Beach

A beach, or strand, is a geological formation consisting of loose rock particles such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, cobble, or even shell along the shoreline of a body of water.

Components
Ninety Mile Beach Australia.
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Ninety Mile Beach Australia.
Lanikai Beach on Oahu. This gently-sloping beach face is topped by a beach crest onto which a salt-tolerant grass (Sporobolus virginicus) is spreading from the incipient dune.
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Lanikai Beach on Oahu. This gently-sloping beach face is topped by a beach crest onto which a salt-tolerant grass (Sporobolus virginicus) is spreading from the incipient dune.

Some geologists consider a beach to be merely a shoreline feature of deposited material, but William Bascom (1980) has argued that a beach is the entire system of sand set in motion by waves to a depth of ten meters (30+ feet) or more off ocean coasts. Submerged, longshore bars are therefore also part of the beach, and thus beaches can be viewed as either:

* small systems in which the rock material moves onshore, offshore, or alongshore by the forces of waves and currents; or
* geological units of considerable size.

The former are described in detail below; the larger geological units are discussed elsewhere under bars. Both types can be viewed as "

There are several conspicuous parts to a beach, all of which relate to the processes that form and shape it. The part mostly above water (depending upon tide), and more or less actively influenced by the waves at some point in the tide, is termed the beach berm. The berm is the deposit of material comprising the active shoreline. The berm has a crest (top) and a face — the latter being the slope leading down towards the water from the crest. At the very bottom of the face, there may be a trough, and further seaward one or more longshore bars: slightly raised, underwater embankments formed where the waves first start to break.

The sand deposit may extend well inland from the berm crest, where there may be evidence of one or more older crests (the storm beach) resulting from very large storm waves and beyond the influence of the normal waves. At some point the influence of the waves (even storm waves) on the material comprising the beach stops, and if the particles are small enough (that is, are sand), winds shape the feature. Where wind is the force distributing the grains inland, the deposit behind the beach becomes a dune.

The line between beach and dune is difficult to define in the field. Over any significant period of time, sand is always being exchanged between them. The drift line (the high point of material deposited by waves) is one potential demarcation. This would be the point at which significant wind movement of sand could occur, since the normal waves do not wet the sand beyond this area. However, the drift line is likely to move inland under assault by storm waves.
Lakes Entrance beach.
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Lakes Entrance beach.

How beaches are formed
Beach in Long Branch, New Jersey.
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Beach in Long Branch, New Jersey.

Beaches are deposition landforms, and are the result of wave action by which waves or currents move sand or other loose sediments of which the beach is made as these particles are held in suspension. Alternatively, sand may be moved by saltation (a bouncing movement of large particles). Beach materials come from erosion of rocks offshore, as well as from headland erosion and slumping producing deposits of scree. A coral reef offshore is a significant source of sand particles.

The shape of a beach depends on whether or not the waves are constructive or destructive, and whether the material is sand or shingle. Constructive waves move material up the beach while destructive waves move the material down the beach. On sandy beaches, the backwash of the waves removes material forming a gently sloping beach. On shingle beaches the swash is dissipated because the large particle size allows percolation, so the backwash is not very powerful, and the beach remains steep. Cusps and horns form where incoming waves divide, depositing sand as horns and scouring out sand to form cusps. This forms the uneven face on some sand shorelines.

There are several beaches which are claimed to be the "World's longest", including Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh (120kms), Fraser Island beach, 90 Mile Beach in Australia and 90 Mile Beach in New Zealand and Long Beach, Washington (which is about 30km). Wasaga Beach, Ontario on Georgian Bay claims to have the world's longest freshwater beach.

Beaches and recreation

Towels and mats are typical beach "furniture". In the Victorian era, many popular beach resorts were equipped with bathing machines because even the all-covering beachwear of the period was considered immodest. This social standard still prevails in Muslim countries. At the other end of the spectrum are clothing-optional beaches, where swimwear is optional.

The beach is a common place to fly kites.


A surfer carries a surfboard along the beach.


Recreation on a California beach, first decade of the 20th century.


Beach of The Hague, The Netherlands

A walk along the beach is also popular, including a long walk in the case of a long beach, for example from one seaside resort to the next. It is customary for people to walk the beach in bare feet because of the pleasant feeling of sand on the soles and between the toes. It is typically done near the shore line, where the sand is wet and therefore more convenient to walk on. One may or may not walk with the feet in the water, and this may also alternate with the waves.

