PřF:ZX403 Planet Earth: blue, or green? - Course Information

ZX403 Planet Earth: blue, or green?

Extent and Intensity

2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).

Teacher(s)

doc. RNDr. Alois Hynek, CSc. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

RNDr. Vladimír Herber, CSc.
Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science
Contact Person: doc. RNDr. Alois Hynek, CSc.
Supplier department: Department of Geography – Earth Sciences Section – Faculty of Science

Timetable

Wed 9:00–10:50 Z5,02004

Prerequisites

PROGRAM(N-GK) || PROGRAM(N-EB) || PROGRAM(N-MA) || PROGRAM(N-CH) || PROGRAM(N-FY) || KREDITY_MIN(40)
No university knowledge level of geography is expected

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/30, only registered: 0/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

there are 45 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display

Course objectives

• to understand the physical processes and mechanisms of the Earth – homeostasis and homeorhesis balance - Gaia/Lovelock vs. биогеносфера/Забелин • to explain matter/energy flows initiated by geothermal and solar energy • to interpret environmental processes in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, pedosphere, and biosphere ( in geographical sense) creating the physical spatiality of the Earth • to analyze physical spatiality of the Earth and acting processes on animations , images and thematic maps • critically judge the scientific studies in solving the problems of human life quality, sustainability, nature/landscape protection, and human security upon natural hazards • propose physical ecosystems as capital in the sense of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment

Syllabus

• 1. The Earth from the space,why its blue colour? GoogleEarth . The genesis/evolution of the planet, concentric Earth like an onion.Momentary view on the Earth. Why is it also green? Oceans and continents, ecumena, physical globions .. Our place in the solar system, global energy balance – geothermal, or solar? Biogeochemical cycles. 2. Endogeous/inner forces shaping the Earth´s surface, the litosphere and global/plate tectonics, plate motions – the city of Brno area since proterozoicum/paleozoicum. The great surprise in National Geographic, 1963 – the ocean floor landforms. Wilson cycle of litosphere changes. Major relief features of terrestrial and oceanic landforms. Earthquakes and volcanism. 3. Exogeneous/outer forces and shaping the Earth surface – landforms: weathering/hypergenesis and mass casting, running water, wind, snow, glaciers, organisms. Karst, deltas, deserts, permafrost, sea coast, coral reefs, structural landforms. 4. Weather – atmosphere/toposphere of the Earth, physical properties, air temperature and atmospheric monture/precipitation, vertical classification, atmospheric pressure formations, air masses, traveling fronts – winds/heat transport, and global circulation in troposphere, synoptic maps and weather forecast. 5. Climate – as given by solar radiation balance, active surface layer, advection and human impacts. Climate maps of the Earth, climate fluctuation and climate change, global warming? Climographs – their construction and analysis 6. Oceans and seas – four water layers in the world ocean and oceanic currents – conveyor belt. Oceanic general circulation of water masses, their spatial divisioning , sea water physical and chemical properties. Ocean as a geo/bio/chemostat 7. Terrestrial waters – hydro-cycle, water state balance equation, rivers, lakes, reservoirs, ground water. Surface water - fluvial drainage system, stream flow regimes and gauging. Humidity and aridity, desertification, deglaciation, flooding, drought, pollution. 8. Soil as a natural body, its structural organization levels from clay minerals, soil matrix and soil horizont, soil profile to pedon/polypedon and structure of soil cover/pedochores. Soil processes and horizont forming soil types in the Central Europe and in the World. Soil classifications – Czech, US nomenclature, FAO system. 9. Soil cover : soil maps and atlases – spatial patterns of soil cover. Spatial structures of soil cover – soil zones, sectors, belts, montane/altitude zones/levels. The links between soils, climate, biota, parent material and soil genesis/evolution. 10. Biota – the living organisms of the Earth – plants and animals: terrestrial, terrestrial aquatic, sea aquatic. Matter/energy flows in the ecosystems, the food web, biomass, habitat – producers, consuments, and reducents. Life-form of plants, living conditions, ecological succession, geobiocenoses. 11. The biomes – distinguished on their vegetation cover. Five primary biome types: forest, grassland, savanna, desert, and tundra. Latitude/meridián spatial pattern of biomes – hot/wet and frigid cores, belts/zones, sectors. Altitude zones, their spectra. Bathymetric deep levels of sea/oceanic biota, special fauna of deep sea hot springs and methane springs. 12. The table of relations between physical components in the natural landscapes of the Earth: climate, run-off, exogeneous reliéf modellation, soil types, surface water regimes, biota. Natural/physical regions, physiographic/relief regions. Spatial pattern of thermohaline circulation in the oceans, four deep levels and the floor. 14. The human impacts upon the nature/natural resources of the Earth – mining, energetics, agriculture, industry, transport, housing, tourism, services. Waste production and processing, energy management, GMO. Noosphere in the sense of LeRoy a Vernadskij , Millennium Ecosystem Assessment.

Literature

• STRAHLER, Alan H. Introducing physical geography. Fifth edition. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2011, xx, 632. ISBN 9780470418116. info
• CHRISTOPHERSON, Robert W. Geosystems : an introduction to physical geography. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005, xix, 660. ISBN 013144199X. info
• DE BLIJ, Harm Jan, Peter O. MULLER and Richard S. WILLIAMS. Physical geography of the global environment. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004, xvii, 702. ISBN 0195160223. info

Teaching methods

lecturs with presentations of thematic maps, animations and remote sensing images

Assessment methods

final case study

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on course enrolment limitations: nelze zapsat pro jednooborové studium programů B-AG, B-GK, N-GK

• Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2014, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/sci/autumn2014/ZX403