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GEOG 301 Geography of the U.S. > Exam #1 > Flashcards

Exam #1 Flashcards

1
Q

What is geography?

A

Geography is the study of Earth as the home of humanity; the interdisciplinary perspective that allows for the analysis of anything across Earth’s space

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2
Q

What is the Greek meaning for geo + graphia?

A

To write about or describe the Earth

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3
Q

What are the two types of geography?

A

Human geography and physical geography

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4
Q

What is human geography?

A

Human geography is the branch of geography that is centered around people, places, and the relationship between people and environment

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5
Q

What is physical geography?

A

Physical geography is the branch of geography that is centered around the Earth, the environment, and human-environment interactions

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6
Q

How do Geographers use scales?

A

They use it to view distance on a map and on Earth. They also use scale of analysis (which is the geographical scope local, national, or global to analyze.

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7
Q

Why is looking at data at different scales important?

A

To understand the context and integrate knowledge on multiple scales

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8
Q

What is a region?

A

It is a part of Earth’s surface with one or more similar characteristics that make it unique from other areas

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9
Q

What are the types of regions?

A

Formal, Functional, and Perceptual

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10
Q

What is a formal region?

A

A uniform/homogeneous territory where one or more features are present throughout the area and absent or unimportant beyond it

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11
Q

What is a functional region?

A

Area is unified by a shared economic, political, or social purpose (can overlap, must have at least one node)

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12
Q

What is a perceptual region?

A

This region is derived from people’s sense of identity and attachment to an area; borders highly variable

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13
Q

What is regional geography?

A

A branch in geography that studies the world’s regions (unique characteristics like culture, economy, topography, climate, politics, etc)

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14
Q

What are the elements of Regional Geography?

A

Economic geographies, Human geographies, natural environment, political geographies

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15
Q

Why is North America considered a region?

A

It includes US and Canada, which are culturally similar etc.

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16
Q

What is historical spatial interaction?

A

It plays in role in shaping the distinct regional effects

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17
Q

What are the 12 Defining Traits of US and Canada?

A

Diverse physical environments, resource wealth, high standard of living, healthy, educated, share British heritage, multiethnic societies, mobile, well-connected, urban, post-industrial (service-based) economies, Democratic

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18
Q

What is topography?

A

The arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area

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19
Q

What are the the Gulf Coastal Plains?

A

It is an area of flat land along a sea or ocean, estuaries, swamps, marshes, lagoons are present

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20
Q

How is the Gulf Coastal Plains split?

A

Inner coastal plain (Farming, timber) and outer coastal plain (outer banks)

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21
Q

What is the Mississippi alluvial valley?

A

Area that stretched from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers TO the freshwater swamps along the Mississippi River

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22
Q

What is a delta?

A

A triangular shaped plain of sediment that forms where a river meets the sea

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23
Q

What is the largest drainage basin in North America?

A

The Mississippi Watershed

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24
Q

What is the Central Lowlands?

A

Area that was made by deposition; West of the Appalachian system next to the great lakes

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25
Q

What is deposition?

A

The settling out or depositing of eroded rock and soil particles

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26
Q

Where is Mississippi-Great Lakes section located?

A

Central Lowlands

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27
Q

What was the effect of glacation?

A

It left material behind; glacial drift had transported earth and rocks because of moving ice

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28
Q

What is the driftless area?

A

The driftless area is a large peninsula of land, mostly located in Southwest Wisconsin, that went unglaciated throughout the last glacial period

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29
Q

What makes up the world’s biggest freshwater system?

A

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River

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30
Q

What is the Public Trust Doctrine?

A

A legal principle establishing that certain natural and cultural resources are preserved for public use (natural resources held in trust)

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31
Q

What is a moraine?

A

Moraine is an accumulation of boulders, stones, or other debris carried and deposited by a glacier

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32
Q

What are terminal moraines?

A

Dammed river valleys that form at the end of glaciers

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33
Q

What is a shield?

A

It is a stable area of ancient rock that has usually been weathered and eroded down to an uneven plain

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34
Q

How much of Canada is covered by the Canadian Shield?

A

About 40%

35
Q

What is another name for the Canadian Shield?

A

Laurentian Shield

36
Q

What is the definition of erosion?

A

Process by which fragmented rock and soil are moved over a distance

37
Q

What is part of the Appalachian system?

A

Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, Fall Line, Ridge and Valley system

38
Q

What is the Appalachian Ridge and Valley System?

A

A sequence of parallel valleys and long, steep-sided ridges

39
Q

What is the Piedmont?

A

It is a transition zone where coastal plains meet Appalachian Mountains

40
Q

What is a fall line?

A

It is where old erosion-resistant rocks of piedmont meet younger, softer sedimentary (water flows from mountain to the ocean)

41
Q

What are the characteristics of the Blue Ridge Mountains?

A

Mountains that form a divide between rivers that flow to Atlantic or Gulf

42
Q

What is a plateau?

A

A relatively flat, elevated area

43
Q

What is part of Cordilleran Province?

