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PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
for G.S.-I Mains
Index

1. BASICS OF GEOGRAPHY 2-8

2. CLIMATOLOGY 9-47
3. GEOMORPHOLOGY 49-79
4. OCEANOGRAPHY 80-92

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1. BASICS OF GEOGRAPHY

LATITUDES & LONGITUDES

 Latitude is the angular distance of a point on the earth’s surface, measured in degrees from the
center of the earth.
 As the earth is slightly flattened at the poles, the linear distance of a degree of latitude at the
pole is a little longer than that at the equator.
 Besides the equator (0°), the north pole (90°N) and the south pole (90° S), there are four
important parallels of latitudes–
o Tropic of Cancer (23 1⁄2° N) in the northern hemisphere.
o Tropic of Capricorn (23 1⁄2° S) in the southern hemisphere
o Arctic circle at 66 1⁄2° north of the equator
o Antarctic circle at 66 1⁄2° south of the equator
 Longitude is an angular distance, measured in degrees along the equator east or west of the
Prime (or First) Meridian. On the globe longitude is shown as a series of semi-circles that run
from pole to pole passing through the equator.
o Unlike the equator which is centrally placed between the poles, any meridian could have
been taken to begin the numbering of longitude.
 It was finally decided in 1884, by international agreement, to choose the zero meridian the
one which passes through the Royal Astronomical Observatory at Greenwich, near London.
o This is the Prime Meridian (0°) from which all other meridians radiate eastwards and
westwards up to 180°.
o As the parallels of latitude become shorter poleward, so the meridians of longitude, which
converge at the poles, enclose a narrower space.
o They have one very important function, they determine local time in relation to G.M.T. or
Greenwich Mean Time, which is sometimes referred to as World Time.

IMPORTANT LATITUDES LONGITUDES

LATITUDINAL HEAT ZONES

1. The mid-day sun is exactly overhead at least once a year on all latitudes in between the Tropic of
Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This area, therefore, receives the maximum heat and is
called the Torrid Zone.

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2. The mid-day sun never shines overhead on any latitude beyond the Tropic of Cancer and the
Tropic of Capricorn. The angle of the sun’s rays goes on decreasing towards the poles. As such,
the areas bounded by the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic circle in the northern hemisphere, and
the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic circle in the southern hemisphere, have moderate
temperatures. These are, therefore, called Temperate zones.
3. Areas lying between the Arctic circle and the north pole in the northern hemisphere and the
Antarctic circle and the south pole in the southern hemisphere, are very cold. It is because here
the sun does not raise much above the horizon and rays are always slanting. These are called
Frigid Zones.

LONGITUDE AND TIME

 Since the earth makes one complete revolution of 360° in one day or 24 hours, it passes through
15° in one hour or 1° in 4 minutes. The earth rotates from west to east, so every 15° we go
eastwards, local time is advanced by 1 hour. Conversely, if we go westwards, local time is
retarded by 1 hour.
 If each town were to keep the time of its own meridian, there would be much difference in local
time between one town and the other. Travelers going from one end of the country to the other
would have to keep changing their watches if they wanted to keep their appointments. This is
impractical and very inconvenient.
 To avoid all these difficulties, a system of standard time is observed by all countries. In larger
countries such as Canada, U.S.A., China, and Russia, it would be inconvenient to have single time
zone. So these countries have multiple time zones.
 Both Canada and U.S.A. have five time zones—the Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Mountain and
Pacific Time Zones. Russia has nine time zones number of hours from the given longitude.

THE INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE

A traveler going eastwards gains time from Greenwich until he reaches the meridian
180°E, when he will be 12 hours ahead of G.M.T. Similarly in going westwards, he
loses 12 hours when he reaches 180°W. There is thus a total difference of 24 hours or
a whole day between the two sides of the 180° meridian.
This is the International Date Line where the date changes by exactly one day when it
is crossed. A traveler crossing the date line from east to west loses a day (because of
the loss in time he has made); and while crossing the dateline from west to east he
gains a day (because of the gain in time he encountered).
The International Date Line in the mid-Pacific curves from the normal 180° meridian
at the Bering Strait, Fiji, Tonga and other islands to prevent confusion of day and
date in some of the island groups that are cut through by the meridian.
Some of them keep Asiatic or New Zealand standard time, others follow the
American date and time.

Why is the IDL drawn in a zigzag manner?

 The International Date Line (IDL) passes through the Pacific Ocean. It is an imaginary line, like
longitudes and latitudes.

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 Some groups of Islands (Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia) fall on either of the dateline. So if
the dateline was straight, then two regions of the same Island Country or Island group would fall
under different date zones.
 Thus to avoid any confusion of date, this line is drawn through where the sea lies and not land.
Hence, the IDL is drawn in a zig-zag manner.
 The Indian Government has accepted the meridian of 82.5° east as the Indian Standard Time
which is 5 hours 30 mins, ahead of Greenwich Mean Time.

MOTION OF EARTH
 The Earth shows two types of motions which leads to seasons and day-night patterns. These
motion are rotation around its own axis and revolution about the Sun.
o Elliptical orbit: The earth moves around the sun in an elliptical orbit.
o Inclination of Earth never changes: Throughout its orbit, the earth is inclined in the same
direction.

Rotation of Earth
 Earth rotates along its axis from west to east and takes approximately 24 hours to complete on
rotation. Days and nights occur due to rotation of the earth. The circle that divides the day from
night on the globe is called the circle of illumination.
 Earth rotates on a tilted axis. Earth’s rotational axis makes an angle of 23.5° with the normal i.e.
it makes an angle of 66.5° with the orbital plane. Orbital plane is the plane of earth’s orbit
around the Sun.
 Rotation causes the tides the twice daily rise and fall of sea level. Tides are complicated because
they are the result of both the gravity of the moon and the gravity of the sun. Tides are highest
when the earth, sun and moon are in a straight line.
 The Coriolis Force: The earth rotates much faster than the winds or currents move. This causes a
large deflection in the direction that winds move and ultimately results in rotation around low
pressure cells and high pressure cells. It also causes large rotating pools of water in the oceans
called gyres. The Coriolis force only operates on large features.

Why are days always longer than nights at the equator?

 If there was no atmosphere, there would be no refraction and the daytime and night time would
be near equal at the equator, at least during equinoxes.
 But due to atmosphere, the sun’s rays gets refracted (bending of light). Refraction is particularly
stronger during the morning and the evening time when the sun’s rays are slant.
 Even though the actual sun is below the horizon, its apparent image would appear above the
horizon due to refraction. This makes the days longer than nights at the equator.

Why temperature falls with increasing latitude (as we move from equator towards poles)?
 Because of the spherical (Geoid) shape of the earth and the position of the sun.
 Because the energy received per unit area decreases from equator to poles.
 Because equator receives direct sunlight while poles receive slant or oblique rays of the sun.

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Solistice
 On 21st June, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the sun. The rays of the sun fall directly
on the Tropic of Cancer. As a result, these areas receive more heat. The areas near the poles
receive less heat as the rays of the sun are slanting.
 The north pole is inclined towards the sun and the places beyond the Arctic Circle experience
continuous daylight for about six months.
 Since a large portion of the northern hemisphere is getting light from the sun, it is summer in the
regions north of the equator. The longest day and the shortest night at these places occur on
21st June.
 At this time in the southern hemisphere, all these conditions are reversed. It is winter season
there. The nights are longer than the days. This position of the earth is called the Summer
Solstice.
 On 22nd December, the Tropic of Capricorn receives direct rays of the sun as the south pole tilts
towards it. As the sun’s rays fall vertically at the Tropic of Capricorn (231⁄2° S), a larger portion
of the southern hemisphere gets light. Therefore, it is summer in the southern hemisphere with
longer days and shorter nights.
 The reverse happens in the northern hemisphere. This position of the earth is called the Winter
Solstice.

Equinox
 On 21st March and September 23rd, direct rays of the sun fall on the equator. At this position,
neither of the poles is tilted towards the sun; so, the whole earth experiences equal days and
equal nights. This is called an equinox.
 On 23rd September, it is autumn season in the northern hemisphere and spring season in the
southern hemisphere. The opposite is the case on 21st March, when it is spring in the northern
hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere.
 There are days and nights and changes in the seasons because of the rotation and revolution of
the earth respectively.
Rotation === Days and Nights.
Revolution === Seasons.

Why regions beyond the Arctic circle receive sunlight all day long in summer?
This is because of the tilt of the earth. Earth’s axis at the north pole is tilted towards the sun in
summer. So the whole of Arctic region falls within the ‘zone of illumination’ all day long in summer.

EVOLUTION OF THE UNIVERSE

 The universe is a huge wide-open space that holds everything from the smallest particle to the
biggest galaxy. Astronomers try to measure it all the time using a special instrument called a
spectroscope.
 Based on the information from this instrument, scientists have learned that the universe is still
growing outward in every direction. Scientists believe that about 13.7 billion years ago, a
powerful explosion called the Big Bang happened.

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i. This powerful explosion set the universe into motion and this motion continues today. It
suggests that about 1370 crore years ago, all matter and energy in the universe was
concentrated into an area smaller than an atom. At this instant, matter, energy, space and
time were not existent.
ii. Then suddenly with a bang, the Universe began to expand at an incredible rate and matter,
energy, space and time came into being. As the universe expanded, matter began to
coalesce into gas clouds and the stars and planets.
iii. Some scientists believe that this expansion is finite and will done day cease. After this point
in time, the universe will begin to collapse until a Big Crunch occurs.
What Are Redshift and Blueshift?
 Redshift and Blueshift describe how light changes as objects in space (such as stars or galaxies)
move closer or farther away from us. The concept is key to charting the universe’s expansion.
Visible light is a spectrum of colors, which is clear to anyone who has looked at a rainbow.
 When an object moves away from us, the light is shifted to the red end of the spectrum, as its
wavelengths get longer. If an object moves closer, the light moves to the blue end of the
spectrum, as its wavelengths get shorter.
 American astronomer Edwin Hubble was the first to describe the redshift phenomenon and tie it
to an expanding universe. His observations, revealed in 1929, showed that nearly all galaxies he
observed are moving away.

GALAXIES
 A galaxy contains stars, gas, and dust which are held together as a group by gravity. There may
be millions, or even billions, of stars in one galaxy. There are billions of galaxies in the universe.
Galaxies are labeled according to their shape.
a. Some galaxies are called “spiral”, because they look like giant pinwheels in the sky. The
galaxy we live in, the Milky Way, is a spiral galaxy.
b. Some galaxies are called “elliptical”, because they look like flat balls.
c. A galaxy may be called “irregular” if it doesn’t really have a shape.
d. A new type of galaxy was discovered recently, called a “starburst” galaxy. In this type of
galaxy, new stars just seem to ‘burst out’ very quickly.
 Our galaxy has the shape of a flat disc with a central bulge. Its diameter is about a 1,00,000 light
years. Our galaxy is surrounded by an enormous halo of hot gas that extends for hundreds of
thousands of light-years. The gas halo is estimated to be as massive as all of the stars in the
Milky Way. Like the galaxy itself, the halo is spinning rapidly.

SOLAR SYSTEM
 The word “solar” refers to the sun; the sun is one of the 150 billion stars of the Milky Way. It
moves through space taking with it a larger family of objects. The whole group is called the solar
system. Our solar system is elliptical in shape. The sun is its center and it is always in motion.
 Its largest and most important members are the nine known planets and their moons, along
with smaller objects called comets, asteroids, and meteoroids that orbit the sun. The sun

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contains 99.8% of the solar system’s mass. Many scientists believe that our Solar System is over
4.6 billion years old.
 Scientists believe that the solar system was formed when a cloud of gas and dust in space was
disturbed, may be by the explosion of a nearby star called SUPERNOVA. This explosion made
waves in space that squeezed the cloud of gas and dust.
 Squeezing made the cloud start to collapse, as gravity pulled the gas and dust together, forming
a solar nebula. The sun’s nuclear fires, ignited at the dense center of this nebula. The planets
were born in the swirling currents of the great cloud.
 The planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars evolved as globes of rock that are present near the
Sun. They were too small and their gravitational fields too weak to capture. However, far from
the sun, the massive planets Jupiter and Saturn, with powerful gravitational fields, did attract
and hold thick gaseous atmospheres of hydrogen and helium.
PLANETS
DEVELOPMENT STAGES
 The stars are localized 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.
 In the next stage, the gas cloud starts getting condensed and the matter around the core
develops into small rounded objects. These 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. In the final stage, these large
number of small planetesimals accrete to form a fewer large bodies in the form of planets.
Planets are generally divided into:
 Inner Planets
a. The inner Solar System is the traditional name for the region comprising the terrestrial
planets and asteroids.
b. The four inner or terrestrial planets have dense, rocky compositions, few or no moons, and
no ring systems.
c. They are composed largely of refractory minerals, such as the silicates, which form their
crusts and mantles, and metals, such as iron and nickel, which form their cores.
d. Three of the four inner planets (Venus, Earth and Mars) have atmospheres substantial
enough to generate weather; all have impact craters and tectonic surface features, such as
rift valleys and volcanoes.
 Outer Planets
a. A gas giant is a large planet composed mostly of gases, such as hydrogen and helium, with a
relatively small rocky core.
b. The gas giants of our solar system are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These four large
planets, also called jovian planets after Jupiter, reside in the outer part of the solar system
past the orbits of Mars and the asteroid belt.
c. Jupiter and Saturn are substantially larger than Uranus and Neptune, revealing that the pairs
of planets have a somewhat different composition

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d. It is believed that the giants first formed as rocky and icy planets similar to terrestrial
planets. However, the size of the cores allowed these planets (particularly Jupiter and
Saturn) to grab hydrogen and helium out of the gas cloud from which the sun was
condensing, before the sun formed and blew most of the gas away.

ASTEROID BELT
 The vast majority of asteroids in the solar system are found in a region of the solar system out
beyond Mars. They form the Asteroid Belt.
 Others orbit in near-Earth space and a few migrate or are thrown out to the outer solar system
by gravitational interactions. The four largest asteroids in the belt are Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, and
Hygiea

Where Is The Asteroid Belt Located?

 The Asteroid Belt is located in an area of space between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. That
places it between 2.2 and 3.2 astronomical units (AU) from the Sun. The average distance
between objects in the Asteroid Belt is quite large.
 The formation of Jupiter disrupted the formation of any worlds in the Asteroid Belt region by
scattering asteroids away. This caused them to collide and break into smaller pieces.
Gravitational influences can move asteroids out of the Belt.

DWARF PLANET
 A dwarf planet is a planetary-mass object that is neither a planet nor a natural satellite. It orbits
the Sun, and is massive enough for its shape to be in hydrostatic equilibrium under its own
gravity, but has not cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.
 The term dwarf planet was adopted in 2006. Currently, the International Astronomical Union
(IAU) recognizes five dwarf planets: Ceres, Pluto, Haumea, Makemake, Seden and Eris.
a. Pluto is called a “dwarf planet.” A dwarf planet orbits the sun just like other planets, but it is
smaller. It is so small it cannot clear other objects out of its path.
b. Similarly, Pluto is in a region called the Kuiper (KY-per) Belt. Thousands of small, icy objects
like Pluto are in the Kuiper Belt. The orbit of which Pluto follows takes 248 days to revolve
round the sun once and its oval in nature.
c. There are moments when it is nearest to the sun causing the ice present on the planet to
melts. Pluto having about one-fifteenth the gravity of Earth, its atmospheres altitude rises
more than any other planet

METEORS
 They are small bodies coming from inter-planetary space.
 They become luminous by friction on entering the Earth’s atmosphere and are popularly called
shooting stars.

*****

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2. CLIMATOLOGY
 Our atmosphere is a dynamic mixture of gases that envelop the earth. The atmosphere extends
to approximately 480 kilometers above earth’s surface. Its density decreases rapidly with
altitude; in fact, 97% of the air is concentrated in the first 25 kilometers or so.
 Because air has mass, the atmosphere exerts pressure on earth’s surface. At sea level, this
pressure is about 1034 gm/cm2 ,but the higher the elevation,the lower is the atmospheric
pressure.
 The atmosphere is a significant componenet of the biospheric ecosystem because the life on the
earth surface is because of this atmosphere otherwise earth would have barren like moon.

ATMOSPHERE
COMPOSITION OF ATMOSPHERE
Major Gases
 The most common atmospheric gas, nitrogen accounts for about 78% of the atmosphere.
Nitrogen gas is largely inert, meaning that it does not readily react with other substances to form
new chemical compounds.
 The next most common gas, oxygen, makes up about 21% of the atmosphere. Oxygen is
required for the respiration (breathing) of all animal life on Earth, from humans to bacteria. In
contrast to nitrogen, oxygen is extremely reactive. It participates in oxidation, a type of chemical
reaction that can be observed everywhere.
 Just under 1% of the atmosphere is made up of argon (Ar), which is a very inert noble gas,
meaning that it does not take part in any chemical reactions under normal circumstances.
 Together, these three gases account for 99.96% of the atmosphere. The remaining 0.04%
contains a wide variety of trace gases, several of which are crucial to life on Earth.

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Important trace gases

 Carbon dioxide (CO2) affects the earth’s climate and plays a large support role in the biosphere,
the collection of living things that populate the earth’s surface.
o Only about 0.0325% of the atmosphere is CO2. Carbon dioxide is required by plant life for
photosynthesis, the process of using sunlight to store energy as simple sugars, upon which
all life on Earth depends.
o Carbon dioxide is also one of a class of compounds called greenhouse gases. These gases are
made up of molecules that absorb and emit infrared radiation, which we feel as heat. The
solar energy radiated from the sun is mostly in the visible range, within a narrow band of
wavelengths.
o This radiation is absorbed by the earth’s surface, then reradiated back out to space not as
visible light, but as longer wavelength infrared radiation. Greenhouse gas molecules absorb
some of this radiation before it escapes to space, and re-emit some of it back toward the
surface.
o In this way, these gases trap some of the escaping heat and increase the overall temperature
of the atmosphere. If the atmosphere had no greenhouse gases, it is estimated that the
earth’s surface would be 90°F (32°C) cooler.
 Water vapor (H2O) is found in the atmosphere in small and highly variable amounts.
o While it is nearly absent in most of the atmosphere, its concentration can range up to 4% in
very warm, humid areas close to the surface. Despite its relative scarcity, atmospheric water
probably has more of an impact on the earth than any of the major gases, aside from
oxygen.
o Water vapor participates in the hydrologic cycle, the process that moves water between the
oceans, the land surface waters, the atmosphere, and the polar ice caps.
o This water cycling drives erosion and rock weathering, determines the earth’s weather, and
sets up climate conditions that make land areas dry or wet, habitable or inhospitable.
o When cooled sufficiently, water vapor forms clouds by condensing to liquid water droplets,
or at lower temperatures, solid ice crystals.
o Besides creating rain or snow, clouds affect Earth’s climate by reflecting some of the energy
coming from the sun, making the planet somewhat cooler. Water vapor is also an important
greenhouse gas. It is concentrated near the surface and is much more prevalent near the
tropics than in the polar regions.
 Ozone (O3) is almost all found in a layer about 9–36 mi (15–60 km) in attitude.
o Ozone gas is irritating to peoples’ eyes and skin, and chemically attacks rubber and plant
tissue. Nevertheless, it is vital to life on Earth because it absorbs most of the high energy
radiation from the sun that is harmful to plants and animals.
o A portion of the energy radiated by the sun lies in the ultraviolet (UV) region. This shorter
wavelength radiation is responsible for suntans, and is sufficiently powerful to harm cells,
cause skin cancer, and burn tissue, as anyone who has had a painful sunburn knows.

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o The ozone molecules, absorb nearly all the high energy UV rays, protecting the earth’s
surface from the most damaging radiation.
o The first step in this process occurs high in the atmosphere, where O2 molecules absorb very
high energy UV radiation. Upon doing so, each absorbing molecule breaks up into two
oxygen atoms. The oxygen atoms eventually collide with another O2molecule, forming a
molecule of ozone, O3.
o Ozone in turn may absorb UV of slightly longer wavelength, which knocks off one of its
oxygen atoms and leaves O2. The free oxygen atom, being very reactive, will almost
immediately recombine with another O2, forming more ozone.
o The last two steps of this cycle keep repeating but do not create any new chemical
compounds; they only act to absorb ultraviolet radiation. The amount of ozone in the
stratosphere is minute.
o If it were all transported to the surface, the ozone gas would form a layer about 0.1–0.16 in
(2.5–4.0 mm) thick. This layer, as thin as it is, is sufficient to shield the earth’s occupants
from harmful solar radiation.

Aerosols
 In addition to gases, the atmosphere has a wide variety of tiny particles suspended in the air,
known collectively as aerosols. Examples of aerosols include:
i. bits of suspended soil or desert sand,
ii. tiny smoke particles from a forest fire,
iii. salt particles left over after a droplet of ocean water has evaporated,
iv. plant pollen,
v. volcanic dust plumes, and
vi. particles formed from the pollution created by a coal burning power plant.
 They significantly affect the atmospheric heat balance, cloud growth, and optical properties.
Some aerosols are just the right size to efficiently scatter sunlight, making the atmosphere look
hazy. Under the right conditions, they act as collecting points for water vapor molecules,
encouraging the growth of cloud droplets and speeding the formation of clouds.
 They may also play a role in Earth’s climate; the aerosols are known to reflect a portion of
incoming solar radiation back to space, which lowers the temperature of the earth’s surface.
 Current research is focused on estimating how much cooling is provided by aerosols, as well as
how and when aerosols form in the atmosphere.

STRUCTURE OF ATMOSPHERE

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 The atmosphere has 4 layers: the troposphere that we live in near the surface of the earth; the
stratosphere that houses the ozone layer; the mesosphere, a colder and lower density layer
with about 0.1% of the atmosphere; and the thermosphere, the top layer, where the air is hot
but very thin.

TROPOSPHERE
 The troposphere is the lowest layer of the atmosphere. This is the layer where we live and
where weather we experience on a daily basis happens. Temperature in this layer generally
decreases with height.
 The word ‘troposphere’ is derived from the Greek word ‘Tropos’ which means ‘change’. This
name represents the extensive turbulence and constant change in the weather within the
troposphere itself. It is not heated directly from the sun.

Why do pressure and temperature decrease with height?

 The molecules that make up the atmosphere are pulled close to the earth’s surface by gravity.
This causes the atmosphere to be concentrated at the Earth’s surface and thin rapidly with
height. Air pressure is a measure of the weight of the molecules above you. As you move up in
the atmosphere, there are fewer molecules above you, so the air pressure is lower.
 Temperature decreases with height in the troposphere. This is true for a couple different
reasons.
i. First, even though the sun’s energy comes down from the sky, it is mostly the ground. The
ground is constantly releasing this energy, as heat in infrared light, so the troposphere is
actually heated from the ground up, causing it to be warmer near the surface and cooler
higher up.
ii. Another reason is the decreasing air pressure with height. If the warm air at the surface gets
blown upward into the cooler air above it, the surface air will continue to rise.
iii. As air rises into areas of lower pressure, it expands because there are less molecules around
it to compress it. The constantly decreasing air pressure in conjunction with the ground-up
heating keeps the temperature in the troposphere decreasing with height.
iv. In the real atmosphere, the actual vertical temperature structure depends on air masses
with specific properties of temperature and humidity being blown into the area as well as
effects of daytime heating.
v. If you have a layer of air with warm temperatures above the surface, we call that an
“inversion”. That layer can act as a cap which prevents clouds and sometimes severe
weather from forming.

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vi. The transitional area between the troposphere and stratosphere is called the tropopause.
The jet stream or ‘river of air’ as it is also referred to, is located just below the tropopause
and moves at approximately 250 miles per hour. The word Troposphere literally means
‘zone of mixing’ whereas the word Tropopause means ‘where the mixing stops’.

