Landforms and Tectonic Plates Flashcards
Who proposed the idea of Pangaea?
Alfred Wegner
When did Pangaea drift apart?
300 million years ago
Who helped explain Pangaea through Plate Tectonics?
J Wilson
Explain Plate Tectonics
Earth’s crust is broken up into 20 plates of solid rock floating on a layer of magma in the earth’s mantle
Explain Convection Currents in Plate Tectonics
Convection Currects in the mantle spread the ocean crust, creating volcanos, mountains, and new crust
What are Convergent Tectonic Plates?
Convergent Tectonic Plates collide and make mountains
What are Divergent Tectonic Plates?
Divergent Tectonic Plates pull apart and expand sea floor
What are Transform Tectonic Plates?
Transform Tectonic Plates slide past eachother and make no obvious landforms
What is Glaciation?
Glaciation is the process of ice advancing and covering large areas of land
What originally covered most of Canada?
Glaciers originally covered most of Canada
What did Glaciers do to Canada?
Glaciers altered landforms through erosion and deposition
When were Glaciers last in Ontario?
10,000 years ago
What is the Canadian Shield?
The original and oldest landform in North America. Everything comes from this landform.
What are Lowlands?
They are the landforms with the lowest elevation, and are the flatter areas surrounding the shield. They are made of sediments from the Canadian Shield.
What are Highlands?
They are mountains on the edge of the country formed through Plate Collision
Explain the climate factor of Latitude
The further from the equator, the colder it gets.
Explain the climate factor of Ocean Currents
Warm currents make places warmer and wetter. Cold currents make places colder and drier
What happens when cold and warm ocean currents come together?
Fog
Explain the climate factor of Elevation
The higher the elevation is, the colder it gets
Explain the climate factor of Relief
Moist air rises through the windward slope, expands, cools and causes rain.
What happens to the other side of mountains after Relief?
They remain dry.
Explain the climate factor of being near water?
Large water bodies have a moderating effect; Maritime = less extreme, cooler summers. More percipitation | Continental = more extreme, warmer summers. Less percipitation
What is temperature calculated in?
Degrees celcius
What is precipitation calculated in?
Millimeters
How do you calculate Average Annual Temperature?
Adding the twelve average temperatures, and dividing by twelve.
How do you calculate Temperature Range?
Subtracting the difference between the maximum and minimum temp. Less than 25°C = Maritime | More than 25°C = Continental
How do you calculate Total Precipitation?
Adding the twelve monthly precipitation totals. Maritime = more than 1000 mm | Continental = less than 1000 mm
How do you calculate Seasonal Distribution of Precipitation?
Adding the precipitation in the winter months and compare to the precipitation in winter months. Winter max. = Maritime | Summer max. = Continental
What are the “Winter Months”?
October to March
What are the “Summer Months”?
April to September
