Physical Geography (SSM 103) : Pamantasan NG Cabuyao

Pamantasan ng Cabuyao
City of Cabuyao, Laguna, Philippines
BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES
PHYSICAL
GEOGRAPHY
(SSM 103)
Submitted by:
1SEDS-1
A.Y. 2019-2020
Submitted to:
Professor Alex S. Sanchez
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Introduction to Physical Geography …………………………………………… 4

A. Describing, Measuring and Monitoring the Earth
with Cartography, GIS and Remote Sensing …………………………….. 5
1. The Solar System …………………………………………………….. 8
2. Structures of the Earth ……………………………………………….. 11
3. Why We have Seasons? ……………………………………………… 11
4. The Earth and Development of Modern Atmosphere ………………... 12
B. The Functions of Atmosphere and Hydrosphere

1. Earth’s Atmosphere …………………………………………………... 13
a. Global Temperatures …………………………………………….. 13
2. Earth’s Hydrosphere ………………………………………………….. 14
a. Three Different Forms of Water …………………………………. 14
b. Water Resource and Climate Change ……………………………. 15
3. Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulations ……………………………….. 15
4. Weather Systems and Patterns
a. Atmospheric Rivers ………………………………………………. 16
b. Global Winds ……………………………………………………... 17
c. Air Masses ………………………………………………………... 17
d. Fronts ……………………………………………………………... 18
e. Jet Streams ………………………………………………………... 19
f. Coriolis Effect …………………………………………………….. 20
g. Cyclones …………………………………………………………... 20
h. Hurricanes ………………………………………………………… 22
C. Shaping the Lithosphere

1. Plate Tectonics …………………………………………………………. 23
2. Orogenesis ……………………………………………………………… 24
3. Volcanoes ………………………………………………………………. 24
4. Earthquake ……………………………………………………………… 25
5. Mass Movement ………………………………………………………... 28
6. River System and Landforms
a. What is a River System? ……………………………………….. 29
b. What are Landforms? ……………………………………….….. 32
7. Glaciers ………………………………………………………………… 33
8. Flood and Coastal System
a. Flood …………………………………………………………… 35
b. Coastal System …………………………………………………. 36
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D. The Biosphere
1. What is Biosphere? …………………………………………………….. 37
2. Different Kinds of Soil …………………………………………………. 38
3. Components and Cycles of Ecosystem ……………………………….... 40
4. Earth’s Ecosystems …………………………………………………….. 44
E. Environmental Laws
1. Environmental Laws in the Philippines ……………………………..…. 46
2. Environmental Organizations in the Philippines ………………………. 49
3. International Environmental Laws and Policies ……………………….. 51
II. Topics and Reporters ……………………………………………………………... 54
III. References …………………………………………………………………………. 56

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I. Introduction to Physical Geography

If the domain of Human Geography is the cultural or built environment, physical earth is
the main subject of Physical Geography. The former is a branch of natural science that deals with
the study of and processes in the natural environment like the atmosphere, hydrosphere, geosphere,
and biosphere.
Atmosphere is the space around the earth which is filled by a mixture of gases held against
the Earth by the force of gravity.
Hydrosphere includes water that is on the surface of the planet. It is the total amount of
water on Earth.
Geosphere includes the rocks, minerals molten rocks, sand, and mountains. It is in constant
state of motion.
Biosphere is the part of the Earth where life exists.
Physical Geography has its own sub-branches such as:
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystem in geographic

space and through geological time.
Climatology is the study of Earth’s climate by collecting and analyzing data from sources
such as ice cores, soil, water, to find pattern in weather and learn how those patterns affect the
earth and its inhabitants.
Coastal geography is the study of how ocean and land affect each other.
Geomatics is the study of design, development and operation systems for collecting,
gathering, storing, and processing geographic information about land, oceans, natural resources,
and manmade features. This is what engineers do.
Geomorphology is the study of landforms, their processes at the surface of the earth.
Glaciology is the study of glaciers, ice sheets, frozen grounds, and other occurrence that
involves ice and its effect on the environment.
Hydrology is the study of water on the Earth’s surface and beneath it, also the relationship
of water with the living and material components of the environment.
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Landscape Ecology is the study of how landscape affects things like the distribution of
plants and animals.
Paleogeography is the study of the movements of continents over time.
A. Describing, Measuring and Monitoring the Earth with Cartography, GIS

and Remote Sensing
Earth formed over 4.5 billion years ago. It has a diameter of roughly
8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) and an oblate spheroid, for its spin causes it to
be squashed at its poles and swollen at the equator. From an average distance
of 93 million miles (150 million kilometers), Earth is exactly one astronomical
unit (AU) away from the sun. AU is the distance from the Sun to Earth.
Through the advancement of technology, we see and describe the earth in a precise,
accurate view with a lot of information that helps humans to measure its distance, identify the
location of a specific place, watch out whether there are weather disturbances in a specific place,
and more. It became possible because of the modern tools that humans made to study their planet,
and used to make the lives of the people easier in certain ways.
Cartography
Cartography is the art and science of making maps. This field of
study deals with the study of maps and charts, conception and
production. Cartographers make maps that are precise and
accurate that fits in different kind of professions or purposes. They
present information about the world in a simple, visual way of
showing sizes and shapes of countries, locations of features, and
distances between places. However, the history of cartography goes much further back in history
than the time when it was given a name and a definition.
Several prehistoric cave paintings have been recorded as time-worn

maps, and artifacts have been preserved hoping that they bear evidence to the
location of lost cities, towns, and treasure deposits of the ancient world. A
wall painting, dated to the 7th Millennium BC, might be one of the oldest
maps in the world. This painting is believed to represent the location of
Çatalhöyük, a city in ancient Anatolia (Turkey). The oldest known maps are
preserved on Babylonian clay tablets from about 2300 B.C.
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Cartography was considerably advanced in ancient Greece. The concept of a spherical

Earth was well known among Greek philosophers by the time of Aristotle (ca. 350 B.C.) and has
been accepted by all geographers since. Early Maps-Greek and Roman cartography reached a
culmination with Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy, about A.D. 85165). His "world map" depicted
the Old World from about 60°N to 30°S latitudes. He wrote a monumental work, Guide to
Geography (Geographikehyphygesis), which remained an authorative reference on world
geography until the Renaissance.
During the Medieval period, European maps were

dominated by religious views. The T-O map was common. In this
map format, Jerusalem was depicted at the center and east was
oriented toward the map top. Viking explorations in the North
Atlantic gradually were incorporated into the world view
beginning in the 12th century. Me anwhile, cartography developed
along more practical and realistic lines in Arabic lands, including the Mediterranean region. All
maps were, of course, drawn and illuminated by hand, which made the distribution of maps
extremely limited.
The invention of printing made maps much more widely available beginning in the 15th
century. Maps were at first printed using carved wooden blocks. Among the most important map
makers of this period was Sebastian Münsterin Basel (now Switzerland). His Geographia,
published in 1540, became the new global standard for maps of the world. Printing with engraved
copper plates appeared in the 16th century and continued to be the standard until photographic
techniques were developed.
Major advances in cartography took place during the Age of Exploration in the 15th and
16th centuries. Map makers responded with navigation charts, which depicted coast lines, islands,
rivers, harbors, and features of sailing interest. Compass lines and other navigation aids were
included, new map projections were devised, and globes were constructed. Such maps and globes
were held in great value for economic, military, and diplomatic purposes, and so were often treated
as national or commercial secrets classified or proprietary maps.
The first whole-world maps began to appear in the early 16th century, following voyages
by Columbus and others to the New World. The first true world map is generally credited to Martin
Waldseemüller in 1507. This map utilized an expanded Ptolemaic projection and was the first map
to use the name America for the New World. Gerardus Mercator of Flanders (Belgium) was the
leading cartographer of the mid-16th century. He developed a cylindrical projection that is still
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widely used for navigation charts and global maps. He published a map of the world in 1569 based
on this projection. Many other map projections were soon developed. The Map of the Danish
Kingdom, 1629, by Janssonius has a high level of geographic accuracy is demonstrated along with
marginal illustrations that enhance the map. Geodetical Institute of Denmark reproduced the
original.
Maps became increasingly accurate and factual during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries
with the application of scientific methods. Many countries undertook national mapping programs.
Nonetheless, much of the world was poorly known until the widespread use of aerial photography
following World War I. Modern cartography is based on a combination of ground observations
and remote sensing.
GIS: Geographic Information System

Geographic Information System (GIS) is a framework for gathering, managing, and
analyzing data. Rooted in the science of geography, GIS integrates many types of data. It analyzes
spatial location and organizes layers of information into visualizations using organized layers of
information into visualizations using maps and 3D scenes. With this unique capability, GIS
reveals deeper insights into data, such as patterns, relationships, and situations—helping users
make smarter decisions.
GIS emerged in the 1970-80s period. It represents a major shift in the cartography
paradigm. In traditional (paper) cartography, the map was both the database and the display of
geographic information. For GIS, the database, analysis, and display are physically and
conceptually separate aspects of handling geographic data. Geographic information systems
comprise computer hardware, software, digital data, people, organizations, and institutions for
collecting, storing, analyzing, and displaying georeferenced information about the Earth (Nyerges
1993).
The following are other functions or purposes of GIS:

Identify problems and used to illuminate issues that are driven
by geography. GIS can use any information that includes
location. The location can be expressed in many different ways,
such as latitude and longitude, address, or ZIP code. Many
different types of information can be compared and contrasted
using GIS. The system can include data about people, such as
population, income, or education level. It can include
information about the landscape, such as the location of streams, different kinds of vegetation, and
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different kinds of soil. It can include information about the sites of factories, farms, and schools,
or storm drains, roads, and electric power lines.
Remote Sensing
Remote sensing is the process of detecting and
monitoring the physical characteristics of an area by
measuring its reflected and emitted radiation at a distance
from the targeted area. Special cameras collect remotely
sensed images of the Earth.
The following are some examples of how remote

sensing being used: Cameras on satellites and airplanes
take images of large areas on the Earth's surface, allowing us to see much more than we can
standing on the ground; Sonar systems on ships can be used to create images of the ocean floor
without needing to travel to the bottom of the ocean; Cameras on satellites can be used to make
images of temperature changes in the oceans; Large forest fires can be mapped from space,
allowing rangers to see a much larger area than from the ground; Tracking clouds to help predict
the weather or watch erupting volcanos, and help watch for dust storms; Tracking the growth of a
city and changes in farmland or forests over several years or even decades; Mapping the ocean
bottom–Discovery and mapping of the rugged topography of the ocean floor (e.g., huge mountain
ranges, deep canyons, and the “magnetic striping” on the ocean floor), which help researchers
"sense" things about the Earth.
1. The Solar System

