Climate of Hungary

Location:
-absolute location:-northern hemisphere:
-eastern hemisphere:
-relative location:-Eastern Central Europe

Hungary is located in the-temperate zone
-true temperate belt
-moderately continental region
-wet continental climate

Wet continental climate /ordinary data/:
-there are 4 seasons: cold winter, spring, warm summer, autumn
-annual mean temperature:
-annual mean temperature fluctuation:
-annual mean precipitation: 500-800 mm
-vegetation: oak forest
-soil: brown forest soil
-droughts are frequent in July and August


Hungarian climate is influenced by:
-distance from the ocean
-basin characteristic
- the cyclones and anticyclones, which are formed above:
1. -the Atlantic Ocean
2. -Eastern Europe
3. -the Mediterranean Sea


Duration of sunshine: - South Duna-Tisza köze: 2100 hours/year
-near the western border: 1700-1800 h/y

Temperature:-annual mean temperature:
-annual mean temperature fluctuation:
-the highest temperature is on the South-East part of the country

Wind:
-on the western side of the Tisza and on Transdanubia : north-western winds
-on the eastern side of the Tisza: north-eastern winds
-Danube-Tisza Interflow: north winds
- Northern Mountains: chaotic winds

Precipitation: -annual mean precipitation: 500-900 mm
-the difference among the monthly mean precipitations can be extremely large
-most of the precipitation fell-in the end of the spring
-in the beginning of the summer

Natural geographic characterization of the Great Plain

-Whole Territory of it is 100,000 And 52,000 are in Hungary.

- This scenery is the most extended in Hungary.

-The most uniform in a way of relief and climate.

-Large part of it is perfect plain. perfect plain: where the distance between the lowest and the highest point is smaller than 100 m.
-Landscape of it was transformed by people. - deforestation /from the early Middle Ages/
-control of the Tisza and its tributaries/ 19^th century / (mellékfolyók)
-So the characteristic Hungarian landscape, the “puszta” is not a natural landscape of the territory, but it was formed by human.


Parts of the Great Plain:
4.-Beregi-Plain 1. loess (hordalékkúp)
-Beregi-Tiszahát (löszös hordalékkúp)
-Szatmári-Tiszahát 2. sandy (hodalékkúp)
4.-Szatmári-Plain 3. drained marsh ->
3.-Ecsedi-moor (láp) ->meadow, pasture
2.-Nyírség 4. flood-basin (ártér)
-Hajdúság
4.-Bodrog-köz
-Rét-köz
4.-Takta-köz
-Hortobágy
-Nagykunság
3.-Nagy-Sárrét
3.-Kis-Sárrét
1.-Jászság
-Tiszazug
1.-Maros-Kőrös köze
2.-Kis-Kunság
1.-Solti-Plain
1.-Pesti-Plain
-Mezőföld
1.-Sárköz
-Drávamellék

National Parks of the Great Plain:-Hortobágyi
-Kiskunsági
-Körös-Maros
-Duna-Dráva

Characterization of some parts of the Great Plain:
We can divide the Great Plain into two parts on the basis of the catchment areas :(vízgyűjtő terület)
-Dunai Great Plain
-Tiszai Great Plain

Dunai Great Plain

Dunamenti-Plain:-it is near the Danube for 15-30 km
-Pesti-Plain: free of flood (ármentes)
-southern part extended flood-basin
-on the south, on the right side of the river is the Sárköz

Kiskunság:-it formed in the Pleistocene
-130-170 m high alluvial cone
-sandy soil
-there are dunes still in movement /Bugac, Fülöpháza/


Mezőföld: -covered by loess
-on the right-hand side of the Danube
-many landslides /Dunaújváros, Dunaföldvár/


Drávamellék:-on both side of the river
-only the left-hand part is in Hungary
-mediterranean climate
-the most precipitation of the Great Plain /700 mm/year /

Tiszai Great Plain

Tiszamente: 
-artificial ox-bow lakes are frequent
-15-25 km wide

Jászság:-near the lower course (alsó folyás) of the Zagyva

Nyírség: 
-covered by sand
-there is the highest point of the Great Plain: Hoportyó-183 m

Hajdúság:
-covered by loess


Hortobágy:
-important touristic centre
-it is a part of the World Heritage

Nagykunság:
-the driest part of the country /less than 500 mm/year/
 
Körös region:
-perfect plain
-there were marshes

-now: meadows, pastures

Maros-Körös köze:
-covered by loess

-its south eastern part is the hottest part of the country /annual mean temperature is 11°C, mean temperature in July is 22°C/

The History of the Earth (mainly that of the Mesozoic Era)

Paleonthology: 
- the study of the history of the Earth

- uses the fossils (=remains of plants or animals from pre-historic times. They are found in

sedimentary rocks.) to establish the age of the rock layers

2 dating methods:

1.) relative dating method:  based on the law of superposition (=youngest rock layers are ont he top of the rock sequence whereas the oldest are on the bottom.) a this method is rarely because both of internal forces (folding, faulting) often rearrange the layers!!

