5/15/2016

NUMBERS, GRAPHS AND MAPS

IN THE EARTH SCIENCES

Figure 1. Monthly mean atmospheric carbon dioxide at Mauna Loa Observatory,

Hawaii. Source, [Link]

Measurement Systems Ex: How many miles are in 1 km?

• Metric system standard in scientific discourse
– SI system based on meters, kilograms, seconds (MKS) Table 2. Metric and English
conversion factors for length
• Method:
system is most common
1. Use international standard
• English (Imperial) system still widely used in U.S. Metric Conversions
1 inch = 2.54 cm
– English units must be converted to metric equivalents for 1 m = 100 cm
scientific study 2. Find # of cm in one km
1 km = 1000 m
Measurement English Units metric (SI) Units • 1 𝑘𝑚 = 1000 𝑚 × 100 𝑐𝑚 𝑚
Length, distance inch, feet, yards, miles meter (m), mm, cm, km English Conversions
Area square feet, sq. miles, acres square m, sq. km, hectares 3. Find # of inches in 1 mile
Volume cup, pint, quart, gallon, cubic feet liter (l), ml, cu m 1 foot = 12 inches
Weights and masses ton, pound, ounce gram (g), kilogram (kg)
• 1 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 = 5280 𝑓𝑡 × 12 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑡
1 mile = 5280 feet
Force pound newton (nt), dyne (d) # 𝑐𝑚/𝑘𝑚 1
Temperature degrees Fahrenheit (°F) degrees Celsius (°C), Kelvin (K) English to metric conversions 4. 1 𝑘𝑚 = # 𝑖𝑛/𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 × 2.54 𝑐𝑚/𝑖𝑛
Heat, Energy and British Thermal Units (BTU), joule (J), Erg, Watt (W) 1 inch = 2.54 cm
Power horsepower (HP) calorie (cal)
Pressure inches of mercury bar, pascal (Pa)
pounds per square inch (psi)

Ex: How many miles are in 1 km? Scientific Notation

Table 2. Metric and English
• Method: • Earth science uses very large numbers or very
conversion factors for length
small fractions
1. Use international standard
Metric Conversions
1 inch = 2.54 cm
• Examples:
1 m = 100 cm – Age of the Earth: 4,600,000,000 years old
2. Find # of cm in one km
1 km = 1000 m – The mass of a proton (1 atomic mass unit) =
• 1 𝑘𝑚 = 100,000 𝑐𝑚
English Conversions 0.00000000000000000000000000166 kg
3. Find # of inches in 1 mile
1 foot = 12 inches • A lot of work to keep track of all the zeros!
• 1 𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑒 = 63360 𝑖𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠
1 mile = 5280 feet
100000 1
English to metric conversions 4. 1 𝑘𝑚 = 63360
× 2.54 • Scientific notation allows us to reduce the
1 inch = 2.54 cm = 0.621 miles number of zeros while keeping track of them
– Also 1 mile = 1.61 km – Format: [Link] X 10exponent

1
 5/15/2016

Scientific Notation: Examples Significant Figures

• Age of the Earth: 4,600,000,000. years old • Scientific measurements are recorded only to a
1. Move decimal point left to the right of leftmost digit finite precision
2. Count number of times that decimal point moved
3. Multiply number by 10 raised to a power = to the number of
• The # of significant figures tells us about the
decimal places moved (9) precision to which a number is known.
4.6 X 109 years – The certainty of a number increases with the number
• The mass of a proton (1 atomic mass unit) = of significant figures.
0.00000000000000000000000000166 kg
– The more sophisticated a measurement technique,
1. Move decimal point right to the right of leftmost nonzero digit
the greater the number of significant figures.
2. Count number of times that decimal point moved
3. Multiply number by 10 raised to a negative power = to the – The rightmost significant figure usually contains some
number of decimal places moved (27) uncertainty or is the result of rounding.
1.66 X 10-27 kg

2000 expressed in scientific notation Rules for using significant figures

• Results of calculations should be expressed to
• The number of zeros after the decimal point in scientific appropriate number of significant figures
notation tell us about the level of certainty of the number
• Rules:
Scientific # of significant Lies between
1. When using multiplication and division (also math functions)
notation figures
• round the result to the least number of significant figures used in the
2 x 103 One 1.5 x 103 (1500) and calculation.
2.5 x 103 (2500) 21.63 2,90
2.0 x 103 Two 1.95 x 103 (1950) and • 2.789
= 22.5
2.05 x 103 (2050) 2. When using addition and subtraction, round the result to
2.00 x 103 Three 1.995 x 103 (1995) and the least number of decimal places
2.005 x 103 (2005) 1.003
2.000 x 103 Four 1.9995 x 103 (1999.5) and 13.45
+ 0.0057
2.0005 x 103 (2000.5)
14.4587 Rounds as 14.46

Basic Calculations Graphs

• X-Y scatter plots
• Line graphs
• Small fractions expressed as proportions
– Examples: %, ‰, ppm, ppb
𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦
– 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 % = × 100
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦
𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦
– 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 (𝑝𝑝𝑚) = × 106
𝑡𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑡𝑦

