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 PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY IN DIAGRAMS
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
IN DIAGRAMS PHYSICAL
Fourth GCSE Edition
R. B. BUNNETT
SEEMA MEHRA PARIHAR
GEOGRAPHY
IN DIAGRAMS
Physical Geography in Diagrams by R. B. Bunnett was first published in 1965. The fourth edition of this book came in 1988. This
internationally renowned title has now been adapted after 30 years, as per the requirements of the Indian students and their curriculums.
This annotated version retains all the distinctive features of the original edition. Consequently, it should be read as an updated edition,
where it will not only help students but faculties also who are teaching Geography, for various levels of students, will find this book
extremely useful in their day to day lesson plans. Even students who have not studied Geography earlier can find this book extremely
engaging for their further reading or for competitive readiness.
The core objective of this title is to explain geographical principles and concepts through illustrations and engage students in the learning
process of the physical aspects of geography through several line diagrams, 3D/2D artwork, field-based photographs, and locations of
features marked on satellite imageries as it is.
This book examines the systems and their processes, the landforms associated with these, and the relationships between living organisms
and the inorganic environment within specific natural ecosystems. Every attempt is made to focus attention on all the main components of
the physical environment as well as on the associated inter-relationships. Whenever possible, a wide range of landforms from within the
framework of the British and Indian environment are examined.
Whilst the main concern of this book is to study the physical environment, where appropriate, the effects of human activities on the
environment on global perspective have also been included. The present book addresses key concerns from the students’ point of view
and in each chapter, there are few sections which pro-actively connect students to their role as a stake holder in creation and sustenance

Cover image: emperorcosara. Shutterstock

of different geographies around them.

HIGHLIGHTS
w Updated content along with new pedagogical elements, chapter-end questions supported by many new diagrams, maps, visual aids

GCSE Edition
w Includes more than 1,150 diagrams and 3D/2D artwork along with google maps, NASA satellite images

Fourth
w Separate section on contemporary environmental challenges and human activities
w Important data, statistics, reports are presented in tabular format, along with numerous flow charts for effective preparation

Fourth GCSE Edition

PARIHAR
BUNNETT
MRP Inclusive
of all Taxes `650.00

in.pearson.com

ISBN 978-93-534-3375-8

R. B. BUNNETT
This edition is manufactured in India and is authorized for sale
only in India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Pakistan, Nepal,
Sri Lanka and the Maldives. 9 789353 433758 SEEMA MEHRA PARIHAR

Size: 203x254 mm Spine: 20 mm ISBN: 9789353433758 Territory line mQuest

 About Pearson
Pearson is the world’s learning company, with presence across 70 countries worldwide. Our
unique insights and world-class expertise comes from a long history of working closely with
renowned teachers, authors and thought leaders, as a result of which, we have emerged as the
preferred choice for millions of teachers and learners across the world.
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Your feedback plays a critical role in the evolution of our products and you can contact us –
[email protected]. We look forward to it.
 Thispageisintentionallyleftblank


All In-House Artworks by: DiacriTech for Pearson India Education Services Pvt. Ltd
This title carries certain photographs which are the part of Dr. (Mrs.) Seema Mehra Parihar’s private collection, and are not
to be circulated outside of this title. All copyrights to these are vested in Dr. (Mrs.) Seema Mehra Parihar, and these have been
used with her permission.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson India Education Services Pvt. Ltd

Published by Pearson India Education Services Pvt. Ltd, CIN: U72200TN2005PTC057128.

No part of this eBook may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the publisher’s
prior written consent.

This eBook may or may not include all assets that were part of the print version. The publisher
reserves the right to remove any material in this eBook at any time.

ISBN 978-93-534-3375-8
eISBN:

Head Office: 15th Floor, Tower-B, World Trade Tower, Plot No. 1, Block-C, Sector-16,
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Fax: 080-30461003, Phone: 080-30461060
www.in.pearson.com, Email: [email protected]
Brief Contents
1 The Solar System: Positions and Time
2 Plate Tectonics: The Earth’s Structure and Landforms
3 Weathering of Slopes
4 Water on the Surface
5 Underground Water and Limestone Features
6 Glacial Processes
7 Desert Processes
8 Coastal Processes
9 The Oceans
10 Atmosphere: Temperature
11 Atmosphere: Pressure and Wind
12 Atmosphere: Water
13 The Weather Station and Weather Maps
14 Climate, Weather, and Natural Environment
Thispageisintentionallyleftblank
Contents
Preface xi Volcanic features formed in the crust 2.33
Preface to the Indian Edition xiii Volcanic features formed on the
About Seema Mehra Parihar xiv surface 2.34
Acknowledgement xv Vent eruptions and the types of
volcanoes 2.34
1 The Solar System: Craters and calderas 2.35
Positions and Time 1.1 Composite cones or stratovolcanoes 2.37
Fissure eçruptions and the landforms
Introduction 1.2 they produce 2.38
The Solar System 1.2 Other forms of volcanic activity 2.40
Shape of the Earth 1.4 Is a Volcanic Landscape Hostile? 2.40
Phases of the Moon 1.6 Major Landforms 2.42
The Sun as an Input into the Earthquakes 2.43
Earth’s System 1.6 Faults 2.49
Position and Time 1.8 Joints 2.53
The position of a place on the Folds 2.53
earth’s surface 1.8 Earth Movements Behind Landforms 2.55
Rotation and Time 1.10 Major Landforms 2.55
Mountains 2.56
2 Plate Tectonics: The Rift valley 2.63
Earth’s Structure and Plateaus and related landforms 2.64
Landforms 2.1 Plains and related landforms 2.66

Introduction 2.2
Structure of the Earth 2.2 3 Weathering of Slopes 3.1
Isostasy 2.4 Introduction 3.2
Collision of Plates 2.11 Denudation and Weathering 3.2
Plate Boundary 2.12 Types of Weathering 3.3
Rocks 2.17 Geomorphic Cycles of Slope
Classification of rocks 2.17 Development 3.11
A Global Pattern Through Plate Rejuvenated and Polycyclic
Tectonics 2.20 Landforms 3.13
Rock system in Great Britain 2.22 Mass Wasting and Slope Processes 3.14
Rock system in India 2.23 Types of Slope Movement 3.15
Vulcanicity and Landforms 2.28 Concave Slope 3.18
Distribution of Volcanoes and Other Types of Slope Movement 3.21
Volcanic Activity 2.29 Vegetation Protects the Slopes 3.21
viii  Contents

4 Water on the Surface 4.1 Glacial System 6.6

Glacial movement 6.7
Introduction 4.2 Surface features and moraines 6.7
Global Water and the Atmosphere 4.3 Glacial processes 6.8
River Basin Drainage—an Landforms Produced by Glacial
Open System 4.5 Erosion 6.9
Dynamics of Water Supply 4.7 Landforms Produced by Glacial
Supply and demand 4.7 Deposition 6.14
Human Impact on Drainage Basins 4.8 Boulder clay deposits 6.15
Water storage 4.8 Ice-Dammed Lakes and
Irrigation 4.12 Overflows 6.17
Flooding 4.18 Examples of Glaciated
River system 4.20 Landscapes 6.19
Stream system 4.21 Economic Value of Glaciated
River Transport 4.24 Landscapes 6.25
River erosion 4.24 Glacial landforms of specific
River deposition 4.25 value 6.25
Development of a River Valley 4.26 Melting Permafrost 6.26
Long profile 4.26
Adjustment to erosion and
deposition 4.27 7 Desert Processes 7.1
Grade 4.27 Introduction 7.2
Influence of gradient 4.27 Desert Locations 7.3
River valley characteristics—processes
Action of Winds in a Desert 7.8
and landforms 4.28 Features produced by wind erosion 7.13
Drainage patterns 4.38 Features produced by wind
Water conservation 4.49 deposition 7.15
Features produced by water in
5 Underground Water and desert regions 7.18
Limestone Features 5.1 Are Deserts Expanding? 7.20
Introduction 5.2
Sources of Groundwater 5.2 8 Coastal Processes 8.1
Wells and Artesian Basins 5.4
Introduction 8.2
Karst Cycle of Erosion 5.9
Coasts 8.2
Limestone Landforms 5.11
Terms related to Coastal Geography 8.3
Formation of waves 8.3
6 Glacial Processes 6.1 The nature of waves 8.4
Introduction 6.2 Types of waves 8.5
Regional Distribution of Glaciers 6.3 Wave Erosion 8.9
Accumulation of ice and the Landforms produced by wave erosion 8.9
snow line 6.3 Materials Transported by
Classification of glaciers 6.5 Waves 8.16
 Contents  ix

Landforms Produced by Wave Minimum thermometer 10.16

Deposition 8.17 Six’s thermometer 10.17
Beach 8.17 How Temperature is Shown on a Map? 10.18
Spit 8.18 World Distribution of Temperature 10.20
Coastal Dunes 8.25
Changing Sea Levels 8.26 11 Atmosphere: Pressure
and Wind 11.1
9 The Oceans 9.1
Introduction 11.2
Introduction 9.2 Origin of pressure 11.2
Oceanic Zones 9.3 Influence of altitude on pressure 11.2
Ocean Current 9.4 Influence of temperature on pressure 11.3
Ocean currents and winds 9.5 Influence of rotation on pressure 11.3
Coral Reefs 9.7 Actual pressure systems 11.5
Major reef types 9.8 Measurement of Air Pressure 11.7
Nature of Tides 9.10 Mercury barometer 11.7
Tidal influences 9.11 Aneroid barometer 11.7
Energy from the Oceans 9.13 Barograph 11.7
Natural Hazards of Oceans 9.13 How Pressure is Shown on a Map? 11.9
Beneficial Influences of the Oceans 9.16 Winds 11.9
The origin of winds 11.9
10 Atmosphere: Measurement of wind direction and
velocity 11.10
Temperature 10.1 How winds and wind velocity are
Introduction 10.2 shown on a map? 11.11
Structure of Atmosphere 10.2 Planetary Winds 11.13
Troposphere 10.3 Monsoon winds of the Asian region 11.17
Atmospheric System 10.3 Local Winds 11.18
Heating of Atmosphere 10.4 Land and sea breezes 11.19
Heating of the Earth 10.7 Descending winds 11.19
Latitude 10.7 Valley breeze and mountain breeze 11.20
Altitude 10.8 Convection winds 11.21
Nature of the surface 10.8 Depression winds 11.21
Distance from the sea 10.8 Air Masses and Fronts 11.23
Winds 10.9 Depression 11.26
Cloud cover and humidity 10.9 Development of a depression 11.26
Aspect 10.10 Weather associated with a depression 11.27
Length of day 10.11 Weather and depressions 11.28
Ocean currents 10.11 Tropical Cyclone 11.31
Temperature Changes within the Development of a tropical cyclone 11.33
Atmosphere 10.14 Weather associated with a tropical
Measurement of temperature 10.15 cyclone 11.34
Maximum thermometer 10.15 Tornado 11.35
x  Contents

