlantic Sea Route
This links North-eastern U.S.A. and North-
western Europe, the two industrially developed
regions of the world. The foreign trade over this
route is greater than that of the rest of the world
combined. One fourth of the world’s foreign
trade moves on this route. It is, therefore, the
busiest in the world and otherwise, called the
Big Trunk Route. Both the coasts have highly
advanced ports and harbour facilities.
Find out some of the important ports on the coast of
U.S.A. and Western Europe in your atlas.
This sea route passes through the heart
of the Old World and serves more countries and
people than any other route. Port Said, Aden,
Mumbai, Colombo and Singapore are some of
the important ports on this route. The
construction of Suez canal has greatly reduced
the distance and time as compared to the earlier
route through the Cape of Good Hope.
The Mediterranean–Indian Ocean Route
The trade route connects the highly
industrialised Western European region with
West Africa, South Africa, South-east Asia and
the commercial agriculture and livestock
economies of Australia and New Zealand.
Before the construction of the Suez Canal this
was the route connecting Liverpool and
Colombo which was 6,400 km longer than the
Suez Canal route. The volume of trade and
traffic between both East and West Africa is on
the increase due to the development of the rich
natural resources such as gold, diamond,
copper, tin, groundnut, oil palm, coffee and
fruits.
The Cape of Good Hope Sea Route
This sea route is another important one across
the Atlantic Ocean which connects West
European and West African countries with
Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in South
America. The traffic is far less on this route
compared to that of the North Atlantic Route
Transport and Communication 73
because of the limited development and The Suez Canal
population in South America and Africa. Only
This canal had been constructed in 1869 in
southeastern Brazil and Plata estuary and
Egypt between Port Said in the north and Port
parts of South Africa have large-scale industries.
Suez in the south linking the Mediterranean
There is also little traffic on the route between
Sea and the Red Sea. It gives Europe a new
Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town because both
gateway to the Indian Ocean and reduces direct
South America and Africa have similar
sea-route distance between Liverpool and
products and resources.
Colombo compared to the Cape of Good Hope
Trade across the vast North Pacific Ocean
route. It is a sea-level canal without locks
moves by several routes which converge at
which is about 160 km and 11 to 15 m deep.
Honolulu. The direct route on the Great Circle
About 100 ships travel daily and each ship
links Vancouver and Yokohama and reduces
takes 10-12 hours to cross this canal. The tolls
the travelling distance (2,480 km) by half.
are so heavy that some find it cheaper to go by
the longer Cape Route whenever the
The North Atlantic Sea Route
consequent delay is not important. A railway
This sea route links the ports on the west-coast follows the canal to Suez, and from Ismailia
of North America with those of Asia. These are there is a branch line to Cairo. A navigable
Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and fresh-water canal from the Nile also joins the
Los Angeles on the American side and Suez Canal in Ismailia to supply fresh-water to
Yokohama, Kobe, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila Port Said and Suez.
and Singapore on the Asian side.

The South Pacific Sea Route

This sea route connects Western Europe and
North America with Australia, New Zealand and
the scattered Pacific islands via the Panama
Canal. This route is also used for reaching Hong
Kong, Philippines and Indonesia. The distance
covered between Panama and Sydney is
12,000 km. Honolulu is an important port on
this route.

Coastal Shipping
It is obvious that water transport is a cheaper
mode. While oceanic routes connect different
countries, coastal shipping is a convenient
mode of transportation with long coastlines,
e.g. U.S.A, China and India. Shenzhen States
in Europe are most suitably placed for coastal
shipping connecting one member’s coast with
the other. If properly developed, coastal shipping
can reduce the congestion on the land routes.

Shipping Canals Fig. 8.10 : Suez Canal

The Suez and the Panama Canals are two vital
man-made navigation canals or waterways The Panama Canal
which serve as gateways of commerce for both This canal connects the Atlantic Ocean in the
the eastern and western worlds. east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It has been

74 Fundamentals of Human Geography


Fig. 8.11 : The Panama Canal
Can you think of the impact on traffic in Panama
canal after the Nicaraguan canal opens up?
constructed across the Panama Isthmus
between Panama City and Colon by the U.S.
government which purchased 8 km of area on
either side and named it the Canal Zone. The
Canal is about 72 km. long and involves a very
deep cutting for a length of 12 km. It has a six-
lock system and ships cross the different levels
(26 m up and down) through these locks before
entering the Gulf of Panama.
It shortens the distance between New York
and San Francisco by 13,000 km by sea.
Likewise the distance between Western Europe
and the West-coast of U.S.A.; and North-eastern
and Central U.S.A. and East and South-east
Asia is shortened. The economic significance of
this Canal is relatively less than that of the
Suez. However, it is vital to the economies of
Latin America.
Inland Waterways
Rivers, canals, lakes and coastal areas have
been important waterways since time
immemorial. Boats and steamers are used as
means of transport for cargo and passengers.
The development of inland waterways is
dependent on the navigability width and depth
of the channel, continuity in the water flow,
and transport technology in use. Rivers are
the only means of transport in dense forests.
Very heavy cargo like coal, cement, timber and
metallic ores can be transported through inland
waterways. In ancient times, riverways were the
main highways of transportation as in the case
of India. But they lost importance because of
competition from railways, lack of water due to
diversion for irrigation, and their poor
maintenance.
Fig. 8.12: Inland waterways are a major source
of transport wherever the river is wide, deep
and free of silt
Transport and Communication 75
 The significance of rivers as inland
waterways for domestic and international
transport and trade has been recognised
throughout the developed world. Despite
inherent limitations, many rivers have been
modified to enhance their navigability by
dredging, stabilising river banks, and building
dams and barrages for regulating the flow of
water. The following river waterways are some
of the world’s important highways of commerce.

The Rhine Waterways

The Rhine flows through Germany and the
Netherlands. It is navigable for 700 km from
Rotterdam, at its mouth in the Netherlands to
Basel in Switzerland. Ocean-going vessels can
reach up to Cologne. The Ruhr river joins the
Rhine from the east. It flows through a rich
coalfield and the whole basin has become a
prosperous manufacturing area. Dusseldorf is
the Rhine port for this region. Huge tonnage
moves along the stretch south of the Ruhr. This
waterway is the world’s most heavily used. Each Fig. 8.14 : Rhine Waterway
year more than 20,000 ocean-going ships and
2,00,000 inland vessels exchange their cargoes.
The Volga Waterway
It connects the industrial areas of Switzerland,
Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands Russia has a large number of developed
with the North Atlantic Sea Route. waterways, of which the Volga is one of the most
important. It provides a navigable waterway of
11,200 km and drains into the Caspian Sea.
The Volga-Moscow Canal connects it with the
Moscow region and the Volga-Don Canal with
the Black Sea.

The Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Seaway

Fig. 8.13: The Rhine Watereay
The Danube Waterway
This important inland waterway serves Eastern
Europe. The Danube river rises in the Black
Forest and flows eastwards through many
countries. It is navigable up to Taurna Severin.
The chief export items are wheat, maize, timber,
and machinery.
The Great Lakes of North America Superior,
Huron Erie and Ontario are connected by Soo
Canal and Welland Canal to form an inland
waterway. The estuary of St. Lawrence River,
along with the Great Lakes, forms a unique
commercial waterway in the northern part of
North America. The ports on this route like
Duluth and Buffalo are equipped with all
facilities of ocean ports. As such large ocean-
going vessels are able to navigate up the river
deep inside the continent to Montreal. But here
goods have to be trans-shipped to smaller
vessels due to the presence of rapids. Canals
have been constructed up to 3.5 m deep to
avoid these.

