SGEO 10101 Summer 2000 Howard Horowitz
Room G-401
DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN SCIENCE: GEOGRAPHY
Objectives: To introduce students to the study of the natural systems and processes that have shaped, and continue to shape, the land around us. To present basic meteorological concepts, and to describe field methods useful for independent exploration of our natural and cultural environments.
Text: Strahler and Strahler, Introducing Physical Geography, 2nd edition,
John Wiley and Sons, 1997.
Course Requirements and Grade Determination:
1) Regular attendance in class, and timely reading of assignments.
2) There will be two exams: a midterm and a final.
3) Observation Report: A written report, based on individual field work, describing observed aspects of the physical environment of a specific place. A detailed description will be provided.
4) A critical review of one book, or a packet of articles, to be chosen from a list to be provided.
COURSE OUTLINE
Part I. INTRODUCTION
Changing concepts of Earth history and landform process.
Catastrophism and uniformitarianism: the shifting pendulum of ideas. The K/T boundary controversy (dinosaur extinction)
and other examples.
The Earth and Its Representation. Projecting a sphere onto a plane. Equivalence and conformality. The geopolitics of map projection. Latitude and longitude; seasons and time zones. The Township and Range System.
Part II. PROCESSES THAT FORM THE LAND: UPLIFT AND EROSION
The Earth's crust -- composition and structure. The orders of relief. Basic rock types: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Classical concepts of mountain formation. Puzzling observations that led to the theory of plate tectonics.
Continental Drift: sea-floor spreading, rifting, and subduction. Evidence from the fossil record and other sources. The growth of continents along their margins through the accretion of terranes, and through the formation and uplifting of geosynclines.
Folded Landscapes: anticlines and synclines. Ridge-and-valley provinces, trellis drainage patterns, and water gaps. Faulting and earthquakes: patterns, hazards, and risk mitigation.
Volcanism: flood basalts, shield volcanos, cinder cones, and compost volcanos. A close look at Mt. St. Helens.
Weathering and Mass Wasting: terms and concepts. Physical versus chemical weathering. Limestone landforms: karst topography. Soil creep, slump, and landslide: erosional patterns and processes. Land misuse and soil erosion.
Streams: forms, processes, and landscapes. Dissolved load, suspended load, and bed load. Energetics of flow: competence and capacity, turbulence and laminar flow. Dendritic drainage and other watershed patterns. Evapotranspiration, surpluses, and deficits. Erosional and depositional landforms. Groundwater. Fluvial processes in arid regions.
Glaciers: forms, processes, and landscapes. Snowfields, firn, and glacial ice. The glacial budget: accumulation and ablation. Alpine and continental glacial landforms. The Ice Age legacy around Ramapo campus. Long-term climate changes.
Wind as a land-shaping agent: patterns and processes. Dune formation and stabilization. Desertification: what causes it, what can be done?
Coastal Features: the land-sea interface. Beach development and long-shore drift. The Jersey shore: erosion and the effects of jetty construction. Barrier islands, estuaries, salt marshes, and reefs. The open ocean.
Part III. ENERGY AND THE ATMOSPHERE
The electromagnetic spectrum. Solar radiation, terrestrial radiation, and the heat balance. The "greenhouse effect."
Factors affecting temperature variation on the Earth's surface. Differential behavior of land and sea surfaces. The annual march of temperature at the 48th parallel.
Air Masses: description and classification. Fronts: the adiabatic process; the relation of lapse rates to adiabatic rates. Evaporation and condensation; cloud formation and raindrops. Atmospheric stability and instability.
Pressure and Winds. The pressure gradient force. The Coriolis effect. High and low pressure systems. The general circulation of the atmosphere. Intertropical convergence and polar front dynamics: wet regions, dry regions, and wet/dry seasonality. The hypothetical "world continent." Storms: midlatitude cyclones, hurricanes, and thunderstorms.
Part IV. SOILS AND VEGETATION
Soil composition and structure. Factors in soil formation. Microbial activity: mycorrhizae, nitrogen-fixation, and humus decomposition. Tropical and boreal soils.
Vegetation. Introduction to biogeography. Succession, limiting factors, species range. Symbiosis and competition. Forest and grassland systems. Fire: its impacts, uses, management, and mismanagement. Extinction and loss of diversity. Problems with introduced exotics. Physical geography and our everyday lives.