STRATOSPHERE
 The stratosphere occupies the central region of the atmosphere, and is the second layer from
the ground; tropopause seperates the stratosphere from the troposphere. The stratosphere
constitutes about 24% of the total atmosphere and it contains about 19% of the total
atmospheric gases.
 It extends to some 50 km above the ground level. The ozone layers forms the upper crust the
stratosphere, which is approximately 90% of the ozone in the atmosphere. This layer combines
oxygen atoms to from the ozone molecules. Ozone molecules absorb harmful UV radiation from
the Sun.
 The temperature rises as we move upwards in this zone. Reasons for this increase in
temperature is absorption of harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun by the ozone molecules. There is
no uniformity in the stratosphere if the temperature is considered. This is because the presence
of ozone layer at the top region.
 Cloud formation usually requires the upward vertical motion of air in an unstable environment.
Since the stratosphere is very stable, clouds usually do not form there; however, there are some
minor exceptions. Cumulonimbus clouds are thunderstorm clouds that begin to form very low in
the atmosphere.
 The tops of most thunderstorm clouds reach very high into the troposphere, but when storms
are extremely strong, the tops can reach into the stratosphere. The most notable cloud that
forms in the stratosphere is the polar stratospheric cloud.
 These clouds require very cold temperatures and form over polar regions. Polar stratospheric
clouds absorb ozone, and recent to 2011 scientists have discovered an alarming increase in polar
stratospheric cloud formation over the Antarctic region.
 Spy jets fly in the lower layers as the weather conditions there are conducive to flying. In bad
weather conditions, or when the fuel is running out,airplanes move up from the troposphere to
this layer because the air density is low, and the planes can fly at the top speeds without
encountering any turbulence.
 Life exists in the stratosphere in the form of some biological bacteria, making it a part of the
biosphere too. Some birds also reach the heights of stratosphere(in the lower part though) and
can fly there.

OZONE LAYER DEPLETION

The ozone layer acts as a filter for the shorter wavelength and highly hazardous ultraviolet radiation
(UVR) from the sun, protecting life on Earth from its potentially harmful effects. When the sky is clear,
there is an inverse relationship between stratospheric ozone and solar UVR measured at the Earth’s
surface.
The southern hemisphere generally has higher levels of solar UVR than the northern hemisphere,
because the Earth is approximately 1.7% closer to the sun in January (summer) than at the equinox and
1.7% further away in July (northern hemisphere summer).
The intensity of solar UVR is proportional to the square of the distance, so this means solar UVR levels
are already 3.4% higher in the southern Hemisphere than at equinox and 3.4% lower for an equivalent
locationDownload thehemisphere.
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However, as the atmosphere in theServices, UPSC Optional,
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that in theetc.
northern and
transmits UVR more readily, these differences are even larger for similar latitudes, approaching 15%.
The southern hemisphere has been affected more by ozone depletion than the northern hemisphere due
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MESOSPHERE
 Situated 50 kms away from the earth’s surface,the mesosphere is the third layer in the
atmosphere surrounding the earth.It goes up to 85 km from the surface of the earth.
 It literally means ‘middle sphere’ and is derived from the Greek words “mesos”, meaning middle
and “spheria” which means ball.The most important function of mesosphere is the destruction
of the meteors that fall on the earth, thus the protecting the life on the planet.
 Mesosphere burns these meteors when they enter the layers of the earth’s atmosphere.These
meteors collide with the gas particles present in the mesosphere and burn.

TEMPERATURE
 The higher up we go in the mesosphere, the more the temperature decreases. This happens due
to the decreasing solar heat and increase cooling due to radiative emission of carbon dioxide.
 Greenhouse gases, mainly carbon dioxide and methane, heat up the troposphere and cause the
greenhouse effect. They behave differently in the mesosphere. Here, the carbon dioxide cools
down as the heat is released from the mesosphere into the space. The methane gas, on the
other hand is decomposed due to the solar light.
 Also, as the temperature in mesosphere is very cold, reaction take place with the ozone layer
and the water vapour presents there,which leads the formation of microscopic clouds. These
beautiful blue-white clouds are known as the noctilucent clouds, which are seen during the
sunset and are better seen from the poles.
 Sky is never completely dark. This is due to a 5 km deep sodium layer. This layer is located just
below the mesopause and is made up of unbound non-ionized atoms of sodium. This sodium
layer forms the nightglow. It is the light emitted from the earth’s upper atmosphere, the
mesosphere.

THERMOSPHERE
 The thermosphere derives its name from the Greek word thermos, meaning heat starting from
the surface, it is the fourth layer of the Earth’s atmosphere. This is also makes it the second
farthest atmospheric layer from the Earth’s surface;the only layer farther than it being the
exosphere.
 The thermosphere extends from about 90 km (56 miles) to between 500 and 1,000 km (311 to
621 miles) above our planet. Although the thermosphere is considered part of Earth’s
atmosphere, the air density is so low in this layer that most of the thermosphere is what we
normally think of as outer space.

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 In fact, the most common definition says that space begins at an altitude of 100 km (62 miles),
slightly above the mesopause at the bottom of the thermosphere. The space shuttle and the
International Space Station both orbit Earth within the thermosphere.
 The Ionosphere- extending from 53 to 370 miles-is an atmospheric layer with charged particles;
which facilitates long distance radio communication. The ionization process in the thermosphere
is also attributed to ultraviolet radiation of the Sun.
 By far the most fascinating thing about the thermosphere is the fact that auroras- the
spectacular natural lights displays in the sky-are attributed to it. These light occurs when charged
particles from space excite the atoms and molecules in this layer into high energy state after
colliding with them.
 The Phenomenon, which is quiet popular in higher altitudes, is one of the best examples of
nature at its dramatic best.

In What Layer of the Earth’s Atmosphere Do Artificial Satellites Orbit the Earth?
 In terms of the Earth’s atmosphere, they occupy regions called the thermosphere and the
exosphere.
 The thermosphere is a region of very high temperature that extends from the top of the
mesosphere at around 85 kilometers (53 miles) up to 640 kilometers (400 miles) above the
Earth’s surface.
 It is called the thermosphere because temperatures can reach up to 1,500 degrees Celsius (2,732
degrees Fahrenheit). However, despite the high temperatures, the pressure is very low, so
satellites don’t suffer heat damage.
Low Earth Orbit
i. The lowest-orbiting satellites occupy Low Earth Orbit, or LEO, which includes any orbit below
2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles). Satellites at this altitude circle the Earth very quickly and their
orbits degrade faster, which means they eventually fall back to Earth if not kept up by thrusters.
ii. The International Space Station is in LEO and most satellites in here fly through the
thermosphere, though those at the upper limit of LEO reach into the exosphere.
iii. Scientific research satellites are typically put into LEO so they can more closely monitor activities
on Earth.
Mid and High Earth Orbit
i. Satellites above LEO all orbit through the exosphere and can maintain their orbits for decades
without adjustment. Weather and communication satellites occupy higher orbits because they
need longer views of a given area of the planet to either carry transmissions or record data.
ii. At the top of High Earth Orbit is geosynchronous orbit. Any satellite here will have an orbital
period the same as the Earth’s.
iii. A special type of geosynchronous orbit is the geostationary orbit, which runs along the equator.
This keeps the satellite at the same point in the sky throughout the entire orbit.

INSOLATION AND HEAT BUDGET

INSOLATION
 The sun is the primary source of energy on the earth. This energy is radiated in all directions into
space through short waves. This is known as solar radiation. Only two billionths or (two units of

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energy out of 1,00,00,00,000 units of energy radiated by the sun) of the total solar radiation
reaches the earth’s surface.
 This small proportion of solar radiation is of great importance, as it is the only major source of
energy on the earth for most of the physical and biological phenomena. Incoming solar radiation
through short waves is termed as insolation.
 The amount of insolation received on the earth’s surface is far less than that is radiated from the
sun because of the small size of the earth and its distance from the sun. Moreover water vapour,
dust particles, ozone and other gases present in the atmosphere absorb a small amount of
insolation.

Factors influencing insolation

 The amount of insolation received on the earth’s surface is not uniform everywhere. It varies
from place to place and from time to time. The tropical zone receive the maximum annual
insolation.
 It gradually decreases towards the poles. Insolation is more in summers and less in winters. The
major factors which influence the amount of insolation received are:
o Rotation of the earth on its axis
o The angle of incidence of the sun’s rays
o Duration of the day
o Transparency of the atmosphere

1. Rotation of the earth on its axis

i. The tilt of the spin axis also means that day length changes, and these changes are most
dramatic at the poles, which experience 24 hours of daylight during their summers and no
daylight during their winters.
ii. The varying day length, along with the angle of incidence of the Sun’s rays, combine to
control the average daily insolation variation (see figure above).
iii. On a yearly average, the equatorial region receives the most insolation, so we expect it to be
the warmest, and indeed it is.

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2. The Angle of Incidence

i. Since the earth is round, the sun’s rays strike the surface at different angles at different
places. The angle formed by the sun’s ray with the tangent of the earth’s circle at a point is
called angle of incidence. It influences the insolation in two ways.
ii. First, when the sun is almost overhead, the rays of the sun are vertical. The angle of
incidence is large hence, they are concentrated in a smaller area, giving more amount of
insolation at that place. If the sun’s rays are oblique, angle of incidence is small and sun’s
rays have to heat up a greater area, resulting in less amount of insolation received there.
iii. Secondly, the sun’s rays with small angle, traverse more of the atmosphere, than rays
striking at a large angle. Longer the path of sun’s rays, greater is the amount of reflection
and absorption of heat by atmosphere. As a result the intensity of insolation at a place is
less.

3. Duration of the day

i. Duration of the day varies from place to place and season to season. It decides the amount
of insolation received on earth’s surface. The longer the duration of the day, the greater is
the amount of insolation received.
ii. Conversely shorter the duration of the day leads to receipt of less insolation.

4. Transparency of the atmosphere

i. Transparency of the atmosphere also determines the amount of insolation reaching the
earth’s surface. The transparency depends upon cloud cover, its thickness, dust particles and
water vapour, as they reflect, absorb or transmit insolation.
ii. Thick clouds hinder the insolation to reach the earth while clear sky helps it to reach the
surface. Water vapour absorb insolation, resulting in less amount of insolation reaching the
surface.

HEATING & COOLING OF THE ATMOSPHERE

 Sun is the ultimate source of atmospheric heat and energy, but its effect is not direct. For
example, as we climb a mountain or ascend in the atmosphere, temperature become steadily
lower, rather than higher, as we might expect.
 This is because the mechanism of heating the atmosphere in not simple. There are four heating
processes directly responsible for heating the atmosphere. They are :
o Radiation
o Conduction
o Convection
o Advection.
1. Radiation:
i. Radiation is the process by which solar energy reaches the earth and the earth loses energy
to outer space. When the source of heat transmits heat directly to an object through heat
waves, it is known as radiation process.

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ii. In this process, heat travels through the empty space. The vast amount of heat energy
coming to and leaving the earth is in the form of radiation.
iii. The following facts about radiation are worth noting.
o All objects whether hot or cold emit radiant energy continuously.
o Hotter objects radiate more energy per unit area than colder objects.
o Temperature of an object determines the waves length of radiation. Temperature and
wave length are inversely related. Hotter the object shorter is the length of the wave.
o Insolation reaches the earth’s surface in short waves and heat is radiated from the earth
in long waves.

2. Conduction:
i. When two objects of unequal temperature come in contact with each other, heat energy
flow from the warmer object to the cooler object and this process of heat transfer is known
as conduction.
ii. The flow continues till temperature of both the objects becomes equal or the contact is
broken. The conduction in the atmosphere occurs at zone of contact between the
atmosphere and the earth’s surface.
iii. However, this is a minor method of heat transfer in terms of warming the atmosphere since
it only affects the air close to the earth’s surface.

3. Convection:
i. Transfer of heat by movement of a mass or substance from one place to another, generally
vertical, is called convection. The air of the lower layers of the atmosphere get heated either
by the earth’s radiation or by conduction.
ii. The heating of the air leads to its expansion. Its density decreases and it moves upwards.
Continuous ascent of heated air creates vacuum in the lower layers of the atmosphere.
iii. As a consequence, cooler air comes down to fill the vacuum, leading to convection. The
cyclic movement associated with the convectional process in the atmosphere transfer heat
from the lower layer to the upper layer and heats up the atmosphere.

4. Advection:
i. Winds carry the temperature of one place to another. The temperature of a place will rise if
it lies on the path of winds coming from warmer regions.
ii. The temperature will fall if the place lies on the path of the winds blowing from cold regions.
This process of horizontal transport of heat by winds is known as advection.

HEAT BUDGET
 It is estimated that of the total radiation coming to us, 35% reaches the atmosphere and is
directly reflected back to space moved through radiation back into space.

ALBEDO
 Albedo can be simply defined as a measure of how much light that hits a surface is reflected
back without being absorbed. It is a reflection coefficient and has a value less than one. When

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the solar radiation passes through the atmosphere, some amount of it is reflected, scattered and
absorbed. The reflected amount of radiation is called as the albedo of the earth.
 The value of albedo will be different for different surfaces. Because of the effect of albedo,
highly developed areas such as urban cities can experience higher average temperatures than
the surrounding suburban or rural areas, a phenomenon known as the “Urban Heat Island
Effect”.
 The higher average temperature can be attributed to less vegetation, higher population
densities, and more infrastructures with dark surfaces (asphalt roads, brick buildings, etc.).

Variations in the Heat Budget Across the Globe

 There is an excess of incoming shortwave radiation between 35° S and 40° N and a deficit at by
dust, clouds and air molecules. It plays practically no part in heating the earth and its
atmosphere.
 Incoming shortwave solar radiation: equals to 100 units
1. Amount lost to space through scattering and reflection equals to 35% comprises of:
i. Clouds = 27%
ii. Reflected by ground = 2%
iii. Scattered by dust particles = 6%
2. Heat received by earth equals to 51% comprises of
i. Through direct radiation = 34%
ii. Received as diffuse day light = 17%
3. Absorption by the atmospheric gases and water vapour equals to 14%

Heat Transfer in the Ocean and Atmosphere

 Much of the heat transport polewards takes place by atmospheric circulation. However, a
significant fraction, especially near the equator, the Hadley Cell only weakly transfers heat
polewards, most transfers takes place through the surface waters of the ocean.
 The ocean surface heat transport is largely by wind blowing across the sea surface driving
surface water currents. The oceans are capable of storing heat for a wide range of time scales
and subsequently transporting it to other locations. The thermohaline circulation can store heat
for 1000s of years.
 The strongest thermohaline circulationis in the Atlantic Ocean, whereas the Pacific Ocean is
much fresher and features shallower circulations.This is largely due to differences in salinity. The
atmosphere transports water vapour across the isthmus in central America from the Atlantic to
the Pacific, leaving the former saltier than the latter.

TEMPERATURE
 The temperature is the measurement in degrees of how hot (or cold) a thing (or a place) is. The
temperature of the atmosphere is not same across the Earth. It varies in spatial and temporal
dimensions.
 The temperature of a place depends largely on the insolation received by that place. The
interaction of insolation with the atmosphere and the earth’s surface creates heat which is
measured in terms of temperature.

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 It is important to know about the temperature distribution over the surface of the earth to
understand the weather, climate, vegetation zones, animal and human life etc. Following factors
determine the temperature of air at any place:
1. The latitude of the place
i. Intensity of insolation depends on the latitude. The amount of insolation depends on the
inclination of sun rays, which is further depends upon the latitude of the place.
ii. At the equator sun’s rays fall directly overhead throughout the year. Away from the equator
towards poles, the inclination of the Sun’s rays increases.
iii. In conclusion, if other things remain the same, the temperature of air goes on decreasing
from the equator towards poles.

2. The altitude of the place

i. The atmosphere is largely heated indirectly by re-radiated terrestrial radiation from the
earth’s surface. Therefore, the lower layers of the atmosphere are comparatively warmer
than the upper layers, even in the same latitudes.
ii. For example, Ambala (30 21’ N) and Shimla (31 6’) are almost at the same latitude. But the
average temperature of shimla is much lower than the Ambala. It is because Ambala is
located in plain at an altitude of 272 m above sea level whereas Shimla is located at an
altitude of 2202 m above sea level.
iii. In other words, the temperature generally decreases with increasing height (figure 6(a)). The
rate of decrease of temperature with height is termed as the normal lapse rate. It is 6.5°C
per 1,000 m.
iv. That’s why, the mountains, even in the equatorial region, have snow covered peaks, like Mt.
Kilimanjaro, Africa.

3. Distance from the Sea

i. Thus the temperature of the air over land and water surfaces is not the same at a given
time. In summers, the sea water is cooler than the land and in winters, land is much colder
than the sea water. The coastal areas experience the sea breezes during the daytime and the
land breezes during the night time.
ii. This has a moderating influence on the temperature of the coastal areas. Against this the
places in the interior, far away from the sea, have extreme climate. The daily range of
temperature is less near the coastal area and it increases with increase in distance from the
sea coast (figure 6(b)).
iii. The low daily range of temperature is the characteristic of marine climate. That’s why, the
people of Mumbai have hardly any idea of extremes of temperature.

4. Ocean Currents
i. The effect of warm ocean currents and the cold ocean currents is limited to the adjoining
coastal areas. The warm ocean currents flow along the eastern coast of tropical and sub-
tropical regions and western coast of higher latitudes.
ii. On the other hand, cold ocean currents flow along the eastern coast of higher latitude and
along the western coast of tropical and sub-tropical areas.

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iii. The North Atlantic drift, an extension of Gulf Stream, warm the coastal districts of Western
Europe (such as Norway) and British Isles keeping their ports ice-free.

5. Air-mass circulation
i. Air masses in form of winds helps in the redistribution of 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.
ii. The effect of these winds is, however, limited to the period during which they blow. Local
winds like cold Mistral of France considerably lower the temperature and Sirocco, a hot wind
that blows from Sahara desert raises the temperature of Italy, Malta etc.
iii. The temperature rises at the time of arrival of temperate cyclones, while it falls sharply after
their passage. Sometimes, local winds can cause sudden change in temperature.
iv. In northern India, ‘Loo’, a local hot wind, raise the temperature to such an extent that heat
waves prolong for several days in continuation and many people die of sunstroke.

6. Slope, Shelter and aspect

i. Slopes of a mountain facing the Sun experiences high temperature than the slopes on the
leeward side due to more insolation. A steep slope experiences a more rapid change in
temperature than a gentle one.
ii. Mountain ranges that have an east-west alignment like the Alps show a higher temperature
on the south-facing ‘sunny slope’ than the north facing ‘sheltered slope’. Consequently,
there are more settlements in southern side and it is better utilized for agricultural and
other purposes.
iii. The mountain ranges at certain places stop the cold winds and prevent the temperature
from going down. This is found in areas where mountains lie in the direction facing the
winds as in the case of Himalayas. In the absence of Himalayas, winters of India would have
been very different.

7. Nature of ground surface

i. The nature of surface in terms of colour, vegetation, soil, land use, snow cover etc. affects
the temperature of a place. In the tropical and subtropical deserts, the sandy surface record
high temperature because they absorb most of the solar radiations.
ii. Snow has very high albedo and thus, reflects much of the insolation without absorption.
Thick vegetation (such as Amazon forest) cuts off much of the incoming insolation and in
many places sunlight never reaches the ground.
iii. It is cool in the jungle and its shade temperature is a few degrees lower than that of open
spaces in corresponding latitudes. Light soils reflect more heat than darker soils.
iv. Dry soils like sands are very sensitive to temperature changes, whereas wet soils, like clay
retain much moisture and warm up more slowly. Urban areas have relatively higher
temperature than the surrounding.

INVERSION OF TEMPERATURE

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 Temperature inversion, condition in which the temperature of the atmosphere increases with
altitude in contrast to the normal decrease with altitude. When temperature inversion occurs,
cold air underlies warmer air at higher altitudes.
 Temperature inversion may occur during the passage of a cold front or result from the invasion
of sea air by a cooler onshore breeze. Overnight radiative cooling of surface air often results in a
nocturnal temperature inversion that is dissipated after sunrise by the warming of air near the
ground.
 A more long-lived temperature inversion accompanies the dynamics of the large high-pressure
systems depicted on weather maps. Descending currents of air near the center of the high-
pressure system produce a warming (by adiabatic compression), causing air at middle altitudes
to become warmer than the surface air.
 Rising currents of cool air lose their buoyancy and are thereby inhibited from rising further when
they reach the warmer, less dense air in the upper layers of a temperature inversion. During a
temperature inversion, air pollution released into the atmosphere’s lowest layer is trapped there
and can be removed only by strong horizontal winds.
 Because high-pressure systems often combine temperature inversion conditions and low wind
speeds, their long residency over an industrial area usually results in episodes of severe smog.

Factors that facilitate Temperature Inversion:

 Air convergence
 Adiabatic changes
 Air Drainage

1. Air convergence
i. It is identified in the mid latitudinal regions where warm and cold air masses converge to
develop extra tropical cyclonic conditions. The front formation due to this convergence
results in uplifting of warm air mass (lower density) over cold air mass (higher density).
ii. This phenomenon results in development of higher temperature at greater height and lower
temperature at lesser height, thus, developing temperature inversion. This temperature
inversion is a signal to the onset of cyclonic circulation in the temperate latitudes.
2. Adiabatic changes
i. The term Adiabatic means that no heat transfer occurs into or out of the system under
consideration. In the case of vertical movement of an air column (ascend or descend), the
body of air involved is very large and also air has low thermal conductivity, so transfer of
heat into or out of system is negligibly small.
ii. So an ascending or a descending air column can be assumed to be working under adiabatic
conditions. As an ascending air column experiences adiabatic cooling due to release of latent
heat of condensation, there is an increase in temperature at greater altitude which results in
the development of Temperature inversion.
iii. An adiabatically warming subsiding air column gets significantly warmed at certain
elevations and may result in temperature inversion if the temperature at lower reaches is
lower.

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3. Air drainage
i. It causes the development of temperature inversion in mountainous regions. Differential
rate of heating and cooling of mountain wall and valley floor creates pressure contrast
between the two segments which results in air being drained from mountain slopes to valley
floor.
ii. This air drainage results in the accumulation of air in the valley floor which experiences
cooling as the valley floor cools during the night. The temperature inversion marks its
development in the early morning next day as the mountain slope gets warmed up.
iii. Houses and farms in inter-montane valleys are usually situated along the upper slopes to
avoid the cold and foggy valley bottoms. For instance, coffee growers of Brazil and apple
growers and hotliers of mountain states of Himalayas in India avoid lower slopes.
iv. An inversion is also produced whenever radiation from the surface of earth exceeds the
amount of radiation received from the sun, which commonly occurs at night, or during the
winter when the angle of the sun is very low in the sky.
v. Temperature inversion stops atmospheric convection from happening in the affected area
and can lead to the air becoming stiller and murky from the collection of dust and pollutants.
This can become a problem in cities where many pollutants exist.

EFFECTS ON HUMANS
 In cities, impurities present in the atmosphere such as smoke, dust particles and other pollutants
do not go up in the air due to temperature inversion. They form dense fog near the earth’s
surface, especially in winters. It causes problems in breathing.
 Frost formed may be harmful for crops in fields. At some places, people lit fire or use big blowers
to mix hot and cold air in order to drain off the area of the adverse conditions created by
temperature inversion. In valleys people make terraced fields in the upper slopes and also settle
down there.

TEMPEARTURE ANOMALY
 The difference between the mean temperature of any place and the mean temperature of its
parallels is known as temperature anomaly. On the map, the lines joining the places of equal
temperature anomaly are known as Isothermal anomaly lines.
 Temperature anomaly could be positive or negative. Due to uneven distribution of land and
water the maximum temperature anomalies are found in the Northern Hemisphere and
minimum in the Southern Hemisphere.

ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
 The movement of air in the atmosphere due to the uneven distribution of temperature over the
surface of the earth is known as Atmospheric Circulation.
 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.

ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE

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 The atmosphere is held on the earth by the gravitational pull of the earth. A column of air exerts
weight in terms of pressure on the surface of the earth. 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.
 Pressure is normally measured in millibars or pascals and spatial variations of pressure are
depicted on maps by means of isobars, which are lines connecting places having the same
barometric pressure. The actual pressure at a given place and at a given time fluctuates and it
generally ranges between 950 and 1050 millibars.
 Air pressure is measured with the help of a mercury barometer or the aneroid barometer.
In the lower atmosphere the pressure decreases rapidly with height with decrease in density of
air. It does not always decrease at the same rate.
 But to make calculations simple, a decrease of about 1 mb for each 10 m increase in elevation is
taken into consideration. In spite of high vertical pressure gradient, we do not experience strong
vertical air currents. This is possible because of equal and opposite gravitation force acting upon
air.

Forces Governing Air Movement

 We know that the air pressure is unevenly distributed in the atmosphere and air attempts to
balance this unevenness. Hence, it moves from high pressure areas to low pressure areas.
 Horizontal movement of air in response to difference in pressure is termed as wind while vertical
or nearly vertical moving air is called air current. Both winds and air currents form the system of
circulation in the atmosphere.
1. Pressure Gradient
i. The existence of pressure differentials in the atmosphere is the immediate primary force
causing air movement. The rate of change of pressure with respect to distance is the
pressure gradient.
ii. The pressure gradient force always acts down the pressure gradient, attempting to cause
the general movement of air away from high-pressure towards low pressure areas.
2. Coriolis Force
i. Winds do not cross the isobars at right angles as the pressure gradient directs them. They
get deflected from their original paths.
ii. One of the most potent influences on wind direction is the deflection caused by the earth’s
rotation on its axis.
iii. This deflection is always to the right of the direction of motion in the northern hemisphere
and to the left in the southern hemisphere. This influence is known as Coriolis force.
3. Frictional Force
i. It lessens 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.
ii. By reducing speed of wind, it weakens the Coriolis force. This allows the pressure gradient to
assert its greater strength by causing the air to flow more towards low pressure.

Pressure Belts of the World

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 The distribution of atmospheric pressure across the latitudes is termed global horizontal
distribution of pressure. Its main feature is its zonal character known as pressure belts. On the
earth’s surface, there are seven pressure belts.
 The Pressure belts are discontinued in the northern hemisphere and several centres of pressure
belts are developed but the pressure belts are found more or less in regular pattern in the
southern hemisphere.
 On the basis of mode of genesis pressure belts are divided into two broad broad categories:
o Thermally Induced Pressure belts
o Dynamically Induced Pressure belts

1. EQUATORIAL LOW PRESSURE BELT

i. At the Equator heated air rises leaving a low-pressure area at the surface. This low pressure
area is known as equatorial low pressure. The pressure belt is thermally induced because the
ground surface gets heated during the day.
ii. This area extends between 50N and 50S latitudes. The zone shifts along with the northward
or southward movement of sun during summer solstice and winter solstice respectively.

2. SUB-TROPICAL HIGH PRESSURE BELT

i. The warm air risen up at the equator due to heating reaches the troposphere and bend
towards the pole due to rotation of the Earth. Due to coriolis force the air descends at 30-
35o latitude thus creates the belt of sub- tropical high pressure.
ii. The pressure belt is dynamically induced as it owes its origin to the rotation of the earth and
sinking and settling of winds. This zone is characterized by anticyclonic conditions which
cause atmospheric stability and aridity.
iii. Thus, most of the hot deserts of the world are present in this region extending between 25-
35 degrees in both the hemisphere.

3. SUB-POLAR LOW PRESSURE BELT

i. This belt is located between 60- 65 degrees latitudes in both the hemisphere. This pressure
belt is also dynamically induced.
ii. The surface air spreads outward from this zone due to rotation of the earth thus produces
low pressure.
iii. The belt is more developed and regular in the southern hemisphere than the northern due
to over dominance of water in the former.

4. POLAR HIGH PRESSURE BELT

i. High pressure persists at the pole on both the hemisphere due to low temperature.
ii. Thus the Polar High Pressure Belt is thermally induced as well as dynamically induced as the
rotation of earth also plays a minor role.

Shifting of Pressure Belts

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 If the earth had not been inclined towards the sun, the pressure belts, as described above,
would have been as they are. But it is not so, because the earth is inclined 23 1/2° towards the
sun.
 On account of this inclination, differences in heating of the continents, oceans and pressure
conditions in January and July vary greatly. January represents winter season and July, summer
season in the Northern Hemisphere. Opposite conditions prevail in the Southern Hemisphere.
 When the sun is overhead on the Tropic of Cancer (21 June) the pressure belts shift 5°
northward and when it shines vertically overhead on Tropic of Capricorn (22 December), they
shift 5° southward from their original position. The shifting of the pressure belts cause seasonal
changes in the climate, especially between latitudes 30° and 40° in both hemispheres.
 In this region the Mediterranean type of climate is experienced because of shifting of permanent
belts southwards and northwards with the overhead position of the sun. During winters
Westerlies prevail and cause rain.
 During summers, dry Trade Winds blow offshore and are unable to give rainfall in these regions.
When the sun shines vertically over the Equator on 21st March and 23rd September (the
Equinoxes), the pressure belts remain balanced in both the hemispheres.

PRESSURE GRADIENT AND AIR CIRCULATION

The difference of Pressure between any two place is called pressure gradient. Steep pressure
gradient is represented by closely spaced isobars while widely spaced isobars reveal low pressure
gradient.

WIND DIRECTION AND RELATED LAWS

 The direction of surface winds is usually controlled by the pressure gradient and rotation of the
earth. Because of rotation of the earth along its axis the winds are deflected. This force is called
Coriolis force.
 Because of coriolis force, all the winds are deflected to the right in the northern hemisphere
while they are deflected to the left in the southern hemisphere with respect to the rotating
earth.
Wind Pattern of the world
 Air in horizontal motion is wind. The wind redistributes the heat and moisture across the
planet,thereby maintaining constant temperature for the planet as a whole.
 The vertical rising of moist air cools it down to form the clouds and bring precipitation.

Classification of winds
 The winds blowing almost in the same direction throughout the year are called Prevailing wind
or Permanent winds. These winds are divided into 3 categories viz.
o Trade Winds (Tropical Easterlies)
o Westerlies
o Polar winds (Polar Easterlies)
1. TRADE WINDS
i. Winds blowing from subtropical high pressure area to equatorial low pressure area
(Extremely steady winds).

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ii. Since they travel from high latitude to low latitude area, they become gradually hot and dry
and hence have a great capacity to hold moisture
iii. They cause considerable rainfall on eastern margins of the continents as they get moisture
after blowing over oceans
iv. These winds converge near equator and form ITCZ. Here, these winds rises and causes heavy
rainfall.
v. Absent in N Indian Ocean which is dominated by Monsoon winds.

2. WESTERLIES
i. Winds blowing from subtropical high pressure belts towards subtropical low pressure belts.
Blow from S–W to N–E under Coriolis effect in Norhtern Hemisphere & from N–W to S–E in
Southern Hemisphere
ii. Blow from lower latitudes to higher latitudes and cause considerable rainfall particularly on
western margins of the continents.
iii. More consistent in direction and blow with stronger force in Southern Hemisphere due to
lesser obstructions from continents
iv. Also known as brave winds or roaring forties, furious fifties and shrieking sixties according
to the varying degree of storminess in the latitudes in which they blow.
v. It must be noted that not all the western coast of the temperate zone (30⁰ – 60⁰) receive
Westerlies throughout the year due to shifting of wind belts coz of earth’s inclination.
vi. In June, when the overhead sun is over the tropic of cancer, all the belts move about 5⁰ – 10⁰
north of their average position. The Mediterranean parts of continents that comes under the
effect of werterlies, receive rain in June & vice a versa in December, when sun is overhead
tropic of Capricorn.

3. POLAR WINDS
i. Winds blowing from polar high to sub polar low pressure belt.
ii. Are very cold in nature as originate in polar areas and do not cause much rainfall.
iii. These winds give birth to cyclones when they come in contact with westerlies.
iv. Brings frequent change in weather conditions and causes heavy rainfall

PERIODIC/ SEASONAL WINDS

Winds which change their direction periodically. Examples:- Monsoon Winds, Land & Sea Breeze,
Mountain & Valley Breeze.
1. Monsoon Winds
i. Refers to system of winds which reverses their direction completely with change of seasons.
ii. Blow from sea to land during summers and land to sea during winters, due to differential in
heating of continents and oceans
iii. In summers, sun shines vertically over Tropic of cancer resulting in high temperature and
low pressure in central Asia, while pressure is sufficiently high at Bay of Bengal & Arabian
Sea.
iv. This induces air flow from Sea to land and induces heavy rainfall in India and neighboring
countries

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v. In winters, sun shines vertically over tropic of Capricorn, hence N – W part of India grows
colder than Arabian Sea & Bay of Bengal which results in reversal of monsoon in India
vi. Above theory of differential heating was replaced by shifting of ITCZ for monsoon in India &
neighboring countries.

2. Land & Sea Breeze

i. Influence only a narrow strip of 20 – 30 km along the coast
ii. During day sun shines hence sea breeze moves from sea to land (Sea Breeze)
iii. In night it reverses its direction i.e. from land to sea (Land Breeze)

3. Mountain & Valley Breeze

i. During day, mountain slopes gets heated more than valley floor hence air from valley floor
blows up the slope (Valley Breeze)
ii. After sunset pattern is reversed i.e. Mountain Breeze

WIND CIRCULATION
 The wind belts girdling the planet are organised into three cells: the Hadley cell, the Ferrel cell,
and the Polar cell.
 Contrary to the impression given in the simplified diagram, the vast bulk of the vertical motion
occurs in the Hadley cell; the explanations of the other two cells are complex.
 Note that there is one discrete Hadley cell that may split, shift and merge in a complicated
process over time. Low and high pressures on earth’s surface are balanced by opposite relative
pressures in the upper troposphere.

1. HADLEY CELL
i. It is the strongest of the three cells of circulation and is formed as warm air rises above the
Equator and starts to flow northward.
ii. The northward flow deflects to the right, due to coriolis, becoming an upper-level westerly
flow. As this air moves northeastward toward the pole, it cools and a portion of it sinks at
about 30°N.
iii. This sinking air spreads northward and southward as it nears the surface. The southward
moving air again deflects to the right, becoming the northeasterly trade winds. Because of
the circulation in the Hadley cell, two pressure belts are created.
iv. The first is a belt of semipermanent high pressure that results from the sinking air at 30°.
This belt of high pressure is called the subtropical ridge. The second pressure belt is a trough
of low pressure near the Equator. It is called the near equatorial trough.

2. POLAR CELL
i. This is the northernmost cell of circulation and its mean position is between 60°N and the
North Pole.
ii. At the pole, cold, dense air descends, causing an area of subsidence and high pressure. As
the air sinks, it begins spreading southward.

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iii. Since the coriolis force is strongest at the poles, the southward moving air deflects sharply to
the right. This wind regime is called the surface polar easterlies, although the upper winds
are still predominantly from the southwest.
iv. Near 60oN, the southeasterly moving air moving along the surface collides with the weak,
northwesterly surface flow that resulted from spreading air at 30°N. This colliding air rises,
creating a belt of low pressure near 60°N.

3. FERREL CELL
i. The mid-latitude circulation cell between the Polar cell and the Hadley cell is called the
Ferrel cell. The Ferrel cell circulation is not as easily explained as the Hadley and Polar cells.
ii. Unlike the other two cells, where the upper and low-level flows are reversed, a generally
westerly flow dominates the Ferrel cell at the surface and aloft. It is believed the cell is a
forced phenomena, induced by interaction between the other two cells.
iii. The stronger downward vertical motion and surface convergence at 30°N coupled with
surface convergence and net upward vertical motion at 60°N induces the circulation of the
Ferrel cell.
iv. This net circulation pattern is greatly upset by the exchange of polar air moving southward
and tropical air moving northward. This best explains why the mid-latitudes experience the
widest range of weather types.

LOCAL WINDS
 Local winds occur on a small spatial scale. Descending winds are identified with warm and dry
characteristics as they are subjected to adiabatic warming. The nature of location and prevailing
climatic conditions determine the nature of weather effects induced by these winds.
o In higher latitudinal locations, these descending winds causes melting of snow along the
mountain slopes favouring the economic utility, e.g. Chinook (Canada) and Foehn (Alps).
o However the same type of winds when experienced in lower latitudes cause increase in the
temperature and aridity creating unfavorable weather profile, e.g. Santa Anna (California)
and Samoon (Iran).

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o The main types of local winds are: Sea breezes and Land Breezes; Katabatic and Anabatic
winds; and a wide range of winds which can be broadly classified as Depression winds and
Descending winds.
 The Land and sea breezes are experienced in the coastal regions where the differential rate of
heating and cooling of land and sea generates the pressure gradient and thus these winds. The
land breeze occurs during night whereas sea breeze occurs during day.
 Anabatic (upslope) winds are valley breezes prevailing during the night and Katabatic
(downslope) winds are mountain breezes prevailing during night. These local winds occur due to
differential rate of heating and cooling of mountain slope and valley floor.
 The depression winds are categorized as cold depression and warm depression winds. The cold
depression winds are typically experienced during winters and are associated with Polar
outbreaks.
o These winds cause the development of immensely cold weather conditions, with occasional
development of wet weather conditions.
o Blizzards (USA), Purgas (China) and Pamperos (Argentina) are certain examples. The warm
depression winds are sourced from tropical desserts and are typically experienced during
summers. The sudden heating of sand generates low pressure resulting in strong local winds
called Dust Devils.
o These winds supply large quantities of aerosols in the lower reaches of the atmosphere
which causes the scattering of insolation generating comparatively higher pressure profile in
the desert region.
o Such high pressure profiles in the largest tropical desert, Sahara facilitates the genesis of
wide range of depression winds. Khamsin (Egypt and Libya), Sirroco (Mediterranean Islands)

FEW NOTEWORTHY LOCAL WINDS

COLD WINDS COLD WINDS
Mistral- Blows in Spain and France from N-W to S-E. Fohn- Warm and dry local winds blowing on leeward
Common during winter side of Alps in Switzerland.
Bora- Blows along the shores of the Adriatic sea. Chinook- Warm and dry local winds blowing on
Blizzard -Snow laden wind in canada. leeward side of Rockies in USA
Purga- Snow laden wind in Russian tundra. Much like Harmattan- Blowing from east & northeast towards
Buran. west in Sahara
Bise- An extremely cold wind in France Brickfielder -Victoria province of Australia
Levanter- Blows in strait of Gibraltar between Spain Black Roller- Great plains of USA
and Morocco. Shamal- Mesopotamia & Persian Gulf
Pampero- Pampas of S. America Norwester- New Zealand
Papagayo -Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua. Sirocco -From Sahara over Mediterranean. Known as
Haboob- Sudan khamsin in Egypt, Chili in Tunisia, Gibli in Libya,
Friagem- Amazon Valley Levech in Spain & Leste in Madiera & Morocco.
Buran- Eastern Russia & central Siberia Simoom -Warm & dry dusty wind in the Arabian
Norther- Texas, Gulf of Mexico and western carribean desert
Etesian- Eastern Mediterranean. Santa Ana- S. California – blowing out of Santa Ana
Surazo- Cold wind blowing from Argentinean pampas canyon
and Patagonia. Yamo- A warm and dry wind in Japan

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Norte- A strong cold northeasterly wind which blows Zonda - A warm and dry wind of the Andean valleys in
in Mexico. Argentina
Tehuantepecer- This is a violent, squally wind from Tramontane -A warm wind of central Europe.
north or north- east in S. Mexico. Samun- Warm wind in Iran
Karaburan- Hot dusty wind in central Asia – Tarim
basin, Mongolia.
Berg- A hot dry wind blowing from interior in South
Africa.
Shamal - A hot wind of Iraq and the Persian gulf
Austru- Dry blows from the lee side of the mountains
in Romania (much like fohn).
Almwind- Local name of fohn that blows in Hungary
& Poland over Tatra mountains.

JET STREAMS
 A jet stream develops where air masses of differing temperatures meet. Therefore, the surface
temperatures determine where the jet stream will form.
 The greater the difference in temperature, the faster the wind velocity inside the jet stream. Jet
streams can flow up to 200 mph (322 km/h), are 1000’s of miles long, 100’s of miles wide, and a
few miles thick.
Where the jet stream begins?
 Air warmed in the tropics around the equator fuels the jet stream as it rises.
 Hitting the tropopause at about 58,000 feet (the layer of the atmosphere separating the
troposphere from the stratosphere), it is drawn toward the colder air at the north and south
poles.
How does it form a convection cell?
 At higher latitudes, the warm air cools and sinks, drawing more warm air in behind it.
 The cooled air flows back towards the equator, creating a loop or convection cell.
Why the jet stream flows on an easterly course?
 As the earth rotates on its axis, so does the air around it. Due to this easterly rotation, rising
warm air builds up momentum going the same direction.
 Thus, the jet stream cannot flow due north or due south, but makes an angular approach from
the west, toward both poles.

TYPES OF JET STREAMS

1. Subtropical Jet Streams
i. These jets, like the polar-front jets, are best developed in winter and early spring. During
summer, in the Northern Hemisphere, the subtropical jet weakens considerably, and it is
only identifiable in sporadic velocity streaks around the globe.
ii. During winter, subtropical jets intensify and can be found between 20° and 50° latitude.
Their maximum speed approaches 300 knots, although these higher wind speeds are
associated with their merger with polar-front jets.

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iii. The core is most frequently found between 35,000 and 40,000 feet. A subsidence motion
accompanies subtropical jets and gives rise to predominantly fair weather in areas they pass
over.
iv. These jets are also remarkably persistent from time to time, but they do fluctuate daily.
Sometimes they drift northward and merge with a polar-front jet. Over Asia in summer, the
subtropical jet is replaced by the tropical easterly jet stream.

2. Tropical Easterly Jet Stream

i. This jet occurs near the Tropopause over Southeast Asia, India, and Africa during summer.
The strongest winds are over southern India, but they are not as intense as the winds
encountered in polar-front or subtropical jet streams.
ii. This jet is closely connected to the Indian and African summer monsoons. The existence of
this jet implies that there is a deep layer of warm air to the north of the jet and colder air to
the south over the Indian Ocean.
iii. This warm air is of course associated with the maximum heating taking place over India in
summer, while the colder air is over the ocean.
iv. The difference in heating and cooling and the ensuing pressure gradient is what drives this
jet stream.

3. Polar-Night Jet Stream

i. This jet meanders through the upper stratosphere over the poles. It occurs only during the
long winter night. Night is 6 months long over the pole in which winter is occurring.
ii. The polar stratosphere undergoes appreciable cooling due to the lack of solar radiation. The
horizontal temperature gradient is strongly established between the equator and the pole,
and the pressure gradient creates this westerly jet.
iii. The temperature gradient breaks down intermittently during middle and late winter in the
Northern Hemisphere, therefore, the jet is intermittent at these times.
iv. In the Southern Hemisphere the temperature gradient and jet disappear rather abruptly
near the time of the spring equinox.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE JET STREAM

1. Aviation
i. In terms of commercial usage, the jet stream is important for the airline industry. By flying
well within the jet stream at 25,000 feet (7,600 meters), the flight time gets reduced
significantly.
ii. The reduced flight time and aid of the strong winds also allows for a reduction in fuel
consumption.

2. Weather
i. One of the most important impacts of the jet stream though is the weather it brings.
Because it is a strong current of rapidly moving air, it has the ability to push weather
patterns around the world.

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ii. As a result, most weather systems do not just sit over an area, but they are instead moved
forward with the jet stream. The position and strength of the jet stream then helps
meteorologists forecast future weather events.
iii. In addition, various climatic factors can cause the jet stream to shift and dramatically change
an area’s weather patterns.
iv. The world’s jet streams are also impacted by El Nino and La Nina. During El Nino for
example, precipitation usually increases in California because the polar jet stream moves
farther south and brings more storms with it.
v. Conversely, during La Nina events, California dries out and precipitation moves into the
Pacific Northwest because the polar jet stream moves more north. In addition, precipitation
often increases in Europe because the jet stream is stronger in the Northern Atlantic and is
capable of pushing them farther east.
vi. Today, movement of the jet stream north has been detected indicating possible changes in
climate. Whatever the position of the jet stream, though, it has a significant impact on the
world’s weather patterns and severe weather events like floods and droughts.

How do the Jet Streams affect the Monsoons and the Indian Sub Continent?
 Over the Indian subcontinent, there are a number of separate jet streams whose speed varies
from 110 km/h in summer to about 184 km/h in winter.
 Winters- In winter the sub-tropical westerly jet streams bring rain to the western part of India,
especially Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.
 Summers- In summer the sub-tropical easterly jet blows over Peninsular India approximately at
14N and bring some rain and storm.
 Monsoons- With respect to the monsoons of India it is the Subtropical Jet Stream (STJ) and the
countering Easterly Jet that are most important. As the summertime approaches there is
increased solar heating of the Indian subcontinent, this has a tendency to form a cyclonic
monsoon cell situated between the Indian Ocean and southern Asia.

1. The Somali Jet Stream

i. The monsoon wind that is deflected to the north as it crosses the equator is further
deflected to the east by the mountains of Africa.
ii. Further, the progress of the southwest monsoon towards India is greatly aided by the onset
of certain jet streams including the crucial Somali jet that transits Kenya, Somalia and Sahel
and exits the African coast at 9 degrees north at low level and very fast.
iii. This low level jet stream was found to be most pronounced between 1.0 and 1.5 km above
the ground.
iv. It was observed to flow from Mauritius and the northern part of the island of Madagascar
before reaching the coast of Kenya at about 3o S. Subsequently it ran over the plains of
Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia before reaching the coast again around 9o N.
v. The jet stream appears to be fed by a stream of air, which moves northwards from the
Mozambique Channel. The major part of this low level jet penetrates into East Africa during
May and, subsequently, traverses the northern parts of the Arabian Sea before reaching
India in June.

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vi. Observations suggest that the strongest cross equatorial flow from the southern to the
northern hemisphere during the Asian Summer Monsoon is in the region of the low level jet.
vii. This has intrigued meteorologists, because it is not clear why the major flow of air from the
southern to northern hemisphere should take place along a narrow preferred zone off the
East African coast.
viii. The importance of the low level jet arises from the fact that its path around 9o N coincides
with a zone of coastal upwelling. As the strong winds drive away the surface coastal waters
towards the east, extremely cold water from the depths of the sea rise upwards to preserve
the continuity of mass. This upwelling is brought about by strong low level winds.
ix. After the low level jet moves towards the Indian coastline around 9o N, it separates into two
branches. One appears to move to the northern parts of the Indian Peninsula while the
other recurves towards the southern half of the Indian coastline and Sri Lanka.
x. Conclusively, an increase in the cross-equatorial flow was followed by an increase in rainfall
over the west coast.

2. The Somali Ocean Current

i. This ocean current named the Somali Current, flows northward from the equator to 9o N,
where it separates from the coast. It is a fairly strong current.
ii. The Somali Current may be considered to be a western boundary current of the Indian
Ocean. But, its peculiar feature is a reversal in direction with the onset of the summer
monsoon.
iii. In winter, this current is from north to the south running southwards from the coast of
Arabia to the east African coastline; but with the advent of the summer monsoon it reverses
its direction and flows from the south to the north.
iv. This suggests a relationship with the reversal of monsoon winds, but usually the oceans
respond very slowly to changes in atmospheric circulation.

