GEOGRAPHY PRELIMS

BIOPHYSICAL INTERACTIONS
The nature and functioning of the 4 components; Atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere and biosphere
- The atmosphere includes gases that are around the earth and everything that happens in them,
such as heat from the sun, weather, smog and haze, climate and acid rain.
- The hydrosphere is the portion of the earth that is composed of water in all forms ie. running
water, ice and water vapour.
- The lithosphere refers to the rocks and soils on the crust of the earth and how our continents form
and wear away.
- The biosphere is the zone of the earth and adjoining parts of the atmosphere in which plants and
animals exist

ATMOSPHERE

- Solar radiation
o Absorption: the atmosphere absorbs some of the sun’s heat. Most absorption occurs in the
troposphere.
o Reflection: the sun’s heat is reflected back into space by the earth. The percentage of sola
radiation reflected by an object is it’s albedo
o Scattering: Solar radiation is scattered in the atmosphere. It is both reflected back towards
Earth and upwards into space
- Heat distribution
o Daily differences: The Earth rotates about its axis every 24hrs. The sun’s radiation is only
received during the day. At night ( when a place is obscured from the sun) more heat is lost
from the Earth’s surface than is replaced by incoming radiation.
o Seasonal differences: Heat is unevenly distributed during the year. This is because:
 The earth revolves around the sun once every year
 The earth’s axis has a fixed tilt of about 23 1/3o
o Latitude: At latitudes further away the rays fall on the earth at a more acute angle, and less
radiation is received.
 - The global heat budget
o In some locations on the earth, there is more heat received from the sun than is reflected by
earth. These locations are mainly in the tropics. In contrast, in polar regions and at high
altitudes, less heat is received from the sun than is reflected by earth. The excess of heat
that results in the tropics is transferred to the poles and high altitudes by the two processes
of Horizontal Transfers and Vertical Transfers.
o Lapse rate- The lapse rate is the rate at which temperature in Earth's atmosphere decreases
with an increase in altitude, or increases with the decrease in altitude.
 Approx- 6.5o for every 1000m (every km)
- Surface winds

Caused by the movement of air from areas of high pressure to

low pressure
The Hadley Cells, produce descending air in the mid latitudes on
either sides of the equator. This Air moves back towards the
equator as a surface wind. Air moving towards the Equator is
deflected to the left in the Southern Hemisphere and to the
Northern Hemisphere by the Coriolis Effect.
HIGH PRESSURE SYSTEMS
- ANTICYCLONES
