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Geography Midterm
| Lithosphere | Rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle. Ex. Rocky Mountains |
| Hydrosphere | All the water and watery layers of the earth. Ex. Oceans, lakes, clouds |
| Atmosphere Composition | Nitrogen 78%, Oxygen 21%, Argon .93%, Carbon Dioxide .04% |
| Electromagnetic Spectrum | Range of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation & their respective wavelengths. Ex. Infrared radiation, visible light, ultraviolet radiation. |
| Climate Zones | Divisions of the Earth's climates into general zones according to average temperature and average rainfall. Ex. Tropical, Subtropic, temperate, polar. |
| Insolation | The amount of solar radiation reaching a given area. Ex. Northern hemisphere experiences maximum on June 21st |
| Frictional Force | The force generated by two surfaces that slide against eachother. Ex. Wind over water or wind over ice. |
| Earth's Heat Balance | How the incoming energy from the sun is used and returned to space. Ex. Unbalanced = rising global temperatures. |
| Transmission | Occurs when electromagnetic energy is allowed to pass completely through an object. Ex. Sunlight through a glass window. |
| Conduction | Process by which heat or electricity is directly transmitted through a substance. Ex. Direct contact such as touching a rock |
| Subsolar Point;/ Point of Declanation | Latitude at which the sun is directly overhead at solar noon. Ex. The equator on the equinox |
| Absorption | Process in which solar radiation is retained by a substance and converted into heat energy. Ex. Pacific Ocean absorbing solar radiation. |
| Convection | Circular motion that happens when warmer air or liquid rises, while the cooler air or liquid drops down. Ex. Sea breeze |
| Advection | Lateral or horizontal transfer of mass, heat, or other property. Ex. Wind |
| Scattering | A change in direction of motion of a particle because of another particle. Ex. Light through a prism |
| Albedo | The proportion of light or radiation that is reflected by a surface. Ex. Low albedo = Concrete, High albedo = Snow/Ice |
| Solstice | Two times per year when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky, at noon. Ex. June 21st, December 21st |
| Convection Cell | Self contained convection zone in which upward motion of warmer fluid in the center is balanced by downward motion of cooler fluid at the periphery. Ex. Advection Fog |
| Geostrophic Winds | Wind that would result from an exact balance between the Coriolis force and the pressure gradient force. Ex. Directed parallel to isobars. |
| Plane of the Elliptic | Path of the sun's motion on the celestial sphere as seen from the earth. Ex. Tilted at 23.5 degrees |
| Latent Heat | The heat required to convert a solid into a liquid or vapor without a change in temperature. Ex. Ice melting but the water temp stays at 0 degrees. |
| Circle of Illumination | Imaginary line that separates light from darkness and day from night. Ex. Shown on apple watch or GPS world maps. |
| Layers of Atmosphere | Atmospheric layers based on temperature. Ex. Troposphere, Stratosphere, Mesosphere, Thermosphere, Exosphere |
| Atmosphere Temp | Measure of temperature at different levels of earth's atmosphere. Ex. Thermosphere is hot |
| Normal Lapse Rate | Rate at which temperature changes with altitude. Ex. 3.5 degrees F for every 1,000 feet |
| Temperature Controls 5 | Five factors that control atmospheric temperature. Ex. Land /Water (continentality), Ocean Currents, Altitude, Geographic Position, Albedo |
| Urban Heat Island | An urban or metropolitan area that is 10 degrees warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activity. Ex. Phoenix Arizona |
| Race to the South Pole | 1911, Brits and Norwegian explorers raced to be first to the south pole. Ex. Norwegians studied other ice cultures, Brits didn't and an Orca ate their Horse. |
| Hydrologic Cycle | Sequence of conditions through which water passes from vapor in the atmosphere through precipitation upon land or water surfaces and ultimately back into the atmosphere as a result of evaporation and transpiration. Ex. Lake effect snowfall. |
