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Geography > Vocabulary - Midterm T1 > Flashcards

Vocabulary - Midterm T1 Flashcards

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1
Q

Geography (textbook definition)

A

“The study of the earths surface and the process that shape it, the connections between places, and the complex relationship between people and the environment”

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2
Q

Geography (basic definition)

A

“The study of the relationships between and the distribution of things on the earth.”

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3
Q

Geography (fill in the blank)

“Concerned with how _______ uses ______ through _______ to ________ the earth.”

A

mankind nature culture organize

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4
Q

Cartography

A

The study of maps/ mapmaking

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5
Q

Scale

A

The size of something on a map compared to the actual feature on the earth’s surface

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6
Q

Distortion

A

The changes made to the appearance, shape, or relative distance (distance from other places) of a feature when it is transferred onto a flat map (from the earth’s surface)

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7
Q

Geography (word meaning in Greek)

A

Geo=earth

Graphy=to write (or describe)

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8
Q

Projection - Cylindrical (Mercator)

A

Negative: Size Distorted North & South of Equator
Positive: Shape/ Direction

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9
Q

Projection - Tonic

A

Negative: Direction (curved latitude) & North is not always “up”
Positive: Size/ shape where the “cone” touches the globe

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10
Q

Projection - Azimuthal (Polar)

A

Negative: Sizes away from Poles
Positive: Shortest distance across poles & size/ shape near the poles

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11
Q

Remote Sensing

A

The acquisition of data about earths surface from a satellite

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12
Q

GPS

A

Global Positioning System - System that determines the precise location of something on earth

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13
Q

GIS

A

Geographic Information System - A computer system that can capture, store, query, analyze and display geographic data

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14
Q

Toponym

A

The name given to a place on earth (can be named for a person, religion, history, or event)

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15
Q

Site

A

The physical character of a place

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16
Q

Situation

A

The location of a place relative to other places

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17
Q

GMT

A

Greenwich Mean Time (or UT - Universal Time) - master reference time for all points on earth

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18
Q

IDL

A

International Date Line - a place (at about 180 longitude) where you move the clock back 24 hours traveling Eastward, towards America, and ahead 24 hours traveling Westward, toward Asia

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19
Q

Formal Region

A

An area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics

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20
Q

Functional Region

A

An area organized around a node or focal point with a chosen characteristic

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21
Q

Vernacular Region

A

A place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity

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22
Q

Spatial Association

A

The construction of an area to a widely varying scale from a very small portion of earth to a very large portion

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23
Q

Environmental Determinism

A

The belief that the environment CAUSES social development

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24
Q

Possibilism

A

The physical environment may limit some human actions but people have the ability to adjust to their environment

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25
Q

Distribution

A

The spread of a feature on the surface of the earth

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26
Q

Arithmetic Density

A

The total number of objects in an area

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27
Q

Physiological Density

A

The number of persons per area suitable for agriculture

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28
Q

Agricultural Density

A

The number of farmers per unit of farmland

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29
Q

Density

A

The frequency which something occurs in space

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30
Q

Concentration

A

The extent of a feature’s spread over space

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31
Q

Distance Decay

A

The “trailing off phenomenon” that the farther one group is from another, the less likely the two groups are to interact

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32
Q

Diffusion

A

The process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time

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33
Q

Relocation Diffusion

A

The spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another

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34
Q

Expansion Diffusion

A

The spread of a feature from one place to another in a snowballing process (may result from hierarchical, contagious, or stimulus diffusion)

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35
Q

Hierarchical Diffusion

A

The spread of power from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places

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36
Q

Contagious

A

The rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population

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37
Q

Stimulus Diffusion

A

The spread o an underlying principal, even though the characteristic itself fails to diffuse

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38
Q

Absolute Location

A

The exact location of a feature on the surface of the earth

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39
Q

Relative Location

A

The location of a feature on the surface of the earth, relative to another feature