76 Fundamentals of Human Geography

The Mississippi Waterways
The Mississippi-Ohio waterway connects the
interior part of U.S.A. with the Gulf of Mexico
in the south. Large steamers can go through
this route up to Minneapolis.
AIR TRANSPORT
TRANSPORT
Air transport is the fastest means of
transportation, but it is very costly. Being fast,
it is preferred by passengers for long-distance
travel. Valuable cargo can be moved rapidly on
a world-wide scale. It is often the only means
to reach inaccessible areas. Air transport has
brought about a connectivity revolution in the
world. The frictions created by mountainous
snow fields or inhospitable desert terrains have
been overcome. The accessibility has increased.
The airplane brings varied articles to the
Eskimos in Northern Canada unhindered by
the frozen ground. In the Himalayan region, the
routes are often obstructed due to landslides,
avalanches or heavy snow fall. At such times,
air travel is the only alternative to reach a place.
Airways also have great strategic importance.
The air strikes by U.S. and British forces in Iraq
bears testimony to this fact. The airways
network is expanding very fast.
Fig. 8.15: An Aeroplane at Salsburg Airport
The manufacturing of aircrafts and their
operations require elaborate infrastructure like
hangars, landing, fuelling, and maintenance
facilities for the aircrafts. The construction of
airports is also very expensive and has developed
more in highly industrialised countries where
there is a large volume of traffic.
At present no place in the world is more
than 35 hours away. This startling fact has been
made possible due to people who build and fly
airplanes. Travel by air can now be measured
by hours and minutes instead of years and
months. Frequent air services are available to
many parts of the world. Although, U.K.
pioneered the use of commercial jet transport,
U.S.A. developed largely post-War international
civil aviation. Today, more than 250
commercial airlines offer regular services to
different parts of the world. Recent
developments can change the future course of
air transport. Supersonic aircraft, cover the
distance between London and New York within
three and a half hours.
Inter-Continental Air Routes
In the Northern Hemisphere, there is a distinct
east-west belt of inter-continental air routes.
Dense network exists in Eastern U.S.A., Western
Europe and Southeast Asia. U.S.A. alone
accounts for 60 per cent of the airways of the
world. New York, London, Paris, Amsterdam,
Frankfurt Rome, Moscow, Karachi, New Delhi,
Mumbai, Bangkok, Singapore, Tokyo, San
Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago are the
nodal points where air routes converge or
radiate to all continents.
Africa, Asiatic part of Russia and South
America lack air services. There are limited air
services between 10-35 latitudes in the
Southern hemisphere due to sparser
population, limited landmass and economic
development.
PIPELINES
Pipelines are used extensively to transport
liquids and gases such as water, petroleum
and natural gas for an uninterrupted flow.
Water supplied through pipelines is familiar
to all. Cooking gas or LPG is supplied through
pipelines in many parts of the world. Pipelines
can also be used to transport liquidified coal.
In New Zealand, milk is being supplied through
pipelines from farms to factories.
In U.S.A. there is a dense network of oil
pipelines from the producing areas to the
Transport and Communication 77
 Fig. 8.16: Major Airports
consuming areas. Big Inch is one such famous
pipeline, which carries petroleum from the oil
wells of the Gulf of Mexico to the North-eastern
States. About 17 per cent of all freight per
tonne-km. is carried through pipelines in U.S.A.
Fig. 8.17: Pipelines transporting natural gas
in Ukraine
In Europe, Russia, West Asia and India
pipelines are used to connect oil wells to
refineries, and to ports or domestic markets.
Turkmenistan is central Asia has extended
pipelines to Iran and also to parts of China.
78 Fundamentals of Human Geography
The proposed Iran-India via Pakistan
international oil and natural gas pipeline will
be the longest in the world.
COMMUNICATIONS
COMMUNICATIONS
Human beings have used different methods
long-distance communications of which the
telegraph and the telephone were important.
The telegraph was instrumental in the
colonisation of the American West. During the
early and mid-twentieth century, the American
Telegraph and Telephone Company (AT&T)
enjoyed a monopoly over U.S.A.’s telephone
industry. In fact, the telephone became a critical
factor in the urbanisation of America. Firms
centralised their functioning at city-
headquarters and located their branch offices
in smaller towns. Even today, the telephone is
the most commonly used mode. In developing
countries, the use of cell phones, made possible
by satellites, is important for rural connectivity.
Today there is a phenomenal pace of
development. The first major breakthrough is
the use of optic fiber cables (OFC). Faced with
mounting competition, telephone companies all
over the world soon upgraded their copper cable
systems to include optic fiber cables. These
allow large quantities of data to be transmitted
rapidly, securely, and are virtually error-free.
With the digitisation of information in the 1990s,
telecommunication slowly merged with
computers to form integrated networks termed
as Internet.
Satellite Communication
Today Internet is the largest electronic network
on the planet connecting about 1,000 million
people in more than 100 countries.
Satellites touch human lives in many
ways. Every time you use a cell phone to
call a friend, send an SMS or watch a
popular programme on cable television. You
are using satellite communication.
Communication through satellites
emerged as a new area in communication
technology since the 1970s after U.S.A. and
former U.S.S.R. pioneered space research.
Artificial satellites, now, are successfully
deployed in the earth’s orbit to connect even
the remote corners of the globe with limited on-
site verification. These have rendered the unit
cost and time of communication invariant in
terms of distance. This means it costs the same
to communicate over 500 km as it does over
5,000 km via satellite
India has also made great strides in
satellite development. Aryabhatt was launched
on 19 April 1979, Bhaskar-I in 1979 and
Rohini in 1980. On 18 June 1981, APPLE
(Arian Passenger Payload Experiment) was
launched through Arian rocket. Bhaskar,
Challenger and INSAT I-B have made long-
distance communication, television and radio
very effective. Today weather forecasting
through television is a boon.
Cyber Space – Internet
Cyberspace is the world of electronic
computerised space. It is encompassed by the
Internet such as the World Wide Web (www).
In simple words, it is the electronic digital
world for communicating or accessing
information over computer networks without
physical movement of the sender and the
receiver... It is also referred to as the Internet.
Cyberspace exists everywhere. It may be in
an office, sailing boat, flying plane and virtually
anywhere.
The speed at which this electronic network
has spread is unprecedented in human history.
There were less than 50 million Internet users
in 1995, about 400 million in 2000 A.D. and
over one billion in 2005. The next billion users
are to be added by 2010. In the last five years
there has been a shift among global users from
U.S.A. to the developing countries. The
percentage share of U.S.A. has dropped from
66 in 1995 to only 25 in 2005. Now the majority
of the world’s users are in U.S.A., U.K.,
Germany, Japan, China and India.
As billions use the Internet each year,
cyberspace will expand the contemporary
economic and social space of humans through
e-mail, e-commerce, e-learning and
e-governance. Internet together with fax,
television and radio will be accessible to more
and more people cutting across place and time.
It is these modern communication systems,
more than transportation, that has made the
concept of global village a reality.
Transport and Communication 79
 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) The Trans–Continental Stuart Highway runs between
(a) Darwin and Melbourne
(b) Edmonton and Anchorage
(c) Vancouver and St. John’s City
(d) Chengdu and Lhasa
(ii) Which country has the highest density of railway network?
(a) Brazil (c) Canada
(b) U.S.A (d) Russia
(iii) The Big Trunk Route runs through
(a) The Mediterranean – Indian ocean
(b) The North Atlantic Ocean
(c) The South Atlantic Ocean
(d) The North Pacific Ocean
(iv) The Big Inch pipeline transports
(a) Milk (c) Water
(b) Liquid petroleum gas (LGP) (d) Petroleum
(v) Which one pair of the following places is linked by Channel Tunnel?
(a) London – Berlin (c) Berlin – Paris
(b) Paris – London (d) Barcelona – Berlin
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) What are the problems of road transport in mountainous, desert and
flood prone regions?
(ii) What is a trans–continental railway?
(iii) What are the advantages of water transport?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Elucidate the statement– “In a well managed transport system, various
modes complement each other”.
(ii) Which are the major regions of the world having a dense network of
airways.
(iii) What are the modes by which cyber space will expand the contemporary
economic and social space of humans.

80 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Unit-III You are already familiar with the term “trade”
as a tertiary activity which you have studied in
Chapter-9 Chapter 7 of this book. You know that trade
means the voluntary exchange of goods and
services. Two parties are required to trade. One
person sells and the other purchases. In certain
places, people barter their goods. For both the
parties trade is mutually beneficial.
Trade may be conducted at two levels:
international and national. International trade
is the exchange of goods and services among
countries across national boundaries.
Countries need to trade to obtain commodities,
they cannot produce themselves or they can
purchase elsewhere at a lower price.
International Trade The initial form of trade in primitive
societies was the barter system, where direct
exchange of goods took place. In this system if
you were a potter and were in need of a plumber,
you would have to look for a plumber who
would be in need of pots and you could
exchange your pots for his plumbing service.

Fig. 9.1: Two women practising barter system in

Jon Beel Mela

Every January after the harvest season Jon Beel Mela

takes place in Jagirod, 35 km away from Guwahati and
it is possibly the only fair In India, where barter system
is still alive. A big market is organised during this fair
and people from various tribes and communities ex-
change their products.

The difficulties of barter system were

overcome by the introduction of money. In the
olden times, before paper and coin currency
came into being, rare objects with very high
intrinsic value served as money, like,
flintstones, obsidian, cowrie shells, tiger’s
paws, whale’s teeth, dogs teeth, skins, furs,
cattle, rice, peppercorns, salt, small tools,
copper, silver and gold.

The word salary comes from the Latin word Salarium

which means payment by salt. As in those times
producing salt from sea water was unknown and could
only be made from rock salt which was rare and
expensive. That is why it became a mode of payment.

HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

In ancient times, transporting goods over long
distances was risky, hence trade was restricted
to local markets. People then spent most of their
resources on basic necessities – food and
clothes. Only the rich people bought jewellery,
costly dresses and this resulted in trade of
luxury items.
The Silk Route is an early example of long
distance trade connecting Rome to China –
along the 6,000 km route. The traders
transported Chinese silk, Roman wool and
precious metals and many other high value
commodities from intermediate points in India,
Persia and Central Asia.
After the disintegration of the Roman
Empire, European commerce grew during
twelfth and thirteenth century with the
development of ocean going warships trade
between Europe and Asia grew and the
Americas were discovered.
Fifteenth century onwards, the European
colonialism began and along with trade of exotic
commodities, a new form of trade emerged
which was called slave trade. The Portuguese,
Dutch, Spaniards, and British captured African
natives and forcefully transported them to the
newly discovered Americas for their labour in
the plantations. Slave trade was a lucrative
business for more than two hundred years till
it was abolished in Denmark in 1792, Great
Britain in 1807 and United States in 1808.
Figure 9.2 : Advertisement for Slave Auction, 1829
This American slave auction advertised slaves for sale
or temporary hire by their owners. Buyers often paid as
much as $2,000 for a skilled, healthy slave. Such auc-
tions often separated family members from one another,
many of whom never saw their loved ones again.
After the Industrial Revolution the demand
for raw materials like grains, meat, wool also
expanded, but their monetary value declined
in relation to the manufactured goods.
The industrialised nations imported
primary products as raw materials and
exported the value added finished products
back to the non-industrialised nations.
In the later half of the nineteenth century,
regions producing primary goods were no more
important, and industrial nations became each
other’s principle customers.
During the World Wars I and II, countries
imposed trade taxes and quantitative
restrictions for the first time. During the post-
war period, organisations like General
Agreement for Tariffs and Trade (which later
became the World Trade Organisation), helped
in reducing tariff.
Why Does International Trade Exist?
International trade is the result of specialisation
in production. It benefits the world economy if

