The Physical Geography of Kalamazoo

The Five Themes of Geography are: Location – Absolute points on a map or grid or Relative to where something may be; Place – The physical and/or human characteristics of a locations; Human/Environment Interactions – How humans have impacted the landscape or environment; Relationship between places Movement – How humans interact on the earth (i.e. how they communicate over distance (short or long)) and Regions – a unit of space that has commonalities defined by physical, human and environmental geography. The Explorers of the New World may have not known what the Five Themes of Geography were but they quickly learned. Of the five themes the ones that they all took advantage of was the physical Location and Place as they learned to navigate

The shape of Michigan is something very unique to us. Anytime you look at a map of the Earth, you can find Michigan in two seconds. If you’re in the Upper Peninsula, you can point to exactly where you are. Or if you want to tell someone where a city is located in Michigan, and you don’t have a map, you can just hold up your hand and point. For those of us born and raised in Michigan, it seems like a completely normal thing to do. The shape of Michigan is really unique, with two separate peninsulas to tell the story of how our state was shaped into the land we see today. Water has been the predominant factor in shaping Michigan, starting with glaciers over ten million years ago, to rivers, rain and lakes that still shape it today. Water

The Lynne deposit lies within the early Proterozoic Penokean fold belt of the southern province of the Precambrian Shield. The fold belt is divided into two major terranes in Wisconsin (Sims 1989). The first is the northern Penokean terrane, which contains major oxide facies iron formations and granitic intrusions (DeMatties 1989). The second major terrane, separated from the Penokean terrane by the Niagara fault zone, is the Wisconsin magmatic terrane, characterized by a volcanic island arc-basin assemblage (Sims 1989). This southern terrane lacks major oxide facies iron formations, but contains abundant tonalite-granite intrusions (DeMatties 1989). The Wisconsin magmatic terrane is further subdivided into the northern Pembine-Wausau terrane and the southern Marshfield terrane, which are separated by the Eau Pleine shear zone, a north-dipping subduction zone (Sims 1989).

The present configuration of the Great Lakes basin is the result of the movement of massive glaciers through the mid-continent, a process that began about one million years ago. . . . Studies in the Lake Superior region indicate that a river system and valleys formed by water erosion existed before the Ice Age. The Glaciers undoubtedly scoured these valleys, widening and deepening the and radically changing the drainage of the area (Encyclopedia Britannica )

Located in present day Collinsville, Illinois is Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, which was once home to the largest city north of Mexico from 700 to 1400 A.D. Settled by the Mississippian people, today their decline remains a mystery. First visited in 1811 by traveler Henry Brackenridge and considered the “discoverer of Cahokia” only in the sense that he wrote several papers and articles about the findings to the public’s attention. After walking around the mounds, Brackenridge described that the locations of the last inhabitants were clearly visible to him, as were fragments of their tools and utensils. Many extensive archeological excavations and several case study theories have come about through the years as to why this magnificent ancient metropolis faced such demise.

Cronulla is a beachside suburb in southern Sydney, it is located 34.0574° S, 151.1522° E which is 26 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD (see figure 2). It is governed by the Sutherland Shire Council. Cronulla’s coastal environment is on the Kurnell Peninsula, which is made up of a tombolo. A tombolo is a sand spit connecting a rocky outcrop or island to the mainland. So this forms a barrier between Botany Bay and Bate Bay. The two areas of study visited were Wanda Beach and the Greenhills Beach development.

People often wonder how the continents, states, and other landforms develop their shape and structure. Our earth, continents, countries, and states developed over billions of years and water played a huge roll in the development, shape, and structure. Within this exploratory essay you will gain knowledge on how Michigan, specifically, was shaped and how water affects the state in many ways and will continue to do so every single day until the earth ceases to exist.

2.During the years 1860-1890, Michigan's commercial development was dominated by the sawing, harvesting, milling and marketing of timber. Michigan politicians (under the influence of the state's Lumber Barons) fought hard to stop a bill that would have allowed Canadian lumber to enter the U.S. duty free. The lumber was desperately needed to rebuild a major American city after what terrible disaster?

Questions and charts are from Geoscience Laboratory, 5th ed. (p. 155–167), by T. Freeman, 2009, New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Reprinted with permission.

The textbook includes a reference atlas and a geography handbook which encourages learning geographic lessons in our American History. Reading skills are the main goal of the textbook’s author, which is apparent with the sections Reading Skills Handbook and the section referred to as Be an Active Reader.

As one can see, the earthworks of the Ohio and Mississippi valley are critical in the understanding the past. They provide great clues about the migration of the Ancient people of this land. It is still not understood how the Western World was settled and under great debate. Any clues that are available should be used and the mounds are a great source. Native

During the Pinedale glaciation, there were two ice sheets. One of them being the Cordilleran Ice Sheet. The Cordilleran Ice Sheet was comprised of three main lobes. The Puget Lobe, Okanogan Lobe, and the Purcell Trench Lobe. The one lobe in Northern Idaho, near present day Lake Pend Oreille, was the Purcell Trench Lobe. When these sheets of glacial ice moved south they caused an ice dam to occur. J.T. Pardee states that “The evidence of icebergs, together with the apparent regency of the lake and the variable height of its surface, connect this lake with the glacial period, and readily lend themselves to the suggestion that its dam was of ice” (Pardee, 1910) This ice dam blocked the Clark Fork River which is near the boundary of Idaho and Montana. The water from the river was blocked and began to build up and formed Glacial Lake Missoula. Water

The geography of Watts, Oklahoma is the inspiration of it's origin. This town is a product of the current, popular, transportation of the time. It was created to provide energy and repairs for the KCSSR. (The Kansas City Southern Railroad.) One example of geography themes that have affected the author, is the many people who he was surrounded by daily. Oklahoma had been densely populated with native americans. Also, the county poverty level resulted in out of date furniture and other classroom features. Which, in my opinion, are pieces of history in themselves. They contain "scars" from the past times and students of Watts.

This valley, future home of a ski resort and other activities, has a history of its own. It is divided into three major areas: The Poplar Region, The Bud Site, and the Gasville, areas which descend from North to South respectively. It is assumed that climatological conditions are similar to those found in the same area thousands of years ago, with some minor changes in temperature that may have increased due to the Green house effect and global warming.

Maybe some people will think human geography has no relation between physical geography. But I think human geography has a great effect on physical geography, and physical geography has a great effect on human geography too.