Covers extreme places and extreme sports around the globe.

1. The Extremes of Earth
Outdoor Culture and Technology
The Walker School
Mr. Thomas Cooper

2. Is the Earth a Sphere?

3. Geoid – Not Quite Round, Not Quite Elliptical

4. Forces Involved in Geoid Formation
 Uneven cooling in early history
 Orpheus impact and creation of the moon
 Geothermal convection in the asthensophere
 Plate Tectnonics (plate movements)
 Isotasy (mountain building)

5. What Are Some General Statistics
About the Earth?

6. General Earth Statistics
 Average distance from Sun:
149.6 million kilometers
 Revolution Period: 365.26 days
 Rotation Period: 23 hours 56
minutes, 4 seconds
 Rotational Speed 1,057 mi/hr
 Axis Inclination: 23°27‘
 Equatorial Diameter: 12.756 Km
 Average Temperature: 22 °C

7. Areas of the Earth
 The circumference of
the Earth
at the equator is 24,902
mi / 40,076 km.
 The total area of Earth
is 510.300.000 Km²
 The total area of the
oceans are 360.700.000
Km²
 The total area of land is
149.600.000 Km²

8. What are the Major Parts of the
Earth’s Life Support System?

9. Ecospheres
 Magnetosphere
 Exosphere
 Atmosphere
 Biosphere
 Hydrosphere
 Cryosphere
 Lithosphere
 Asthensophere
 Core

10. Layers of the Atmosphere

11. Crust 35 km (21 mi.) avg., 1,200˚C
Sections of
the Earth
Low-velocity zone 100 km (60 mi.)
200 km (120 mi.)
Crust
Mantle
Solid Lithosphere
10 to 65km
2,900km 100 km Asthenosphere
(1,800 mi.) (depth unknown)
3,700˚C
Outer core
(liquid) 200 km
Core
5,200 km (3,100 mi.), 4,300˚C
Inner
core
(solid)

12. Reykjanes
Ridge EURASIAN
EURASIAN PLATE
PLATE
Mid-
Atlantic ANATOLIAN
Ocean PLATE
JUAN DE Ridge
NORTH
FUCA PLATE AMERICAN
CHINA CARIBBEAN
PLATE PLATE
SUBPLATE Transform
PHILIPPINE ARABIAN
fault
PLATE PLATE
PACIFIC
Mid- PLATE COCOS AFRICAN
Indian PLATE PLATE
Transform SOUTH
Ocean fault AMERICAN Carlsberg
Ridge PLATE Ridge
East Pacific
SOMALIAN
INDIAN-AUSTRLIAN PLATE Rise
SUBPLATE
Southeast Indian
Ocean Ridge Transform Southwest Indian
fault Ocean Ridge
ANTARCTIC PLATE
Plate motion Divergent ( ) and Plate motion
Convergent
at convergent transform fault ( ) at divergent
plate boundaries
plate boundaries boundaries plate boundaries

13. Thickness of Earth’s Crust (km) - USGS

14. Surface Area of the World’s Continents
57,308,738 Sq. Miles
The World (148,429,000 Sq. Km) 100%
17,212,000 Sq. Miles
Asia (plus the Middle East) (44,579,000 Sq. Km) 30.00%
11,608,000 Sq. Miles
Africa (30,065,000 Sq. Km) 20.30%
9,365,000 Sq. Miles
North America (24,256,000 Sq. Km) 16.30%
6,880,000 Sq. Miles
South America (17,819,000 Sq. Km) 12.00%
5,100,000 Sq. Miles
Antarctica (13,209,000 Sq. Km) 8.90%
3,837,000 Sq. Miles
Europe (9,938,000 Sq. Km) 6.70%
2,968,000 Sq. Miles
Australia (plus Oceania) (7,687,000 Sq. Km) 5.20%

15. Highest Continent – Antarctica
 Antarctica is a land of extremes. It is the coldest, windiest, and highest
continent anywhere on earth. With an average elevation about
7,544ft/2,300 meters above sea level it is the highest continent.