Anti-cyclone 11.38 Visibility 13.4

Weather maps and anti-cyclones 11.38 Recording Weather 13.5
Gathering Information 13.7
12 Atmosphere: Water 12.1 NASA and Weather Information 13.9
National Remote Sensing Centre
Introduction 12.2 (NRSC) and Atmospheric
Humidity 12.2 Observations 13.11
Measurement of humidity 12.2
Condensation 12.5
Types of condensation 12.5 14 Climate, Weather, and
Clouds 12.7 Natural Environment 14.1
High clouds 12.8
Introduction 14.2
Middle clouds 12.8
Weather and Climate 14.2
Low clouds 12.9
Factors Affecting Climate and
Clouds of great vertical extent 12.10
Climatic Types 14.2
Formation of clouds 12.10
Fairly uniform climates 14.3
Precipitation 12.12
Seasonal climates 14.7
Types of precipitation 12.13
Continentality 14.9
How air is cooled 12.15
Ecosystem 14.11
Types of Rain 12.16 Linkages and interactions in an
Convection rain 12.16
ecosystem 14.12
Depression or cyclonic or frontal rain 12.17
Adaptation in plants 14.15
Relief or orographic rain 12.17 Influence of temperature and
Thunderstorms 12.17 water on plants 14.15
Measurement of Rainfall 12.19 Main Types of Vegetation 14.16
How Rain is Shown on a Map 12.19 Tropical rainforest 14.19
World Patterns for Rainfall Soil 14.20
Distribution 12.22 The formation of soil 14.20
Global pattern for May to October 12.23 Water movement in the soil 14.21
Global pattern for November – April 2.23 Soil profile 14.21
Seasonal Distribution of Rainfall 12.25 Destruction of tropical rainforests 14.24
Seasonal Rainfall and Type of Soil productivity 14.25
Rainfall 12.26 Soil Erosion 14.25
Annual Global Rainfall 12.27 By water 14.26
By wind 14.28
13 The Weather Station and Soil Conservation 14.28
Weather Maps 13.1 Types of soil conservation 14.28
Introduction 13.2
Photo credit PC.1
Weather Station 13.2
Index I.1
Stevenson Screen 13.2
Preface
The physical environment has enormous variety and is of great complexity. It is forever changing and to­
understand the nature and causes of the changes, it is necessary to study the individual components involved.
The ­processes operating in the many systems of the environment produce changes. An examination of the sys-
tems and of the interactions among their component processes results in a clearer understanding of both the
diversity and the unity that characterize the physical environment.
This book examines the systems and their processes, the landforms associated with these, and the ­relationships
between living organisms and the inorganic environment within specific natural ecosystems. Every attempt is
made to focus attention on all the main components of the physical environment as well as on the associated
inter-relationships. Whenever possible, a wide range of landforms from within the framework of the British envi-
ronment are examined.
Whilst the main concern of this book is a study of the physical environment, where appropriate, mention is
made of the effects of human activities on the environment. Although these activities have been going on for a
very long time, it is only in the last five decades that the changes have reached a global dimension. The most wide-
spread of these are air and water pollution and it is important that proper attention be given to these, especially
in respect of the adverse direct and indirect affects they have on vast numbers of plant and animal species which
threaten the delicate balance of many natural ecosystems.
The text is extensively illustrated with diagrams and photographs, which are numbered on a chapter basis for
easy reference.
Varied exercises and a set of key facts are given at the end of all chapters.
 R B Bunnett
1987
Thispageisintentionallyleftblank
Preface to the Indian Edition
‘Light precedes every transition. Whether at the end of a tunnel, through a crack in the door or the flash of an idea, it is
always there, heralding a new beginning’
— Teresa Tsalaky

Physical Geography in Diagrams by R. B. Bunnett was first published in 1965. The fourth edition of this book came
in 1988 (ISBN: 9780582225077). When Pearson India, editorial team asked me to adapt the 4th edition for
Indian students, I felt ­overwhelmed. I am being entrusted to bring this wonderful book into life again! I feel
privileged for being given a chance to work on this book. It took me more than a year to make certain changes.
While I was working on them, I realized how much effort had gone into the original version of the book to make
it a most established title in this subject!. This annotated version retains all the distinctive features of the orig-
inal edition. Consequently, it should be read as an updated edition to the original work and in no way should
be interpreted as a completely new book in itself. I am associated with teaching profile for nearly 30 years, and
can claim with confidence that this adaptation work will not only help students but faculties who are teaching
Geography, for various levels of students, too will find this book extremely useful in their day to day lesson plans.
Even students who have not studied Geography earlier can find this book extremely engaging for their further
reading or for competitive readiness.
The core objective of this title is to explain geographical principles and concepts through illustrations and
engage students in the learning process of the physical aspects of geography through several line diagrams,
3D/2D artwork, field-based (i.e., real-life) photographs, and locations of features marked on satellite imageries
as it is.
With all said that, after using this book for classroom resources, it convinced me that some parts of the content
need to be reworked and data should be updated as per the latest developments in today’s World. In last 30 years,
there were no substantial changes in the content of this book, so it was a necessity to take this book forward for
our next generation of students. We have tried our best to update the content along with new pedagogical ele-
ments, chapter-end questions, and also included as many new diagrams, maps, visual aids wherever possible. The
goal has been to attempt to incorporate new technologies and methods to make the book relevant and useful for
the current generation of students. I believe that present book addresses key concerns from the student’s point of
view and in each chapter there are few sections which pro-actively connect students to their role as a stake holder
in creation and sustenance of different geographies around them.
The book which was earlier in black and white format is now available in its four-colored version. I have
tried to include more recent photographs clicked during my field visits with students, family, and friends and
have attempted to make visible the location of the places and physical features photographed through Google
maps. As no single photograph was available from the original text, we had to buy many of these photographs
which were not readily available from different libraries and museums of the world. Now the book is almost
double the size with more than 500 pages and covers diverse areas all with enriched explanation visualized
through more than 1,150 diagrams and 3D/2D artwork. The journey of coming out with the present version
was ­beautiful . . . there was so much to know, read, and understand. It has not only added to my knowledge, but
also has enabled me to grow as a human being.
Again, I wish to thank the Pearson team for trusting me with this work. I also wish luck to all those students,
researchers, teachers, and practitioners who are going to use this book in future.
Seema Mehra Parihar
About Seema Mehra Parihar
Dr. Seema Mehra Parihar is an Associate Professor at Kirori Mal College, University
of Delhi. She has more than 30 years of experience in academics in the specific area
of Geo-Informatics, Natural Resource Management, Physical geography and Gender
analytics. Dr Seema earned her Ph.D from the Department of Geography, Delhi School
of Economics, University of Delhi. The title of her PhD research was ‘Natural Resource
Management in the Bhagirathi Basin’ Her Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Department
of Geo-informatics, Cartography and Geo-visualisation, ITC, Enschede, The Netherlands
involved designing and d ­ eveloping a web based course in Web G ­ eo-informatics. Her
specific interest lies in field-based research and geospatial ­ mapping using remote
sensing and GIS. She has recently coordinated 40 module e-learning course and
recorded 20 ­lessons for postgraduate (epg) pathshala for Ministry of Human Resource
Development, Government of India. She has been a Principal Investigator of 14 research
Projects sanctioned by national & ­international funding agencies. She has authored
more than 30 articles in Geospatial Journals and is credited for Gender Atlas of India (Series 1 & 2) sanctioned
by Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. She has been the Convenor of the Gender
Forum in the Bandung Conference, Indonesia and is currently working on a project entitled ‘Mapping Geospatial
Dimension of Hydro-politics in Jammu and Kashmir’ and guiding research students.
Dr. Seema has coordinated number of training workshops, seminars, conferences and refresher programs
of UGC for University teachers in the field of Geospatail technologies; Geo-analytics; field work and Gender.
Dr Parihar has also been a Trainer of Trainers and a resource person for National workshops on Capacity
Building of Women Leaders in Higher Education. A trained behavioral assessor and an avid trekker, Dr. Seema
has also been actively associated for more than thirty years in spreading the movement of national integration.
Dr. Seema has guided Parivartan—a gender forum on issues surrounding gender and intersectionality in the
Indian context and has been a driving force behind the events that the forum organises. Dr. Parihar was also
a founder Chairperson of Central Placement Cell, University of Delhi(DU); Deputy Dean Students Welfare,
University of Delhi; Joint Director, Developing Countries Research Centre (DCRC), DU and Fellow Institute of
Life Long Learning (ILLL), University of Delhi.
Dr Seema has recently been awarded by an ‘Annual Award 2018’ during IIRS Academia meet 2019 by Indian
Institute of Remote Sensing, Indian Space Research Organization, Government of India. She has also been
awarded by Bhoo Samman an award for contributions in geosciences during a conference on ‘Rural India-
Millenium Development Goals’ by Bhoovikas Foundation.
Acknowledgement
‘We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.’
— Cynthia Ozick

This a wonderful moment, when I am getting an opportunity to acknowledge R.B Bunnett trust, United Kingdom,
and Pearson Team, United Kingdom, for giving me a chance to unveil physical geography through the lens of
R.B Bunnet, (first published in 1965). In this title, I could rework on each chapter, each diagram, each photograph
and present those in a form that exist today. However, the presence of particular person at special place has only
enabled me in adding almost double the pages and more than double images and diagrams covering diverse areas,
and each one has been a key to the completion of this book and deserves a separate acknowledgement.
When Pearson India approached me initially to work on the 4th edition of Physical Geography, I felt over-
whelmed. I would like to thank, first and foremost, the Pearson India team for entrusting me the responsibility
to bring this wonderful book into life again!
I am more than grateful to H.R. Nagaraja, who not only encouraged for an contemporary adaptation, but
albeit retaining its ­identity, understood the need for an overhaul with latest examples, cases-studies and pictures
as there was no ­existing repository of diagrams and pictures present in earlier editions and more than fifty years
had gone between the original text and current requirement of students. It is only because of that, a structure
of each chapter was relooked into and visualized in four colours. I would equally like to thank Nandini Basu, for
her continuous support, meticulous suggestions, giving new ideas and inputs to the book (analyzing chapter content,
developing pedagogy, creating art works, modifying chapter end questions, etc.), ­flexibility and understanding the necessity
of including satellite based images with features marked and adding new pictures from different sources, field
experiences including mine. I also would like to thank Priyankia Dey, R&P Project Manager for taking permis-
sion clearances wherever required and putting it all together in a systematic way. My thanks also extends to Vipin
Kumar from the production team for the creativity and patience in handling each page, all team members of the
publishing team are most responsible for the coherent, well designed book that evolved from my initial drafts.
I must express my gratitude to our new Principal Dr. Vibha Singh Chauhan for enabling academic ­environment
for pursuing additional academic works. I am also grateful to my Ph.D student Peerzada Raouf Ahmad for his
helpful comments and my student research assistants of different projects including Rohit Kumar, JitendraTiwari
and Jitender Rathore for their constructive feedback on each diagram, each image and early versions of chapters.
I like to thank Rohit Kumar for reviewing the chapter end questions. I am further grateful to my u ­ ndergraduate
students at Kirori Mal College who have undertaken many field works with me to places in India, Nepal and
Bhutan—thereby adding value to chapters through pictures, graphics and deep insights within different
geographies.
Special thanks to my husband Premendra, son Dushyant and daughter Jayashree who have always been there
and without their help and support it would have been impossible to dedicate time to complete this book.
Every effort has been made by publishing team to trace and contact copyright holders for their permissions
to reprint material in this book. The publishers would be grateful to hear from any copyright holder who is not
acknowleged and will undertake to rectify any errors or omissions in future editions of this book.
To all of these people, heartfelt thanks.
Seema Mehra Parihar
Thispageisintentionallyleftblank
 1 The Solar System:
Positions and Time

Learning Outcomes
After completing this chapter, you should be able to:

● Visualize solar system, inner and outer planets and their positioning.
● Locate the position of a place on the earth’s surface.
● Understand the importance of Sun as the main input in the earth’s energy system.
● Compute different time zones in different locations of the world.

Keywords
Solar System, Earth’s radiation, Latitude, Longitude, Geoid, Greenwich Meridian Time
and International Date Line.

1
1.2  Chapter 1

Introduction
In our solar system, there is the sun and eight planets. The planets are categorized in
two different groups—the terrestrial planets (innermost planets) and gas giants (the
outer planets). We are going to study about these terrestrial planets and outer planets
of the solar system and understand the relevance of positions and time on the earth’s
surface in this chapter. The terrestrial planets include Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
These planets are composed of silicate rocks. The other four planets, i.e., gas giants or
outer planets are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. These four gas giants are huge
in size and are composed mostly of helium and frozen hydrogen (no solid surface).