82 Fundamentals of Human Geography

different countries practise specialisation and
division of labour in the production of
commodities or provision of services. Each kind
of specialisation can give rise to trade. Thus,
international trade is based on the principle of
comparative advantage, complimentarity and
transferability of goods and services and in
principle, should be mutually beneficial to the
trading partners.
In modern times, trade is the basis of the
world’s economic organisation and is related
to the foreign policy of nations. With well-
developed transportation and communication
systems, no country is willing to forego the
benefits derived from participation in
international trade.
Basis of International Trade
(iii) Stage of economic development: At
(i) Difference in national resources: The
world’s national resources are unevenly
distributed because of differences in their
physical make up i.e. geology, relief soil
and climate.
(a) Geological structure: It determines
the mineral resource base and
topographical differences ensure
diversity of crops and animals
raised. Lowlands have greater
(iv) Extent of foreign investment: Foreign
agricultural potential. Mountains
attract tourists and promote
tourism.
(b) Mineral resources: They are
unevenly distributed the world over.
The availability of mineral resources
provides the basis for industrial
development.
(c) Climate: It influences the type of flora
and fauna that can survive in a given
region. It also ensures diversity in
the range of various products, e.g.
wool production can take place in
cold regions, bananas, rubber and
cocoa can grow in tropical regions.
(ii) Population factors: The size, distribution
and diversity of people between countries
affect the type and volume of goods
traded.
(a) Cultural factors: Distinctive forms of
art and craft develop in certain
cultures which are valued the world
over, e.g. China produces the finest
porcelains and brocades. Carpets of
Iran are famous while North African
leather work and Indonesian batik
cloth are prized handicrafts.
(b) Size of population: Densely
populated countries have large
volume of internal trade but little
external trade because most of the
agricultural and industrial
production is consumed in the local
markets. Standard of living of the
population determines the demand
for better quality imported products
because with low standard of living
only a few people can afford to buy
costly imported goods.
different stages of economic development
of countries, the nature of items traded
undergo changes. In agriculturally
important countries, agro products are
exchanged for manufactured goods
whereas industrialised nations export
machinery and finished products and
import food grains and other raw
materials.
investment can boost trade in developing
countries which lack in capital required
for the development of mining, oil drilling,
heavy engineering, lumbering and
plantation agriculture. By developing
such capital intensive industries in
developing countries, the industrial
nations ensure import of food stuffs,
minerals and create markets for their
finished products. This entire cycle steps
up the volume of trade between nations.
(v) T ransport: In olden times, lack of
adequate and efficient means of transport
restricted trade to local areas. Only high
value items, e.g. gems, silk and spices
were traded over long distances. With
expansions of rail, ocean and air
transport, better means of refrigeration
and preservation, trade has experienced
spatial expansion.
International Trade 83
Important Aspects of International Billion $ Goods Billion $
Trade 12000 Services 12000
10500 10500
International trade has three very important 9000 9000
aspects. These are volume, sectoral composition 7500 7500
and direction of trade. 6000 6000
4500 4500
Volume of Trade 3000 3000
1500 1500
The actual tonnage of goods traded makes up
0 0
the volume. However, services traded cannot be

84

86

88

90

92

94

96
98

00
82
80
measured in tonnage. Therefore, the total value

of goods and services traded is considered to
be the volume of trade. Table 9.1 shows that
the total volume of world trade has been steadily
rising over the past decades.
20
19
Source: WTO, Trade Statistics, 2002.
Fig. 9.3: Exports of Goods and Services, 1980-2000
The share of different commodities in total
global trade can be seen in the graph below.

Machinery and
Why do you think that the volume of trade has increased Transport Equipment
over the decades? Can these figures be compared? Fuels & Mining Road
Office/Telecome Equipment
What has been the growth in the year 2005 over the Chemicals
year 1955? Automotive Products
Agriculture Products
Other Manufactures
Composition of Trade Other Semi–manufactures
Iron & Steel
The nature of goods and services imported and Clothing
exported by countries have undergone changes Textiles
0 5 10 15 20
during the last century. Percentage to total value
Trade of primary products was dominant
Source: WTO, Trade Statistics, 2005
in the beginning of the last century. Later
manufactured goods gained prominence and Fig. 9.4: World Merchandise Exports By
Products, 2004
currently, though the manufacturing sector
commands the bulk of the global trade, service Looking at the graph above, we find that
sector which includes travel, transportation and machinery and transport equipment, fuel and
other commercial services have been showing mining products, office and telecom equipment,
an upward trend. chemicals, automobile parts, agricultural

Table 9.1: World Imports and Exports (in millions of U.S. $)

1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Exports 95000 190000 877000 1954000 5162000 10393000

Total Merchandise
Imports 99000 199000 912000 2015000 5292000 10753000
Total Merchandise

Source: WTO, International Trade Statistics, 2005

84 Fundamentals of Human Geography

products, iron and steel, clothing and textiles
make up the major items of merchandise which
are traded over the world. Trade in the service
sector is quite different from trade in the
products of primary and manufacturing sectors
as the services can be expanded infinitely,
consumed by many, are weightless and once
produced, can be easily replicated and thus,
are capable of generating more profit than
producing goods. There are four different ways
through which services can be supplied. Table
9.2 shows different types of services and the
share of those services supplied to the
international market.
Table 9.2 : Services and their Share to the
International Market
Relevant Services Share in %
Commercial services excluding
travel and construction services. 35
Travel 10 to 15
Construction services 50
Labour flow 1 to 2
Direction of Trade
Historically, the developing countries of the
present used to export valuable goods and
artefacts, etc. which were exported to European
countries. During the nineteenth century there
was a reversal in the direction of trade.
European countries started exporting
manufactured goods for exchange of foodstuffs
and raw materials from their colonies. Europe
and U.S.A. emerged as major trade partners in
the world and were leaders in the trade of
manufactured goods. Japan at that time was
also the third important trading country. The
world trade pattern underwent a drastic change
during the second half of the twentieth century.
Europe lost its colonies while India, China and
other developing countries started competing
with developed countries. The nature of the
goods traded has also changed.
Balance of Trade
Balance of trade records the volume of goods
and services imported as well as exported by a
country to other countries. If the value of
imports is more than the value of a country’s
exports, the country has negative or
unfavourable balance of trade. If the value of
exports is more than the value of imports, then
the country has a positive or favourable balance
of trade.
Balance of trade and balance of payments
have serious implications for a country’s
economy. A negative balance would mean that
the country spends more on buying goods than
it can earn by selling its goods. This would
ultimately lead to exhaustion of its financial
reserves.
Types of International Trade
International trade may be categorised into two
types:
(a) Bilateral trade: Bilateral trade is done
by two countries with each other. They
enter into agreement to trade specified
commodities amongst them. For
example, country A may agree to trade
some raw material with agreement to
purchase some other specified item to
country B or vice versa.
(b) Multi-lateral trade: As the term suggests
multi-lateral trade is conducted with
many trading countries. The same
country can trade with a number of
other countries. The country may also
grant the status of the “Most Favoured
Nation” (MFN) on some of the trading
partners.
Case for Free Trade
The act of opening up economies for trading is
known as free trade or trade liberalisation. This
is done by bringing down trade barriers like
tariffs. Trade liberalisation allows goods and
services from everywhere to compete with
domestic products and services.
Globalisation along with free trade can
adversely affect the economies of developing
countries by not giving equal playing field by
imposing conditions which are unfavourable.
With the development of transport and
communication systems goods and services can
travel faster and farther than ever before. But
free trade should not only let rich countries
enter the markets, but allow the developed
International Trade 85
countries to keep their own markets protected
from foreign products.
Countries also need to be cautious about
dumped goods; as along with free trade
dumped goods of cheaper prices can harm the
domestic producers.
Dumping
The practice of selling a commodity in two
countries at a price that differs for reasons
not related to costs is called dumping.
Think of some reasons why dumping is becoming a
serious concern among trading nations?
World Trade Organisation
In1948, to liberalise the world from high
customs tariffs and various other types of
restrictions, General Agreement for Tariffs and
Trade (GATT) was formed by some countries.
In 1994, it was decided by the member
86 Fundamentals of Human Geography
countries to set up a permanent institution for
looking after the promotion of free and fair trade
amongst nation and the GATT was transformed
into the World Trade Organisation from 1st
January 1995.
WTO is the only international organisation
dealing with the global rules of trade between
nations. It sets the rules for the global trading
system and resolves disputes between its
member nations. WTO also covers trade in
services, such as telecommunication and
banking, and others issues such as intellectual
rights.
The WTO has however been criticised and
opposed by those who are worried about the
effects of free trade and economic globalisation.
It is argued that free trade does not make
ordinary people’s lives more prosperous. It is
actually widening the gulf between rich and
poor by making rich countries more rich. This
is because the influential nations in the WTO
focus on their own commercial interests.
Moreover, many developed countries have not
fully opened their markets to products from
developing countries. It is also argued that
issues of health, worker’s rights, child labour
and environment are ignored.
WTO Headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.
149 countries were members of WTO as on December
2005.
India has been one of the founder member of WTO.
Regional Trade Blocs
Regional Trade Blocs have come up in order to
encourage trade between countries with
geographical proximity, similarity and
complementarities in trading items and to curb
restrictions on trade of the developing world.
Today, 120 regional trade blocs generate 52 per
cent of the world trade. These trading blocs
developed as a response to the failure of the global
organisations to speed up intra-regional trade.
Though, these regional blocs remove trade
tariffs within the member nations and
encourage free trade, in the future it could get between different trading blocs. Some major
increasingly difficult for free trade to take place regional trade blocs have been listed in Table 9.3.

Table 9.3: Major Regional Trade

Regional Head Member Origin Commodities Other Areas

Blocs Quarter nations of
Cooperation

ASEAN Jakarta, Brunei, Aug, 1967 Agro products, Accelerate

(Association of Indonesia Indonesia, rubber, palm oil, economic
South East Asian Malaysia, rice, copra, growth,
Nations) Singapore, coffee, minerals – cultural
Thailand, copper, coal, development,
Vietnam nickel and peace and
tungsten. Energy regional
– petroleum and stability
natural gas and
Software
products

CIS Minsk, Armenia, — Crude oil, natural Integration

(Commonwealth Belarus Azerbaijan, gas, gold, cotton, and
of Independent Belarus, Georgia, fibre, aluminium cooperation on
States) Kazakhstan, matters of
Kyrgyzstan, economics,
Moldova, Russia, defence and
Tajikistan, foreign policy
Turkmenistan,
Ukraine and
Uzbekistan.