In more than thirty countries in Europe, South Africa, New Zealand, Canada, South America and the Caribbean, the best recreational beaches are awarded Blue Flag status, based on such criteria as water quality and safety provision. Subsequent loss of this status can have a severe effect on tourism revenues.

Due to intense use by the expanding human population, beaches are often dumping grounds for waste and litter, necessitating the use of beach cleaners and other cleanup projects. More significantly, many beaches are a discharge zone for untreated sewage in most underdeveloped countries; even in developed countries beach closure is an occasional circumstance due to sanitary sewer overflow. In these cases of marine discharge, waterborne disease from fecal pathogens and contamination of certain marine species is a frequent outcome.

Artificial beaches
Palm Islands, Dubai.
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Palm Islands, Dubai.

Some beaches are artificial; they are either permanent or temporary (For examples see Monaco, Paris, Rotterdam, Hong Kong and Singapore).

The soothing qualities of a beach and the pleasant environment offered to the beachgoer are replicated in artificial beaches, such as "beach style" pools with zero-depth entry and wave pools that recreate the natural waves pounding upon a beach. In a zero-depth entry pool, the bottom surface slopes gradually from above water down to depth. Another approach involves so-called urban beaches, a form of public park becoming common in large cities. Urban beaches attempt to mimic natural beaches with fountains that imitate surf and mask city noises, and in some cases can be used as a play park.

Beach nourishment involves pumping sand onto beaches to improve their health. Beach nourishment is common for major beach cities around the world; however the beaches that have been nourished can still appear quite natural and often many visitors are unaware of the works undertaken to support the health of the beach. Such beaches are often not recognised as artificial.

A concept of IENCE has been devised to describe investment into the capacity of natural environments. IENCE is Investment to Enhance the Natural Capacity of the Environment and includes things like beach nourishment of natural beaches to enhance recreational enjoyment and snow machines that extend ski seasons for areas with an existing snow economy developed upon a natural snowy mountain. As the name implies IENCE is not quite mainstream natural science as its goal is to artificially invest into an environment's capacity to support anthropogenic economic activity. An artificial reef designed to enhance wave quality for surfing is another example of IENCE. The Surfrider Foundation has debated the merits of artificial reefs with members torn between their desire to support natural coastal environments and opportunities to enhance the quality of surfing waves. Similar debates surround Beach nourishment and Snow cannon in sensitive environments.

Sounds of the beach

As varied as beaches, as extreme as weather, as multitudinous as listeners are the sounds of the beach. And that is to distinguish sounds of the beach from sounds from the beach. Consider the sigh of settling sand or the clacking of tumbling cobbles in relation to the crash of beaching waves. Beaches are noted for their sometimes serene stillness and the rhythmic sound made by waves crashing upon the sand. To experience, listen to this sound file sound recording (1.00MB) made on a South Carolina beach at night.

Beaches as habitat

A beach is an unstable environment which exposes plants and animals to harsh conditions. Some small animals burrow into the sand and feed on material deposited by the waves. Crabs, insects and shorebirds feed on these beach dwellers. The endangered Piping Plover and some tern species rely on beaches for nesting. Sea turtles also lay their eggs on ocean beaches. Seagrasses and other beach plants grow on undisturbed areas of the beach and dunes.

Dam

A barrier or structure across a stream, river, or waterway for the purpose of confining and controlling the flow of water. Dams vary in size from small earth embankments for farm use to high, massive concrete structures for water supply, hydropower, irrigation, navigation, recreation, sedimentation control, and flood control. As such, dams are cornerstones in the water resources development of river basins. Dams are now built to serve several purposes and are therefore known as multipurpose. The construction of a large dam requires the relocation of existing highways, railroads, and utilities from the river valley to elevations above the reservoir. The two principal types of dams are embankment and concrete. Appurtenant structures of dams include spillways, outlet works, and control facilities; they may also include structures related to hydropower and other project purposes. See also Electric power generation; Irrigation (agriculture); Water supply engineering.

Dams are built for specific purposes. In ancient times, they were built only for water supply or irrigation. Early in the development of the United States, rivers were a primary means of transportation, and therefore navigation dams with locks were constructed on the major rivers. Dams have become more complex to meet large power demands and other needs of modern countries.

