Geo Exam

Plate Tectonics Questions

• The first evidence that led people to think that the continents were once connected is plate tectonics leading to the fact that South America and Africa look like they would fit together

Alfred Wegener had a theory called “continental drift”

• All the continents used to be one supercontinent called Pangaea

• The plates have broken up and have slowly drifted to where they are now

• They are still continuing to drift

Alfred Wegener’s Proof

• South America could fit into Africa

• Fossils of the same organisms were found on each side of the break

• On both sides of the Atlantic Ocean there are mountains with similar age and structure - some dating back about 300 million years ago

Most Scientists Disagreed With His Theory Because…

• He couldn’t explain what force was powerful enough to move continents

Plate Tectonics Theory

• Earth’s Outer Shell is made up of about 20 plates

• Most of these plates are made up of continental and oceanic crust

• They are floating on a layer of hot rock several hundred kilometers below the surface

• There is no solution to how they move

Earthquakes and Volcanoes are located near plate boundaries because…

• Earthquakes occur when the plates bang against eachother

• Volcanoes are near plate boundaries because magma comes from the core and a ridge is formed

Movement of Earth’s plates has shaped Canada…

• Mountains split with Europe that used to be beside eachother

• Forming Canada’s fossil fuels (i.e. oil, gas, and coal were formed as a result of events that took place when Canada’s land mass was located in a warmer, tropical climate)

Subduction:

• When two plates collide and one goes under the other creating a trench

• Subduction is occurring at ridges (when magma comes from Earth’s core) and then plates collide, one goes under the other and this creates a trench

Landform Regions of Canada

• A landform region is an area in which the landscape looks similar, but different from other regions

Canadain Shield (Canadian Shield)

Population Characteristics

• Mining (great source of metallic minerals and diamonds)

• Aboriginal people are the majority of the population of the shield

Physical Characteristics

• Largest of the 7 regions

• Contains mostly igneous and metamorphic rock

• Ideal for mining

• Plenty of lakes

Economic Importance

• Farming

• Mining

• Tourism and Recreation

• Lakes, waterfalls, rock, crops, forest

Facts

• 57% of our country

Lowland Regions

Regions

• Interior Plains

• Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Lowlands

• Hudsons Bay/Arctic Lowlands

Population Characteristics

• A lot of wheat is grown there

• 50% of people live in Great Lakes/St. Lawrence

• 70% of Canada’s manufacturing sites are located in Great Lakes/St. Lawrence

Physical Characteristics

• Flat land (crushed by glaciers)

• Rolling hills

• Wide river valleys

Economic Importance

• Land is good for growing grains and seeds

• Some of the most important farm land

• Sedimentary rock is great for oil/natural gas

Highland Regions

Regions

• Western Cordillera

• Innuitian Mountains

• Appalachians

Population Characteristics

• The Innuitian is remote and has no fulltime population

• Most of the population in the Appalachian region lives on narrow coastal plains and in a few river valleys

Physical Characteristics

• Appalachian Mountains are the oldest highland region in North America

• Range after range of Mountains

• Innuitian Mountains are the youngest

• Valuable mineral sources in some locations

Economic Importance

• Mining (in the Appalachian Plateaus)

• Tourism (Rocky Mountains)

• Vast quantities of unmined minerals

Factor That Influences Climate

Why/How Each Factor Influences Climate

L

Latitude

• The farther you are from the equator, the less direct sunlight you receive

• Places far from the equator don’t receive as much sunlight/heat because the sun’s energy is spread over a large area

• Places near the equator receive more sunlight/heat because the sun's energy is concentrated into a small area

• The sun can’t heat up the whole earth equally because its a sphere

• Whether the sun’s energy is spread out or condensed, the same amount of energy is being used

O

Ocean Currents

• Ocean current moving away from the equator is warmer than surrounding water

• Currents flowing toward the equator is cooler

• Wind gathers temperatures from surrounding temperatures

• Winds moving across an ocean current are warmed or colled depending on the relative temperature of the water

• Cold water (from north) meets warm water and makes the warm water cooler, and they both flow to the equator to get warmer

W

Winds and Air Masses

(moving air=wind)

• Air mass is a large volume of air that takes on the climatic conditions of the area in which it forms

• Air masses move depending on the weather patterns that exist 

• Most important wind belt in Canada is the Westerlies - winds move west to east

• An air mass that forms over an ocean contains most air

• An air mass that forms far from an ocean contains dry air

• Huge bodies of water drive the wind (i.e. an area near water, the winds move faster)

E

Elevation

Every 100 m of elevation, it gets 1 degree colder

• When going from sea level to the top of a mountain, the temperature gets colder as you go

• At a higher elevation, there is less air sitting on top of the air, so there is less pressure