3. Sub-tropical Westerly and Tropical Jet Streams

i. Certain interesting changes take place in the upper atmosphere with the advent of the
summer monsoon.
ii. Towards the end of May, a narrow stream of air, which moves from the west to the east
over northern India, suddenly weakens and moves to a new location far to the north of the
Himalayas. This is known as sub- tropical westerly jet stream.
iii. Its movement towards the north is one of the main features associated with the onset of the
monsoon over India. As the westerly jet moves north, yet another jet stream sets in over the
southern half of the Indian peninsula.
iv. This flows in the reverse direction from the east to west. It is called tropical easterly jet, and
it exhibits periodic movements to the north and south of its mean location during the
hundred-day monsoon season beginning with the first of June and ending around mid-
September.
v. The altitude at which the winds attain their maximum strength in the tropical easterly jet is
around 150 hPa, but the maximum winds associated with the sub-tropical westerly jet occur

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at a lower altitude of 300 hPa. (HPa refers to ‘hecta Pascal’ and is a unit of measure of
atmospheric air pressure)
vi. A remarkable feature of the tropical easterly jet is that it can be traced in the upper
troposphere right up to the west coast of Africa.

HUMIDITY AND PRECIPITATION

Water vapour present in the air is known as Humidity.
Absolute Humidity
 The actual amount of the water vapour present in the atmosphere is known as the absolute
humidity. It is the weight of water vapour per unit volume of air and is expressed in terms of
grams per cubic metre.
 The absolute humidity differs from place to place on the surface of the earth. The ability of the
air to hold water vapour depends entirely on its temperature (Warm air can hold more moisture
than cold air).
Relative Humidity
 The percentage of moisture present in the atmosphere as compared to its full capacity at a given
temperature is known as the relative humidity.
 Relative Humidity = [Actual amount of water vapor in air (absolute humidity)/humidity at
saturation point (the maximum water vapor air can hold at a given temperature)] X 100
Specific Humidity
 It is expressed as the weight of water vapour per unit weight of air.
 Since it is measured in units of weight (usually grams per kilogram), the specific humidity is not
affected by changes in pressure or temperature.

CONDENSATION
 Defined as transformation of water vapour into water, caused by loss of heat when moist air is
cooled. Cooling may reach a level when air’s capacity to hold water vapour ceases, then excess
of water vapour condenses into liquid form
 If water vapour directly condenses into solid form, it is known as sublimation In free air,
condensation results from cooling around very small particles termed as condensation nuclei
 Particle of dust, smoke & salt from oceans are particularly good nuclei as they absorb water
(Hygroscopic nuclei)
 Condensation takes places when –
o air is reduced to dew pt. with its volume remaining constant
o When both air’s temperature & volume are reduced
o Moisture is added to air through evaporation
 Form of Condensation Dew
o Forms when moisture is deposited in form of water droplets on cooler surfaces of solid
objects such as stone, glass, blades, plant leaves etc. rather than on nuclei in air above
o Forms when temperature of air falls below dew point but above freezing point.

1. Frost
i. Forms on solid surfaces when condensation takes place below freezing point i.e. 0⁰C

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ii. Means dew point is at or below freezing point

2. Fog and Mist
i. When temperature of an air mass containing large quantity of water vapour falls all of a
sudden, condensation takes place on fine dust and smoke particles
ii. So, fog is basically a cloud with its base at or very near to ground. Only difference between
fog & mist is that mist contains more moisture than fog and each nuclei in mist contains
thicker layer of moisture
iii. Fog is formed generally when warm and cold currents meet
iv. Mist is formed frequently over the mountains when rising warm air up the slopes meet cold
surfaces.
3. Smog
i. In urban and industrial areas, smoke provides plenty of nuclei which helps in the formation
of fog and mist.
ii. Such a condition, when fog is mixed with smoke is called smog.

CLOUDS
 A cloud is an accumulation or grouping of tiny water droplets and ice crystals that are suspended
in the earth atmosphere. They are masses that consist of huge density and volume and hence it
is visible to naked eyes.
 There are different types of Clouds. They differ each other in size, shape, or colour. They play
different roles in the climate system like being the bright objects in the visible part of the solar
spectrum, they efficiently reflect light to space and thereby helps in the cooling of the planet.
 Clouds are formed when the air becomes saturated or filled, with water vapour. The warm air
holds more water vapour than cold air. Being made of the moist air and it becomes cloudy when
the moist air is slightly cooled, with further cooling the water vapour and ice crystals of these
clouds grew bigger and fall to earth as precipitation such as rain, drizzle, snowfall, sleet, or hail.

CLASSIFICATION OF CLOUDS
A. Based on their Shape: They are-
o Cirrus
o Cumulus
o Stratus
B. Based on their altitude (height): They are –
o High Clouds
o Middle Clouds
o Low Clouds

HIGH CLOUDS
 They can reach above 6000 metres or 20,000 feet. They are also known as Cirrus Clouds.
 They are usually thin and are made up of ice.
 They often indicate fair weather and hence do not produce rain
Cirrus Clouds
i. These are detached clouds in the form of white delicate filaments or narrow binds.

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ii. Sometimes they are in the form of white patches.

iii. Typically found at heights greater than 20,000 feet (6,000 meters), they are composed of ice
crystals that originate from the freezing of supercooled water droplets.
Cirrostratus
i. These are the transparent whitish clouds in the form of a fibrous veil with smooth
appearance.
ii. They are high, very thin, comprises a uniform layer, and are composed of ice-crystals. It is
difficult to detect and is capable of forming halos when the cloud takes the form of thin
cirrostratus nebulosus.
Cirro Cumulus
i. These are the clouds looks like small flakes or globules consisting of white patchy layers of
clouds without shading.
ii. When these patches are uniformly arranged, it forms a ‘mackerel’s sky’.

MIDDLE CLOUDS
 They form between 6,500 feet and cirrus level or from 2000 to 6000 metres. They are also
known as “Alto” clouds.
 They frequently indicate an approaching storm.
 They may sometimes produce Virga, which is a rain or snow that does not reach the ground.
Altostratus
i. These clouds are in the form of continuous sheet or veil, grey or blue- gray in colour. They
are composed of ice crystals and water droplets.
ii. In its thinner areas, the sun can still be visible as a round, dim disk. These clouds may often
form ahead of storms with continuous rain or snow.
iii. They are greyish sheet cloud, characterised by globular masses or rolls in layers or patches,
the individual elements being larger and darker than those of cirrocumulus and smaller than
those of stratocumulus.
Altocumulus
i. Heap-like clouds with convective elements. They may align in rows or streets of clouds, with
cloud axes indicating localised areas of ascending, moist air and clear zones between rows
suggesting locally descending, drier air.
ii. These clouds with some vertical extent may denotethe presence of elevated instability,
especially in the morning.

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LOW CLOUDS
 They lie below 6,500 feet, which means from the surface to 2,000 meters. Low clouds are also
known as Stratus Clouds.
 They may appear dense, dark, and rainy (or snowy) and can also be cottony white clumps
interspersed with blue sky. Usually arranged in a large dark, rounded or globular masses, usually
in groups, lines, or waves.
 Usually looks like a huge grey blanket that hangs low in the sky that resembles fog, comprises
uniform layer and appear dull, if these clouds are warm it means rain and if it is cold it snows.
 They are known as ‘Rain Clouds’ and they are dark, thick and accompanied by light to
moderately falling precipitation.
Strato Cumulus
i. They are the hybrids of layered stratus and cellular cumulus. Stratocumulus also can be
thought of as a layer of cloud clumps with thick and thin areas.
ii. These clouds appear frequently in the atmosphere, either ahead of or behind a frontal
system.
Nimbostratus
i. They are generally thick, dense stratus or stratocumulus clouds producing steady rain or
snow.
ii. They are more cellular in nature, have flat bottoms and rounded tops and grow vertically.
Their name depends on the degree of vertical development.

Great Vertical Extent Clouds

 They are most dramatic types of clouds. Great Vertical Extent Clouds are also known as the
Storm Clouds.
 They rise to dramatic heights, and sometimes well above the level of transcontinental jetliner
flights.
Cumulus
i. They are convection clouds, puffy, that sometimes look like pieces of floating cotton.
ii. The base of each cloud is often flat and may be only 1000 meters (3300 feet) above the
ground. The top of the cloud has rounded towers.
Cumulonimbus
i. They are dense towering vertical cloud, it’s top acquiring an ‘Anvil Shape’, associated with
thunderstorms and atmospheric instability, forming from water vapour carried by powerful
upward air currents.
Volutus
ii. They are long, typically low, horizontal, detached, tube-shaped cloud mass. They often
appear to roll slowly about a horizontal axis.
iii. The species volutus is a soliton and hence not attached to other clouds. This species applies
mostly to Stratocumulus and rarely Altocumulus.

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What is International Cloud Atlas?

 The International Cloud Atlas describes the classification system for clouds and meteorological
phenomena used by all World Meteorological Organization Members.
 It includes a manual of standards and photographs of clouds and weather phenomenon.
 It was first published in the 19th century and was last updated 30 years ago.
 The new 2017 version of International Cloud Atlas was a digitalized one and has many additions.

Why clouds appear white in colour?

 The clouds usually appear white because the tiny water droplets and ice crystals inside them are
tightly packed, and they reflect most of the sunlight that falls on these masses (scattering).
 The tiny cloud particles equally scatter all colours of light, which make the viewer to perceive all
wavelengths of sunlight mixed together as white light.
Why do clouds darken at the time of rain?
The clouds appear dark or grey in colour at the time of rain is due to their particulate density.

PRECIPITATION
 Precipitation has been defined as water in liquid or solid forms falling to the earth. Rain, snow,
hail and sleet are the common forms of precipitation. Fog dew, frost are, however, been
excluded from precipitation.
 Precipitation involves the process of evaporation, condensation, saturation and precipitation.
The process of condensation involves a change from water vapuor to liquid, while the process of
precipitation the falling out of water as rain, hail or sleet.
 Droplets produced by the condensation process are very small in size, averaging less than 10
micrometers in diameter (compare with the human hair which is about 75 micrometers in
diameter).

FORMS OF PRECIPITATION
 All forms of precipitation are collectively termed hydrometeors. The major types of precipitation
are rain, drizzle, snow, sleet, and hail. A brief account of each one of them has been given as
under.
1. Rain
i. Rain is precipitation of water in liquid state.
ii. The liquid water particle, either in the form of drops or more than 0.5 mm diameter or in the
form of smaller widely scattered drops. Whenever the rain drops fall from high altitude
clouds, some of them evaporate while passing through a layer of dry air.
2. Drizzle
i. When the drops of falling precipitation are very small and of uniform size, and seem to float
in the air, It is called as drizzle. Drizzle is fairly uniform precipitation
ii. The water vapour will bind together into raindrops, leaving larger spaces between these
drops of water and hence less amount of light is reflected, lending a darker appearance of
the rain clouds.

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iii. composed exclusively of uniform water drops. They are formed in very low stratus type
clouds with a high water content. The relative humidity in the inter layers of air between the
cloud base and the ground is often nearly 100 per cent, so that the small drops never
evaporate in their journey.
3. Snow
i. It is precipitation of white and opaque grains of snow. In other words, snow is precipitation
of solid water.
ii. Generally, in the winter season, when temperatures are below freezing in the whole
atmosphere, the ice crystals falling from the alto stratus clouds do not melt and reach the
ground as snow.
4. Sleet
i. Sleet is a type of precipitation in the form of mixture of rain and snow. It is a frozen raIn,
which forms when rain, while falling to the earth, passes through a layer of cold air and
freezes.
ii. Sometimes, sleet may grow into hailstorms when violent vertical currents are produced in
the atmosphere.
5. Hail
i. A type of precipitation which falls in the form of small pellets of ice (hailstones) with a
diameter between 5 to 50 mm and sometimes more. Hailstones are generally of pea size or
even smaller, but in rare cases they attain the size of a baseball.
ii. Hail is the most destructive form of precipitation produced in violent thunder storms or
cumulonimbus clouds. The structure of a hail resembles to that of an onion.
iii. Hailstorms seldom occur in the tropics and in the higher latitudes. Oceans are also almost
free from them. In both the hemispheres, area lying between 30° to 60° north and south
latitudes, have the maximum number of these storms.

TYPES OF PRECIPITATION
On the basis of characteristics precipitation may be classified under the following categories:
1. Convectional Precipitation
i. The convectional precipitation occurs in the areas of intense heat and abundant supply of
moisture. Solar radiation is the main sources of heat to produce convection currents in the
air.
ii. Convection rainfall generally results from the cumulus clouds. Thunder, lighting and
occasional hails are the characteristics of this type of precipitation.
iii. The belt of doldrums generally receives this type of rainfall. Convectional rainfall is less
effective for crops as much of its water is drained off in the form of surface drainage.
2. Orographic Precipitation
i. The type of precipitation resulting from a vertical uplift of an air stream by the topographic
barrier (mountains etc,)
ii. In fact, for heavy rainfall to occur it is necessary for cyclonic or convective process to be
operative because the Orographic component is normally weak and acts merely as a
triggering mechanism.

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iii. This type of precipitation is generally found on the wind ward sides of mountain ranges,
while the leeward side receives insignificant rainfall.
3. Cyclonic or Frontal Precipitation
i. Cyclonic precipitation occurs when deep and extensive air masses converge and move
upward which lead to their adiabatic cooling.
ii. The frontal rainfall is a characteristic of the temperate latitudes. These latitudes are the zone
of convergence of the warm and cold air masses. The rainfall in these latitudes is generally in
the form of drizzle.
iii. The frontal rainfall is widespread and continues forlonger periods. In North West Europe and
North America therainfall is mainly of cyclonicorigin. In the north-western partsof India also
the winter rainfall is of frontal origin.

DISTRIBUTION OF PRECIPITATION
 The world distribution of precipitation is highly uneven and is closely influenced by the latitudes,
temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric disturbance, and mountain barriers, movement of
air masses and differential heating and cooling of the land and water surfaces.
 The average annual precipitation over the whole earth is about 80 cm (30 inches) and the
heaviest rainfall is recorded in the equatorial and monsoon regions. Heavy rainfall is also
recorded in the temperate regions on the western margins of the continents.
 In the tropical latitudes, the average annual precipitation decreases from east to west while in
the temperate latitudes there is a decrease in rainfall from west to east.
 The dry regions of the subtropical high pressure belt and the polar areas receive little
precipitation. The equatorial belt is generally a region of abundant precipitation. The Amazon
basin, Congo basin and several places in the islands of South East Asia receive more than 200 cm
of precipitation annually. Heavy rainfall is also recorded in the Monsoon region (Mausinram and
Cherapunji in Meghalaya-India) where the average annual rainfall is around. 1000 cm.
 In the temperate latitudes the precipitation occurs largely because of the temperate cyclones.
Places like London, Bonn, Copenhagen, and Paris receive over 100 cm of annual precipitation.
 In the Polar Regions the low precipitation is due partly to the subsidence of air in the high
pressure belts and partly due to the low temperatures of air which holds little moisture.
 The oceans record more precipitation than the land areas, and the Southern hemisphere
receives more rainfall than the Northern.

AIR MASS
 Air mass is a volume of air well- defined by its temperature and water vapor content. It is an
enormously large body of air whose properties of temperature and humidity, at any given
elevation, are similar in any horizontal direction.
 The air mass stretches from surface to lower stratosphere and is spread across thousands of
kilometers. An air mass is designated as cold air mass when its temperature is lower than the
underlying surface while an air mass is termed warm air mass when its temperature is higher
than the underlying surface.
 The boundary between two different air masses is called front.

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SOURCE REGION
 The extensive areas over which air masses originate or form are called surface regions whose
nature and properties largely determine the temperature and moisture characteristics of air
masses. An ideal source region of air mass must possess the following essential conditions:
o There must be extensive and homogenous earth’s surface so that it may possess uniform
temperature and moisture conditions;
o There should not be convergence of air; rather there should be divergence of air flow so that
the air may attain the physical properties of the region
o Atmospheric conditions should be stable for considerably long period of time so that the air
may attain the characteristics of the surface.

FRONTS
 When two different type of air masses meet, the boundary zone between them is called a front.
Process of its formation is known as frontogenesis.
 A weather front is a boundary separating two masses of air of different densities, and is the
principal cause of meteorological phenomena outside the tropics.
1. Cold front
i. Cold front is that part of stable front that is developed due to the movement of cold air mass
in the warmer region. This front develops in the lower latitude.
ii. As cold air mass continues to maintain ground contact, it pushes the warmer air mass
upwards generating steeper gradient for this front.
iii. Cold front is identified with comparatively intense weather conditions which include heavy
thunderstorms, rain and hail.
2. Warm front
i. Warm fornt is that part of the stable front that is developed due to the movement of warm
air mass in the colder region. This front is developed in higher latitudes.
ii. As warm air mass gradually moves over cold air mass, gentle gradient is developed. Clouds
ahead of warm front are mostly stratiform, and rainfall gradually increases as the front
approaches. Fog can also occur preceding a warm frontal passage.
3. Occluded front
i. An Occluded front is formed when a cold front overtakes a warm front.
ii. The cold and warm fronts curve naturally poleward into the point of occlusion
4. Stationary Front
i. Stationary Front is formed when two contrasting air masses converge in such a way that
they become parallel to each other and there is no ascent of air.
ii. In fact, the surface position of stationary front does not move either forward or backward.

Frontogenesis
 Frontogenesis is the formation of a new front or the regeneration of an old one. Frontogenesis
takes place when two air masses of different densities converge.
 Frontolysisis the dissipation or weakening of an atmospheric front. The areas where air masses
diverge are called areas of frontolysis.

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CYCLONES
 Cyclone is a system of low atmospheric pressure in which the barometric gradient is steep.
Cyclones represent circular fluid motion rotating in the same direction as the Earth.
 This means that the inward spiralling winds in a cyclone rotate anticlockwise in the Northern
Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere of the Earth.
 Most large-scale cyclonic circulations are centred on areas of low atmospheric pressure. The
cyclones can be tropical cyclones or temperate cyclones (extra- tropical cyclones).

Basic difference between Tropical Cyclone and Extra-tropical Cyclone

 The term “tropical cyclone” is used to refer to warm-core, low-pressure systems that develop
over tropical or subtropical oceans.
 This definition differentiates tropical cyclones from extra tropical (midlatitude) cyclones that
exhibit a cold-core in the upper troposphere and often form along fronts in higher latitudes.
 Subtropical cyclones are hybrid systems that exhibit some characteristics of tropical cyclones
and some characteristics of extra-tropical cyclones.
 Tropical cyclones extract much of their energy from the upper layer of the ocean, while
extratropical cyclones derive much of their energy from the baroclinic temperature gradients in
which they form.

TROPICAL CYCLONES
 Tropical cyclones are of thermal origin that develops over tropical seas during certain seasons.
Ideal conditions for the development of tropical cyclones are: quiet air, high temperature, highly
saturated atmospheric conditions.
 Such conditions exist over the equatorial doldrums, especially in western margins of oceans,
which have great moisture carrying capacity because the trade winds continuously replace the
saturated air. Also, the whirling motion is enhanced when the doldrums are farthest from the
equator (August- September).
 Conditions which favour the development of tropical cyclone are:
1. Source of latent heat
i. Tropical cyclones are formed over warm waters having temperature of 26° C or more. In the
western part of the oceans, temperatures are relatively higher than the eastern part.
ii. Evaporation provides the necessary latent heat to supply the energy for the storm.
2. Coriolis force
i. The magnitude of Coriolis force is strong enough between 10°-20° latitude to help the
development of cyclonic vortex.
3. Low level disturbance
i. Low level disturbance in the form of easterly wave disturbance in the ITCZ should pre-exist.
Small local difference in temperature of water and of air produces various low pressure
centres of small size.
ii. Temperature contrast between the trade winds from both the hemispheres must exist when
the ITCZ is farthest from the equator.
iii. Thus, the convergence of these winds of different temperatures and the resulting instability
are the prerequisite for the origin and growth of violent tropical storms.

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4. Wind Shear
i. The vertical wind shear between the upper and lower layer layers of the troposphere should
remain at the minimum level.
ii. Because of weak vertical wind shear, hurricane formation processes are limited to latitude
equatorward of subtropical jet stream.
5. Upper Tropospheric Divergence
i. This is necessary so that the rising air currents within the cyclone continue to be pumped out
and alow pressure maintained at the center.
6. Humidity factor
i. High humidity is required in the mid troposphere, since the presence of moist air leads to
the formation of cumulonimbus clouds.

Main Characteristics Of Tropical Cyclones.

 Have winds that exceed 34 knots (39 mi/hr)
 Blow clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and
 Counter-clockwise about their centers in the Northern Hemisphere.

Naming of Cyclones
 Tropical cyclones are named to provide ease of communication between forecasters and the
general public regarding forecasts and warnings. Since the storms can often last a week or even
longer and more than one cyclone can be occurring in the same region at the same time, names
can reduce the confusion about what storm is being described.
 Names were first used in World War II and were subsequently adopted by all regions. In most
regions pre-determined alphabetic lists of alternating male and female names are used.
However, in the north-west Pacific the majority of names used are not personal names.
 While there are a few male and female names, majority are names of flowers, animals, birds,
trees, foods or descriptive adjectives. By the mid-1960s names were used for all tropical storms
except those in the North Indian Ocean. The names currently in use and those to be used in
future years are listed. Various meteorological organisations have responsibility of naming them.
 The names of cyclones in Indian Seas are not allocated in alphabetical order, but are arranged by
the name of the country which contributed the name. It is usual practice for a storm to be
named when it reaches tropical storm strength (winds of 34 knots).

EXTRA TROPICAL CYCLONES

 The Extra Tropical Cyclones are storm systems emerging in the mid and high latitudes, away
from the tropics. They are low-pressure systems with associated cold fronts, warm fronts, and
occluded fronts. These cyclones are formed along the polar front.
 These cyclones move from west to east but tropical cyclones, move from east to west. In the
beginning, the front is stationary. Extra-tropical cyclones are also known as mid-latitude storms
or baroclinic storms. In the Northern hemisphere, cold air blows from the north of the front and
warm air blows from the south.

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 When the pressure descents along the front, the cold air move towards south and the warm air
moves northwards setting in motion an anticlockwise cyclonic circulation. The cyclonic
circulation result in a well-built extra tropical cyclone, with a cold front and a warm front.
 There are pockets of warm air compressed between the forward and the rear cold air. The warm
air climbs over the cold air and a series of clouds appear over the sky ahead of the warm front
and cause rainfall. The cold front approaches the warm air from behind and pushes the warm air
up.
 As an outcome, cumulus clouds develop along the cold front. The cold front moves faster than
the warm front eventually surpassing the warm front. The warm air is entirely lifted up and the
front is occluded and the cyclone dissipates. They can originate over the land and sea and cover
a larger area.
 This cyclone affects a much larger area as compared to the tropical cyclone. The velocity of wind
in a tropical cyclone is much higher and it is more damaging.

WORLD CLIMATE
1. The Hot, Wet Equatorial Climate (Af)
Distribution
i. It is found between 5⁰ and 10⁰ north and south of the equator.
ii. It is dominantly found in the lowlands of the Amazon, the Congo, Malaysia and the East
Indies.
Climate
i. There is great uniformity of temperature throughout the year. The mean monthly
temperatures are always around 24 to 27oC, with very little variation.
ii. There is no winter. The diurnal and annual range of temperature is small.
iii. Precipitation is heavy between 60 inches and 100 inches, and well distributed throughout
the year.

2. The Tropical Monsoon and Tropical Marine Climates

Distribution
i. It is best developed in the Indian sub-continent, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, parts of
Vietnam and South China and northern Australia.
ii. Tropical Marine climate is found in Central America, West Indies, the Philippines, parts of
East Africa, Madagascar, the Guyana coast and eastern Brazil.
Climate
i. Seasons are sharply differentiated due to northward and southward movement of the sun.
ii. Average temperature of warm dry summer months ranges between 27oC and 32oC.
iii. Most of their annual rainfall occurs through cyclonic and orographic types of rains.

