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World Geography Exam 1
geo exam 1
84
Geography
Undergraduate 3
03/27/2012

Additional Geography Flashcards

 


 

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Term
Physical Geography
Definition
  focuses on the characteristics of the physical environment like the soil, plants, animals or climate.  This area of geography is more of a natural science.
Term
Human Geography
Definition

examines human groups and their activities, including building of structures, utilization of natural resources and communication among others.

 
Term
Cultural Geography
Definition
is a subfield of human geography that specifically examines the effects of human societies on the world around them.  This is where geography bridges physical sciences and social sciences
Term
Eratosthenes
Definition
He was the first person to use the word "geography", which was on his tomb and invented the discipline of geography as we understand it. He invented a system of latitude and longitude.Was the director of the library in Alexandria
Term
Herodotus
Definition
was the "father of history" and incorporated geography into his book "the histories" which chronicled the Greco-Prusian Wars
Term
Bernhard Varen
Definition

German Geography who compiled the data gained from the 1300's to the 1600's which lead to the establishment of what we know as region geography

Motivated by European Royals search for weath and trade routes to India and the Middle East

Term
[image]
Definition

Mercator maps were good for early ocean navigation.  Originally designed in the Age of Discovery, it made simple straight lines between important access routes.

This projection is poor because the spatial distortions at the poles are significant.  Greenland, according to a Mercator map, is approximately the size of South America, which is very inaccurate.

 
Term
[image]
Definition

Robinson’s projection is good because it is easy on the eyes.  It curves at the edges which allude to the earth’s round shape.

This projection is bad because the further out from the Prime Meridian the more distortion there is. 

Term
Area Analysis
Definition
focuses on integrating geographic features of an area or a place into the study.  Specifically, how a features shapes the way people there live.
Term
Spatial Analysis
Definition
emphasizes the linking interaction (or lack there of) among a number of places.  Such as, but not limited to, trade between localized cities in particular regions or the nature of regional (international) relations (hostile neighbors).
Term
Geographic System's Analysis
Definition
tends to stress the understanding of environmental, human systems, and the complex set of interactions between them.  Such as, instability of levees along the Mississippi River and the willingness of people to relocate from that region.
Term
Weather
Definition
day to day variations in percipitation, temperature, and other atmospheric conditions
Term
Climate
Definition
Statistical summary of the weather over an extended period of time
Term
Solar Radiation
Definition
As objects on the earth come into contact with the sun’s rays they become hot.  Different objects heat and cool differently.  For instance, water heats slower than soil but remains warmer longer than soil once away from the sun’s rays
Term
Angle of Incidence
Definition
measures the intensity of solar radiation. The more direct the rays the more intense the heat.
Term
Solstices/equinoxes
Definition
The earth’s tilt (23.5 degrees on average) creates the fluctuation of the seasons in higher latitudes.  The suns rays are only directly striking the equator during vernal and autumn equinoxes.   Summer and Winter solstices occur when the sun’s rays are striking the Northern or Southern Hemisphere
Term
Convection
Definition
occurs when air on the surfaces rises and cooler air displaces downward
Term
Advection
Definition
when warmer air moves away from the equator and toward the poles
Term
Precipitation
Definition
Any type of moisture that originates in the atmosphere that settles on the hydrosphere or lithosphere
Term
Condensation
Definition
occurs when air conatining water vapor comes in contact with a cooler mass
Term
Coriolis Effect
Definition
causes winds to move in an indirect and curving path throughout different parts of the earth, this is caused primarily because the earth rotates as it revolves around the sun.  
Term
Cyclones/Tornadoes
Definition

cyclones aka hurricanes- low pressure systems that grow in intensity

 

Term
Global Climate Change
Definition
is caused by an increased amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere and an decrease in other ozone gasses like O3.
Term
Alfred Wagner
Definition
originally thought of the theory of Plate Tectonics, thought that the Earth used to be a supercontinent until continential drift occured
Term
Plate Tectonics
Definition
are massive sheets of rocks/minerals that can be covered partially or entirely by water.  These plates move in conjunction with each other as pressures from beneath the surface of the earth build and release.  
Term
Continential Drift
Definition
when the continents drift from their original formation
Term
Earthquakes
Definition
sudden movements in the Earth's crust that are often caused my plate tectonics
Term
volcanoes
Definition
usually occur along the boundary of tectonic plates.
Term
Sheild Volcanoes
Definition
do not usually cause violent erruptions, but form islands such as Hawaii
Term
composite volcanoes
Definition
more violent erruptions that can spew massive amounts of ash and lava and be very destructive
Term
Plate Boundaries
Definition

where tectonic plates come together

-convergent

-divergent

-transform

Term
convergent plate boundaries
Definition

where plates come together and one settles over the other

-mountain ranges often form

-lava rises from the cracks 

Term
divergent boundaries
Definition

-aka sea floor spreading

-when two plates move apart form eachother

-lava continuously rises to the surface but rarely erruptions occur

Term
transform boundaries
Definition

when the plates move next to each other

-san Andreas Fault

Term
weathering
Definition
the decomposition of rocks (occurs in rocks of all sizes)
Term
erosion
Definition
the decomposition of rocks and then these pieces being carried away by other agents of nature
Term
glaciers
Definition
thick layers of moving ice that covers vast expanses
Term
Alpine glaciers
Definition
exist where large amounts of snow fall happen before it is able to melt and the elevation rises
Term
Continential Glaciers
Definition

