Chapter 1-7: Introduction to Geography and Latin American Physical Features

These flashcards provide key vocabulary and definitions from the lecture on the introduction to geography and the physical features of Latin America, including mountain ranges, landforms, geological processes, and regional characteristics.

Physical Geography

The study of major water forms, land forms, and physical geographic phenomena of a region.

Human Geography

The study of cultural and social aspects of specific countries within a region.

Sierra Madre Oriental

The eastern mountain range in Mexico, part of the larger Rocky Mountain Cordillera. 'Oriental' means East.

Sierra Madre Occidental

The western mountain range in Mexico, part of the larger Rocky Mountain Cordillera. 'Occidental' means West.

Rocky Mountain Cordillera

A large mountain complex extending through Western United States, Western Canada, Central Alaska, and including Mexico's Sierra Madres.

Cordillera

A mountain range that parallels the coastline.

Mountains

Landforms characterized by high elevations, steep slopes, and jagged peaks.

Hills

Landforms with smoother slopes, gentler gradients, and rounder peaks, typically a couple thousand feet above sea level.

Plane

A flat but gently rolling surface.

Plateau

A flat but gently rolling surface raised up at a higher elevation than surrounding land.

Mesa

The Spanish word for plateau, often referring to flat-topped mountains or hills.

Central Mesa of Mexico

A large plateau region located between the Sierra Madre mountain ranges, primarily used for livestock ranching.

Chiapas Highlands

A mountainous region in Southern Mexico, with peaks higher than the Sierra Madres, inhabited by significant Native American populations.

EZLN (Zapatista Army of National Liberation)

A Native American group in Chiapas, Mexico, that led an uprising on January 1, 1994, protesting NAFTA's impact on local farmers.

NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)

An agreement that established a free trade zone between Canada, the United States, and Mexico, going into effect on January 1, 1994.

Orographic Effect

The impact that mountains have on weather and climate patterns, often leading to distinct wet and dry sides.

Weather

Atmospheric conditions over a short time period, typically day-to-day.

Climate

Atmospheric conditions measured and averaged over a long period of time.

Prevailing Winds

The consistent winds that carry air masses and weather systems across an area, named for their direction of origin.

Windward Slopes

The side of a mountain that first faces the prevailing winds; often receives more precipitation due to rising, cooling air.

Leeward Slopes

The side of a mountain that faces away from the prevailing winds; often experiences hot and dry conditions as air descends and warms.

Andes Mountains

The longest mountain range on Earth, stretching along the western edge of South America, formed by the subduction of the Nazca plate under the South American plate.

Geomorphology

The subdiscipline of geography that studies the origin, evolution, and distribution of landforms.

Alfred Wegener

A German geologist who proposed the Theory of Continental Drift in 1912, suggesting continents were once joined and have moved over time.

Theory of Plate Tectonics

The prevailing theoretical paradigm in geomorphology, explaining that the Earth's surface consists of large plates that move, causing earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation.

Tectonic Plates

Large chunks of the Earth's rigid outer layer (crust and upper mantle) that are constantly moving, driving geological processes.

Subduction

A geological process in which one tectonic plate slides beneath another, often forming mountain ranges and volcanic activity.

Mount Aconcagua

The tallest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, located in the Andes Mountains on the border between Chile and Argentina.

Guyana Highlands

A mineral-rich highland area in northeastern South America, encompassing parts of Venezuela, Brazil, Guyana, and Suriname.

Angel Falls

Considered the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, located in the Guyana Highlands of Venezuela.

Uninterrupted Waterfall

A waterfall that flows continuously without stopping and restarting at different elevations.

Bauxite

A reddish-brownish rock, not found far underground, that is the primary ore from which aluminum is extracted.

Aluminum

A lightweight and durable metal obtained from bauxite, requiring an energy-intensive electrolysis process during refining.

Electrolysis

The energy-intensive step in the refining process that converts alumina (refined bauxite) into aluminum metal, making aluminum recycling economically competitive.