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exam 1
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| region | one of five traditional themes of geographic teaching and research, as defined as an area with uniform physical or human characteristics |
| movement | one of five traditional themes of geographic teaching and research, focusing on migration, communication, and the interaction of people and processes across space. |
| atmosphere | The thin veil of gases surrounding Earth, which forms a protective boundary between outer space and the biosphere; generally considered to extend out about 480 km (300 mi) from Earth’s surface. |
| small circle | A circle on a globe’s surface that does not share Earth’s center—for example, all parallels of latitude other than the equator. (Compare Great circle.) |
| relief | Elevation differences in a local landscape; an expression of local height differences of landforms. |
| earth systems science | The science that seeks to understand Earth as an interacting set of physical, chemical, and biological systems. |
| international date line (IDL) | The 180° meridian, an important corollary to the prime meridian on the opposite side of the planet; established by an 1884 treaty to mark the place where each day officially begins. |
| equal area | A trait of a map projection; indicates the equivalence of all areas on the surface of the map, although shape is distorted. |
| location | One of five traditional themes of geographic teaching and research, focusing on the absolute and relative positions of people, places, and things on Earth’s surface. |
| remote sensing | Information acquired from a distance, without physical contact with the subject—for example, photography, orbital imagery, and radar. |
| map projection | The reduction of a spherical globe onto a flat surface in some orderly and systematic realignment of the latitude and longitude grid. |
| place | One of five traditional themes of geographic teaching and research, focused on the characteristics that make each location unique; no two places on Earth are alike. |
| longitude | The angular distance measured east or west of a prime meridian from a point at the center of Earth. A line connecting all points of the same longitude is a meridian. |
| scientific method | An approach that uses applied common sense in an organized and objective manner; based on observation, generalization, formulation, and testing of a hypothesis, ultimately leading to the development of a theory. |
| human-earth relationships | One of five traditional themes of geographic teaching and research focusing on connections between humans and their environment. |
| potential energy | Energy that is stored (either due to composition or to position) and therefore has the capacity to accomplish work under the right conditions. |
| great circle | Any circle drawn on a globe with its center coinciding with the center of the globe. An infinite number of great circles can be drawn, but only one parallel of latitude—the equator—is a great circle. |
| closed system | A system that is shut off from the surrounding environment, so that it is entirely self-contained in terms of energy and materials; Earth is a closed material system. |
| physical geography | `The science concerned with the spatial aspects and interactions of the physical elements and process systems that make up the environment: energy, air, water, weather, climate, landforms, soils, animals, plants, microorganisms, and Earth. |
| model | `A simplified version of a system, representing an idealized part of the real world. |
| global positioning system (GPS) | Latitude, longitude, and elevation are accurately calibrated using a handheld instrument that receives radio signals from satellites. |
| geography | The science that studies the relationships among natural systems, geographic areas, human culture, and the interdependence of all of these over space. |
| geographic information system (GIS) | A computer-based data processing tool or methodology used for gathering, manipulating, and analyzing geographic information to produce a holistic, interactive analysis. |
| positive feedback | Feedback that amplifies or encourages responses in a system. |
| digital cartography | The practice of making maps using data collected and presented in a virtual image on a computer or mobile device; usually relies on GPS technology. |
| threshold | `A moment in which a system can no longer maintain its character and lurches to a new operational level, which may not be compatible with previous conditions. |
| system | Any ordered, interrelated set of materials or items existing separate from the environment or within a boundary; energy transformations and energy and matter storage and retrieval occur within a system. |
| map | A generalized view of an area, usually some portion of Earth’s surface, as seen from above at a greatly reduced size. |
| kinetic energy | The energy of motion in a body; derived from the vibration of the body’s own movement and stated as temperature. |
