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Physical Geography
Physical geography is about location and form, it answers very fully the questions:
"Where on Earth is the place in this image?"
"What are these physical features?"
Location on the Earth, that is, precise location, is determined by using
latitude and longitude. You can read the center latitude and longitude of
your image off of its "Detailed Information" page in the Data System.
Our image,
STS081 ESC00212631, has a center latitude of 30.8777° N
and a center longitude of 80.937°E. For a brief look at what latitude
and longitude are, try this website: Hammond Discovering Maps.
Generally, location is given by the names of places and their physical relationships to other places. For instance, our image is located in the southwestern corner of the Tibetan (Xizang) Autonomous Region of
China. The borders of Tibet, India and Nepal meet just south of the lakes. Take a look at the "Surrounding Area Map" which you can also get to from your image in the Data System. Then look at maps of your area in as many atlases as you can. Look at several different maps because you may find different names for the same places. Also, there are many different kinds of maps and each one will label slightly different things, so you'll learn more. For instance, the image of Tibet we are investigating here contains places that have names in four different languages! We had to look at several atlases and maps before we understood that.
A good way to start the process of identifying places in your image is to make a copy of a map of your area from an atlas. You can trace it or use a copier. Tracing can be good because your map will be simple with only what you want to put on it; but a machine-made copy can be good because it already has many things labeled. You might want to use both.
Find the name of the country your image in and its state, region or province. What are the names of the communities in the image? What do they call the mountains, hills, valleys, plains, oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, swamps, deserts and other physical features? Make a list of what you have and then focus on one of them at a time. Investigate all the names you have learned so far; since you probably don't know where you can find the best information about your region, you should use every piece you have to help you get more pieces to the puzzle.
There are no cities in this very remote part of the
world, but there are several monasteries that serve
important pilgrimage sites; there are a few seasonal
villages and the ruins of ancient kingdoms.
The prominent physical features are the mountains,
lakes and rivers.
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