geography.test - option C (1/2)

altitude vs latitude

altitude vs latitude

altitude - distance above the sea level

latitude - distance from the equator

distribution of environments

• the further from the equator, the lower the temperature

• high altitude environments often include cold environments

  • when warm air raises, it expands altitude due to the decrease in pressure; expansion requires energy drawn from the heat in the air; as the air expands it becomes cooler and cooler

• intertropical zone » area near the equator experiencing heavy rainfalls

distribution of hot, arid environments

• arid areas » areas with scarce precipitation; outside of the intertropical zone and polar areas

• they are created by rain shadows due to high altitudes nearby

pressure and temperature

• air masses influence the weather and temperature on earth

• hot air raises, pressure decreases

  • after reaching certain altitude in the atmosphere, the air is cooled down, so begins to descend

  • descending cooler air gains the pressure

  • the air masses flow from equator to the poles as warmed air tends to flow to the coldest areas

  • due the wind bands of rising and descending air being created, rings of different pressure create

POLAR AREAS (why are they extreme?)

• extremely low temperature

• lack of heat for survival

• difficult environment for agriculture

• special tools (ex. to cut through thick ice)

• special clothing (ex. special shoes to walk on ice)

• difficulties with starting an engine (ex. snow mobiles)

• polar nights/days (ex. 6h in Alaska)

• more difficult to do activities at dark

• lack of vitamin D

• affecting our sleep schedule

• access to water/resources is limited (frozen)

HOT ARID AREAS (why are they extreme?)

• extremely high temperatures

• impact on our physical health

• impact on daily routines (ex. doing stuff at night)

• easy for a heat-stroke or dehydration

• black clothing absorbs more heat

• air-conditioning, lack of big windows

• limited amount of water (evaporation)/ resources (ex. food)

**when there is rainfall it usually does not infiltrate into the ground, but rather floats (ex. Moab flood - flash flood)

HIGH MOUNTAIN AREAS (why are they extreme?)

• rather cold temperatures

• steep slopes

• difficulties with travel

• difficulties with agriculture

• difficulties with building a house

• high risk of an avalanche

How relief, climate, human discomfort, inaccessibility, and remoteness present challenges for human habitation  and resource development?

• steep areas make it difficult to build any infrastructure and to travel

• climate makes it difficult to survive without necessary resources

• additional effort/resources have to be put in in order to tackle human discomfort

• access to certain areas may be limited and special means of travel are required

• accessibility may change depending on the season (ex. ice highways in Canada)

glacial physical processes

• glacier retreat >> more and more glacier ice melts

• glacier advance >> more and more snow freezes

• snow line >> boundary between the accumulation zone and the ablation zone on glaciers

• inputs >> snow accumulation, avalanches, debris, heat, meltwater

• stores >> ice, water, debris, moraine

• outputs >> ablation (ice to water), sublimation (ice to vapour), sediment

• glacial budget:

  • accumulation > ablation, glacier advances

  • accumulation < ablation, glacier recedes

  • accumulation = ablation, glacier remains the same size

• glacial erosion >> processes that occur directly in association with the movement of glacial ice over its bed, such as abrasion, quarrying(plucking), and physical and chemical erosion by subglacial meltwater

• plucking >> a process of erosion that occurs during glaciation. As ice and glaciers move, they scrape along the surrounding rock and pull away pieces of rock which causes erosion

• abrasion >> happens when the glacier, after plucking up rocks from the ground, uses the rocks stuck beneath it to scrape and grind against the surface of the earth. The weight of the glacier creates an intense force that allows it to rub the earth like sandpaper, producing fine particles of rock beneath it

• other >> meltwater, freeze-thaw weathering, pressure release (not strictly glacial, but required for glacial processes)

glacial landscapes

• cirques - an amphitheater-like valley formed by glacial erosion

• arete - a narrow ridge of rock that separates two valleys

• pyramid peaks/horns

• v-shaped valleys

• u-shaped valleys

• hanging valleys

• col - a sharp-edged gap that forms between two cirques converging from opposite sides of a crest

• ribbon lake - a large, narrow lake occupying a u-shaped valley

glacial deposition

• till - the sediment deposited by a glacier; it blankets glacier fore fields, can be mounded to form moraines and other glacier landforms

• moraine - loose rocks, weathered from the valley sides and carried by glaciers

  • terminal moraine >> forms at the very end of a glacier, telling scientists today important information about the glacier and how it moved

  • lateral moraine >> forms along the sides of a glacier

  • medial moraine >> found on top of and inside an existing glacier; two lateral moraines from the different glaciers are pushed together; this material forms one line of rocks and dirt in the middle of the new, bigger glacier

• drumlin - oval-shaped hills, largely composed of glacial drift, formed beneath a glacier or ice sheet and aligned in the direction of ice flow

• erratic - a boulder of a drifferent rock copared to the landscape around

karst processes

• topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum

• thermo-karst -  an erosional process unique to permafrost with excess ice // not dissolving, but thawing

permafrost processes

• permafrost - ground water which has been frozen for at least two years

• freeze-thaw action - repeated freezes and thawing’s cause rocks to split up

• frost heave - freezing water forms long ice crystals that grow up from the penetration limit

• ice wedge - repeated freezes and thawing’s cause the ice to form deeper into the ground and create a thick ice wedge

• patterned ground - repeated freezing and thawing of groundwater forces larger stones toward the surface, as smaller stones flow and settle underneath larger stones

• pingos

  • a result of hydrostatic pressure that has built up within the core of pingos due to water

  • result from groundwater flowing from an outside source

desert processes

• physical weathering - occurs when physical processes affect the rock, such as changes in temperature or when the rock is exposed to the effects of wind, rain and waves

• chemical weathering - involves the interaction of rock with mineral solutions (chemicals) to change the composition of rocks

• granular disintegration - a form of weathering where the grains of a rock become loosened and fall out

• exfoliation - a form of mechanical weathering in which curved plates of rock are stripped from rock below

desert landforms

• desert pavements - a result of deflation; smaller particles are transported by the wind and bigger, heavier particles are left behind

• ventifacts - created by smaller particles hitting against a side of a bigger particle

• mushroom rocks - formed from an originally flat area of hard rock overlying soft rock

• dunes - created when wind deposits sand on top of each other until a small mound starts to form

• loess - formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust

• plateau - can be created by wind or irregular rainfall (wadi)

• alluvial fans - area where the material from flash floods is deposited