Earth Science

 A feature that makes up the shape of the land at Earth’s surface  3 basic types:  Plains- large relatively flat areas  Plateaus- relatively flat raised areas  Mountains- raised areas

Coastal Plains  Broad areas along the oceans shore  Ex. Atlantic Coastal Plain  Low rolling hills, swamps, and marshes  Marsh- grassy wetland usually flooded with water Interior Plains  Make up much of the central portion of the U.S.  Extend from the Appalachian Mountains to the Rocky Mountains

 Relatively flat, raised areas of land.  Different from plains because they raise steeply from the ground around them.  Ex. Colorado Plateau- lies West of the Rocky Mountains. The Colorado River runs through it forming the Grand Canyon

 Folded Mountains  Form when rock layers are squeezed from opposite sides.  Ex. Appalachians

 Upwarped Mountains  Form when crust is pushed up by forces inside the Earth.  Ex: Rockies and Black Hills

 Fault-Block Mountains  Form when huge tilted rocks are separated from surrounding rock by faults  Ex Grand Tetons & Sierra Nevada

 Volcanic Mountains  Form when molten material reaches the surface and piles up.  Ex. Mount St. Helens & Mauna Loa

 Latitude refers to distance north or south of the equator  The equator is numbered as 0 latitude  The poles are each numbered 90  Locations north of the equator are in north latitude and south of it are on south latitude

 Run north and south around the globe  The Prime Meridian is considered to be 0 longitude  All other longitude is measured from there  Longitude goes from 0 to 180  The International Date Line is at 180 longitude

 Earth is divided into 24 different time zones.  Each time zone is 15 degrees (longitude) wide.  The US has 6 different time zones  International date line

 Maps are all models of some area  Maps of the world are commonly made using projections  A projection is made when points and lines on a globe are transferred onto paper  All projections contain some type of distortions

 Has the correct shape of the continents, but their areas are distorted  When longitude lines are made parallel, the areas near the poles are exaggerated

 Has accurate shapes and shows accurate land mass.  Areas near the pole suffer less distortion

 Used to produce maps of small areas  Projects points and lines from a globe onto a cone

 Shows the changes in elevation of the Earth’s surface  Shows features such as mountains, plains, lakes, as well as roads, cities, etc.  Allows you to tell how steep a mountain is or how deep a valley.

 Contour line - connects points of equal elevation  Elevation- distance below or above sea level  The difference in elevation between side-by-side contour lines is the contour interval  Contour lines marked with their elevation are index contours

 Contour lines close around hills and basins (hachures point down)  Contour lines never cross  Contour lines form V’s that point upstream whenever they cross streams.

 If the contour lines are close together, then that indicates that area has a steep slope.

 If the contour lines are far apart, then that indicates the land has a gentle slope (low slope).

 The dark colored contour lines represent every 5 th contour line to make it easier to read the map.

 A depression, such as the inside of a dead volcano, is represented by Hachure lines.  Hachure lines are regular contour lines with small segments sticking out from it.  The first hachure line is at the same elevation as the contour line before it.

 Contour lines form V’s that point upstream when they cross a stream.  It is important to remember that they point in the opposite direction as the flow of water.

 Blue lines/shapes- represent water features such as streams and lakes  Brown- contour lines  Black- roads, buildings, railroads, other man-made objects  Green- woodland areas  Red- highways

 First determine the contour interval (the distance between each contour line)  Then determine the map scale (usually at the bottom of the map)  Identify any hills or depressions  Use the legend to identify man made features

 Look for areas where the contour lines are close together- they indicate a steep area.  Look for areas where the contour lines are spread apart – they indicate a gentle slope.

 Map legend explains what the symbols used on the map mean.  Map scale is the relationship between distances on the map and actual distances on the Earth’s surface.  Scale is often expressed as a ratio  1:500 means 1 unit on the map = 500 units on the Earth

 Maps of the world can be made in several ways  Most maps today are made using satellites  Maps of the ocean floor can be made using sonar  The Sea Beam is a very advanced type of sonar device.

 Landsat- detects different wavelengths from Earth’s surface and changes them into color.  Topex-Poseidon- uses radar to find the distance to the oceans surface and plot maps of the ocean floor  GPS (Global Positioning System)- allows a user to determine their exact position anywhere on Earth.  Has 24 satellites in orbit