those located in areas of the extreme north and south

-more permanant

Term
Moraines
Definition
large amounts of debris that were carries by the movement of glaciers and deposited in a place
Term
desert pavement
Definition
hard surface created after all small sediments have been swept away by wind in a desert
Term
tsunamis
Definition
usually created by underwater earthquakes, these are the largest and most destructive waves and can travel for thousands of miles
Term
Hydrolic Cycle
Definition

the water cycle

-the continuous movement of water on Earth through evaporation, condensation, precipitation, and runoff

Term
Run-Off
Definition
process where excess water on land is carried away by streams rivers to oceans seas and lakes
Term
Water Budget
Definition
the total amount of water that flows through an area at a given time
Term
Evapotranspiration
Definition
the process of plants taking water from the soil in order to grow and reproduce
Term
Carbon and Oxygen Cycles
Definition
cycles linked because plants give off oxygen through photosynthesis and animals give off carbon dioxcide through respiration
Term
Mineral/Nitrogen Cycles
Definition
the interaction between the lithosphere and biosphere is the soil...
Term
Ecosystem Participants
Definition
(1) abiotic chemicals, (2) producers, (3) consumers, & (4) decomposers
Term
10/90 Rule
Definition

10% of energy consumed adds to biomass

90% is burned off and dissapated as heat

Term
climax community
Definition
one a group of plants and animals create a mutually successful environment. They rely on each other to survive.
Term
biodiversity
Definition
the variations of plants and animals in an environment
Term
Population Density
Definition
the number of people that live in a given space in average
Term
Carrying Capacity
Definition
the fertility of yeild value of a given piece of crop land
Term
Crude Birth/Death Rate
Definition
the total annual number of births/deaths per 1000 of a given country/region
Term
Fertility Rates
Definition
The number of children boorn per 1000 women in a given area
Term
Total Fertility Rates (TFR)
Definition
the averagy number of children that would be born to each woman in a given society if, durning child bearing years she bore children at the current rate for women her age
Term
Replacement Rates
Definition

the rate at chich women bare childrean at the TFR and immigration rates

(determines if a regions population increases or decreases)

Term
Population Pyramid
Definition
tools used in demographic analysis to measure the different age segments of a given population
Term
Dependency Ratios
Definition
the percentage of the population that is considered to be relativly unproductive in a society
Term
Demographic Transition Model
Definition

A system used my scholars that defines the growth of an area through three stages

(1)slow population growth (high crude death/birth rates)

(2)Medicine comes in-crude death decreases

(3)crude birth rates decline caused by low infant mortality

Term
Overpopulation
Definition
the thought that humanity would reach its limits of ability to sustain itself
Term
sex ratio
Definition
some countries are trying to decrease population (china killing or abandoning girl children to carry on family name)
Term
aging populaiton
Definition

causeing problems

-not enough healthcare

-not enough money to sustain retirement programs

-baby boomers=big aging population

Term
migration
Definition

when people move from one place to another due to push or pull factors

 

Term
Brain Drain
Definition
occurs when an area produces a large amount of educated younger individuals and does not have jobs to support them
Term
Green Revolution
Definition
an attempt to produce grain in new variations to help underdeveloped countries prosper
Term
Subsistence Farming
Definition
when poeple grow farms primarily for consumption by their immediate families and then to sell if any is left
Term
Commercial Farming
Definition
When lines of transportation, communication, and inter-regional/international market develops, farms begin growing cash crop for profit and usually end up depleting the soil
Term
Livestock
Definition

Cows cattle

chickens

pigs or hogs

Term
halophytes
Definition

plants that grow and thrive in salt water

(kelp and seaweed)

Term
Natural Resources
Definition
Anything created through natural processes that people use and value
Term
Potential Resources
Definition
a resource that a society does not have the ability to harness
Term
Sustainability
Definition
the amount of a natural resource in relation to how much it is used by factors in the environment
Term
substitutability
Definition
being able to use different resources for the same task
Term
Renewable Resources
Definition
natual resources that replace themselves naturally
Term
non-renewable resources
Definition
natural resources that form slowly and connot be replaced when used
Term
mineral resources
Definition
substance derived for the lithosphere.basic materials that humans use to construct other things
Term
Waste Disposal Methods
Definition

-Landfills

-incineration

-recycling

Term
Energy Resource
Definition
bother natural and chemical sources of heat/power
Term
Air Pollution
Definition
Caused by the releasing of excessive amounts of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxcides and sulfur oxcides from automobiles
Term
Acid Deposition
Definition
Produced when sulfur oxcides and nitrogen oxcides are discharged into the atmosphere where they mix with water and oxygen molecules and form sulfuric acid and nitric acid
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