EU Brussels, Austria, Belgium, EEC- Agro products, Single market

(European Union) Belgium Denmark, March 1957 minerals, with single
France, Finland, EU - Feb. 1992 chemicals, wood, currency
Ireland, Italy, the paper, transport
Netherlands, vehicles, optical
Luxemburg, instruments,
Portugal, Spain, clocks - works of
Sweden and U.K. art, antiques

LAIA Montevideo, Argentina, Bolivia, 1960 — —

(Latin American Uruguay Brazil, Columbia,
Integration Ecuador, Mexico,
Association) Paraguay, Peru,
Uruguay and
Venezuela

NAFTA U.S.A., Canada 1994 Agro products, —

(North American and Mexico motor vehicles,
Free Trade automotive parts,
Association) computers,
textiles

OPEC Vienna, Algeria, 1949 Crude petroleum Coordinate

(Organisation of Austria Indonesia, Iran, and unify
Petroleum Iraq, Kuwait, petroleum
Exporting Libya, Nigeria, policies.
Countries) Qatar, Saudi
Arabia, U.A.E.
and Venezuela

SAFTA Bangladesh, Jan-2006 — Reduce tariffs

(South Asian Maldives, Bhutan, on inter-
Free Trade Nepal, India, regional trade
Agreement) Pakistan and Sri
Lanka

International Trade 87
Concerns Related to International Trade
Undertaking international trade is mutually
beneficial to nations if it leads to regional
specialisation, higher level of production, better
standard of living, worldwide availability of
goods and services, equalisation of prices and
wages and diffusion of knowledge and culture.
International trade can prove to be
detrimental to nations of it leads to dependence
on other countries, uneven levels of
development, exploitation, and commercial
rivalry leading to wars. Global trade affects
many aspects of life; it can impact everything
from the environment to health and well-being
of the people around the world. As countries Fig. 9.5: San Francisco, the largest land-locked
compete to trade more, production and the use harbour in the world
of natural resources spiral up, resources get
used up faster than they can be replenished.
As a result, marine life is also depleting fast, Types of Port
forests are being cut down and river basins sold Generally, ports are classified according to the
off to private drinking water companies. Multi- types of traffic which they handle.
national corporations trading in oil, gas mining, Types of port according to cargo handled:
pharmaceuticals and agri-business keep (i) Industrial Ports: These ports specialise in
expanding their operations at all costs creating bulk cargo-like grain, sugar, ore, oil,
more pollution – their mode of work does not chemicals and similar materials.
follow the norms of sustainable development. (ii) Commercial Ports: These ports handle
If organisations are geared only towards profit general cargo-packaged products and
making, and environmental and health manufactured good. These ports also
concerns are not addressed, then it could lead handle passenger traffic.
to serious implications in the future.

GATEWAYS OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Ports
The chief gateways of the world of international
trade are the harbours and ports. Cargoes and
travellers pass from one part of the world to
another through these ports.
The ports provide facilities of docking,
loading, unloading and the storage facilities for
cargo. In order to provide these facilities, the
port authorities make arrangements for
maintaining navigable channels, arranging tugs
and barges, and providing labour and
managerial services. The importance of a port
is judged by the size of cargo and the number Fig. 9.6: Leningrad Commercial Port
of ships handled. The quantity of cargo handled
by a port is an indicator of the level of (iii) Comprehensive Ports: Such ports handle
development of its hinterland. bulk and general cargo in large volumes.

88 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Most of the world’s great ports are
classified as comprehensive ports.
Types of port on the basis of location:
(i) Inland Ports: These ports are located away
from the sea coast. They are linked to the
sea through a river or a canal. Such ports
are accessible to flat bottom ships or
barges. For example, Manchester is linked
with a canal; Memphis is located on the
river Mississippi; Rhine has several ports
like Mannheim and Duisburg; and
Kolkata is located on the river Hoogli, a
branch of the river Ganga.
(ii) Out Ports: These are deep water ports built
away from the actual ports. These serve
the parent ports by receiving those ships
which are unable to approach them due
to their large size. Classic combination,
for example, is Athens and its out port
Piraeus in Greece.
Types of port on the basis of specialised
functions:
(i) Oil Ports: These ports deal in the
processing and shipping of oil. Some of
these are tanker ports and some are
refinery ports. Maracaibo in Venezuela,
Esskhira in Tunisia, Tripoli in Lebanon are
EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Most of the world’s great ports are classified as:
(a) Naval Ports
(b) Oil Ports
(ii) Which one of the following continents has the maximum flow of global
trade?
(a) Asia
(b) North America
tanker ports. Abadan on the Gulf of Persia
is a refinery port.
(ii) Ports of Call: These are the ports which
originally developed as calling points on
main sea routes where ships used to
anchor for refuelling, watering and taking
food items. Later on, they developed into
commercial ports. Aden, Honolulu and
Singapore are good examples.
(iii) Packet Station: These are also known as
ferry ports. These packet stations are
exclusively concerned with the
transportation of passengers and mail
across water bodies covering short
distances. These stations occur in pairs
located in such a way that they face each
other across the water body, e.g. Dover in
England and Calais in France across the
English Channel.
(iv) Entrepot Ports: These are collection centres
where the goods are brought from different
countries for export. Singapore is an
entrepot for Asia. Rotterdam for Europe,
and Copenhagen for the Baltic region.
(v) Naval Ports: These are ports which have
only strategic importance. These ports
serve warships and have repair workshops
for them. Kochi and Karwar are examples
of such ports in India.
(c) Comprehensive Ports
(d) Industrial Ports
(c) Europe
(d) Africa
International Trade 89
 (iii) Which one of the following South American nation, is a part of OPEC?
(a) Brazil (c) Venezuela
(b) Chile (d) Peru
(iv) In which of the following trade blocs, is India an associate member?
(a) SAFTA (c) ASEAN
(b) OECD (d) OPEC
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words:
(i) What is the basic function of the World Trade Organisation?
(ii) Why is it detrimental for a nation to have negative balance of payments?
(iii) What benefits do nations get by forming trading blocs?
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words:
(i) How are ports helpful for trade? Give a classification of ports on the basis
of their location.
(ii) How do nations gain from International Trade?

90 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Unit-IV We all live in clusters of houses. You may call it
a village, a town or a city, all are examples of
Chapter-10 human settlements. The study of human
settlements is basic to human geography
because the form of settlement in any particular
region reflects human relationship with the
environment. A human settlement is defined as
a place inhabited more or less permanently. The
houses may be designed or redesigned,
buildings may be altered, functions may change
but settlement continues in time and space.
There may be some settlements which are
temporary and are occupied for short periods,
may be a season.

Human Settlements CLASSIFICATION OF SETTLEMENTS

RURAL URBAN DICHOTOMY
It is widely accepted that settlements can be
differentiated in terms of rural and urban, but
there is no consensus on what exactly defines
a village or a town. Although population size is
an important criterion, it is not a universal
criterion since many villages in densely
populated countries of India and China have
population exceeding that of some towns of
Western Europe and United States.
At one time, people living in villages
pursued agriculture or other primary activities,
but presently in developed countries, large
sections of urban populations prefer to live in
villages even though they work in the city. The
basic difference between towns and villages is
that in towns the main occupation of the people
is related to secondary and tertiary sectors,
while in the villages most of the people are
engaged in primary occupations such as
agriculture, fishing, lumbering, mining, animal
husbandry, etc.

Sub Urbanisation
It is a new trend of people moving away from
congested urban areas to cleaner areas
outside the city in search of a better quality
of living. Important suburbs develop around
major cities and everyday thousands of
people commute from their homes in the
sub urbs to their work places in the city.
 Differentiations between rural and urban (ii) Dispersed Settlements: In these
on the basis of functions are more meaningful settlements, houses are spaced far
even though there is no uniformity in the apart and often interspersed with fields.
hierarchy of the functions provided by rural and A cultural feature such as a place of
urban settlements. Petrol pumps are considered worship or a market, binds the
as a lower order function in the United States settlement together.
while it is an urban function in India. Even
within a country, rating of functions may vary
according to the regional economy. Facilities
available in the villages of developed countries
may be considered rare in villages of developing
and less developed countries.

The census of India, 1991 defines urban

settlements as “All places which have
municipality, corporation, cantonment board
or notified town area committee and have a
minimum population of 5000 persons, at
Fig. 10.2: Dispersed Settlements
least 75 per cent of male workers are
engaged in non-agricultural pursuits and a
Rural Settlements
density of population of at least 400 persons
per square kilometers are urban. Rural settlements are most closely and directly
related to land. They are dominated by primary
activities such as agriculture, animal
TYPES AND PATTERNS OF SETTLEMENTS husbandary, fishing etc. The settlements size
is relatively small.
Settlements may also be classified by their
shape, patterns types. The major types
classified by shape are:
(i) Compact or Nucleated settlements:
These settlements are those in which
large number of houses are built very
close to each other. Such settlements
develop along river valleys and in fertile
plains. Communities are closely knit
and share common occupations.

Fig. 10.3 : Siting near water

Fig.10.1 : Compact Settlements
Water Supply
Usually rural settlements are located near water
bodies such as rivers, lakes, and springs where
water can be easily obtained. Sometimes the
need for water drives people to settle in otherwise
disadvantaged sites such as islands
surrounded by swamps or low lying river
banks. Most water based ‘wet point’ settlements
have many advantages such as water for

