Isostasy

Alternative Title: isostatic equilibrium

Isostasy, ideal theoretical balance of all large portions of Earth’s lithosphere as though they were
floating on the denser underlying layer, the asthenosphere, a section of the upper mantle composed of
weak, plastic rock that is about 110 km (70 miles) below the surface. Isostasy controls the regional
elevations of continents and ocean floors in accordance with the densities of their underlying rocks.
Imaginary columns of equal cross-sectional area that rise from the asthenosphere to the surface are
assumed to have equal weights everywhere on Earth, even though their constituents and the elevations
of their upper surfaces are significantly different. This means that an excess of mass seen as material
above sea level, as in a mountain system, is due to a deficit of mass, or low-density roots, below sea
level. Therefore, high mountains have low-density roots that extend deep into the underlying mantle.
The concept of isostasy played an important role in the development of the theory of plate tectonics.

The theory of isostasy.Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Read More on This Topic

plate tectonics: Isostasy

Wegener pointed out that the concept of isostasy (the ideal theoretical balance of all large portions of
Earth’s lithosphere as though they were floating on the denser underlying layer) rendered the existence
of large sunken continental blocks, as envisaged by Suess, geophysically impossible. He…

In 1735, expeditions over the Andes led by Pierre Bouguer, a French photometrist and the first to
measure the horizontal gravitational pull of mountains, noted that the Andes could not represent a
protuberance of rock sitting on a solid platform. If it did, then a plumb-line should be deflected from the
true vertical by an amount proportional to the gravitational attraction of the mountain range. The
deflection was less than that which was anticipated. About a century later, similar discrepancies were
observed by Sir George Everest, surveyor general of India, in surveys south of the Himalayas, indicating a
lack of compensating mass beneath the visible mountain ranges.

In the theory of isostasy, a mass above sea level is supported below sea level, and there is thus a certain
depth at which the total weight per unit area is equal all around the Earth; this is known as the depth of
compensation. The depth of compensation was taken to be 113 km (70 miles) according to the Hayford-
Bowie concept, named for American geodesists John Fillmore Hayford and William Bowie. Owing to
changing tectonic environments, however, perfect isostasy is approached but rarely attained, and some
regions, such as oceanic trenches and high plateaus, are not isostatically compensated.

The Airy hypothesis says that Earth’s crust is a more rigid shell floating on a more liquid substratum of
greater density. Sir George Biddell Airy, an English mathematician and astronomer, assumed that the
crust has a uniform density throughout. The thickness of the crustal layer is not uniform, however, and
so this theory supposes that the thicker parts of the crust sink deeper into the substratum, while the
thinner parts are buoyed up by it. According to this hypothesis, mountains have roots below the surface
that are much larger than their surface expression. This is analogous to an iceberg floating on water, in
which the greater part of the iceberg is underwater.

The Pratt hypothesis, developed by John Henry Pratt, English mathematician and Anglican missionary,
supposes that Earth’s crust has a uniform thickness below sea level with its base everywhere supporting
an equal weight per unit area at a depth of compensation. In essence, this says that areas of the Earth of
lesser density, such as mountain ranges, project higher above sea level than do those of greater density.
The explanation for this was that the mountains resulted from the upward expansion of locally heated
crustal material, which had a larger volume but a lower density after it had cooled.

The Heiskanen hypothesis, developed by Finnish geodesist Weikko Aleksanteri Heiskanen, is an

intermediate, or compromise, hypothesis between Airy’s and Pratt’s. This hypothesis says that
approximately two-thirds of the topography is compensated by the root formation (the Airy model) and
one-third by Earth’s crust above the boundary between the crust and the substratum (the Pratt model).

What is karst topography and how does it form?

karst topography. A landscape that is characterized by numerous caves, sinkholes, fissures, and
underground streams. Karst topography usually forms in regions of plentiful rainfall where bedrock
consists of carbonate-rich rock, such as limestone, gypsum, or dolomite, that is easily dissolved.

Karst topography

Previous (Karnataka)

Next (Kashmir Region)

A karst landscape.

