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World Geo Terms
Chapter 1-13 Terms to Know
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| CHAPTER 1 | |
| Geography | the study of the natural features of the earth's surface, including topography, climate, soil, vegetation, etc, and man's response to them |
| Latitude | the distance north or south from the equator of a point on the earth's surface |
| Longitude | distance east or west on the earth's surface |
| Relative Location | locating a place in relation to other places nearby |
| Linear Distance | the distance between two defined points |
| Map Projection | representing or a representation of the globe or celestial sphere or part of it on a flat map, using a grid of lines of latitude and longitude |
| Topographic Map | a map showing topographic features, usu. by means of contour lines |
| GPS | GPS, which stands for Global Positioning System, is a radio navigation system that allows land, sea, and airborne users to determine their exact location, velocity, and time 24 hours a day, in all weather conditions, anywhere in the world |
| Compass Rose | a circle showing the principal directions printed on a map or chart |
| Prime Meridian | a planet's meridian adopted as the zero of longitude |
| CHAPTER 2 | |
| Core | the central or most important part of something, in particular |
| Atmosphere | the envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet the envelope of gases surrounding the earth or another planet |
| Lithosphere | the rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle; the solid portion of the earth |
| Hydrosphere | all the waters on the earth's surface, such as lakes and seas, and sometimes including water over the earth's surface, such as clouds |
| Drainage Basin | an area through which rivers or water sources flow in a given location |
| Groundwater | water held underground in the soil or in pores and crevices in rock |
| Relief | the difference between the highest and lowest elevations in an area |
| Continental Shelf | the edge of a continent that lies under the ocean. |
| Fault | a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other |
| Seismograph | an instrument used to measure the strength of an earthquake |
| Ring of Fire | the site of mountain ranges, along with volcanoes and earthquakes |
| Mechanical Weathering | The process of weathering by which physical forces break down or reduce a rock to smaller and smaller |
| Chemical Weathering | the break down of rocks, soils and minerals through the processes of oxidation and hydrolysis |
| Delta | a low, watery land formed at the mouth of a river. It is formed from the silt, sand and small rocks that flow downstream in the river and are deposited in the delta; A delta is often (but not always) shaped like a triangle |
| Loess | a fine-grained, yellowish-brown, extremely fertile loam deposited mainly by the wind and found widely in North America, Asia, and Europe |
| Moraine | a mass of rocks and sediment carried down and deposited by a glacier, typically as ridges at its edges or extremity |
| Humus | the dark organic material in soils, produced by the decomposition of vegetable or animal matter and essential to the fertility of the earth |
| Erosion | the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents |
| Sediment | Material recently deposited by water, ice or wind, or precipitated from water |
| Lava | hot molten or semifluid rock erupted from a volcano or fissure, or solid rock resulting from cooling of this |
| CHAPTER 3 | |
| Solstice | either of the two times in the year, the summer solstice and the winter solstice, when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days (north and south) |
| Equinox | one of the two times in a year when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator, and day and night are of equal length (east and west) |
| Weather | the state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc. |
| Climate | the weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period |
| Rain Shadow | a region having little rainfall because it is sheltered from prevailing rain-bearing winds by a range of hills |
| Blizzard | a severe snowstorm with high winds and low visibility |
| Convection | transport of heat and moisture by the movement of a fluid |
| Tundra | a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen |
| Permafrost | a thick subsurface layer of soil that remains frozen throughout the year, occurring chiefly in polar regions |
| Semi Arid | a dry climate that exhibits a short wet season supporting the growth of grasses and annual plants |
| Ecosystem | a biological community of interacting organisms and their physical environment |
| Deciduous Forest | a type of forest characterized by trees that seasonally shed their leaves |
| Coniferous Forest | a type of forest characterized by cone-bearing, needle-leaved trees |
| CHAPTER 5 | |
| Continental Divide | a divide separating river systems that flow to opposite sides of a continent |
| Prevailing Westerlies | the winds from the west that occur in the temperate zones of the Earth |
| Everglades | a marshy tract of land that is mostly under water and covered with tall grass |
| Nomads | A member of a group of people who have no fixed home and move according to the seasons from place to place in search of food, water, and grazing land |
