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Ressler / Jubina
Geography Chapter 1 and 2 Vocabulary
Question | Answer |
---|---|
perspective | point of view based on a person's experience and personal understanding |
spatial perspective | point of view based on looking at where something is and why it is there |
geography | the study of Earth's physical and cultural features |
urban | an area that contains a city |
rural | an area of open land that is often used for farming |
absolute location | the exact spot on Earth where something is found, often stated in latitude and longitude |
relative location | the position of a place in relation to another place |
subregions | small areas of a region |
diffusion | the movement of ideas or behaviors from one cultural region to another |
levees | large walls, usually made of dirt, built along rivers to prevent flooding |
human geography | the study of people, past or present |
physical geography | the study of Earth's natural landscape and physical stems, including the atmosphere |
cartography | the art and science of mapmaking |
meterology | the field of forecasting and reporting rainfall, temperatures, and other atmospheric conditions |
climatology | the field of tracking Earth's larger atmospheric systems |
solar system | the sun and the objects that move about it, including planets, moons, and asteroids |
orbit | the path an object makes around a central object, such as a planet around the Sun |
satellite | A body that orbits a larger body |
axis | an imaginary line that runs from the North Pole through Earth's center to the South Pole |
rotation | one complete spin of Earth on its axis |
revolution | one complete orbit around the Sun |
Artic Circle | the line of latitude located at 66.5 degrees north of he equator |
Antarctic Circle | The line of latitude located at 66.5 degrees south of the equator |
solstice | the day's when the Sun's vertical rays are farthest from the equator |
Tropic of Cancer | the line of latitude that is 23.5 degrees north of the equator |
Tropic of Capricorn | the line of latitude that is 23.5 degrees south of the equator |
equinoxes | the two days of the year when the Sun's rays strike the equator directly |
atmosphere | the layer of gases that surrounds the Earth |
ozone | A form of oxygen in the atmosphere that helps protect Earth from harmful solar radiation |
water vapor | the gaseous form of water |
water cycle | the circulation of water from Earth's surface to the atmosphere and back |
evaporation | the process by which heated water becomes water vapor and rises into the air |
condensation | the process by which water changes from a gas into tiny liquid droplets |
precipitation | the process by which water falls back to Earth |
tributary | any smaller stream or river that flows into a larger stream or river |
groundwater | the water from rainfall, river, lakes, and melting snow that seeps into the ground |
continental shelf | the gently sloping underwater land surrounding each continent |
landforms | the shapes on Earth's surface |
plain | a nearly flat area on Earths surface |
plateau | an elevated flatland on Earth's surface |
isthmus | a neck of land connecting two larger land areas |
peninsula | land bordered by water on three sides |
plate tectonics | the theory that Earth's surface is divided into several major, slowly moving plates or pieces |
core | the inner, solid part of Earth |
mantle | the liquid layer that surrounds Earth's core |
crust | the outer, solid layer of Earth |
magma | melted rock in the upper mantle of Earth |
lava | magma that has broken through the crust to Earth's surface |
continents | Earth's large landmasses |
subduction | the movement of one of Earth's heavier tectonic plates underneath a lighter tectonic plate |
earthquakes | sudden, violent movement along a fracture within Earth's crust |
fault | a fractured surface in Earth's crust where a mass of rock is in motion |
Pangaea | Earth's single, original supercontinent from which today's continents were seperated |
weathering | the process of breaking rocksinto smaller pieces through heat, water, or other means |
erosion | the movement by water, ice, or wind of rocky materials to another location |
alluvial fan | a fan shaped landform created by deposits of sediment at the base of a mountain |
floodplain | a landform of level ground built by sidiment deposited by a river or stream |
deltas | landforms created by the deposits of sediment at the mouths of rivers |
glaciers | large, slow-moving sheets or rivers of ice |