In addition to the standard impounded reservoir and the appurtenant structures of a dam (spillway, outlet works, and control facility), a dam with hydropower requires a powerhouse, penstocks, generators, and switchyard. The inflow of water into the reservoir must be monitored continuously, and the outflow must be controlled to obtain maximum benefits. Under normal operating conditions, the reservoir is controlled by the outlet works, consisting of a large tunnel or conduit at stream level with control gates. Under flood conditions, the reservoir is maintained by both the spillway and outlet works. See also Reservoir.

All the features of a dam are monitored and operated from a control room. The room contains the necessary monitors, controls, computers, emergency equipment, and communications systems to allow project personnel to operate the dam safely under all conditions. Standby generators and backup communications equipment are necessary to operate the gates and other reservoir controls in case of power failure. Weather conditions, inflow, reservoir level, discharge, and downstream river levels are also monitored. In addition, the control room monitors instrumentation located in the dam and appurtenant features that measures their structural behavior and physical condition.

All dams are designed and constructed to meet specific requirements. First, a dam should be built from locally available materials when possible. Second, the dam must remain stable under all conditions, during construction, and ultimately in operation, both at the normal reservoir operating level and under all flood and drought conditions. Third, the dam and foundation must be sufficiently watertight to control seepage and maintain the desired reservoir level. Finally, it must have sufficient spillway and outlet works capacity as well as freeboard to prevent floodwater from overtopping it.

Dams are classified by the type of material from which they are constructed. In early times, the materials were earth, large stones, and timber, but as technology developed, other materials and construction procedures were used. Most modern dams fall into two categories: embankment and concrete. Embankment dams are earth or rock-fill; other gravity dams and arch and buttress dams are concrete. See also Arch; Concrete.

The type of dam for a particular site is selected on the basis of technical and economic data and environmental considerations. In the early stages of design, several sites and types are considered. Drill holes and test pits at each site provide soil and rock samples for testing physical properties. In some cases, field pumping tests are performed to evaluate seepage potential. Preliminary designs and cost estimates are prepared and reviewed by hydrologic, hydraulic, geotechnical, and structural engineers, as well as geologists. Environmental quality of the water, ecological systems, and cultural data are also considered in the site-selection process.

Factors that affect the type are topography, geology, foundation conditions, hydrology, earthquakes, and availability of construction materials. The foundation of the dam should be as sound and free of faults as possible. Narrow valleys with shallow sound rock favor concrete dams. Wide valleys with varying rock depths and conditions favor embankment dams. Earth dams are the most common type. See also Engineering geology; Fault and fault structures.

The designers of a dam must consider the stream flow around or through the damsite during construction. Stream flow records provide the information for use in determining the largest flood to divert during the selected construction period. One common practice for diversion involves constructing the permanent outlet works, which may be a conduit or a tunnel in the abutment, along with portions of the dam adjacent to the abutments, in the first construction period. The stream is diverted into the outlet works by a cofferdam high enough to prevent overtopping during construction. A downstream cofferdam is also required to keep the damsite dry. See also Cofferdam.

Personnel responsible for operation and maintenance of the dam are familiar with the operating instructions and maintenance schedule. A schedule is established for collection and reporting of data for climatic conditions, rainfall, snow cover, stream flows, and water quality of the reservoir, as well as the downstream reaches. All these data are evaluated for use in reservoir regulation. Another schedule is established for the collection of instrumentation data used to determine the structural behavior and physical condition of the dam. These data are evaluated frequently. Routine maintenance and inspection of the dam and appurtenant structures are ongoing processes. The scheduled maintenance is important to preserve the integrity of the mechanical equipment.

The frequency with which instrumentation data are obtained is an extremely important issue and depends on operating conditions. Timely collection and evaluation of data are critical for periods when the loading changes, such as during floods and after earthquakes. Advances in applications of remote sensing to instrumentation have made real-time data collection possible. This is a significant improvement for making dam safety evaluations.

Throughout history there have been instances of dam failure and discharge of stored water, sometimes causing considerable loss of life and great damage to property. Failures have generally involved dams that were designed and constructed to engineering standards acceptable at the time. Most failures have occurred with new dams, within the first five years of operation.