Karst topography is a three-dimensional landscape shaped by the dissolution of a soluble layer or layers
of bedrock, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolomite. These landscapes display distinctive
surface features and underground drainages, and in some cases there may be little or no surface
drainage. Some areas of karst topography, such as southern Missouri and northern Arkansas in the
United States, are underlain by thousands of caves.
Contents
[hide]

 1 Definition
 2 Chemistry of karst landscapes
 3 Karst formations
 4 Water drainage and problems
 5 Pseudokarst
 6 Karst areas around the world
o 6.1 Africa
o 6.2 Asia
o 6.3 Caribbean
o 6.4 Europe
o 6.5 North America
o 6.6 Oceania
 7 References
 8 External links
 9 Credits

Definition

The karst hills of the Burren on the west coast of Ireland.

Different terms for karst topography exist in other languages—for example, yanrong in Chinese and
tsingy in Malagasy—a notable exception being English (Jennings, Ch.1 p.1). The international community
has settled on karst, the German name for Kras, a region in Slovenia partially extending into Italy where
it is called Carso and where the first scientific research of a karst topography was made. The name has
Paleoeuropean origin (karra, meaning stone) and in antiquity it was called carusardius in Latin. The
Slovenian form grast is attested since 1177, and the Croatian kras since 1230.

Karst topography is characterized by subterranean limestone caverns, carved by groundwater. The

Serbian geographer Jovan Cvijić's publication Das Karstphänomen (1893), based on his studies in the
Dinaric Kras region, established that rock dissolution was the key process and that it created most types
of dolines, "the diagnostic karst landforms." The Dinaric Kras thus became the type area for dissolutional
landforms and aquifers; the regional name kras, Germanicized as "karst," is now applied to modern and
paleo-dissolutional phenomena worldwide. Cvijić related the complex behavior of karst aquifers to
development of solutional conduit networks and linked it to a cycle of landform evolution. Cvijić defined
two main types of karst area, holokarst, wholly developed, as in the Dinaric region along the eastern
Adriatic and deeper inland in the Balkan Peninsula and merokarst, imperfectly developed with some
karst forms, as in eastern Serbia.

Chemistry of karst landscapes

Karst lake (Doberdo' del Lago, Italy), from underground water springing into a depression. This lake has
no surface inlet or outlet.

Did you know?

Karst topography is characterized by subterranean limestone caverns, carved by groundwater

Karst landforms are generally the result of mildly acidic water acting on soluble bedrock such as
limestone or dolostone. The carbonic acid that causes these features is formed as rain passes through
the atmosphere picking up CO2, which dissolves in the water. Once the rain reaches the ground, it may
pass through soil that may provide further CO2 to form a weak carbonic acid solution: H2O + CO2 →
H2CO3. Recent studies of sulfates in karst waters suggests sulfuric and hydrosulfuric acids may also play
an important role in karst formation.

This mildly acidic water begins to dissolve the surface and any fractures or bedding planes in the
limestone bedrock. Over time these fractures enlarge as the bedrock continues to dissolve. Openings in
the rock increase in size, and an underground drainage system begins to develop, allowing more water
to pass through and accelerating the formation of underground karst features.

Somewhat less common than this limestone karst is gypsum karst, where the solubility of the mineral
gypsum provides many similar structures to the dissolution and redeposition of calcium carbonate.
Karst formations

Surface karst

The karstification of a landscape may result in a variety of large or small scale features both on the
surface and beneath. On exposed surfaces, small features may include flutes, runnels, clints and grikes,
collectively called karren or lapiez. Medium-sized surface features may include sinkholes or dolines
(closed basins), vertical shafts, disappearing streams, and reappearing springs. Large-scale features may
include limestone pavements, poljes and blind valleys. Mature karst landscapes, where more bedrock
has been removed than remains, may result in karst towers or haystack/eggbox landscapes. Beneath the
surface, complex underground drainage systems (such as karst aquifers) and extensive caves and cavern
systems may form.

The Witch's Finger stalagmite in Carlsbad Caverns.

Erosion along limestone shores, notably in the tropics, produces karst topography that includes a sharp
makatea surface above the normal reach of the sea and undercuts that are mostly the result of
biological activity or bioerosion at or a little above mean sea level. Some of the most dramatic of these
formations can be seen in Thailand's Phangnga Bay and Halong Bay in Vietnam.
The Rock of Gibraltar is an example of a monolithic limestone promontory.