16. What Are the Major Climate Zones of
the Earth?

17. Tropic of
Cancer
Equator
Tropic of
Capricorn
Semidesert,
Arctic tundra (polar grasslands) Desert
arid grassland
Boreal forest (taiga), evergreen coniferous Tropical rain forest, Mountains
forest (e.g., montane coniferous forest) tropical evergreen forest (complex zonation)
Temperate deciduous forest Tropical deciduous forest Ice
Temperate grassland Tropical scrub forest
Dry woodlands and Tropical savanna,
shrublands (chaparral) thorn forest

18. © 2004 Brooks/Cole – Thomson Learning
Freshwater Systems
Ecological Services Economic Services
• Climate moderation • Food
• Nutrient cycling • Drinking water
• Waste treatment • Irrigation water
and dilution
• Hydroelectricity
• Flood control
• Transportation
• Groundwater corridors
recharge
• Recreation
• Habitats for aquatic
and terrestrial • Employment
species
• Genetic resources
and biodiversity
• Scientific
information

19. Global Desert Distribution

20. 10 Largest Deserts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deserts_by_area

21. Hottest Place on Earth
 El Azizia in Libya recorded
a temperature of 136
degrees Fahrenheit (57.8
Celsius) on Sept. 13, 1922 -
- the hottest ever
measured.

22. Desert Motocross

23. Human Impacts on Deserts
Large desert cities
Soil destruction by vehicles
and urban development
Soil salinization from irrigation
Depletion of underground
water supplies
Land disturbance and pollution
from mineral extraction
Storage of toxic and radioactive
Wastes
Large arrays of solar cells and
solar collectors used to produce
electricity

24. Global Grassland Distribution
Polar Tundra Alpine Tundra Temperate Grassland Tropical Savanna

25. Largest Grasslands
 The Great Steppe, Russia
 The Mongolian-Manchurian
grassland covers an area of
887,300 square kilometers
(342,600 square miles)
 Tall-grass Prairies in South
Dakota, US

26. Trekking and Hunting

27. Human Impacts on Grasslands
Conversion of savanna and temperate
grassland to cropland
Release of CO2 to atmosphere from
burning and conversion of grassland
to cropland
Overgrazing of tropical and temperate
grasslands by livestock
Damage to fragile arctic tundra
by oil production, air and water pollution,
and vehicles

28. Global Forest Distribution
Temperate coniferous forests Temperate deciduous forests Tropical rain forests

29. Remaining Forests
 There are still around 1,350 million hectares of ancient
forest around the world that remain undisturbed by large
scale industrial activities. This sounds like a lot, after all,
that's an area bigger than all of China. But in fact this is
only seven percent of the Earth's land surface.

30. Trophy Hunting

31. Human Impacts on Forests
Landless poor migrating uphill
to survive
Timber extraction
Mineral resource extraction
Hydroelectric dams and reservoirs
Increasing tourism
(such as hiking and skiing)
Air pollution from industrial and
urban centers
Increased ultraviolet radiation from
ozone depletion

32. Last of the Wild Places
http://www.wcs.org/sw-high_tech_tools/landscapeecology/humanfootprint/lastofthewild

33. What are some records for extreme
weather?

34. World Record for Temperature Change
 Spearfish in South
Dakota holds the
world record, going
from -18.9 C to 3.3 C
above in two minutes.

35. Tornado Alley
Tornadoes are spawned because of hot and cold air
masses fighting it out. 90% of the world’s tornados occur
in N. America, most between the Rockies and the
Mississippi River.

36. What Is the Highest Mountain on
Earth?

37. Major Mountains of the World

38. World’s Tallest Mountains

39. Composite Satellite Image of Peaks

40. Tallest Mountain in United States
 Mount McKinley, in
Alaska, is the tallest
mountain in the United
States. at a height of
approximately
20,320 feet (6,194 m).
It is the centerpiece of
Denali National Park.

41. How Many Volcanoes Exist on
Earth?

42. Earth’s Volcanoes
 There are about 1,500 active volcanoes on the Earth's surface
- the majority following along the Pacific 'Ring of Fire' – and
around 50 of these erupt each year.

44. Most Active Volcanos By Region
 North America
 South America
 Antarctica
 Europe – Mt. Vesuvius
 Asia

45. Kilimanjaro
 Kilimanjaro is the tallest free-
standing mountain rise in the
world,rising 4,600 m
(15,100 ft) from its base, and
includes the highest peak in
Africa at 5,895 meters
(19,340 ft).