History

History

History is the study of past human events and activities. Although this broad discipline has often been classified under either the humanities or the social sciences, it can be seen to be a bridge between them, incorporating methodologies from both fields of study. As a field of study, history encompasses many subfields and ancillary fields, including chronology, historiography, genealogy, paleography, and cliometrics. Traditionally, historians have attempted to answer historical questions through the study of written documents, although historical research is not limited merely to these sources. In general, the sources of historical knowledge can be separated into three categories: what is written, what is said, and what is physically preserved, and historians often consult all three. Historians frequently emphasize the importance of written records, which universally date to the development of writing. This emphasis has led to the term prehistory, referring to a time before written sources are available. Since writing emerged at different times throughout the world, the distinction between prehistory and history often depends on the topic.

The scope of the human past has naturally led scholars to divide that time into manageable pieces for study. There are a variety of ways in which the past can be divided, including chronologically, culturally, and topically. These three divisions are not mutually exclusive, and significant overlap is often present, as in "The Argentine Labor Movement in an Age of Transition, 1930–1945". It is possible for historians to concern themselves with both very specific and very general locations, times, and topics, although the trend has been toward specialization. For others history has become a "general" term meaning the study of "everything" that is known about the human past, but even this barrier is being challenged by new fields such as big history. Traditionally, history has been studied with some practical or theoretical aim, but now it is also studied simply out of intellectual curiosity.


History and prehistory

Traditionally, the study of history was limited to the written and spoken word. However, the rise of academic professionalism and the creation of new scientific fields in the 19th and 20th centuries brought a flood of new information that challenged this notion. Archaeology, anthropology and other social sciences were providing new information and even theories about human history. Some traditional historians questioned whether these new studies were really history, since they were not limited to the written word. A new term, prehistory, was coined, to encompass the results of these new fields where they yielded information about times before the existence of written records.

In the 20th century, the division between history and prehistory became problematic. Criticism arose because of history's implicit exclusion of certain civilizations, such as those of Sub-Saharan Africa and pre-Columbian America. Additionally, prehistorians such as Vere Gordon Childe and historical archaeologists like James Deetz began using archaeology to explain important events in areas that were traditionally in the field of history. Historians began looking beyond traditional political history narratives with new approaches such as economic, social and cultural history, all of which relied on various sources of evidence. In recent decades, strict barriers between history and prehistory may be decreasing.

There are differing views for the definition of when history begins. Some believe history began in the 34th century BC, with cuneiform writing. Cuneiforms were written on clay tablets, on which symbols were drawn with a blunt reed called a stylus. The impressions left by the stylus were wedge shaped, thus giving rise to the name cuneiform ("wedge shaped"). The Sumerian script was adapted for the writing of the Akkadian, Elamite, Hittite (and Luwian), Hurrian (and Urartian) languages, and it inspired the Old Persian and Ugaritic national alphabets.[2]

Sources that can give light on the past, such as oral tradition, linguistics, and genetics, have become accepted by many mainstream historians. Nevertheless, archaeologists distinguish between history and prehistory based on the appearance of written documents within the region in question. This distinction remains critical for archaeologists because the availability of a written record generates very different interpretative problems and potentials.


Etymology

The term history entered the English language in 1390 with the meaning of "relation of incidents, story" via the Old French histos, from the Latin historia "narrative, account." This itself was derived from the Ancient Greek ἱστορία, historía, meaning "a learning or knowing by inquiry, history, record, narrative," from the verb ἱστορεῖν, historeîn, "to inquire."

This, in turn, was derived from ἵστωρ, hístōr ("wise man," "witness," or "judge"). Early attestations of ἵστωρ are from the Homeric Hymns, Heraclitus, the Athenian ephebes' oath, and from Boiotic inscriptions (in a legal sense, either "judge" or "witness," or similar). The spirant is problematic, and not present in cognate Greek eídomai ("to appear").

ἵστωρ is ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European *wid-tor-, from the root *weid- ("to know, to see"), also present in the English word wit, the Latin words vision and video, the Sanskrit word veda, and the Slavic word videti and vedati, as well as others. (The asterisk before a word indicates that it is a hypothetical construction, not an attested form.) 'ἱστορία, historía, is an Ionic derivation of the word, which with Ionic science and philosophy were spread first in Classical Greece and ultimately over all of Hellenism.