| Mercator projection | A true-shape projection, with meridians appearing as equally spaced straight lines and parallels appearing as straight lines that are spaced closer together near the equator. |
| hydrosphere | An abiotic open system that includes all of Earth’s water. |
| feedback loop | Created when a portion of system output is returned as an information input, causing changes that guide further system operation. |
| geodesy | The science that determines Earth’s shape and size through surveys, mathematical means, and remote sensing. |
| daylight savings time | Time is set ahead 1 hour in the spring and set back 1 hour in the fall in the Northern Hemisphere. In the United States and Canada, time is set ahead on the second Sunday in March and set back on the first Sunday in November |
| process | A set of actions and changes that occur in some special order; analysis of processes is central to modern geographic synthesis. |
| open system | A system with inputs and outputs crossing back and forth between the system and the surrounding environment. Earth is an open system in terms of energy. |
| contour lines | Isolines on a topographic map that connect all points at the same elevation relative to a reference elevation. |
| latitude | The angular distance measured north or south of the equator from a point at the center of Earth. A line connecting all points of the same latitudinal angle is a parallel. |
| prime meridian | An arbitrary meridian designated as 0° longitude, the point from which longitudes are measured east or west; established at Greenwich, England, by international agreement in an 1884 treaty. |
| topographic map | A map that portrays physical relief through the use of elevation contour lines that connect all points at the same elevation above or below a vertical datum, such as mean sea level. |
| true shape | A map property showing the correct configuration of coastlines; a useful trait of conformality for navigational and aeronautical maps, although areal relationships are distorted. |
| meridian | A line designating an angle of longitude. |
| cryosphere | The frozen portion of Earth’s waters, including ice sheets, ice caps and fields, glaciers, ice shelves, sea ice, and subsurface ground ice and frozen ground (permafrost). |
| coordinated universal time (UTC) | The official reference time in all countries, formerly known as Greenwich Mean Time; now measured by primary standard atomic clocks; the legal reference for time in all countries and broadcast worldwide. |
| cartography | The making of maps and charts; a specialized science and art that blends aspects of geography, engineering, mathematics, graphics, computer science, and artistic specialties. |
| geoid | A word that describes Earth’s shape; literally, “the shape of Earth is Earth-shaped.” A theoretical surface at sea level that extends through the continents; deviates from a perfect sphere. |
| sustainability science | An emerging, integrated scientific discipline based on the concepts of sustainable development related to functioning Earth systems. |
| negative feedback | Feedback that tends to slow or dampen responses in a system; promotes self-regulation in a system; far more common than positive feedback in living systems. |
| spatial analysis | The examination of phenomena across space, or area; a key unifying approach across all of geographic science. |
| parallel | A line, parallel to the equator, that designates an angle of latitude. |
| biosphere | That area where the atmosphere, lithosphere, and hydrosphere function together to form the context within which life exists; an intricate web that connects all organisms with their physical environment. |
| topography | The undulations and variations of Earth’s surface, including slope and relief; portrayed on topographic maps. |
| greenwich mean time (GMT) | Former world standard time, now reported as Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). |
| steady-state equilibrium | The condition that occurs in a system when the rates of input and output are equal and the amounts of energy and stored matter are nearly constant around a stable average. |
| lithosphere | Earth’s crust and that portion of the uppermost mantle directly below the crust, extending down about 70 km (45 mi). Some sources use this term to refer to the entire Earth. |
| milky way galaxy | a flattened, disk shaped mass in space estimated to contain up to 400 billion stars, includes our solar system |
| gravity | the mutual attraction exerted by every object upon all other objects in proportion to their mass |
| perihelion | the point of earth's closest approach to the sun in its elliptical orbit |
| ephelion | the point of earth's greatest distance away from the sun in elliptical orbit |
| fusion | process of forcibly joining positively charged helium and hydrogen nuclei under extreme temperature and pressure |
| water vapor | what is the most abundant gas in the atmosphere? |
