Created by Michael J. Pidwirny, Ph.D., Department of Geography, Okanagan University College {PRIVATE}Email Suggestions :
[email protected] Copyright © 1996-2002 Michael J. Pidwirny V e r s i o n - 1.31 http://www.geog.ouc.bc.ca/physgeog/home.html Table of Contents {PRIVATE}Preface Chapter 1: Introduction to Physical Geography Chapter 2: Maps, Remote Sensing, and GIS Chapter 3: The Science of Physical Geography Chapter 4: Introduction to Systems Theory Chapter 5: The Universe, Earth, Natural Spheres, and Gaia Chapter 6: Energy and Matter Chapter 7: Introduction to Meteorology and Climatology Chapter 8: Introduction to Hydrology Chapter 9: Introduction to Biogeography and Ecology Chapter 10: Introduction to Geology Chapter 11: Introduction to Geomorphology Bibliography Related Web Links 1 Preface {PRIVATE}Fundamentals of Physical Geography is a work in progress. The pages that you can currently view are the result of several years of work. In the spring of 1996, I began creating a variety of web pages as learning supplements for two introductory Physical Geography cours es I teach at Okanagan University College. From the fall of 1996 to spring of 1997, I repackaged these materials into online lecture notes for Distance Education versions of Geography 111 and 121. During 1997 and 1998, I made numerous revisions and additions to the online notes. I began working on the Fundamentals of Physical Geography online textbook in January of 1999. At the end of July 1999, the Fundamentals of Physical Geography website was officially put online. As of September 1st 2002, over 500,000 distinct computer clients (users) have accessed the website and more than 4.5 million page visits have occurred. The Fundamentals of Physical Geography website is designed to be a FREE online textbook for University and College students studying introductory Physical Geography. Version 1.3 of Fundamentals of Physical Geography contains over three hundred pages of information and more than four hundred 2-D illustrations, photographs, and animated graphics. Besides having the traditional text and 2-D graphics, this information source also has a number of animated graphics, an interactive glossary of terms, a study guide, web pages with links to other Internet resources related to Physical Geography, and a search engine to find information on the Fundamentals of Physical Geography website. The current purpose of this work is to supplement the printed textbooks used in Universities and Colleges with an information source that is interactive and rich in multimedia. I would like to thank all those individuals who contacted me about typos and other errors in my webpages. A special thanks goes out to Allen Hutchinson for his diligence in providing me with numerous suggestions on how to improve the readability of this work. Michael Pidwirny, September 8, 2002 2 Chapter 1: Introduction to Physical Geography {PRIVATE}(a). Introduction to Geography (b). Elements of Geography (c). Scope of Physical Geography (d). Geography as an Environmental Science (e). History of Physical Geography (f). Future of Physical Geography (a) Introduction to Geography {PRIVATE}The main objective of this online textbook is to introduce students to the field of knowledge known as Physical Geography. Physical Geography is a discipline that is part of a much larger area of understanding called Geography. Most individuals define Geography as a field of study that deals with maps. This definition is only partially correct. A better definition of Geography may be the study natural and human constructed phenomena relative to a spatial dimension. The discipline of Geography has a history that stretches over many centuries. Over this time period, the study