In Middle English, the meaning was "story" in general. The restriction to the meaning "record of past events" in the sense of Herodotus arises in the late 15th century. In German, French, and indeed, most languages of the world other than English, this distinction was never made, and the same word is used to mean both "history" and "story". A sense of "systematic account" without a reference to time in particular was current in the 16th century, but is now obsolete. The adjective historical is attested from 1561, and historic from 1669. Historian in the sense of a "researcher of history" in a higher sense than that of an annalist or chronicler, who merely record events as they occur, is attested from 1531.

Historiography

The historical method comprises the techniques and guidelines by which historians use primary sources and other evidence to research and then to write history.

The "father of history" has generally been acclaimed as Herodotus of Halicarnassus (484 BC – ca.425 BC).[3] However, it is his contemporary Thucydides (ca. 460 BC – ca. 400 BC) who is credited with having begun the scientific approach to history in his work the History of the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides, unlike Herodutus and other religious historians, regarded history as being the product of the choices and actions of human beings, and looked at cause and effect, rather than as the result of divine intervention.[3] In his historical method, Thucydides emphasized chronology, a neutral point of view, and that the human world was the result of the actions of human beings. Greek historians also viewed history as cyclical, with events regularly reoccurring.[4]

Saint Augustine was influential in Christian and Western thought at the beginning of the Medieval period. Through the Medieval and Renaissance periods, history was often studied through a sacred or religious perspective. Around 1800, German philosopher and historian Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel brought philosophy and a more secular approach in historical study.

In the preface to his book the Muqaddimah, historian and early sociologist Ibn Khaldun warned of seven mistakes that he thought that historians regularly committed. In this criticism, he approached the past as strange and in need of interpretation. The originality of Ibn Khaldun was to claim that the cultural difference of another age must govern the evaluation of relevant historical material, to distinguish the principles according to which it might be possible to attempt the evaluation, and lastly, to feel the need for experience, in addition to rational principles, in order to assess a culture of the past.

Other historians of note who have advanced the historical methods of study include Leopold von Ranke, Lewis Bernstein Namier, Geoffrey Rudolph Elton, G.M. Trevelyan and A.J.P. Taylor. In the 20th century, historians focused less on epic nationalistic narratives, which often tended to glorify the nation or individuals, to more realistic chronologies. French historians introduced quantitative history, using broad data to track the lives of typical individuals, and were prominent in the establishment of cultural history (cf. histoire des mentalités). American historians, motivated by the civil rights era, focused on formerly overlooked ethnic, racial, and socio-economic groups. In recent years, postmodernists have challenged the validity and need for the study of history on the basis that all history is based on the personal interpretation of sources. In his book In Defence of History, Richard J. Evans, a professor of modern history at Cambridge University, defended the worth of history.

Geography

Geography

Geography (from the Greek words Geo (γη) or Gaea (γαια), both meaning "Earth", and graphein (γραφειν) meaning "to describe" or "to write"or "to map") is the study of the earth and its features and of the distribution of life on the Earth.[1] A literal translation would be "to describe the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes (275-195 B.C.). Four historical traditions in geographical research are the spatial analysis of natural and human phenomena (geography as a study of distribution), area studies (places and regions), study of man-land relationship, and research in earth sciences. [2] Nonetheless, modern geography is an all-encompassing discipline that foremost seeks to understand the world and all of its human and natural complexities-- not merely where things are, but how they have changed and come to be. It is said to be the "mother of all sciences" and "the synthesizer of knowledge."[citation needed] As "the bridge between the human and physical sciences," geography is divided into three main branches-human geography, environmental geography and physical geography.


Introduction

Traditionally, geography as well as geographers has been viewed as the same as cartography and people who study place names. Although many geographers are trained in toponymy and cartography, this is not their main preoccupation. Geographers study the spatial and temporal distribution of phenomena, processes and feature as well as the interaction of humans and their environment.[4] As space and place affect a variety of topics such as economics, health, climate, plants and animals, geography is highly interdisciplinary.