The Solar System is consisted of an average star
(yellow star) called Sunan, its planets Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune. It includes the satellites of the planets;
numerous comets, asteroids, and meteoroids; and
the interplanetary medium. The Sun is the richest
source of electromagnetic energy (mostly of heat and light) in the solar system.
Sun is the heart of our solar system. It is a yellow dwarf star, a hot ball
of glowing gases. Its gravity holds the solar system together, keeping everything
from the biggest planets to the smallest particles of debris in its orbit. Electric
currents in the Sun generate a magnetic field that is carried out through the solar
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system by the solar wind, a stream of electrically charged gas blowing outward from the Sun in all
directions.
Terrestrial Planets are four most innermost planets in the solar system: Mercury, Venus,
Earth and Mars. They are called terrestrial because they have a compact, rocky surface like the
Earth.
Mercury is the smallest planet in our solar system and nearest to the Sun.
It is only slightly larger than Earth's Moon. From the surface of Mercury, the Sun
would appear more than three times as large as it does when viewed from Earth,
and the sunlight would be as much as seven times brighter. Despite its proximity
to the Sun, Mercury is not the hottest planet in our solar system –that title belongs
to nearby Venus, because of its dense atmosphere.
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and the closest planetary
neighbor of Earth. This planet is similar in structure and size to Earth, but it is a
very different world. Venus spins slowly in the opposite direction most planets
do. Its thick atmosphere traps heat in a runaway greenhouse effect, making it the
hottest planet in our solar system–with surface temperatures hot enough to melt
lead. Glimpses below the clouds reveal volcanoes and deformed mountains.
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the only place know of so far
that is inhabited by living things. While Earth is only the fifth largest planet in
the solar system, it is the only world in our solar system with liquid water on the
surface. Just slightly larger than nearby Venus, Earth is the biggest of the four
planets closest to the Sun, all of which are made of rock and metal.
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is a dusty, cold, desert world
with a very thin atmosphere. This dynamic planet has seasons, polar ice caps
weather, and canyons and extinct volcanoes, evidence of an even more active
past.
Jovian Planets are all gigantic compared with Earth: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Planets are also referred to as the gas giants, though some or all of them might
have small solid cores.
Jupiter, fifth in line from the Sun, is by far the largest planet in the solar
system –more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined. Its familiar
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stripes and swirls are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere
of hydrogen and helium. Jupiter’s iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm bigger than Earth that has
raged for hundreds of years.
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in
our solar system. Adorned with thousands of beautiful ringlets, Saturn is unique
among the planets. It is not the only planet to have rings made of chunks of ice
and rock, but none are as spectacular or as complicated as Saturn's. Like fellow
gas giant Jupiter, Saturn is a massive ball made mostly of hydrogen and helium.
Uranus is made of water, methane and ammonia fluids above a small

rocky center. Its atmosphere is made of hydrogen and helium like Jupiter and
Saturn, but it also has methane. The methane makes Uranus blue. It also has faint
rings. The inner rings are narrow and dark. The outer rings are brightly colored
and easier to see. Like Venus, Uranus rotates in the opposite direction as most
other planets. And unlike any other planet, Uranus rotates on its side.
Neptune is the eighth and most distant planet in our solar system. It is
dark, cold and whipped by supersonic winds. More than 30 times as far from the
Sun as Earth, Neptune is very similar to Uranus. It is made of thick layers of
water, ammonia, and methane over an Earth-sized solid center. Its atmosphere is
made of hydrogen, helium, and methane. The methane gives Neptune the same
blue color as Uranus. Neptune has six rings, but they are very hard to see.
Other Celestial Bodies
Comets are cosmic snowballs of frozen gases, rock and dust that orbit the
Sun. When frozen, they are the size of a small town. When a comet's orbit brings
it close to the Sun, it heats up and spews dust and gases into a giant glowing head
larger than most planets. The dust and gases form a tail that stretches away from
the Sun for millions of miles. There are likely billions of comets orbiting our Sun
in the Kuiper Belt and even more distant Oort Cloud.
Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky, airless

remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6
billion years ago. The current known asteroid count is 839,779. Most of this
ancient space rubble can be found orbiting the Sun between Mars and Jupiter
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within the main asteroid belt. Asteroids range in size from Vesta, the largest at about 329 miles
(530 kilometers) in diameter, to bodies that are less than 33 feet (10 meters) across. The total mass
of all the asteroids combined is less than that of Earth's Moon.
Meteoroids are objects in space that range in size from dust grains
to small asteroids. Think of them as “space rocks.” When meteoroids enter
Earth’s atmosphere (or that of another planet, like Mars) at high speed and
burn up, the fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors. When a
meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits the ground, it is
called a meteorite. They are all related to the flashes of light or shooting stars sometimes seen
streaking across the sky, but we call the same object by different names, depending on where it is.
2. Structures of the Earth

The earth is made up three different layers: crust, mantle and core.
• Crust (or Lithosphere) includes landforms, rocks and soil. It

is mostly solid rocks, is rigid and has high strength. It varies in
thickness from as little as 5 km under the ocean to about 70 km
under mountain ranges like the Himalayas.
• Mantle is a partially molten rock. Temperatures mostly
between 500 ̊C and 200 ̊C. About 2900 km thick. The top part of
the mantle is the source of magma that erupts onto the surface.
• Outer Core is made of molten iron and nickel. Temperature 4000 ̊C and 600 ̊C. About
2300 km thick.
• Inner Core is mostly iron. Solid owing to the extreme pressure. Temperature up to 7000 ̊C.
About 1200 km thick.
3. Why We have Seasons?

Seasons are the main periods into which year can be divided and
which each have their own typical weather conditions. Season are
found only in the temperature zones.
Our planet, Earth takes one year to make a complete revolution

around the sun, it is the most commonly believed that the variation
in between the Earth and the Sun causes the season. The axis of the
earth is at tilt of 23.5 degree during the Earth’s orbit around the sun.
There are times of the year when the North Pole is alternately tilted
towards in the sun or tilted away from the sun.
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Kinds of Season
These seasons are characterized by the difference in the temperature and length of daylight.
• Spring season is the time of renewal.
• Autumn season is also known as fall season. It brings colder temperature and frost season.
It brings colder temperature and frost and some crops are harvest is this season
• Winter season brings a snow and ice to a lot of location around the world.
• Summer season is the common season for thunderstorm when Earth tilt towards to the sun
and the more we get a heat from it.
The Philippines is a tropical island. It has only two seasons: the wet (June to November) and
dry (December to May) seasons. With the thousands of island to discover, such us Cebu and
Palawan, a summery feel is a requirement for the best trip this gem in the pacific. The country has
the average temperature of 26.6˚C.
4. The Earth and Development of Modern Atmosphere

Earth is the only planet we know of that can support life. The planet is not too close or too
far away from the sun. It lies in a "Goldilocks Zone" that is just right — not too hot, not too cold.
The distance from Earth to the sun is one of the most important factors in making Earth habitable.
The next closest planet to the sun, Venus, for example, is the hottest planet in the solar system.
Temperatures there reach more than 750 degrees Fahrenheit (400 degrees Celsius), while the
average temperature on Mars is minus 80 F (minus 60 C).
Evolution of the atmosphere, the development of Earth’s atmosphere across geologic time
is the process by which the current atmosphere arose from earlier conditions is complex; however,
evidence related to the evolution of Earth’s atmosphere, though indirect, is abundant. Ancient
sediments and rocks record past changes in atmospheric sediments and rocks record past changes
in atmospheric composition due to chemical reactions with Earth’s crust and, in particular, to
biochemical processes associated with life.
Earth’s original atmosphere was rich in methane, ammonia, water vapor, and the noble gas
neon, but it lacked free oxygen. It is likely that hundreds of millions of years separated the first
biological production of oxygen by unicellular organisms and its eventual accumulation in the
atmosphere.
B. The Functions of Earth’s Atmosphere and Hydrosphere
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1. Earth’s Atmosphere
Earth's atmosphere also plays a vital role in regulating the
temperature by providing a blanket of gases that not only protects us
from excessive heat and harmful radiation from the sun, but also traps
heat rising from the Earth's interior, keeping us warm.
Earth's atmosphere has a series of layers, each with its own

specific traits. Moving upward from ground level, these layers are
named the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and
exosphere. The exosphere gradually fades away into the realm of
interplanetary space.
a. Global Temperatures
The world is getting warmer, whether the cause is human activity or natural
variability—and the preponderance of evidence says it is humans—thermometer readings
all around the world have risen steadily since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.
According to an ongoing temperature analysis conducted by scientists at NASA’s Goddard
Institute for Space Studies (GISS), the average global temperature on Earth has increased
by about 0.8° Celsius (1.4° Fahrenheit) since 1880. Two-thirds of the warming has
occurred since 1975, at a rate of roughly 0.15-0.20°C per decade.
The global temperature record represents an average over the entire surface of the
planet. The temperatures we experience locally and in short periods can fluctuate
significantly due to predictable cyclical events (night and day, summer and winter) and
hard-to-predict wind and precipitation patterns. But, the global temperature mainly
depends on how much energy the planet receives from the Sun and how much it radiates
back into space–quantities that change very little. The amount of energy radiated by the
Earth depends significantly on the chemical composition of the atmosphere, particularly
the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.
Global Warming simply means an increase in the average temperature of the

earth's atmosphere near its surface–either from natural or human causes–that may result in
a change in global climate patterns.
Greenhouse Effect is the normal trapping of the earth's heat in the lower
atmosphere, due to the conversion of light into heat as it strikes the earth's surface.
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A global change is significant because it takes a vast amount of heat to warm all
the oceans, atmosphere and land.
2. Earth’s Hydrosphere
The quantity of water on Earth approximately 71% of the earth’s crust is covered with
water. Water is found in oceans, lakes, rivers and streams, and is stored underground as
groundwater. Some amount is trapped in ice. Water also exists in the atmosphere in the form of
water vapor. Hydrosphere covers all water present on the Earth surface.
The hydrosphere is always in motion. The motion of rivers and streams can be seen, but
the motion of water in ponds and lakes is less obvious. Some of the motion of seas and ocean can
be seen easily with large scale motions that travel water with great distances like poles and tropics
or between continents.
The major importance of hydrosphere is that water sustains various life forms and plays an
important role in ecosystems and regulating the atmosphere.
Water is the most important part of living cells. Every cell in living organism is built up of
about 75% of water, hence allows the cell to function appropriately. Cells would not able to carry
out normal functions and life cannot exist without water. Humans use water in many ways.
Drinking water is the most obvious use, but it is also used for domestic purpose like washing and
cleaning, and in industries. Water is also utilized in generating electricity through hydropower.
Water provides habitat. Hydrosphere provides place for many plants and animals to live.
Many gasses like CO2, O2, nutrients like ammonium and nitrite (NO–2) as well as other ions are
dissolved in water. The presence of these substances is essential for life to exist in water.
The water’s specific heat is its unique characteristics. This indicates that water takes a lot
of time to heat up and a lot of time to cool down. It helps in regulating temperatures on earth as
they stay in a range which is acceptable for life on earth to exist.
a. Three Different Forms of Water

