The proponents of a systematic approach argued that it was premature to ask what was unique about a region until it had been established how particular features varied over the world. In turn, that required knowledge of the disciplines that specialized in particular phenomena. The result was the fragmentation of geographers' interests and a major division between physical and human geography. Physical geographers took an approach influenced by natural science. Geomorphology studies landforms and is influenced by geology and hydrology.
Climatology studies the variation of climate over the world and blends into meteorology.
Biogeography and soil geography map and explain the variability of plants, animals and soils. Human geography has become increasingly influenced by the social sciences. Consequently, historical geographers have been joined by economic, social and political geographers, and population geographers have interacted with demographers. Recently, cultural geography has gone beyond a quasi-anthropological concern with 'primitive' cultures to begin to investigate the symbolic and ideological processes which hold modern societies together. The divisions of geography reflect more than just the practical difficulties of tackling the discipline's agenda.