“ mere names of places...are not geography...To know by heart a whole gazetteer full of them would not, in itself, constitute anyone a geographer. Geography has higher aims than this: it seeks to classify phenomena (alike of the natural and of the political world, in so far as it treats of the latter), to compare, to generalize, to ascend from effects to causes, and, in doing so, to trace out the great laws of nature and to mark their influences upon man. This is 'a description of the world'—that is Geography. In a word Geography is a Science—a thing not of mere names but of argument and reason, of cause and effect. ”

Geography as a discipline can be split broadly into two main sub fields: human geography and physical geography. The former focuses largely on the built environment and how space is created, viewed and managed by humans as well as the influence humans have on the space they occupy. The latter examines the natural environment and how the climate, vegetation & life, soil, water and landforms and produced and interact.[6] As a result of the two subfields using different approaches a third field has emerged, which is environmental geography. Environmental geography combines physical and human geography and looks at the interactions between the environment and humans.


History of geography

The foundations of geography can be traced to the ancient cultures, such as the Greeks, who were the first to explore geography as both art and science, whether through Cartography, Philosophy, and Literature, or through Mathematics. There is some debate about who was the first person to assert that the Earth is spherical in shape, with the credit going either to Parmenides or Pythagoras. Anaxagoras was able to demonstrate that the profile of the Earth was circular by explaining eclipses. However, he still believed that the Earth was a flat disk, as did many of his contemporaries. One of the first estimates of the radius of the Earth was made by Eratosthenes.[7]

The first rigorous system of latitude and longitude lines is credited to Hipparchus. He employed a sexagesimal system that was derived from Babylonian mathematics. The parallels and meridians were sub-divided into 360°, with each degree further subdivided 60′ (minutes). To measure the longitude at different location on Earth, he suggested using eclipses to determine the relative difference in time.[8] The extensive mapping by the Romans as they explored new lands would later provide a high level of information for Ptolemy to construct detailed atlases. He extended the work of Hipparchus, using a grid system on his maps and adopting a length of 56.5 miles for a degree.

During the Middle Ages, the fall of the Roman empire led to a shift in the evolution of geography from Europe to the Islamic world.[citation needed] Scholars such as Idrisi (produced detailed maps), Ibn Batutta, and Ibn Khaldun provided detailed accounts of their Hajj. Further, Islamic scholars translated and interpreted the earlier works of the Romans and Greeks and established the House of Wisdom in Baghdad for this purpose.

The Age of discovery during the 16th and 17th centuries where many new lands were discovered and accounts by explorers such as Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo and James Cook, revived a desire for both accurate geographic detail, and more solid theoretical foundations.[citation needed]

The 18th and 19th centuries were the times when geography became recognized as a discrete academic discipline and became part of a typical university curriculum in Europe (especially Paris and Berlin). The development of many geographic societies also occurred during the 19th century with the foundations of the Société de Géographie in 1821,[11] the Royal Geographical Society in 1830,[12] Russian Geographical Society in 1845,[13] American Geographical Society in 1851,[14] and the National Geographic Society in1888.[15] The influence of Immanuel Kant, Alexander von Humbolt, Carl Ritter and Paul Vidal de la Blache can be seen as a major turning point in geography from a philosophy to an academic subject.

Over the past two centuries the advancements in technology such as computers, has led to the development of geomatics and new practices such as participant observation and geostatistics being incorporated into geography's portfolio of tools. In the West during the 20th century, the discipline of geography went through four major phases: environmental determinism, regional geography, the quantitative revolution, and critical geography. The strong interdisciplinary links between geography and the sciences of geology and botany, as well as economics, sociology and demographics have also grown greatly especially as a result of Earth System Science that seeks to understand the world in a holistic view.



Branches of geography


Physical geography

Physical geography (or physiogeography) focuses on geography as an Earth science. It aims to understand the physical features of the Earth, its lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, pedosphere and global flora and fauna patterns (biosphere). Physical Geography can be divided into the following broad categories:

* Biogeography
* Climatology and paleoclimatology
* Coastal/Marine studies
* Environmental Geography and management
* Geodesy
* Geomorphology
* Glaciology
* Hydrology/Hydrography
o Limnology
* Landscape ecology
* Oceanography
* Pedology
* Palaeogeography


Human geography


Human geography is a branch of geography that focuses on the study of patterns and processes that shape human interaction with various environments. It encompasses human, political, cultural, social, and economic aspects. While the major focus of human geography is not the physical landscape of the Earth (see physical geography), it is hardly possible to discuss human geography without referring to the physical landscape on which human activities are being played out, and environmental geography is emerging as a link between the two. Human geography can be divided into many broad categories, such as:

* Economic geography
* Transportation geography
* Development geography
* Population geography or Demography*
* Urban geography
* Social geography
* Behavioral geography
* Geosophy
* Cultural geography
* Political geography, including Geopolitics*
* Historical geography
* Time geography
* Regional geography
* Tourism geography
* Strategic geography
* Military geography
* Feminist geography
* Children's geographies


Environmental geography

Environmental geography is the branch of geography that describes the spatial aspects of interactions between humans and the natural world. It requires an understanding of the traditional aspects of physical and human geography, as well as the ways in which human societies conceptualize the environment.