Water is a very important resource as it is used for drinking, cleaning, cooking etc. It
should be preserved and carefully used as it is required for the survival of life on earth.
Water exists in different forms due to the variations in climatic conditions. On the earth’s
surface, there are three different forms of water namely solid, liquid and gaseous.
• The solid form of water – ice, is found at the poles of the earth, the snow-covered
mountains and the glaciers.
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• The liquid form is present in the rivers, lakes, seas, and oceans.
• The gaseous form of water, water vapor is present all around us.
b. Water Resource and Climate Change

This is important to both society and ecosystem. We (humans) depends on a reliable,
clean supply of drinking water to sustain our health.
Water Resource
• Agriculture
• Energy production
• Navigation
• Recreation and manufacturing
Kinds of Water Resources

• Rain Water
• Surface Water (impounding reservoir, river, ponds, and lakes)
• Ground Water (shallow well, deep well and spring)
Water Supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organizations,

community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Irrigation is
covered separately. The Philippines' main sources of water are rivers, lakes, river basins, and
groundwater reservoirs. The longest and largest river, Cagayan River, discharges approximately
53, 943 million cubic meters of water annually.
Effects of Climate Change in Water Resources

The main climate change consequences related to water resources are increases in
temperature, shifts in precipitation patterns and snow cover, and a likely increase in the
frequency of flooding and droughts. Protecting water sources is important because it ensures
there is enough safe water for all of our uses–now and in the future.
3. Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulations
The Hadley Cell, named after George Hadley, is a global

scale tropical atmospheric circulation that features air rising
near the Equator, flowing poleward at a height of 10 to 15
kilometers above the earth's surface, descending in the
subtropics, and then returning equatorward near the surface.
The subtropics are geographic and climate zones located
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roughly between the tropics at latitude 23.5° (the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn) and
temperate zones (normally referring to latitudes 35–66.5°) north and south of the Equator. The
Ferrel Cell is the art of the air rising at 60° latitude diverges at high altitude toward the poles and
creates the polar cell. The rest moves toward the equator where it collides at 30° latitude with the
high-level air of the Hadley Cell. There it subsides and strengthens the high-pressure ridges
beneath. A large part of the energy that drives the Ferrel Cell is provided by the polar and Hadley
cells circulating on either side and that drag the Ferrel Cell with it. The Polar Cell is a simple
system with strong convection drivers. Though cool and dry relative to equatorial air, the air
masses at the 60th parallel are still sufficiently warm and moist to undergo convection and drive a
thermal loop.
Thermohaline Circulation (THC) is a part of the

large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density
gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes.
Upwelling is an oceanographic phenomenon that

involves wind-driven motion of dense, cooler, and usually
nutrient-rich water towards the ocean surface, replacing the
warmer, usually nutrient-depleted surface water.
4. Weather Systems and Patterns

Imagine our weather if Earth were completely motionless, had a flat dry landscape and an
untilted axis. This of course is not the case; if it were, the weather would be very different. The
local weather that impacts our daily lives results from large global patterns in the atmosphere
caused by the interactions of solar radiation, Earth's large ocean, diverse landscapes, and motion
in space.
a. Atmospheric Rivers
Atmospheric rivers are relatively long, narrow
regions in the atmosphere–like rivers in the sky–that
transport most of the water vapor outside of the
tropics. These columns of vapor move with the
weather, carrying an amount of water vapor roughly
equivalent to the average flow of water at the mouth of the Mississippi River. When the
atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or
snow.
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b. Global Winds
Earth’s orbit around the sun and its rotation on a tilted axis
causes some parts of Earth to receive more solar radiation than
others. This uneven heating produces global circulation patterns
offsite link. These global wind patterns drive large bodies of air
called air masses.
c. Air Masses
Air masses are large domes of air which have a similar horizontal temperature,
humidity, pressure, and moisture characteristics throughout. It is very similar to a balloon.
Five Types of Air Masses

1. Continental Artic (CA)
• Frigid - record low temperatures
• Dry - very low dew points
• Dense - very high barometric pressure
• Usually originate north of the Arctic
Circle (Siberian Express)
• Usually once or twice a winter
• Very rarely form during the summer
because the sun warms the arctic
2. Continental Polar (CP)

• Cold and dry (stable)
• Usually originates in NW territory of Canada
• Influences mainly the Northern USA
• Responsible for clear and peasant weather during the summer
• Usually in winter
• Creates troughs in the polkar jet stream
• Late effect snow in Great Lake areas
3. Maritime Polar (MP)

• Cool and moist (unstable)
• Originate over N. Atlantic and N. Pacific
• Main influence- the Pacific Northwest and the Northeast
• Can form any time of the year
• Generally not as cold as cP air masses
4. Maritime Tropical (MT)
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• Warm and very moist (unstable)

• Originate in the gulf of Mexico and the Southern Atlantic Ocean
• Influences the Eastern USA
• Most prevalent during summer
• Responsible for hot, humid summer days across the South and the East
5. Continental Tropical (CT)

• Very hot and very dry (stable aloft)
• Originates in desert Southwest and northern Mexico
• Occurs in the summer, rarely in winter
• Usually keeps the desert Southwest scorching above 100˚F during summer
• Generally clear skies, hot, low humidity
d. Fronts
The location where two air masses meet is called a front. Fronts are the boundaries
between two air masses. They can be indirectly observed using current weather maps,
which can be used to track them as the move across the Earth. They are characterized by
shift in weather.
Five Characteristics of a Front

1. Sharp temperature changes over a relatively short distance
2. Changes in air moisture content
3. Shifts in wind direction
4. Pressure changes
5. Clouds and precipitation
Kinds of Fronts
1. Cold Fronts
• Temperature drops rapidly
• Pressure rises steadily
• Vertical building of clouds
• Precipitation heavy along front
• Strong and shifting winds
• Typically move faster than warm front
In the summer days, cold fronts can trigger thunderstorms, large hail, dangerous winds,
and tornadoes.
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2. Warm Fronts
• Temperature rises slowly
• Pressure slight rises then fall
• Clouds: strato and cirro
• Precipitate long and steady
• Variable and light winds
• Typically, will have affect for days
Slow-moving warm front can mean days of wet weather before warm air.
Sometimes water vapor in warm fronts condense to produce rain, snow, sleet, and freezing
rain.
3. Stationary Front
• Temperature: stagnant
• Pressure: slightly fluctuates
• Clouds: altocumulus
• Precipitation: none
• Winds: variable and light
• Can last for days and weeks
4. Occluded Front
• Temperature: Warm gets milder; Cold gets colder
• Pressure: Warm - slight drop; Cold - slight rise
• Clouds: cumulus
• Precipitation: steady and light
• Winds: variable and light
e. Jet Streams
The local weather conditions that we experience
at the Earth's surface are related to these air masses and
fronts. However, the environment far above us impacts
their movement. High in the atmosphere, narrow bands of
strong wind, such as the jet streams, steer weather
systems and transfer heat and moisture around the globe.
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f. Coriolis Effect
In the Northern Hemisphere air veers to the right
and in the Southern Hemisphere to the left. This motion
can result in large circulating weather systems, as air
blows away from or into a high- or low-pressure offsite
link area. Hurricanes and nor'easters are examples of
these cyclonic systems.
g. Cyclones
Cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center,
a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong wind and a spiral arrangement of thunder
storms and heavy rain.
If the storm occurs in the

Atlantic Ocean and North-east Pacific,
it's called a hurricane. If the exact same
type of storm occurs in the North-west
Pacific, this is a typhoon. And, those
same storms in the South Pacific and
Indian Ocean are called tropical
cyclones.
Three Stages of Cyclone Formation

1. Formation and initial development
2. Maturing
3. Modification and decay
Types of Cyclone
1. Tropical Cyclones
• These occur over tropical ocean regions.
• Hurricanes and typhoons are types of tropical cyclones.
• Major tropical-cyclone basins are North Atlantic (including the Caribbean), Eastern
Pacific, Western Pacific, North Indian Ocean, Southwest Indian Ocean, Southern
Pacific, and Australian region.
• Tropical cyclones develop within 5 and 30 degrees of latitude because they require
ocean waters of 80 degrees Fahrenheit or so to form cyclone (primary condition for the
formation of tropical cyclone).
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2. Midlatitude or Extratropical Cyclones

• The cyclonic storms that develop in the middle latitudes (between 300 and 600 latitude
from the equator).
• These cyclones develop where sharp temperature gradients exist between adjoining
air masses.
• Extratropical cyclones produce rapid changes in temperature and dew point along
broad lines, called weather fronts, about the center of the cyclone.
• They form as waves along weather fronts before occluding later in their cycle as cold
core cyclones.
• The winds are generally weaker. Formed by: Cyclogenisis which means the
development of cyclonic circulation in atmosphere. Extra tropical transistion: process
by which a tropical cyclone upon encountering with a baroclinic environment and
reduced sea surface transforms into an extratropical cyclone.
3. Polar Lows or Artic Hurricanes

