The Cultural Landscape Chapter 1

Geographic Information System (GIS)

a computer system that stores, organizes, analizes, and displays geographic data

Global Positioning System (GPS)

a system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and recievers.

Globalization

Actions or processes that involve the entire world and result in making something worldwide in scope.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

The time in the zone around the Prime Meridian, 0 degrees.

Hearth

The region from which innovative ideas originate

Hierarchical Diffusion

The spread of a feature or trend from one key person or node of authority or power to other persons or places.

Housing Bubble

A rapid increase in the value of houses followed in a sharp decline in their value

Hydrosphere

All the water on and near the Earth's surface.

International Date Line

An arc that follows 180 longitude but avoids dividing land. Heading east (America) the clock moves back a day. West (Asia) the clock moves one day forward.

Latitude

Numbering system that locates parallels on a globe. North and South of the equator.

Lithosphere

Earth's crust and a portion of the upper mantle directly below.

Location

The position of anything on Earth's surface

Longitude

location of meridans on a globe. East and West of the Prime Meridian.

Map

A 2 dimensional representation of earth;s surface

Map scale

the relationship between the size of an object on a map and the actual size of that object on Earth.

Mental Map

A representation of a portion of Earth's surface based on what an individual knows about it. Contains personal impressions and location.

Meridian

An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles

Network

A chain of communication that connects places.

Non-Renewable recource

Something produced in nature slower than consumed by humans

Parallel

a circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to meridians

Pattern

the geometric or regular arrangement of sometng studied

Place

A specific point on earth distinguished by a particular characteristic.

Polder

Land created by the Dutch by draining water from an area.

Possibilism

The theory that the physical environment may set limits on human actions, but we have the ability to alter the environment and choose a course of action.

Preservation

The maintenance of resources in their present condition, with as little human impact as possible

Prime Meridian

0 longitude, passes through the Royal observatory in Greenwich, England

Projection

A system used to transfer points from Earth to a flat map.

Region

An area distinguished by a unique combination of trends or features

Regional (or cultural landscape) studies

An approach to geography that emphasized the relationships among social and physical phenomena in a study area.

Relocation Diffusion

The spread of a feature or trend trough bodily movement of people from place to place,

Remote Sensing

The acquisition of data about Earth's surface from an orbiting satellite.

Renewable Resource

Something produced in nature faster than used by humans.

Resource

a substance in nature that is useful, accessible, and socially acceptable to use.

Scale

The relationship between the part of Earth being studied and the whole Earth.

Site

The physical character of a place

Situation

The location of a place relative to another place.

Space

The physical gap or interval between two objects.

Space-Time Compression

The reduction in time it takes to send information across a space because of faster communications.

Stimulus diffusion

The spread of an underlying principle even though a specific characteristic is rejected.

Sustainability

The use of Earth's renewable and non-renewable natural resources in ways that do not constrain resource use in the future.

Toponym

The name given to a portion of the Earth's surface

Transnational Corporation

A company that conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters or shareholders are locateed

Uneven Development

The increasing gap in economic conditions between core and peripheral regions as a result of globalization or the economy

Vernacular Region (Perceptual region)

An area that people believe exists as a part of their cultural identity

Abiotic

composed of nonliving and inorganic matter

Atmosphere

the thin layer of gases surrounding Earth

Biosphere

all living organisms, including plants and animals, and micro-organisms.

Biotic

composed of living organisms

cartography

the science of making maps

climate

the long term average weather conditions in a region

concentration

the spread of something in a particular area

connection

relationships between people and objects across space

conservation

the sustainable management of a natural resource

contagious diffusion

the rapid widespread diffusion of a feature or trend throughout a population

cultural ecology

a geographic approach that emphasizes human-environment relationships.

cultural landscape

the changing of a natural landscape by a cultural group

culture

the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits that constitute a group's distinct tradition.

Density

the frequency with which something exists within a given unit of area

Diffusion

The process of spread of a feature or trend from one place to another over time

Distance decay

the diminishing importance and eventual disappearance of a phenomenon with increasing distance from its origin

Distribution

The arrangement of something across Earth's surface

Ecology

The scientific study of ecosystems

Ecosystem

a group of living organisms and the abiotic areas that they react with

Envioronmental determinism

a nineteenth and early twentieth century approach to geography that said that the general laws sought by geographers could be found in the physical sciences.Geography was therefore the study of how the physical environment caused human activities

Expansion Diffusion

the spread of a feature or trend among people from one area to another in an additive process

Formal Region

an area in which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristics

Functional Region

an area organized around a node or focal point

Geographic information science (GIScience)

the development and analysis of data about Earth acquired through satellite and other electronic technologies