92 Fundamentals of Human Geography

drinking, cooking and washing. Rivers and
lakes can be used to irrigate farm land. Water
bodies also have fish which can be caught for
diet and navigable rivers and lakes can be used
for transportation.
Land
People choose to settle near fertile lands suitable
for agriculture. In Europe villages grew up near
rolling country avoiding swampy, low lying
land while people in south east Asia chose to
live near low lying river valleys and coastal
plains suited for wet rice cultivation. Early
settlers chose plain areas with fertile soils.
Upland
Upland which is not prone to flooding was
chosen to prevent damage to houses and loss
of life. Thus, in low lying river basins people
chose to settle on terraces and levees which are
“dry points”. In tropical countries people build
their houses on stilts near marshy lands to
protect themselves from flood, insects and
animal pests.
Building Material
The availability of building materials- wood,
stone near settlements is another advantage.
Early villages were built in forest clearings where
wood was plentiful.
Fig. 10.4 : House on stilts
In loess areas of China, cave dwellings were
important and African Savanna’s building
materials were mud bricks and the Eskimos, in
polar regions, use ice blocks to construct igloos.
Defence
During the times of political instability, war,
hostility of neighbouring groups villages were
built on defensive hills and islands. In Nigeria,
upstanding inselbergs formed good defensive
sites. In India most of the forts are located on
higher grounds or hills.
Planned Settlements
Sites that are not spontaneously chosen by
villagers themselves, planned settlements are
constructed by governments by providing
shelter, water and other infrastructures on
acquired lands. The scheme of villagisation in
Ethiopia and the canal colonies in Indira
Gandhi canal command area in India are some
good examples.
Rural Settlement Patterns
Patterns of rural settlements reflect the way the
houses are sited in relation to each other. The
site of the village, the surrounding topography
and terrain influence the shape and size of a
village.
Rural settlements may be classified on the
basis of a number of criteria:
(i) On the basis of setting: The main types
are plain villages, plateau villages,
coastal villages, forest villages and
desert villages.
(ii) On the basis of functions: There may
be farming villages, fishermen’s villages,
lumberjack villages, pastoral villages etc.
(iii) On the basis of forms or shapes of the
settlements: These may be a number
of geometrical forms and shapes such
as Linear, rectangular, circular star
like, T-shaped village, double village,
cross-shaped village etc.
(a) Linear pattern: In such settlements
houses are located along a road,
railway line, river, canal edge of a valley
or along a levee.
(b) Rectangular pattern: Such patterns of
rural settlements are found in plain
areas or wide inter montane valleys.
The roads are rectangular and cut each
other at right angles.
Human Settlements 93
 Linear Pattern Cross-shape Pattern Star-like Pattern

T-Shape Pattern Circular Pattern Double Pattern

Railway Road River Canal Well

Bridge Temple Village Pond Tree

Fig. 10.5: Rural Settlement Patterns

(c) Circular pattern: Circular villages settlements develop at tri-junctions of

develop around lakes, tanks and the roads ( ) while -shaped
sometimes the village is planned in such
settlements emerge as the places where
a way that the central part remains open
two roads converge on the third one
and is used for keeping the animals to
and houses are built along these roads.
protect them from wild animals.
Cruciform settlements develop on the
(d) Star like pattern: Where several roads
cross-roads and houses extend in all
converge, star shaped settlements develop
the four direction.
by the houses built along the roads.
(e) T-shaped, Y-shaped, Cross-shaped or
crucifor m settlements: T -shaped

Fig.10.6 : Linear pattern settlement Fig.10.7 : Y shape settlement

94 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 (f) Double village: These settlements
extend on both sides of a river where
there is a bridge or a ferry.
Identify these patterns on any topographical sheet which
you have studied in Practical Work in Geography, Part
I (NCERT, 2006) in Class XI
Problems of Rural Settlements
Rural settlements in the developing countries
are large in number and poorly equipped with
infrastructure. They represent a great challenge
and opportunity for planners.
Supply of water to rural settlements in
developing countries is not adequate. People
in villages, particularly in mountainous and
arid areas have to walk long distances to fetch
drinking water. Water borne diseases such as
cholera and jaundice tend to be a common
problem. The countries of South Asia face
conditions of drought and flood very often. Crop
cultivation sequences, in the absence of
irrigation, also suffer.
The general absence of toilet and garbage
disposal facilities cause health related problems.
The design and use of building materials
of houses vary from one ecological region to
another. The houses made up of mud, wood
and thatch, remain susceptible to damage
during heavy rains and floods, and require
proper maintenance every year. Most house
designs are typically deficient in proper
ventilation. Besides, the design of a house
includes the animal shed along with its fodder-
store within it. This is purposely done to keep
the domestic animals and their food properly
protected from wild animals.
Unmetalled roads and lack of modern
communication network creates a unique
problem. During rainy season, the settlements
remain cut off and pose serious difficulties in
providing emergency services. It is also difficult
to provide adequate health and educational
infrastructure for their large rural population.
The problem is particularly serious where
proper villagisation has not taken place and
houses are scattered over a large area.
Urban Settlements
Rapid urban growth is a recent phenomenon.
Until recent times, few settlements reached the
population size of more than a few thousand
inhabitants. The first urban settlement to reach
a population of one million was the city of
London by around. A.D. 1810 By 1982
approximately 175 cities in the world had
crossed the one million population mark.
Presently 48 per cent of the world’s population
lives in urban settlements compared to only 3
per cent in the year 1800 (Table 10.1).
Table 10.1: Percentage of World’s Population Living
in Urban Areas
Year Percentage
1800 3
1850 6
1900 14
1950 30
1982 37
2001 48
Classification of Urban Settlements
The definition of urban areas varies from one
country to another. Some of the common basis
of classification are size of population,
occupational structure and administrative
setup.
Population Size
It is an important criteria used by most countries
to define urban areas. The lower limit of the
population size for a settlement to be designated
as urban is 1,500 in Colombia, 2,000 in
Argentina and Portugal, 2,500 in U.S.A. and
Thailand, 5,000 in India and 30,000 in Japan.
Besides the size of population, density of 400
persons per sq km and share of non-agricultural
workers are taken into consideration in India.
Countries with low density of population may
choose a lower number as the cut-off figure
compared to densely populated countries. In
Denmark, Sweden and Finland, all places with
a population size of 250 persons are called
urban. The minimum population for a city is
Human Settlements 95
300 in Iceland, whereas in Canada and
Venezuela, it is 1,000 persons.
Occupational Structure
In some countries, such as India, the major
economic activities in addition to the size of the
population in designating a settlement as urban
are also taken as a criterion. Similarly, in Italy, a
settlement is called urban, if more than 50 per
cent of its economically productive population
is engaged in non-agricultural pursuits. India
has set this criterion at 75 per cent.
Administration
The administrative setup is a criterion for
classifying a settlement as urban in some
countries. For example, in India, a settlement
of any size is classified as urban, if it has a
municipality, Cantonment Board or Notified
Area Council. Similarly, in Latin American
countries, such as Brazil and Bolivia, any
administrative centre is considered urban
irrespective of its population size.
Location
Location of urban centres is examined with
reference to their function. For example, the
sitting requirements of a holiday resort are quite
different from that of an industrial town, a
military centre or a seaport. Strategic towns
require sites offering natural defence; mining
towns require the presence of economically
valuable minerals; industrial towns generally
need local energy supplies or raw materials;
tourist centres require attractive scenery, or a
marine beach, a spring with medicinal water
or historical relics, ports require a harbour etc.
Locations of the earliest urban settlements
were based on the availability of water, building
materials and fertile land. Today, while these
considerations still remain valid, modern
technology plays a significant role in locating
urban settlements far away from the source of
these materials. Piped water can be supplied
to a distant settlement, building material can
be transported from long distances.
Apart from site, the situation plays an
important role in the expansion of towns. The
96 Fundamentals of Human Geography
urban centres which are located close to an
important trade route have experienced rapid
development.
Functions of Urban Centres
The earliest towns were centres of
administration, trade, industry, defence and
religious importance. The significance of defence
and religion as differentiating functions has
declined in general, but other functions have
entered the list. Today, several new functions,
such as, recreational, residential, transport,
mining, manufacturing and most recently
activities related to information technology are
carried on in specialised towns. Some of these
functions do not necessarily require the urban
centre to have any fundamental relationship
with their neighbouring rural areas.
What would be the effects of Information
and Communication Technology (ICT) as
a function on the development of existing
and new settlements?
Prepare a list of cities where earlier functions have been
replaced by newer ones.
In spite of towns performing multiple
functions we refer to their dominant function.
For example, we think of Sheffield as an
industrial city, London as a port city,
Chandigarh as an administrative city and so
on. Large cities have a rather greater diversity
of functions. Besides, all cities are dynamic and
over a period of time may develop new functions.
Most of the early nineteenth-century fishing
ports in England have now developed tourism.
Many of the old market towns are now known
for manufacturing activities. Towns and cities
are classified into the following categories.
Administrative Towns
National capitals, which house the administrative
offices of central governments, such as New Delhi,
Canberra, Beijing, Addis Ababa, Washington
D.C., and London etc. are called administrative
towns. Provincial (sub-national) towns can also Towns and cities of developed and
have administrative functions, for example, developing countries reflect marked differences
Victoria (British Columbia), Albany (New York), in planning and development. While most cities
Chennai (Tamil Nadu). in developed countries are planned, most
urban settlements of developing countries have
Trading and Commercial Towns evolved historically with irregular shapes. For
example, Chandigarh and Canberra are
Agricultural market towns, such as, Winnipeg
planned cities, while smaller town in India have
and Kansas city; banking and financial centres
evolved historically from walled cities to large
like Frankfurt and Amsterdam; large inland
urban sprawls.
centres like Manchester and St Louis; and
transport nodes such as, Lahore, Baghdad and
Addis Ababa (The New Flower)
Agra have been important trading centres.
The name of Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, as
Cultural Towns the name indicates (Addis-New, Ababa-Flower)
Places of pilgrimage, such as Jerusalem, Mecca, is a ‘new’ city which was established in 1878.
Jagannath Puri and Varanasi etc. are The whole city is located on a hill-valley
considered cultural towns. These urban topography. The road pattern bears the influence
centres are of great religious importance.
Additional functions which the cities
perform are health and recreation (Miami and
Panaji), industrial (Pittsburgh and
Jamshedpur), mining and quarrying (Broken
Hill and Dhanbad) and transport (Singapore
and Mughal Sarai).

Urbanisation means the increase in the proportion

population of a country who live in urban areas.

The most important cause of urbanisation is rural-urban

migration. During the late 1990s some 20 to 30 million
people were leaving the countryside every year and
moving into towns and cities.

Developed countries experienced rapid urbanisation Fig. 10.8: Morphology of Addis Ababa
during the nineteenth century.

Developing counties experienced rapid urbanisation

during the second half of the twentieth century.