• Changes • Bar or column graphs • Pie Charts

𝐸𝑛𝑑 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒−𝐵𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
– 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 = × 100
𝐵𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑣𝑎𝑙𝑢𝑒
𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒 (𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒)
– 𝑠𝑙𝑜𝑝𝑒 % = × 100
𝑟𝑢𝑛 (ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒)

2
 5/15/2016

Identifying relationships (correlations)

Plotting Data
on Scatter Plots
• There are two axes • Positive relationship • Negative relationship
– horizontal (often called the x-axis)
– vertical (often called the y-axis)
– Both variables increase – One variable decreases as
together the other one increases
• A point on the graph is denoted by
an ordered pair (e.g., (3,1) where:
– the first number, the abscissa, refers to
horizontal position on the x-axis
– the second number, the ordinate, refers
to vertical position on the y-axis.
• the two axes intersect at point called
the origin with coordinates (0,0).

Identifying trends
Constructing best fit lines
Constructing best fit lines
• Does the data look like a line? or a big blob? Try to approximate the • Draw a shape that encloses all of the data
general trend of the data with your mind (even if it's just a blob)
- try to make it smooth and relatively even
• Does the trend of the points look positively correlated or negatively
correlated?

Constructing best fit lines Constructing best fit lines

• Evaluate your best fit line.
• Draw a line that divides the area that encloses the data in two - The points should be evenly distributed above and below
even sized areas. the line
-Bisect the area with a line that goes from one edge of the - The line should minimize the average distance to each of
plot to the other. the data points

3
 5/15/2016

Estimating the slope and y-intercept Topographic Maps

• The equation of a
straight line:
𝑦 = 𝑚𝑥 + 𝑏
x1 = 55.0 x2 = 69.0
y1 = 3.65 y2 = 4.24 – m is the slope
– b is the y-intercept
• Read two pairs of
coordinates (x1,y1) and
(x2,y2) off the line
𝑚=
4.24 − 3.65
= 0.0421 = 4.21 × 10−2
• Calculate m and b
69.0 − 55.0 𝑦2 − 𝑦1
𝑚=
𝑏 = 3.65 − 4.21 × 10−2 × 55.0 = 1.33 𝑥2 − 𝑥1
𝑏 = 𝑦1 − 𝑚𝑥1
Topography of Mount Saint Helens from Google Maps (Terrain)

Components of maps:

Orientation
Scale
Location – latitude and longitude; map grid
Contours (topographic maps)

Zoomed in view of Mt. St. Helens Caldera - USGS Topographic Map of Mt. St. Helens

Orientation Orientation

Maps today have north pointing to the top of the map Magnetic North versus true north

Not true in the past – many ancient maps had east at the Compass points to magnetic north
top (sun rises in the east). We still use the term to “orient”
oneself. Not the same as True North

Magnetic declination (MD)a

function of latitude and longitude

Magnetic pole drifts with time,

therefore MD also varies with time

4
 5/15/2016

Scales Scales

Bar scale

• Could be a ratio:
1:24000
• Could be a fraction:
1/24000 Representative fractions used by USGS
1:250,000
• Could be a bar: 1: 100,000
1: 62,500
1: 24,000
[Link]

Location: Prime Meridian & Tropics

Location: Latitude and Longitude

• Latitude lines run East to West.

• Longitude lines run North to South

Location Location: Lat/long Divisions

latitude and longitude
• Like time and temperature, latitude and
longitude are divided into degrees, minutes,
and seconds.

• For example:
N88º30’45” = 88 degrees (out of 90) north of
the equator; plus 30/60 minutes, and 45/60
seconds north beyond that.

[Link]

5
 5/15/2016

Location
Quadrangles
map grids
[Link]

Map symbols Map symbols

TOPO MAPS • Elevation is distance above sea level.

• A topographic map is a two dimensional
representation of three dimensional space. • A contour line connects points of the same
• Utilizes contour lines to show elevation. elevation.

• Contour lines are lines of equal elevation.

• If you walked around an entire mountain
staying on the same contour line, you
wouldn’t change elevation.

6
 5/15/2016

Contours (topographic maps)

Contours (topographic maps) [Link]
[Link]

Steep slope Gentle slope

Index contours Index contours

• If we wrote the elevation of every contour line

on that line, then our map would be covered in
numbers.

• Instead, we use index contour lines.

1. Usually darker lines
2. Have the elevation marked on them

Rules for Contour Lines

• Contour lines always close to form an
What is the irregular circle, it’s just that sometimes you
contour can’t see the complete thing.
interval
2005
here? 2655
• Contour lines will make a ‘v’ in the
2007 upstream direction a of a stream.

7
 5/15/2016

Contour Lines ‘V’ Upstream Rules Continued

• Lines always increase unless indicated by hash
marks. These hash marks indicate a depression.

Topography of Appalachian valley surrounding the Rapidan River, Va (from Google Maps - Terrain)

Relief
What is the
• The difference in elevation between two relief
points. between
Total Relief point X and
point Y?
• The difference in elevation between the
highest point and the lowest point on a
map.

40 ft

Mount St. Helens before 1980

8
5/15/2016