• As air rises, pressure decreases. As a result, the air expands and cools

• If the expansion occurs without condensation happening, then the air will cool. This happens because there is less air for the sun to heat

• Cooler air can’t hold as much moisture, so condensation happens. Condensation gives off heat, so the rate of cooling drops

• Ex. A warm day at sea level - on top of a nearby mountain will be cooler (places at sea level are warmer than mountainous places

R

Relief

• Relief means the shape of the surface of the land

• The relief of an area is an important factor in determining the amount of precipitation the area gets

• Places on the windward side of a height of land tet a lot more rain and snow than the leeward side

• The leeward side = the rain shadow

• When the wind hits the mountain it causes the air to go up where it gets colder

Near Water

Nearness to Water

• Places that are close to water = Maritime Climate

• Winter temperatures are relatively mild, summers don’t get too hot - lots of precipitation

• Continental Climate (far from ocean) the land heats and cools much quicker than water - extreme temps

• Near the Great Lakes = a special case (partial maritime climate, moderate temps, “modified continental”)

Population Questions

Immigration (into)

• The process of moving to another country

• Most immigrants are looking to make their life/their family’s life better

Emigration (exit)

• When people leave one country to move to another country

• Courtries with high emigration rates mean that where their living is probably not a good place to live

Demography

• The study of human populations

• Helps people predict numbers for jobs, housing, schools so they can be prepared

Birth Rate

• The number of births in a population per year per 1000 people

• Can help people predict how many people will need schools, jobs, etc.

Death Rate

• The number of deaths in a population per year per 1000 people

• To know how many hospitals, nusing homes, etc. will be needed

Natural Increase Rate

• The birth rate minus the death rate

• Around 75 years from now, Japan’s population will be half of what it is now - the tax rate goes up, living gets worse

Immigration Rate

• The number of immigrants moving to a country per year per 1000 people

• If a country has a high immigration rate, it will probably be a good country

Net Migration Rate

• The immigration rate minus the emigration rate

• Helpful when comparing immigrants to emigrants

Population Growth Rate

• The natural increase rate plus the net migration rate

• It tells you if the population is growing or not

Migration

• When you move from one place to another

• Tells you why people migrate (job, opportunities, family)

• Tells you where people want to live

Doubling Time

• The length of time for a country’s population to double at a particular population growth rate

• Tells you how fast the country is growing and how long it takes to double

Rule of 70

• A simple calculation to estimate doubling time (70 divided by population growth rate

• It is helpful to have fast and easy way to calculate how long it takes for the population to double

Dependency Load

• The percentage of the population that is non-working. It is conventionally defined as including people younger than 15 and older than 65

• It is helpful to know how many people are working and how many aren’t, so you can know how many jobs are needed

Immigration

Push Factor: A reason that encourages people to move away from their current country. People in war torn countries are basically forced to leave their country

Pull Factor: A reason that makes a particular country seem attractive to potential immigrants. Some people may want to go to another country to be closer to family or for better opportunities

Refugee: Someone who moves to another country because of fear of cruel or inhumane treatment (even death) in her or his home country. There are many different organizations in Canada to help support refugees.

CMA’s (Census Metropolitan Area): an urban area in Canada with a population over 100 000. A CMA is centred around a city and generally extends beyond the borders of the city. CMAs are important because immigrants want to be in the city because there is more other immigrants and more opportunities

Immigrants vs. Refugees

• An immigrant is a person who moves from one country to another

• A refugee is someone who moves to another country because of fear of danger in their home country

How Many People Can Live On Planet Earth

• There are nearly 7 billion people on Earth

• The worlds population increases by 80 million each year

• Population Density contributes to urban sprawl, plastic waste, atmospheric pollution

• Estimate is that by 2050, there will be 9 billion people

• More than 1 billion people lack access to safe water and 1.2 billion with water scarcity

• Carrying capacity is how large a population can a given area support

• China’s One Child Policy/Indias incentives

Is Attenborough a Malthusian (thinks/tries to put limits on population?

• Yes, he talks alot about the different things countries do to limit population

What was the 2nd Green Revolution?

• Norman Borlaug: the scientist who won a nobel prize for his work in increasing crop yield

• It was a change from traditional (people) to modern (machines/robots) methods of farming

• Led to “factory farming”

• Increased yields due to pesticides and fertilizers

How did food shortage contribute to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda (1 million dead in 3 months)?

• Ethnic Hutus (about 85% of the population) targeted memebers of the minority Tutsi (15% of the population) community as well as their political opponents irrespective of their ethnic origin

• Amongst the many causes of that conflict, competition for scarce resources was an added pressure

• Poverty became a mobilizing tool, the poor unemployed youth, some of them were encouraged to kill their neighbours…with the hope they’d either inherit their piece of land or their livestock

In the 1970’s, how did India try to “incentivize” people to have less children (reduce the birth rate)?

