Geography Christmas Exam

Question 1

Weathering

Answer 1

Weathering is the process where rock is dissolved, worn away or broken down into smaller and smaller pieces.

Question 2

Erosion

Answer 2

The process by which soil and rock is removed from one area of the Earth through natural causes such as wind, water, and ice and transported elsewhere.

Question 3

Exfoliation

Answer 3

Exfoliation, also called unloading, which is when the outer layers of rock break away from the rest of the rock.

Question 4

Gradient

Answer 4

A gradient is the measure of the steepness of the slope.

Question 5

Transportation

Answer 5

The movement of things.

Question 6

V shaped valley

Answer 6

A V-valley is formed by erosion from a river or stream over time.

Question 7

Interlocking spurs

Answer 7

When there are areas of hard rock which are harder to erode, the river will bend around it. This creates interlocking spurs.

Question 8

Meander

Answer 8

A meander is a curve in a river.

Question 9

Oxbow lake

Answer 9

An oxbow lake is a lake, or area of water, in a U-shape.

Question 10

Drainage basin

Answer 10

A river basin or drainage basin is an area of land drained by a river. This can be compared to a sink or basin, which catches the water falling into it.

Question 11

Delta

Answer 11

A delta is a triangular piece of land which is found at the mouth of a river. It is formed when a river deposits the sediments as it flow towards its mouth (a place where a river drain into a lake, sea or an ocean).

Question 12

Glaciers

Answer 12

Glaciers are huge masses of ice that “flow” like very slow rivers. They form over hundreds of years where fallen snow compresses and turns into ice.

Question 13

Corries

Answer 13

A corrie is an semi-circular hollow found on the side of a mountain. This is where a glacier forms.

Question 14

Corry lake

Answer 14

After the glacier has melted in the corrie a lake forms in the hollow. This is called a corrie lake or tarn.

Question 15

Arete

Answer 15

A sharp ridge between two corries.

Question 16

U shaped valley

Answer 16

U-shaped valleys have steep sides and a wide, flat floor. They are formed in river valleys which, during the ice age, have been filled by a large glacier

Question 17

Hanging valley

Answer 17

A high-level. tributary valley from where there is a sharp fall to the level of the lower, main valley. A hanging valley is a valley that leads into another valley. This can often lead to waterfalls.

Question 18

Truncated spur

Answer 18

The glaciers slice through the interlocking spurs leaving thee truncated which really means “Cut off”.

Question 19

Moraine

Answer 19

The material that the glaciers carry is called moraine.

Question 20

Till

Answer 20

All of the rock , sand and mud that it was carrying gets left behind when a glacier melts.

Question 21

Weather 

Answer 21

Weather is what the sky and the air outside are like, such as cold and cloudy. Weather changes every day.

Question 22

Climate

Answer 22

Climate is like the weather, but over a long time

Question 23

Troposphere

Answer 23

The weather takes place mainly in the lowest layer, the troposphere. This layer has the air we breathe and the clouds in the sky. The air is densest in this lowest layer.

Question 24

Tropic of cancer

Answer 24

The Tropic of Cancer is an imaginary latitude line located above the equator that runs across the globe at about 23 degrees north.

Question 25

Tropic of Capricorn

Answer 25

The Tropic of Capricorn lies at 23d 26’ 22” (23.4394 degrees) south of the Equator.

Question 26

Equator

Answer 26

An equator is an imaginary line around the middle of a planet or other celestial body.

Question 27

Arctic circle

Answer 27

The very top part of the planet – the northern part of the globe.

Question 28

Antarctic circle

Answer 28

The Antarctic Circle is a special line of latitude that circles the Earth near the South Pole.

Question 29

Solstice

Answer 29

Solstice is the shortest day of the year in winter and the longest day of the year in summer.

Question 30

Equinox

Answer 30

Equinox is when you have 12 hours of daytime and 12 hours of night time.

Question 31

Albedo

Answer 31

Reflective capacity of a surface. Snow has more albedo than water.

Question 32

Insolation

Answer 32

How much sun energy is reaching the earth.

Question 33

Adiabatic processes

Answer 33

As air rises, it expands, its pressure decreases and it cools. When air decends it condenses, its pressure increases and it warms up.

Question 34

Orthographic lifting

Answer 34

When an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. Air is pushed up over a mountain by prevailing winds.

Question 35

Convection lifting

Answer 35

In convective lift, moist air is warmed as it moves over warm ground. As the warm air rises, it cools and forms rain clouds. Air is heated to a higher temperature than the surrounding air.

Question 36

Frontal lifting

Answer 36

Frontal Lifting is when less dense warm air is forced to rise over cooler, denser air as weather fronts move. Most common in winter.

When two air masses of different temp and moist converge or come into contact with each other.

Question 37

Air mass

Answer 37

An air mass is a large volume of air in the atmosphere that is mostly uniform in temperature and moisture.

Question 38

Barometric pressure

Answer 38

The pressure due to the weight of the atmosphere; also called air pressure or atmospheric pressure. Measured in millibars (mb).

Question 39

High pressure. (Cold air, clockwise) 

Answer 39

A high pressure system is a whirling mass of cool, dry air that generally brings fair weather and light winds. When viewed from above, winds spiral out of a high-pressure center in a clockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere. Sunny.

Question 40

Low pressure (wet air, counter clockwise)

Answer 40

A low pressure system is a whirling mass of warm, moist air that generally brings stormy weather with strong winds. When viewed from above, winds spiral into a low-pressure center in a counterclockwise rotation in the Northern Hemisphere. Rainy, cloudy.

Question 41

Isobars

Answer 41

a line on a map to indicate areas having the same atmospheric pressure

Question 42

Cold front

Answer 42

A cold front is a boundary between two air masses, one cold and the other warm, moving so that the colder air replaces the warmer air

Question 43

Warm front

Answer 43

A warm front is a boundary between two air masses, one cool and the other warm, moving so that the warmer air replaces the cooler air.

Question 44

Occluded front

Answer 44

An occluded front is a weather pattern. It brings cold weather and leaves cold weather. (Cold air is denser than warm air)

Question 45

Stationary front

Answer 45

A stationary front is a boundary between two air masses that more or less doesn’t move.