A

The Rockies (stretching from Central Northern Mexico to Central Alaska)

44
Q

Which mountains are younger (Rockies or Appalachian)? How do you know?

A

The Rockies; Mountains lower in elevation is how you tell which mountain is older.

45
Q

Do the Rockies show evidence of volcanic activity?

A

Yes

46
Q

How can you identify evidence of glaciers?

A

When the landforms have sharp edges

47
Q

What is part of the Intermontane Region?

A

Intermountain Basin and Range Country; Located between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast mountain ranges

48
Q

What are the landforms located in the Intermontane region?

A

Plateaus, Colorado Plateaus, Basin and Range Country, and Great Basin

49
Q

Where are Pacific Coastlands?

A

West Coast of North America (Faults, Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, and Coast Range) Twin Rows of Mountains

50
Q

What are faults?

A

A linear break in Earth’s surface along which movement has occurred (Ex: San Andreas)

51
Q

Which area has the most tectonic activity?

A

The Western margin

52
Q

What is an archipelago?

A

A chain of islands (Hawaii)

53
Q

What is weather?

A

It is seeing atmospheric conditions in an area at a particular point in time (what you experience when you walk out the door)

54
Q

What is climate?

A

Average weather conditions occurring at a place over a period of time

55
Q

What are the three geographic influences of climate? Which two are the most significant?

A

LATITUDE (Distribution of solar radiation), Different ways land and water absorb solar energy ,
and topography/orography

56
Q

What is the difference between water’s absorption of light and land’s?

A

Water absorbs and loses heat less quickly than land. Oceans regulate climate.

57
Q

What is the definition of Continentality?

A

The effect of location within a continent on climate (locations that are close to oceans have more regulated climate)

58
Q

What connects topography and climate?

A

Elevation and temperature (higher elevation has colder temperatures)

59
Q

What is orographic precipitation?

A

Windward (moist air masses rises cool and falls as rain) and Leeward (wind descends warm and creates dry climates)

60
Q

What are the characteristics of Tropical climates?

A

Associated with tropical air masses throughout the year, areas are surrounded by water

61
Q

What are the characteristics of Subtropical Wetland?

A

Subtropical climate with protected marshes and mangroves. Covers 20% of Florida.

62
Q

What are the characteristics of Tropical rainforest?

A

Warm and moist climate with tropical vegetation

63
Q

What is convectional precipitation?

A

It occurs when air is heated up, usually by the land, air heats up and rises where it will eventually cool

63
Q

What are the characteristics of humid subtropical?

A

Known for convectional precipitation and hurricanes

64
Q

What are the characteristics of Eastern Mixed Forest?

A

Humid subtropical climate region with Deciduous and coniferous trees

65
Q

What are the characteristics of the Southeastern mixed forests?

A

Pine barrens and Palmetto barrens

66
Q

What are the characteristics of humid continental climate?

A

Hot summers and cold winters with Cyclonic precipitation

67
Q

What is cyclonic precipitation?

A

Also known as frontal precipitation, occurs when a warm front meets a cold front

68
Q

What are the characteristics of Northern mixed forests?

A

Humid Continental Climate, mixed broadleaf deciduous and needleleaf evergreen forest

69
Q

What are the characteristics of Eastern Hardwood forests?

A

Temperate (mild temperatures) humid continental with deciduous trees and needleleaf evergreen

70
Q

What are the characteristics of Grasslands in the Great Plains region?

A

Tall-grass prairie, short-grass prairie, and mixed-grass prairie

71
Q

What creates the difference between short-grass and tall-grass?

A

The differences come from in precipitation and temperature extremes, the climate there does not support trees

72
Q

What are the characteristics of the Tall-grass prairie?

A

Distinct wet and dry seasons. Known as the “Prairie Peninsula”

73
Q

What are the characteristics of short-grass prairie?

A

Semi-arid, flat and rolling with mesas and stream valleys

74
Q

What classifies desserts as desserts?

A

It has to have less than 10 inches of rain

75
Q

What is arid (dessert) climate?

A

It is dry because of high pressure systems (which bring subsiding air), air is warm

76
Q

What is semi-arid climate?

A

Similar to arid BUT descending air is not as warm and dry

77
Q

What is a dryline?

A

Distinct boundary where dry air descending over Rockies collides with humid air moving west from Gulf of Mexico

78
Q

What are the characteristics of the Mediterranean climate?

A

Most precipitation occurs during the winter and dry summer

79
Q

What are the characteristics of Marine West Coast climate?

A

Coastal area is not as hot during the summer, rainier winters, and unpredictable

80
Q

What are the characteristics of subarctic climates?

A

Dry conditions, cool summers, short growing seasons, long, cold winters, permafrost zone

81
Q

What is the permafrost zone?

A

Where soils are totally or partially frozen all year

82
Q

What are the characteristics of the Boreal Forest?

A

Long and very cold winters, moderate to high precipitation

83
Q
A

GEOG 301 Geography of the U.S. (4 decks)

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