• These forms over Arctic and Antarctic seas.
• Sparked by frigid air moving over somewhat warmer ocean waters.
• Their energy source: heat transfer from water to air and latent heat released by cloud
condensation.
• Often form quickly, sometimes in less than 24 hours, and can be difficult to forecast.
4. Polar Cyclones
• Polar cyclones are 1000 to 2000 km wide in which the air is moving in a spiral counter
clockwise in Northern hemisphere.
• They occur in polar regions like Greenland, Siberia and Artic, Antarctica and northern
Canada.
• Usually stronger in winter months.
• Damages are usually minimal, as they occur in areas that are not very populated.
5. Mesocyclones
• They are formed when part of a thunderstorm cloud
starts to spin, which may eventually lead to a tornado.
• Tornadoes all come from thunderstorm clouds, but not
all thunderstorm clouds make tornadoes.
• Rotating "wall clouds" may descend from mesocyclones
and ultimately form a funnel cloud, which, if it contacts
the ground, becomes a tornado.
The impacts of cyclone mainly depend upon intensity, its size and its location.
They can be classified into three: Primary Hazard involves destructive winds, debris,
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and storm surge; Secondary Hazards include flooding and fires; and Tertiary Hazards
include spikes in prices of food and other necessities, as well as long term hazards like
water-borne diseases. Upon landfall, the most significant effects of a tropical cyclone
occur when they cross coastlines, making landfall destroys ships and lives, are: strong
winds, storm surge, heavy rainfall, and tornadoes. Cyclones also have effects on natural
resources. Geomorphologically, they reshape the geology near the coast by eroding sand
from the beach as well as offshore, rearranging coral, and changing dune configuration
onshore. Coastal ridges erode undersea sands, shell deposits, break off corals from shore
reefs, and carry all this detritus landwards in a rolling wave of material that is deposited
onshore.
h. Hurricanes
Hurricanes are giant, spiraling tropical
storms that can pack wind speeds of over 160
miles (257 kilometers) an hour and unleash more
than 2.4 trillion gallons (9 trillion liters) of rain a
day. These same tropical storms are known as
cyclones in the northern Indian Ocean and Bay
of Bengal, and as typhoons in the western Pacific
Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean's hurricane season
peaks from mid-August to late October and
averages five to six hurricanes per year.
A hurricane needs warm water, time to grow and favorable

upper level winds in the troposphere. Hurricanes are enormous heat
engines that generate energy on a staggering scale. They draw heat
from warm, moist ocean air and release it through condensation of
water vapor in thunderstorms. They spin around a low-pressure center
known as the "eye." It is 20- to 30-mile-wide (32- to 48-kilometer-
wide) and this is area notoriously calm. But the eye is surrounded by a circular "eye wall" that
hosts the storm's strongest winds and rain.
These storms bring destruction ashore in many different

ways. When a hurricane makes landfall it often produces a
devastating storm surge that can reach 20 feet (6 meters) high and
extend nearly 100 miles (161 kilometers). Ninety percent of all
hurricane deaths result from storm surges. A hurricane's high
winds are also destructive and may spawn tornadoes. Torrential
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rains cause further damage by spawning floods and landslides, which may occur many miles
inland. The best defense against a hurricane is an accurate forecast that gives people time to
get out of its way.
C. Shaping the Lithosphere

The Lithosphere is derived from the Greek word “lithos” meaning “stone.” It is the solid
outer part of the Earth, including brittle upper portion of the mantle and the crust, the outer most
layers of the earth structure. It is bounded by the atmosphere above and asthenosphere below.
There are two types of lithosphere: oceanic and continental.
Sedimentary rocks are must abundant rock only on the surface of the Earth, but igneous
and metamorphic are abundant deeper into the mantle. The lithosphere helps to provide all the
necessary nutrients required for the growth of the plants. It also combines with the hydrosphere
and the atmosphere to help in the growth of all the living organisms.
1. Plate Tectonics
Plate tectonics is the theory that Earth’s outer shell is divided into several plates that glide
over the mantle, the rocky inner layer above the core. Lithosphere is divided into tectonic plates,
which move gradually relative to one another. There are seven major plates that make up 94% of
the earth’s surface and many smaller plates making up the other 6%.
The driving force behind plate tectonics is convection in the mantle. Hot material near the
earth’s core rises, and colder mantle rocks sinks. “It’s kind of like a pot boiling on a stove,” Van
Der Elst said. The convection drive plates tectonics through a combination of pushing and
spreading a part at mid ocean ridges and pulling and sinking downward at subduction zone.
Three Main Types of Plate Tectonics

• Convergent Boundary is an area on Earth where two or
more lithosphere plates collide. One plate eventually slides
beneath the other causing a process known as subduction.
The subduction zone can be defined by a plane where
many earthquakes occur, called the Benoiff Zone.
• Divergent Boundary (divergent plate boundary,

constructive boundary or an extensional boundary), in plate
tectonics, is a linear feature that exists betwee n two
tectonic plates that are moving away from each other.
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• Transform Boundary (transform fault) is a plate

boundary where the motion is predominantly horizontal.
It ends abruptly and is connected to another transform, a
spreading ridge, or a subduction zone.
2. Orogenesis
Orogeny is derived from the Greek word “oro” which
means mountain and “genesis” which means creation or
origin. Primary mechanism by which how mountains are
built on continents. Orogen/Orogenic Belt–develops when
a continental plate is crumpled and pushed upwards to
create mountain ranges. The series of geological processes
of orogeny is called orogenesis.
Orogenesis, the process of mountain building, occurs when two tectonic plates collide–
either forcing material upwards to form mountain belts such as the Alps or Himalayas or causing
one plate to be subducted below the other, resulting in volcanic mountain chains such as the
Andes. Its causes are folding of strata, regional metamorphism, magmatic activities, subduction,
and composition of rock adjacent to the Orogenic Belt.
3. Volcanoes
Volcano is a rapture in the crust of a planetary mass object such as Earth, that allow hot
lava, volcanic ash and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. Volcanology is
the scientific study of the volcanoes.
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Magma chamber is a large pot of liquid rock beneath the surface of the earth. Its pressure
can gradually fracture the rock around it creating a way for the
magma (molten rock) to move upward.
The eruption of volcano happens when magma rises to

the surface. Magma is formed when the Earth’s mantle melts.
Magma rising happens where tectonic plates are pulling apart or
where one plate is pushed down under another.
4. Earthquake
Earthquakes constitute one of the worst natural hazards which often turn into disaster
causing widespread destruction and loss to human life. The effects of earthquake vary upon the
magnitude and intensity. Earthquakes occur every now and then all around the world, except in
some places where earthquakes occur rarely. The devastation of cities and towns is one of the
effects of earthquake.
For example, if you throw stone in a pond of still water, series of waves
are produced on the surface of water, these waves spread out in all
directions from the point where the stone strikes the water. Similarly, any
sudden disturbances in the Earth’s crust may produce vibration in the
crust which travel in all direction from point of disturbances.
Terms Related on Earthquake

Focus (Hypocenter) is the point on the fault where rupture
occurs and the location from which seismic waves are released.
Epicenter is the point on the earth’s surface that is directly

above the focus, the point where an earthquake or underground
explosion originates.
Fault Line is the surface trace of a fault, the line of intersection between the earth’s surface.
Fault Plane are the cracks or sudden slips of the land.
Fault Scrap is the topographic expression of faulting attributed to the displacement of the
land surface by movement along faults.
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Classification of Faults
Normal Fault is a dip-slip fault in which the block above the fault has moved downward
relative to the block below.
Thrust (REVERSE) Fault is a dip-slip fault in which the upper block, above the fault
plane, moves up and over the lower block.
Strike Slip Fault:

Left-lateral strike slip fault is one on which the displacement of the far block is to the left
when viewed from either side.
Right-lateral strike slip fault is one on which the displacement of the far block is to the
right when viewed from either side.
Waves Produced due to Earthquake

Seismic waves produced due to earthquake are basically divided into two major types:
body waves and surface waves.
Body Waves travels through the interior (body) of earth as they leave the focus. They are
further divided into following types: P Waves and S Waves.
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Surface Waves travels parallel to the Earth’s surface and these waves are slowest and most
damaging. Surface waves are divided into following types: Love Waves and Rayleigh Waves.
Seismology is the scientific study of earthquakes and the propagation of elastic waves
through the Earth. Scientists measure the strength of earthquakes using machines known as
seismographs. The intensity and strength of earthquake is measured on Richter Scale, the scale
invented by Charles Richter in California, USA in 1935. Seismometers are instruments that
measure motions of the ground, including those of seismic waves generated by earthquakes.
Earthquake Safety Rules

If you are indoors when an earthquake hits:
• Drop down and take cover under a desk or table. Be prepared to hold on until the
shaking stops.
• Stay inside until the shaking stops and it is safe to exit.
• Stay away from bookcases and other furniture that can fall on you.
• Stay away from windows and light fixtures.
• If you are in bed – hold on and stay there. Protect your head with pillow to protect
yourself from flying glass and other debris.
If you are outdoors during an earthquake:

• Drop to the ground in a clear spot away from buildings, trees and power lines.
• If you are driving – pull over, stop and set your parking brake. Avoid overpasses,
bridges, power lines, trees, signs, buildings, vehicles and other things that may fall
on your car.
What to do after an earthquake?

• Look around to be sure it is safe to move.
• If you are inside, exit the building and go to an open space far from any damage and
other buildings.
• If you have your cell phone, use it to call or send a text for help.
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• Listen to a battery-operated radio or television for the most recent emergency

information.
5. Mass Movement
Material moves downslope due to the pull of gravity. It can
happen almost anywhere. It is commonly associated with
other events (heavy rainfall or earthquakes, for example) and
are therefore under-reported. Movements can either be
catastrophic (slope failure) or slow and steady (creep). The
rate of the mass movement can be increased by various
erosive agents (especially water).
Mass Movements include:

1. Slump
• Slow to rapid movement
• Material moves as a coherent unit along a curved
surface (spoon shaped)
• Blocks of material rotate
• Debris flows commonly associated with slump
2. Creep
• A slow, steady, downhill flow of loose,
weathered earth material
• Creep happens over an extended period of time
• You can look at structures for evidence of creep
• Objects will tilt
• Trees will bend
• Walls, foundations, and pipelines will crack
3. Falls
Rockfalls are common type of extremely rapid mass
movement in which rocks of any size fall through the air. They
occur along steep canyons, cliffs, and road cuts and build up
accumulations of loose rocks and rock fragments at their base
called, “Talus”. Rockfalls result from failure along joints or
bedding planes in the bedrock and are commonly triggered by
natural or human undercutting of slopes, or by earthquakes.
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Many rockfalls in cold climates are the result of frost wedging. Chemical weathering caused by
water percolating through the fissures in carbonate rocks (limestone, dolostone, and marble) is also
responsible for many rockfalls.
4. Flows (Debris Flows or Mud Flows)

• Mass movements that behave like fluids.
• Unlike slides, flows are not controlled by
a failure surface, but instead are
dominated by internal movements.
• In-flows is an earth material flow as if
they were a thick liquid.
• Flows can move anywhere from a
centimeter per year to kilometers per
hour.
• Mud flows are swiftly moving mixtures of mud and water that are triggered by
earthquakes and vibrations. They are also triggered by volcanic activity melting snow
in the surrounding area.
Factors in Slope Stability

These are the risk factors to increase likelihood of mass movement:
1. Gravity - hill slopes more vulnerable (on top of a hill, on the slope, or at the bottom of a
hill), modified slopes (road cut, cut flat area to build on, coastal erosion, etc.).
2. Water - risk is higher when ground is saturated and/or during heavy rains, El Niño events.
3. Earth Materials - loose soils (particularly clay-rich) or fractured rock, and old landslides
pose greater risk.
4. Triggering Events - heavy rain during storm, rain after big storms or fires, earthquakes
(when ground is saturated are all triggers).
5. River System and Landforms

a. What is a River System?
A river system is a number of rivers which consists of one main river, which drains into a
lake or into the ocean, with all its tributaries. Every river is part of a larger system—a watershed.
Rivers are large natural streams of water flowing in channels and emptying into larger bodies of
water. The water always comes from high to low, emptying into the river, which is called the
mouth of the river. This diagram shows some common characteristics of a river system.
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A river system is a way of describing the larger networks of streams, lakes and rivers that
are part of a larger river's network of tributaries and distributaries. For example, multiple rivers,
including the Ohio, Red and Missouri rivers.
Ohio River - The average depth of the Ohio River is

approximately 24 feet. The Ohio River supports 160 species of
fish. More than 25 million people, 8% of the U.S. population,
live in the Ohio River Basin. The Ohio River is a source of
drinking water for more than five million people.
Red River - A river flowing E from NW Texas along

the S boundary of Oklahoma into the Mississippi River in
Louisiana. Also called Red River of the North. a river flowing
N along the boundary between Minnesota and North Dakota to
Lake Winnipeg in S Canada. The water depth reached 4.6
meters (15 feet) in low lying areas.
Missouri River - Missouri is known as the "Show Me