3. The Savanna or Sudan climate Distribution

Distribution
i. It is found between 5o and 10o north and south of the equator.
ii. It is transitional type of climate found between the equatorial forests and the semiarid and
subtropical humid climate.

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iii. The most characteristic areas of savanna climate include the Llanos of Orinico valley, the
Campos of Brazil, hilly areas of central America, southern Zaire, etc.
Climate
i. The Savanna climate is characterized by distinct wet and dry seasons.
ii. Mean high temperature throughout the year is between 24oC and 27o C. The annual range
of temperature is between 3oC and 8oC. The extreme diurnal range of temperature is a
characteristic of Sudan type of climate.
iii. The average annual rainfall ranges between 100 cm and 150 cm.

4. The Hot Desert and Mid-latitude Desert Climates

i. Deserts are regions of scanty rainfall. It is found in the zones between 15o and 30o latitudes
on either side of the equator.
ii. Though mean annual temperature is fairly high but summer and winter which may be hot
like the hot deserts of the Saharan type or temperate as are the mid-latitude deserts like the
Gobi.
iii. The major hot deserts of the world are located on the western coasts of continents between
latitudes 15o and 30oN and S.
Climate
i. The relative humidity is extremely low, decreasing from 60 per cent in coastal districts to
less than 30 per cent in the desert interiors.
ii. Rain normally occurs as violent thunderstorms of the convectional type.
iii. The deserts are some of the hottest spots on earth and have high temperatures throughout
the year.

5. Mediterranean Climate
Distribution
i. A Mediterranean climate is one that resembles the climate of the lands in the
Mediterranean Basin.
ii. This climate type prevails in much of California, in parts of Western and South Australia, in
south western South Africa and in parts of central Chile.
iii. The climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters.
iv. Mediterranean climate zones are associated with the five large subtropical high pressure
cells of the oceans, the Azores High, South Atlantic High, North Pacific High, South Pacific
High, and Indian Ocean High.
Climate
i. All regions with Mediterranean climates have relatively mild winters, but summer
temperatures are variable depending on the region.
ii. For instance, Athens, Greece experiences rather high temperatures in the summer (48.0 oC
has been measured in Eleusina), whereas San Francisco has cool, mild summers due to the
upwelling of cold subsurface waters along the coast.

6. The Temperate Continental (Steppe) Climate

Distribution

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i. Bordering the deserts, away from the Mediterranean regions and in the interiors of
continents are the temperate grasslands.
ii. In the northern hemisphere, the grasslands are far more extensive and are entirely
continental. In Eurasia, they are called the Steppes.
iii. There are isolated sections in the Pustaz of Hungary and the plains of Manchuria. In North
America, the grasslands are also quite extensive and are called prairies. In the case of the
Pampas of Argentina and Uruguary, the grasslands extend right to the sea and enjoy much
maritime influence.
iv. In South Africa, the grasslands are sandwiched between the Drakensberg and the Kalahari
Desert, and are further subdivided into the more tropical Bush-veld in the north, and the
more temperate High Veld in the South.
Climate
i. Their climate is continental with extremes of temperature. Summers are very warm.

7. The China Type Climate Distribution

Distribution
i. This type of climate is found on the eastern margins of continents in warm temperate
latitudes, just outside the tropics.
ii. It is, in fact, the climate of most part of China a modified form of monsoonal climate. It is
thus also called the (Temperate Monsoon) or China Type of climate.
Climate
i. The Warm Temperate Eastern Margin Climate is typified by a warm moist summer and a
cool, dry winter.
ii. The mean monthly temperature varies between 40oF and 78oF and is strongly modified by
maritime influence.
iii. Rainfall is more than moderate, anything from 25 inches to 60 inches. The Warm Temperate
Eastern Margin Climate supports a wide range of crops.

8. The Cool Temperate Western Margin Climate

Distribution
i. The cool temperate western margins are under the permanent influence of the Westerlies
all round the all round the year.
ii. From Britain, the climatic belt stretches far inland into the lowlands of North-West Europe,
including such regions as northern and western France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark,
western Norway and also northwestern Iberia.
Climate
i. The mean annual temperatures are usually between 40°F and 60°F.
ii. The warmest month is 63°F and the coldest month is just around 40°F, thus giving an annual
temperature range of only 24°F.
iii. The British type of climate has adequate rainfall throughout the year with a tendency
towards a slight winter or autumn maximum from cyclonic sources.

9. The Cool Temperate Continental Climate

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Distribution
i. The Cool Temperate Continental (Siberian) Climate is experienced only in the northern
hemisphere where the continents within the high latitudes have a broad east-west spread.
ii. On its pole ward side, it merges into the Arctic tundra of Canada and Eurasia at around the
Arctic Circle.
Climate
i. The climate of the Siberian type is characterized by a bitterly cold winter of long duration,
and a cool brief summer.
ii. The isotherm of 50°F for the warmest month forms the pole ward boundary of the Siberian
climate and the winter months are always below freezing.
iii. An annual range of 54°F is common in the Siberian type of climate.

10. The Cool Temperate Eastern Margin

Distribution
i. The Cool Temperate Eastern Margin (Laurentian) Climate is an intermediate type of climate
between the British and the Siberian type of climate.
ii. It has features of both the maritime and the continental climates. Laurentian type of climate
is found only in two regions. One is north- eastern North America, including eastern Canada,
north-east USA. This may be referred to as the North American region.
iii. The other region is the eastern coastlands of Asia, including eastern Siberia, North China,
Manchuria, Korea and northern Japan. It may be referred to as the Asiatic region.
Climate
i. The Laurentian type of climate has cold, dry winters and warm, wet summers.
ii. Winter temperatures may be well below freezing-point and snow falls to quite a depth.
Summers are as warm, as the tropics (70o- 80oF).
iii. Though rain falls throughout the year, there is a distinct summer maximum from the
easterly winds from the oceans. Of the annual precipitation of 30 to 60 inches, two-thirds
come in the summer.

11. The Arctic or Polar Climate

Distribution
i. The polar type of climate and vegetation is found mainly north of the Arctic Circle in the
northern hemisphere.
ii. The ice-caps are confined to Greenland and to the highlands of these high-latitude regions,
where the ground is permanently snow covered.
iii. The lowlands, with a few months ice-free, have tundra vegetation.
Climate
i. The polar climate is characterized by a very low mean annual temperature and its warmest
month in June seldom rises to more than 50°F.
ii. The ground remains solidly frozen for all but four months, inaccessible to plants. Frost
occurs at any time and blizzards, reaching a velocity of 130 miles an hour are not infrequent.
iii. Precipitation is mainly in the form of snow, falling in winter.

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*****

3. GEOMORPHOLOGY

INTRODUCTION
 Geomorphology is a significant branch of physical geography. It stems from three Greek words
i.e ‘ge’ (meaning earth), ‘morphe’ (form) and ‘logos’ (a discourse).

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 Geomorphology therefore is defined as the science of description of various forms of the earth’s
surface. To be more precise form, it means topographic features or geometric features of the
earth’s surface.

Nebular Hypothesis
 This theory is devised by German philosopher Immanuel Kant. Later Mathematician Laplace
revised it in 1796.
 According to this hypothesis, the planets were moulded out of a cloud of material associated
with a young sun, which was slowly rotating.

Revised Nebular Hypothesis

 Revised Nebular Hypothesis was given by Otto Schmidt in Russia and Carl Weizascar in
Germany. They regarded that the sun was encircled by solar nebula comprising of mostly
hydrogen and helium along with what may be called dust.
 The friction and collision of particles led to the creation of a disk-shaped cloud and the planets
were formed through the process of accretion.

EARTH’S INTERNAL STRUCTURE

 Earth’s interior is made up of a series of layers that sit below the surface crust. In order of depth,
these layers include the solid, but flowing mantle, the liquid outer core and the solid iron outer
core, which helps create Earth’s protective magnetic field.
 The layers can also be categorized into the rigid outer lithosphere (which includes the crust and
top portion of the mantle and makes up Earth’s tectonic plates) and the athenosphere, the
portion of the mantle that is solid, but made up of hot, weak, flowing rock.

CRUST
 It is the outermost solid part of the earth, normally about 8-40 kms thick. It is brittle in nature.
Nearly 1% of the earth’s volume and 0.5% of earth’s mass are made of the crust.
 The thickness of the crust under the oceanic and continental areas are different. Oceanic crust is
thinner (about 5kms) as compared to the continental crust (about 30kms).
 Major constituent elements of crust are Silica (Si) and Aluminium (Al) and thus, it is often termed
as SIAL (Sometimes SIAL is used to refer Lithosphere, which is the region comprising the crust
and uppermost solid mantle, also).
 The mean density of the materials in the crust is 3g/cm3. The discontinuity between the
hydrosphere and crust is termed as the Conrad Discontinuity.
MANTLE
 The portion of the interior beyond the crust is called as the mantle.The discontinuity between
the crust and mantle is called as the Mohorovich Discontinuity or Moho discontinuity. The
mantle is about 2900 kms in thickness. Nearly 84% of the earth’s volume and 67% of the earth’s
mass is occupied by the mantle.
 The major constituent elements of the mantle are Silicon and Magnesium and hence it is also
termed as SIMA. The density of the layer is higher than the crust and varies from 3.3 – 5.4g/cm3.

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 The uppermost solid part of the mantle and the entire crust constitute the Lithosphere. The
asthenosphere (in between 80-200km) is a highly viscous, mechanically weak and ductile,
deforming region of the upper mantle which lies just below the lithosphere.
 The asthenosphere is the main source of magma and it is the layer over which the lithospheric
plates/ continental plates move (plate tectonics).
 The discontinuity between the upper mantle and the lower mantle is known as Repetti
Discontinuity. The portion of the mantle which is just below the lithosphere and asthenosphere,
but above the core is called as Mesosphere.

CORE
 It is the innermost layer surrounding the earth’s centre. The core is separated from the mantle
by Guttenberg’s Discontinuity.
 It is composed mainly of iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) and hence it is also called as NIFE. The core
constitutes nearly 15% of earth’s volume and 32.5% of earth’s mass.
 The core is the densest layer of the earth with its density ranges between 9.5-14.5g/cm3. The
Core consists of two sub-layers:
o the inner core- solid in state
o the outer core- liquid in state (or semi-liquid)
 The discontinuity between the upper core and the lower core is called as Lehmann
Discontinuity. Barysphere is sometimes used to refer the core of the earth or sometimes the
whole interior.

TEMPERATURE, PRESSURE AND DENSITY OF EARTH’S INTERIOR

1. Temperature
i. A rise in temperature with increase in depth is observed in mines and deep wells. These
evidence along with molten lava erupted from the earth’s interior supports that the
temperature increases towards the centre of the earth.
ii. The different observations show that the rate of increase of temperature is not uniform
from the surface towards the earth’s centre. It is faster at some places and slower at other
places.

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iii. In the beginning, this rate of increase of temperature is at an average rate of 1C for every
32m increase in depth.
iv. While in the upper 100kms, the increase in temperature is at the rate of 12C per km and in
the next 300kms, it is 20C per km. But going further deep, this rate reduces to mere 10C per
km.
v. Thus, it is assumed that the rate of increase of temperature beneath the surface is
decreasing towards the centre (do not confuse rate of increase of temperature with
increase of temperature. Temperature is always increasing from the earth’s surface
towards the centre).
vi. The temperature at the centre is estimated to lie somewhere between 3000C and 5000C,
may be that much higher due to the chemical reactions under high-pressure conditions.
vii. Even in such a high temperature also, the materials at the centre of the earth are in solid
state because of the heavy pressure of the overlying materials.

2. Pressure
i. Just like the temperature, the pressure is also increasing from the surface towards the
centreof the earth.
ii. It is due to the huge weight of the overlying materials like rocks.
iii. It is estimated that in the deeper portions, the pressure is tremendously high which will be
nearly 3 to 4 million times more than the pressure of the atmosphere at sea level.
iv. At high temperature, the materials beneath will melt towards the centre part of the earth
but due to heavy pressure, these molten materials acquire the properties of a solid and are
probably in a plastic state.

3. Density
i. Due to increase in pressure and presence of heavier materials like Nickel and Iron towards
the centre, the density of earth’s layers also gets on increasing towards the centre.
ii. The average density of the layers gets on increasing from crust to core and it is nearly
14.5g/cm3 at the very centre.

CONTINENTS AND OCEAN BASIN

Continents and ocean basins being fundamental relief features of the globe are considered as’ relief
features of the first order’.
Theories of Origin
CONTINENETAL DRIFT THEORY
 Continental drift theory was proposed by Alfred Wegener in 1912. The theory deals with the
distribution of the oceans and the continents.
 According to Wegener’s Continental Drift theory, all the continents formed a single continental
mass (Super Continent)-Pangaea and Mega Ocean surrounded the same- Panthalassa.
 The supercontinent was named Pangaea and the Mega-ocean was called Panthalassa. According
to this theory, the supercontinent, Pangaea, began to split around 200 million years ago.

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 Pangaea first broke into two large continental masses as Gondwanaland and Laurasia forming
the southern and northern modules correspondingly. According to Wegener, forces responsible
for this Continental drifting are:
o Pole-fleecing force – rotation of earth.
o Tidal force – This is due to attraction of moon and the sun that develops tides in oceanic
waters.
 Later, Gondwanaland and Laurasia continued to break into several smaller continents that exist
today. The argument for the Continental Drift Theory gets strength from the following
evidences:
i. Matching of Continents in a Jig- Saw-Fit: The shorelines of Africa and South America
towards each other show a remarkable match.
ii. Rocks of same age across the oceans: It is established by radiometric dating methods that
the earliest marine deposits along the coastline of south america and Africa are of Jurassic
age, this suggest ocean did not occur prior to that. A belt of ancient rocks of 2,000 million
years from Brazil coast matches with those from Western Africa.
iii. Tillite: It is sedimentary rock formed out of deposits of glaciers. Gondwanaland system of
sediments has its counterparts in six different Placer Deposits landmasses of Southern
Hemisphere. Thick tilliation at base shows prolonged glaciation.
Counterparts of this succession are found in Africa, Falkland island, Madagascar , Antarctica
and Australia besides India. It proves paleoclimates and drifting of continents. These
landmasses have similar histories.
iv. Placer deposits : Occurrences of rich placer deposits of gold in Ghana coast and the absolute
absence of source rock in the region. Also, presence of gold bearing veins in Brazil show that
obviously gold deposits of Ghana are derived from Brazilian plateau when they were
together.
v. Distribution of fossils: Lemurs occur in India, Madagascar, and Africa, this information leads
to consideration of these three landmasses being connected in the past, hypothetically
named ”Lemuria”. Also Mesosaurus ( a small reptile living in brackish water) skeleton have
been found only in two localities – South Africa and Iraver formation of Brazil, which are
4,800 km apart presently.

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CONVECTIONAL CURRENT THEORY

 The Thermal Convection Current hypothesis dates back to Hopkins (1839) and Fisher (1881), but
credit goes to Arthur Holmes for presenting more elaborately the same as a force for mountain
building, continental drift, volcanism and formation of ocean trenches etc.
 According to this theory, the intense heat generated by radioactive substances in the mantle
(100-2900 km below the earth surface) seeks a path to escape, and gives rise to the formation of
convention currents in the mantle.
 Wherever rising limbs of these currents meet, oceanic ridges are formed on the sea floor and
wherever the failing limbs meet, trenches are formed. Convectional Current Theory is the soul of
See Floor Spreading theory.

SEA FLOOR SPREADING

 The idea that the seafloor itself moves (and carries the continents with it) as it expands from a
central axis was proposed by Harry Hess. According to this theory, the intense heat generated by
radioactive substances in the mantle (100-2900 km below the earth surface) seeks a while in the
mid-oceanic ridge areas, the quake foci have shallow depths.
 Wherever rising limbs of these currents meet, oceanic ridges are formed on the sea floor and
wherever the failing limbs meet, trenches are formed.
 Seafloor spreading is a process that occurs at mid-ocean ridges, where new oceanic crust is
formed through volcanic activity and then gradually moves away from the ridge.
 Seafloor spreading helps explain continental drift in the theory of plate tectonics. When oceanic
plates diverge, tensional stress causes fractures to occur in the lithosphere. Basaltic magma rises
up the fractures and cools on the ocean floor to form new sea floor.
 Older rocks will be found farther away from the spreading zone while younger rocks will be
found nearer to the spreading zone.
 Evidences- The mapping of the ocean floor and Paleomagnetic studies of rocks from oceanic
regions revealed the following facts:
i. Volcanic eruptions are common all along the midoceanic ridges 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
iii. Rocks closer to the mid-oceanic Zridges are normal polarity and are the youngest.
iv. The age of the rocks increases as one moves away from the crest.
v. The deep trenches have deep- seated earthquake occurrences

PLATE TECTONIC THEORY

 It was on the basis of the continental drift theory, theory of sea floor spreading, that the theory
of Plate Tectonics was formulated—first outlined by Morgan in 1968. The rigid lithospheric slabs
or rigid and solid crustal layers are tectonically called ‘plates’. The term ‘plate’ was first used by
Canadian Geologist J.T.Wilson in 1965.
 The whole mechanism of the evolution,natureand motion and resultant reactions of plate is
called ‘plate tectonics’. Mckenzie and Parker discussed in detail the mechanism of plate motions
on the basis of Euler’s geometrical theorem in 1967.

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 According to the theory of plate tectonics, the earth’s lithosphere is broken into distinct plates
which are floating on a ductile layer called asthenosphere (upper mantle). 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. The oceanic plates contain
mainly the Simatic crust and are relatively thinner, while the continental plates contain Sialic
material and are relatively thicker.
 Lithospheric plates (sometimes called crustal plates, tectonic plates) vary from minor plates to
major plates, continental plates (Arabian plate) to oceanic plates (Pacific plate), sometime a
combination of both continental and oceanic plates (Indo-Australian plate).
 The movement of these crustal plates causes the formation of various landforms and is the
principal cause of all earth movements.

Rates of Plate Movement

 The Arctic Ridge has the slowest rate (less than 2.5 cm/yr), and the East Pacific Rise in the South
Pacific [about 3,400 km west of Chile], has the fastest rate (more than 15 cm/yr).
 Indian plate’s movement during its journey from south to equator was one of the fastest plate
movements.

Major tectonic plates

Antarctica and the surrounding oceanic plate
North American plate
South American plate
Pacific plate
India-Australia-New Zealand plate
Africa with the eastern Atlantic floor plate
Eurasia and the adjacent oceanic plate

Minor tectonic plates

Cocos plate: Between Central America and Pacific plate
Nazca plate: Between South America and Pacific plate
Arabian plate: Mostly the Saudi Arabian landmass
Phillipine plate: Between the Asiatic and Pacific plate
Caroline plate: Between the Philippine and Indian Plate.
Fuji Plate: North –east of Australia
Juan de fuca plate (between Pacific and North American
plates)

There are many more minor plates other than the above mentioned plates. Most of these plates
were formed due to stress created by converging major plates. Example, the Mediterranean Sea is
divided into numerous minor plates due to compressive force exerted by Eurasian and African
plates.

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Force for the Plate Movement

 The slow movement of hot, softened mantle that lies below the rigid plates is the driving force
behind the plate movement.
 The heated material rises to the surface, spreads and begins to cool, and then sinks back into
deeper depths (convection currents- explained in the previous post – See Floor Spreading). 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 this idea in the 1930s, which later influenced Harry Hess’ thinking
about seafloor spreading.

PLATE BOUNDARIES
 Three types of plate boundaries have been identified.
o Constructive Plate Boundaries
o Destructive Plate Boundaries
o Conservative Plate Boundaries

CONSTRUCTIVE PLATE BOUNDARIES

 Also called as ’divergent plate boundaries’ or ’accreting plate boundary’ represents zones of
divergence along the mid-oceanic ridges and are characterized by continuous addition
(accretion) of materials are there is constant upwelling of molten materials (basaltic lava) from
below the mid-oceanic ridges.
 These basaltic lava is cooled and solidified and are added to the trailing margins of the divergent
plates and thus new oceanic crust is is continuously formed.
 On continents, East African Rift Valley is the most important geomorphological feature formed
due to divergence of African and Somali plates. Such edges are sites of earth crust formation
(hence constructive) and volcanic earth forms are common along such edges.
 Earthquakes (shallow focus) are common along divergent edges. 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 the mid-oceanic ridge in Atlantic ocean, the American
Plate(s) is/are separated from the Eurasian and African Plates.

DESTRUCTIVE PLATE BOUNDARIES

 Also known as ‘consuming plate boundaries’ or ‘convergent plate boundaries’ where two
plates collide against each other and the leading relatively lighter material overrides the other
plates and the overridden plate boundary of relatively denser material is subducted or thrust
into the upper mantle and thus a part of the crust is lost in the mantle.
 This mechanism results in constant loss of crustal materials. Plate collisions are of three types
viz:
o Ocean-ocean collision (collision of two oceanic plates)
o Continent –continent collision (collision of two continents)
o Ocean-continent collision (collisions of oceanic and continental plates)

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 Ocean-ocean collision involves collision of two convergent plates having relatively denser
material is subducted into upper mantle. Such collision and subduction occur along east Asia and
the resultant tectonic expression of plate collision and subduction includes deformation in
crustal area, vulcanism, metamorphism, formation of oceanic trenches, island arcs and
occurrence of earthquake.
 Continent- continent collision involves collision of two continental plates along Benioff zone and
is responsible for creation of folded mountains and occurrences of earthquakes of varying
magnitudes.
o The collision of Asiatic-Indians plates and European-African plates is typical example of such
situation and the formation of alpine and Himalayan mountainous chains are major
mechanism.
 Ocean-continent collision involves collision of one oceanic plate having oceanic crust and other
one of continental plate having continental crust along subduction zone and the resultant
tectonic expression are deformation of crustal rocks, metamorphism, volcanic eruptions,
formation of folded mountain and occurrence of deep focus earthquakes.

Formation of Philippine Island Arc System

 Philippine Island Arc system is formed due to subduction of Philippine Sea plate under Sunda
Plate (part of Eurasian Plate). The trench formed here is called Philippine Trench.
 In case of Indonesian Archipelago, Indo-Australian plate subducts below Sunda Plate (part of
Eurasian Plate).The trench formed here is called Sunda trench (Java Trench is a major section of
Sunda trench).
 Formation of Caribbean Islands is also similar but here the plate interaction is complex due to
the involvement of many minor plates.
 North American Plate subducts under the Caribbean plate and forms the Puerto Rico Trench.
There is trough formation on the other side as well.

Formation of Japanese Island Arc

 Japan’s volcanoes are part of three volcanic arcs. The arcs meet at a triple junction on the island
of Honshu. Northern arc is formed due to the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Eurasian
Plate. The trench formed is Japan Trench.
 Central arc is formed due to the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Philippine Plate
(island formation is not significant along this arc). The trench formed is Izu Trench.
 Southern Arc is formed due to the subduction of the Phillipines Plate under the Eurasian
Plate.The trench formed is Ryuku Trench.

Formation of the Andes – Continent – Ocean Convergence

 The Andes are formed due to convergence between Nazca plate (oceanic plate) and the South
American plate(continental plate). Peru – Chile trench is formed due to subduction of Nazca
plate.
 Andes are a continental arc (narrow, continental volcanic chain) formed due to the volcanism
above the subduction zone. The pressure offered by the accretionary wedge folded the volcanic
mountain, raising the mountains significantly.

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 The folding process in Andes is still continuing and the mountains are constantly rising.
Volcanism is still active Ojos del Salado active volcano on the Argentina-Chile border is the
highest active volcano on earth at 6,893 m.
 Mount Acangua (6,960m, Argentina) the highest peak outside Himalaya and the highest peak in
the western hemisphere is an extinct volcano.
Formation of the Rockies – Continent – Ocean Convergence
 The North American plate (continental plate) moved west wards while the Juan de Fuca plate
(minor oceanic plate) and the Pacific plate (major oceanic plate) moved eastwards. The
convergence gave rise to a series of parallel mountain ranges.
 Unlike the Andes, the Rockies are formed at a distance from the continental margin due to the
less steep subduction by the oceanic plates.
 Trenching is less conspicuous as the boundary is filled with accretionary wedge and there are a
series of fault zones that makes the landforms a bit different from Andes.