The Solar System

Contemporary observations are changing our understanding of planetary system.
The International Astronomical Organization (IAU) in 2006 resolved that ‘plan-
ets and other bodies in our solar system be defined into three distinct categories:
‘planet,’ ‘dwarf planet,’ and ‘small solar system bodies.’ A planet is a celestial body
According to NASA, that is in the orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to over-
‘two of the outer planets come rigid body forces so that it assumes a nearly round, hydrostatic equilibrium
beyond the orbit of shape, and has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit. However, the ‘dwarf
Mars—Jupiter and planet,’ unlike the planet, has neither cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit
Saturn— are called nor is a satellite. ‘As per Resolution 5A of IAU’ all other objects, except satellites,
gas giants; the more orbiting the sun shall be referred collectively as small solar system bodies.’
distant Uranus and The eight planets in our solar system are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Neptune are called ice Saturn, Uranus and Neptune (Figure 1.1). The IAU (2006) has further resolved
giants.’ This is because ‘Pluto’ as a dwarf planet by the above definition, thereby recognized as the prototype
where the first two are
of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects.
dominated by gas, the
The sun has a central position in our solar system and all planets revolve in ellip-
last two have more ice.
tical orbits around it. The first time Nicolaus Copernicus (an astronomer, mathema-
All forms contain mostly
tician and scientist from Poland), in 1514, proposed the heliocentric theory of
hydrogen and helium.
the solar system in his work Commentariolus. The ordering of planets in increasing

FIGURE 1.1 The Sun and the Eight Primary Planets of our Solar System.
 The Solar System: Positions and Time   1.3

order of distance from the sun is: Mercury—57.9 million km; Venus—108.2
­million km; Earth—149.6 million km; Mars—227.9 km; Jupiter—778.3 million km;
Saturn—1427.0 million km; Uranus—2871.0 million km; and Neptune—4497.1
­million km. The size of the planets is as follows in decreasing order:
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury.
In our solar system, the earth is a unique planet which supports life and is thus
termed as the living planet. It is the third planet nearest to the sun, Mercury is the
nearest planet to the sun and Jupiter is the largest planet of our solar system.
Almost all the energy of the solar system is derived from the sun. The surface of the
sun is covered with burning gases at a temperature of about 6000°C. Mercury, the small-
est planet, is nearest to the sun. Some of the planets, e.g., Earth, Jupiter and Saturn,
have small celestial bodies called satellites in orbit around them. The moon is the sat-
ellite of the earth.
Each planet takes a different amount of time to complete one orbit around the
sun. This is because their distances from the sun vary. Mercury completes its orbit in
88 days, which means that 1 year on Mercury lasts for 88 days. The earth completes
its orbit in 365¼ days—the length of 1 year on earth. The moon takes about 27 days
to revolve about the earth.
Table 1.1 provides a brief overview of the eight primary planets in our solar sys-
tem, in order from the inner solar system to outward.

Table 1.1 Overview of the eight primary planets in our solar system

PLANET DISCOVERY NAMED FOR DIAMETER ORBIT DAY

Known to the ancients Messenger of
3031 miles 88 Earth
Mercury and visible to the the Roman 58.6 Earth days
(4878 km) days
naked eye Gods
Known to the ancients Roman Goddess
7521 miles 225 Earth
Venus and visible to the of Love and 241 Earth days
(12,104 km) days
naked eye beauty
Known to the ancients
7926 miles 365.24 23 hours 56
Earth and visible to the
(12,760 km) days minutes
naked eye
Just more than
Known to the ancients one Earth day
Roman God of 4,217 miles 687 Earth
Mars and visible to the
war (6,787 km) days 24 hours 37
naked eye
minutes
Known to the ancients
Ruler of the 86,881 miles 11.9 Earth
Jupiter and visible to the 9.8 Earth hours
Roman Gods (739,822 km) years
naked eye
Known to the ancients
Roman God of 74,900 miles 29.5 Earth About 10.5 Earth
Saturn and visible to the
agriculture (120,500 km) years hours
naked eye
1781 by William Personification of 31,763 miles 84 Earth
Uranus 18 Earth hours
Herschel heaven on Earth (51,120 km) years
Roman God of 30,775 miles 165 Earth
Neptune 1846 19 Earth hours
water (49,527.5 km) years
Note: Pluto was considered as the ninth planet till 2006, when the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decided to call
Pluto a dwarf Planet, reducing the list of real planets in our solar system to eight.
1.4  Chapter 1

Shape of the Earth

In reality shape of the earth is not a perfect sphere, but an oblate spheroid—a
sphere with a bulge around the equator (Figure 1.2). The earth is bulged outward at
its equator because of the centripetal force occurring due to rapid rotation of earth
on its axis. Similarly, the earth is flattened at the poles, and the equatorial diameter
is large than the polar diameter by about 43 km. This actually makes a pretty big
difference. Important dimensions of the earth are given in Table 1.2.
Therefore, the shape of the earth is referred as earth-like, i.e., ‘geoid.’ In addi-
tion, there are intervening highlands and oceans on the
Surface of the Earth earth’s surface. The geoid is the equipotential surface
Land that defines sea level, and is expressed relative to the
reference ellipsoid (Figure 1.3). Temporal variations in
the geoid are caused by lateral variations in the internal
densities of the earth, and by the distribution of masses
Sea (primarily hydrological) upon the surface of the earth.
Geoid Mass excess (either sub-surface excess density or positive
topography) deflects the geoid upward.
Ellipsoid The gravity map (Figure 1.4) is what is known as
a geoid; based on data, it was created by a European
satellite called the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean
Circulation Explorer (GOCE). Studying the geoid
FIGURE 1.2 Shape of the Earth (Figure 1.5) can help us understand tectonic processes

Table 1.2 Important Dimensions of the Earth

PARAMETER VALUE
Equatorial circumference 40,075 km
Equatorial diameter 12,742 km
Polar circumference 40,024 km
Polar diameter 12,713 km
Total surface area 51,09,00,000 km2

GPS
Topography

H h

soid Geo
Ellip id

H = h - N
Oceans Orthometric Ellipsoidal Height Geoid
Height from GPS Height

FIGURE 1.3 Illustration of Earth’s Geoid Shape and FIGURE 1.4 A Model of Earth’s Gravity Field Made with
Reference of Ellipsoid Data from European Space Agency’s GOCE Satellite.
 The Solar System: Positions and Time   1.5

Observed Geoid (EGM96)

0 –100
–20
2

20
10 40 0

60
10

20
–40

–20
0
–4
–2

–4 0
–40
0

60
–80
–10

–6 0

40
–10
10
0 –10

20
20
0
0

40
10

–20 –10
10 –20

–120 –100 –80 –60 –40 –20 –10 0 10 20 40 60 80 100 120

Geoid Height (m)

Observed Geoid (EGM96, degree 4–25)

–10
0 –20

20 10
20 10
–20
–10

20
0

10 0
–1
0

–1 20
–1

0
0
0

0 –20
20
10

–1 –1
0 0
–10

0
0 10
20

–150 –100 –80 –60 –40 –20 –10 0 10 20 40 60 80 100 150

Geoid Height (m)
FIGURE 1.5 Earth’s Figure: Gravity and Geoid
1.6  Chapter 1

and different natural phenomena like earthquakes. Scientists have established that
large earthquakes move enough mass to change the gravity field. The change guides
the mechanism of the quake and how much slip and uplift occurred, especially in
offshore areas where it is difficult to observe (earth’s crust) directly.

Phases of the Moon

The illuminated part of the moon appears to vary in size as it revolves around the
earth. In Figure 1.6, the two circles represent moon positions. The outer circle
clearly shows that exactly half of the moon is illuminated all the time. The inner
circle shows what the moon looks like to us on earth during its different posi-
tions, e.g., at full moon it is a circle. Look at the moon on different nights in any
1 month, and find out whether the part of the moon that is not illuminated can
be seen.
Because eclipses of the sun or moon happen relatively infrequently, they were
always a cause of wonder, even fear to early peoples. Their explanations are fairly
simple as shown in Figure 1.7. There were two solar eclipses during 1987, neither
of which was visible from Great Britain.

Full Moon
Moon Earth

Sun

Eclipse of the Sun (Moon Comes Between Earth and Sun)

Last Quarter First Quarter Partial Eclipse Total Eclipse

Earth
Sun Moon
Corona

Eclipse of the Sun as Seen from the Earth

New Moon Earth Moon

Sun

Sun’s Rays Eclipse of the Moon (Earth Comes Between Moon and Sun)
FIGURE 1.6 The Way the Moon Appears from Earth
FIGURE 1.7 Eclipses of the Moon and Sun.
During its Revolution Around the Earth.

The Sun as an Input into the Earth’s

System
Of all the solar radiation reaching the earth’s atmosphere, 33 per cent is reflected
back into the space by the upper atmosphere while the remaining 67 per cent pro-
ceeds into the atmosphere. Figure 1.8 shows the image of Sun producing energy. Out
of this, 14 per cent is absorbed by the atmosphere and 53 per cent reaches the surface.
 The Solar System: Positions and Time   1.7

Out of the 53 per cent that reaches the surface, some is

reflected back into the atmosphere and some is absorbed
by the surface soil and water, which raises the surface
temperature. The amount reflected into the atmosphere
depends on the nature of the surface, e.g., snowfields
reflect up to 80 per cent of the radiation; water surfaces
reflect from 5 to 40 per cent according to whether the
sun’s rays are vertical or oblique. A soil surface covered
with vegetation usually reflects about 10–30 per cent. All
of this is shown in Figure 1.9 (a), but it must be noted that
the energy values given in this diagram are averages for the
earth as a whole. As we shall see later, they vary according
to the season, the latitude, the amount of water vapour in
the air, and the amount of cloud cover.
Figure 1.9(b) shows that the energy reflected and
re-radiated back into space equals the energy received.
­
This incoming and outgoing energy is sometimes called
the global energy balance. We shall see later that this energy
balance fuels the earth’s other major cycles—the ocean
­currents and atmospheric circulation, as well as the hydro- FIGURE 1.8 Sun Produces an Enormous Amount
logical cycle and the food cycle of which we all form a part. of Energy. Nearly White Areas are the Hottest,
The solar energy input to the earth’s ­surface is vast in White Deep-Red Regions are the Coolest. This
amount but is dissipated in various ways. Figure 1.10 illus- Image was Taken in Extreme Ultraviolet Light by the
trates this process. You will see that some of the energy is Earth-Orbiting Solar and Heliospheric Observatory
converted into heat, some powers the hydrological cycle, (SOHO) Satellite.
atmospheric circulation and the waves and currents of the
oceans, and some powers the food cycle through the process
of photosynthesis, which in turn links with the fossil fuels. It is important to remember
that the bulk of the energy used by humankind throughout the world is solar energy
that has been locked up, for vast periods of time, in the fossil fuels (oil, including
natural gas and coal). The rest of the energy used by humankind comes from nuclear
fission, flowing water, the wind, and to a lesser degree, geothermal activity.

(a)
100% Solar Radiation Of the 53% Reaching Earth’s Surface
33% Reflected into
Space from Top of
Atmosphere 95% Absorbed
from Vertical Rays
14% Absorbed 60% from Oblique Rays
by Atmosphere 5% Reflected with 70% – 90% 10% – 30%
Vertical Rays Absorbed Reflected
Reflected 20% 80% 40% Reflected with
2% 53% Reaches Absorbed Reflected Oblique Rays
Earth’s Surface
51% Absorbed
by Surface

Snow Water Vegetation

FIGURE 1.9 (a) The Amount of Solar Energy Reflected from and Absorbed by the Earth’s Surface Depends
on The Nature of the Surface;(continued)
1.8  Chapter 1

(b) Absorbed by the

Atmosphere
Solar Radiation
14
100

iation
t Rad
Direc
34
17
ed
Diffus n Reflected by the
a d ia tio
R Atmosphere 6

Absorbed Reflected and

by Earth Reflected by Deflected
the Clouds 27
61 35

Deflecte
d
by the E
arth 2
Radiated
Directly to
Space
Transferred
from 17
Earth to Absorbed and
Atmosphere 34 Radiated re-Radiated
from
Atmosph
ere
48 65
Tropopause

(continued) FIGURE 1.9 (b) Earth’s Solar Energy Budget—Notice What Happens to 100 Units of Solar
Energy When it Reaches the Earth’s Atmosphere.

