Introduction to Geography - Exam 1 Review

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key concepts in introductory geography, including physical systems, geologic processes, plate tectonics, and geographic tools based on the lecture transcript.

Spatial analysis

The examination of spatial interactions, patterns, and variations over area or space; it is the essential approach of geography as a spatial science.

Tsunami

Sea waves generated by an earthquake, volcanic eruption, or underwater landslide.

geo

A Greek word meaning "Earth."

graphein

A Greek word meaning "to write."

Geography

The science that studies the interdependence of different areas, places, and locations; natural systems; processes; and societal and cultural activities over Earth's surface.

Atmosphere

A thin veil of gases surrounding the Earth which forms a protective boundary between outer space and the biosphere, extending about $480\,\text{km}$ from the surface.

Alfred Wegener

The man who proposed the theory of continental drift, the idea that Earth's continents move.

Human-Earth Relationship

One of the five geographic themes relating humans and the environment, involving resource exploitation, hazard perception, and environmental modification.

Meridian

A line connecting all points along the same longitude.

Latitude

An angular distance north or south of the equator measured from a point at the center of Earth.

Parallel

A line connecting all points along the same latitudinal angle.

Pacific Rim/Ring of Fire

An area spanning from Asia to Alaska and the Western coastlines of North and South America that is one of the most active places of tectonic and volcanic activity.

Cavern

A naturally formed underground chamber created through the erosion or dissolution of limestone rocks at or below the water table.

Faulting

The fracturing of the Earth's crust due to unequal forces acting in opposite directions.

Pangaea

A supercontinent that incorporated all the landmasses on Earth some $300$ million years ago.

Igneous rocks

Rocks formed from the solidification and cooling of molten rock.

Longitude

An angular distance east or west of a surface location measured from a point at the center of Earth.

Regolith

The layer of rock and mineral fragments that covers most of Earth’s land surface.

International Dateline

The meridian exactly $180^\circ$ from the $0^\circ$ meridian where each day officially begins at $12:01\,\text{A.M.}$

Mechanical weathering

Physical forces that break rock into smaller pieces without changing the rock’s mineral composition.

Metamorphic rocks

Rocks formed as a result of intense heat and/or pressure within the Earth's crust.

Remote Sensing

The science of obtaining information about objects or areas from a distance, typically from aircraft or satellites.

Rock cycle

A concept describing transitions through geologic time among the three main rock types: sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous.

Hotspot plume

The process through which the Hawaiian chain of volcanic islands was formed.

Physical Geography

The spatial analysis of Earth's physical environment.

Map Scale

The ratio of map units to ground units.

Eratosthenes

The first person who calculated and measured the size of Earth using shadows cast by the sun.

Discharge

The volume of water flowing past a certain point in a given unit of time.

Trenching

When large masses of rocks in the crust slide and slip against each other due to great forces coming from different directions, through a process of subduction of the earth’s plates

Hydrosphere

An abiotic open system that includes all of the Earth’s water.

Passive remote sensing

Systems that record energy from the Sun and energy radiated from a surface, particularly visible light and infrared.

Spatial

The nature or character of physical space, occupying or operating within space.

Prime Meridian

The meridian of $0^\circ$ longitude which runs through Greenwich, England.

Aquifers

Permeable rock layers or sediments that transmit groundwater freely.

Convection

Heat from the lower mantle moves toward the upper mantle and surface of earth

Mid-Atlantic Ridge

A rift or crack in the crust of the Earth running across the seafloor of the Atlantic Ocean from Iceland to Antarctica.

Biosphere

An intricate, interconnected web that links all living organisms with their physical environment.

Meanders

Bends developed by a stream in a broad, flat-bottomed valley near its base level.

Mudflow

A type of mass movement which moves quickly and carries a mixture of soil, rock, and water, often having the consistency of wet concrete.

Erosion

The geologic process in which earthen materials are worn away and transported by natural forces such as wind or water.

Lithosphere

Represented by the Earth’s crust and a portion of the upper mantle directly below the crust.

Water cycle

The unending circulation of Earth’s water supply among the oceans, atmosphere, solid Earth, and biosphere.

Sedimentary rocks

Rocks formed by the accumulation or deposition and subsequent cementation of small particles on the floor of oceans or other bodies of water.

Plate Tectonics

A theory describing the structure of the earth's crust as rigid lithospheric plates moving slowly over the underlying mantle.

Active remote sensing

Remote sensing where the energy source emanates from the sensor itself and the sensor captures the reflected energy.

Chemical weathering

The transformation of rock into one or more new compounds.

The southern half of guam has a volcanic origin

True

The Himalayas mountain range was formed through the Southwards movement of the subcontinent of India, which rammed into the continent of Asia some 20 million years ago

False

It was formed through the northward movement

The angle of separations between the lines of longitude are approximately 15°

True

The diameter of the earth at the poles is longer than 42 km as compared to the diameter of the earth as measured around the equator

False

The diameter of the earth at the equator is longer by about 42 km compared to the poles

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is being formed through the process of subduction, where one tectonic plate collides with another, and one of the plates move downward into the earth’s mantle

False

It is formed by divergent plate movement, tectonic plates are moving away from each other, and magma rises up to create new ocean crust

Igneous rocks have a direct volcanic origin

True

Molten rock exuded out into the surface is called magma

False

Molten rock on the surface is lava

Drainage basin/watershed

The land area that contributes water to a stream

Sinkholes often form in Karst landscapes which are generally made up of limestone rocks

True

Frost wedging

A form of mechanical weathering where expansion of freezing water in cracks causes the breakup of rock.

Aquifers

Permeable rock layers or sediments that transmit groundwater freely

Water table

The upper level of the saturation zone of groundwater.

The Pacific Ring/Rim of Fire is the area bordering the Pacific basin where active volcanism, earthquakes, and tectonic activity is experienced

True

The similarity of fossils and the layers of rock found in both Africa and North and South America (with outlines that fit like a jigsaw puzzle) are evidence that support the theory of Continental Drift

True

Continental crusts are heavier than oceanic crusts

False

Oceanic crusts are heavier and denser

The northern half of guam is composed mainly of limestone rock, an example of metamorphic rock

False

The northern half of Guam is mainly made of limestone, but limestone is a sedimentary rock

The Marianas Trench was formed through the process of two plates moving away from each other (divergent plate movement)

False

It was formed through a convergent plate boundary (subduction). The Pacific plate was pushed beneath the Mariana plate

The San Andreas Fault, running along the western coast of CA and Mexico, is an example of a transform plate boundary, where one plate is passing alongside each other in opposite directions without colliding

True

The Greek philosopher Plato was the first person to propose that the sun, not the earth, is the center of the solar system

False

It was Aristarchus

The earth is not a perfect sphere; it is somewhat flattened on both the north and south poles and bulges around the equator

True

The temperature of the earth’s core is estimated by scientists to be as hot as the surface of mercury

False

It is estimated to be about as hot as the surface of the sun (5,000-6,000°C)

The earth’s core is a huge source of internal heat from the earth itself. The temperature is estimated at 5,200°C/9,392°F, almost as hot as the surface of the sun (5,600°C/10,000°F)

True

Magma

Molten rock when exuded out onto the surface through a volcano.

Lava

Molten rock when it is still inside the Earth.

The Hawaiian chain of volcanic islands were formed through subduction

False

They were formed by a hotspot (mantle plume) beneath the Pacific plate