Lecture 2

Geoidal Bulge

Earth bulges at the Equator

latitude and longitude

Grid system used to locate places on Earth

Latitude

lines that __run East-West; parallel; measured North-South__, starting at 0º (the Equator), and ending at 90º (the N and S Pole).

Longitude

lines that __run North-South; non parallel; measured East-West__, starting at 0º (the Prime Meridian), and ending at 180º (the International Date Line).

degree of latitude or longitude

one part of a circle, with 360 parts or degrees in a complete circle.

A degree can be divided into 60

minutes

minute can be divided into 60

seconds

Which comes first, latitude or longitude?

Latitude first, then longitude (   12° 35' 15" N  104° 55' 30" E     NOT     104° 55' 30" E  12° 35' 15" N)

Major lines of Latitude

Equator (0°), Tropic of Cancer (23.5 °N), Tropic of Capricorn (23.5 ° S), Arctic Circle (66.5°N), Antarctic Circle (66.5°S), North Pole (90° N), South Pole (90°S)

Major lines of Longitude

Prime Meridian (0°), International Date Line (180°)

Time Zones

Determined by Earth’s rotation and Meridians of Longitude. 1 time zone= 15° of longitude, 15°/h

Map projection

arrangement of crisscrossing lines (lat and long) to alleviate problems with distorting physical size and shape when transferring the glob onto a flat surface

Scale

ratio of distance on the map to the actual distance on the ground

representative fraction

Scale ratio: 1:24,000 (1 in on map=24,000 inches on ground)

large scale map

small area of Earth surface = more detail

Small scale map

large area of the Earth surface=less detail

Thematic maps

most common type of map in geography, used to show distribution of phenomena, relationships btwn places, or movement of things.

Spatial Distribution

the arrangement on the landscape of the feature being studied (why is that distribution the way it is/what causes it)

3 aspects of spatial distribution

Density, Concentration, pattern

Density

the frequency with which a feature/phenomenon occurs within a given area (ex- people per square mile)

Concentration

of a feature/phenomenon is the arrangement or spread of that feature over a unit of area. Where/How are the individual units of the feature located in the landscape.

Pattern

of the feature/phenomenon refers to the geometric arrangement of that feature across the landscape.

Mental Maps

*image in your mind*/__*cognitive image*__ of a particular area, place, or route

__environmental perception__

your memories (sights, sounds, smells, etc.) of a place, or route.