CLASSIFICATION OF TOWNS ON THE

BASIS OF FORMS
An urban settlement may be linear, square, star
or crescent shaped. In fact, the form of the
settlement, architecture and style of buildings
and other structures are an outcome of its
historical and cultural traditions.
Fig. 10.9: Skyline of Addis Ababa

Human Settlements 97
of the local topography. The roads radiate from
the govt headquarters Piazza, Arat and Amist
Kilo roundabouts. Mercato has markets which
grew with time and is supposed to be the largest
market between Cairo and Johannesburg. A
multi-faculty university, a medical college, a
number of good schools make Addis Ababa an
educational centre. It is also the terminal station
for the Djibouti-Addis Ababa rail route. Bole
airport is a relatively new airport. The city has
witnessed rapid growth because of its multi-
functional nature and being a large nodal centre
located in the centre of Ethiopia.
Canberra
Canberra was planned as the capital of
Australia in 1912 by American landscape
architect, Walter Burley Griffin. He had
envisaged a garden city for about 25,000 people
taking into account the natural features of the
landscape. There were to be five main centres,
Fig. 10.10 : Morphology of a planned city – Canberra
98 Fundamentals of Human Geography
each with separate city functions. During the
last few decades, the city has expanded to
accommodate several satellite towns, which
have their own centres. The city has wide-open
spaces and many parks and gardens.
Types of Urban Settlements
Depending on the size and the services available
and functions rendered, urban centres are
designated as town, city, million city,
conurbation, megalopolis.
Town
The concept of ‘town’ can best be understood
with reference to ‘village’. Population size is not
the only criterion. Functional contrasts between
towns and villages may not always be clear-
cut, but specific functions such as,
manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, and
professional services exist in towns.
City
A city may be regarded as a leading town, which
has outstripped its local or regional rivals. In
the words of Lewis Mumford, “ the city is in fact
the physical form of the highest and most
complex type of associative life”. Cities are
much larger than towns and have a greater
number of economic functions. They tend to
have transport terminals, major financial
institutions and regional administrative offices.
When the population crosses the one million
mark it is designated as a million city.
Conurbation
The term conurbation was coined by Patrick
Geddes in 1915 and applied to a large area of
urban development that resulted from the
merging of originally separate towns or cities.
Greater London, Manchester, Chicago and
Tokyo are examples. Can you find out an
example from India?
Megalopolis
This Greek word meaning “great city”, was
popularised by Jean Gottman (1957) and
signifies ‘super- metropolitan’ region extending,
as union of conurbations. The urban Table 10.3: Mega Cities of the World
(as on 28. 01. 2006)
landscape stretching from Boston in the north
to south of Washington in U.S.A. is the best Sl. Name of Country Population
known example of a megalopolis. No. the City (in millions)
1. Tokyo Japan 34.2
Million City 2. Mexico city Mexico 22.8
3. Seoul South Korea 22.3
The number of million cities in the world has 4. New York U.S.A. 21.9
been increasing as never before. London 5. Sao Paulo Brazil 20.2
6. Mumbai India 19.9
reached the million mark in 1800, followed by
7. Delhi India 19.7
Paris in 1850, New York in 1860, and by 1950 8. Shanghai China 18.2
there were around 80 such cities. The rate of 9. Los Angeles U.S.A. 18.0
increase in the number of million cities has been 10. Osaka Japan 16.8
three-fold in every three decades – around 160 11. Jakarta Indonesia 16.6
12. Kolkata India 15.7
in 1975 to around 438 in 2005. 13. Cairo Egypt 15.6
Table 10.2: Continent–wise Distribution 14. Manila Philippines 15.0
of Million Cities 15. Karachi Pakistan 14.3
16. Moscow Russia 13.8
Continent Early Mid Mid 17. Buenos Aires Argentina 13.5
1950 1970s 2000 18. Dhaka Bangladesh 13.3
19. Rio de Janeiro Brazil 12.2
Europe 23 30 58 20. Beijing China 12.1
Asia 32 69 206 21. London G. Britain 12.0
22. Tehran Iran 11.9
North and Central America 16 36 79
23. Istanbul Turkey 11.5
South America 8 17 43 24. Lagos Nigeria 11.1
Africa 3 8 46 25. Shenzhen China 10.7
Australia 2 2 6 Source: www.citypopulation.de/World.html
World Total 84 162 438
Source: www.citypopulation.de/World.html They also lack infrastructure such as,
electricity, sewage disposal, health and
Distribution of Mega Cities education facilities.
A mega city or megalopolis is a general term
for cities together with their suburbs with a
population of more than 10 million people. Rural/Urban Problems
New York was the first to attain the status of
a mega city by 1950 with a total population Can you identify the problems faced by your city/town/
of about 12.5 million. The number of mega village in terms of any one of the following?
cities is now 25. The number of mega cities Availability of potable water.
has increased in the developing countries
during the last 50 years vis-à-vis the Electricity supply.
developed countries.
Sewerage system.
Problems of Human Settlements Transportation and communication facilities.
in Developing Countries
Health and educational infrastructure.
The settlements in developing countries, suffer
from various problems, such as unsustainable Water and air pollution.
concentration of population, congested housing
and streets, lack of drinking water facilities. Can you think of solutions to these problems?

Human Settlements 99
Problems of Urban Settlements
People flock to cities to avail of employment
opportunities and civic amenities. Since most
cities in developing countries are unplanned,
it creates severe congestion. Shortage of
housing, vertical expansion and growth of
slums are characteristic features of modern
cities of developing countries. In many cities
an increasing proportion of the population
lives in substandard housing, e.g. slums and
squatter settlements. In most million plus
cities in India, one in four inhabitants lives in
illegal settlements, which are growing twice as
fast as the rest of the cities. Even in the Asia
Pacific countries, around 60 per cent of the
urban population lives in squatter settlements.
Fig. 10.11: Slums
What is a Healthy City?
World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests
that, among other things, a ‘healthy city’
must have:
A ’Clean’ and ‘Safe’ environment.
Meets the ‘Basic Needs’ of ‘All’ its
inhabitants.
Involves the ‘Community’ in local
government.
Provides easily accessible ‘Health’ service.
100 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Economic Problems
The decreasing employment opportunities in
the rural as well as smaller urban areas of the
developing countries consistently push the
population to the urban areas. The enormous
migrant population generates a pool of un-
skilled and semi-skilled labour force, which is
already saturated in urban areas.
Socio-cultural Problems
Cities in the developing countries suffer from
several social ills. Insufficient financial resources
fail to create adequate social infrastructure
catering to the basic needs of the huge
population. The available educational and
health facilities remain beyond the reach of the
urban poor. Health indices also, present a
gloomy picture in cities of developing countries.
Lack of employment and education tends to
aggravate the crime rates. Male selective
migration to the urban areas distorts the sex
ratio in these cities.
Environmental Problems
The large urban population in developing
countries not only uses but also disposes off a
huge quantity of water and all types of waste
materials. Many cities of the developing
countries even find it extremely difficult to
provide the minimum required quantity of
potable water and water for domestic and
industrial uses. An improper sewerage system
creates unhealthy conditions. Massive use of
traditional fuel in the domestic as well as the
industrial sector severely pollutes the air. The
domestic and industrial wastes are either let
into the general sewerages or dumped without
treatment at unspecified locations. Huge
concrete structures erected to accommodate
the population and economic play a very
conducive role to create heat islands.
Urban Strategy
y
The United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) has outlined these
priorities as part of its ‘Urban Strategy’.
 Increasing ‘Shelter’ for the urban poor.
Provision of basic urban services such as
‘Education’, ‘Primary Health care’, ‘Clean
Water and Sanitation’.
Improving women’s access to ‘Basic
Services’ and government facilities.
Upgrading ‘Energy’ use and alternative
‘Transport’ systems.
Reducing ‘Air Pollution’.
Cities, towns and rural settlements are linked
through the movements of goods, resources and
people. Urban-rural linkages are of crucial
importance for the sustainability of human
settlements. As the growth of rural population
has outpaced the generation of employment and
economic opportunities, rural-to-urban migration
has steadily increased, particularly in the
developing countries, which has put an enormous
pressure on urban infrastructure and services
that are already under serious stress. It is urgent
to eradicate rural poverty and to improve the
quality of living conditions, as well as to create
employment and educational opportunities in
rural settlements. Full advantage must be taken
of the complementary contributions and linkages
of rural and urban areas by balancing their
different economic, social and environmental
requirements.

EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following forms of settlement develops along either side of
roads, rivers or canals?
(a) circular (c) cross-shaped
(b) linear (d) square
(ii) Which one of the following types of economic activities dominates in all rural
settlement?
(a) primary (c) secondary
(b) tertiary (d) quaternary
(iii) In which of the following regions has the oldest well-documented urban
settlement found?
(a) Huang He Valley (c) Nile Valley
(b) Indus Valley (d) Mesopotamia
(iv) How many of the following cities in India have attained the million status at the
beginning of 2006?
(a) 40 (c) 41
(b) 42 (d) 43
(v) Sufficiency of which type of resources can help to create adequate social
infrastructure catering to the needs of the large population in the developing
countries?
(a) financial (c) natural
(b) human (d) social

Human Settlements 101

 2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) How would you define a settlement?
(ii) Distinguish between site and situation.
(iii) What are the bases of classifying settlements?
(iv) How would you justify the study of human settlements in human
geography?
(v) Identify the types of settlement shown in the photograph and write
a brief note on it.
3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) What are rural and urban settlements? Mention their
characteristics.
(ii) Discuss the problems associated with urban settlements in
developing countries.

Project/Activity
(i) Do you live in a city? If not, do you live nearby? Is your life
somehow linked to a city?
(a) What is its name?
(b) When was it first settled?
(c) Why was the site chosen?
(d) What is its population?
(e) What are the functions it performs?
(f) On a sketch of the city, try to identify the areas where
these functions are performed.
Each student should make a list of five things associated with the selected city;
things that cannot be found elsewhere. This is a mini definition of the city as each
student sees it. The lists should be shared with the class. How much agreement is
there between the lists?
(ii) Can you think of some ways by which you can single
handedly help reduce pollution levels of your settlement
Hints :
(a) Proper garbage disposal
(b) Using public transport
(c) Better management of domestic water consumption
(d) Planting trees in the neighbourhood

102 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Unit-III Human activities which generate income are
known as economic activities. Economic
Chapter-5 activities are broadly grouped into primary,
secondary, tertiary and quaternary activities.
Primary activities are directly dependent on
environment as these refer to utilisation of
earth’s resources such as land, water,
vegetation, building materials and minerals. It,
thus includes, hunting and gathering, pastoral
activities, fishing, forestry, agriculture, and
mining and quarrying.

