Geography - Climate Change, Rivers, Coasts, and Ecosystems

A set of vocabulary flashcards covering key geography terms from four core topics: climate change and weather hazards, rivers, coasts, and ecosystems.

Climate change

A long-term change in the earth's climate, especially a change due to an increase in the average atmospheric temperature.

Drought

A period of abnormally low rainfall or precipitation for an extended period, leading to water shortages and other negative impacts.

Enhanced greenhouse effect

The trapping of heat radiation around the Earth by excess greenhouse gases produced through human activity.

Glacial period

Also called an ice age. A long period of time during which the ice sheets greatly expand.

Interglacial

A long period of warmer conditions between glacial.

Tropical storm

Large-scale, rotating storms that form over oceans ($26.5^\times\text{C}$) in tropical areas. They are also known as hurricanes and typhoons.

Global atmospheric circulation

The large-scale movement of air in the Earth's atmosphere, driven by uneven heating from the sun and the planet's rotation.

Ocean currents

The large-scale movement of seawater from one location to another.

Drainage basin

Area of land drained by a river.

Source

The start point of a river.

Mouth

Where the river meets the sea.

Contour Lines

Lines on maps which show land of equal height.

Erosion (Rivers)

Wearing away of the land.

Hydraulic action

The sheer power of the water forcing into cracks, compressing air and breaking the rocks apart.

Abrasion

The effect of rocks being flung at the bed and banks and rubbing the land away.

Solution (Rivers)

The dissolving of rocks such as limestone and chalk.

Attrition

The knocking together of pebbles, making them gradually smaller and smoother.

Transportation

Movement of material and sediment along the river.

Deposition

The dropping of transported sediment and material when river discharge and velocity decreases and lose energy. Heaviest materials are dumped first.

Waterfall

Created when a river flows over areas where hard rock lies over a layer of softer rock which is more easily eroded.

Meander

Bends in a river.

Impermeable

Rocks and surfaces that will not let water pass through.

Permeable

Rock and surfaces that will let water pass through.

Hard engineering

Management of rivers involving the construction of structures, built to control the flow of water and reduce flooding.

Soft engineering

More natural approach to managing flooding, using natural processes.

Channelisation

Involves deepening or straightening river channels, to make more space for the water.

Washlands

Areas on the flood plain that are allowed to flood.

Agriculture

Farming.

Arch

A wave-eroded passage through a small headland. This begins as a cave formed in the headland, which is gradually widened and deepened until it cuts through.

Backwash

The movement of a wave down a beach back to the sea.

Bay

An area of sea, curved in shaped which has been eroded between $2$ headlands.

Constructive waves

A gently breaking wave with a strong swash and weak backwash. It adds more martial to the beach than it removes.

Destructive wave

A wave formed by a local storm that crashes down onto a beach and has a powerful backwash.

Erosion (Coasts)

The wearing away and removal of material by a moving force, such as a breaking wave.

Fetch

The distance of open water over which the wind can blow.

Geology

Rock type.

Landform

A physical feature of the Earth’s surface.

Longshore drift

The zigzag movement of sediment along a shore caused by waves going up the beach at an oblique angle (wash) and returning at right angles (backwash). This results in the gradual movement of beach materials along the coast.

Sea wall

A concrete wall which aims to prevent erosion of the coast by providing a barrier which reflects wave energy.

Settlement

A place where people live in a community.

Spit

A depositional landform formed when a finger of sediment extends from the shore out to sea, often at a river mouth. It usually has a curved end because of opposing winds and currents.

Stack

An isolated pillar of rock left when the top of an arch has collapsed; over time further erosion reduces the stack to a smaller, lower stump.

Tourism

Holidays and visits to places of interest.

Traction

Heavy particles rolled along the sea bed.

Suspension

Small particles carried in river flow or sea water, i.e. sands, silts and clays.

Solution (Coasts)

The dissolving of rocks such as limestone and chalk by sea water.

Saltation

A process of transportation - bouncing movement of pebbles along a river or sea bed.

Mass movement

The downhill movement of weathered material under the force of gravity. The speed can vary considerably.

Prevailing winds

Direction in which the wind blows most frequently.

Abiotic

Non-living.

Biodiversity

The variety of life in the world or a particular habitat.

Biosphere

The part of the Earth and it’s atmosphere in which living things live.

Biotic

Living things.

Climate

The average temperature and precipitation in a certain area.

Coniferous

Evergreen trees that don’t lose their leaves, often found in boreal forests.

Deciduous

Trees that lose their leaves in autumn then regrow in the spring.

Deforestation

The chopping down and removal of trees to clear an area of forest.

Ecosystem

A community of plants and animals that interact with each other and their physical environment.

Food chain

The connections between different organisms (plants and animals) that rely upon one another as their source of food.

Tropical Forest

Forests found within the tropics which experience high temperatures and rainfall.

Wetlands

Areas of low-lying land that is mainly wet and boggy.

Infrastructure

The basic equipment and structures (such as roads, utilities, water supply and sewage) that are needed for a country or region to function properly.

Tundra

The flat, treeless Arctic regions of Europe, Asia and North America, where the ground is permanently frozen. Lichen, moss, grasses and dwarf shrubs can grow here.