Solar Radiation Short- Long-

wavelength
Radiation
wavelength
Radiation Position and Time
Direct Radiation
The position of a place on the
Direct Conversion to Heat
earth’s surface
Evaporation and
Precipitation Storage Take a large ball (to represent the earth) and mark two
Water Ice points on it in the centre so that they are exactly opposite
Winds, Waves, Currents to each other. Draw a line right a round the ball so that it is
midway between the points all the way. The line divides the
Photosynthesis Decay ball into two equal parts and because the ball is a sphere,
Storage Plants each part can be called a hemisphere. In the case of earth,
Animals we call this line the equator, and you can see that it is a cir-
cle. One of the points is called North Pole and the other the
South Pole (Figure 1.11).
Fossil Fuels We can now draw more circles parallel to the north and
south of the equator. These can be called parallels or lines of
FIGURE 1.10 The Dissipation of the Solar ­latitude. Latitude refers to the angular distance from north
Energy Input. or south of the equator.
 The Solar System: Positions and Time   1.9

This idea is applied to the earth. The equator is given a

value of 0°. The North Pole has a latitude of 90°N and the North Pole
South Pole has a latitude of 90°S. Every other place on the Northern
North Hemisphere
earth’s surface has a latitude of so many degrees north or
south of the equator (Figure 1.12). Notice that the equator is
the longest parallel. Figure 1.13 shows what the parallels look
like on a globe from (a) the side and (b) a pole.
O or
We can draw another set of circles on the ball, all of which ˚ Equat Equatorial Plane
pass through the two poles. That part of each circle between the South
poles can be called a meridian or line of longitude. This idea is Southern
applied to the earth also. The meridian, which passes through South Pole Hemisphere
Greenwich, near London, is given a value of 0°; the opposite
meridian, therefore, will have a value of 180° (Figure 1.14). FIGURE 1.11 The Poles, the Equator and the
Longitude refers to the angular distance east or west of the Two Hemispheres.
Greenwich Meridian. All places except those on Meridian 180°
will have longitudes so many degrees east or west of Greenwich
(Figure 1.15). Figures 1.14 and 1.16 show what the meridians
look like from the side and from a pole, respectively.

North Pole
90˚ N North Pole 90˚ N
80˚ N 20˚ N
45˚ N 40˚ N
60˚ N 60˚ N
40˚ N 80˚ N
90˚ 20˚ N
45˚ Equator
Equator North
Equator 0˚ Pole
20˚ N
45˚
45˚S 60˚ N
80˚ N
South Pole South Pole
(a) 90˚ S (b) Equator
FIGURE 1.12 A Line of Latitude Gives the
Angular Distance of a Place North or South FIGURE 1.13 Parallels of Latitude on a Globe
from the Equator. (A) from the Side and (B) from the North Pole.

North Pole
North Pole
45˚

45˚
180˚
˚
enwich Meredian 0

0˚

W 45˚ 45˚
es tor
t ua
East Eq
Gre

South Pole 45˚

(a) (b) South Pole FIGURE 1.15 A Line of Longitude Gives the
FIGURE 1.14 (a) Lines of Longitude; (b) The Greenwich Angular Distance of a Place East or West of
Meridian. Greenwich.
1.10  Chapter 1

0˚
45

˚E
˚W

45
90˚ W S 90˚ E Arc NAS = 20,000 km
90˚
13 O
5 Arc NA = 10,000 km

˚W
˚E 0˚

5
A

13

180˚
FIGURE 1.16 Lines of
S
Longitude from Above the
South Pole. FIGURE 1.17 The Length of 90° of
Latitude Along a Line of Longitude.
North Pole
Arctic Circle 66 1/2˚ N How long is 1° of latitude? Figure 1.17 is a diagram of
a hemisphere. Angle NOA is 90° and this is the longitude
of the North Pole or angular distance from the equator
Tropic of Cancer 23 1/2˚ N
(0°). This angle is subtended by arc NA whose length is
one-half of a meridian. On the earth, arc NA has a length
Equator 0˚
of 10,000 km approximately.
If an arc of 10,000 km subtends 90° then an arc of
Tropic of Capricorn 23 1/2˚ S 10,000/90 km subtends 1°, i.e., 1° of latitude represents
111 km approximately.
Antarctic Circle 66 1/2˚ S
How long is 1° of longitude? Every parallel has an
angle of 360° at its centre, and every half-parallel an
South Pole
angle of 180°. If the length of the parallel or the half-par-
North Pole allel is known, then the length of the arc subtended by
90˚ 1° can be calculated. For the equator, this is 111 km, but
66 1/2˚ for other parallels it is less than this because parallels
decrease in size away from the equator.
90˚ N

N Important parallels of latitude are shown on

1 / 2˚
23 1/2˚ Figure 1.18.
66
23 /2˚ N
1

1 S
23 /2˚
S
Rotation and Time
1 / 2˚
90˚ S

6 6 The sun reaches its highest position in the sky for the
Greenwich Meridian when it lies under the sun. When
this happens, it is said to be 1200 noon local time along
South Pole the meridian. Local time is sometimes called sun time.
Figure 1.19 shows that all places on the Greenwich
FIGURE 1.18 Important Parallels of Latitude.
Meridian have noon at the same time. It follows that all
places on the same meridian have the same local time. Local time at Greenwich is
called Greenwich Mean Time or abbreviated to GMT.
The highest position of the sun for any place can be observed from a study of the
lengths of the shadows cast by a vertical stick. The shortest shadow is cast by the sun
when it is in its highest position in the sky. Study Figure 1.20, which is a sun path
diagram for London.
 The Solar System: Positions and Time   1.11

th’s Rotatio Noon

Ear n
1800
90˚ E
00
21 5 ˚E

15 5 ˚E
13
00

4
2400 1200 (Noon) Sun’s
N
180˚ 0˚ Rays S
09
0 0 00
03 5 ˚W
45
90˚ W
0600

3
˚W

1
E 23 1
/2˚ N
FIGURE 1.19 When the Earth’s
Rotation Brings Each Meridian
Under the Sun, it is Noon Along that W
Meridian.

N
FIGURE 1.20 Sun Path Diagram for
London for 21St June.

Behind and ahead of GMT

All meridians to the east of Greenwich Meridian have sunrise before that meridian.
Local times along these meridians are therefore ahead of GMT. Meridians to the
west of Greenwich Meridian have sunrise after this meridian and therefore their
local times are behind GMT. Figure 1.21 explains this.

How to calculate longitude from local time and GMT

The local time at X is 1600 hours and GMT is 1400 hours. The difference in time
between X and Greenwich is therefore 2 hours. This represents a difference of 30°
of longitude between the two places (15° of longitude represents 1 hour). Since
the local time at X is ahead of that at Greenwich, then X is east of Greenwich. The
longitude of X is 30°E.

How to calculate the local time from the longitude and GMT
The longitude of Harare (Zimbabwe) is 31°E. This
means that there is a difference of 2 hours 4 minutes from W
lling
between the time at Harare and Greenwich (1° rep- ave are Adv To
resents 4 minutes). If GMT is 0800 hours then the Tr ocks an E
ce
local time at Harare is 1004 hours because Harare is Cl d
15 ˚ E ours
Ea

Ahead Behind

ahead of GMT. H
rth’s otation

Note  : In each of these two examples, three facts Night Day 1100
N 15˚ 0˚ Noon
are given. If any two of these are known, the third N
R

15˚
1300
can always be calculated. H
15 W ours
˚
Tr
The significance of the International Date Line av W
Cl e lli n to
Figure 1.22 shows what happens when two trav- o c g f r o m E ack
ks
ellers set off at the same time, say, 1600 hours, a r e P ut B
on a Monday from a place A (longitude 0°). FIGURE 1.21 Time Ahead and Time Behind GMT.
1.12  Chapter 1

1000 Hours One traveller goes westwards and the other eastwards
Monday to a place B (­longitude 180°). The traveller going west
calculates the local times at 90°W and 180° to be 1000
hours Monday and 0400 hours Monday, respectively. The
traveller going east calculates the local time at 90°E and
90ºW 0400 hours 180° to be 2200 hours Monday and 0400 hours Tuesday,
Monday
1600 hours respectively.
Monday A 0º N 180º B
In theory, along Meridian 180° it is both 0400 hours
0400 hours Monday and 0400 hours Tuesday. The traveller going west
90ºE Tuesday
crosses this meridian and finds that it is 0400 hours on
Tuesday, i.e., one day has been lost. The traveller going
east crosses this meridian and finds that it is 0400 hours on
2200 Hours
Monday Monday, i.e., one day has been gained. The line at which a
day is lost or gained is called the International Date Line.
This line follows Meridian 180° except where it crosses
land surfaces. To avoid confusion to the peoples of these
160ºE 180º 160ºW
regions the line bends around them so passing over a sea
surface.

This Side Is Standard time and time zones

‘Ahead’ in Time 60ºN Each meridian has its own local time. Thus when it is
1200 noon local time in London, whose longitude is 0°, it
is 1253 hours and 40 seconds local time in Berlin whose
longitude is 13°25’E. (Note 1°E equals 4 minutes local time
ahead. Why?) Great confusion would arise if all places used
40ºN
local time. Work out what the local time of a town approxi-
mately 650 km to the east of you would be in relation to your
International

own local time.

20ºN To avoid problems such as these, the world is divided
into 24 belts, each 15° of longitude wide (Figure 1.23),
and the local time of the central meridian for each belt is
0º applied to that belt, which is called a time zone. The local
time of the central meridian is called standard time.
Da

A country of limited longitudinal width has only one

te

20ºS standard time, which is based on its central meridian, e.g.,

Line

the standard time for Great Britain is set by meridian 0°.

A country of great longitudinal width has several time
zones, e.g., the USSR, which has a longitudinal width of
40ºS
This Side Is about 165°, is divided into 11 time zones.
‘Behind’ in Time Note: The boundaries of time zones are often adjusted to
conform to political boundaries.

60ºS
FIGURE 1.22 The International Date Line.
FIGURE 1.23 The World’s Time Zones, Shown at GMT 12 Noon.
The Solar System: Positions and Time   1.13
1.14  Chapter 1

Key Facts
●● The IAU is the international astronomical organization that brings together
distinguished astronomers from all nations of the world with a mission to
promote and safeguard the science of astronomy in all its aspects through
international cooperation.
●● The solar system consists of the sun, the eight planets Mercury, Venus, Earth,
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
●● A new distinct class of dwarf planets was introduced in IAU Resolution in
2006.
●● The first member of the ‘dwarf planet’ category are Ceres, Pluto, and 2003
UB313.
●● The sun is the main input into the earth’s energy system.
●● Position on the earth’s surface is defined by latitude and longitude.
●● 1° of longitude represents 4 minutes of time.
●● A country of great longitudinal width has several time zones as, e.g., USSR is
divided into 11 time zones.
●● The whole of India operates to a single time zone (IST). It is 5:30 hours
(5 hours 30 minutes) ahead of Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT + 5.5)
 The Solar System: Positions and Time   1.15

EXERCISE 1
Multiple Choice Questions
Direction: For each of the following questions four/five options are provided, select the correct a­ nswer.
1. An important announcement was broadcasted from London at 3.40 p.m. GMT. This was picked up by
the navigator of a ship anchored off the coast of West Africa in longitude 10°W. What was the local time
for the ship?
(a) 4.20 p.m. (b) 3.20 p.m.
(c) 4.00 p.m. (d) 3.00 p.m.
(e) 2.40 p.m.
2. Which of the following does not belong to the solar system?
(a) Asteroids (b) Comets
(c) Nebula (d) Planets
3. The scientist who discovered that the earth revolves round the sun was
(a) Newton (b) Copernicus
(c) Einstein (d) Dalton
4. Which one of the following statement is correct about the innermost Planets?
(a) The surfaces of these planets are almost solids.
(b) They are composed of silicates rocks.
(c) They are called terrestrial planets.
(d) All of the Above.
5. Arrange the following in decreasing order of size and select correct answer from the code given below:
(a) Saturn (b) Jupiter
(c) Earth (d) Uranus
Code:
(1) b, a, d, c. (2) b, d, a, c.
(3) b, c, a, d. (4) b, c, d, a.
6. Which of the two given planets are between Mars and Uranus in order of distance from sun?
(a) Earth and Jupiter (b) Saturn and Neptune
(c) Jupiter and Saturn (d) Saturn and Earth
7. Which of the following is not a great circle on the globe
(a) Prime Meridian Line (b) 60°North Latitude
(c) 60°East Longitude (d) Equator
8. Among the following cities which one lies in the farthest North?
(a) Beijing (b) New Delhi
(c) New York (d) Rome
9. When it is mid-day in the Greenwich, local time of a place is 5 O’clock evening. At which of the following
longitudes (meridians) will that place be located
(a) 75° West (b) 150° East
(c) 75° East (d) 150° West
10. The basis of deciding standard time of any place is
(a) Longitude (b) International Date Line
(c) Prime Meridian (d) Latitude
1.16  Chapter 1