Why inhabitants of coastal and plain

regions are engaged in fishing and
agriculture respectively? What are the
Primary Activities physical and social factors which affect the
type of primary activities in different
regions?

People engaged in primary activities are called red-

collar workers due to the outdoor nature of their work.

HUNTING AND GATHERING

The earliest human beings depended on their
immediate environment for their sustenance.
They subsisted on: (a) animals which they
hunted; and (b) the edible plants which they
gathered from forests in the vicinity.
Primitive societies depended on wild
animals. People located in very cold and
extremely hot climates survived on hunting. The
people in the coastal areas still catch fish though
fishing has experienced modernisation due to
technological progress. Many species, now have
become extinct or endangered due to illegal
hunting (poaching). The early hunters used
primitive tools made of stones, twigs or arrows
so the number of animals killed was limited.
Why has hunting been banned in India?
Gathering and hunting are the oldest
economic activity known. These are carried out
at different levels with different orientations.
Gathering is practised in regions with
harsh climatic conditions. It often involves
primitive societies, who extract, both plants and
animals to satisfy their needs for food, shelter
and clothing. This type of activity requires a
small amount of capital investment and
operates at very low level of technology. The
yield per person is very low and little or no
surplus is produced.
Fig. 5.1: Women Gathering Oranges in Mizoram
Fig. 5.2: Areas of Subsistence Gathering
32 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Gathering is practised in: (i) high latitude
zones which include northern Canada, northern
Eurasia and southern Chile; (ii) Low latitude
zones such as the Amazon Basin, tropical
Africa, Northern fringe of Australia and the
interior parts of Southeast Asia (Fig. 5.2).
In modern times some gathering is market-
oriented and has become commercial. Gatherers
collect valuable plants such as leaves, barks of
trees and medicinal plants and after simple
processing sell the products in the market. They
use various parts of the plants, for example,
the bark is used for quinine, tanin extract and
cork— leaves supply materials for beverages,
drugs, cosmetics, fibres, thatch and fabrics;
nuts for food and oils and tree trunk yield
rubber, balata, gums and resins.
The name of the part of the chewing gum after the flavour
is gone? It is called Chicle — it is made from the milky
juice of zapota tree.
Gathering has little chance of becoming
important at the global level. Products of such an
activity cannot compete in the world market.
Moreover, synthetic products often of better
quality and at lower prices, have replaced many
items supplied by the gatherers in tropical forests.
PASTORALISM
At some stage in history, with the realisation
that hunting is an unsustainable activity,
human beings might have thought of
domestication of animals. People living in
different climatic conditions selected and
domesticated animals found in those regions.
Depending on the geographical factors, and
technological development, animal rearing
today is practised either at the subsistence or
at the commercial level.
Nomadic Herding
Nomadic herding or pastoral nomadism is a
primitive subsistence activity, in which the
herders rely on animals for food, clothing, shelter,
tools and transport. They move from one place
to another along with their livestock, depending
on the amount and quality of pastures and
water. Each nomadic community occupies a
well-identified territory as a matter of tradition.
Fig. 5.3: Nomads taking their sheep up to the
Mountains at the onset of summer
A wide variety of animals is kept in
different regions. In tropical Africa, cattle are
the most important livestock, while in Sahara
and Asiatic deserts, sheep, goats and camel
are reared. In the mountainous areas of Tibet
and Andes, yak and llamas and in the Arctic
and sub Arctic areas, reindeer are the most
important animals.
Pastoral nomadism is associated with
three important regions. The core region
extends from the Atlantic shores of North Africa
eastwards across the Arabian peninsula into
Mongolia and Central China. The second region
extends over the tundra region of Eurasia. In
the southern hemisphere there are small areas
in South-west Africa and on the island of
Madagascar (Fig. 5.4)
Movement in search of pastures is
undertaken either over vast horizontal
distances or vertically from one elevation to
another in the mountainous regions. The
process of migration from plain areas to
pastures on mountains during summers and
again from mountain pastures to plain areas
during winters is known as transhumance. In
mountain regions, such as Himalayas, Gujjars,
Bakarwals, Gaddis and Bhotiyas migrate from
plains to the mountains in summers and to the
plains from the high altitude pastures in
winters. Similarly, in the tundra regions, the
nomadic herders move from south to north in
summers and from north to south in winters.
The number of pastoral nomads has been
decreasing and the areas operated by them
shrinking. This is due to (a) imposition of
political boundaries; (b) new settlement plans
by different countries.
Commercial Livestock Rearing
Unlike nomadic herding, commercial livestock
rearing is more organised and capital intensive.
Commercial livestock ranching is essentially
associated with western cultures and is practised
on permanent ranches. These ranches cover
large areas and are divided into a number of
parcels, which are fenced to regulate the grazing.
When the grass of one parcel is grazed, animals
are moved to another parcel. The number of
animals in a pasture is kept according to the
carrying capacity of the pasture.
This is a specialised activity in which only
one type of animal is reared. Important animals
include sheep, cattle, goats and horses.
Products such as meat, wool, hides and skin
are processed and packed scientifically and
exported to different world markets.
Rearing of animals in ranching is
organised on a scientific basis. The main
Primary Activities 33
 Fig. 5.4: Areas of Nomadic Herding
Fig. 5.5: Commercial Livestock Rearing
Reindeer rearing in the northern regions of Alaska where
most of the Eskimos own about two-third of the stock.
emphasis is on breeding, genetic improvement,
disease control and health care of the animals.
New Zealand, Australia, Argentina,
Uruguay and United States of America are
important countries where commercial livestock
rearing is practised (Fig. 5.6).
34 Fundamentals of Human Geography
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture is practised under multiple
combinations of physical and socio-economic
conditions, which gives rise to different types of
agricultural systems.
Based on methods of farming, different
types of crops are grown and livestock raised.
The following are the main agricultural systems.
Subsistence Agriculture
Subsistence agriculture is one in which the
farming areas consume all, or nearly so, of the
products locally grown. It can be grouped in
two categories — Primitive Subsistence
Agriculture and Intensive Subsistence
Agriculture.
Primitive Subsistence Agriculture
Primitive subsistence agriculture or shifting
cultivation is widely practised by many tribes
in the tropics, especially in Africa, south and
central America and south east Asia (Fig. 5.7).
 Fig. 5.6: Areas of Commercial Livestock Rearing

Fig. 5.7: Areas of Primitive Subsistence Agriculture

Primary Activities 35
 The vegetation is usually cleared by fire,
and the ashes add to the fertility of the soil.
Shifting cultivation is thus, also called slash
and burn agriculture. The cultivated patches
are very small and cultivation is done with very
primitive tools such as sticks and hoes. After
sometime (3 to 5 years) the soil looses its fertility
and the farmer shifts to another parts and clears
other patch of the forest for cultivation. The
farmer may return to the earlier patch after
sometime. One of the major problems of shifting
cultivation is that the cycle of jhum becomes
less and less due to loss of fertility in different
parcels. It is prevalent in tropical region in
different names, e.g. Jhuming in North eastern
states of India, Milpa in central America and
Mexico and Ladang in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Find out other areas and the names with which
shifting cultivation is done.
Intensive Subsistence Agriculture
This type of agriculture is largely found in
densely populated regions of monsoon Asia.
Fig. 5.8: Areas of Intensive Subsistence Farming
36 Fundamentals of Human Geography
Basically, there are two types of intensive
subsistence agriculture.
(i) Intensive subsistence agriculture
dominated by wet paddy cultivation: This
type of agriculture is characterised by
dominance of the rice crop. Land holdings
are very small due to the high density of
population. Farmers work with the help
of family labour leading to intensive use of
land. Use of machinery is limited and most
of the agricultural operations are done by
manual labour. Farm yard manure is used
to maintain the fertility of the soil. In this
type of agriculture, the yield per unit area
is high but per labour productivity is low.
(ii) Intensive subsidence agriculture
dominated by crops other than paddy:
Due to the difference in relief, climate, soil
and some of the other geographical factors,
it is not practical to grow paddy in many
parts of monsoon Asia. Wheat, soyabean,
barley and sorghum are grown in northern
China, Manchuria, North Korea and North
Japan. In India wheat is grown in western
 coconut and sugarcane plantations in the
Philippines. The Dutch once had monopoly
over sugarcane plantation in Indonesia. Some
coffee fazendas (large plantations) in Brazil are
still managed by Europeans.
Today, ownership of the majority of
plantations has passed into the hands of the
government or the nationals of the countries
concerned.

Fig. 5.9: Rice Transplantation

parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains and

millets are grown in dry parts of western
and southern India. Most of the
characteristics of this type of agriculture
are similar to those dominated by wet
paddy except that irrigation is often used.
Fig. 5.10: Tea Plantation
The Europeans colonised many parts in
The slopes of hills are used for tea plantations because
the world and they introduced some other forms
of favourable geographical conditions.
of agriculture such as plantations which were
mainly profit-oriented large scale production
Extensive Commercial Grain Cultivation
systems.
Commercial grain cultivation is practised in the
Plantation Agriculture interior parts of semi-arid lands of the mid-
latitudes. Wheat is the principal crop, though
Plantation agriculture as mentioned above was
other crops like corn, barley, oats and rye are
introduced by the Europeans in colonies
also grown. The size of the farm is very large,
situated in the tropics. Some of the important
therefore entire operations of cultivation from
plantation crops are tea, coffee, cocoa, rubber,
cotton, oil palm, sugarcane, bananas and ploughing to
pineapples. harvesting are
The characteristic features of this type of mechanised (Fig.
farming are large estates or plantations, large 5.11). There is low
capital investment, managerial and technical yield per acre but
support, scientific methods of cultivation, high yield per
single crop specialisation, cheap labour, and person. Why does
a good system of transportation which links this happen?
the estates to the factories and markets for the
export of the products. Fig. 5.11: Mechanised
Grain Farming
The French established cocoa and coffee
plantations in west Africa. The British set up Combine crews are
large tea gardens in India and Sri Lanka, capable of harvesting
rubber plantations in Malaysia and sugarcane grain over many
and banana plantations in West Indies. hectares in a single
Spanish and Americans invested heavily in day.

