These on-line lecture notes
are by no means a finished, polished product. They are in a
constant state of development, and they thus may contain a
fair number of typographical and other errors. Moreover,
while I try to keep them as close as possible to my actual
lecture presentations in class, some important concepts
nonetheless get short shrift here on-line while others
might be described in greater detail than is really
warranted. In short, these notes are not meant to be a
substitute for your own notes, and they certainly are not
meant to be an alternative to showing up to class. For one
thing, these on-line notes contain no illustrations, and
the various photographs, maps, and diagrams presented in
the textbook and in class are indispensable to learning
much of this course's material.
1. Introductions to Physical
Geography and Science
Geoprocesses: The Atmosphere
2. Earth, the Sun
and the Atmosphere
3. Weather Basics:
temperature and earth’s solar energy
budget
4. Weather Basics:
humidity and precipitation
5. Weather Basics: air
pressure and circulation
Geoprocesses: The Lithosphere
6. Dynamic
Lithosphere: the origin of rocks and the origin of
continents
7. Dynamic Lithosphere: the
hazardous origin of mountains
8. Denudation: weathering
and wasting
9. Soil and Water
Resources
10. Rivers and Streams: fluvial
systems and fluvial
geomorphology
Geopatterns: Biomes and Ecoregions
11. Global Patterns:
climates and biomes
12. Midlatitude
and Tropical Environments
13. Coastal
Environments
14. Cold Alpine
and Polar Environments
15. Arid Environments