| Three Stages of Water | Solid, Liquid, Gas Ex. Ice, Water, Steam |
| Relative Humidity | The amount of water vapor present in air, expressed as a percentage of the amount needed for saturation at the same temperature. Ex. Colder air & same amount of water vapor will produce a higher relative humidity. RELATIVE to air temp |
| Specific Humidity | Mass of water vapor in a unit mass of moist air, usually expressed as grams of vapor per kilogram of air. Ex. Actual amount of water vapor in the air. |
| Stable Air | Air marked by stability or relative calmness within it's lower layers. Cooler than its surrounding atmosphere; tends to sink back to its original position. Ex. Fog or stratiform clouds. Cool air sinking. |
| Unstable Air | Moist convection; the lowest layers of an air mass are so warm and/or humid that, if some of the air rises, then that air parcel is warmer than its environment and continues to rise. Ex. Warm air rising, low pressure system |
| Dry Adiabatic Rate | Rate at which the temperature of a parcel of dry air decreases as the parcel is lifted in the atmosphere. Ex. 5.5 degrees F per 1,000 Feet. |
| Moist Adiabatic Rate | Rate at which the temperature of a parcel of saturated air decreases as the parcel is lifted in the atmosphere. Ex. Not constant, dependent on temperature and pressure. Equator vs Seattle. |
| Pressure Gradients | Physical quantity that describes which direction and at what rate the pressure increases the most rapidly around a particular location. Ex. Air pressure decreases the higher the altitude. |
| Specific Heat Capacity | The amount of heat energy absorbed by a substance associated to its corresponding temperature increase. Ex. Water is much higher than rock/metal. |
| Cloud Classification/Forms | By shape/form and altitude/height. Ex. Low->High; Stratus, Alto, Cirrus. |
| Advection Fog | Fog generated when warm moist air moves horizontally across a cooler surface creating a heat inversion layer. Ex. Santa Barbara, SanFrancisco. |
| Radiation Fog | Fog formed overnight as the air near the ground cools and stabilizes creating a heat inversion layer. Ex. Fresno, The great valley. |
| Air Lifting (4) | Orographic, Convection, Convergence, Frontal. |
| Dew Point | The atmospheric temperature below which water droplets begin to condense. Ex. Usually happens at 4am. |
| Global Wind/Pressure Systems | Main belts of wind that move in particular directions across the earth. Ex. Responsible for true desert regions and precipitation in Seattle/ Alaska. |
| Coriolis Effect | A force felt by a rotating mass that acts perpendicular to the direction of motion and to the axis of rotation. Ex. Deflects to the right in northern hemisphere, and to the left in southern. |
| Monsoon | Seasonal prevailing wind in Southeast Asia. Ex. Cyclone in Asia. |
| Tornado | Vortex of rotating winds beneath a large storm system. Ex. Cyclone over land, short lived. |
| Hurricane | Circular storm with violent wind. Ex. Tropical Cyclone. |
| True Desert | Landscape or region that receives very little precipitation. 20-40 degrees north and south of the equator. Ex. Sahara |
| Orographic Desert | Also known as rain shadow, a dry area on the leeward side of a mountainous area. Ex. Central Washington/Oregon. |
| Climate | The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general over a long period. Ex. Tropical |
| Weather | The state of the atmosphere at a certain place and time in regards to heat, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc. Ex. Its 78 degrees today. |
| Climate Zones | Polar, Temperate, Tropical. |
| Geologic Timescale | System of chronological dating that relates geological strata to time. Ex. The data is in the strata; fossil record etc. |
| Time Zones | Specific areas on earth that have a time of day that is either earlier or later than their neighboring time zones. Ex. 0 = Greenwich England |
| Meridians | Line of longitude. Ex. Prime Meridian. |
| Parallels | Lines of latitude. Ex. Equator. |
