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MAT Geography
Question | Answer |
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Delta | Triangular soil deposit at the mouth of a river |
Distributaries | Channels carrying water off the main stream of the river |
Tributaries | Small bodies of water that feed into the main stream of a river |
Source | Place of origin for a river |
River Basin | Area drained by a river system |
Mouth | Where a river empties into another body of water |
Chemical Weathering | Breaking down rock mass into smaller particles by interaction between surface and underground water and Chem in the rock mass |
Continents | Great divisions of land on the earth: N. America, S. America, Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Europe, & Australia. |
Erosion | Wearing away of the earths surface by moving ice (glaciers), water, or wind. |
Extrusive vulcanism | Molten material hardens on the earth's surface (e.g. basalt) |
Vulcanism | The outpouring of molten material from cracks in the earth. |
Intrusive vulcanism | Molten material hardens before it reaches the earth's surface (e.g. granite), not exposed on the earth's surface. |
Lava | Above ground molten material |
Magma | Underground molten material |
Pangaea | Supercontinent of 200 million years ago later separated into Gondwana and Laurasia which further separated into todays continents. |
Faulting | Break in earth's crust. |
Folding | Intense bending of earth's crust, produces accordion affect also referred to as the ridge and valley topography. |
Glaciation | Movement of continental and alpine ace and snow that rubs and shapes topography |
Topography | Detailed, precises description of a place or region |
Geomorphology | The study of landform origins, characteristics, and evolutions and their processes. |
Gravity Transfer | The force of gravity is the attraction of the earth's mass for bodies at or near its surface. |
Igneous rocks | (Like ignite) Formed by cooling and hardening of the earths material. |
Loess | Fine fertile soil that is transported by wind (in glaciated regions) |
Metamorphic rocks | Igneous or sedimentary rocks transformed due to heat, pressure, or chemical reaction. |
Pacific Ring of Fire | Series of volcanoes surrounding the Pacific Ocean, includes 80% of the world's active volcanoes |
Physical Weathering | Breaking down rock mass into smaller particles by force or pressure |
Plate tectonic process | Portions of the earth's mantle and crust on separate slowly moving "plates". Responsible for mountain-building, volcanoes, and earthquakes. |
Sedimentary Rocks | Composed of particles of gravel, sand, silt (fine particles of soil), and clay that were eroded from other rocks. |
Warping | Gentle bending of the earth's crust. |
Weathering | Breaking down rock mass into smaller particles |
Antarctic Circle | 66.5 Degrees north |
Tropic of Cancer | 23.5 degrees north |
Tropic of Capricorn | 23.5 degrees south |
Arctic Circle | 66.5 degrees south |
Cartography | Construction of maps |
Conic Projection | (con as in cone) projection of the globe onto a cone |
Contour interval | vertical distance separating two adjacent contour lines |
Contour line | Line along which all other points are of equal elevation above or below a datum (single plane, usually indicating mean sea level. |
Cylindrical projection | Projection of the earth onto a cylinder (e.g. navigation uses |
Equidistant | Can be centered anywhere, facilitating the correct measurement of distances from that point to all others. |
Gnomonic Projections | All great circles appear as straight lines |
Lines of Latitude (Parallels) | (Fatty Latty) Run east and west. Measure the distance north and south of the equator. Highest latitude is 90 degrees N. (north pole) and S. (south pole) |
Lines of Longitude (meridians) | Run north and south. Meausre the distance east and west of the prime meridian The highest longitude is 180 degrees, called the International Date Line |
Planar (azimuthal) | Projection of a globe grid onto a plane (used in atlases) |
Scale | Ratio between the measurements of something on a map and the corresponding measurement on the earth. (e.g. 1 inch to 1 mile) |
Topographical features | Portray the surface terrain of small areas, usually in detail. |
Air pressure | The weight of air as measured at a point on the earth's surface (barometric pressure) |
Air Temperature | Controlled by the intensity and duration of radiation from the sun (solar energy). Generally, air temperature decreases with increasing elevation. |
Atmospheric Moisture | Precipitation is water deposited on the earths surface. |
Convection | Results from the flow of air that replaces warm rising air and the rapid movement of replacement air. |
Convectional Preciptiation | Caused by rising, heated, moisture-laden air (rain or hail can occur) |
Cyclonic (frontal) precipitation | Occurs in mid-altitudes as cool and warm air masses meet |
Ocean currents | Wind direction and the differences in density (of water) cause water to move in paths from one part of the the ocean to another |
Orographic Precipitation | Occurs as warm air is forced to rise because of some obstruction (hill or mountain) |
Pressure gradients | Occur with differences in air pressure between areas that induce air to flow from areas of high to areas of low pressure |
storms | occur whenever two ari masses come into contact (cyclone, hurricane, tornado) |
Wind belt | Prevailing surface wind movements responding to pressure gradients (jet stream, monsoon) |
Humid subtropical | Soil may become leached and slightly acidic. Mild winters; hot and humid summers |
Acid rain | from the burning of fossil fuels, generally with a pH<5 |
Aquifer | Layer of water-bearing. Porous rocks lying between impermeable layers |
Biocides | Herbicides and pesticides |
Ecosystem | Population of organisms existing together in an area with the resources (air, water, soil, chemicals) upon which it depends. |
Fertilizers | excess nutrients in water (eutrophication |
Food chain | transfer of energy and material from one organism to another |
Greenhouse effect | Gases released concentrate in the atmosphere, thus providing an insulation barrier of heat, causing warming of the earth. |
Hydrologic cycle | involves the cycling of water in different forms and composition through evaporation and transpiration (emission of water vapor from plants) |
Hydrosphere | Surface and subsurface waters. (e.g. oceans, lakes, glaciers, groundwaters) not immediately available for use |
Nonrenewable resource | Are generated in nature slowly and in small quantities (crude oil, natural gas, coal, synthetic fuels) |
Ozone | Formed from automobile and industrial gas emissions |
Renewable resource | Materials that can be regenerated in nature faster than society can recover them (biomass [living matter], wood, waste, hydroelectric power, solar power) |
Resource | a naturally occurring, recoverable material that a society perceives to be useful to its economic and material wellbeing |
Resource reserves | nuclear energy (fission process) |
Troposphere | the layer of air closest to the earth, extending upward about 7-8 miles |
Crude Birth Rate (CBR) | Annual number of live births per population of 1000 (without regard to sex or age) |
Crude death Rate (CDR) | annual number of deaths per population of 1,000 |
Crude population density | the number of people per unit are of land, usually within the boundaries of a political entity |
Demographic Transition Model | Traces the changing levels of human fertility and mortality over time. Give a relationship between population grown and economic development |
Rate of natural increase | The crude death rate is subtracted from the the crude birth rate (excluding the effects of immigrations or emigration) |
Total fertility rate (TFR) | More accurate, since it gives the average number of children that would be born to each woman if during her child-bearing years she bore children at the current years rate for women her age |
Assimilation | Process of merging into a composite culture and becoming culturally homogenized (e.g. one culture) |
Culture hearth | cultural innovation-ideas that diffuse from the origin to other places around the world. |
Cultural landscape | part of the landscape modified by humans |
cultural traits | the smallest distinctive items of a culture |
Dialect | regional or socioeconomic variation of a more widely spoken language |
Environmental determinism | Belief that the physical environment by itself shapes humans, their actions, and their thoughts |
Ethnocentrism | Believing one's own people and culture as setting the proper standard for others |
Language Family | a group of languages thought to have a common origin in a single earlier tongue |
Possibilism | The view point that people are dynamic forces of cultural development (more widely accepted) |