Calcium carbonate dissolved into water may precipitate out where the water discharges some of its
dissolved carbon dioxide. Rivers which emerge from springs may produce tufa terraces, consisting of
layers of calcite deposited over extended periods of time. In caves, a variety of features collectively
called speleothems are formed by deposition of calcium carbonate and other dissolved minerals.

A karst river may disappear underground a number of times and spring up again in different places,
usually under a different name (like Ljubljanica, the river of seven names).

Water drainage and problems

Farming in karst areas must take into account the lack of surface water. The soils may be fertile enough,
and rainfall may be adequate, but rainwater quickly moves through the crevices into the ground,
sometimes leaving the surface soil parched between rains.

The source of the river Loue is a karst spring.

A karst fenster is a place where an underground stream emerges onto the surface between layers of
rock, cascades some feet, then disappears back down, often into a sinkhole. An example of this occurs in
Lycoming County, Pennsylvania.

Water supplies from wells in karst topography may be unsafe, as the water may have run unimpeded
from a sinkhole in a cattle pasture, through a cave and to the well, bypassing the normal filtering that
occurs in a porous aquifer. Karst formations are cavernous and therefore have high rates of
permeability, resulting in reduced opportunity for contaminants to be filtered out.

Groundwater in karst areas is just as easily polluted as surface streams. Sinkholes have often been used
as farmstead or community trash dumps. Overloaded or malfunctioning septic tanks in karst landscapes
may dump raw sewage directly into underground channels.

The karst topography itself also poses some difficulties for human inhabitants. Sinkholes can develop
gradually as surface openings enlarge, but quite often progressive erosion is unseen and the roof of an
underground cavern suddenly collapses. Such events have swallowed homes, cattle, cars, and farm
machinery.

The Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa protects Discus macclintocki, a species of Ice Age
snail surviving in air chilled by flowing over buried karst ice formations.

Pseudokarst

Pseudokarst refers to landscape features similar in form or appearance to karst features, but are created
by different mechanisms. Examples include lava caves and granite tors (such as Labertouche Cave in
Victoria, Australia), and paleocollapse features.

Karst areas around the world

A partial list of karst areas around the world is given below.

Africa

 Anjajavy Forest, western Madagascar

 Ankarana Reserve, Madagascar
 Madagascar dry deciduous forests, western Madagascar
 Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Reserve, Madagascar

Asia

 The Stone Forest (Yunnan Province, China)

 Area around Guilin and Yangshuo in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China.
 Zhangjiajie National Forest park, forming part of the Wulingyuan scenic area (a UNESCO World
Heritage Site), Zhangjiajie Prefecture, Hunan, China.
 Ofra region, Israel.
 Akiyoshi plateau, Japan.
 El Nido, Palawan, The Philippines
 Sagada, Mountain Province, The Philippines
 Bohol, The Philippines
 Negros and Gigante Islands, Negros Oriental, The Philippines
 Vang Vieng, Laos
 Gunung Mulu National Park Malaysia
 Krabi region, Thailand
  Phangnga Bay Area, Southern Thailand
 Halong Bay, Vietnam
 Phong Nha-Ke Bang, Vietnam

Caribbean

 Limestone eastern foothills of Maya Mountains including parts of the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife
Sanctuary.
 Los Haitises National Park, Dominican Republic
 Cockpit Country, a region in Jamaica.
 Limestone mountains of northwestern Puerto Rico
 Viñales Valley, Cuba.

Europe

 The Herzegovina region of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

 The regions of Dalmatia, Lika, Gorski kotar, Kvarner and the islands in Croatia.
 The Moravian Karst
 The Central Rhodope karst in Bulgaria (Trigrad Gorge and caves), the Devnya Valley (karst
springs).
 The Apuseni Mountains, Romania
 Slovak Paradise, Slovak Karst and Muránska planina, Slovakia
 The region of Inner Carniola in Slovenia.
 Kras, a plateau in southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy.
 Murge, in Apulia and Basilicata, southern Italy.
 The Picos de Europa and Basque mountains, northern Spain.
 The Ciudad Encantada in the Cuenca province (Castilla-La Mancha).
 El Torcal de Antequera nature preserve, southern Spain.
 The White Peak of the Peak District, UK, around Matlock, Castleton, and Thor's Cave.
 Yorkshire Dales (including Malham Cove), England.
 The Burren (Co.Clare, Ireland)
 Assynt, SE Skye and near Kentallen in Scotland
 The limestone region of the Southern Brecon Beacons National Park, Wales
 Hönnetal at Balve, Germany
 The Swabian Alb region in the federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg in southern Germany.
 The "Ares de l'Anie, in the southernmost part of Barétous valley, South-West of France.
 The Rock of Gibraltar, located at the sothernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

North America

 The Nahanni region in the Northwest Territories, Canada.

