Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A word of rather variable meaning, but, as most generally used, nearly or quite the equivalent of physical geography (which see, under physical). Also called geophysics.
  • noun [For the use of the word physiography by Huxley, as meaning a peculiar kind of physical geography, see the following quotation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The science which treats of the earth's exterior physical features, climate, life, etc., and of the physical movements or changes on the earth's surface, as the currents of the atmosphere and ocean, the secular variations in heat, moisture, magnetism, etc.; physical geography.
  • noun The descriptive part of a natural science as distinguished from the explanatory or theoretic part.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun geography The subfield of geography that studies physical patterns and processes of the Earth. It aims to understand the forces that produce and change rocks, oceans, weather, and global flora and fauna patterns.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the study of physical features of the earth's surface

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

physio- + -graphy

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Examples

  • The contrast in physiography, as we go northward, is less marked in Alberta and British Columbia.

    Canada Turning the Corner 1929

  • Beginning with physiography (Green's name for natural history as the study of natura naturata), this scale proceeds to "physiology" or the study of the powers behind nature, the natura naturans that is the subject of German Naturphilosophie in the work of the early Schelling, Lorenz Oken and British thinkers such as John Hunter and John Abernethy.

    'The Abyss of the Past': Psychoanalysis in Schelling's Ages of the World (1815) 2008

  • Level II ecological regions are useful for national and subcontinental overviews of physiography, wildlife, and land use.

    Ecoregions of North America (CEC) 2009

  • Nearly level to rolling till plains, lacustrine basins, outwash plains, and rolling to hilly moraines comprise the physiography of this region.

    Ecoregions of Wisconsin (EPA) 2009

  • Overall, physiography and lithology contrast with the low mountains of the Northeastern Highlands (58), the Ridge and Valley (67), and the flat coastal plains of Ecoregions 63 and 84.

    Ecoregions of New Jersey (EPA) 2009

  • The land is molded by tidal action, resulting in a distinctive physiography.

    Sundarbans, Bangladesh 2009

  • The physiography is generally a continuation of basin and range terrain that is typical of the Mojave Basin and Range (14) and the Central Basin and Range (13) ecoregions to the west and north, although the pattern of alternating mountains and valleys is not as pronounced as it is in Ecoregions 13 and 14.

    Ecoregions of New Mexico (EPA) 2009

  • The physiography of the region is generally a continuation of basin and range terrain (excluding the Stockton Plateau) that is typical of the Mojave Basin and Range (14) and the Central Basin and Range (13) ecoregions to the west and north, although the pattern of alternating mountains and valleys is not as pronounced as it is in Ecoregions 13 and 14.

    Ecoregions of Texas (EPA) 2009

  • That description contains additional maps, as well as information on the physiography, geology, soil, potential natural vegetation, and the land use and land cover of the ecoregion.

    Ecoregions of New Mexico (EPA) 2009

  • That description contains additional maps, as well as information on the physiography, geology, soil, potential natural vegetation, and the land use and land cover of the ecoregion.

    Ecoregions of Tennessee (EPA) 2009

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