11. Zero degree longitude and 0° latitude lies in the

(a) Atlantic ocean (b) Arctic ocean
(c) Pacific ocean (d) Indian ocean
12. Time of which of the following places is equal to the time of GMT.
(i) Accra (ii) Dublin
(iii) Madrid (iv) Lisbon
Code:
(a) (ii), (iii), (iv). (b) (i), (ii), (iv).
(c) (i), (iii), (iv). (d) (i), (ii), (iii).
13. International Date line passes through:
(a) Pacific ocean (b) Asia
(c) Atlantic ocean (d) Africa
14. When it is midnight at IST meridian, a place observes 6 a.m. the meridian on which the said place is
located is
(a) 7°31´E (b) 7°30´E
(c) 172°32´E (d) 127°30´W
15. Which one of the following cities does not have the same clock time as that of the other three cities at
any given instance?
(a) London (UK) (b) Lisbon (Portugal)
(c) Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) (d) Accra (Ghana)

EXERCISE 2
Long Answer Type Questions
Direction: Answer the following questions in 150 words.
1. Suppose an international boxing match is to be held in Birmingham (latitude 52°30’N; longitude
1°50’W), and is scheduled to start at 9.00 p.m. local time on 26th June. The contestants will come from
France and Australia and the referee will be from Manila, in the Philippines (latitude 14°36’N; longitude
120°59’E). Calculate the time and date that listeners in the following cities will have to tune in their
radios for the start of the contest:
(a) Paris, France (latitude 48°52’N; longitude 2°20’E);
(b) Sydney, Australia (latitude 33°55’S; longitude 151°10’E);
(c) Manila, the Philippines.
2. Imagine the whole of South America became federated into one state with Buenos Aires as its capital.
What arguments can you produce for and against the whole state being in one time zone with a common
federal time, that of the capital?
3. Briefly explain the meaning of global energy balance and account for what happens to the input of solar
energy.
4. Give a detailed account of earth’s radiation budget with diagram.
5. Discuss the shape of the earth with reference to a geoid
 The Solar System: Positions and Time   1.17

Answer key
Exercise 1
1. (d) 2. (d) 3. (b) 4. (d) 5. (1)
6. (c) 7. (b) 8. (d) 9. (c) 10. (d)
11. (a) 12. (b) 13. (a) 14. (c) 15. (c)
Thispageisintentionallyleftblank
 2 Plate Tectonics: The
Earth’s Structure
and Landforms

Learning Outcomes
After completing this chapter, you will be able to:

● Describe the structure of the earth and concept of isostasy

● Understand the relevance of plate boundaries and plate tectonics
● Describe continental drift theory and appreciate changing position of continental
masses
● Comprehend different internal process such as volcanism, earthquake, folding and
faulting

Keywords
Lithosphere, Tectonic Plates, Isostasy, Crust, Plate Boundary, Plate Movement, Rocks,
Vulcanicity, Volcano, Crater, Earthquake, Faults, Folds, Mountain, Plains, Rift Valley and
Plateau

1
2.2  Chapter 2

Introduction
1990
1996
Earth’s structure and tectonic activity is the base for
understanding the living planet that shapes its surface.
We start our discussion in this chapter with concept
Crust Fastest of structure of earth, buoyancy principle, i.e., isostasy,
Route for plate motion with reference of theory of plate tecton-
Mantle
Seismic ics, major rocks and other internal process, i.e., volca-
Liquid Waves
nism, earthquake, ­folding and faulting. Earth’s systems
Outer Core Solid
operates within its interior and are structured in three
Inner Core
parts crust, mantle and core that play a key role in form-
ing the rigid slabs of lithospheric plates, seismic flow of
energy and rock material of its surface. Moreover, the
topography of earth’s surface is shaped by the move-
ment of mass and energy and its interaction between
atmosphere and hydrosphere with the lithosphere.

Structure of the Earth

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, deep mines and bore-
FIGURE 2.1 A Sectional View of the Three Zones of
holes all ­provide clues to the nature of the earth’s interior.
the Earth—the Barysphere (Core), the Mesosphere These clues indicate that the earth is made of three parts—
(Mantle) and the Lithosphere (Crust). the core (or barysphere), the mantle(or mesosphere)
and the crust (or lithosphere). The crust is the solid
surface on which we live. The
­
hydrosphere refers to the water
Continental Crust
Oceanic Crust masses (oceans and seas) on the
surface. The atmosphere is com-
posed of a mixture of gases, which
Continental Crust - “Granitic” form an envelope around the
Crust Oceanic Crust - “Basaltic”
Crust earth. All of these are shown in
Mohorovivic
Discontinuity (Moho) Figure 2.1. The thickness of the
earth’s crust relative to the whole
Mantle Mantle Peridotite (Olivine & Augite)
Gutenberg earth is shown in Figure 2.2.
Discontinuity
The earth’s crust consists of
basalt rocks and it ‘floats’ on the
Core Core Iron & Nickel mantle. It is in constant motion
moving perhaps only 1 or 2 cm,
horizontally or vertically, a year. But
over millions of years this has added
Figure 2.2 Thickness of the Earth’s Crust in Relation to the Whole Earth up to considerable distances, suffi-
(Not Drawn to Scale).(continued) cient to cause the oceans and conti-
nents to change their shapes, their
sizes and their positions.
The crust forms a continuous covering to the mantle but its thickness varies from
5 to 7 km under the oceans from 20 to 75 km under the continents. The thinner
crust below the oceans is denser than the thicker crust, which forms the continents.
Also the thinner crust is weaker and it is here that the new crust forms and the old
crust is destroyed. From time to time, semi-fluid and molten rocks beneath the crust
force their way through the crust and onto its surface. These rocks beneath the crust
are called magma but when they reach the surface of the crust they are called lava.
 Plate Tectonics: The Earth’s Structure and Landforms   2.3

Conrad
Discontinuity—
Between Upper
Mohorovičić & Lower Crust
Discontinuity—
Between Lower
Crust & Upper Crust
Mantle
Upper Mantle
Repetti
Discontinuity—
Between Mantle
Upper &
Lower Mantle

Outer Core
Gutenberg
Discontinuity— Inner Core
Between Lower (continued)
Mantle & Outer Lehmann Figure 2.2 Thickness of the
Core Discontinuity— Earth’s Crust in Relation to
Between Outer the Whole Earth (Not Drawn
& Inner Core
to Scale).

Eurasian
plate
Juan de fuca North American
plate plate

Arabian
plate Filipino
Caribbean African plate plate
Cocos plate
Pacific plate
plate
Indian
Pacific plate plate
South American
plate
Nazca plate
Easter plate Australian plate
Juan Fernandez
plate

Scotia plate

Antarctic plate

FIGURE 2.3 The Boundaries of the Major and Minor Plates. There are Either Ocean Ridges or Ocean Trenches
Along the Boundaries of the Plates.

The outpourings of lava, which are known as volcanic eruptions(refer figure 2.24) are
mainly confined to the zones of weakness in the crust. These zones are also f­ requently
shaken, often violently, by rapid movements in the crust. Such m
­ ovements are called
earthquakes. The zones of weakness divide the crust into s­ everal large pieces called
plates (Figure 2.3).
2.4  Chapter 2

Compared with mantle, the crust consists of solid stable rocks, which are lighter than
the viscous magma of the mantle. In this respect, the crustal plates can be regarded as
'floating' on the magma. There is evidence that movements in the magma are drag-
ging along the overlying crustal plates. The continental plates carrying South America
and Africa are being dragged apart causing the crust beneath the central part of the
Atlantic to be stretched. In this zone, the magma thrusts into the ocean floor forming
a chain of volcanoes and the outpourings of lava spread out to form new crust. These
areas are sometimes called submarine ridges or spreading zones. We shall see later how
some of these volcanoes reach the surface in Iceland. Similar movements are taking
place beneath the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Since the crust forms a complete cover-
ing to the mantle, plates which move apart result in other plates moving toward each
other. Where plates collide, one plate will be dragged down as the other plate rides
up over it. As the edge of the plate which subsides is forced down into the underlying
magma, a trench forms in which there is considerable volcanic activity (Figure 2.4).
The plate concept is known as plate tectonics. It is what is happening along the
plate boundaries that is important.

Spreading Zone or Fold Mountains Continent

Submarine Ridge Mid-Oceanic Ridge
Continent
Ocean Trench Ocean

Plate O Plate O
Magma Plate C
Plate C
Spreading Continental Rises
Zone Zone of Crust
Sub- Ocean Crust
duction Mantle

FIGURE 2.4 A Submarine Ridge, Often with Volcanoes, Forms as Magma Bursts to the Surface when Two
Oceanic Plates (O) Move Apart. The Zone Where this Happens is Called the Spreading Zone, and it is here that
the New Crust is Formed. When an Oceanic Plate and a Continental Plate C Collide, the Oceanic Plate is Thrust
Down into the Magma Where it Melts in a Subduction Zone. A Trench Forms here and Active Volcanoes Develop.

Isostasy
The word Isostasy is derived from the Greek word ‘iso-stasios,’ which means “equal
standing” (in equipoise) that attaining hydrostatic ­equilibrium—the position of litho-
spheric plates alters vertically as per its thickness and density. American geologist
Clarence Dutton introduced “Isostasy” term in 1889 to describe this state of balance or
state of equilibrium that exists between mountain ranges, plateaus, and large upstand-
ing areas of the earth's surface. The concept of isostasy came in the mind of geologists
but the concept grew out of attraction of giant mountainous masses (Figure 2.5).
 Plate Tectonics: The Earth’s Structure and Landforms   2.5

Field Experiences
Two field experiences with one expedition led by Pierre Bouguer and second by Sir George Everest noted some
discrepancy in the latitudinal value of both the locations. Pierre Bouguer during his expedition of the Andes
in 1735–1745 noted that “the towering volcanic peak of Chimborazo was not attracting the plumb line, as it
should have done and thus maintained that the gravitational attraction of the Andes is much smaller than
that to be expected from the mass represented by these mountains”. Similar discrepancies were noted by Sir
George Everest (1859), the then Surveyor General of India during the geodetic survey of the Indo-Gangetic
plain noted the latitudinal position of Kalianpur and Kaliana (370-miles apart) near the Himalayas using
both triangulation and astronomical methods. The difference between the two results amounted to 5.236
seconds with the result obtained through triangulation noted as 5° 23’ 42.294 and the result obtained through
astronomical method as 5° 23’37.058.