| Daylight Savings Time | Process of turning the clock ahead as warmer weather approaches and back as it becomes colder again so that people will have one more hour of daylight in the afternoon and evening during the warmer season of the year. Ex. For farming/harvesting. |
| Latitude | Angular distance of a place north or south of the equator. Ex. SB is at 34 degrees. N. |
| Longitude | Angular distance of a place east or west of the prime meridian. Ex. SB is at 119 degrees. W. |
| Lithosphere | Rigid outer part of the earth consisting of crust and upper mantle. |
| Asthenosphere | Upper layer of earth's mantle, below the lithosphere, in which there is relatively low resistance to plastic flow and convection is thought to occur. Ex. Where magma comes from. |
| Mantle | Mostly solid bulk of Earth's interior. Between core and crust. 84% of Earth's total volume. Ex. Rock |
| Core | Made of two layers; outer which borders the mantle, and inner. |
| Tectonic Plates | Lithosphere divided into a small number of plates which float on and travel independently over the mantle. Much of the earth's seismic activity occurs at the boundaries of these plates. Ex. Pacific Plate. |
| Plate Boundaries | Boundary regions between plates. Ex. Convergent, Divergent, Transform. |
| Convergent PB | Tectonic boundary where two plates are moving toward each other. Ex. Nazca Plate and South American Plate form the Andes Mountain Range. |
| Divergent PB | Two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other. Ex. North American and Eurasian tectonic plates form the Mid Atlantic Ridge in Iceland. |
| Transform PB | Tectonic plates slide past one another. Ex. San Andreas Fault |
| Endogenic Landforms | Landforms formed by folding, faulting and vulcanicity. Ex. Mountains, Plateaus, Plains, Lakes, Faults, Folds. |
| Exogenic Landforms | Landforms formed by solar and gravitational energy; weathering, mass movements, erosion, and deposition. Ex. Yosemite ? |
| Igneous Rock | Rocks formed by the cooling and solidifying of molten materials. Ex. Basalt, Granite, Obsidian. |
| Sedimentary Rock | Rock formed from mechanical, chemical, or organic sediment. Ex. Sandstone, Limestone, Coal. |
| Metamorphic Rock | Rock which has been changed by extreme heat and pressure. Ex. Slate, Marble. |
| Intrusive Igneous Rock | Rocks that crystalize below Earth's surface, and the slow cooling that occurs there allows large crystals to form. Ex. Granite, Peridotite, Diorite. |
| Extrusive Igneous Rock | Form when magma reaches the Earth's surface and cools quickly. Ex. Volcanic Rhyolite, Andesite. |
| Dike | A long wall or embankment to prevent flooding from the sea. Ex. Isle of Arran, 100's of igneous dikes. |
| Sill | A tabular sheet of igneous rock intruded between and parallel with the existing strata. Ex. Whin Sill, Karoo Basin Sills. |
| Laccolith | A mass of igneous rock, typically lens-shaped, that has been intruded between rock strata causing uplift in the shape of a dome. Ex. Henry Mountains, Utah. Lots in Ireland if I remember. |
| Batholith | Very large igneous intrusion extending deep in the Earth's crust. Ex. Sierra Nevada Batholith. |
| Pluton | A body of intrusive igneous rock. Ex. Half Dome. Yosemite. |
| Xenolith | A rock fragment that becomes enveloped in a larger rock during the latter's development and solidification. Ex. Xenocryst, quartz in lava, diamonds in kimberlite diatremes. |
| Minerals In Earth's Interior | Ultramafic rock; iron and magnesium, silicon and oxygen. |
| What is Geography | The why of where. Ex. Why are there earthquakes in California. |
| Branches of Geography | Human, Physical. Ex. Economic, World Regional, Climate, Cartography. |
| Earth Shapes and Rotation | Shape; Ellipsoid, with greater distance between the center and the surface at the equator than the center and the surface at the poles. Earth rotates eastward, counterclockwise from north. |
| Five Themes of Geography | Location, Place, Human - Environment Interaction, Movement, Region. |
| Map Projections | The representation on a plane surface of any part of the surface of the earth. Ex. Political, Tectonic Plates, Cylindrical, Mercator. |
Created by:
eereilly
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