46. Largest Visible Volcano
 Mauna Loa is the
largest volcano on
earth. It is an active
shield volcano, with a
volume estimated at
approximately
18,000 cubic miles
(75,000 km³)

47. Yellowstone Caldara
 Caldara is 60 x 85
km and has an
estimated 125,000
km2 of eruptible
magma

48. Toba Caldara – Sumatra, Indonesia
Last Super Volcano Erruption – 75,000 years ago

49. What Is the Maximum Depression of
the Earth?

50. Maximum Depression –
Dead Sea at 408 m

51. What is the Largest Meteorite to Hit
the Earth?

52. Largest Visible Asteroid Impact
 200 Visible Craters
 Sedona, Arizona is a mystical region with a crater site
that is 550 ft deep

53. What Is the Size of the Earth’s
Ocean Basins?

54. Largest Ocean - Pacific

55. The Areas and Depths of Oceans
Ocean and Area in % of the Depth, Depth, Locations of the
seas million area of the meters meters greatest depths of
2
km World the Ocean
Ocean mean greatest
Pacific 178.8 49.5 3 976 11 022 Marianas Trench
Atlantic 91.7 25.4 3 597 8 742 Puerto Rico
Trench
Indian 76.2 21 3 711 7 729 Sunda Trench
Arctic 14.7 4.1 1 225 5 608 Greenland Sea
(Molloy Deep)
World 361.3 100 3 711 11 022 Marianas Trench
Ocean

56. Geostrophic Gyres

57. Gulf Stream Measurements
 Named in honour of the
pioneering oceanographer Harald
Sverdrup
 A unit of measure of volume
transport used almost exclusively
in oceanography to measure the
transport of ocean currents.
 It is equivalent to 106 cubic
meters per second (0.001 km³/s,
or about 264 million U.S. gallons
per second).
 Its symbol is Sv. Note that the
sverdrup is not an SI unit, and that
its symbol conflicts with the
sievert's.

58. Vendee Globe – Polar Circumnavigation
http://www.vendeeglobe.org/en/

59. Largest Tides - Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia
 Change of17 meters
 100 billion tons of water in
6 hours

61. Largest Organism on Earth
 Blue Whale (Balaenoptera musculus) – 30m (90 feet)

62. Ocean Biographic Information System Database
http://www.iobis.org/

63. Deepest Spot - Mariana Trench -10.924 m

64. Deepest Dive
http://www.cdnn.info/news/industry/i060807.html

65. World’s Longest Mountain Range
 Mid-Atlantic Ridge at
nearly 10,000 km

66. Largest Seamount
 Lōʻihi has yet to build to
the surface of the ocean,
although it is now over
3,000 m (10,000 ft) high
(taller than Mount St.
Helens)

67. Largest Wave; Seamount Produced
 Surfer, Tow-In Surfing at The Cortez Bank,
100 miles off San Diego, CA

68. Largest Reef - Great Barrier Reef

69. Coral Reef Sites

70. The Great Blue Hole, Belize
http://www.ambergriscaye.com/pages/town/greatbluehole.html

71. Largest Wave, Reef Produced
 Laird Hamilton
 Tow-In Surfing
 Teahupoo Reef, Fiji

72. What Is the Longest River?

73. Nile
 6671 Km

74. 10 Largest Rivers
Nile 6671 Africa
Amazon 6280 South America
Mississipi Missouri-Red
Rock 5970 North America
Chang Jiang 5800 Asia
Ob (with Irtys) 5410 Asia
Huang He 4845 Asia
Rio Paraná 4700 South America
Mekong 4500 Asia
Amur (with Silka) 4416 Asia
Irtys 4400 Asia

75. River Structure
Rain and snow Lake Glacier Rapids
Waterfall
Tributary
Flood plain
Oxbow lake
Salt marsh
Delta Ocean
Deposited
sediment
Source Zone
Transition Zone
Water
Floodplain Zone
Sediment

76. Steepest River Descent
 Yarlung Tsangpo River
in southeastern Tibet

77. Hydrology Measurements
 Cusec is a measure of flow rate and is informal shorthand
for cubic foot per second (28.317 liters per second). In
the United States it is generally applied to water flow,
particularly in rivers. Other informal synonyms are cfs and
second-feet.