 Monkman Provincial Park in the Northern Rockies, Canada.
 Portions of the Niagara Escarpment, Ontario, Canada.
 The Viñales Valley in Cuba
 The Cenotes of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.
 The Mitchell Plain and Uplands of Southern Indiana, U.S.A
 Huntsville, Alabama, and the North Alabama Region, U.S.A.
  Coulee Region in the American Midwest, U.S.A.
 The Florida peninsula, U.S.A.
 Mammoth Cave area and Bluegrass region of Kentucky, U.S.A.
 Southeastern Minnesota, U.S.A.
 The Ozark Plateau of Missouri and Arkansas, U.S.A.
 The Karst forest in Puerto Rico, U.S.A.
 The Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee, U.S.A.
 The Hill Country of Texas, U.S.A.
 Central Pennsylvania.
 Presque Isle County near and around Rogers City in northern Michigan.
 The campus of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
 The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Oceania

 Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, South-west Western Australia (near Margaret River,

Australia
 Northern Swan Coastal Plain, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
 Naracoorte Caves National Park, South Australia, Australia
 Jenolan Caves, New South Wales, Australia
 Wombeyan Caves, New South Wales, Australia
 Mole Creek Karst Conservation Area, Tasmania, Australia
 Waitomo, Oparara regions of New Zealand
 The Nakanai Mountains, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea

The Carbon Cycle

Carbon is critical to sustain a huge range of Earth’s functions. Not only is it present in all living beings, it
is a major component of a number of minerals (e.g. graphite and diamond). This means that it is
abundant across the world, in: the atmosphere (air); biosphere (living and dead organism organisms);
hydrosphere (oceans, rivers, and lakes); and lithosphere (soil and rocks). These act as storage areas of
‘reservoirs’ of carbon, either in the short-term (a few minutes) or long-term (millions of years). As the
Earth is such a dynamic environment, processes such as erosion, evaporation, photosynthesis,
respiration, and decomposition constantly move carbon between these reservoirs. Carbon enters, is
stored, and leaves the different spheres of the Earth through different methods, and in different
quantities:

 Atmosphere; carbon is stored in the atmosphere as both methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide
(CO2); greenhouse gases which absorb and retain heat. CO2 is released into the atmosphere
through respiration by living organisms, volcanic eruptions, weathering, and human activity. It is
removed from the atmosphere by dissolution into water and through photosynthesis by plants.
CH4 is released into the atmosphere through animal emissions, decomposition, and burning of
fossil fuels.

 Biosphere; all living and deceased organisms contain organic carbon. Organisms gain carbon by
either extracting it from CO2 in the atmosphere through photosynthesis, or by consuming other
 organisms and therefore receiving their carbon. Carbon remains in an organism until it
decomposes sufficiently to release carbon to the atmosphere or lithosphere.

 Hydrosphere; the upper layers of oceans hold a vast amount of dissolved organic carbon, and
the lower ocean waters are rich in dissolved inorganic carbon. Dissolved organic carbon in the
surface layers is rapidly exchanged with the atmosphere because they are constantly in contact
with each other. In contrast, the dissolved inorganic carbon is much deeper in the water column,
and remains stored for longer periods of time – up to thousands of years. It is the thermohaline
circulation, which leads to the large scale mixing of ocean waters, which allows exchange
between the upper and lower ocean layers.

 Lithosphere; carbon in the lithosphere is held in soil in the form of both organic and inorganic
carbon (often as calcium carbonate). Carbon can leave the soil through soil respiration – which
releases CO2, or by erosion – which can carry it into rivers or the ocean, where it then enters the
hydrosphere. Within the Earth’s crust a large amount of carbon is stored in limestone and
kerogens (the term given to organic matter held within sedimentary rocks). These organics are
made of decomposed and highly compressed living matter. Once they become lithified
(transformed into rock), some of the kerogens can become crude oil or natural gas – these are a
source of fossil fuels. These forms of carbon are highly stable and can remain in the lithosphere
for millions of years. If rock is subducted into the Earth’s mantle, it will melt, and the CO2 it
contains is released into the atmosphere via subsequent volcanic eruptions. Alternatively, the
extraction and burning of fossil fuels by human activity can release carbon into the atmosphere.

