Physical geography is the branch of natural science that deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere, as opposed to the cultural or built environment, the domain of human geography.
OCEANS
- About three – a fourth of the earth is covered by Hydrosphere.
- The hydrosphere covers nearly 71% of the total surface area of the earth.
- The Hydrosphere is divided into Oceans, Inland Seas, Small enclosed seas, Bays, etc. on the basis of their size and location.
- The four major oceans of the earth are the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean
OCEANOGRAPHY
- The width of continental shelves largely depends on the nature of the reliefs of the coastal land. They are:
- The shelves are narrow, where high mountains are very close and parallel to the coast. (E.g. Pacific continental shelf along the west coast of South America, as Mount Andes run parallel to it- The shelves are almost absent or very narrow along some of the margins like the coasts of Chile).
- The shelves are wider and the coastlands are wide plains. (E.g. The Siberian shelf in the Arctic Ocean, the largest in the world, stretches to 1,500 km in width)
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