• Set up a festival around the country where vasectomies were offered in return for small incentives

• “The incentive was some cash, some money, nothing much”

• The festivals did not attract men who had not fathered children yet

Urban Hierarchy (where are certain buildings/places found>)

1. Metropolis: the largest city in a region (i.e. Ottawa)

2. City: offers specialized goods and services (i.e. Brockville)

3. Town: visited weekly for goods and services (i.e. Ganonoque)

4. Village: visited daily for goods and services (i.e. Landsdowne)

5. Rural: spread out farms and houses (i.e. Mitcheville)

Home Depot - city       Corner Coffee Shop (mom and pop store) - village       Post office - rural

Big Sports Arena - metropolis                 convenience store - town (very few parking lots)

Positive Externality - you want to live beside

Negative Externalitiy - something you don’t want to live beside

Externality

• Something “outside”/”off” their property that a homeowner doesn’t own/control that either negatively (i.e. factory) or positively (i.e. water views) impacts their quality and/or property value

Type of Industry

What is it?

Examples of the type of industry + Reasons why the industry is important to Canada

Primary

(get materials)

An industry that focuses on producing or extracting natural resources. This sector includes forest industries, agriculture, mining, and fishing.

Lumber Mills - Provides building material for houses, furniture, etc.

Farms - Provides us with resources like vegetables, grain, and meat

Mines - Gives us materials and minerals for vitamins, jewelry, gas, metals

Secondary

(make something)

An industry that focuses on making things using  the products of primary industries. The sector includes manufacturing, construction, utilities.

Construction yard - Building or fixing something, so that people don’t have to provide new buildings or better surface

Factory - Makes resources and items out of resources from primary industries

Furniture makers - makes furniture for our houses

Tertiary (everything else/sell)

An industry that focuses on providing services. This sector inclues “everything else” that is not included in the primary and secondary industries

Store Owner (Ikea/Walmart) - sells resources made by a secondary consumers to local people

Hospital - helps people who are sick or prevent sickness

Schools - teach kids/students what they need to know to go to university/college and/or so they can help with primary, secondary, tertiary in the future

Location Factor

Importance of Factor

Specific Examples

Location of Customers

• A manufacturer needs to be near customers otherwise they won’t get very much business

• They can deliver to their customers much faster

• If you need resources fast (ex. Car parts)

• Ice Cream Factories

• Car parts manufacturer

Proximity of Raw Materials

• Raw materials are very expensive to ship

• Materials can be bulky and heavy (hard to transport)

• Same materials can go bad, so if there is a long trip, they can rot

• Furniture manufacturers

• Mining industry

Availability of Fresh Water/Power

• Water may be needed for cooling (ex. Metal industries)

• Water is also used for cleaning

• Power is needed to run machines in certain manufacturers

• Butcher shop

• Steel makers

• Oil refineries

Labour Supply

• Companies need hard working workers who are dedicated (ex. immigrants)

• Some manufacturers need a lot of workers

• Or educated workers

• NASA

• Tech manufacturers

Transportation

Cheapest to expensive

Ships

Train

Trucks

• Companies need transportation to ship raw materials

• cost/speed of transportation

• Same manufacturers may need to be near water to ship to other areas

• Amazon Warehouse

• Marine Company

Political Factors

• The Conservative Party is pro business (support)

• Government may give companies subsidies if you settle in a certain area

• Governments encourage companies to go where there is effective infrastructure

• Walmart (subsidies)

• Car companies (electric)

Curcumstance

ANYTHING OTHER THAN THE OTHER 6 FACTORS

• If the owner is from the area

• Does the business have something to do with family?

• Religious/cultural reasons

• Language 

• Traditional farm

• Translating company

Flow Question

• 30 thousand people are dying every day from “water disease”

• Water is a $400 billion global industry; the 3rd largest industry

Bottled Water

• People THINK bottled water is safer than tap water

• Only 1 person is in charge of regulating the entire bottled water industry

• $100 billion dollars (and growing) is spent annually on bottled water worldwide

• Many bottled water brands are tap water

• Bottled water is marked up 10,000%

• ⅓ of all bottled water is actually less safe than tap water

• Brockvilles water is tested every 4 hours

• The World Water Council thinks water is a commodity (something to be sold) and they call it “Blue Gold”

Water Storage + Dams

• We store water to drink, agriculture, electricity

• Problems caused by dams

–quickly divert something that took a long time to form

–organic materials geet stuck behind the dam, rot, and this creates methane gas

–dams are 20x worse than coal plants        They also collapse!