State”. It ties with Tennessee as the most neighborly state in the
union, bordered by 8 states. The state animal is the Mule. St.
Louis; is also called, "The Gateway to the West" and "Home of
the Blues".
Navigating the major rivers of the Philippines, the country has 421 rivers. Of those, 50 are
biologically dead. The Cagayan River, Rio Grande de Mindanao and the Agusan River are three
very important rivers in this country.
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Rio Grande de Mindanao, also known as the

Mindanao River, is the second largest river system in the
Philippines, located on the southern island of Mindanao. It has
a drainage area of 23,169 km², draining the majority of the
central and eastern portion of the island, with a total length of
approximately 373 km.
Cagayan River, also known as the Rio Grande de

Cagayan, is the longest river and the largest river by discharge
volume of water in the Philippines. It has a total length of
approximately 505 kilometers and a drainage basin covering
27,753 square kilometers.
Agusan River is a river in the Philippines, located in

the north-eastern part of Mindanao island, draining majority of
the Caraga region and some parts of Compostela Valley
province.
Top 11 Most Polluted Rivers in the World in 2019 (according to a survey)

1. Ganges River - the most sacred river in India
2. Citarum River - arguably one of the most polluted rivers in the world
3. Yellow River
4. Sarno River
5. Buringanga River
6. Marilao River
7. Mississippi River
8. Jordan River
9. Mantaza Riachuelo River
10. Yamuna River
11. Yangtze River
Three Subsystems of a River System

• Collecting System (branches) consisting of a network of tributaries in the headwater region,
collects and funnels water and sediment to the main stream.
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• Transporting System (trunk) is the main trunk stream, which functions as a channel way
through which water and sediment move from the collecting area toward the ocean. (Erosion
and deposition also occur in a river's transporting system).
• Dispersing System (roots) consists of a network of distributaries at the mouth of a river

(delta), where sediment and water are dispersed into an ocean, a lake, or a dry basin.
Parts of River
• Tributary is a stream flowing into or joining a larger stream.
• Distributary is stream branches into which a river divides where it reaches its delta.
• Upstream moves toward headwater (up the regional slope of erosion).
• Downstream moves toward the mouth of river (delta).
• Delta is a large, roughly triangular body of sediment deposited at the mouth of a river.
• Meander is a broad, looping bend in a river.
• Braided river is divided into multiple channels by alluvial islands.
River Management
Increasingly drainage basin managers are realizing the importance of the floodplain for its
capacity to store water, reduce discharge and recycle harmful agricultural run-off. Floodplain
restoration is the process of engineering the river to restore its natural patterns of meander
migration and flooding.
The methods of river management are afforestation (trees are planted near the river to
intercept precipitation) and managed flooding (allowing a river the flood naturally in some places
to prevent flooding in other area).
It has its advantages such as cheap way to enhance the environment and it protects
important settlements. However, it takes a long time for the tress to be established and requires
land that is able to be flooded.
b. What are Landforms?

A landform is a feature on the earth's surface that is part of the terrain.
Four Major Types of Landforms

1. Hills extend above the surrounding terrain. It often has a distinct summit, although in areas
with scarp/dip topography a hill may refer to the particular section of flat terrain without a
massive summit.
2. Mountains have features that are much higher than the land around them.
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3. Plateau is a flat, elevated landform that rises sharply above the surrounding area on at least
one side.
4. Plain is a flat, sweeping landmass that generally does not change much in elevation.
Four Minor Types of Landforms

1. Buttes are tall, flat-topped, steep-sided towers of rock. They were created through the
process of erosion, the gradual wearing away of Earth by water, wind, and ice. They were
once part of flat, elevated areas of land known as mesas or plateaus. In fact, the only
difference between a mesa and a butte is its size.
2. Canyons are valleys with very steep sides. These are formed by rivers flowing through them.
3. Valleys are lowland areas between two higher areas such as mountains. Sometimes, valleys
are made by rivers.
4. Basins consists of an area of land, usually like a smaller prairie, enclosed by higher land such
as hills and mountains. A basin does not have to consist of lowland like a prairie. It can
consist of land such as a desert or even an arctic desert.
6. Glaciers
Glaciers shape the land through processes of weathering, erosion, transportation, and
deposition, creating distinct landforms.
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Two Main Types of Erosion

1. Abrasion - as the glacier moves downhill, rocks that have been frozen into the base and sides
of the glacier scrape the rock beneath. The rocks scrape the bedrock like sandpaper, leaving
scratches called striations behind.
2. Plucking - rocks become frozen into the bottom and sides of the glacier. As the glacier moves
downhill, it 'plucks' the rocks frozen into the glacier from the ground.
Glaciers usually follow the easiest route down a mountain, which is often an old river valley.
Interlocking spurs created by a river are eroded at the ends by the glacier to create truncated
spurs. After the glacier has melted it leaves a U-shaped glacial trough. Sometimes the glacial
trough fills with water, called a ribbon lake. Old tributaries, which would have once fed into the
valley are left suspended and are known as hanging valleys. Also, a corrie is an armchair-shaped
hollow landform found on the side of a mountain. This is where a glacier form. In France, corries
are called cirques and in Wales they are called cwms.
Freeze-thaw weathering is the main type of weathering. During the day when temperatures
are higher, the snow melts and water enters the cracks in the rock. When the temperature drops
below 0°C the water in the crack freezes and expands by about 9 per cent. This makes the crack
larger. As this process is repeated through continual thawing and freezing the crack gets larger
over time. Eventually pieces of rock break off.
Glacial Transportation
Glaciers move very slowly. As they move, they transport material from one place to
another: As freeze-thaw weathering occurs along the edge of the glacier pieces of rock, which
break off larger rocks, fall onto the glacier and are transported. Rocks plucked from the bottom
and sides of the glacier are moved downhill with the ice.
Bulldozing is when rocks and debris, found in front of the glacier, are pushed downhill by
the sheer force of the moving ice. Rotational slip is the circular movement of the ice in the corrie.
Moraine and Its Types

Any material carried or moved by a glacier is called moraine.
1. Lateral Moraine - material deposited along both sides of the glacier. This moraine is
usually made up of weathered material that has fallen from the valley sides above the
glacier.
2. Medial Moraine - material deposited in the middle of the glacier. This is caused by the
lateral moraines of two glaciers when they meet.
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3. Terminal Moraine - material deposited at the end of the glacier.
Glacial Landforms Created by Deposition

• Erratics are rocks that have been deposited by the glacier. They are usually made of a rock
type that would not be found in that area. This suggests that erratics can be carried a long
way from an area of different geology.
• Drumlins formed when glaciers move moraine around in unusual ways which produce
interesting features. They are mounds of deposited moraine. They have a steep side and a
sloping side. They can be small or large. They are sometimes described as having a 'basket
of eggs' topography because of the unusual landscape they create.
7. Flood and Coastal System

a. Flood
Flood is a natural event or occurrence where a piece of land (or area) that is usually dry
land, suddenly gets submerged under water. Some floods can occur suddenly and recede quickly.
Others take days or even months to build and discharge. Flooding may resulted from rains, river
overflows, hurricanes, strong winds in coastal areas, and dam breaking.
Types of Floods
1. Coastal (Surge Flood) occurs in areas that lie on the coast
of a sea, ocean, or other large body of open water. It is
typically the result of extreme tidal conditions caused by
severe weather.
2. Fluvial (River Flood) or riverine flooding occurs when

excessive rainfall over an extended period of time causes
a river to exceed its capacity. It can also be caused by
heavy snow melt and ice jams. The damage from a river
flood can be widespread as the overflow affects smaller
rivers downstream, often causing dams and dikes to break
and swamp nearby area.
3. Pluvial (Surface Flood) or surface water flood occurs

when heavy rainfall creates a flood event independent of
an overflowing water body. One of the most common
misconceptions about flood risk is that one must be
located near a body of water to be at risk. Pluvial flooding
debunks that myth, as it can happen in any urban area–
even higher elevation areas that lie above coastal and river floodplains.
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b. Coastal System
The coast can be seen as a system in order to help to understand the processes and
interactions involved. In theory, the inputs, processes and outputs work together to create coastal
equilibrium. However, human actions affect the state of equilibrium within the coastal system.
Coastal landscapes are open systems. This means energy and matter can enter and leave the system.
Coastal Inputs
1. Marine – waves, tides and currents
2. Energy – kinetic energy from waves and wind, thermal energy from the sun and potential
energy from material on cliffs/slopes and material from processes of weathering, mass
movement, erosion and deposition
3. Geological – rock type, structure and tectonics. material from marine deposition, weathering
and mass movement
4. Atmospheric – climate, weather and climate change
5. People – urban planning, housing, industry, coastal management/defenses, leisure
Coastal Transfers and Processes

Coast stores such as sediment on a beach, and flows (transfers), such as longshore drift
moving sediment along the coast.
• Deposition – movement of sediments from one place to another.
• Erosion – attrition, corrasion/abrasion, hydraulic action
• Weathering – freeze-thaw, solution, salt crystallization
• Mass Movement e.g. slumps, soil creep and slides
System Feedback
If inputs and outputs within a coastal system are the same, then a state of equilibrium exists.
An example of this would be when the rate of sediment being added to a beach is the same as the
amount leaving the beach resulting in the beach remaining the same size. If something happens
that will break this equilibrium, the system will change to restore the equilibrium. This is known
as dynamic equilibrium, as the system responds to the disturbance.
When an initial change within a system brings about further change in the same direction,
this is known as positive feedback. When a system returns to equilibrium following a change in
the system, this is known as negative feedback.
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D. The Biosphere
1. What is Biosphere?
According to National Geographic (2019), “the
biosphere is made up of the parts of Earth where life
exists. Biosphere was derived from the Greek word
“βίος/bios” (life) and “σφαίρα/sfaira” (spiral). The
term was co ined by English geologist Eduard Suess
(1831-1914) and Russian physicist Vladimir I.
Vernadsky (1863-1945). Biosphere overlaps all spheres
(e.g. atmosphere, geosphere and hydrosphere).
“There are 13 elements from the periodic table that interact within the biosphere to
produce, maintain and protect life on the Earth” (Francis, 2017). The elements processed through
the life cycles in the ocean biome are magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na), chlorine (Cl), and sulfur (S).
Earth’s crust contains many elements, and the most commonly found in continental crust are
oxygen (O)-51%, silicon (Si)-27%, aluminum (Al)-8%, iron (Fe), calcium (Ca), potassium (K),
and magnesium (Mg). Containing the gases that surround the terrestrial and maritime biomes
within the biosphere, the atmosphere has hydrogen (H), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and carbon (C)
as its main elements. The processing of the elements in all biomes creates a biochemical cycle and
has for millions of years.
Levels of Organization in Biosphere

1. Biomes - Biome is “a major ecological community type” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).
They are the largest of the five organizational levels, and scientists classify these into five
main types: aquatic, desert, forest, grassland, and tundra.
“The main reason for classifying the biosphere into biomes is to highlight the importance
of physical geography on communities of living organisms” (Smith, 2019).
2. Ecosystems - An ecosystem contains biotic factors (living things) such as animals and plants,
and abiotic factors (non-living things) such as sunlight, air, rocks, soil, water, temperature,
and inorganic substances or nutrients (C, O, N, H, S, and Ph). Interactions and the transfer
of energy between organisms and their environment happen in ecosystems.
3. Community of Species - Multiple populations of species make up a community.