78. Kayaking Records
http://freespace.virgin.net/thamesweirs.com/profile.htm

79. Largest Discharge
 Amazon River - 1/6 of all water discharged by all the
world’s rivers 4 million ft3/s

80. Where Is the World’s Tallest
Waterfall?

81. World’s Largest Waterfalls
http://www.world-waterfalls.com/database.php?s=N&t=W&orderby=avevolume&sortLimit=5000

82. Iguazu Falls (Devil’s Throat)
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/303

83. Devil’s Throat, YouTube.com
http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?ei=UTF-8&gid=239380&vid=316549&b=2

84. 10 Tallest Waterfalls
http://www.world-waterfalls.com/database.php?s=N&t=H&orderby=height&sortLimit=300

85. What Is the Largest Lake?

86. Caspian Sea – 371,000 Km²
Adjacent Countries

87. 10 Largest Lakes
Caspian Sea 371.000 Asia
Lake Superior 82.100 North America
Victoria 68.100 Africa
Huron 59.600 North America
Michigan 58.016 North America
Tanganyika 32.893 Africa
Great Bear Lake 31.792 North America
Bajkal 31.500 Asia
Malawi (or Nyasa) 30.800 Africa
Great Slave Lake 28.438 North America

88. Lake Stratification

89. Largest Concentration of Freshwater Lakes
Oneida County, N. Wisconsin

90. Pro Wakeboarding
http://www.wakeboardworld.com

91. What Is the Largest Island?

92. World’s Largest Island
Greenland – 2,130,800 km2

93. 10 Largest Islands
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_by_area

94. World’s Smallest Island – Bishop Rock
 It lies at the
most south-
westerly part
of the United
Kingdom

95. World’s Remotest Inhabited Island –
Tristan da Cunha
 It is in the South
Atlantic, 2575 km
(1600 miles) south of
St Helena, which is an
island a few hundred
kilometers (miles) off
the coast of South
Africa.

96. Mountain Biking – New Zealand

97. What Is the Largest Glacier on
Earth?

98. World's Largest Glacier
 Lambert Glacier
 It covers more than
386,102 mi²

99. Thickest Ice Sheet – Antarctica
 4.8 Km
 (3 miles)

100. Glacier Surfing
http://www.surfersvillage.com/surfing/28775/news.htm

101. Glacier Surfing, Alaska
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLC5q6fAiUw&feature=related

102. Where are the world’s largest caves?

103. Largest Cave System
Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA

104. Deepest Cave
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0505/feature4/multimedia.html
 Krubera Cave, in the Republic of Georgia. It currently
holds the world record at 5,610 feet (1,710 meters)

105. Base Jumping, Cave of Swallows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvIDNEt-Fmk

106. How Many Species Have Been
Identified?

107. Most of the World’s Biomass
 About 1.7 million species have been identified.
 Microbes make up roughly ½ of the earth’s biomass
 Animals make up 1/1000th of the earth’s total biomass

108. Longest Living Organism
 250-million-year-old bacteria
were found in ancient sea salt
beneath Carlsbad, New Mexico.
The microscopic organisms
were revived in a laboratory
after being in 'suspended
animation', encased in a hard-
shelled spore, for an estimated
250 million years.
 43,000 years old Kings Holly
(Lomatia tasmanica) - found in
the rainforests of Tasmania.
Scientists estimated the age of
the plant using a nearby fossil
of an identical plant.

109. Longest Migration Route
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060808-bird-migration.html

110. What Is the Current Population of
the Earth?

111. Current Population - 6,446,131,400

112. World Population Clock
http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html

113. 10 Most Populated Cities
1 Tōkyō Tokyo Japan 34,200,000
2 Ciudad de México Mexico City Mexico 22,800,000
3 Seoul (Sŏul) Seoul South Korea 22,300,000
4 New York New York USA 21,900,000
5 São Paulo Sao Paulo Brazil 20,200,000
6 Mumbai Bombay India 19,850,000
7 Delhi Delhi India 19,700,000
8 Shanghai Shanghai China 18,150,000
9 Los Angeles Los Angeles USA 18,000,000
10 Ōsaka Osaka Japan 16,800,000

114. Tallest Building

115. Buildering (or Urban Free Climbing)
Alain-Robert-
Spiderman

116. Spiderman Climbs Building
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2TJ3tU8mbo&feature=related

117. What Was the First U.S. National
Park?

118. Yellowstone National Park
 National Park Service Act of 1916

119. 56 Major National Parks Today
http://www.nps.gov/

120. Not Only a Place for Extreme Sports
Scientific Studies in Our Parks
 Biology  Seismology
 Biogeography  Volcanology
 Limnology  Oceanography
 Ichthyology  Hydrology
 Astronomy  Glaciology
 Meteorology  Demography
 Climatology
 Paleontology
 Geology