2.) absolute dating method:  based ont he natural radioactivity of certain minerals (uranium,

thorium)

- C14 is used to determine the age of the organic matter

On the basis of the dating methods geologists have established a geological timescale which has got eras, periods and epochs:

ERAS	PERIODS
Cenozoic (65 million years)	Quaternary  --- holocene (present time) --- pleistocene (ice age) Tertiary  --- pliocene --- miocene --- oligocene --- eocene
Mesozoic (235 – 65 million years)	Cretaceous Jurassic Triassic
Paleozoic (590 – 235 million years)	Permian Carboniferous Devonian Silurian Ordovician Cambrian
Proterozoic (2600 million years)	---------
Archaeozoic (4600 million years)	----------

ERAS:

Archaeozoic (ősidő):
-volcanic activity a gases a forming a palaeoatmosphere

-gradual cooling a water condensed a paleo-ocean

-continental crust formed

-rich in CO₂, ammonia, nitrogen-oxide

Proterozoic (előidő):
- mountain formation a erosion a ancient shields

- ancient life forms (bacteria, algae)

Paleozoic: - photosyntesis a ozone layer

- first land plants appeared

- Caledonian and Variscian mountain systems started to form

- formation of Gondwanaland

- all the continental cores connected a supercontinent (Pangaea) formed

- Panthalassa (+ Tethys /gulf of Panthalassa)

- formation of coal

Mesozoic:
- Triassic: Pangaea divided into Laurasia and Gondwana

- Tethys substituted Panthalassa

Laurasia slided to the North

Gondwana slided to the South

- Jurassic:- formation of a rift valley led to the formation of the Atlantic Ocean

that separated Eurasia from North-America and Africa from

South-America

-convergent plates a volcanic activity a Pacific

mountain system started to form

- Australia was still connected to Antarctica

- Cretaceous: - the world ocean reached its largest extention

- Eurasia separated from North-America, and Africa from

South-America

- Eurasian mountain system started to form

Fauna&flora:

Triassic: dinosaurs, first mammals appeared

Jurassic: - the main era of reptiles

- spread of ammonites (mészvázúak)

- first flowering plants

Cretaceous: by the end of the era they extincted aprobably a huge meteor impact

caused it due to which the level

of oxygen decreased on the Earth

(the depression of this caused by

this meteor still can be observed

on the Yukatan Peninsula)

- most characteristic plants are angiosperms(zárvatermők) and gymnosperms(nyitvatermők) (EZ NEM FONTOS!!!)

Cenozoic: - present location of the continents

- spread of mammals and birds

- formation of mineral oil and natural gas

- volcanism

- the end of the formation of the Eurasian and Pacific mountain system

- Atlantic and Indian Ocean formed

- climate got colder a Ice Age

- the end of the era (holocene): climate got warmer and the land was shaped by external forces + the appearance of the Homo Sapiens

(A MESOZOIC A LEGFONTOSABB, A TÖBBIRŐL CSAK A LEGLÉNYEGESEBBEKET KELL TUDNI!!!)

Japan

Nowadays Japan is one of the countries which produces the most rapid economic development. In the last decades of the twentieth century, we can talk about a kind of explosion in the case of Japan and the little tigers. Although Japan has been isolated for several centuries and belonged to the losers of the Second World War, it has undergone a rapid development thanks to the contribution of the USA.  

It has several causes:

- Japan invested a lot of money into huge projects and spent little money on military purposes;

- Relying on the scientific breakthroughs Japan introduced the most up-to-date machinery products and production methods;

- disciplined and cheap Japanese labour force

- exemplary cooperation amongst the industrial branches and their workers;

- The cheap and high quality products initially conquered the South Asian region and later the whole world market and Japan supplely^rugalmasan accommodated itself to the foreign demands.

- A very efficient educational system was formed in order to ensure the economic development.

Japan is poor in mineral resources. This is why it is the greatest importer of raw materials and energy resources in the world. The needed coal, iron ore and uranium ore is imported by its own fleet. Primarily from those countries where there opened mines with Japanese financial support. Japan imports mineral oil from the Middle East and it is processed in oil refineries and chemical industries that are installed on the coasts. The Indian iron ore, the Malaysian and Philippine non-ferrous metals and the Australian bauxite are also processed by them. The production of crude iron and steel is on the forefront in the world.The most important branch of processing industry is machine production. Within precision engineering the machine-tool industry and vehicle-making are the most important. In tanker and car making Japan is the number one in the world. And in the production of electronic and informatic tools as well. Japan installed those factories to South Korea and Hong-kong where less up-to-date products are made. For those industrial branches where planes, missiles, satellites and industrial robots are formed, separated technopolises are formed. The cities not only ensure work for their dwellers but healthy and nice environment as well. There is a Silicon valley (like in the USA) which is a technology park.