| Beringia | a loosely defined region surrounding the Bering Strait, the Chukchi Sea, and the Bering Sea |
| Canadian Shield | One of the world's largest geologic continental shields, centered on Hudson Bay and extending for 3 million sq mi over Canada from the Great Lakes to the Canadian Arctic |
| Locks | A section of a waterway, such as a canal, closed off with gates, in which vessels in transit are raised or lowered by raising or lowering the water level of that section |
| CHAPTER 6 | |
| Migration | to go from one country, region, or place to another |
| Louisiana Purchase | territory in the western United States purchased from France in 1803 for $15 million; extends from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to Canada |
| Frontier | a line or border separating two countries |
| Suburbs | a residential district situated on the outskirts of a city or town |
| Representative Democracy | a form of democracy founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people |
| 3 Branches of Government | Legislative- creates laws judicial- interprets laws and administers justice executive- enforces laws |
| Lewis and Clark Expedition | an expedition sent by Thomas Jefferson to explore the northwestern territories of the United States; led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark; traveled from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River from 1803 to 1806 |
| Federal Republic | a form of government made up of a federal state with a constitution and self-governing subunits |
| CHAPTER 9 | |
| Llanos | (in South America) a treeless grassy plain |
| Cerrado | a vast tropical savanna ecoregion of Brazil, particularly in the states of Goiás and Minas Gerais |
| Pampas | extensive, treeless plains in South America |
| Rain Forest | a luxuriant, dense forest rich in biodiversity, found typically in tropical areas with consistently heavy rainfall |
| Terraced Farming | A farming method in which steep hillsides are fashioned into a step-like series of level terraces. Terraced farming conserves runoff water and prevents soil erosion |
| Slash and Burn | of, relating to, or denoting a method of agriculture in which existing vegetation is cut down and burned off before new seeds are sown, typically used as a method for clearing forest land for farming |
| Push Factors | what make people leave |
| Pull Factors | what draw people to new places |
| Infrastructure | the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g., buildings, roads, and power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise |
| Tourism | the commercial organization and operation of vacations and visits to places of interest |
| CHAPTER 12 | |
| Fjord | a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs, as in Norway and Iceland, typically formed by submergence of a glaciated valley |
| Peat | a brown, soil-like material characteristic of boggy, acid ground, consisting of partly decomposed vegetable matter. It is widely cut and dried for use in gardening and as fuel |
| North Atlantic Drift | The North Atlantic Current is a powerful warm ocean current that continues the Gulf Stream northeast. West of Continental Europe it splits into two major branches |
| Sirocco | a hot wind, often dusty or rainy, blowing from North Africa across the Mediterranean to southern Europe |
| Mistral | a strong, cold northwesterly wind that blows through the Rhône valley and southern France into the Mediterranean, mainly in winter |
| Polder | a piece of low-lying land reclaimed from the sea or a river and protected by dikes, esp. in the Netherlands |
| Dike | a piece of low-lying land reclaimed from the sea or a river and protected by dikes, esp. in the Netherlands |
| Terpen | mounds to which they retreated during periods of high water |
| Acid Rain | rainfall made sufficiently acidic by atmospheric pollution that it causes environmental harm, typically to forests and lakes |
| 4 Large Islands in the North | Ireland, Greenland, United Kingdom, Iceland |
| CHAPTER 13 | |
| City-State | a city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state |
| Republic | a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch |
| Crusades | a medieval military expedition, one of a series made by Europeans to recover the Holy Land from the Muslims in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries |
| Renaissance | the period of European history at the close of the Middle Ages and the rise of the modern world; a cultural rebirth from the 14th through the middle of the 17th centuries |
| Aqueducts | an artificial channel for conveying water, typically in the form of a bridge supported by tall columns across a valley |
| Reformation | a 16th-century movement for the reform of abuses in the Roman Catholic Church ending in the establishment of the Reformed and Protestant Churches |
| Feudalism | A political, economic, or social order resembling this medieval system. |
| Nationalism | patriotic feeling, principles, or efforts |
| Bubonic Plagues | a very serious disease that is spread especially by rats and that killed many people in the Middle Ages |
| Holocaust | destruction or slaughter on a mass scale, esp. caused by fire or nuclear war |
Created by:
JessicaMSilva
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