Primary Activities 37
 Fig. 5.12: Areas of Extensive Commercial Grain Farming

This type of agriculture is best developed building, extensive use of chemical fertilisers
in Eurasian steppes, the Canadian and and green manures and also by the skill and
American Prairies, the Pampas of Argentina, the expertise of the farmers.
Velds of South Africa, the Australian Downs and
the Canterbury Plains of New Zealand. (Locate Dairy Farming
these areas on the world map).
Dairy is the most advanced and efficient type of
rearing of milch animals. It is highly capital
Mixed Farming
intensive. Animal sheds, storage facilities for
This form of agriculture is found in the highly fodder, feeding and milching machines add to
developed parts of the world, e.g. North-western the cost of dairy farming. Special emphasis is
Europe, Eastern North America, parts of laid on cattle breeding, health care and
Eurasia and the temperate latitudes of veterinary services.
Southern continents (Fig. 5.14).
Mixed farms are moderate in size and
usually the crops associated with it are wheat,
barley, oats, rye, maize, fodder and root crops.
Fodder crops are an important component of
mixed farming. Crop rotation and intercropping
play an important role in maintaining soil
fertility. Equal emphasis is laid on crop
cultivation and animal husbandry. Animals like
cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry provide the main
income along with crops.
Mixed farming is characterised by high
capital expenditure on farm machinery and Fig. 5.13: A Dairy Farm in Austria

38 Fundamentals of Human Geography

 Fig. 5.14: Areas of Mixed Farming
It is highly labour intensive as it involves
rigorous care in feeding and milching. There is
no off season during the year as in the case of
crop raising.
It is practised mainly near urban and
industrial centres which provide
neighbourhood market for fresh milk and dairy
products. The development of transportation,
refrigeration, pasteurisation and other
preservation processes have increased the
duration of storage of various dairy products.
Fig. 5.15 (a): A vineyard in Switzerland
There are three main regions of commercial
dairy farming. The largest is North Western
Europe the second is Canada and the third belt
includes South Eastern Australia, New Zealand
and Tasmania (Fig. 5.16).
Mediterranean Agriculture
Mediterranean agriculture is highly specialised
commercial agriculture. It is practised in the
countries on either side of the Mediterranean
Fig. 5.15 (b): Collection of
grapes in a collective farm of Kazakhstan
Primary Activities 39
 Fig. 5.16: Areas of Dairy Farming
sea in Europe and in north Africa from Tunisia
to Atlantic coast, southern California, central
Chile, south western parts of South Africa and
south and south western parts of Australia.
This region is an important supplier of citrus
fruits.
Viticulture or grape cultivation is a
speciality of the Mediterranean region. Best
quality wines in the world with distinctive
flavours are produced from high quality grapes
in various countries of this region. The inferior
grapes are dried into raisins and currants. This
region also produces olives and figs. The
advantage of Mediterranean agriculture is that
more valuable crops such as fruits and
vegetables are grown in winters when there is
great demand in European and North American
markets.
Market Gardening and Horticulture
Market gardening and horticulture specialise
in the cultivation of high value crops such as
vegetables, fruits and flowers, solely for the
urban markets. Farms are small and are
located where there are good transportation
40 Fundamentals of Human Geography
links with the urban centre where high income
group of consumers is located. It is both labour
and capital intensive and lays emphasis on the
use of irrigation, HYV seeds, fertilisers,
insecticides, greenhouses and artificial heating
in colder regions.
This type of agriculture is well developed
in densely populated industrial districts of
north west Europe, north eastern United States
of America and the Mediterranean regions. The
Netherlands specialises in growing flowers and
horticultural crops especially tulips, which are
flown to all major cities of Europe.
The regions where farmers specialise in
vegetables only, the farming is know as truck
farming. The distance of truck farms from the
market is governed by the distance that a truck
can cover overnight, hence the name truck
farming.
In addition to market gardening, a modern
development in the industrial regions of Western
Europe and North America is factory farming.
Livestock, particularly poultry and cattle
rearing, is done in stalls and pens, fed on
manufactured feedstuff and carefully
 Figure 5.17 (a): Vegetables being grown in the
vicinity of the city
supervised against diseases. This requires heavy
capital investment in terms of building,
machinery for various operations, veterinary
services and heating and lighting. One of the
important features of poultry farming and cattle
rearing is breed selection and scientific
breeding.
Types of farming can also be categorised
according to the farming organisation. Farming
organisation is affected by the way in which
farmers own their farms and various policies of
the government which help to run these farms.
Co-operative Farming
A group of farmers form a co-operative society
by pooling in their resources voluntarily for
more efficient and profitable farming. Individual
farms remain intact and farming is a matter of
cooperative initiative.
Co-operative societies help farmers, to
procure all important inputs of farming, sell the
products at the most favourable terms and help
in processing of quality products at cheaper
rates.
Co-operative movement originated over a
century ago and has been successful in many
western European countries like Denmark,
Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Italy etc. In
Denmark, the movement has been so successful
that practically every farmer is a member of a
co-operative.
Collective Farming
The basic principal behind this types of farming
Figure 5.17 (b): Vegetables being loaded into a truck
and cycle carts for transporting to city markets
is based on social ownership of the means of
production and collective labour. Collective
farming or the model of Kolkhoz was
introduced in erstwhile Soviet Union to improve
upon the inefficiency of the previous methods
of agriculture and to boost agricultural
production for self-sufficiency.
The farmers pool in all their resources like
land, livestock and labour. However, they are
allowed to retain very small plots to grow crops
in order to meet their daily requirements.
Yearly targets are set by the government
and the produce is also sold to the state at fixed
prices. Produce in excess of the fixed amount
is distributed among the members or sold in
the market. The farmers have to pay taxes on
the farm produces, hired machinery etc.
Members are paid according to the nature of
the work allotted to them by the farm
management. Exceptional work is rewarded in
cash or kind. This type of farming was
introduced in former Soviet Union under the
socialist regime which was adopted by the
socialist countries. After its collapse, these have
already been modified.
MINING
The discovery of minerals in the history of
human development, is reflected in many stages
in terms of copper age, bronze age and iron age.
The use of minerals in ancient times was largely
confined to the making of tools, utensils and
weapons. The actual development of mining
began with the industrial revolution and its
importance is continuously increasing.
Primary Activities 41

Fig. 5.18: Oil drilling operation
in the Gulf of Mexico
Factors Affecting Mining Activity
The profitability of mining operations thus,
depends on two main factors:
(i) Physical factors include the size, grade and
the mode of occurrence of the deposits.
(ii) Economic factors such as the demand for
the mineral, technology available and used,
capital to develop infrastructure and the
labour and transport costs.
Methods of Mining
Depending on the mode of occurrence and the
nature of the ore, mining is of two types: surface
and underground mining. The surface mining
also known as open-cast mining is the easiest
and the cheapest way of mining minerals that
occur close to the surface. Overhead costs such
42 Fundamentals of Human Geography
as safety precautions and equipment is
relatively low in this method. The output is both
large and rapid.
SHAFT MINING
OPEN-CAST OR
(STRIP MINING)
Fig. 5.19: Methods of Mining
When the ore lies deep below the surface,
underground mining method (shaft method)
has to be used. In this method, vertical shafts
have to be sunk, from where underground
galleries radiate to reach the minerals.
Minerals are extracted and transported to the
surface through these passages. It requires
specially designed lifts, drills, haulage vehicles,
ventilation system for safety and efficient
movement of people and material. This method
is risky. Poisonous gases, fires, floods and
caving in lead to fatal accidents. Have you ever
read about mine fires and flooding of coal
mines in India?
The developed economies are retreating
from mining, processing and refining stages of
production due to high labour costs, while the
developing countries with large labour force and
striving for higher standard of living are
becoming more important. Several countries
of Africa and few of south America and Asia
have over fifty per cent of the earnings from
minerals alone.
 EXERCISES
1. Choose the right answer from the four alternatives given below.
(i) Which one of the following is not a plantation crop?
(a) Coffee (c) Wheat
(b) Sugarcane (d) Rubber
(ii) In which one of the following countries co-operative farming was the most
successful experiment?
(a) Russia (c) India
(b) Denmark (d) The Netherlands
(iii) Growing of flowers is called:
(a) Truck farming (c) Mixed farming
(b) Factory farming (d) Floriculture
(iv) Which one of the following types of cultivation was developed by European
colonists?
(a) Kolkoz (c) Mixed farming
(b) Viticulture (d) Plantation
(v) In which one of the following regions is extensive commercial grain cultivation
not practised?
(a) American Canadian prairies (c) Pampas of Argentina
(b) European Steppes (d) Amazon Basin
(vi) In which of the following types of agriculture is the farming of citrus fruit very
important?
(a) Market gardening (c) Mediterranean agriculture
(b) Plantation agriculture (d) Co-operative farming
(vii) Which one type of agriculture amongst the following is also called ‘slash and
burn agriculture’?
(a) Extensive subsistence agriculture
(b) Primitive subsistence agriculture
(c) Extensive commercial grain cultivation
(d) Mixed farming
(viii) Which one of the following does not follow monoculture?
(a) Dairy farming (c) Plantation agriculture
(b) Mixed farming (d) Commercial grain farming
2. Answer the following questions in about 30 words.
(i) Future of shifting cultivation is bleak. Discuss.
(ii) Market gardening is practised near urban areas. Why?
(iii) Large scale dairy farming is the result of the development of transportation
and refrigeration.

Primary Activities 43
 3. Answer the following questions in not more than 150 words.
(i) Differentiate between Nomadic Herding and Commercial Livestock Rearing.
(ii) Discuss the important characteristic features of plantation agriculture. Name
a few important plantation crops from different countries.

Project/Activity
Visit a nearby village and observe the cultivation of some crops. Ask
the farmers and list the various operations.

44 Fundamentals of Human Geography