Earth's Interior, Landforms, Plate Tectonics

• The Earth’s interior has multiple layers: the core, mantle, and crust.
• Activity within shapes the crust.

Shapes and Forms

• Earth's surface features various landforms.
• Mountains and volcanoes are tall.
• Valleys are low-lying.
• Plains, plateaus, mesas, and buttes are flat.
• Coastal features: bays, straits, islands, archipelagos.

A Moving Earth

• The Earth's surface is in constant motion.

Plate Tectonics

• The Earth's crust is divided into dozens of plates.
• Continental plates are tall.
• Oceanic plates are flat.
• These plates move and collide.

Continents in Motion

• Continents move.
• They formed a supercontinent called Pangaea.
• Another supercontinent will likely form in the future.

The Ring of Fire

• Most earthquakes and volcanoes occur around the Pacific Ocean, in the Ring of Fire.
• This is due to movement of the Pacific Plate.
• Despite dangers, many people live there.

Rain, Rivers, Oceans, Rain

• Earth's water is the same as when it was created.
• Water constantly cycles between surface and atmosphere.
• Most of Earth's water is in the oceans.
• Most freshwater is in ice caps or underground.

Wearing Away

• Weathering and erosion wear down the surface.

Erosion

• Weathering changes rock to soil.
• Erosion moves rocks and soil.

Glaciation

• Glaciers are moving ice sheets.
• Largest glaciers are in Greenland and Antarctica.
• Mountain glaciers carve valleys, ice sheets flatten land.
• Glaciers leave rock piles behind.

Civilizations and Rivers

• Agriculture began along rivers during Neolithic Revolution
• First civilizations were in river valleys.
• Civilization led to economic specialization and social stratification.

The Folklore of Water

• Greek, Egyptian, and Chinese myths emphasize water.
• Stories reflect how water shaped cultures.

Water Availability

• Most water is unusable due to saltwater, contamination, or being locked in glaciers.
• Solving water shortage problems is a key issue.

The Elements of Weather

• Weather is the atmospheric state at a given time and place.
• Meteorologists predict weather.
• Air mass collisions cause weather changes.

Climate Zones

• Climate is the long-term weather pattern.
• Earth's climate zones are based on temperature and rainfall patterns.
• Earth’s movement around the sun creates seasons.

Hurricane Zone

• Hurricanes and typhoons are tropical cyclones.
• These large storms form over warm equatorial water.
• Hurricanes devastate coastlines.

Climate Change

• Earth's climate has had warm and cool periods.
• There is a current warming trend after the last ice age.
• Human activity increases the rate of warming.

Habitats, Ecosystems, and Biomes

• Plants and animals live in specific habitats.

Ecosystems

• Ecosystems are interconnected networks of habitats.
• Plants and animals depend on one another.
• Indicator species monitor ecosystem health.

Biomes

• Biomes are large ranges of similar ecosystems.
• There are seven land and three water biomes.
• Climax vegetation defines biomes.

Environment and Culture

• Human cultures are affected by the local environment.

Fragile Places: Human Interactions with the Environment

• Humans constantly alter the environment.
• Deforestation, river dams, ecological accidents affect the environment.