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40
Q

Place

A

A specific point on Earth distinguished by a particular character

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41
Q

Human/ Environment Interaction

A

How the people in a place interact with their natural environment

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42
Q

Movement

A

The way people, goods, and ideas move between places

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43
Q

Region

A

An area of Earth distinguished by a distinctive combination of cultural and physical features

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44
Q

Equator

A

An imaginary line that circles the glove halfway between the North and South Poles

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45
Q

Hemisphere

A

The two halves the earth is divided into by the Equator (North and South Hemispheres)

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46
Q

Latitude

A

Imaginary lines that run parallel to the equator (also called parallels)

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47
Q

Longitude

A

Imaginary lines that run North and South between the two poles

48
Q

Prime Meridian

A

The longitude line at 0 degrees, which runs through Greenwich, England

49
Q

Remote Sensing

A

Data collected by computers or satellites that reveals many different views of the earth’s surface

50
Q

Census

A

A detailed counting of the population

51
Q

Cardinal Directions

A

The directions of North, South, East, and West

52
Q

Great Circle

A

An imaginary line that circles the earth

53
Q

Map Projections

A

Ways of showing the earth on a flat page

54
Q

Relief

A

The changing elevation of the land

55
Q

Projection

A

The system used to transfer locations from earth’s surface to a flat map

56
Q

Map

A

A two-dimensional, or flag, representation of Earth’s surface or a portion of it

57
Q

Geology

A

The study of the earth’s physical structure and history

58
Q

Scale

A

Generally the relationship between the portion of earth being studied and earth as a whole, specifically the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on earth’s surface

59
Q

Core

A

The earth’s center, consisting of very hot metal that is dense and solid in the inner core and molten or liquid, in the outer core

60
Q

Mantle

A

A thick layer of mostly solid rock beneath the earth’s crust that surrounds the earth’s core

61
Q

Crust

A

The solid, rocky, surface layer of he earth

62
Q

Lava

A

Magma, or molten rock from the earth’s mantle, that breaks away though the surface of the earth during volcanic activity

63
Q

Magma

A

Molten rock from the earth’s mantle (while it is underground)

64
Q

Continental Drift Theory

A

The idea that continents slowly drift in their positions due to the movement of the tectonic plates on which they ride

65
Q

Chemical Weathering

A

The process by which the actual chemical structure of the Rock is changed, usually when water and carbon dioxide cause a breakdown of the rock

66
Q

Mechanical Weathering

A

The actual breaking up or physical weakening of rock by forces wig we ice and roots

67
Q

Erosion

A

The movement of weathered materials, including gravel, soil, and sand, usually caused by water, wind, and glaciers

68
Q

Alluvial Plain

A

A broad expanse of land along riverbanks, consisting of rich, fertile soil left by floods

69
Q

Loess

A

Fine-grained, mineral-rich Liam, dust, or silt deposited by wind

70
Q

Sediment

A

Small particles of soil, sand, and gravel carried and deposited by water

71
Q

Moraines

A

Ridgelike mass of rock, gravel, sand, and clay carried and deposited by a glacier

72
Q

Weather

A

The condition of the bottom layer of the earth’s atmosphere in one place over a short period of time

73
Q

Atmosphere

A

A multilayered band of gases, water vapor, and dust above the earth

74
Q

Climate

A

The term used for the weather patterns that an area of region typically experiences over a long period of time

75
Q

Rotation

A

The spinning motion of the earth, like a top on its axis, as it travels through space

76
Q

Revolution

A

One complete orbit of the earth around the sun. The earth completes one revolution every 365 1/4 days, or one year

77
Q

Solstice

A

Either of the two times a year when the sun appears directly overhead at noon to observers at the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn

78
Q

Equinox

A

Either of the two times a year (spring and fall) when day and night are of nearly equal length everywhere on earth

79
Q

Continental Climate

A

The type of climate found in the great central areas of continents in the Northern hemisphere; characterized by extreme temperatures - cold, snowy winters and warm or hot summers