Environmental geography has emerged as a bridge between human and physical geography as a result of the increasing specialisation of the two sub-fields. Furthermore, as human relationship with the environment has changed as a result of globalisation and technological change a new approach was needed to understand the changing and dynamic relationship. Examples of areas of research in environmental geography include disaster management, environmental management, sustainability and political ecology.


Geomatics

Geomatics is a branch of geography that has emerged since the quantitative revolution in geography in the mid 1950s. Geomatics involves the use of traditional spatial techniques used in cartography and topography and their application to computers. Geomatics has become a widespread field with many other disciplines using techniques such as GIS and remote sensing. Geomatics has also lead to a revitalisation of some geography departments especially in Northern America where the subject had a declining status during the 1950s.

Geomatics encompasses a large area of fields involved with spatial analysis, such as Cartography, Geographic information systems (GIS), Remote sensing and GPS.

Regional geography

Regional geography is a branch of geography that studies the regions of all sizes across the Earth. It has a prevailing descriptive character. The main aim is to understand or define the uniqueness or character of a particular region which consists of natural as well as human elements. Attention is paid also to regionalization which covers the proper techniques of space delimitation into regions.

Regional geography is also considered as a certain approach to study in geographical sciences (similar to quantitative or critical geographies, for more information see History of geography).


Related fields

* Urban planning, regional planning and spatial planning: use the science of geography to assist in determining how to develop (or not develop) the land to meet particular criteria, such as safety, beauty, economic opportunities, the preservation of the built or natural heritage, and so on. The planning of towns, cities and rural areas may be seen as applied geography.

* Regional science: In the 1950s the regional science movement led by Walter Isard arose, to provide a more quantitative and analytical base to geographical questions, in contrast to the descriptive tendencies of traditional geography programs. Regional science comprises the body of knowledge in which the spatial dimension plays a fundamental role, such as regional economics, resource management, location theory, urban and regional planning, transport and communication, human geography, population distribution, landscape ecology, and environmental quality.

* Interplanetary Sciences: While the discipline of geography is normally concerned with the Earth, the term can also be informally used to describe the study of other worlds, such as the planets of the solar system, and even beyond. The study of systems larger than the earth itself usually forms part of Astronomy or Cosmology. The study of other planets is usually called planetology. Alternative terms such as areology (the study of Mars) have been proposed but are not widely used.


Geographical techniques

As spatial interrelationships are key to this synoptic science, maps are a key tool. Classical cartography has been joined by a more modern approach to geographical analysis, computer-based geographic information systems (GIS).

In their study, geographers use four interrelated approaches:

* Systematic - Groups geographical knowledge into categories that can be explored globally.
* Regional - Examines systematic relationships between categories for a specific region or location on the planet.
* Descriptive - Simply specifies the locations of features and populations.
* Analytical - Asks why we find features and populations in a specific geographic area.


Cartography

Cartography studies the representation of the Earth's surface with abstract symbols (map making). Although other subdisciplines of geography rely on maps for presenting their analyses, the actual making of maps is abstract enough to be regarded separately. Cartography has grown from a collection of drafting techniques into an actual science.

Cartographers must learn cognitive psychology and ergonomics to understand which symbols convey information about the Earth most effectively, and behavioral psychology to induce the readers of their maps to act on the information. They must learn geodesy and fairly advanced mathematics to understand how the shape of the Earth affects the distortion of map symbols projected onto a flat surface for viewing. It can be said, without much controversy, that cartography is the seed from which the larger field of geography grew. Most geographers will cite a childhood fascination with maps as an early sign they would end up in the field.