| sunspots | surface disturbances caused by magnetic storms |
| solar wind | clouds of ionized gases emitted by the sun |
| magnetosphere | earth's magnetic force field |
| auroras | a spectacular glowing light display in the ionosphere, stimulated by the interaction of the solar wind with principally oxygen and nitrogen gases |
| wavelength | the measurement of a wave, distance between crests of two waves |
| electromagnetic spectrum | all the radiant energy produced by the sun placed in an ordered range |
| temperature | a measure of the average kinetic energy of individual molecules in matter |
| heat | the flow of kinetic energy between molecules or from one body or substance to another resulting from a temperature difference between them |
| insolation | solar radiation that is incoming to earth systems |
| solar constant | the average insolation received at the thermopause when Earth is at its average distance from the Sun |
| thermopause | a zone 300 mi in altitude that serves as the top of the atmosphere |
| subsolar point | The only point where insolation arrives perpendicular to the surface, location where insolation is perpendicular to the surface |
| sun altitude | the angle between the horizon and the Sun |
| declination | The latitude of the subsolar point |
| daylength | The duration of exposure to insolation |
| revolution | the annual orbital movement of earth about the sun; determines the length of the year and the seasons |
| rotation | the turning of earth on its axis, averaging 24 hours in duration |
| axis | imaginary line extending through the planet from the geographic North Pole to the South Pole |
| circle of illumination | the division between light and dark on earth; a day-night great circle |
| plane of the ecliptic | a plane intersecting all the points of earth's orbit |
| axial parallelism | the condition in which earth's axis maintains the same alignment relative to the plane of the ecliptic and to Polaris, the North Star, and other stars |
| transmission | the passage of shortwave and longwave energy through the atmosphere or water |
| absortion | the assimilation of radiation by molecules of matter and its conversion from one form of energy to another |
| scattering | when the direction of light's movement is changed, without altering its wavelengths |
| Coriolis effect | this effect is an effect of earth's rotation |
| surface currents | driven mainly by surface winds |
| thermohaline currents | the deep currents, driven mainly by differences in density due to differences in temperature and salinity |
| gyre | large whirls of water within ocean basins |
| el nino | the southern oscillations |
| oscillations | naturally occurring cycles affecting sea surface temperature and precipitation |
| the testing of ideas through controlled observations and experiments | the key idea behind the scientific method is: |
| they absorb radiation given off by the earth | what do greenhouse gases do in our atmosphere? |
| heat wave | prolonged period of abnormally high temperatures, usually in association with humid weather |
| the steady increase of atmospheric co2 is primarily from fossil fuel burning | what is true of the amount of co2 in our atmosphere? |
| acid rain | broad term referring to a mixture of wet and dry deposition from the atmosphere containing higher than normal amounts of nitric and sulfuric acids |
| meteorology | The scientific study of the atmosphere. |
| Rossby waves | As air flows from west to east in the mid-latitudes, a wave pattern of ridges and troughs develops |
| direct radiation | arrives at Earth Surface by transmission |
| diffuse radiation | Scattered light that reaches the surface |
| albedo | the ratio of reflected solar radiation to the incident solar radiation. |
| marine effect | describes the lower temperature ranges of locations by the ocean |
| continental effect | refers to inland areas with a greater temperature range on both a daily and yearly basis |
| Jan Oort | determined the milky way rotates, discovered dark matter |
| an ellipse | the shape of earth's orbit is: |
| radiant energy from the sun | The source of energy for our planet and our lives is |
| sphericity | Different latitudes receive different amounts of energy on the same day |
| a line that is perpendicular to the plane of the ecliptic | Earth’s axial tilt is 23.5°measured from |
| to write about earth | geography literally means |
| theory | Which of the following is the most strongly supported by experimental and observational evidence? |
| Thomas Malthus | he was a population theorist, cycle of misery, potato famine |
| positive feedback loop | The feedback loop between the Arctic ice and albedo shown above is |
| Ptolemy | father of geography; Egyptian astronomer, mathematician, and geographer; 100 AD |
| is used to measure distances north or south of the equator | A parallel of latitude: |
| Mercator Projection, conic projection, planar projection | name three types of map projections |
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