80
Q

Plant Community

A

A mix of interdependent plants that grow naturally in one place

81
Q

Deciduous

A

Leaf-shedding; a type of tree that sheds its leaves when winter approaches

82
Q

Coniferous

A

Come-bearing; a type of tree able to survive long, cold winters, with long, thin needles rather than leaves

83
Q

Savanna

A

A tropical grassland with scattered trees, located in the warm lands nearest the Equator

84
Q

Tundra

A

A region where temperature are always cool or cold and only specialized plants can grow - either alpine tundra, in high elevations, or attic tundra, in high latitudes

85
Q

Permafrost

A

A layer of soil just below the earth’s surface that stays permanently frozen

86
Q

Convection

A

A circular motion created by heating and cooling

87
Q

Sea floor spreading

A

Divergent; plates are moving apart and new crust is pushing up from the mantle

88
Q

Converging

A

Oceanic-Continental: an oceanic plate being pulled under a continental plate
Oceanic-Oceanic: an oceanic plate being pulled under another oceanic plate
Continental-Continental: a continental plate being pulled under another continental plate

89
Q

Subduction

A

One plate sinking under another

90
Q

Faulting

A

Transverse; where played slide horizontally past each other (no crust produced or destroyed)

91
Q

Hot Spots

A

Localized sources of heat energy to sustain volcanoes. Over countless eruptions, the magma would rise above sea level, creating an island

92
Q

Frost Wedging

A

When water leaks into a crack in a rock and freezes, thus expanding and breaking the rock further

93
Q

Deposition

A

The laying down of sediments in a place, creating a new feature

94
Q

Globe

A

A scale model of the earth

95
Q

Title

A

Part of a map that tells what the map is about

96
Q

Legend or key

A

Part of a map that tells what the symbols in a map stand for

97
Q

Humidity

A

The amount of water vapor in the air

98
Q

Biome

A

A region in which the environment, plants, and animal life are suited for each other

99
Q

Frontal Precipitation

A

When warm air is forced upward by cooler air, creating an area of low pressure where water vapor is released, clouds form, and precipitation occurs

100
Q

Orographic Precipitation

A

Rain Shadow; the rain that occurs on the windward side of a mountain, when air is forced upward, creating an area of low pressure, and causing precipitation on the windward side of a mountain, although not the leeward, as the moisture has left the air as the cloud sinks, creating an area of high pressure

101
Q

Conventional Precipitation

A

When hot air rises off the ground, creating an area of low pressure, causing precipitation

102
Q

High Pressure

A

Air where the air particles are closer together, holding moisture in with them

103
Q

Low pressure

A

Air where particles are farther away from one another

104
Q

Choropleth Map

A

A map that uses differences in shading, coloring, or placing of symbols within predefined areas to indicate average values of a property or quantity in those areas

105
Q

Graduated Symbol Map

A

A map with symbols that change in size according to the value of the attribute they represent.

106
Q

Dot Distribution Map

A

A map that uses a for symbol to show the presence of a feature or phenomenon

107
Q

Isoline Map

A

A map with continuous lines joining points of the same value

108
Q

Spatial

A

The spread of something over space

109
Q

Lithosphere

A

The rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle

110
Q

Rifting

A

When two tectonic plates pull apart from each other, creating a Rift Valley

111
Q

Tropical

A

Very hot and humid climate

112
Q

Temperate

A

Moderate in temperature, not subject to prolonged extremes of hot or cold weather

113
Q

Polar

A

Extremely cold climate in the North or South Pole area

114
Q

Atmospheric Pressure

A

Pressure caused by the weight of the atmosphere

115
Q

Coriolanus Effect

A

A deflection of a body in motion with respect to the earth, caused by the rotation of the earth

116
Q

Warm Front/ Cold Front

A

A region where cold air is replacing warm air or vice versa

Geography (2 decks)

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