Wadati – Benioff zone: Earthquakes along Convergent boundary

 A Wadati–Benioff zone is a zone of seismicity corresponding with the down-going slab in a
subduction zone (the intensity of earthquakes increases with depth of subduction). Differential
motion along the zone produces numerous earthquakes, the foci of which may be as deep as
about 670 kilometres.
 Wadati–Benioff zone earthquakes develop beneath volcanic island arcs and continental margins
above active subduction zones.
 They can be produced by slip along the subduction thrust faultor slip on faults within the down
going plate. Most disastrous earthquakes are deep seated ones or deep focus earthquakes. Such
earthquakes are common around the subduction zone.

CONSERVATIVE PLATE MARGINS

 Also called as shear plate margins and parallel/transform fault boundaries where two plates
pass or slide past each other along transform faults. These are called conservative because crust
is neither created nor destroyed.
 The significant tectonic expression of such situation is the creation of transform fault which
move on an average parallel to the direction of plate motion. Transform fault offset mid-oceanic
ridges. Besides oceanic transform faults, there are also continental transform fault e.g san
Andreas fault (California,USA), Alpine Fault (Africa).

EARTHQUAKE
 An earthquake is a shaking of the ground caused by the sudden breaking and movement of large
sections (tectonic plates) of the earth’s rocky outermost crust. The edges of the tectonic plates
are marked by faults (or fractures). Most earthquakes occur along the fault lines when the plates
slide past each other or collide against each other.
 The shifting masses send out shock waves that may be powerful enough to:
o alter the surface of the Earth,
o thrusting up cliffs and opening great cracks in the ground and cause great damage,
o collapse of buildings and other man-made structures,

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o broken power and gas lines (and the consequent fire),

o landslides,
o snow avalanches,
o tsunamis (giant sea waves) and
o volcanic eruptions.

What is the difference between an epicenter and a focus?

The difference between the epicenter and the focus of an earthquake lies in the location of their
origins. The focus is the exact point inside the crust of the earth where the quake begins, while the
epicenter is the point on the earth’s surface directly above the focus.

CAUSES OF EARTHQUAKES
 Most earthquakes are causally related to compressional or tensional stresses built up at the
margins of the huge moving lithospheric plates. The immediate cause of most shallow
earthquakes is the sudden release of stress along a fault, or fracture in the earth’s crust.
 Sudden slipping of rock formations along faults and fractures in the earth’s crust happen due to
constant change in volume and density of rocks due to intense temperature and pressure in the
earth’s interior.
 Volcanic activity also can cause an earthquake but the earthquakes of volcanic origin are
generally less severe and more limited in extent than those caused by fracturing of the earth’s
crust.
 Earthquakes occur most often along geologic faults, narrow zones where rock masses move in
relation to one another. The major fault lines of the world are located at the fringes of the huge
tectonic plates that make up Earth’s crust.
 Plate tectonics: Slipping of land along the fault line along, convergent, divergent and transform
boundaries cause earthquakes. Example: San Andreas Fault is a transform fault where Pacific
plate and North American plate move horizontally relative to each other causing earthquakes
along the fault lines.

Mechanism of action

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 Earthquakes can occur anywhere within the earth where there is stored elastic energy sufficient
enough to drive fault propagation along a fault plane. Most earthquakes are caused indirectly by
plate tectonics.
 Almost all earthquakes occur along plate boundaries because plate boundaries are the loci of
horizontal forces that push and stretch rocks, causing them to break and produce earthquakes.
Earthquakes are produced at all three types of plate boundaries. Locations far from plate
boundaries experience few earthquakes.
 Tectonic plates move past each other smoothly only if there are no irregularities and asperities.
Most plate boundaries do have asperities and this leads to stick-slip behaviour.
 Once the boundary has locked into a relative stable position, continued relative motion between
the plates leads to increased stress and stored strain energy.
 This continues until the stress rises sufficiently to break through the relative stable position,
suddenly sliding over the locked position of the fault and thereby releasing the stored energy.
The energy is released as a combination of elastic seismic waves, frictional heating of the surface
and cracking of rock, thereby causing an earthquake.
 This process of gradual build up of stress and sudden release of energy in the form of
earthquakes is called elastic-rebound theory.
 It is estimated that less than 10 % of the total energy of an earthquake is radiated as seismic
energy. Most of the earthquake’s energy is used to power fracture growth or is converted as
heat generated by friction.

Human Induced Earthquakes

Earthquakes in the reservoir region, mining sites etc. are
human induced.
Deep mining
Underground nuclear tests
Reservoir induced seismicity (RIS)
Extraction of fossil fuels
Groundwater extraction
Artificial induction
In fluid injection, the slip is thought to be induced by
premature release of elastic strain, as in the case of tectonic
earthquakes, after fault surfaces are lubricated by the liquid.

MEASURING EARTHQUAKES
 Seismometers are the instruments which are used to measure the motion of the ground, which
including those of seismic waves generated by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and other
seismic sources.
 A Seismograph is also another term used to mean seismometer though it is more applicable to
the older instruments.

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 The recorded graphical output from a seismometer/seismograph is called as a seismogram. ( Do

not confuse seismograph with seismogram. Seismograph is an instrument while seismogram is
the recorded output) There are two main scales used in the seismometers:
o Mercalli Scale- represents the intensity of earthquake by analyzing the after effects like how
many people felt it, how much destruction occurred etc. The range of intensity is from 1-12.
o Richter Scale- represents the magnitude of the earthquake. The magnitude is expressed in
absolute numbers from 1-10. Each whole number increase in Richter scale represents a ten
times increase in power of an earthquake.

Shadow regions of waves

 P-waves pass through all medium while S-waves passes only through solid medium. With the
help of these properties of primary waves, seismologists have a fair idea about the interior of
the earth.
 Even though p-waves pass through all mediums, it causes reflection when it enters from one
medium to another. The variations in the direction of waves are inferred with the help of their
record on seismographs.
 The area where the seismograph records no waves is called as ‘shadow zone’ of that wave.
Accordingly, it is observed that the area beyond 1050 does not receive S-waves and the area in

DISTRIBUTION OF EARTHQUAKES
 Earth’s major earthquakes occur mainly in belts coinciding with the margins of tectonic plates.
 The most important earthquake belt is the Circum-Pacific Belt, which affects many populated
coastal regions around the Pacific Ocean
o For example, those of New Zealand, New Guinea, Japan, the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, and the
western coasts of North and South America.
o The seismic activity is by no means uniform throughout the belt, and there are a number of
branches at various points.
o Because at many places the Circum-Pacific Belt is associated with volcanic activity, it has
been popularly dubbed the “Pacific Ring of Fire.” The Pacific Ring of Fire accounts for about
68 per cent of all earthquakes.
 A second belt, known as the Alpine Belt (Himalayas and Alps).

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o The energy released in earthquakes from this belt is about 15 percent of the world total.
o The mid-world mountain belt (Alpine Belt) extends parallel to the equator from Mexico
across the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea from Alpine-Caucasus ranges’ to the
Caspian, Himalayan mountains and the adjoining lands.
o This zone has folded mountains, large depressions and active volcanoes.

EARTHQUAKE PRONE ZONE IN INDIA

 Bureau of Indian Standards, based on the past seismic history, grouped the country into four
seismic zones, viz. Zone-II, III, IV and V.
 Of these, Zone V is the most seismically active region, while zone II is the least. The Modified
Mercalli (MM) intensity, which measures the impact of the earthquakes on the surface of the
earth, broadly associated with various zones, is as follows:

1. Zone-V
i. Covers northeastern India, parts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal,
Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, parts of North Bihar and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
2. Zone-IV
i. Covers remaining parts of Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh, Union Territory of Delhi,
Sikkim
ii. northern parts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal, parts of Gujarat and small portions
of Maharashtra near the west coast and Rajasthan.
3. Zone-III
i. Comprises of Kerala, Goa, Lakshadweep islands, and remaining parts of Uttar Pradesh,
Gujarat and West Bengal, parts of Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand,
Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
4. Zone-II
i. Covers remaining parts of the country. Further, as part of pre-disaster preparedness
measure, Government of India has also completed seismic microzonation studies of some of
the major cities in the country
ii. It includes Jabalpur, Guwahati, Bangalore, greater Bharuch in Gujarat, Jammu in J & K,
Shillong in Meghalaya, Chennai in Tamilnadu and Sikkim state.

Seismic Zone Intensity on MMI Scale

Seismic Zone Intensity on MMI % of Total

Scale area
II (Low Intensity Zone VI (for less) 43%
III (Moderate Intensity Zone) VII 27%
IV (Severe Intensity Zone) VIII 18%
V (Very Severe Intensity Zone) IX (and above) 12%

VOLCANOES

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 A volcano is a vent or chimney which transfers molten rock known as magma from depth to the
Earth’s surface. Magma erupting from a volcano is called lava and is the material which builds up
the cone surrounding the vent. A volcanic vent is that spot in the Earth’s crust where gases,
molten rock, lava and rocks erupt.
 Volcanic vents can be at the top of some of the largest volcanoes on Earth, like Hawaii’s Mauna
Kea, or they can be openings in the Earth’s crust down at the bottom of the ocean. The shape of
the volcanic vent can sometimes define whether the volcano is explosive or not.

Magma v/s Lava: The difference

Magma- is the term used to denote the molten rocks and related materials seen inside the earth.
Lava- Lava is nothing but the magma on earth surface.

Lava types in Volcanism

 The process by which solid, liquid and gaseous material escape from the earth’s interior to the
surface of the earth is called as Volcanism.
 Andesitic or Acidic or Composite vent. Eruptions can be effusive, where lava flows like a thick,
sticky liquid, or explosive, where fragmented lava explodes out of a vent. In explosive eruptions,
the fragmented rock may be accompanied by ash and gases

Stratovolcaniv Lava
 These lavas are highly viscous with a high melting point. They are light-colored, of low density,
and have a high percentage of silica.
 They flow slowly and seldom travel far before solidifying. The resultant cone is, therefore, steep-
sided.
 The rapid solidifying of lava in the vent obstructs the flow of the out-pouring lava, resulting in
loud explosions, throwing out many volcanic bombs or pyroclasts.
 Sometimes the lavas are so viscous that they form a spine or plug at the crater like that of Mt.
Pelee in Martinique.

Basic or Basaltic or Shield Lava

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 These are the hottest lavas, about 1,000°C. (1,830°F.) and are highly fluid. They are dark colored
like basalt, rich in iron and magnesium but poor in silica.
 They flow out of volcanic vent quietly and are not very explosive. Due to their high fluidity, they
flow readily with a speed of 10 to 30 miles per hour.
 They affect extensive areas, spreading out as thin sheets over great distances before they
solidify (This is how Deccan Traps were formed).
 The resultant volcano is gently sloping with a wide diameter and forms a flattened shield or
dome.

TYPES OF VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

 The most common type of volcanic eruption occurs when magma (the term for lava when it is
below the Earth’s surface) is released from a volcanic
1. Hawaiian Eruption or Icelandic Eruption
i. It involves the effusive outpouring of basalt lava from craters, lava lakes or fissures.
ii. A single flow spreads widely over open slopes or flows down the valleys as lava rivers. Little
gas or tephra is produced.
iii. Hawaiian eruptions get their names from the Kilauea volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii.
2. Strombolian Eruption
i. In this case, more viscous lava is ejected upward in a fountain-like fashion from a lava lake in
the crater at regular intervals of around 15 minutes.
ii. Stromboli lies in the Lipari Islands near Italy.
iii. It is called the ‘lighthouse of the Mediterranean’.
3. Vulcanian Eruption
i. The eruption in this mode is the molten lava which fills the crater solidifies and is explosively
ejected as a great cauliflower cloud of dark tephra.
ii. Bombs, blocks, lapilli and other ejecta fall in the surrounding area. Only minor lava flows
result.
iii. After each eruption cycle, the volcano is dormant for decades or for centuries.
4. Pelean Eruption
i. This type of eruption is the result of very viscous, gas-rich, acidic lava flowing violently over
the crater rim or breaking out laterally.
ii. Hot gas and lava mixture is not carried skyward to become cold tephra but spreads
downslope as a nuce ardente, continuing to evolve gas that cushions the flowing fragments.
5. Icelandic volcano
i. The Icelandic type is characterized by effusions of molten basaltic lava that flow from long,
parallel fissures. Such outpourings often build lava plateaus.
ii. Volcanic eject that settle out of air or water are sometimes called pyroclastic sediments.

What Is the Difference Between Geysers, Fumaroles, Mudpots, and Hot Springs?
 Geysers are bursts of boiling hot water that erupt from below the surface into the air, often
several hundred feet.This cycle can be repeated with remarkable regularity, as for example, at
Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone National Park, which erupts on an average of about once
every 65 minutes.

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 A fumarole is a steam vent. Fumaroles, which emit mixtures of steam and other gases, are fed
by conduits that pass through the water table before reaching the surface of the ground.
o Hydrogen sulfide (H2S), one of the typical gases issuing from fumaroles, readily oxidizes to
sulfuric acid and native sulfur.
o The steam comes from hot springs below the Earth’s surface that are so hot that their water
boils away before they reach the surface.
 A mudpot looks like it sounds, a hot, bubbling mound of clay and sand mixed with a little
water.It smells like rotten eggs because it contains sulfuric acid.
 Hot springs occur when water below the Earth’s surface passes across hot rocks in areas of
recent ,geologically speaking, volcanic activity and then flows to the surface of the Earth.

DISTRIBUTION OF VOLCANOES
 Since the 16th century, around 480 volcanoes have been reported to be active. Of these, nearly
400 are located in and around the Pacific Ocean and 80 are in the mid-world belt across the
Mediterranean Sea, Alpine-Himalayan belt and in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
 The belts of highest concentration are Aleutian-Kurile islands arc, Melanesia and New Zealand-
Tonga belt. Only 10% to 20% of all volcanic activity is above sea and terrestrial volcanic
mountains are small when compared to their submarine counterparts.
 Most known volcanic activity and the earthquakes occur along converging plate margins and
mid-oceanic ridges. There is a strikingly close agreement between volcanic and earthquake
zones of the earth.

1. Pacific Ring of Fire

i. Circum-Pacilic region, popularly termed the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’, has the greatest
concentration of active volcanoes. Volcanic belt and earthquake belt closely overlap along
the ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’.
ii. Pacific Ring of Fire’ is estimated to include two-thirds of the world’s volcanoes. Regions with
active volcanism along ‘Pacific Ring of Fire’ Aleutian Islands into Kamchatka, Japan, the
Philippines, and Indonesia (Java and Sumatra in particular),
iii. Pacific islands of Solomon, New Hebrides, Tonga and North Island, New Zealand. Andes to
Central America (particularly Guatemala, Costa Rica and Nicaragua), Mexico and right up to
Alaska.
iv. It is said that there are almost 100 active volcanoes in the Philippines, 40 in the Andes, 35 in
Japan, and more than 70 in Indonesia.

2. Along the Atlantic coast

i. In contrast, the Atlantic coasts have comparatively few active volcanoes but many dormant
or extinct volcanoes, e.g. St. Helena, Cape Verde Islands and Canary Islands etc..
ii. But the volcanoes of Iceland and the Azores are active.

3. Great Rift region

i. In Africa some volcanoes are found along the East African Rift Valley, e.g. Kilimanjaro and
Mt. Kenya, both probably extinct. The only active volcano of West Africa is Mt. Cameroon.

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ii. There are some volcanic cones in Madagascar, but active eruption has not been known so
far.

4. Volcanoes in India
i. There are no volcanoes in the Himalayan region or in the Indian peninsula.
ii. Barren Island, lying 135 km north- east of Port Blair became active again in 1991 and 1995.
After its activity in the nineteenth century, it passed through a mild solfataric stage as
evidenced by the sublimations of sulphur on the walls of the crater.
iii. The other volcanic island in Indian territory is Narcondam, about 150 km north-east of
Barren Island; it is probably extinct. Its crater wall has been completely destroyed.

TSUNAMIS
 Tsunamis are giant waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea. Out in the
depths of the ocean, tsunami waves do not dramatically increase in height. But as the waves
travel inland, they build up to higher and higher heights as the depth of the ocean decreases.
 The speed of tsunami waves depends on ocean depth rather than the distance from the source
of the wave. Tsunami waves may travel as fast as jet planes over deep waters, only slowing
down when reaching shallow waters.
 While tsunamis are often referred to as tidal waves, this name is discouraged by oceanographers
because tides have little to do with these giant waves.

How is a tsunami formed?

 A tsunami can be formed in a number of different ways, but usually there are three things that
have to happen.
o An earthquake must measure at least 7.0 on the Richter scale, the sea bed must be lifted or
lowered by the earthquake, and the epicentre of the earthquake must be close to the
Earth’s surface.
o Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, underwater explosions, landslides, meteorite impacts and
other disturbances above or below water can potentially generate a tsunami.
o While normal waves are caused by the winds as well as the Moon and the Sun, a tsunami is
always caused by the displacement of a large body of water. Tsunamis are sometimes called
tidal waves, although this term is not popular among experts as they are not actually
influenced by the tides at all.

Mechanism in Earthquake induced Tsunami’s

 An undersea earthquake causes buckling of the sea floor, something that occurs at subduction
zones, places where drifting plates that constitute the outer shell of the earth converge and the
heavier oceanic plate subducts below the lighter continents.
 As a plate plunges into the interior of the earth it gets stuck against the edge of a continental
plate for a while, when stresses build up, then the locked zone gives way. Parts of the ocean
floor then snap upward and other areas sink downward.

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 In the instant after the quake, the sea surface shape resembles the contours of the seafloor. But
then gravity acts to return the sea surface to its original shape. The ripples then race outward
and a tsunami is caused.

Tsunami waves are not noticed by ships far out at sea

 As tsunami waves are long wavelength waves, they cannot be perceived in deep oceans. Their
amplitude is negligible when compared with their wavelength and hence the waves go
unnoticed in deep oceans.
 When tsunamis approach shallow water, however, the wave amplitude increases (conservation
of energy). The waves may occasionally reach a height of 20 to 30 metres above mean sea level
in U- and V-shaped harbours and inlets (funneling effect).

2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami

Tsunami or the Harbour wave struck havoc in the Indian Ocean on the 26th of
December 2004. The wave was the result of earthquake that had its epicenter
near western boundary of Sumatra.
The magnitude of the earthquake was 9.0 on the Richter scale. Indian plate
went under the Burma plate, there was a sudden movement of the sea floor,
causing the earthquake.
The ocean floor was displaced by about 10 – 20m and tilted in a downwardly
direction. A huge mass of ocean water flowed to fill in the gap that was being
created by the displacement. This marked the withdrawal of the water mass
from the coastlines of the landmasses in the south and Southeast Asia.
After thrusting of the Indian plate below the Burma plate, the water mass
rushed back towards the coastline as tsunami.

Tsunami waves
 Tsunami traveled at a speed of about 800 km. per hour, comparable to speed of commercial
aircraft and completely washed away some of the islands in the Indian ocean.
 The Indira point in the Andaman and Nicobar islands that marked the southernmost point of
India got completely submerged.
 As the wave moved from earthquake epicenter from Sumatra towards the Andaman Islands and
Sri Lanka the wave length decreased with decreasing depth of water. The travel speed also
declined from 700- 900 km. per hour to less than 70 km. per hour.
 Tsunami waves traveled up to a depth of 3 km from the coast killing more than 10,000 people
and affected more than lakh of houses. In India, the worst affected were the coastal areas of
Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

TSUNAMI EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

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 The time the Tsunami takes to reach the mainland region is about 2 hours. So if we provide early
warning within 10 minutes of the occurrence of the earthquake, there will be a time of 1 hour 50
minutes to evacuate people from the coastal region.
 People have to go to higher grounds and if ships are stationed at the ports, they will have to go
into the sea which can be easily done within 1 hour 50 minutes.
 INCOIS is developing 3D GIS mapping in vulnerable coastal areas to have new early warning
systems for tsunamis in the eastern coast of India.
i. This will be extended to other vulnerable areas of the Indian coasts. There is a standard
operating procedure to deal with Tsunami activities which are established by Tsunami
warning centre at Hyderabad.
ii. This information is passed on to National Disaster Management Authority within 10
minutes of occurrence of earthquake. The coastal states administrators have been trained to
provide the help required for the people living in the coastal region.
iii. There are periodic awareness programmes in the coastal region and people will be taught
what to do when the Tsunami occurs.
 The situation of the 1999 Orissa Cyclone was totally different from present situation. There was
no predictive capability to give early warnings. Now there are 12 kms high resolution models to
give forecasts for cyclones 5 days in advance.
 We were able to see 10 days in advance that the Vardha cyclone would hit the Chennai coast.
This has helped to take necessary precautions and save human lives.
 In 2010 there was National Disaster Management Guidelines which emphasised on advanced
systems like Topography, GIS database and remote sensing data.
i. Tsunami warning system is a system of systems where it requires various branches of
science and technology to develop the system and make it operational.
ii. We require data from satellites, ocean observation systems, ships, and good communication
to generate tsunami forecast. During 2004 Tsunami all the communication lines failed except
radio.
iii. Radio was the only medium of communication between all the affected areas. Today in the
event of failure of telephone communication, there is satellite communication to the
vulnerable areas.

Taking care of vulnerable population during Tsunami

 The known fact which is acknowledged by UNICEF and WHO is that in any disaster the most
affected victims are women and children. Data shows that children’s die 3 times more than
others.
 National Disaster Management Authority and the National Disaster Response Force have
necessary infrastructure to take care of the vulnerable people such as women, children and
elderly people.

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
 The ocean processes have no political boundaries. If something happens in Indonesia can affect
India. So we need to have good International cooperation and sharing of information to deal
with natural disasters that occur in oceans.

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 Observation setup at different parts of Indian Ocean region would be required to give an exact
early warning. The international cooperation is being organised by UNESCO.
 About 98 per cent of the total crust of the earth is composed of eight elements like:
o oxygen (47%),
o silicon (28%),
o aluminum (8%),
o iron(5%),
o calcium,
o sodium,
o potassium and
o magnesium.

ROCKS
 The Earth’s outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rocks which are generally classified into
three types
o Igneous rocks
o Sedimentary rocks
o Metamorphic rocks
 The structure and composition of rocks change over time, causing one type of rock to be
reclassified as another. The study of rocks is called petrology.

IGNEOUS ROCKS
 Igneous rocks are rocks which form from the cooling and solidification of magma. Crystallization
of magma and lava leads to formation of igneous rocks.
 They are the results of volcanic processes. The magma can be derived from melts of pre-existing
rocks in either the crust or mantle. Typically, rocks
 Ultramafic rocks: lowest silicon content, with more than 90% of mafic minerals. Igneous rocks
can be of two types:
o Intrusive (plutonic) rocks
o Extrusive (volcanic) rocks
 Igneous rocks make up about 90% of the Earth’s crust. However, they are hidden from the
surface by a thin layer of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks. They can be seen at mid oceanic
ridges, areas of volcanism and intra-plate hotspots .
 They are crystalline and impervious and are resistant to erosion and weathering. Since igneous
rocks come from the mantle, the minerals and chemistry of igneous rocks give information
about the composition of the mantle. Their features are characteristic of a particular tectonic
environment, allowing reconstitution of tectonic conditions.
 Mineralogical composition of igneous rocks- They host important mineral deposits such as
uranium, tungsten, tin, chromium, platinum.
o Felsic rock: highest content of silicon with predominance of quartz and feldspar. These
rocks are usually light coloured and have low density.
o Mafic rock: lesser content of silicon, predominance of mafic minerals (manganese and iron).
These rocks are usually dark coloured and have higher density than felsic rocks.

