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True-color image of the Earth's surface and atmosphere
True-color image of the Earth's surface and atmosphere

Physical geography (also known as geosystems or physiography) is one of the two major subfields of geography. Geography (from Greek γεωγραφία - geografia) is the study of the Earth and its lands features inhabitants and phenomena Physical geography focuses on understanding the processes and patterns in the natural environment, as opposed to the built environment which is the domain of Human geography. See also Nature The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a terminology that is comprised of all living and The phrase built environment refers to the man-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity ranging from the large-scale civic surroundings to the personal places Human geography is a branch of Geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with the environment with particular reference to Within the body of physical geography the Earth is often split either into several spheres or into different environments, with the main spheres being the; Atmosphere, Biosphere, Cryosphere, Geosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere and Pedosphere. For the sciences that study the Earth's spheres see Earth science#Earth's spheres The Earth's spheres relates to the division of the Earth Temperature and layers The temperature of the Earth's atmosphere varies with altitude the mathematical relationship between temperature and altitude varies among five The biosphere is the broadest level of ecological study the global sum of all Ecosystems. The cryosphere, derived from the Greek word kryo for " Cold " or "too cold" is the term which collectively describes the portions of The term Geosphere is often used to refer to the densest parts of Earth which consist mostly of rock and Regolith. A hydrosphere (from Greek ύδωρ - hydor, " Water " + σφαίρα - sphaira, " Sphere " The lithosphere (IPA, from the Greek λίθος for "rocky" + σφαίρα for "sphere" is the solid outermost shell of a rocky Planet. The pedosphere (from the Greek πέδον soil earth + σφαίρα sphere is the outermost layer of the Earth that is composed of Soil and subject to soil Within physical geography there are various fields of study, mainly but not exclusively focusing on the spheres of the earth. Research in physical geography is often interdisciplinary and uses the systems approach. Systems thinking is a unique approach to problem solving in that it views certain "problems" as parts of an overall system rather than focusing on individual outcomes and contributing

Contents

Fields of physical geography


Meander formation
Meander formation


Alpine glacier
Alpine glacier



Climate trends
Climate trends




High-energy Coastline
High-energy Coastline






Physical geography literature

Physical geography and Earth Science journals communicate and document the results of research carried out in universities and various other research institutions. Most journals cover a specific field and publish the research within that field, however unlike human geographers, physical geographers tend to publish in inter-disciplinary journals rather than predominantly geography journal; the research is normally expressed in the form of a scientific paper. Academic publishing describes the subfield of Publishing which distributes academic Research and Scholarship. Additionally, textbooks books and magazines on geography communicate research to laypeople, although these tend to focus on environmental issues or cultural dilemmas. This is a list of environmental issues that are due to human activity Examples of journals that publish articles from physical geographers are:

List of notable physical geographers

Main article: List of geographers
Alexander Von Humboldt - considered to be the founding father of physical geography
Alexander Von Humboldt - considered to be the founding father of physical geography

See also

Further reading

External links

Dictionary

physical geography

-noun

  1. (geography) The subfield of geography that studies physical patterns and processes of the Earth. It aims to understand the forces that produce and change rocks, oceans, weather, and global flora and fauna patterns.
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