Japan organizes its transportation via eight great and one thousand smaller ports. The greatest ports are in Osaka. The merchant fleet is the third greatest in the world. The rail transport is very precise and quick in the country.

The temperate zone

There are 4 seasons in the entire temperate zone, it is because the Earth orbits around the Sun and its axis is inclined and the inclination does not change during one rotation.

The westerly winds are the prevailing winds in the whole zone.

Warm temperate zone

On the western side of the mainland a mediterranean climate, on the eastern side a subtropical monsoon climate has developed in the warm temperate belt.

The mediterranean area is the largest in size in the region of the Mediterranean Sea.

Two seasons:

Summer: hot and dry

Winter: mild and rainy.

Annual mean precipitation: 400-1000 mm; annual mean temperature fluctuation: 15-20°c; annual mean temperature: 10-20°c.

Winds: in summer, the descending branch of the trade winds; in winter,

The large forests have unfortunately been partially eliminated.

Vegetation: citruses, dates, grapes, figs, bay trees, Lebanon cedar trees, evergreen shrubs.

The red terra rossa is the most characteristic soil. It’s poor in humus because there is little humus formation. In the deciduous forests: cinnamon-coloured forest soil.

The water levels are extremely fluctuating because of the characteristics of the climate: in summer, the river beds may dry up but in the winter there are heavy floods.

The surface is chiefly shaped by the rivers.

The subtropical monsoon regions lie on the eastern side of the mainland.

2 seasons:

Winter: cool and dry

Summer: hot and rainy.

Annual mean precipitation: 1000-1500 mm; annual mean temperature fluctuation: 5-25°c; annual mean temperature: 10-20°c.

Winds: the alteration of summer and winter monsoon winds.

Vegetation: Bay foliage forests, bamboo, tea shrubs, rice (even 2 harvests a year), cotton.

The soils are red and yellow and are poor as they contain little humus.

The main surface forming forces: In winter: disintegration and surface washing; in summer: deepening river erosion.

Cold temperate zone

It has developed only in the northern hemisphere.

2 seasons:

Winter: very cold and long

Summer: short, relatively warm and rainy.

Annual mean temperature: 0 - -10°c; annual mean temperature fluctuation: 20-70°c; annual mean precipitation: 200-700 mm.

Winds: westerly winds and sometimes polar winds.

Vegetation: taiga. The largest pine forests.

Not so fertile podzol soils have been formed in the whole zone.

Down to the great fluctuation of temperature, disintegration is significant.

Forestry and the breeding of fur animals are significant.

True temperate belt

Between the cold and warm temperate zones.

The climate is determined by the westerly winds and the cyclones. Less and less precipitation towards the interior parts of the continents. Four regions: oceanic, moderately continental, continental and extremely continental.

The oceanic regions have developed by the coasts.

Two seasons:

Summers are cool.

Winters are mild.

Annual mean temperature: 5-12°c; annual mean temperature fluctuation:7-15°c; annual mean precipitation: 800-2000 mm.

The annual distribution of precipitation is even.

The large beech forests have largely been eliminated. The grass is green throughout the year.

Soil: brown forest soil and podzol in the cooler northern areas.

The disintegration of rocks is governed by weathering. River erosion is the main surface forming force.

The moderately continental regions lie East of oceanic regions and on the eastern coasts of the continents. Weaker and weaker oceanic features.

Winters are cold and summers are warm. Four „regular” seasons.

Annual mean temperature: 0-12°c; annual mean temperature fluctuation: 10-20°c; annual mean precipitation: 500-800 mm.

Droughts are frequent in warmer southern areas in July and August. On the eastern side of the continent, the summer monsoon brings abundant rainfall.

Vegetation: oak forests. Beech forests (400-1200 m). Towards the interior of the mainlands, wooded prairies occupy the place of deciduous forests.

Brown forest soil is the predominant soil type.

Surface forming forces: disintegration, weathering and watercourses.

Continental regions

Cold winters and warm summers. The early summer is the most rainy.

Annual mean temperature: 0-15°c; annual mean temperature fluctuation: 25-45°c; annual mean precipitation: 300-500 mm.

Westerly winds.

Vegetation: grassland. In Eurasia: steppe; in North America: prairie; in South America: pampa.

The steppe soil in the tall grass region contains much humus. Chestnut-brown soil with dwarf grasses.

Disintegration, weathering.

Vegetation: arable land; potato, wheat,

Cattle and sheep breeding.

Extremely continental regions

Cold winters and hot summers.

Annual mean temperature: 0-15°c; annual mean temperature fluctuation: 25-50°c; annual mean precipitation: 100-200 mm.

Westerly winds.

Semi-deserts and deserts. E.g. the Gobi. Located in the interior of the continents or in the vicinity of the oceans in basins surrounded by high mountains.

Nomadic shepherding, oases.