Kaliyana
This concept was also proposed by Sir George Airy and
Archdeacon Pratt. According to Airy, the inner part of the
mountains cannot be hollow; rather the excess weight of Kalianpur
the mountains is compensated (balanced) by lighter mate-
rials below. According to him, the crust of relatively lighter
material is floating in the substratum of denser material. Less Dense
In other words, “sial” is floating over “sima.” Thus, the Rock
Himalayas are floating in denser glassy magma. According Rock Beneath Plain Must Be
to Airy, “the great mass of the Himalayas was not only a Denser than Mountain
surface phenomenon—the lighter rocks of which they are
composed do not merely rest on the level surface of denser
material beneath, but as a boat in water, sink into the denser Towards Centre Observed Expected
material. Airy postulated, “if the land column above the of the Earth Deflection Deflection
substratum is larger, its greater part would be submerged in FIGURE 2.5 Sir George Everest Experiment—
the substratum and if the land column is lower, its smaller Deflection of Plumb Bob Due to Gravity.
part would be submerged in the substratum.” According
to Airy, the density of different columns of the land (e.g.,
mountains, plateaus, plains, etc.) remains the same. In other words, density does not
change with depth, that is, “uniform density with varying thickness.”
It is a gravitational adjustment of earth’s crust that is based on the principle of
“buoyancy” (Archimedes). In the case of isostatic equilibrium, one unit of lithospheric
plates will stand higher than another due to its lower density (Pratt model or crustal
density) and if it is of the same density but thicker (Airy model or crustal thickness)
or it is a combination of both greater thickness and lower density (figure). In other
words, it considers rigid slabs of the earth, i.e., crust to be buoyantly maintained in
an underlying fluid medium, i.e., mantle and free to move vertically. The movement
of these slabs will continue until their weight is exactly balanced by their buoyancy
and this state is called isostatic equilibrium. Due to the greater thickness and lower
density of continental crusts, they stand higher in comparison with oceanic crust. In
most cases, the great differences in elevation are related to variation in crustal thick-
ness within the continents and the area of high elevations commonly being caused by
deep roots of floating crustal plates in mantle. Pratt postulated, “Elevation is inversely
proportionate to density” it means, the higher the altitude of the mountain, the lower
its density. Airy postulated, “the roots of the mountain is extended down into the
mantle.” The same pattern may be demonstrated by taking wooden pieces of varying
lengths (Figure 2.6) and if we put them into the basin of water, these would sink in
the water according to their lengths.
Another random document with
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powers of the priesthood and the ritual of the Church. Those
aspirations which had been the boast of Rome in the few, became
her terror in the many. The Quietest might believe himself sincere in
orthodoxy, might choose him a director, and might reverence the
sacraments. But such abasement and such ambition—distress so
deep, and aims so lofty—would often prove alike beyond the reach
of the ordinary confessional. The oily syllables of absolution would
drop in vain upon the troubled waves of a nature thus stirred to its
inmost depths. And if it could receive peace only from the very hand
of God, priestly mediation must begin with shame to take a lower
place. The value of relics and of masses, of penances and
paternosters, would everywhere fall. An absolute indifference to self-
interest would induce indifference also to those priestly baits by
which that self-interest was allured. Such were the presentiments
which urged the Jesuits of Rome to hunt down Molinos, with all the
implacability of fear. The craft was in danger. Hinc illæ lachrymæ.

Note to page 224.

See the Life and Religious Opinions and Experience of Madame de

la Mothe Guyon, &c., by Thomas C. Upham (New York, 1851); vol. i.
p. 153. Mr. Upham, in this and in some other parts of his excellent
biography, appears to me to have fallen into the same error with
Madame Guyon. He perceives her mistake in regarding the absence
of joy as evidence of the absence of the divine favour. But he
contrasts the state in which we are conscious of alacrity and joy in
religion—as one in which we still live comparatively by sight, with
that condition of privation in which all such enjoyment is withdrawn—
a state wherein we are called to live, not by sight, but by pure and
naked faith. Now, faith and sight are not thus opposed in Scripture.
In the New Testament, faith is always practical belief in what God
has revealed; and sight, as the opposite course of life, always so
much unbelief—undue dependence on things seen and temporal. It
is quite true that too much stress should not be laid by us on the
intensity or the displays of mere emotion,—since religion is a
principle rather than a sentiment. But not a few have been nursed in
dangerous delusion by supposing that when they feel within them
scarce a trace of any of those desires or dispositions proper to every
Christian heart—when they have no glimpse of what they incorrectly
term ‘sight’—then is the time to exercise what they suppose to be
faith,—that is, to work themselves up to the obstinate persuasion
that they personally are still the children of God.
It may well be questioned, moreover, whether we have any scriptural
ground for believing that it is usual with the Almighty, for the growth
of our sanctification, to withdraw Himself,—the only source of it. To
these supposed hidings of His face Madame Guyon, and every
Quietist, would patiently submit, as to the sovereign and inscrutable
caprice of the divine Bridegroom of the soul. Rather should we
regard such obscurations as originating with ourselves and not with
Him, and at once make the lost sense of His gracious nearness the
object of humble and earnest search. ‘Restore unto me the joy of thy
salvation!’
Madame Guyon describes her ‘state of total privation’ in the twenty-
first chapter of the Autobiography, part I.
 CHAPTER II.

O Mensch wiltu geimpffet werdn,

Und sein versetzt in d’himlisch erdn!
So mustu vor dein ästen wilt,
Gantz hawen ab, das früchte milt
Fürkommen nach Gotts ebenbildt.[334]

Hymn of the Fourteenth Century.

Part II.—The Quietist Controversy.

I.

In the year 1686, Madame Guyon returned to Paris, and entered

the head-quarters of persecution. Rumours reached her,
doubtless, from beyond the Alps, of cruel measures taken
against opinions similar to her own, which had spread rapidly in
Italy. But she knew not that all these severities originated with
Louis XIV. and his Jesuit advisers,—that her king, while revoking
the Edict of Nantes, and dispatching his dragoons to extirpate
Protestantism in France, was sending orders to D’Estrées, his
ambassador at Rome, to pursue with the utmost rigour Italian
Quietism—and that the monarch, who shone and smiled at Marly
and Versailles, was crowding with victims the dungeons of the
Roman Inquisition.
The leader of Quietism in Italy was one Michael de Molinos, a
Spaniard, a man of blameless life, of eminent and comparatively
enlightened piety. His book, entitled The Spiritual Guide, was
published in 1675, sanctioned by five famous doctors, four of
them Inquisitors, and one a Jesuit, and passed, within six years,
through twenty editions in different languages. His real doctrine
was probably identical in substance with that of Madame Guyon.
[335]
It was openly favoured by many nobles and ecclesiastics of
distinguished rank; by D’Etrees among the rest. Molinos had
apartments assigned him in the Vatican, and was held in high
esteem by Infallibility itself. But the Inquisition and the Jesuits,
supported by all the influence of France, were sure of their
game. The audacity of the Inquisitors went so far as to send a
deputation to examine the orthodoxy of the man called Innocent
XI.; for even the tiara was not to shield the patron of Molinos
from suspicions of heresy. The courtier-cardinal D’Etrees found
new light in the missives of his master. He stood committed to
Quietism. He had not only embraced the opinions of Molinos, but
had translated into Italian the book of Malaval, a French Quietist,
far more extreme than Molinos himself.[336] Yet he became, at a
moment’s notice, the accuser of his friend. He produced the
letter of Louis rebuking the faithless sloth of the pontiff who could
entertain a heretic in his palace, while he, the eldest son of the
Church, toiled incessantly to root out heresy from the soil of
France. He read before the Inquisitorial Tribunal extracts from
the papers of Molinos. He protested that he had seemed to
receive, in order at the proper juncture more effectually to
expose, these abominable mysteries. If these professions were
false, D’Etrees was a heretic; if true, a villain. The Inquisitors, of
course, deemed his testimony too valuable to be refused. In the
eyes of such men, the enormous crime which he pretended was
natural, familiar, praiseworthy. Depths of baseness beyond the
reach of ordinary iniquity, are heights of virtue with the followers
of Dominic and Loyola. Guilt, which even a bad man would
account a blot upon his life, becomes, in the annals of their zeal,
a star. The Spanish Inquisitor-General, Valdes, who raised to the
highest pitch his repute for sanctity, secured the objects of his
ambition, averted the dangers which threatened him, and
preserved his ill-gotten wealth from the grasp of the crown,
simply by his activity as a persecutor, made a practice of sending
spies to mix (under pretence of being converts or inquirers)
among the suspected Lutherans of Valladolid and Seville.
Desmarets de St. Sorlin denounced, and caused to be burnt, a
poor harmless madman, named Morin, who fancied himself the
Holy Ghost. Counselled by the Jesuit confessor of Louis, Father
Canard, he pretended to become his disciple, and then betrayed
him. This Desmarets, be it remembered, had written a book
called Les Délices de l’Esprit, happily characterised by a French
wit, when he proposed for délices to read délires. Those immoral
consequences which the enemies of Madame Guyon professed
to discern in her writings are drawn openly in the sensual and
blasphemous phraseology of this religious extravaganza. But
because Desmarets was a useful man to the Jesuits—because
he had drawn away some of the nuns of the Port Royal—
because he had given the flames a victim—because he was
protected by Canard,—the same Archbishop of Paris who
imprisoned Madame Guyon, honoured with his sanction the
ravings of the licentious visionary.[337] So little had any sincere
dread of spiritual extravagance to do with the hostility
concentrated on the disciples of Quietism. The greater portion of
the priesthood feared only lest men should learn to become
religious on their own account. The leaders of the movement
against Madame Guyon were animated by an additional motive.
They knew they should delight his Most Christian Majesty by
affording him another opportunity of manifesting his zeal for
orthodoxy; and they wished to strike at the reputation of Fénélon
through Madame Guyon. The fate of Molinos decided hers, and
hers that of the Archbishop of Cambray.
The only crime brought home to the followers of Molinos was a
preference for the religion of the heart to that of the rosary; the
substitution of a devout retirement for the observance of certain
superstitious forms and seasons. His condemnation was
determined. After an imprisonment of two years he was exhibited
in the Temple of Minerva, his hands bound, and a lighted taper
between them. A plenary indulgence was granted to all who
should be present; a vast concourse listened to the sentence;
hired voices cried, ‘To the fire! to the fire!’ the mob was stirred to
a frenzy of fanaticism. His last gaze upon the world beheld a sea
of infuriate faces, the pomp of his triumphant adversaries,—then
to the gloom and solitude of the dungeon in which he was to
languish till death bestowed release.[338]

II.

At Paris, Madame Guyon became the centre of a small but

illustrious circle, who listened with delight to her exposition of
that Quietism to which the tender earnestness of her language,
and her manner lent so indescribable a charm. There were the
Duke and Duchess of Beauvilliers, the Duke and Duchess of
Chevreuse, the Duchess of Bethune, and the Countess of
Guiche. The daughters of Colbert and of Fouquet forgot the long
enmity of their fathers in a religious friendship, whose tie was yet
more closely drawn by their common admiration for Madame
Guyon.[339] But letters filled with complaints against La Combe
and Madame Guyon poured in upon Harlay, Archbishop of Paris.
[340]
He procured the arrest of La Combe, who spent the
remainder of his days in various prisons. A little calumny and a
forged letter obtained from the king a lettre de cachet confining
Madame Guyon to an apartment in the Convent of St. Marie. The
sisters were strongly prejudiced against her, but her gentle
patience won all hearts, and her fair jailors soon vied with each
other in praises of their fascinating prisoner. An examination
elicited nothing decidedly unfavourable. Not a stain could be
detected in her character; she offered to submit all her papers
and her writings to investigation. The intercession of Madame
Miramion and other friends with Madame de Maintenon,
procured her release, after a captivity of eight months.
The most dangerous enemy Madame Guyon had as yet was her
own half-brother, Père La Mothe. He had calumniated her in
secret while in Switzerland; he was still more active now she was
in Paris. He wished to become her Director, but La Combe was
in the way. The artifices of La Mothe procured his arrest. He
advised Madame Guyon, with hypocritical protestations of
friendship, to flee to Montargis from the scandalous reports he
himself had circulated, and from adversaries he himself had
raised up. Then she would have been at his mercy—he would
have pointed to her flight as a proof of guilt, and her own
property and the guardianship of her children might have been
secured for himself. He injured her as a relation only could.
People said her cause must be a bad one, since her own brother
was constrained, from regard to the credit of religion, to bear
witness against her. A woman who had committed sacrilege at
Lyons, and had run away from the Convent of Penitents at Dijon,
was employed by him to forge letters which should damage the
character of Madame Guyon; to personate one of her maids, and
to go from confessor to confessor throughout Paris, asserting
that after living sixteen or seventeen years with her mistress, she
had quitted her at last, in disgust at her abominable life.

III.

