The Brazilian territory has a wide territorial extension, with an area of more than 8.5 million of km², which indicates the wide variety of physiographic aspects that make up the landscapes Brazilian companies. Therefore, to better understand the territorial dynamics of Brazil, it is necessary to study and analyze the natural phenomena of the Brazilian space, both in their characteristics and in their relations of interdependence.
Therefore, the Physical Geography of Brazil aims to study and enumerate the descriptive and analytical understandings of the natural elements of the Brazilian territory, operating from four distinct fields of study, namely: the lithosphere, the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the biosphere. It is clear that the interrelationships between these elements are of fundamental importance.
THE lithosphere, that is, the structural dynamics of the Brazilian relief, reveals the geologically ancient character of rock formations in Brazil. Thus, it is noted that the geographic space in the country has already been greatly modified over the ages by external or exogenous agents for the transformation of the relief. This factor, added to the country's location within the South American tectonic plate, contributed to the absence of high altitudes in the country.
The highest point in Brazil is Pico da Neblina, located in the North region, almost on the border with Venezuela. The most predominant types of relief are plateaus and plains, in addition to the relative depressions observed in some areas, such as the northeastern hinterland. The geological structures present are the cratons and sedimentary basins, where the existence of oil along the coast of the country is verified in the latter.
THE hydrosphere Brazil stands out for the abundance of water resources. The country has the largest river in the world in terms of volume, the Amazon, which is the main watercourse in the Amazon Basin, one of the most extensive hydrographic basins on the planet. In addition to lowland rivers, favorable to navigation, there are upland rivers, which are more rugged and suitable for the production of hydroelectricity, the main energy matrix in Brazil.
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THE atmosphere relates to the climates of Brazil. Due to the fact that the country is located almost entirely in an intertropical strip, with most of the territory positioned north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the Equator, the Brazilian climate presents relative variations, being predominantly hot. According to the climatic classification of A. Sthahler, the Brazilian climates are: humid equatorial, tropical alternately humid and dry, tropical tending to dry, humid coastal and humid subtropical.
THE biosphere do Brasil presents a wide diversity, with large morphoclimatic domains and distinct types of biomes. Note also the high degree of devastation of the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado, as well as several natural areas in the southern region. The biomes of Brazil are: Amazon, Caatinga, Cerrado, Atlantic Forest, Pantanal and Pampa, with a wide diversity of fauna and flora.
Below, you will be able to check more in-depth texts on the different dynamics of our country's natural space. We hope, with this section, to create an opportunity to expand the knowledge of Physical Geography in Brazil among students in basic education and also among teachers in the area.
Good reading!
By Rodolfo Alves Pena
“The Brazilian territory is formed by ancient geological structures. With the exception of recent sedimentation basins, such as the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, the western part of the Amazon basin and stretches of the northeast and south coasts, which are Tertiary and Quaternary (Cenozoic), the rest of the areas have geological ages ranging from the Paleozoic to the Mesozoic, for the large sedimentary basins, and to the Pre-Cambrian (Archeozoic-Proterozoic), for the terrains. crystalline”.
(ROSS, J. The fundamentals of the Geography of Nature. In: Ross, J. S. (org). geography of Brazil. 5th ed. EdUSP, 2005. p.45).
According to the above considerations regarding the geological age of the Brazilian territory, we can conclude that the physical environment of Brazil:
a) is predominantly composed of orogenetic formations, such as mountain ranges.
b) it was significantly altered by exogenous agents of relief transformation, with low altitudes.
c) is the target of intense volcanic processes, responsible for the high concentration of basaltic rocks in the Midwest region.
d) presents all types of geological structures, with mountain ranges, crystalline shields and sedimentary basins.
e) it does not have geologically stable conditions, that is, it is the result of interference from the endogenous elements of relief transformation.
“This climate region, located close to the equator, has high temperatures and high humidity throughout the year. It is characterized by low thermal amplitude and convection rain, since the high temperatures in these regions cause a continuous process of evapotranspiration, rising moist air, cooling at higher altitudes, condensation and precipitation".
(Lucci, E. THE. et. al. Territory and society in the globalized world: General and Brazilian Geography. High school. Editora Saraiva, 2005. p.524 [adapted])
The above description refers to the predominant atmospheric characteristics in a Brazilian morphoclimatic domain, the (a):
