Unit:1 Geography (Terminology) Flashcards
What is latitude and longitude
coordinates that help determine the location of any place on Earth
What is altitude
The height of an object or point in relation to sea level or ground level.
What are physical characteristics
Physical characteristics include land forms, climate, soil, and natural vegetation.
What is Pangea
A supercontinent that incorporated almost all the landmasses on Earth
What is a Craton
The segment of the Earth’s continents that have remained tectonically stable and relatively earthquake free for a vast period of time.
What is Laurentia
Laurentia or the North American Craton is a large continental craton
What is magma
Magma is extremely hot liquid and semi-liquid rock located under Earth’s surface.
What is subduction
Subduction occours when plates collide and one plate is forced over another = earthquakes, mountain formations. volcanoes.
What is divergence
Divergence occurs where plates pull apart from one another = new land created
What is Transform
A type of fault in which two tectonic plates slide past one another.
What is Precipitation
Precipitation is any liquid or frozen water that forms in the atmosphere and falls back to the earth
What is convectional precipitation
Convectional rainfall occurs when the heated air from the earth’s surface rises upwards along with the water vapour and gets condensed when it reaches a higher altitude.
What is Orographic precipitation
Orographic precipitation is produced when moist air is lifted as it moves over a mountain range.
What is Frontal precipitation
This is when cold air meets warm air in a ‘weather front’. Warm air rises, so when it bumps into the cold air, it rises above it.
What is Continental
A climate characterized by hot summers, cold winters, and little rainfall, typical of the interior of a continent.
What is maritime
A climate influenced by nearby ocean, typically a more temperate climate with higher precipitation
What is climate
The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period.
What is weather
The state of the air and atmosphere at a particular time and place
What is a Climograph/Climate Graph
A climograph is a graphical representation of a location’s basic climate. Climographs display data for two variables: (a) monthly average temperature and (b) monthly average precipitation.
What is a biome
An ecological community of plants and animals extending over a large area
What is an ecozone
A classification system that defines different parts of the environment with similar geography, vegetation and animal life.
What is an ecosystem
A system formed by the interaction of a community of organisms with their environment
What is a food web
A system of interlocking and interdependent food chains.
What is monoculture
The cultivation and reliance on a single crop
