Landforms and Resources of Europe

The Peninsula of Peninsulas

Peninsulas

• Scandinavian Peninsula

• Jutland Peninsula:Denmark

• Iberian Peninsula: Spain and Portugal

• Italian (Apennine) Peninsula: Italy

• Balkan Peninsula: Greece and Albania

The Hardangerfjord in Hordaland, Norway

–Fjords: steep U-shaped valleys created by receding glaciers.

An old photograph showing the seven sisters waterfall

at the Geirangerfjord in Norway.

The coastline of eastern Greenland, with its many fjords. At the bottom is the longest fjord in the world, Scoresby Sund.

Islands

• Great Britain Crete (Greece)• Ireland Shetland Islands (G.B)• Greenland Malta• Iceland• Corsica (France)• Sardinia (Italy)• Sicily (Italy)

Sardinia

The Alps

France

Italy

Switzerland

Austria

Germany

Balkan Peninsula

The Pyrenees

• separates the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of Europe.

Carpathian Mountains

• located in Romania, Hungary and Slovakia

Danube River

Cuts through the heart of Europe from west to east. It links Europe to the Black Sea.

Rhine River

• Flows 820 miles from the interior of Europe to the North Sea.

Other Important Rivers

• Seine (France)• Elbe River (Germany)• Oder River (Germany)• Po River (Italy)• Tiber River (Italy)• Thames River (England)

Fertile Plains

• Northern European Plain: – Relatively flat– Desirable for

agriculture– Many armies used

this area to move across Europe

Resources

• Mineral Resources:– Coal– Iron– The abundance

of these resources made Europe the leader in the industrial revolution.

Energy and Agriculture

• Oil and Natural gas beneath the North Sea

• Agriculture:– 1/3 of Europe’s

land in suitable for agriculture

Other Resources

• Peat:– Partially decayed plant matter found in bogs. – Used for fuel to heat homes throughout

Europe.

Bog Mummies

Over the years, peat cutters working the bogs of northwest Europe have uncovered hundreds of mummies. A bog's naturally acidic environment also helps to create mummies and gives them a distinctively brown, leathery and life-like appearance.

                                                                                                                           

Bog Mummies

• The oldest "bog mummies" are from the Iron Age (between 400 B.C. and 400 A.D.) and were Celtic or Germanic contemporaries of the Romans. Strangely, many of the mummies found in the European bogs show evidence of violent deaths. With slit throats and broken skulls, these individuals may have been victims of ritual sacrifice, not unlike the mummies of the high Andes.

Bog Mummies

Climate and Vegetation

Westerly Winds: – Marine West Coast

climate

Ocean Currents:North Atlantic drift:

Warm water flows along Europe’s west coast warming the coastal areas.

Harsh Climate Regions

Humid Continental Climate Region

• Sweden

• Poland

• Slovakia

• Hungary

• Romania

Mediterranean Climate

• Southern Spain

• France

• Italy

• Greece

• Balkan Peninsula

• attracts many tourists to southern Europe.

Special Winds

• Mistral Winds: cold dry wind from the Alps.

• Sirocco Winds: hot steady wind blowing from North Africa into southern Europe. These winds bring moisture as they travel across the Mediterranean Sea.

Land of the Midnight Sun

• Scandinavia– Winter nights are extremely long.– Summer days are extremely long

– There are days when the sun never rises and days when the sun never sets.

Arctic Circle

Antarctic Circle

Land of the Midnight Sun

Stamsund, Lofoten Islands, Norway, at midnight. The Lofoten Islands, in northern Norway, north of the Arctic Circle, have several months of midnight sun during the summer.