Released from the Convent of St. Marie, Madame Guyon was

conducted by her court friends to express her thanks to Madame
de Maintenon at St. Cyr. This institution had been founded, ten
years previously, for the education of the daughters of noble but
impoverished families. The idea originated with Madame de
Maintenon: it was executed with royal speed and magnificence
by Louis, and St. Cyr became her favourite resort. In fifteen
months two thousand six hundred workmen raised the structure,
on a marshy soil, about half a league from Paris. The genius of
Mansart presided over the architecture. The style of the
ordinances was revised by Boileau and Racine. There three
hundred young ladies of rank, dressed in gowns of brown crape,
with white quilted caps, tied with ribbons whose colour indicated
the class to which they belonged in the school, studied
geography and drawing, heard mass, sang in the choir, and
listened to preachments from the lips of Madame Brinon—who
discoursed, so swore some of the courtiers, as eloquently as
Bourdaloue himself. Tired out with the formal splendours of
Versailles, Madame de Maintenon was never so happy as when
playing the part of lady abbess at St. Cyr. Often she would be
there by six in the morning, would herself assist at the toilette of
the pupils, would take a class throughout the day, would give the
novices lessons on spiritual experience; nothing in its routine
was dull, nothing in its kitchen was mean. She hated
Fontainebleau, for it tore her from her family at St. Cyr. For the
private theatricals of St. Cyr, Racine wrote Esther, at the request
of Madame de Maintenon. Happy was the courtier who could
obtain permission to witness one of these representations, who
could tell with triumph to envious groups of the excluded, what
an admirable Ahasuerus Madame de Caylus made, what a
spirited Mordecai was Mademoiselle de Glapion, how the
graceful Mademoiselle de Veillenne charmed the audience in the
prayer of Esther—in short, how far the Esther surpassed the
Phedra; and the actresses excelled the Raisins and the
Chammelés of the Parisian boards. Louis himself drew up the list
of admissions, as though it were for a journey to Marly—he was
the first to enter—and stood at the door, with the catalogue of
names in one hand and his cane held across as a barrier in the
other, till all the privileged had entered.[341] But the fashion of
asceticism which grew with every year of Maintenon’s reign
threw its gloom over St. Cyr. The absolute vows were introduced,
and much of the monotonous austerity of conventual life.
Religious excitement was the only resource left to the inmates if
they would not die of ennui. This relief was brought them by
Madame Guyon.
Madame de Maintenon was touched with pity for the misfortunes
of Madame Guyon, with admiration for such patience, such
forgetfulness of self,—she found in the freshness and fervour of
her religious conversation, a charm which recalled the warmer
feelings of youth; which was welcome, for its elevation, after the
fatigue and anxiety of state, for its sweetness, as contrasted with
the barren minutiæ of rigid formalism. She invited her constantly
to her table—she encouraged her visits to St. Cyr—she met with
her, and with Fénélon, at the Hôtels de Chevreuse and
Beauvilliers, where a religious coterie assembled three times a
week to discuss the mysteries of inward experience. Thus,
during three or four years of favour with Madame de Maintenon,
Madame Guyon became in effect the spiritual instructress of St.
Cyr, and found herself at Paris surrounded by disciples whose
numbers daily increased, and whom she withdrew from the
licentious gaieties of the capital. At St. Cyr the young ladies
studied her books, and listened to her as an oracle—the
thoughtless grew serious—the religious strained every faculty to
imitate the attainments of one in whom they saw the ideal of
devotion. In Paris, mystical terminology became the fashionable
language—it was caught up and glibly uttered by wits and roués
—it melted from the lips of beauties who shot languishing
glances at their admirers, while they affected to be weary of the
world, and who coquetted while they talked significantly of holy
indifference or pure love. Libertines, like Treville, professed
reform, and wrote about mysticism,—atheists turned Christians,
like Corbinelli, now became Quietists, and might be seen in the
salon of Madame le Maigre, where Corbinelli shone, the brilliant
expositor of the new religious romanticism.[342]

IV.

During this period, Madame Guyon became acquainted with

Fénélon. At their first interview she was all admiration, he all
distrust. ‘Her mind,’ she says, ‘had been taken up with him with
much force and sweetness;’ it seemed to be revealed to her that
he should become one of her spiritual children. Fénélon, on his
part, thought she had neglected her duty to her family for an
imaginary mission. But he had inquired concerning her life at
Montargis, and heard only praise. After a few conversations his
doubts vanished: he had proposed objections, requested
explanations, pointed out unguarded expressions in her books—
she was modest, submissive, irresistible.[343] There was a power
in her language, her manner, her surviving beauty, which
mysteriously dissipated prejudice; which even Nicole, Bossuet,
Boileau, Gaillard, could not withstand when they conversed with
her,—which was only overcome when they had ceased to behold
her face, when her persuasive accents sounded no longer in
their ears. She recalled to the thoughts of Fénélon his youthful
studies at St. Sulpice;—there he had perused the mystical
divines in dusty tomes, clasped and brazen-cornered,—now he
beheld their buried doctrine raised to life in the busy present,
animating the untaught eloquence of a woman, whom a noble
enthusiasm alone had endowed with all the prerogatives of
genius, and all the charms of beauty. This friendship, which
events rendered afterwards so disastrous for himself, was
beneficial to Madame Guyon. Fénélon taught her to moderate
some of her spiritual excesses. Her extravagance reached its
culminating point at Thonon. At Paris, influenced doubtless by
Fénélon, as well as by more frequent intercourse with the world,
she no longer enjoys so many picturesque dreams, no more
heals the sick and casts out devils with a word, and no longer—
as in her solitude there—suffers inward anguish consequent on
the particular religious condition of Father La Combe when he is
three hundred miles off.[344] It is curious to observe how the
acquaintance of Fénélon with Madame Guyon began with
suspicion and ripened into friendship, while that of Bossuet,
commencing with approval, and even admiration, ended in
calumny and persecution. Bossuet declared to the Duc de
Chevreuse that while examining her writings, for the first time, he
was astonished by a light and unction he had never before seen,
and, for three days, was made to realize the divine Presence in a
manner altogether new. Bossuet had never, like Fénélon, studied
the mystics.[345]

V.

The two most influential Directors at St. Cyr were Godet des
Marais, Bishop of Chartres, and Fénélon. These two men form a
striking contrast. Godet was disgusting in person and in manners
—a sour ascetic—a spiritual martinet—devoted to all the petty
austerities of the most formal discipline. Fénélon was dignified
and gentle, graceful as a courtier, and spotless as a saint—the
most pure, the most persuasive, the most accomplished of
religious guides. No wonder that most of the young inmates of
St. Cyr adored Fénélon, and could not endure Godet. Madame
de Maintenon wavered between her two confessors; if Fénélon
was the more agreeable, Godet seemed the more safe. Godet
was miserably jealous of his rival. He was not sorry to find that
the new doctrines had produced a little insubordination within the
quiet walls of St. Cyr—that Fénélon would be compromised by
the indiscretion of some among his youthful admirers. He
brought a lamentable tale to Madame de Maintenon. Madame du
Peron, the mistress of the novices, had complained that her
pupils obeyed her no longer. They neglected regular duties for
unseasonable prayers. They had illuminations and ecstasies.
One in the midst of sweeping her room would stand, leaning on
her broom, lost in contemplation: another, instead of hearing
lessons, became inspired, and resigned herself to the operation
of the Spirit. The under-mistress of the classes stole away the
enlightened from the rest, and they were found in remote corners
of the house, feasting in secret on the sweet poison of Madame
Guyon’s doctrine. The precise and methodical Madame de
Maintenon was horrified. She had hoped to realize in her institute
the ideal of her Church, a perfect uniformity of opinion, an
unerring mechanism of obedience. We wished, said she, to
promote intelligence, we have made orators; devotion, we have
made Quietists; modesty, we have made prudes; elevation of
sentiment, and we have pride. She commissioned Godet to
reclaim the wanderers, to demand that the books of Madame
Guyon should be surrendered, setting herself the example by
publicly delivering into his hand her own copy of the Short
Method. She requested Madame Guyon to refrain from visiting
St. Cyr. She began to doubt the prudence or the orthodoxy of
Fénélon.[346] What would the king say, if he heard of it—he, who
had never liked Fénélon—who hated nothing so much as heresy
—who had but the other day extinguished the Quietism of
Molinos? She had read to him some of Madame Guyon’s
exposition of the Canticles; and he called it dreamy stuff.
Doctrines really dangerous to purity were insinuated by some
designing monks, under the name of Quietism. The odium fell on
the innocent Madame Guyon; and her friends would necessarily
share it. Malicious voices charged her with corrupting the
principles of the Parisian ladies. Madame Guyon replied with
justice,—‘When they were patching, and painting, and ruining
their families by gambling and by dress, not a word was said
against it; now that they have withdrawn from such vanities, the
cry is, that I have ruined them.’ Rumour grew more loud and
scandalous every day: the most incredible reports were most
credited. The schools, too, had taken up the question of
mysticism, and argued it with heat. Nicole and Lami had
dissolved an ancient friendship to quarrel about it,—as Fénélon
and Bossuet were soon to do. No controversy threatened to
involve so many interests, to fan so many passions, to kindle so
many hatreds, as this variance about disinterestedness, about
indifference, about love.
The politic Madame de Maintenon watched the gathering storm,
and became all caution. At all costs, she must free herself from
the faintest suspicion of fellowship with heresy. She questioned,
on the opinions of Madame Guyon, Bossuet and Noailles,
Bourdaloue, Joly, Tiberge, Brisacier, and Tronson; and the
replies of these esteemed divines, uniformly unfavourable,
decided her. It would be necessary to disown Madame Guyon:
her condemnation would become inevitable. Fénélon must be
induced to disown her too, or his career was at a close; and
Madame de Maintenon could smile on him no longer.[347]
Madame Guyon, alarmed by the growing numbers and
vehemence of her adversaries, had recourse to the man who
afterwards became her bitterest enemy. She proposed to
Bossuet that he should examine her writings. He complied; held
several private interviews with her, and expressed himself, on
the whole, more favourably than could have been expected. But
these conferences, which did not altogether satisfy Bossuet,
could do nothing to allay the excitement of the public.[348]
VI.

Madame Guyon now requested the appointment of

commissioners, who should investigate, and pronounce finally
concerning her life and doctrine.[349] Three were chosen—
Bossuet; Noailles, Bishop of Chalons; and Tronson, Superior of
St. Sulpice. Noailles was a sensible, kind-hearted man; Tronson,
a worthy creature, in poor health, with little opinion of his own;
Bossuet, the accredited champion of the Gallican Church,
accustomed to move in an atmosphere of flattery—the august
dictator of the ecclesiastical world—was absolute in their
conferences. They met, from time to time, during some six
months, at the little village of Issy, the country residence of the
Superior of St. Sulpice. When Madame Guyon appeared before
them, Bossuet alone was harsh and rude; he put the worst
construction on her words; he interrupted her; now he silenced
her replies, now he burlesqued them; now he affected to be
unable to comprehend them; now he held up his hands in
contemptuous amazement at her ignorance; he would not suffer
to be read the justification which had cost her so much pains; he
sent away her friend, the Duke of Chevreuse. This ominous
severity confused and frightened her.[350] She readily consented
to retire to a convent in the town of Meaux, there to be under the
surveillance of Bossuet. She undertook this journey in the depth
of the most frightful winter which had been known for many
years; the coach was buried in the snow, and she narrowly
escaped with life. The commissioners remained to draw up, by
the fireside, certain propositions, which should determine what
was, and what was not, true mysticism. These constitute the
celebrated Articles of Issy.
Bossuet repeatedly visited Madame Guyon at Meaux. The great
man did not disdain to approach the sick-bed of his victim, as
she lay in the last stage of exhaustion, and there endeavour to
overreach and terrify her. He demanded a submission, and
promised a favourable certificate. The submission he received,
the certificate he withheld. He sought to force her, by threats, to
sign that she did not believe in the Incarnation. The more timid
she appeared, the more boisterous and imperative his tone. One
day, he would come with words of kindness, on another, with
words of fury; yet, at the very time, this Pilate could say to some
of his brethren, that he found no serious fault in her. He declared,
on one occasion, that he was actuated by no dislike—he was
urged to rigorous measures by others; on another, that the
submission of Madame Guyon, and the suppression of Quietism,
effected by his skill and energy, would be as good as an
archbishopric or a cardinal’s hat to him. Justice and ambition
contended within him; for a little while the battle wavered, till
presently pride and jealousy brought up to the standard of the
latter, reinforcements so overwhelming, that justice was beaten
for ever from the field. After six months’ residence at Meaux,
Madame Guyon received from Bossuet a certificate attesting her
filial submissiveness to the Catholic faith, his satisfaction with her
conduct, authorizing her still to participate in the sacrament of
the Church, and acquitting her of all implication in the heresy of
Molinos.[351]
Meanwhile, Fénélon had been added to the number of the
commissioners at Issy. He and Bossuet were still on intimate
terms; but Bossuet, like all vain men, was a dangerous friend. He
knew how to inspire confidence which he did not scruple to
betray. Madame Guyon, conscious of the purity of her life, of the
orthodoxy of her intention, persuaded that such a man must be
superior to the meaner motives of her persecutors, had placed in
the hands of Bossuet her most private papers, not excluding the
Autobiography, which had not been submitted even to the eye of
Fénélon. To Bossuet, Fénélon had, in letters, unfolded his most
secret thoughts—the conflicts and aspirations of his spiritual
history, so unbounded was his reliance on his honour, so exalted
his estimate of the judgment of that powerful mind in matters of
religion. The disclosures of both were distorted and abused to
crush them; both had to rue the day when they trusted one who
could sacrifice truth to glory. At Issy, the deference and the
candour of Fénélon were met by a haughty reserve on the part of
Bossuet. The meekness of Fénélon and the timidity of Madame
Guyon only inflamed his arrogance; to bow to him was to be
overborne; to confront him was at once to secure respect, if not
fairness. The Articles were already drawn up when the signature
of Fénélon was requested. He felt that he should have been
allowed his fair share in their construction; as they were, he
could not sign them; he proposed modifications; they were
acceded to; and the thirty-four Articles of Issy appeared in
March, 1695, with the name of Fénélon associated with the other
three.[352]

