Unit 4 Europe Physical Geography Landforms and Resources

Unit 4: Europe Physical Geography

Landforms and Resources

Peninsulas and Islands • Northern Peninsulas – Scandinavian Peninsula: Norway and Sweden – Carved out by glaciers • Fjords-steep valleys that connect to the sea – Jutland Peninsula: Denmark and a little bit of Germany

Peninsulas and Islands • Southern Peninsulas – Iberian Peninsula: Spain and Portugal – Italian Peninsula – Balkan Peninsula • Islands: – Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland

Mountains and Uplands • Mountain Chains – Alps – Pyrenees – Apennine – Balkan

Mountains and Uplands • Uplands – Hills, low mountains, contain ancient mountain ranges – Meseta – Massif Central

Rivers • Used to transport goods and people • Danube and Rhine have been a highway for centuries • Historically, these rivers have connected Europe to other parts of the world

Plains • Northern European Plain stretches across: – France, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Poland. – Great agricultural area – Has been a detriment in the past due to it being easy to invade

Resources • Energy – Oil and natural gas – North Sea • Agricultural Land – 33% is suitable for agriculture – Grains – Grapes – Olives – Cork – Timber

Climate and Vegetation

Westerly Winds • Marine West Coast Climate • North Atlantic Drift-current of war water from the tropics, flows near west coast • Westerlies (wind) blow west to east, pick up warmth from North Atlantic Drift and carry it over Europe

Conditions Inland • Westerlies do not benefit those living farther inland • Sweden, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary have a humid continental climate – Cold, snowy winters – Warm, hot summers

Mediterranean • • • Southern Spain through Italy and Greece Summers are hot and dry, little rainfall Winters are moderate, rainy Mistral-cold, dry wind from the north Sirocco-hot, steady wind from the south

Land of the Midnight Sun • Along the Arctic Circle – Tundra climate – Winter nights are extremely long, but so are summer days – Sometimes in winter: sun never rises – Sometimes in summer: sun never sets

Human-Environment Interaction

Polders • Land reclaimed by diking and draining – Because Dutch needed more land for growing, they reclaimed land from the sea

Polders • Seaworks-structures used to control sea’s destructive impact on humans – Dikes-hold water back – Terpen-earthen platforms, used as a way to go for safety if there was flooding

Polders • Zuider Zee – Arm of the North Sea, now a freshwater lake – Ijsselmeer – Land around the lake was drained, creating more polders and hundreds of sq. miles of land

Waterways as Highways • Venice, Italy and the Canal System – Originally the city was created for those escaping invasion – On the Adriatic Sea, so good for a shipping port

Waterways as Highways • Building the city: – Required unique building strategies: sinking pilings to help support the structures above – Weight of buildings is actually causing the city to slowly sink

Deforestation • Humans have destroyed and damaged much of Europe’s forests due to expansion and other factors • Acid rain and other pollutants are harming the remaining forests