SCIENCE MX8

• Mountains


  • Highest regions of deformed and disturbed rocks with steep slopes
  • Elevated, usually more than 600 m from their surroundings as tectonic plates move against each other
  • Formed when rocks are folded, tilted, or bent and are also built up from each other
• Mountain ranges


  • Elevated surface features that may be thousands of kilometers long and hundreds of kilometers wide
  • The Sierra Madre Mountain Range is the longest in the Philippines, stretching from Cagayan province in the North to Quezon province in the southern Luzon
  • Serves as the eastern wall of the island of Luzon from tropical cyclones that originate from the Pacific ocean
• Volcanoes


  • Mountains built by the accumulation of the products from their eruption
  • Lava is a hot molten rock or magma that has erupted onto the earth's crust
  • Tephra refers to the airborne matter from the volcanic eruption
• Hills


  • Elevated landform that is generally lower and less steep than a mountain
  • May be small and flat, or high and rolling
  • Formed by the melting of glaciers, water currents or erosion and deposition
  • The Chocolate Hills in Bohol were formed by the uplift and erosion of limestone over a long period of time
• Plains


  • Broad, flat lands that roll slightly
  • Elevation changes little if at all
  • Usually grassy areas with fewer trees
  • Place where deposition of sediments coming from mountains occur
  • The Central plains of Luzon produce most of the country's rice supply, with a total area of about 11000 km3
• Valleys


  • Low lying area of the land between two mountains or hills
  • The Cagayan valley, which spans across five provinces, lies between the Cordillera and the Sierra Madre Mountain Ranges
  • Transversed by the country's longest river, the Cagayan River
• Wetlands


  • Soil is usually low in oxygen because it is tightly packed and soaked with water
  • Wetland plants adapt to life in the wet soil
  • The Candaba Swamp in Pampanga is very fertile because of the continuous presence of decaying vegetation
  • Home to mudfish and catfish, and a sanctuary for migratory wild ducks and birds
• 10 Highest Mountains in the Philippines

  
  

  10. Mt. Ragang, Piapayungan Range (2714m)

  9. Mt. Timbak, Cordilleras (2717m)

  8. Mt. Maagnaw, Kitanglad P (2742m)

  7. Mt. Tabayoc, Cordilleras (2842m)

  6. Mt. Kalatungan (2860m)

  5. Mt. Piapayungan (2890m)

  4. Mt. Kitanglad, Kitanglad Range (2899m)

  3. Mt. Pulag, Cordilleras (2922m)

  2. Mt. Dulang-Dulang (2938m)

  1.Mt. Apo (2956m)
• Hydrosphere


  Part of the Earth where water is found, including all the water underground, in lakes, rivers, oceans, streams, and glaciers, as well as in the atmosphere
• Water is vital to the existence of life and shaping the earth's surface
• Uses of water


  • Agriculture (food production)
  • Industry
  • Navigation
  • Home use
  • Recreation
• Water is vital to the existence of life and shaping the earth's surface
• Water absorbs the sun's energy, which powers Earth's atmosphere and weather systems
• The movement of the water within the hydrosphere has an effect on the climate
• Oceans


  Largest body of water, with an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand
• Oceans contain 98% of the world's water and drive the water cycle
• Oceans greatly contribute to the amount of water vapor available for weather systems and direct wind systems that affect life on land
• Salinity may vary due to physical processes such as freezing, evaporation, thawing, and precipitation
• Salty water is heavy and sinks, unlike freshwater which is light and tends to be at the surface
• Together with temperature, salinity determines the seawater's density and buoyancy, which in turn drives water currents
• The Philippines lies in the western Pacific Ocean, the largest and deepest ocean in the world that separates Asia and Australia from America
• The Philippine oceans and seas are home to corals, fish and flora and fauna
• Seas


  Large bodies of salt water connected to an ocean
• The Philippines is surrounded by several seas - Luzon Strait to the north, the Philippine Sea to the east, the West Philippine Sea and Sulu Sea to the west, and the Celebes Sea to the South
• Rivers


  Water that moves through the water cycle, often starting from small streams that drain surface water and runoff water
• About one-third of the precipitation on land becomes runoff
• Many small streams may converge to form a river, and streams that flow into larger streams or other bodies of water are called tributaries
• Rivers often merge to form the path of the least resistance, moving downhill as gravity pulls the water toward the sea level
• As the water moves, it has the ability to erode, transport, and deposit small rock debris, solutes, and other materials, making the channel wider, deeper, and longer with continuous erosion
• Rivers finally join at an estuary, an area where freshwater meets saltwater that eventually flows into the open sea
• Longest rivers in the Philippines

  • Cagayan River (505 km)
  • Rio Grande de Mindanao (373 km)
  • Agusan River (350 km)
• Other notable rivers in the Philippines

  • Pasig River
  • Underground River in Palawan
  • Agno River
• The Estero de Binondo is an example of an estuary
• Tributaries of the Cagayan River

  • Magar River
  • Chico River
• Tributaries of the Agno River


  • Drain Benguet and the valleys of Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, and Tarlac
• Lakes


  Still bodies of freshwater completely surrounded by land, formed when runoff streams and rivers fill depressions on the Earth's surface
• Examples of lakes in the Philippines

  • Laguna Lake
  • Taal Lake
  • Lake Lanao
  • Buluan Lake
  • Kayangan Lake
  • Danao Lake
• Kayangan Lake in Coron is the cleanest lake in the Philippines
• Ocean


  The widest and largest body of water in the world. Huge sea vessels can travel here.
• Oceans of the world

  • Pacific Ocean
  • Atlantic Ocean
  • Southern Ocean
  • Indian Ocean
  • Arctic Ocean