GPHY 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Atmospheric Circulation, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Geography
• Course: GPHY 102
• Professor: Ryan K Danby

Document Summary

Scales: global to local (objects, areas and scale dependant processes) Cycles: regular changes in energy and matter for fixed periods in time. Atmosphere: basis of every aspect of earth"s surface systems, gaseous layer that surrounds the earth, redistributes heat and moisture received from the surface and redistributes it, and returns some, supplies vital elements (carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen) Lithosphere: outermost solid portion of the earth, contains a thin layer of soil that supplied nutrients covering solid rock underneath, sculpted into landforms like valleys and mountains. Hydrosphere: the water portion of earth, majority of earth"s water is in the oceans, water is also found in the atmosphere (solid, gas, and liquid) and lithosphere (lakes, streams, ice, etc) Ice section of hydrosphere is called the cryosphere. Includes all living organisms: dependant on all the other layers to support life, the "life layer" Spatial scales in physical geography: global scale. Consider the planet and global energy balance system as a whole.