Communities share a particular environment or habitat.
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4. Population Count - A population includes all members of a single species living in a

particular habitat. It can include thousands of members or only a few hundred members, and
the addition or removal of a population can affect an entire ecosystem.
5. Organisms (Individual) - Organisms are defined as living creatures that use DNA to
replicate. A single organism refers to an individual. Groups of organisms are considered a
species.
2. Different Kinds of Soil

Soil is a natural resource that can be categorized into different soil types (Boughton, 2019).
Each has distinct characteristics that provide growing benefits and limitations. Identifying the type
of soil you needed for a project is essential to support the healthy growth of plant life.
Six Kinds of Soil

1. Sandy Soil
• “Sandy soil is light, warm, dry and ten d to be acidic and low
in nutrients.”
• These soils are often known as light soils due to their high
proportion of sand and little clay which weighs more than
sand.
• These soils have quick water drainage and are easy to work
with.
• They are faster to warm up in spring than clay soils but tend to dry out in summer and
suffer from low nutrients that are washed away by rain.
• The addition of organic matter can help give plants an additional boost of nutrients by
improving the nutrient and water holding capacity of the soil.
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2. Clay Soil
• Clay soil is a heavy soil type that benefits from high nutrients.
• These soils are made of over 25% clay, and hold a high amount
of water because of the spaces found between clay particles.
• These soils can often test gardeners for they drain slowly and
remain wet and cold in winter and take longer to warm up in
summer,
3. Silt Soil
• Silt soil is a light and moisture-retentive soil type with a high
fertility rating.
• As these soils compromise of medium sized particles, they are
well drained and hold moisture well.
4. Peat Soil
• Peat soil is high in organic matter and holds a large amount of
moisture.
• This type of soil is very infrequently found in a garden and
often imported into a garden to provide an finest soil base for
planting.
5. Chalk Soil
• Chalk soil can be either light or heavy but always highly
alkaline for the calcium carbonate or lime within its structure.
• As these soils are alkaline, they will not support the growth
of ericaceous plants that require acidic soils to grow.
• If a chalky soil shows signs of visible white lumps, they
cannot be acidified and gardeners should only choose plants
that prefer an alkaline soil.
6. Loam Soil
• Loam soil is a mixture of sand, silt and clay that are combined
to prevent the negative effects of each type.
• Depending on their predominant composition they can be
either sandy or clay loam.
• This type of soil is fertile, easy to work with and provides
good drainage.
• As loam soils are a perfect balance of soil particles, they are considered to be a
gardener’s best friend, but still benefit from topping up with additional organic matter.
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3. Components and Cycles of Ecosystem

Ecosystems are communities of organisms and non-living matter that interact together.
They are made up of soil, sunlight and heat, water, and living organisms. Each part of the
ecosystem is important because ecosystems are interdependent. Damaged or imbalanced
ecosystems can cause many problems.
Alexander von Humboldt is the Father of Ecology. Ecology is the study of relationship
between living things and their environment. He was the first to take on the study of the
relationship between organisms and their environment.
Three Broad Components of Ecosystem

• Producers
• Consumers
• Decomposers
Major Types of Ecosystem

• Forest
• Grassland
• Dessert
• Tundra
• Freshwater/Marine
Biogeochemical Cycles
• Carbon Cycle
Carbon is commonly used as a shorthand for carbon dioxide, the most important
greenhouse gas released by humans. Carbon is the primary component of macromolecules (used
to power our cells and build our bodies), including proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and
carbohydrates. Carbon only becomes carbon dioxide when each atom of carbon joins with two
atoms of oxygen (hence the chemical formula of carbon dioxide, CO2).
Biological Carbon Cycle Can span from a few days to thousands of years. Its processes
of changing are through organisms. The cycle starts with the autotrophs. The second step is the
conversion of carbon dioxide into glucose. In able for plants to make their own food, they need
carbon. During photosynthesis, in the presence of sunlight, plants take in carbon dioxide. Chemical
equation: (6CO2 + 6H20 + (energy) → C6H12O6 + 6O2). Then, animals (usually herbivores or
plant-eating animals) or animals that do not eat plants, but they do eat the plant-eating animals,
when that happens the carbon content goes to their bodies as well. When plants and animals respire,
they release this carbon content into the atmosphere. It happens when plants or animals need
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energy, they breakdown carbon containing glucose molecules, through process called “cellular
respiration” (C6H12O6+6O2→6CO2+6H2O+energy). This breakdown converts carbon into
carbon dioxide which is then release back to the atmosphere. When plants and animals die, they
start to decay where decomposers act on the dead organic matter, releasing carbon dioxide. The
carbon content that was taken in by organisms is released back into the atmosphere.
Geological Carbon Cycle can go on for millions of years. It interacts with the rock cycle
in the processes of weathering and dissolution, precipitation of minerals, burial and subduction,
and volcanic eruptions.
• Nitrogen Cycle
Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plants and a significant component of proteins, which
all animals need to grow, reproduce and survive. The nitrogen cycle converts nitrogen into
compounds that plants and animals can use. A cycle by which nitrogen is converted into multiple
chemical forms as it circulates among atmosphere, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems. The
conversion of nitrogen can be carried out through both biological and physical processes.
• Nutrient Cycle
• Oxygen Cycle
One of the most abundant elements on Earth is oxygen. About 21% of our air is composed
of oxygen. It also makes up about 30% of the Earth and 20% of the atmosphere. It is the most
common element of the human body. It makes up about 65% of the mass of the human body. Most
of this is in the form of water (H2O). The cycle that helps move oxygen through the three main
regions of the Earth: The Atmosphere, the Biosphere, and the Lithosphere. This is the
cycle whereby atmospheric oxygen is converted to carbon dioxide in animal respiration and
regenerated by green plants in photosynthesis.
Plants produce oxygen via photosynthesis. They are the main creators of oxygen in the
atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. Some oxygen is produced when sunlight reacts
with water vapor in the atmosphere. Photosynthesis happens when plants take energy from the sun,
carbon dioxide from the air, and water from the soil to make their food. It Converts light energy
to chemical energy, which can be used by organisms for different metabolic processes.
The two stages of photosynthesis: light-dependent reactions and the Calvin Cycle (light-
independent reactions). The two main products: glucose and oxygen. Respiration happens when
the oxygen that is released by plants is used by humans and other organisms for respiration. Then,
repeat. This carbon dioxide is again, taken up by plants for photosynthesis.
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• Phosphorus Cycle
Phosphorus is the 12th most abundant in Earth’s crust, to which it contributes about 0.10
weight percent. It is a mineral that makes up 1% of a person's total body weight. The second most
abundant mineral in the body due to its presence in every cell of the body. Most of the phosphorus
in the body is found in the bones and teeth.
Most phosphorus is stored in sedimentary rocks. Weathering is just one process of releasing
phosphorus; erosion can also occur in rocks. Weathering occurs when a natural occurrence, such
as raining washes phosphates off of a rock causing them to seep into the soil and be used as
fertilizer by plants. After the plants absorb the phosphates in the soil, animals can then eat the
plant, transferring the phosphates to the animal. When plants and animals die, the phosphate get
also incorporated into the soil. Phosphorus also then runs off into water ways and also in the
ocean. In the ocean, it forms sedimentation and forms a new rock which eventually over geological
time we get up lifting of the rock and it produces new rock. And the phosphorus cycle will repeat
with the weathering and erosion.
• Sulfur Cycle
Sulfur is one of the macronutrients required by plants and is obtained by them from the soil
and from the atmosphere. It is present in proteins and gives a distinctive odor to many substances.
It is also a component of the amino acid cysteine and is present in a large number of enzyme
systems. Most of the earth's sulfur is tied up in rocks and salts or buried deep in the ocean in
oceanic sediments.
The collection of processes by which sulfur moves between rocks, waterways and living
systems. Contains both atmospheric and terrestrial processes. Within the terrestrial portion, the
cycle begins with the weathering of rocks, releasing the stored sulfur. The sulfur then comes into
contact with air where it is converted into sulfate (SO4).
Burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas are
the main source of sulfur dioxide emissions.
• Rock Cycle
The process of rocks changing from one type of rock
to another. For example, a sedimentary rock can change by
heat and pressure to form a metamorphic rock. The
metamorphic rock then can melt and later cool to form an
igneous rock.
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Rocks are classified by how they form: texture, grain size and mineral composition.
Three Types of Rocks

