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Physical World
Geography of the Physical World
Term | Definition |
---|---|
climate | the average weather in an area over a long period of time |
earthquakes | an event in which the ground shakes or trembles, brought about by the collision of tectonic plates |
fault | a place where two tectonic plates grind against each other |
tsunami | a giant ocean wave caused by volcanic eruptions or movement of the earth under the ocean floor |
erosion | the process by which weathered bits of rock are moved elsewhere by water, wind, or ice |
weathering | the process by which Earth’s surface is worn away by natural forces like ice, rain, wind, and chemicals. |
glacier | a large body of ice that moves slowly across land |
plateau | a flat area that rises above the surrounding land |
plains | a large expanse of land that can be flat or have a gentle roll |
continent | a large, unbroken mass of land |
groundwater | the water contained inside Earth’s crust |
desalinization | a process that makes salt water safe to drink |
delta | an area where sand, silt, clay, or gravel is dropped at the mouth of a river |
tetonic plates | one of the 16 pieces of Earth’s crust |