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Mineral Composition of Igneous Rocks

Serial No. Elements By Weight (%)
1. Oxygen 46.6
2. Silicon 27.72
3. Aluminium 8.13
4. Iron 5.00
5. Calcium 3.63
6. Sodium 2.83
7. Potassium 2.59
8. Magnesium 2.09
9. Others 1.41

1. Intrusive igneous rocks (plutonic rocks)

i. Intrusive igneous rocks are formed from magma that cools and solidifies within the crust
ii. These rocks are coarse-grained. Mineral grains in these rocks can be identified by the naked
eye.
iii. The central cores of most mountain ranges are made of intrusive rocks (usually granite).
These large formations of intrusive rocks are called batholiths.
iv. Examples of intrusive igneous rocks include granite and diorite.

2. Extrusive igneous rocks (volcanic rocks)

i. Extrusive igneous rocks are formed at the surface, from magma released into the surface
from volcanic eruptions.
ii. Extrusive rocks cool and solidify quicker than intrusive and are fine grained in nature.
iii. Examples of extrusive rocks include basalt and rhyolite.

3. Large Igneous Province (LIP)

i. Large Igneous Provinces are extremely large accumulations of igneous rocks (both intrusive
and extrusive). They refer to igneous rocks extending over 100,000 sq km, that formed in a
short geological time scale of a few million years or less
ii. LIPs usually consist of basalt and rhyolite rocks When created, they often have an area of
few million sq km and volume on the order of a million cubic km. Majority of the LIP’s
volume is emplaced in less than a million years.
iii. They are postulated to arise from hotspots of linear chains of volcanoes and are often linked
to mass extinction events. This is said to arise from the enormous quantities of sulphuric
acid released into the atmosphere, the subsequent global cooling and absorption of oceanic
oxygen.
iv. The Deccan Traps, one of the largest volcanic features on Earth, is an example of a Large
Igneous Province. The Traps consist of multiple layers of basalt, more than 2 km thick and
cover an area over 500,000 sq km, and were formed as a result of volcanic eruptions in the
Western Ghats about 66 million years ago.

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v. It is believed that the enormous volcanic eruptions led to global cooling of around 2C, and
were instrumental in the mass extinction of non-avian dinosaurs.

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
 Sedimentary rock is the type of rock formed sedimentation of material. This sedimentation can
occur on the Earth’s surface or within bodies of water. Sedimentary rocks form the thin
outermost layer of the earth’s crust, making up about 5% of the total volume of the crust
 Sedimentary rocks are deposited in strata called bedding. Examples of sedimentary rocks include
coal, shale, sandstone, limestone.
 Study of sedimentary rocks provides information about subsurface, which is important in civil
engineering for construction of roads, bridges etc. It serves as the main source of scientific
knowledge about the Earth’s geological history.
 Sedimentary rocks are also important sources of natural resources like fossil fuels, water, ores
etc. Sedimentary rocks are the only rocks that contain fossils. Sedimentary rocks contains
fossils because, unlike igneous and metamorphic rocks, they form at temperatures and
pressures that do not destroy fossils.

Composition of sedimentary rocks

 Most sedimentary rocks contain either quartz or calcite.
 Unlike igneous and metamorphic rocks, sedimentary rocks do not contain multiple major
minerals.
 Carbonate rocks contain carbonate minerals like calcite, aragonite or dolomite.
 Siliclastic rocks contain silica- bearing minerals like quartz.

1. Clastic sedimentary rocks

i. Clastic rocks are composed of fragments, called clasts, of pre- existing rocks. They are those
that are formed from rocks that have been broken down due to weathering, which are then
transported and deposited elsewhere.
ii. Clastic sedimentary rocks come in various grain sizes. They range from fine clay in shales, to
sand in sandstone and gravel, cobbles and boulder size fragments in conglomerates and
breccias.
iii. Conglomerates are clastic sedimentary rocks with rounded fragments, while breccias consist
of clasts with angular fragments. Both conglomerates and breccias contain clasts larger
than sand (> 2 mm). Examples include shale, sandstone, siltstone.

2. Organic sedimentary rocks

i. Organic sedimentary rocks contain materials generated by living organisms.
ii. They usually contain carbonate minerals generated by these organisms. Examples include
corals, chalk, coal and oil shale.

3. Chemical sedimentary rocks

i. Chemical sedimentary rocks are formed from minerals in solution that become
oversaturated.

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ii. They usually occur as a result of evaporation.

iii. Examples include limestone, barite, gypsum.

METAMORPHIC ROCKS
 Metamorphic rocks form as a result of transformation of an existing rock undergoing
recrystallization, in a process called metamorphism. The existing rock is called protolith.
Metamorphic rocks are formed when the protoliths are subject to extreme temperatures,
pressures and Volume changes (PVT Changes).
 They form from tectonic process, intrusion of magma, or simply by being deep beneath the
earth’s surface (being subject to high temperatures and pressures of rock layers above). Much of
the lower continental crust is metamorphic.
 Examples of metamorphic rocks include gneiss, slate, marble.

BANDED ROCKS
 In the process of metamorphism in some rocks grains or minerals get arranged in layers or lines.
Such an arrangement of minerals or grains in metamorphic rocks is called foliation or lineation.
 Sometimes minerals or materials of different groups are arranged into alternating thin to thick
layers appearing in light and dark shades. Such a structure in metamorphic rocks is called
banding and rocks displaying banding are called banded rocks.

Composition of metamorphic rocks

 Metamorphic rocks are composed of metamorphic minerals. They are those that form only at
high temperatures and pressures. These include sillimanite, kyanite, andalusite, staurolite and
garnet (all of which are silicates).
 Metamorphic rocks also contain smaller amounts of micas, feldspars and quartz. However, these
are not products of metamorphism, and are instead leftovers from the protoliths.
Contact metamorphic rocks
i. Contact metamorphic rocks are those that form when magma is injected into surrounding
rock
ii. The cooling magma leads to igneous rocks, and around this is a zone called contact
metamorphism aureole where metamorphic rocks are formed.
iii. The extreme temperatures cause sandstones to metamorphise into quartz, limestone into
marble and shale into cordierite.
iv. Igneous rocks are harder to transform than sedimentary rocks since they form at even
greater temperatures

Regional metamorphic rocks

i. Regional metamorphic rocks are those that form due to metamorphism over a wide area.
They tends to make rocks foliated.
ii. Regional metamorphic rocks tend to form at great depths simply under the temperature and
pressures of upper layers of rock.
iii. Continental crusts are examples of regional metamorphic rocks.

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What is a Rock Cycle?

 The Rock Cycle is a group of changes. Igneous rock can change into sedimentary rock or into
metamorphic rock. Sedimentary rock can change into metamorphic rock or into igneous rock.
Metamorphic rock can change into igneous or sedimentary rock.

 Endogenic and exogenic forces that cause physical stresses and chemical actions upon earth
materials and bring about changes in the surface configuration of the earth are known as
Geomorphic Processes. The Earth’s surface is continuously exposed to endogenic as well as
exogenic forces.

Important Definitions
Gradation Phenomenon of wearing down of relief variations of surface
of earth through erosion. Exogenic forces lead to either
degradation or aggradation.
Degradation : results in wearing down of relief or elevation
Aggradation: results in filling up of basins or depressions
Geomorphic agents Any exogenic element of nature which is capable of acquiring
and transporting earth material is an agent. Examples, water,
ice, wind.
Gravity Gravity is the force that keeps us in contact with the surface
and it is the force which triggers the movement of all surface
material on earth.
Also, all the movements either within the earth, or over
surface of the earth, occur due to gradients — from higher
levels to lower levels, or from high pressure to lower pressure
areas, etc.
Role of gravity Gravity is essentially a directional force which activates all
down-slope movements of matter, and causes stresses on
materials.

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Transportation and deposition of materials is possible due to

gravity and gradients, otherwise there would be no mobility
and erosion.
Gravitational stresses Forces acting along earth materials are sheer stresses ( force
applied per unit area). It breaks rocks and boulders. Sheer
stress results in angular displacement or slippage.
Indirect gravitational stresses lead to activation of wave and
tide induced currents and winds.
Therefore, gravitational stresses are as important as the
other geomorphic processes.
Molecular stresses They occur due to temperature changes, crystallization and
melting.
Climatic processes that control various processes are mainly-
temperature and precipitation.
Endogenic Processes These are processes emanating from the interior of Earth and
induce diastrophism and volcanism in the lithosphere.
They are mainly land building forces. They arise from
radioactivity, rotational friction, tidal friction and primordial
heat from the origin of the earth.
Exogenic Process These processes are mainly land wearing processes. They
derive their energy from atmospheric sources including the
Sun and gradients of tectonic factors.
Diastrophism These processes are studied under following heads:
(i) Orogenic processes
Mountain building through folding.
It affects long and narrow belts of the earth’s crust.
crust is deformed in form of folds.
(ii) Epeirogenic processes
Continent building process.
Involves simple deformation of crust.
Under this, uplift or warping of large parts of the earth’s crust
occurs
(iii) Earthquakes involve relatively local and minor
movements.
(iv) Plate tectonics involve horizontal movements of crustal
plates.
All the above four processes exhibit characteristics which
induce metamorphism of rocks.

WEATHERING AND EROSION

WEATHERING

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 Weathering is defined as mechanical disintegration and chemical decomposition of rocks

through the actions of various elements of weather and climate. It is in-situ (on site) process.
Climate is main factor, also topography and vegetation.
 There are three types of weathering processes:
o Chemical;
o Physical/ Mechanical;
o Biological weathering processes.

1. Solution –
i. Soluble rock-form in minerals like nitrates, sulphates, potassium are dissolved in water from
solid and disintegrate.
ii. These leave rainy climates and accumulate in dry regions and areas. Calcium carbonate and
calcium bicarbonate are present in limestone which soluble in carbonic acid (carbon dioxide
and water) .
iii. Sodium chloride is also susceptible to solubility.

2. Carbonation –
i. Reaction of carbonate and bicarbonate with minerals and breaks down feldspar and
carbonate minerals.
ii. Calcium carbonates and magnesium carbonates are dissolved in carbonic acid and these are
removed in solution without residue resulting in cave formation.
3. Hydration –
i. Chemical addition of water. Minerals take up water and expand.
ii. Calcium sulfate takes in water and turns to gypsum which is more unstable than calcium
sulfate. It is reversible process.
4. Oxidation and reduction –
i. Oxidation is combination of a mineral with oxygen to form oxides or hydroxide.
ii. When ready access to atmospheric oxygen and water. Iron, manganese, sulphur, etc.
Breakdown of minerals occurs due to the disturbance caused by addition of oxygen.
iii. Red colour of iron, on oxidation turns brown or yellow, and on reduction turns to greenish
grey. When oxidized minerals are exposed to an environment where oxygen is absent,
reduction takes place.

Physical weathering

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 It is caused by thermal expansion and pressure release. when repeated, cause continued fatigue
of the rock.
 Applied forces:
o gravitational forces: overburden pressure, load and shearing stress.
o expansion forces: due to temperature changes, crystal growth or animal activity.
o water pressures are controlled by wetting and drying cycles.
1. Unloading and Expansion
i. Exfoliation sheets resulting from expansion due to unloading and pressure release may
measure hundreds or even thousands of meters in horizontal extent.
ii. Fractures develop roughly parallel to the ground surface.
iii. Large, smooth rounded domes formed due to unloading called exfoliation domes.
2. Temperature changes and Exapansion
i. This is most effective and evident in dry climates and high elevations where diurnal
temperature changes are drastic.
ii. Surface layer expands more than the rock beneath and leads to formation of stress within
rock resulting in heaving and fractuing parallel to square.
iii. In granites, tors (smooth surfaced and small rounded) form due to such exfoliation that
occurs due to thermal expansion.
3. Freezing, thawing and frost wedging
i. Due to growth of ice within pores and cracks of rocks during repeated cycles of freezing and
melting. High elevations in mid-latitudes.
ii. Glacial areas have frost wedging daily.
4. Salt weathering
i. Salts expand due to thermal action, hydration,crystallization. Expansion depend on
temperature and their thermal properties.
ii. Calcium, sodium , magnesium , potassium, barium have tendency to expand. 30-50 degree
Celsius surface temperature in deserts is favourable.
iii. Granular disintegration or foliation is observed in salt weathering. Salt crystallization is most
effective in this category. Areas with alternate wetting and drying conditions favour salt
crystal growth.
iv. Chalk breaks most readily, then Limestone, sandstone, shale, gnesiss, and granite, etc.

Biological weathering
 Due to growth and movement of organisms.
 Burrowing, wedging by earthworms, termites, rodents, etc.
 Expose new surfaces to chemical attack decaying plants and animals matter produce humic,
carbonic acid. Plant roots exert pressure mechanically.

EROSION
 In earth science, erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that
removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth’s crust, and then
transport it away to another location (not to be confused with weathering which involves no
movement).

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What does Running Water do?

 Running water, which doesn’t need any further explanation, has two components: one is
overland flow on the general land surface as a sheet and the other is linear flow as streams and
rivers in valleys.
 The overland flow causes sheet erosion and depending upon the irregularities of the land
surface, the overland flow may concentrate into narrow to wide paths. During the sheet erosion,
minor or major quantities of materials from the surface of the land are removed in the direction
of flow and gradual small and narrow rills will form.
 These rills will gradually develop into long and wide gullies, the gullies will further deepen,
widen and lengthen and unite to give rise to a network of valleys. (Note: A valley can be formed
in various ways like faulting, but here we are dealing only with the formation by means of
exogenic geomorphic agent). Once a valley is formed, it later develops into a stream or river.

Courses of a river
 A river, which is the best example of the linear flow of running water through a valley, can be
divided into three, on the basis of its course – upper course, middle course and lower course.
1. Upper Course / Stage of Youth (Erosion dominates):
i. It starts from the source of the river in hilly or mountain. The river flows down the steep
slope and, as a result, its velocity and eroding power are at their maximum.
ii. Streams are few, with poor integration. As the river flows down with high velocity, vertical
erosion or downward cutting will be high which results in the formation of V-Shaped
Valleys.
iii. Waterfalls, rapids, and gorges exist where the local hard rock bodies are exposed.
2. Middle Course/ Stage of Maturity (Transportation dominates):
i. In this stage, vertical erosion slowly starts to replace with lateral erosion or erosion from
both sides of the channel. Thus, the river channel causes the gradual disappearance of its V-
shaped valley (not completely).
ii. Streams are plenty at this stage with good integration. Wider flood plains start to visible in
this course and the volume of water increases with the confluence of many tributaries.
iii. The work of river predominantly becomes transportation of the eroded materials from the
upper course (little deposition too). Landforms like alluvial fans, piedmont alluvial plains,
meanders etc. can be seen at this stage.
3. Lower Course/ Stage of Old (Deposition dominates):
i. The river starts to flow through a broad, level plain with heavy debris brought down from
upper and middle courses. Vertical erosion has almost stopped and lateral erosion still goes
on.
ii. The work of the river is mainly deposition, building up its bed and forming an extensive flood
plain.
iii. Landforms like braided channels, floodplains, levees, meanders, oxbow lakes, deltas etc. can
be seen at this stage.

Running water: erosion, transportation, and deposition

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 Erosion occurs when overland flow moves soil particles downslope. The rock materials carried by
erosion is the load of the river.
 This load acts as a grinding tool helping in cutting the bottom and sides of the river bed, resulting
in deepening and widening of the river channel.

Erosion Types
 The work of river erosion is accomplished in different ways, all of which may operate together.
They are corrasion, corrosion, hydraulic action etc.
i. Corrasion or Abration: As the rock particles bounce, scrape and drag along the bottom and
sides of the river, they break off additional rock fragments. This form of erosion is called
corrasion or abration. They are two types: vertical corrosion which acts downward and
lateral corrosion which acts on both sides.
ii. Corrosion or Solution: This is the chemical or solvent action of water on soluble or partly
soluble rocks with which the river water comes in contact.
iii. Hydraulic Action: This is the mechanical loosening and sweeping away of material by the
sheer force or river water itself. No load or material is involved in this process.
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TRANSPORTATION TYPES
 After erosion, the eroded materials get transported with the running water. This transportation
of eroded materials is carried in four ways:
1. Traction:
i. The heavier and larger rock fragments like gravels, pebbles etc are forced by the flow of the
river to roll along its bed.
ii. These fragments can be seen rolling, slipping, bumping and being dragged. This process is
called as traction and the load transported in this way are called traction load.
2. Saltation:
i. Some of the fragments of the rocks move along the bed of a stream by jumping or bouncing
continuously.
ii. This process is called as saltation.
3. Suspension:
i. The holding up of small particles of sand, silt and mud by the water as the stream flows is
called suspension.
4. Solution:
i. Some parts of the rock fragments dissolved in the river water and transported. This type of
transportation is called solution transportation.
ii. When the stream comes down from the hills to plain areas with the eroded and transported
materials, the absence of slope/gradient causes the river to lose it energy to further carry
those transported materials.
iii. As a result, the load of the river starts to settle down which is termed as deposition.
iv. Erosion, transportation, and deposition continue until the slopes are almost completely
flattened leaving finally a lowland of faint relief called peneplains with some low resistant
remnants called monadnocks.

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EROSIONAL LANDFORMS DUE TO RUNNING WATER

1. Valleys, Gorges, Canyon
i. Valleys are formed as a result of running water. The rills which are formed by the overland
flow of water later develop into gullies. These gullies gradually deepen and widen to form
valleys.
ii. A gorge is a deep valley with very steep to straight sides. A canyon is characterized by steep
step-like side slopes and may be as deep as a gorge.
iii. A gorge is almost equal in width at its top as well as bottom and is formed in hard rocks
while a canyon is wider at its top than at its bottom and is formed in horizontal bedded
sedimentary rocks.
2. Potholes, Plunge pools
i. Potholes are more or less circular depressions over the rocky beds of hills streams.
ii. Once a small and shallow depression forms, pebbles and boulders get collected in those
depressions and get rotated by flowing water. Consequently, the depressions grow in
dimensions to form potholes.
iii. Plunge pools are nothing but large, deep potholes commonly found at the foot of a
waterfall. They are formed because of the sheer impact of water and rotation of boulders.
3. Incised or Entrenched Meanders
i. They are very deep wide meanders (loop-like channels) found cut in hard rocks.
ii. In the course of time, they deepen and widen to form gorges or canyons in hard rock.
iii. The difference between a normal meander and an incised/entrenched meander is that the
latter found on hard rocks.
4. River Terraces
i. They are surfaces marking old valley floor or flood plains. They are basically the result of
vertical erosion by the stream.
ii. When the terraces are of the same elevation on either side of the river, they are called as
paired terraces.
iii. When the terraces are seen only on one side with none on the other or one at quite a
different elevation on the other side, they are called as unpaired terraces.

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DEPOSITIONAL LANDFORMS DUE TO RUNNING WATER

1. Alluvial Fans
i. They are found in the middle course of a river at the foot of slope/ mountains. When the
stream moves from the higher level break into foot slope plain of low gradient, it loses its
energy needed to transport much of its load.
ii. Thus, they get dumped and spread for three reasons:
o propensity of water flowing over very gentle gradient to work laterally on the banks
o unconsolidated nature of alluvial deposits making up the bank with many irregularities;
o coriolis force acting on fluid water deflecting it like deflecting the wind.
2. Deltas
i. Deltas are like an alluvial fan but develop at a different location. They are found in the
mouth of the river, which is the final location of depositional activity of a river.
ii. Unlike alluvial fans, the deposits making up deltas are very well sorted with clear
stratification.
iii. The coarser material settle out first and the finer materials like silt and clay are carried out
into the sea.
3. Flood Plains, Natural Levees
i. Deposition develops a flood plain just as erosion makes valleys. A riverbed made of river
deposits is the active flood plain and the flood plain above the bank of the river is the
inactive flood plain.
ii. Natural levees are found along the banks of large rivers. They are low, linear and parallel
ridges of coarse deposits along the banks of a river.
iii. The levee deposits are coarser than the deposits spread by flood water away from the river.
4. Meanders and oxbow lakes
i. Meanders are loop-like channel patterns develop over the flood and delta plains. They are
actually not a landform but only a type of channel pattern formed as a result of deposition.
ii. The concave bank of a meander is known as cut-off bank and the convex bank is known as a
slip-off. As meanders grow into deep loops, the same may get cut-off due to erosion at the
inflection point and are left as oxbow lakes.
iii. For large rivers, the sediments deposited in a linear fashion at the depositional side of a
meander are called as Point Bars or Meander Bars.
5. Braided Channels
i. When selective deposition of coarser materials causes the formation of a central bar, it
diverts the flow of river towards the banks, which increases lateral erosion.
ii. Similarly, when more and more such central bars are formed, braided channels are formed.
iii. Riverine Islands are the result of braided channels.

Karst Geomorphology
 Landforms produced by chemical weathering or chemical erosion of carbonate rocks by surface
and subsurface water are called Karst topography; characteristic features similar to the Karst
region of the erstwhile Yugoslavia.
 Essential conditions for its formation are:
o limestone must be massive,

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o thickly bedded
o hard and tenacious
o well cemented
o well jointed
 Limestone should not be porous wherein permeability is largely controlled by joints and not by
the mass of rocks because if limestone is porous, the water may pass through the rock mass and
thus the whole rock mass will become weak and will collapse.
 The position of limestone should be above the groundwater table so that the surface drainage
may disappear through sinks, blind valleys and sinking creeks to have subterranean drainage so
that caves and associated features may be formed.
 The limestone should be highly folded or fractured or faulted. There should be enough rainfall so
that required amount of water is available to dissolve carbonate rocks.

Erosional landforms:
 Lappies: the highly corrugated and rough surface of limestone lithology characterized by low
ridges and pinnacles, narrow clefts and numerous solution holes
 Solution holes and the associated features- sink holes, swallow holes, dolines, uvalas and poljes

Depositional Landforms:
 Major- Stalactites, stalagmites, Cave pillars
 Minor- Drip stones, Drapes, Flow stones and Cave Pearls

*****

4. OCEANOGRAPHY
 We know that our earth is the only planet in the solar system which has water in abundance;
hence, it is often called as ‘water planet’.
 About 71% of the earth’s surface is covered by water (3/5th of Northern Hemisphere and 4/5th of
Southern Hemisphere is covered by water).
 Similar to the continental landforms-mountains-plateaus- plains/landforms which have been
discussed in previous articles, oceans also contain a variety of landforms.

RELIEF OF THE OCEAN BASINS

 Ocean relief is largely due to tectonic, volcanic, erosional and depositional processes and their
interactions. Ocean relief features are divided into major and minor relief features.
MAJOR RELIEF FEATURES
1. Continental Shelf

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i. There is no clear or well-defined line separating oceans from the continent. In fact,
continents do not end abruptly at the shoreline. They slope seaward from coast to a point
where the slope becomes very steep. Gradient of continental is of 1° or even less.
ii. Continental Shelf of all oceans together cover 7.5% of the total area of the oceans. This
shallow submerged extension of the continent is called as the Continental Shelf. The depth
usually ranges from 120 to 370 meters from the surface water. Their width also varies from a
few kilometers to more than 100 kilometers.
iii. This variation can be seen even in the context of the Indian peninsula. The continental shelf
of the western coast of India is much wider than that of the eastern coast. They are much
narrow or absent in some continents, particularly where Fold Mountains run parallel or close
to the coast.
iv. The shallow water over the shelf enables sunlight to penetrate through the water to the
bottom and encourages the growth of microscopic plants and animals called planktons,
which are the food for fishes.
v. Continental Shelves are of greater importance to man. They are the sources of fishes,
minerals including sand and gravel, etc. A large quantity of world’s petroleum and natural
gas are obtained from the shelves.
vi. Coral reefs are also common on continental shelves. One of the striking features of the
continental shelf is the presence of submarine canyons which extend to the continental
slope. These canyons are ‘steep-sided valleys’ cut into the floor of the seas.
vii. They are very similar to the gorges found on the continents. One of the reasons for the
formation of the submarine canyon is the underwater landslide. The continental shelf is
generally considered to be territorial water extents of the nations to which it adjoins.
viii. Examples: Continental Shelf of South-East Asia, Great Banks around Newfoundland,
Submerged region between Australia and New Guinea.