Rocks can change from one type to another over time.
1. Igneous Rock forms when molten rock (magma) cools and hardens.
Intrusive igneous rock’s cooling takes place slowly beneath Earth’s
surface. Extrusive igneous rock’s cooling takes place rapidly on Earth’s
surface.
2. Sedimentary Rock forms from the compaction and/or cementation of

sediments. This process is called lithification. Sediments are rock pieces,
mineral grains and shell fragments.
3. Metamorphic Rock forms when any rock type is changed into a different
kind of rock. Rock changes due to great heat and/or pressure.
Weathering is the breaking down or breaking apart of rock into smaller

pieces. Erosion is the breaking down and carrying away pieces of sediments.
• Water Cycle
Earth has a limited amount of water. That water keeps going around and around and around
and around and in what we call the “Water Cycle”. The cycle of processes by which water
circulates between the earth's oceans, atmosphere, and land, involving precipitation as rain and
snow, drainage in streams and rivers, and return to the atmosphere by evaporation and
transpiration.
Evaporation is the process by which water

changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor; it is the
primary pathway that water moves from the liquid
state back into the water cycle as atmospheric water
vapor.
Condensation is the process by which water

vapor in the air is changed into liquid water.
Condensation is crucial to the water cycle because it
is responsible for the formation of clouds.
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Sublimation is most often used to describe the process of snow and ice changing into water
vapor in the air without first melting into water.
Precipitation is the water released from clouds in the form of rain, freezing, rain, sleet,
snow or hail.
Transpiration is the discharge of water vapor from the leaves of plants into the
atmosphere.
Runoff is precipitation that did not get (infiltrated) absorbed into the soil, or did not
evaporate, and therefore, made its way from the ground surface into places that water collect.
Infiltration is the process by which precipitation or water soaks into subsurface soils and
moves into rocks through cracks and pore spaces.
4. Earth’s Ecosystems
An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well
as weather and landscape, work together to form a bubble of life. Ecosystems can be of different
sizes: aquatic and terrestrial.
Two Types of Aquatic Ecosystem

• Marine aquatic ecosystem covers the largest surface area of the earth. Two-third of earth is
covered by water and they constitute of oceans, seas, intertidal zone, reefs, seabed, estuaries,
hydrothermal vents and rock pools.
• Freshwater aquatic ecosystem covers only a small portion of earth nearly 0.8 per cent.
Freshwater involves lakes, ponds, rivers and streams, wetlands, swamp, bog and temporary
pools. Plants and animals in an aquatic ecosystem show a wide variety of adaptations which
may involve life cycle, physiological, structural and behavioral adaptations.
Six Types of Terrestrial Ecosystem

• Tundra is tree-less region found on Arctic and on top of mountains. Climate is cold and
windy, and rainfall is scant. Arctic foxes, polar bears, gray wolves, caribou, snow geese and
musk oxen.
• Tropical Rainforest is a rainforest with a high rainfall that grows in a tropical region. The
steady flow of radiation produces consistently high temperatures throughout the year.
Primates are iconic examples of tropical rainforests and of the diversity.
• Taiga extends in a broad band across North America, Europe and Asia to the southern border
of the arctic tundra. It is characterized by a cold, harsh climate, low rate of precipitation
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(snow and rain), and short growing season. Foxes, lynxes, bears, minks, squirrels, while
larger ones include grey wolves and their preys.
• Temperate Deciduous Forest can be found in the eastern part of the United States and
Canada, most of Europe and parts of China and Japan. It has four distinct seasons: winter,
spring, summer and fall. White-tailed deer, raccoons, opossums, porcupines and red foxes.
• Grasslands are found in the middle of large land masses or continents. The Earth's axis does
affect the temperature in these regions so they experience the four seasons. Elephants, bison,
cheetahs, gazelles, lions, and tigers, are some of the large animals that live in grasslands.
• Deserts lie mostly between 15° and 35° north and south of the equator. They are be among
the hottest and coldest places on Earth. Temperatures in hot deserts may reach 38°C (100°F)
or more. At night the temperatures may fall to 0°C (32ºF) or less. Fennec foxes, dung beetles,
Bactrian camels, Mexican coyotes, sidewinder snakes and thorny devil lizards.
Food chain is a process of acquiring

food and how energy is transferred among
living things starting from the producers and
ends with the decomposing species.
How Food Chains are Affected by

Pollutants?
Water Pollutants
• Bioaccumulation occurs when an
animal eats another animal or organism and retains the pollutants that were inside its meal.
• Eutrophication is an overabundance of nutrients in a water body. It leads to fish kills, due
to lack of oxygen, which have immediate and far-reaching implications on the food chain.
• Persistent Water Pollutants tend to be the ones that bioaccumulate the most. These
pollutants include certain pesticides, heavy metals and pharmaceuticals.
Land Pollutants
• Soil Pollution occurs when the presence of toxic chemicals, pollutants or contaminants in
the soil is in high enough concentrations to be of risk to plants, wildlife, humans and of
course, the soil itself.
• Air Pollutants such as sulfur may lead to excess amounts of acid in lakes and streams, and
can damage trees and forest soils. Nitrogen in the atmosphere can harm fish and other aquatic
life when deposited on surface waters.
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Factors that Disrupt the Food Chains

• Trophic Cascade is an ecological phenomenon
triggered by the addition or removal of top predators and
involving changes in the relative populations of predator
and reciprocal prey through a food chain, which often
results in dramatic changes in ecosystem structure and
nutrient cycling.
• Loss of Large Predators

o Apex consumer- consumers with few to no predators of their own, residing at the top
of their food chain. Examples are tiger, lion, killer whale, and polar bears.
Scientists say decimation of top consumers may be "humankind's most pervasive

influence on the natural world" due to cascading effects on ecosystems. Their decline,
largely caused by humans through hunting and habitat fragmentation, has far-reaching and
often surprising consequences, including changes in vegetation, wildfire frequency,
infectious diseases, invasive species, water quality, and nutrient cycles.
o Invasive Species - an organism that is not indigenous, or native, to a particular

area. Invasive species can cause great economic and environmental harm to the
new area. Invasive species sometimes thrive because there are no predators that
hunt them in the new location.
E. Environmental Laws
Environmental laws are the laws that regulate the impact of human activities on the
environment. They cover a broad range of activities that affect air, water, land, flora, and fauna.
1. Environmental Laws in the Philippines
• Republic Act 9003: Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000

The law aims to adopt a systematic, comprehensive and ecological solid waste
management program that shall ensure the protection of public health and environment.
The law ensures proper segregation, collection, storage, treatment and disposal of solid
waste through the formulation and adaptation of best eco-waste products.
• Republic Act of 9275 Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004

The law aims to protect the country's water bodies from pollution from land-based
sources (industries and commercial establishments, agriculture and community, household
activities). It provides for comprehensive and integrated strategy to prevent and minimize
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pollution through a multi-sectorial and participatory approach involving all the

stakeholders.
• Republic Act No. 8747: Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999

The law aims to achieve and maintain clean air that meets the National Air Quality
guideline values for criteria pollutants, throughout the Philippines, while minimizing the
possible associated impacts to the economy.
• Republic Act 6969: Toxic Substances, Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control
Act of 1990
The law aims to regulate restrict or prohibit the importation, manufacture,
processing, sale, distribution, use and disposal of chemical substances and mixtures the
present unreasonable risk to human health. It likewise prohibits the entry, even in transit,
of hazardous and nuclear wastes and their disposal into the Philippine territorial limits for
whatever purpose; and to provide advancement and facilitate research and studies on toxic
chemicals.
• Republic Act No. 9175: The Chainsaw Act of 2002

It was created to pursue an aggressive forest protection to eliminate illegal logging
and other forms of forest destruction with the use of chainsaws. The law aims to regulate
the ownership, possession, transfer, sale, importation and use of chainsaw to prevent it
from being used as a tool for forest destruction. It also provided penal provisions against
its violators.
• Republic Act No. 4003: The Fisheries Act

This Act provides for the protection and conservation of fishery resources such as
the declaration of open and closed seasons, protection of fry or fish eggs, prohibition of the
use of poisonous substances and explosives in fishing, and prevention of water pollution.
The Act shall apply to fishing and fisheries in Philippine waters, including inland and
marine waters.
• Republic Act 3983: The Protection of Wild Flowers and Plants

To issue and promulgate regulations from the classes or species of the rate and
flowering plants including orchids, ferns, lycopods or club mosses (known in some
localities as buntot pusa or palawit), which shall be protected under this Act; and to issue
other regulations as may be necessary prescribing the conditions governing the collection,
alive or dead, possession, destruction, killing, transportation, sale or exposure for sale, or
export, alive or dead, of any of the protected wild plants in the Philippines.
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• Executive Order No. 542: Task Force Pawikan

To conserve and manage the dwindling marine turtle resources of the country. The
Pawikan Conservation Project is responsible for the development and implementation of
conservation and protection policies, management and propagation schemes, and public
information and education programs to ensure the survival and growth of the country's
remaining marine turtle populations.
• Republic Act No. 3572: To Prohibit Cutting of Tindalo, Akle or Molave Trees
SEC. 1. The cutting in the public forests of tindalo, akle, or molave trees less than
sixty centimeters in diameters measured at a height of four feet from the ground (breast
high) is hereby prohibited.
SEC. 2. Any person, company or corporation violating the provisions of this Act
shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty pesos or imprisonment for not more than
fifteen days, or both, and to pay, besides, two times the amount of the tax on the timber
cut: Provided, That in the case of a company or corporation, the president or manager shall
be directly responsible for the acts of his employees or laborers.
• Presidential Decree No. 1219: The Coral Resources Development and

Conservation
To promote and regulate the exploration, exploitation, utilization and conservation
of coral resources, whether existing beneath territorial waters or in the marine economic
zone of the Philippines, and to ensure the protection of these resources as provided for
under other existing laws.
• Republic Act No. 8485: The Animal Warfare of 1998

The purpose of this Act to protect and promote the welfare of all animals in the
Philippines by supervising and regulating the establishment and operations of all facilities
utilized for breeding, maintaining, keeping, treating or training of all animals either as
objects of trade or as household pets. For purposes of this Act, pet animal shall include
birds.
• Republic Act No. 9147: The Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act
The policy intends to conserve the country's wildlife resources and their habitats
for sustainability.
• Republic Act No. 9072: The National Caves and Cave Resources Management
and Protection Act
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To conserve, protect and manage caves and cave resources as part of the country’s
natural wealth. Towards this end, the State shall strengthen cooperation and exchange of
information between governmental authorities and people who utilize caves and cave
resources for scientific, educational, recreational, tourism, and other purposes.
• Republic Act No. 8048: Coconut Preservation Act of 1995

An act providing for the regulation of the cutting of coconut trees, its replenishment,
providing penalties therefore for other purposes. Considering the importance of the coconut
industry in nation building being one of the principal industries and one of the largest
income earners of the country, it becomes mandatory for the Government to step-in and
regulate the unabated and indiscriminate cutting of the coconut trees.
• Republic Act No. 7586: National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992
National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS), which shall encompass
outstandingly remarkable areas and biologically important public lands that are habitats of
rare and endangered species of plants and animals, biogeographic zones and related
ecosystems, whether terrestrial, wetland or marine, all of which shall be designated as
“protected areas”.
2. Environmental Organizations in the Philippines
• Haribon Foundation
The name Haribon was coined from Haring Ibon or the
Philippine Eagle, established in 1972. Haribon Foundation uses
their widely known platform to save different bird species and to
conserve their habitats as they empower and educate people.
• Philippine Eagle Foundation