Table showing the amount of carbon (in gigatones) stored in different reservoirs. Source:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/290/5490/291

All of these reservoirs are very closely linked. The carbon cycle is the term used to describe the ways in
which carbon moves between them, and the proportion of carbon stored in each component. See the
figure below for an indication of how much carbon is stored in each reservoir, and for some of the
processes by which the carbon moves. By measuring the storage and transport of carbon, reservoirs can
be classified as either carbon sinks (where more carbon is absorbed than released, so carbon is
accumulated and stored) or carbon sources (where more carbon is emitted than stored). This is an
important distinction that is often used as a measure of human impact on the natural environment.
Diagram of the global carbon cycle. Boxes show the approximate size of carbon stores (in gigatons),
arrows show the most common carbon fluxes in gigatons per year. Red numbers display the flux
increase due to human impact.

The human impact on the Carbon Cycle

The carbon cycle is a natural process, and has been ongoing throughout Earth’s history. Left
unperturbed (by natural or human processes) it maintains a stable concentration in the atmosphere,
biosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere (see the table above). As the reservoirs are linked (either
directly or indirectly), a change in any of the carbon reservoirs causes changes in the others. Actions by
humans have resulted in the removal of carbon from carbon sinks (such as the oil and coal deposits
mentioned above), directly adding it to the atmosphere. This has been most notable since the Industrial
Revolution in the 18th and 19th Century.

The two main human impacts on the carbon cycle are:

1. Burning of fossil fuels.

Under natural conditions the release of carbon from fossil fuels occurs slowly, as they are subducted
into the mantle, and CO2 is released through volcanic activity. However, humans are heavily reliant on
fossil fuels, and extract it from the lithosphere in great quantities. Burning coal, oil, natural gas, and
other fossil fuels – for industrial activity and power generation for example, removes the carbon from
the fossil fuels and emits it as CO2 into the atmosphere.

2. Land use and land cover change (e.g. deforestation)

Large amounts of carbon are stored in living plants (c.1,000 gigtones). Therefore, land use changes,
especially the clearance of forests (which are very densely inhabited by plants, and therefore contain a
large amount of carbon), can influence the carbon cycle in two ways. Firstly, the removal of vegetation
eliminates plants which would otherwise be capturing carbon from the atmosphere through
photosynthesis. Secondly, as dense forests are replaced by crops/pasture land/built environments, there
is usually a net decrease in the carbon store, as smaller plants (and worse still, concrete) store far less
carbon than large trees. Deforestation also allows much more soil to be eroded, and carbon stored in
the soil is rapidly taken into rivers.

Because of the cyclical nature of the carbon cycle, the impacts humans cause can lead to a number of
amplifications and feedbacks. Increasing atmospheric CO2 and CH4 (along with other greenhouse gases)
causes higher global air temperatures which in turn increases decomposition in soil, thereby releasing
more CO2 to the atmosphere. Increases in global temperature also affect ocean temperatures,
modifying oceanic ecosystems and having the potential to disrupt the oceanic carbon cycle, limiting the
ocean’s ability to absorb and store carbon.

What Human Activities Affect the Carbon Cycle?

Deforestation is a human activity that has a major impact on the carbon cycle.

The carbon cycle involves the movement of carbon between the atmosphere, biosphere, oceans and
geosphere. Since the Industrial Revolution approximately 150 years ago, human activities such as the
burning of fossil fuels and deforestation have begun to have an effect on the carbon cycle and the rise of
carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Human activities affect the carbon cycle through emissions of carbon
dioxide (sources) and removal of carbon dioxide (sinks). The carbon cycle can be affected when carbon
dioxide is either released into the atmosphere or removed from the atmosphere.