2. Continental Slope
i. The continuous sloping portion of the continental margin, seaward of the continental shelf
and extending down to the deep sea floor of the abyssal plain, is known as Continental
Slope. It extends between the depths of 180m to 3600m.
ii. They have very little deposits of sediments on them due to their steepness and increasing
distance from the land. Sea life is also far less here than on the shelf. The seaward edge of
the continental slope loses gradient at this depth and gives rise to continental rise.
iii. The continental slope boundary indicates the end of the continents. Canyons and trenches
are observed in this region.
3. Continental Rise
i. The continental slope gradually loses its steepness with depth. When the slope reaches a
level of between 0.5° and 1°, it is referred to as the continental rise.
ii. With increasing depth the rise becomes virtually flat and merges with the abyssal plain.
4. Abyssal Plain
i. Abyssal plains are the extremely flat and featureless plains of the deep ocean floor. Abyssal
plains are considered as the levelest areas on the earth. They cover a major portion of the
ocean floors between the depths of 3000m to 6000m.

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ii. Abyssal plains are as irregular as the continental plains with submarine plateaus, hills,
guyots, and seamounts. The floor of the abyssal plain is covered by sediments. The
sediments which are formed from the remains of living things are called Oozes.
iii. Oozes can be seen in those seas which favour an abundant growth of organisms. Another
type of sediments is red clay which is of volcanic origin or made up of tiny particles brought
by wind and rivers.

MINOR RELIEF FEATURES

1. Submarine Ridges
i. The oceanic mountains are called as submarine ridges. They are linear belts occurring near
the middle of the oceans and are also called mid-oceanic ridges.
ii. The oceanic ridge is the site of frequent earthquakes. Volcanism is common in ocean ridges
and it produces many relief features.
iii. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is the largest continuous submerged mountain ridge which runs from
north to south in the Atlantic Ocean. At some places, the peaks rise above the sea surface to
form Islands.
2. Seamounts and Guyots
i. Submerged volcanoes with sharp tops are called as seamounts. Sometimes they rise above
the sea as isolated islands.
ii. Hawaii and Tahiti Islands are such exposed tops of volcanoes. Seamounts with a flattened
top are called as Guyots or Tablemounts.
3. The Ocean Deeps/ Submarine Trenches
i. The ocean deeps are the deepest part of the ocean. They are generally called submarine
trenches. These trenches are not always located in the middle of the ocean basins.
ii. They may be very close or parallel to the continents bordered by Fold Mountains. They are
usually found adjacent to the areas of volcanic and earthquake activity. Great earthquakes
and tsunamis are born in them.
iii. The Pacific Ocean has the largest number of trenches. The Mariana trench in the Pacific
Ocean is the deepest known part of the world.

TEMPERATURE AND SALINITY

 Salinity is defined as the total amount of solid material in grams contained in one kilogram of sea
water and is expressed as parts per thousands. The maximum amount of salt is common salt i.e.
Sodium Chloride, which is followed by Magnesium Chloride.
 The oceanic salinity is not only affects the marine organism and plant community but it also
affects the physical properties of the oceans such as temperature, density, pressure, waves and
currents.
 Most of the salinity of the sea comes from the dissolved material that originates from land and
was carried by the rain, running water, ground water, wind, sea waves, glaciers etc.

MAJOR SALTS
Salt % (parts per thousand)
Sodium Chlroide 2.6

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Magnesium Chloride 0.3

Magnesium Sulphate 0.2
Calcium Sulphate 0.1
Potassium Chloride 0.1
Potassium Bromide 0.001
Others 0.001

 Some of the salts come from the deeper layers of earth. Volcanic lava, dead organic matters also
contribute in the Ocean salinity. The salinity of the ocean water depends upon the following:
o Evaporation
o Temperature
o Precipitation
o Influx of Freshwater
o Atmospheric Pressure
o Circulation of Ocean water

1. Evaporation
i. Maximum salinity (37%) is observed between 20° N and 30° N and 20° W – 60° W. The
salinity gradually decreases towards the north. It sometimes reaches up to 70% in the hot
and dry regions where evaporation is high.
ii. The salinity variation in the Pacific Ocean is largely due to its shape and larger areal stretch.
In the landlocked Red Sea the salinity is 41% which considerably high. The salinity in the
estuaries and the Arctic varies from 0 – 35% , seasonally.
iii. Due to the influx of melted water from the Arctic region, the salinity decreases from 35% –
31% on the western parts of the northern hemisphere. The North Sea records higher salinity
due to more saline water brought by the North Atlantic Drift despite its location in higher
latitudes.
iv. Due to the influx of river waters in the large amount, the Baltic Sea records low salinity. The
Mediterranean Sea accounts for the higher salinity due to high evaporation. Salinity is very
low in the Black Sea due to massive freshwater influx by rivers.
v. The average salinity of the Indian Ocean is 35%. The low salinity trend in the Bay of Bengal is
due to the influx of river water. But the Arabian Sea displays higher salinity due to low influx
of fresh water and high evaporation.
vi. On the basis of latitudinal distribution of salinity four zones of ocean salinity may be
identified e.g.
o Equatorial zones of relatively low salinity (due to excessive rainfall)
o Tropical zone (20-30N) of maximum salinity (due to low rainfall and high evaporation)
o Temperate zone of low salinity
o Sub polar and polar zone of minimum salinity Higher the rate of evaporation, higher is
salinity.
vii. The Highest evaporation has been recorded along the tropic of Cancer and that is one of the
reasons that region of Red Sea and Persian Gulf has one of the highest salinity. Another
reason is that enclosed seas tend to have more salinity in their water.

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2. Temperature
i. There is a direct relationship between ocean temperature and salinity.
ii. So the warmer parts are more saline and frigid parts are less saline.
3. Precipitation
i. Precipitation is inversely related to salinity. Higher is the precipitation, lower is the
proportion of salinity.
ii. The equatorial region records highest rainfall and that it is why it has low salinity in
comparison to those which are near to tropics.
4. Influx of Freshwater
i. Low salinity will be found at the mouth of rivers. This salinity is minimum in the raining
season.
ii. High pressure areas have high salinity and vice versa. Ocean currents play a major role in
distribution of salinity.

Horizontal Distribution of Salinity

 The salinity for normal Open Ocean ranges between 33% and 37%.
 The highest salinity is recorded between 15° and 20° latitudes.

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 (compare this with thermocline),
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.

TEMPERATURE OF OCEAN WATERS

The factors which affect the distribution of temperature of ocean water are :
1. Latitude:
i. The temperature of surface water decreases from the equator towards the poles because
the amount of insolation decreases poleward.
2. Unequal distribution of land and water:
i. The oceans in the northern hemisphere receive more heat due to their contact with larger
extent of land than the oceans in the southern hemisphere.
3. Prevailing wind:
i. 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.

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ii. 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.
4. Ocean currents:
i. Warm ocean currents raise the temperature in cold areas while the cold currents decrease
the temperature in warm ocean areas.
ii. 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.
iii. 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. 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 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 characterized by
rapid decrease in temperature with increasing depth. The thermocline is 500 -1,000 m thick.
 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 oceans in the northern 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. 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.

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 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.

MOVEMENTS OF OCEAN WATER

 The major movements of the ocean waters can be classified into three. They are:
1. WAVES
i. Waves are nothing but the oscillatory movements that result in the rise and fall of water
surface.
ii. Waves are a kind of horizontal movements of the ocean water. They are actually the energy,
not the water as such, which moves across the ocean surface. This energy for the waves is
provided by the wind.
iii. In a wave, the movement of each water particle is in a circular manner. A wave has two
major parts: the raised part is called as the crest while the low-point is called as the trough.
2. TIDES
i. Tide are the periodical rise and fall of the sea levels, once or twice a day, caused by the
combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the sun, the moon and the rotation
of the earth.
ii. They are a vertical movement of waters and are different from movements of ocean water
caused by meteorological effects like the winds and atmospheric pressure changes. (Note:
The water movements which are caused by the meteorological effects like the said above
are called as surges and they are not regular like tides.)
iii. The moon’s gravitational pull to a great extent is the major cause of the occurrence of tides.
Sun’s gravitational pull and the centrifugal force due to the rotation of earth are the other
forces which act along with the moon’s gravitational pull. The highest tides in the world
occur in the Bay of Fundi in Canada.
iv. When the tide is channeled between islands or into bays and estuaries, they are termed as
Tidal Currents. The regular interval between two high or two low tides is 12 hours 25
minutes.
3. OCEAN CURRENTS
i. Ocean current has been defined as the persistent, dominantly horizontal flow of ocean
water. It is the general movement of a mass of oceanic water in a definite direction which is
more or less similar to water streams (rivers).
ii. Ocean currents flow for great distances, and together, create the global conveyor belt which
plays a dominant role in determining the climate of many of the Earth’s regions. Primarily,
ocean currents influence the temperature of the regions through which they travel.

TYPES OF TIDES
1. Tides based on the frequency
i. Semi-diurnal Tide: They are the most common tidal pattern, featuring two high tides and
two low tides each day.
ii. Diurnal Tides: Only one high tide and one low tide each day.

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iii. Mixed Tide: Tides having variations in heights are known as mixed tides. They generally
occur along the west coast of North America.
iv. A flow tide or a flood tide is a rising tide or incoming tide which results in a high tide. It is
thus the time period between a low tide and a high tide (i.e., the rising time).
v. Ebb Tide is the receding or outgoing tide. It is the period between high tide and low tide
during which water flows away from the shore.

2. Tides based on the sun, the moon, and the earth’s positions
i. Spring Tides: When the sun, the moon, and the earth are in a straight line, the height of the
tide will be higher than normal. These are called as a spring tides. They occur twice in a
month-one on the full moon (Poornima) and the other on the new moon (Amavasya).
ii. Neap Tides: Normally after seven days of a spring tide, the sun and the moon become at a
right angle to each other with respect to the earth. Thus, the gravitational forces of the sun
and the moon tend to counteract one another. The tides during this period will be lower
than the normal which are called as the neap tides. They also occur twice in a month- during
the first quarter moon and the last quarter moon.

Magnitude of Tides
 The in and out movement of water into a gulf through a channels called a tidal current. When a
tide enters the narrow and shallow estuary of a river, the front of the tidal wave appears to be
vertical owing to the piling up of water of the river against the tidal wave and the friction of the
river bed.
 The steep-nosed tide crest looks like a vertical wall of-water rushing upstream and is known as a
tidal bore. The favorable conditions for tidal bore include strength of the incoming tidal wave,
slim and depth of the channel and the river flow.
 There are exceptions. The Amazon River is the largest river in the world. It empties into the
Atlantic Ocean. The mouth of the Amazon is not narrow, but the river still has a strong tidal
bore. A tidal bore develops here because the mouth of the river is shallow and dotted by many
low-lying islands and sand bars.
 In India, tidal bores are common in the Hooghly river. Most powerful tidal bores occur in
Qiantang River in China. The name ‘bore’ is because of the sound the tidal current makes when
it travels through narrow channels.
 Bores occur in relatively few locations worldwide, usually in areas with a large tidal range,
typically more than 6 metres (20 ft) between high and low water.
 A tidal bore takes place during the flood tide and never during the ebb tide (Tidal bores almost
never occur during neap tides. Neap tides happen during quarter moons, when tides are
weakest).

Perigee When the moon’s orbit is closest to the earth, it is called as

perigee. During this period, unusually high and low tide occur.
Apogee When the moon’s orbit is farthest from the earth, it is called
as apogee. Tidal ranges will be much less than the average
during this period.

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Perihelion It is the position where the earth is closest to the sun (around
January 3rd). Unusual high and low tides occur during this
time.
Aphelion It is the position where the earth is farthest from the sun
(around July 4th ). Tidal ranges are much less than the average
during this period.
Inter-Tidal Zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore and
seashore and sometimes referred to as the littoral zone, is
the area that is above water at low tide and under water at
high tide (i.e., the area between the tide-marks).

Impact of Tidal Bore

 Tides are stable and can be predicted. Tidal bores are less predictable and hence can be
dangerous. The tidal bores adversely affect the shipping and navigation in the estuarine zone.
 Tidal bores of considerable magnitude can capsize boats and ships of considerable size. Strong
tidal bores disrupt fishing zones in estuaries and gulfs.
 Tidal bores have an adverse impact on the ecology of the river mouth. They affected estuaries
are the rich feeding zones and breeding grounds of several forms of wildlife. Animals slammed
by the leading edge of a tidal wave can be buried
 Tides act as a link between the port and the open sea. Some of the major ports of the world,
such as London port on the river Thames and Kolkata port on river Hugli are located on the rivers
away from the sea coast.
 The tidal current clear away the river sediments and slows down the growth of delta. It increases
the depth of water which helps ships to move safely to the ports.
 It also acts as a source for producing electricity. in the silty water. For this reason, carnivores and
scavengers are common sights behind tidal bores.

Effects of tides
 Ocean current has been defined as the persistent, dominantly horizontal flow of ocean water. It
is the general movement of a mass of oceanic water in a definite direction which is more or less
similar to water streams (rivers).
 Ocean currents flow for great distances, and together, create the global conveyor belt which
plays a dominant role in determining the climate of many of the Earth’s regions. Primarily, ocean
currents influence the temperature of the regions through which they travel.

OCEAN CURRENTS
CAUSES OF OCEAN CURRENTS
1. Planetary Winds –
i. The water beneath the wind forms surface water current.
ii. The pushing action of these winds makes the water flow in definite direction.
2. Rotation of Earth –

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i. The earth rotates from the west to the east. As a result of the Coriolis force, the permanent
winds are deflected to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern
Hemisphere; consequently the ocean currents are also deflected in similar manner.
ii. The Counter equatorial Currents are also result of the rotation of the earth.
3. Configuration of Coastline–
i. The direction & shape of the coastline modify the ocean currents.
4. Ocean water temperature –
i. The temperature of ocean water decreases from equator towards the poles. The density of
water is low in the equatorial region due to high temperature.
ii. The lighter water of the equatorial region moves towards the colder and denser polar areas
and vice versa.
5. Ocean water salinity –
i. Ocean currents on the water surface are generated from the areas of low salinity to the
areas of high salinity.
ii. For example, ocean currents flow from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea and
from the Arabian Sea to the Red sea.
iii. Water in the polar region is cold and heavy, so it sinks and flows towards the equator.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF OCEAN CURRENTS

 The general movement of the currents in the northern hemisphere is clockwise and in the
southern hemisphere, anti-clockwise except for those currents seen in the northern Indian
Ocean.
 Here, the direction of the currents changes in response to the seasonal change in the direction
of monsoon winds. In the lower latitudes, the warm currents flow on the eastern shores and
cold on the western shores. The situation is reversed in the higher latitudes—the warm currents
move along the western shores and the cold currents along the eastern shores.
 The warm currents move towards the cold seas and cool currents towards the warm seas. The
currents flow not only at the surface but also below the sea surface. Such currents are caused by
the differences in salinity and temperature.

NAME NATURE SIGNIFICANCE

North & South Warm Current
Equatorial Current
Equatorial Counter Warm Current
Current
Gulf Stream Warm Current It increases the intensity of cyclones along the east
coast of the US.
The theoretical maximum energy dissipation from
Gulf Stream by turbines is in the range of 20-60 GW.
Ocean thermal energy could also be harnassed to
produce electricity utilising the temperature
difference between cold deep water and warm
surface water.
North Atlantic Drift Warm Current The relatively warm water of North Atlantic Drift

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responsible for moderating the climate of Western

Europe, so that winters are less cold than would
otherwise be expected at its latitude. Without the
warm drift, the UK and other places in Europe would
be as cold as Canada, at the same latitude.
Labrador Current Cold Current It meets the warm Gulf Stream at the Grand Banks
southeast of Newfoundland. The combination of
these two currents produces heavy fogs and has also
created one of the richest fishing grounds in the
world.
Canary Current Cold Current Due to the occurrence of upwelling of nutrient-rich
waters it plays a key role in stimulating primary
productivity. This has led to the enhancement of
coastal fisheries in western Morocco.
Brazil Current Warm Current
Falkland Current Cold Current
South Atlantic Drift Cold Current
Benguela Current Cold Current
Kuroshio Current Warm Current
Oyashio Current Cold Current It flows through the Bering Strait in southernly
direction and thus transports cold water of the Arctic
Sea into the Pacific Ocean.
The convergence of cold Oyashio current and warm
Kuroshio current causes dense fogs which become
hazards for navigation.
California Current Cold Current It is one of the five major coastal currents affiliated
with upwelling zones, the others being the Humboldt,
Canary, Benguela and the Somali Current. The cold
water is highly productive due to the upwelling,
which brings to the surafce nutrient-rich sediments,
supporting large population of whales, seabirds, and
important fisheries.
Peru/ Humboldt Cold Current The Humboldt Current Large Marine Ecosystem (LME)
Current is one of the most productive ecosystems in the
world as well as the largest upwelling system.
Approximately 18-20% of the world’s fish catch
comes from it.
Periodically, the upwelling that drives the system’s
productivity is disrupted by the El Nino Southern
Oscillation event.
The Humboldt has a considerable cooling influence
on the climate of Chile, Peru and Ecuador. It is also
largely responsible for the aridity of Atacama Desert
in northern Chile, coastal areas of Peru, and southern
Ecuador. Marine air is cooled by the current and thus
is not conducive to generating precipitation.
East Australia Warm Current

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CURRENTS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN

 The oceanic current systems in the Indian Ocean are affected by the contour of the landmass
and monsoon winds. The consistent system of ocean currents cannot be developed in Indian
Ocean as it is surrounded by the Indian subcontinent, Africa and Australia on three sides.
 The characteristic feature of the currents in the northern Indian Ocean is that there occurs
change in flow direction twice a year due to north- east and south-west monsoon winds.
1. Winter Circulation
i. Under the influence of prevailing trade winds [easterly trade winds], the north equatorial
current and the south equatorial current start from the south of Indonesian islands, moving
from east to west.
ii. This raises the level of western Indian (south-east of horn of Africa) ocean by few
centimeters. And this creates a counter-equatorial current which flows between the north
equatorial current and the south equatorial current in west- east direction.
iii. The north-east monsoons drive the water along the coast of Bay of Bengal to circulate in an
anti- clockwise direction. Similarly, the water along the coast of Arabian Sea also circulate in
an anti-clockwise circulation.
2. Summer Circulation – North Equatorial Current Counter- Equatorial Current are Absent
i. In summer, due to the effects of the strong south-west monsoon and the absence of the
north-east trades, a strong current flows from west to east, which completely obliterates
the north equatorial current. Hence, there is no counter-equatorial current as well.
ii. Thus, the circulation of water in the northern part of the ocean is clockwise during this
season.
3. Southern Indian Ocean Currents – Agulhas current, Mozambique current, West Australian
current
i. The general pattern of circulation in southern part of the Indian Ocean is quite similar to that
of southern Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is less marked by the seasonal changes. The south
equatorial current, partly led by the corresponding current of the Pacific Ocean, flows from
east to west.
ii. It splits into two branches, one flowing to the east of Madagascar known as Agulhas current
and the other between Mozambique and Western Madagascar coast known as Mozambique
current.
iii. At the southern tip of Madagascar, these two branches mix and are commonly called as the
Agulhas current. It still continues to be a warm current, till it merges with the West Wind
Drift.
iv. The West Wind Drift, flowing across the ocean in the higher latitudes from west to east,
reaches the southern tip of the west coast, of Australia.
v. One of the branches of this cold current turns northwards along the west coast of Australia.
This current, known as the West Australian current, flows northward to feed the south
equatorial current.

OCEAN DEPOSITS AND MARINE RESOURCES

OCEAN DEPOSITS

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 Ocean deposits are classified on the basis of:

o source of origin
o particle size.
 On the basis of source of origin, Ocean deposits are further classified as
Lithogenous/Terrigenous, Hydrogenous/ Authigenic, Biogenous (Ooze) and Cosmogenous.
1. Lithogeneous deposits
i. They are composed of sediments derived from the mechanical and chemical breakdown of
silicate rocks on land by the process of weathering; contain Gravel, Sand and Mud.

2. Hydrogenous Deposits
i. They are derived from the seawater itself by the chemical and biological processes. Such
deposits consist of carbonates, phosphorites, evaporites and Manganese nodules.
ii. Evaporites are formed when evaporation removes an appreciable amount of fresh water
from the solution and increases the concentration of salt causing some to precipitate out of
solution. They are likely to form in shallow seas, cut off from circulation with the ocean, e.g.
the dead sea or the Great Salt lake.
iii. Manganese nodules are the depositsof Mn, Fe, Cu, Co and Ni in theform of potato-shaped
nodules,scattered across the deep ocean floor.
iv. The elements that constitute the nodules were originally bought to the ocean by rivers and
by discharge of hydrothermal vents onthe ocean bottom.
v. Because of their slow growth, Mn nodules cannot reach any substantial size in areas
receiving large amounts of other sediments. In the Central Pacific, Mn nodules are quite
common. Zircon, monazite and rutile: west coast of India, coastal Brazil, Australia, New
Zealand and the USA.

3. Biogeneous deposit
i. They are contributed by the marine organisms of littoral and shallow water zones. The two
main sources of deep ocean sediments are the tiny skeletons or tests of micro-organisms
(oozes) and the very fine clays of continental origin that have been carried far out to the sea
by currents and winds ( Red Clays).
ii. Ooze and Red Clays are collectively known as the Pelagic Deposits. Ooze consists of the shell
and skeletal remains of microscopic marine organisms belonging to a group called plankton.
iii. Billions of these tiny creatures, as they die, sink to the ocean bed and accumulate slowly. If
the sediment in an area consist more than 30% fine biogeneous sediment by weight it is
called ooze.
iv. The deposits of ooze consist mainly of calcium carbonate or silica and it is largely on the
basis of composition that different types of oozes are recognised.

MARINE RESOURCES
1. Marine mineral resource
Minerals dissolved in sea water- Magnesium, Bromine and common salt
i. Magnetite- western coastal belts of North America and East coast of Asia in Japan.

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ii. Cassiterite (tin ore)-along a belt stretching for 3000 km from northern Thailand and western
Malaysia to Indonesia
iii. Gold Placer- coast of Alaska, Chile, South Africa and Australia
iv. Phosphorite- exist off Florida, California, Mexico, Peru
v. Sulphur- Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean sea
vi. Deep Sea Deposits- Manganese Nodules and metalliferous sediments
vii. Sub surface deposits- oil and natural gas; mostly found on the continental shelves. Major
oilfields- Gulf of Mexico, Persian Gulf, The North sea, northern coast of Australia, coast of
Artic ocean and Sunda shelf
2. Marine Energy resource
i. Tidal energy- the rise and fall of tides can be used to generate electricity.
ii. Favourable conditions are found in coastal areas with a large tidal range or in narrow
channels with swift tidal currents.
iii. Tidal Power sites- Bay of Fundy, San Jose (Argentina), Severn (England), Rance (France),
Kandla.

Location of major fishing grounds is governed by:

1. Shallow coastal water- plentiful food supply; sunlight penetration
2. Coastal upwelling- high rate of primary production
3. Mixing of warm and cold water
4. Broken coastline with numerous indentations provide excellent berthing facility.
5. Major fishing grounds- North west Pacific region, North east Atlantic and adjacent waters at the
Arctic, South East Pacific, West Central Pacific and North west Atlantic

*****

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