Geographic information systems

Geographic information systems (GIS) deal with the storage of information about the Earth for automatic retrieval by a computer, in an accurate manner appropriate to the information's purpose. In addition to all of the other subdisciplines of geography, GIS specialists must understand computer science and database systems. GIS has revolutionized the field of cartography; nearly all mapmaking is now done with the assistance of some form of GIS software. GIS also refers to the science of using GIS software and GIS techniques to represent, analyze and predict spatial relationships. In this context, GIS stands for Geographic Information Science.

Remote sensing

Remote sensing can be defined as the art and science of obtaining information about Earth features from measurements made at a distance. Remotely sensed data comes in many forms such as satellite imagery, aerial photography and data obtained from hand-held sensors. Geographers increasingly use remotely sensed data to obtain information about the Earth's land surface, ocean and atmosphere because it: a) supplies objective information at a variety of spatial scales (local to global), b) provides a synoptic view of the area of interest, c) allows access to distant and/or inaccessible sites, d) provides spectral information outside the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, and e) facilitates studies of how features/areas change over time. Remotely sensed data may be analyzed either independently of, or in conjunction with, other digital data layers (e.g., in a Geographic Information System).


Geographic quantitative methods

Geostatistics deal with quantitative data analysis, specifically the application of statistical methodology to the exploration of geographic phenomena. Geostatistics is used extensively in a variety of fields including: hydrology, geology, petroleum exploration, weather analysis, urban planning, logistics, and epidemiology. The mathematical basis for geostatistics derives from cluster analysis, discriminant analysis, and non-parametric statistical tests, and a variety of other subjects. Applications of geostatistics rely heavily on Geographic Information Systems, particularly for the interpolation (estimate) of unmeasured points. Geographers are making notable contributions to the method of quantitative techniques.


Geographic qualitative methods

Geographic qualitative methods, or ethnographical; research techniques, are used by human geographers. In cultural geography there is a tradition of employing qualitative research techniques also used in anthropology and sociology. Participant observation and in-depth interviews provide human geographers with qualitative data.

Key components of culture

A common way of understanding culture is to see it as consisting of four elements that are "passed on from generation to generation by learning alone":

1. values;
2. norms;
3. institutions;
4. artifacts.

Values comprise ideas about what in life seems important. They guide the rest of the culture. Norms consist of expectations of how people will behave in various situations. Each culture has methods, called sanctions, of enforcing its norms. Sanctions vary with the importance of the norm; norms that a society enforces formally have the status of laws. Institutions are the structures of a society within which values and norms are transmitted. Artifacts—things, or aspects of material culture—derive from a culture's values and norms.

Julian Huxley gives a slightly different division, into inter-related "mentifacts", "sociofacts" and "artifacts", for ideological, sociological, and technological subsystems respectively. Socialization, in Huxley's view, depends on the belief subsystem. The sociological subsystem governs interaction between people. Material objects and their use make up the technological subsystem

As a rule, archaeologists focus on material culture, whereas cultural anthropologists focus on symbolic culture, although ultimately both groups maintain interests in the relationships between these two dimensions. Moreover, anthropologists understand "culture" to refer not only to consumption goods, but to the general processes which produce such goods and give them meaning, and to the social relationships and practices in which such objects and processes become embedded.

Culture

Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate"), generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. Different definitions of "culture" reflect different theoretical bases for understanding, or criteria for evaluating, human activity.

Most general, the term culture denotes whole product of an individual, group or society of intelligent beings. It includes technology, art, science, as well as moral systems and the characteristic behaviours and habits of the selected intelligent entities. In particular, it has specific more detailed meanings in different domains of human activities.

We may notice that different human societies have different cultures, and the personal culture of one individual can be different than another one.

Anthropologists most commonly use the term "culture" to refer to the universal human capacity to classify, codify and communicate their experiences symbolically. This capacity has long been taken as a defining feature of the humans. However, primatologists such as Jane Goodall have identified aspects of culture among human's closest relatives in the animal kingdom.[1] it can be also said that " it is the way people live in accordance to beliefs, language, history, or the way they dress."

Harvard

A Harvard sociologist and anthropologist of the first half of the twentieth century, Clyde Kay Maben Kluckhohn, (1905-1960), advocated "cross-cultural values," values that are in common across all cultures (e.g., the prohibition against wanton killing of members of the "in-group" in any societal/ethnic structure).