VII.

To any one who reads these Articles, and the letter written by
Fénélon to Madame de la Maisonfort, after signing them, it will
be obvious that the Quietism of Fénélon went within a moderate
compass. When he comes to explain his meaning, the
controversy is very much a dispute about words. He did not, like
Madame Guyon, profess to conduct devout minds by a certain
method to the attainment of perfect disinterestedness. He only
maintained the possibility of realizing a love to God, thus purified
from self. He was as fully aware as his opponents, that to evince
our love to God by willingness to endure perdition, was the same
thing as attesting our devotion to Him by our readiness to hate
Him for ever. This is the standing objection against the doctrine
of disinterested love. The great Nonconformist divine, John
Howe, urges it with force. It is embodied in the thirty-second of
the Articles in question. But it does not touch Fénélon’s position.
His assertion is, that we should will our own salvation only
because God wills it; that, supposing it possible for us to endure
hell torments, retaining the grace of God and our consciousness
that such suffering was according to His will, and conducive to
His glory, the soul, animated by pure love, would embrace even
such a doom.[353] It is but the supposition of an impossible case,
—a supposition, moreover, which involves a very gross and
external conception of hell. It could find no place in a mysticism
like that of Behmen or Swedenborg, where hell is regarded,
much more truly, less as an infliction from without, than as the
development of dominant evil from within. The Quietism of
Fénélon does not preclude the reflex actions of the mind, or
confine the spirit of the adept to the sphere of the immediate. It
forbids only the introspection of self-complacency.[354] It does not
merge distinct acts in a continuous operation, nor discourage
effort for self-advancement in holiness, or for the benefit of
others—it only teaches us to moderate that impatience which
has its origin in self, and declares that our own co-operation
becomes, in certain cases, unconscious—is, as it were, lost in a
‘special facility.’[355] The indefatigable benevolence of his life
abundantly repudiates the slanderous conclusion of his
adversaries, that the doctrine of indifference concerning the
future, involves indifference likewise to moral good and evil in the
present. Bossuet himself is often as mystical as Fénélon,
sometimes more so.[356] St. Francis de Sales and Madame de
Chantal said the very same things,—not to mention the unbridled
utterances of the earlier and the mediæval mystics canonized by
the Church of Rome. Could the controversy have been confined
to the real question, no harm would have been done. It would
have resembled the duel, in Ben Jonson’s play, between
Fastidious Brisk and Signor Puntarvolo, where the rapiers cut
through taffeta and lace, gold embroidery and satin doublets, but
nowhere enter the skin. Certain terms and certain syllogisms, a
well-starched theory, or an argument trimmed with the pearls of
eloquence—might have been transfixed or rent by a dexterous
pen, on this side or on that, but the prize of the conqueror would
not have been court favour, nor the penalty of the conquered,
exile. Theologians might have written, for a few, the learned
history of a logical campaign, but the eyes of Europe would
never have been turned to a conflict for fame and fortune raging
in the Vatican and at Versailles, enlisting every religious party
throughout Roman-catholic Christendom, and involving the rise
or fall of some of the most illustrious names among the
churchmen and nobility of France.
VIII.

The writings of Madame Guyon had now been condemned,

though without mention of her name; Bossuet had intimated that
he required nothing further from her; she began to hope that the
worst might be over, and returned with her friends from Meaux to
Paris, to live there as much retired as possible. This flight, which
he chose to call dishonourable, irritated Bossuet. She had
suffered him to see that she could trust him no longer. He
endeavoured to recover the certificate he had given. An order
was procured for her arrest. The police observed that a house in
the Faubourg St. Antoine was always entered by a pass-key.
They made their way in, and found Madame Guyon. They
brought away their prisoner, ill as she was, and the king was
induced, with much difficulty, to sign an order for her
incarceration at Vincennes. The despot thought a convent might
suffice,—not so the persecutors.[357]
Bossuet had been for some time occupied in writing a work
which should demolish with a blow the doctrine of Madame
Guyon, and hold her up to general odium. It consisted of ten
books, and was entitled Instructions on the States of Prayer. He
showed the manuscript to Fénélon, desiring him to append a
statement, approving all it contained, which should accompany
the volume when published. Fénélon refused. Six months ago he
had declared that he could be no party to a personal attack on
Madame Guyon: the Instructions contained little else. That
tremendous attack was no mere exposure of unguarded
expressions—no mere deduction of dangerous consequences,
possibly unforeseen by a half-educated writer; it charged
Madame Guyon with having for her sole design the inculcation of
a false spirituality, which abandoned, as an imperfection, faith in
the divine Persons and the humanity of Christ; which disowned
the authority of Scripture, of tradition, of morality; which
dispensed with vocal prayer and acts of worship; which
established an impious and brutal indifference between vice and
virtue, between everlasting hate of God and everlasting love;
which forbade resistance to temptation as an interruption to
repose; which taught an imaginary perfection extinguishing the
nobler desires only to inflame the lower, and clothing the
waywardness of self-will and passion with the authority of
inspiration and of prophecy. Fénélon knew that this accusation
was one mass of falsehood. If Bossuet himself believed it, why
had he suffered such a monster still to commune; why had he
been so faithless to his high office in the Church, as to give his
testimonials declaring the purity of her purpose and the
soundness of her faith, when he had not secured the formal
retraction of a single error? To sign his approval of that book,
would be not merely a cowardly condemnation of a woman
whom he knew to be innocent—it would be the condemnation of
himself. His acquaintance with Madame Guyon was matter of
notoriety. It would be to say that he—a student of theology, a
priest, an archbishop, the preceptor of princes—had not only
refrained from denouncing, but had honoured with his friendship,
the teacher of an abominable spiritualism which abolished the
first principles of right and wrong. It would be to declare, in fact,
such a prelate far more guilty than such a heretic. And Bossuet
pretended to be his friend—Bossuet, who had laid the snare
which might have been the triumph of the most malignant enemy.
It was not a mere question of persons—Madame Guyon might
die in prison—he himself might be defamed and disgraced—he
did not mean to become her champion—surely that was enough,
knowing what he knew,—let her enemies be satisfied with his
silence—he could not suffer another man to take his pen out of
his hand to denounce as an emissary of Satan one whom he
believed to be a child of God.[358]
Such was Fénélon’s position. He wished to be silent concerning
Madame Guyon. To assent to the charges brought against her
would not have been even a serviceable lie, if such a man could
have desired to escape the wrath of Bossuet at so scandalous a
price. Every one would have said that the Archbishop of
Cambray had denounced his accomplice out of fear. Neither was
he prepared to embrace the opposite extreme and to defend the
personal cause of the accused, many of whose expressions he
thought questionable, orthodox as might be her explanation, and
many of whose extravagances he disapproved. His enemies
wished to force him to speak, and were prepared to damage his
reputation whether he appeared for or against the prisoner at
Vincennes. At length it became necessary that he should break
silence; and when he did, it was not to pronounce judgment
concerning the oppressed or her oppressors, it was to
investigate the abstract question,—the teaching of the Church on
the doctrine of pure love. He wrote the Maxims of the Saints.

IX.

This celebrated book appeared in January, 1697, while Fénélon

was at Cambray, amazing the Flemings of his diocese by
affording them, in their new archbishop, the spectacle of a
church dignitary who really cared for his flock, who consigned
the easier duties to his vicars, and reserved the hardest for
himself; who entered their cottages like a father, listened with
interest to the story of their hardships or their griefs; who
consoled, counselled, and relieved them; who partook of their
black bread as though he had never shared the banquets of
Versailles, and as though Paris were to him, as to themselves, a
wonderful place far away, whose streets were paved with gold.
Madame Guyon was in confinement at the village of Vaugirard,
whither the compassion of Noailles had transferred her from
Vincennes, resigned and peaceful, writing poetry and singing
hymns with her pious servant-girl, the faithful companion of her
misfortunes. Bossuet was visiting St. Cyr—very busy in
endeavouring to purify the theology of the young ladies from all
taint of Quietism—but quite unsuccessful in reconciling Madame
de la Maisonfort to the loss of her beloved Fénélon.
The Maxims of the Saints was an exposition and vindication of
the doctrines of pure love, of mystical union, and of perfection,
as handed down by some of the most illustrious and authoritative
names in the Roman-catholic Church, from Dionysius, Clement,
and Augustine, to John of the Cross and Francis de Sales;—it
explained their terminology;—it placed in juxtaposition with every
article of legitimate mysticism its false correlative—the use and
the abuse;—and was, in fact, though not expressly, a complete
justification (on the principles of his Church) of that moderate
Quietism held by himself, and in substance by Madame Guyon.
[359]
The book was approved by Tronson, by Fleury, by Hébert, by
Pirot, a doctor of the Sorbonne, by Père La Chaise, the King’s
Confessor, by the Jesuits of Clermont,—but it was denounced by
Bossuet; it was nicknamed the Bible of the Little Church;
Pontchartrain, the comptroller-general, and Maurice Le Tellier,
Archbishop of Reims, told the King that it was fit only for knaves
or fools. Louis sent for Bossuet. The Bishop of Meaux cast
himself theatrically at the feet of majesty, and, with pretended
tears, implored forgiveness for not earlier revealing the heresy of
his unhappy brother. A compromise was yet possible; for
Fénélon was ready to explain his explanations, and to suppress
whatever might be pronounced dangerous in his pages. But the
eagle of Meaux had seen the meek and dove-like Fénélon—
once almost more his disciple than his friend—erect the standard
of independence, and assume the port of a rival. His pride was
roused. He was resolved to reign alone on the ecclesiastical
Olympus of the Court, and he would not hear of a peace that
might rob him of a triumph. Did Fénélon pretend to shelter
himself by great names,—he, Bossuet, would intrench himself
within the awful sanctuary of the Church; he represented religion
in France; he would resent every attack upon his own opinions
as an assault on the Catholic faith; he had the ear of the King,
with whom heresy and treason were identical; success was all
but assured, and, if so, war was glory. Such tactics are not
peculiar to the seventeenth century. In our own day, every one
implicated in religious abuses identifies himself with religion,—
brands every exposure of his misconduct as hostility to the
cause of God,—invests his miserable personality with the benign
grandeur of the Gospel,—and stigmatizes as troublers in Israel
all who dare to inquire into his procedure,—while innumerable
dupes or cowards sleepily believe, or cautiously pretend to do