The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) focuses on the
recovery of the dwindling Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi)
population and habitats while ensuring sustainable use of forest
resources. PEF’s Philip pine Eagle Center (PEC) is an 8.4 hectare
located at the foothills of Mount Apo in Malagos, Baguio District,
Davao City and situated within the Malagos Watershed. The PEC
operates a conservation breeding facility for the Philippine Eagle and other birds of prey.
The center also holds a few Philippine Eagle in exhibit for education purposes.
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• Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation

Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Foundation works to
restore natural habitats and aims to educate the public on how to
protect wildlife from feasible har m. So far, they have completed
programs to conserve rare species such as Philippine bats, Calamian
deer, and cloud rats.
• Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines

Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines is a non-profit, non-stock organization
that aims to support the conservation and protection of marine wildlife species and their
habitats in the Philippines, aims to educate and raise awareness on the threats these marine
turtles encounter in order to help lessen the dangers it
causes to the marine turtle populations in the
Philippines. Marine Wildlife Watch exerts strong
efforts to protect these creatures from illegal trading and
capture.
• Save the Philippine Seas

Save the Philippines Seas (SPS) is an independent movement
that was first organized by concerned individuals, who acted upon a
rep ort on April 9, 2011, regarding a US-based company allegedly
importing shells, corals, and other endangered marine wildlife from
Indo-Pacific countries, including the Philippines.
• Save Shark Network Philippines

Save Sharks Network Philippines (SSNP) is currently running a campaign on the
passage of the Philippines. Shark Conservation Bill that aims to ensure that shark
populations in the country are conserved. SSNP is a
coalition of prominent voices in the Philippines’ scientific,
NGO, and tourism communities advocating for shark
conservation. Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines,
Save Philippine Seas, and Greenpeace Philippines have
taken the lead in the current campaign of SSNP.
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• Mother Earth Foundation

MEF was set up in the Philippines in September 1998 by a
group of 15 women and men passionate about bringing proper
waste management and environment protection to the community.
They hold programs in schools and barangays to promote
environmental education and proper waste management.
• Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center

The Ninoy Aquino Park and Wildlife Center is a 22.7
hectare zoological and botanical garden located in Diliman
Quezon City; the park traces back its beginning in 1954. It has
a lagoon, an aquarium, a playground, botanical garden and
Wildlife rescue center which The Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR) uses as a temporary shelter
where confiscated, retrieved, donated, sick, abandoned and
injured animals are placed to be taken care.
3. International Environmental Laws and Policies

Environmental Protocol is a type of international law, “an intergovernmental
document intended as legally binding with a primary stated purpose of preventing or
managing human impacts on natural resources.
Environmental Policy refers to the commitment of an organization to the laws,

regulations and other policy mechanisms concerning environmental issues and sustainability.
• Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea by Oil, 1962

Seeking to prevent ocean pollution by oil discharged from ships, this pact limits
discharges of oil-contaminated wastes. This agreement represents a significant
international commitment to reduce oil pollution from oceangoing vessels.
• The Ramsar Pact, 1971

The Convention on Wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran, provides the framework for
national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands
and their resources.
• MARPOL Convention, 1973

It is a major international pact to prevent pollution of the marine environment, from
operational or accidental causes, by ships.
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• Transboundary Air Pollution Agreement, 1979

Transboundary pollution is the pollution that originates in one country but is able
to cause damage in another country’s environment, by crossing borders through pathways
like water or air. Pollution can be transported across hundreds and even thousands of
kilometers.
This agreement encourages scientific collaboration and policy negotiation to target

air pollution that spreads from its source into the atmosphere. The aim of the convention,
which 2008 will have 51 parties, is to limit and gradually reduce and prevent air pollution,
especially long-range air pollution that crosses national borders.
• Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents, 1992

It aims to protect human health and the environment from industrial accidents by
preventing them to the extent possible, reducing their frequency and severity and mitigating
their effects.
o Industrial Nation and Pollution of the Environment

A developed country, industrialized country, more developed country, or more
economically developed country (MEDC), is a sovereign state that has a developed
economy and advanced technological infrastructure relative to other less industrialized
nations. An economically advanced country, the economy of which is characterized by
large industrial and service sectors, high levels of gross national product and income per
head.
10 Countries with the Highest Industrial Outputs in the World

1. China
2. European Union
3. United States
4. Japan
5. Germany
6. India
7. South Korea
8. United Kingdom
9. France
10. Italy
Industrial Pollution: If the processing of waste is a cost prohibitive one, then the
industrialist throws the waste into the environment in the form of gas, liquid or solid. The
gases are usually released into the atmosphere, the liquids are discharged into aquatic
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bodies like canals, rivers or sea and solid wastes are either dumped on the land or in aquatic
bodies. In all the cases, either the air or water or land is polluted due to dumping of wastes.
Till now, there are about 17 industries which are declared to be most polluting. These
include the caustic soda, cement, distillery, dyes and dye intermediaries, fertilizers,
iron and steel, oil refineries, paper and pulp, pesticides and pharmaceuticals, sugar,
textiles, thermal power plants, tanneries and so on.
Two Groups of Industrial Waste

1. Process Waste is the waste generated in an industry during washing and processing of raw
materials. The process waste may be organic or inorganic in nature depending upon the raw
materials used and nature of the industry.
2. Chemical Waste is the chemical substance generated as a by-product during the preparation
of a product. It includes heavy metals and their ions, detergents, acids, and alkalis and
various other toxic substances.
The ultimate object behind the measures to control pollution to maintain safety of
Man, Material and Machinery (Three Ms). The implementation of control measures
should be based on the principle of recovery or recycling of the pollutants and must be
taken as an integral part of production i.e. never as a liability but always an asset.
• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, 1992

It sets an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to meet the challenge of
climate change. The convention enjoys near universal membership: 192 countries.
• Kyoto Protocol, 1997

It is an amendment to the UNFCC committed to reduce countries’ emissions of six
greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (NO2),
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6), or
engage in emissions trading if they maintain or increase emissions of these gases, which
are linked to global warming. Another amendment is the Paris Agreement of 2016.
~*~
“Everything is related to everything else.”

The First Law of Ecology
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II. Topics and Reporters
Introduction to Physical Geography Christian Del Amoyon

Describing, Measuring and Monitoring the Earth with
John Christian Estoque
Cartography, GIS and Remote Sensing
The Solar System Joshua Jao
Structures of the Earth Alden Vargas
Why We have Seasons? James Fabroquez
The Earth and Development of Modern Atmosphere Jay Baraga
Gerald Joe Juandez
Earth’s Atmosphere Paul Adrian Lechuga
Beejay Javier
Global Temperatures John Carl Laviña
Earth’s Hydrosphere
Jerome Malabanan
Three Different Forms of Water
Water Resource and Climate Change John Aedref Mendoza
Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulations John Carlo Lopez
Weather Systems and Patterns
Atmospheric Rivers Jerome Malabanan
Global Winds
Air Masses Harold Monteverde
Fronts Joseph Campos
Jet Streams
Jerome Malabanan
Coriolis Effect
Cyclones
Neiel Gester Balidio
Hurricanes
Shaping the *Lithosphere Raynold Miranda
Plate Tectonics Rence Jon Pacao
Orogenesis Rialyn Breguiles
Volcanoes Zamantha Almagro
Earthquake Michelle B. Bariring
River System and Landforms Rovegine Cantong
Glaciers Joenilene Mae Gonzales
Flood and Coastal System Jurie An Galasao
What is Biosphere? Hannah Sigrid G. Durias
Zyra Mae Mole
Different Kinds of Soil
Chermain Moso
Chezka Joy Dia
Components and Cycles of Ecosystem
Lyra Michelle Felicio
54
Alexander Villamayor
*Rock Cycle
Alvin Semira
Haniel Joy Leron
Earth’s Ecosystem
Faith Malaborbor
Marian Genevieve Prado
Myrene Requitud
Environmental Laws in the Philippines
April Rose Ubani
Giselle Puyat
Environmental Organizations in the Philippines Marian Genevieve Prado
Benedict John Torres
International Environmental Laws and Policies Ann Sherly Jimenez
Mark Niel Cortez
Aivee Narvaez
*Industrial Nation and Pollution of the Environment Ivy Rose Fernandez
Rainwel Lyn Olivarez
55
III. References (Online Only)
Biodiversidad.gob.mx
Boughton.co.uk
ESchoolToday.com
NationalGeographic.com
Sciencing.com
/https/www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collectionsweather-atmosphere-education
resources/weather-systems-patterns
/http/www.juntadeandalucia.es/averroes/centrostic/04005442/helvia/aula/archivos/repositor
io/0/66/html/72_the_functions_of_the_atmosphere.html
/http/bagong.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/weather
/https/www.thoughtco.com/temperature-definition-in-science-2699014
/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZU76LOTa0s
Credits to all the respective owners of the information and images used in this presentation.
We apologize for not properly acknowledging all of you, but our section is truly grateful for
your knowledge and understanding.
56

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Pamantasan ng Cabuyao

City of Cabuyao, Laguna, Philippines

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

I. Introduction to Physical Geography …………………………………………… 4

B. The Functions of Atmosphere and Hydrosphere

C. Shaping the Lithosphere

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

II. Topics and Reporters ……………………………………………………………... 54

III. References …………………………………………………………………………. 56

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

I. Introduction to Physical Geography

Biosphere is the part of the Earth where life exists.

Physical Geography has its own sub-branches such as:

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystem in geographic

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

Paleogeography is the study of the movements of continents over time.

A. Describing, Measuring and Monitoring the Earth with Cartography, GIS

Several prehistoric cave paintings have been recorded as time-worn

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

Cartography was considerably advanced in ancient Greece. The concept of a spherical

During the Medieval period, European maps were

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

GIS: Geographic Information System

The following are other functions or purposes of GIS:

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

The following are some examples of how remote

1. The Solar System

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

Uranus is made of water, methane and ammonia fluids above a small

Other Celestial Bodies

Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets, are rocky, airless

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

2. Structures of the Earth

• Crust (or Lithosphere) includes landforms, rocks and soil. It

3. Why We have Seasons?

Our planet, Earth takes one year to make a complete revolution

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

4. The Earth and Development of Modern Atmosphere

B. The Functions of Earth’s Atmosphere and Hydrosphere

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

Earth's atmosphere has a series of layers, each with its own

Global Warming simply means an increase in the average temperature of the

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

a. Three Different Forms of Water

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

b. Water Resource and Climate Change

Kinds of Water Resources

Water Supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organizations,

Effects of Climate Change in Water Resources

3. Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulations

The Hadley Cell, named after George Hadley, is a global

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

Thermohaline Circulation (THC) is a part of the

Upwelling is an oceanographic phenomenon that

4. Weather Systems and Patterns

BACHELOR IN SECONDARY EDUCATION MAJOR IN SOCIAL STUDIES

Five Types of Air Masses