Key Terminology - Geography Units 3&4

Change

Geographical change varies in rate, duration, and scale.

Distance

Includes absolute, relative, psychological, and cultural, impacting how places are perceived.

Distribution

Is the spatial or temporal arrangement of phenomena.

Environment

Earth’s physical and social elements.

Interconnection

Highlights the relationship of geographical phenomena.

Movement

Involves the relocation of phenomena, considering aspects like direction, frequency, and volume.

Place

Are parts of the Earth identified by people, with unique physical and cultural characteristics.

Process

Is a series of actions leading to change or preservation of phenomena.

Region

Is an area defined by commo characteristics that distinguish it from neighbouring areas.

Scale

Refers to map measurements and observational size.

Spatial Association

The degree of similarity in the arrangement of two or more phenomena over space.

Sustainability

The ability of the environment to support life.

Land use

The use people make of the Earth’s surface and its resources.

Climate change

When the regular predictable pattern of lower-atmospheric conditions alters.

Plant succession

The non-seasonal, incremental change in the composition and relative abundance of plant species within an ecosystem as it develops towards its ‘climax community’ or recovers from a disturbance.

Land cover

The physical surface of the earth.

Social factors

The elements that shape human interactions and societal structures.

Historical factors

The events, conditions or influences from the past that significanlty shape cultural practices, beliefs, and interactions over time.

Economic factors

The various elements that influence the financial apsects of individuals, communities, and countries, impacting their choices and behaviours.

Environmental factors

Any natural element or condition that influences the development, behaviour, or survival of living organisms.

Political factors

The influences and forces withi a political system that shpae the behaviour of individuals, groups, and institutions.

Technological factors

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Cultivated land

Arable land that is worked by plowing and sowing and raising crops.

Natural vegetation

Plants that have not been developed and processed naturally by mankind.

Cultivate aquatic land

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Natural aquatic land

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Artificial surfaces

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Bare areas

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Artificial water bodies

An artificially-created body of water, by damming a source.

Natural water bodies

Water that occurs naturally above the ground.

Geophysical change

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Fire

A process in which substances combine chemically with oxygen from the air and typically give out bright light, heat and smoke; combustion or burning.

Invasive pests

A species that is not native to an ecosystem that it is introduced to.

Social factors - examples

Cultural norms, values, demographics and social institutions.

Glacial Maximum

A period 20,000 years ago where the ice sheets were at their maximum extent.

Holocene Optimum

Happened around about 3,000 - 6,000 years ago and marks a period with warmer temperatures and wetter climates.

Forest

Dense vegetation dominated by tress, including tropical rainforests, temperate forests, and boreal forests.

Grassland

Open landscapes dominated by grasses and few trees, found in temperate and tropical regions.

Tundra

A treeless plain especially of arctic regions having a permanently frozen layer below the surface soil and plant life.

Bare lands

An area with no dominant vegetation.

Wetlands

Areas saturated with water, including swamps, marshes and bogs.

Moraine

Areas left after glacier movement.

Crevasses

Cracks/gaps in glaciers.

Zone of ablation

Area glacier is breaking apart.

Glacier

A mass of land ice flowing downhill from its source above the snowline.

Ice sheet

A mass of land ice covering an enormous area that is sufficiently deep enough to cover the land surface.

Moulin

A vertical cylindrical shaft in the ice by which surface meltwater flows down from the surface to the base of a glacier.

Medial moraine

Surficial feature on the ice that has fallen from a rockwall where the glaciers converge.

Sea ice

Frozen sea water that floats on the ocean.

Ice berg

A large floating mass of ice detached from a glacier.

Crevasses

A deep crack that forms in a glacier or ice sheet.

Kame

A steep-sded mound of sand and gravel deposited by a melting ice sheet.

Cirque

A half-open steep-sided hollow at the head of a valley or on a mountainside, formed by glacial erosion.

Horn

Pointed pea that are bounded on at least three sides by glaciers.

Arete

A sharp mountain ridge.

Till

Unsorted material deposited directly by glacial ice and showing no stratification.

Esker

A long ridge of gravel and other sediment, typically having a winding course, deposited by meltwater from a retreating glacier or ice sheet.

Flood plan

An area of flat land alongside a river.

Drumlin

A low oval mound or small hill, typically one group, consisting of compacted boulder clay moulded by past glacial action.

Terminus

The end of a terminus.

Deforestation

The long-term reduction of tree canopy cover to below 10-30 per cent of its original cover.

Forest

Natural lad cover covering at least half a hectare dominated by trees having a height of at least five metres and a crown cover of at least 10 per cent.

Degradation

The wearing down of land.

Closed forest

A forest in which he tree crowns cover more than 80% of the land area.

Open forest

A forest with moderately tall trees with a reasonably open canopy that allows for sunlight to get through. Usually have a grassy and shrubby ground layer.

Woodlands

A forest with an open canopy.

Primary forest

Natural, undisturbed forest that has developed over a long period without significant human impact or clearing.

Secondary forest

Forest that has regrown after a major disturbance, such as deforestation, logging, agriculture or natural disaster.

Planted forest

A man-made, systematically managed forest where trees are plated and grown for commercial purposes.

Forest canopy

The aggregate of all tree crowns and associated vegetation that form the upper layer of a forest. The are

Cover

The area or proportion of land occupied by trees or tree canopies.

Fragmentation

The breaking up of large forested areas into smaller, isolated patches.

Clear-felling

The complete clearance of trees in a region for timber harvesting or to make land available for infrastructure or agriculture.

Selection

Choosing specific trees to cut down.

Group selection

A section of the forest is completely cleared.

Shelterwood

Mature trees in a forest are cut down and there is an interval between the next lot of mature trees that are cut down.

Seed tree retention

Most trees are removed from an area but some are left so the impact on the environment isn’t as bad and so it can assist with forest regrowth.

Rehabilitation

The process of restoring degraded or damaged forest ecosystems to improve their productivity and biodiversity.

Certification

Market process that promotes sustainable use and management of forests by making sure that forest-based products are sourced sustainably.

Illegal logging

An absence of of government permission to log forest areas through logging licenses or concessions.

Fuelwood

Collection

Dryland cropping

Growing crops only using natural rainfall.

Dryland horticulture

The practice of cultivating crops in arid and semi-arid regions.

Grazing modified pastures

When land use is significantly modified to other vegetation for livestock.

Urban

The region surrounding a city that someone belongs or relates to.

Rural

The countryside, not towns or cities.

Local character

The unique qualities of a place, encompassing its natural and built environment.

High quality public realm

Spaces that are attractive, inclusive, and safe, fostering community connection and promoting a good quality of life.

Adaptibility

The quality of being able to adjust to new conditions.

Connectivity

The degree to which places, people, and things are connected.

Density

The degree of compactness of a substance.

Urban morphology

The study of the physical structure and layout of urban areas.

Monocentric model

A city with a single center, where most activities and economic opportunities are concentrated.

Polycentric model

A system or region with multiple centers of power, authority, or influence, rather than just one.

Composite model

A data model that combines data from multiple sources or uses different storage modes.

Zones

A distinct area or region that differs from surrounding areas in some characteristics.

Overlays

A process of superimposing multiple maps or layers on top of each other to reveal relationships between different geographical features.

Urban sprawl

The unplanned rapid expansion of a city into surrounding areas.

Urban development

The process of transforming or improving urban areas by building new structures and expanding infrastructure to accommodate population and economic growth.