Burning of Fossil Fuels

When oil or coal is burned, carbon is released into the atmosphere at a faster rate than it is removed. As
a result, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increases. Natural gas, oil and coal are
fossil fuels that are commonly burned to generate electricity in power plants, for transportation, in
homes and in other industrial complexes. The primary industrial activities that emit carbon dioxide and
affect the carbon cycle are petroleum refining, paper, food and mineral production, mining and the
production of chemicals.
Carbon Sequestration

When plants remove carbon dioxide from the air and store it, the process is called carbon sequestration.
Agricultural and forestry methods can affect how much carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere
and stored by the plants. These sinks of carbon dioxide can be farms, grasslands or forests. Human
activity in managing farmland or forests affects the amount of carbon dioxide removed from the
atmosphere by plants and trees. These sinks of carbon dioxide affect the carbon cycle by decreasing the
amount of carbon dioxide in the air.

Deforestation

Deforestation is the permanent removal of trees from forests. Permanent removal of the trees means
new trees will not be replanted. This large-scale removal of trees from forests by people results in
increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere because trees are no longer absorbing carbon
dioxide for photosynthesis. As a result, the carbon cycle is affected. According to National Geographic,
agriculture is the primary cause of deforestation. Farmers remove trees on a large-scale basis to
increase acreage for crops and livestock.

Geologic Sequestration

Human activity can affect the carbon cycle by capturing carbon dioxide and storing it underground
rather than permitting it to be released into the atmosphere. This process is called geologic
sequestration. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, geologic sequestration could
retain large quantities of carbon dioxide for extended periods of time and consequently reduce the
concentrations of carbon dioxide above-ground.
What are world pressure belts?
Pressure Belts OF Earth. Understand Pressure Belts Of Earth. The distribution of atmospheric pressure
across the latitudes is termed global horizontal distribution of pressure. Its main feature is its zonal
character known as pressure belts.

What are the seven pressure belts?

The seven pressure belts are :

 equatorial low,
 the sub-tropical highs,
 the sub-polar lows, and.
 the polar highs.

Why do pressure belts move seasonally?

What Causes Shifting of Wind & Pressure Belts? All air movements have their roots in pressure
differentials in the atmosphere, called pressure gradients. ... Wind belts depend on temperature, so
temperature changes can move the belts and also change wind patterns.

Home › Geography of India and The World

Hits: 44598
Pressure Belts of the World
Oct 29, 2013

Air is a mixture of several gases. Gas molecules are in constant state of collision and move freely. Pressure
of air at a given place is defined as a force exerted against surface by continuous collision of gas molecules.
Air pressure is thus defined as total weight of a mass of column of air above per unit area at sea level. The
amount of pressure exerted by air at a particular point is determined by temperature and density which
is measured as a force per unit area.

The unequal heating of the earth and its atmosphere by the sun, because of revolution of the earth on its
tilted axis causes difference in pressure. This leads to the formation of pressure belts around the earth.

a) Equatorial low pressure belt:

At the Equator heated air rises leaving a low-pressure area at the surface. This low pressure area is known
as equatorial low pressure. The pressure belt is thermally induced because the ground surface gets heated
during the day. This area extends between 50N and 50S latitudes. The zone shifts along with the
northward or southward movement of sun during summer solstice and winter solstice respectively.

b) Sub-tropical High pressure belt:

The warm air risen up at the equator due to heating reaches the troposphere and bend towards the pole
due to rotation of the Earth. Due to coriolis force the air descends at 30-35º latitude thus creates the belt
of sub-tropical high pressure. The pressure belt is dynamically induced as it owes its origin to the rotation
of the earth and sinking and settling of winds. This zone is characterized by anticyclonic conditions which
cause atmospheric stability and aridity. Thus, most of the hot deserts of the world are present in this
region extending between 25-35 degrees in both the hemisphere.

c) Sub-Polar Low Pressure Belt:

This belt is located between 60-65 degrees latitudes in both the hemisphere. This pressure belt is also
dynamically induced. As shown in the figure the surface air spreads outward from this zone due to rotation
of the earth thus produces low pressure. The belt is more developed and regular in the southern
hemisphere than the northern due to over dominance of water in the former.

d) Polar High Pressure Belt:

High pressure persists at the pole on both the hemisphere due to low temperature. Thus the Polar High
Pressure Belt is thermally induced as well as dynamically induced as the rotation of earth also plays a
minor role.