Geography Exam 1

Geography (definition)

The study of the interaction of all physical and human phenomena at individual places and of how interactions among places form patterns and organize space.

Physical geography

The study of the earth’s physical processes including how they work, how they affect humans, and are affected by humans.

Human geography

The study of various aspects of human life that create the distinctive landscapes and regions of the world.

What physical geographers study (sub-disciplines)

Geology, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Botany, Meteorology

Examples of physical geographers: Climatologists, geomorphologists, water resource specialists

What human geographers study (sub-disciplines)

Anthropology, sociology, history, political science

Examples of Human Geographers: Cultural Geographers, Urban Geographers & Planners, Population Geographers, and Medical Geographers

Spatial relationships

The way objects are arranged in relation to one another in geographic space

Spatial analysis

An approach to geographic inquiry focusing on patterns and in the distribution of human actions, environmental processes and interactions among and between places or regions.

Mapping

Maps help geographers understand phenomena and their interactions

Maps can display ENORMOUS amounts of information.

Latitude (parallels)

Run east to west

Measure north to south

0° Latitude is the equator

Longitude (meridians)

Run north to south

Measure east to west

0° Longitude is the prime meridian

Equator

0° Latitude is the equator

Cuts the world in half with the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere

The Tropics & other significant lines of latitude

Tropic of cancer (23.5 degrees N)

Tropic of capricorn (23.5 degrees S)

Prime meridian

0° Longitude is the prime meridian

Cuts the world in half with the eastern hemisphere and western hemisphere

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

The time measured on the Earth's zero degree line of longitude, or meridian

International date line

A boundary from which each calendar day starts

Map projection

All map projections entail some distortion between the 3-D sphere and the 2-D image.

Distortions of size, shape and location

Conic, Cylindrical, Planar

Conic

Good for mapping mid-latitude regions

Most common in our atlas

Cylindrical

Used for navigation

Exaggerates areas at higher latitudes

Planar

Embeddings of topological maps into the plane

Ssmall scale mapping

Less detail, large denominator (1:1,000,000)

Large scale mapping

More detail, small denominator (1:100,000)

Thematic maps

Show the spatial distribution patterns of physical or cultural phenomena.

Cartogram maps

A map in which some mapping variable other than acreage is used for scale.

Cartographers

The “art” of map making

Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

A computer system that captures, stores, queries, analyzes, and displays geographic data.

Remote sensing

Acquisition of data about the Earth surface from a satellite orbiting the planet.

Lithosphere

Earth’s Crust and upper mantle

Landform

Any natural formation of rock and dirt, found on Earth.

Geomorphology

Study of landforms and processes that create them.

Endogenic forces

Internal forces beneath or at Earth’s surface

Ex: Mountain building, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes

Exogenic forces

External forces

Ex: Chemical, Erosion: water & wind, Transport

Earth’s planetary structure

Inner core, outer core, mantle, crust

Inner core

Solid

1/3 of Earth’s mass

Enormous pressure

Iron and nickel

Outer core

Molten lava

Minerals

Natural substances that compromise rocks.

Distinct characteristics of minerals

Color

Luster

Specific Gravity

Hardness

Geometric shapes

Rocks

Most rocks consist of several minerals

Lithosphere building material

Bedrock and outcrop

Types: Igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary rocks

Bedrock

Is the solid rock that underlies loose surface material.

Outcrop

Is a mass of exposed bedrock.

Igneous rocks

Molten rock material that cools and solidifies

Metamorphic rocks

A rock that has changed form due to enormous heat and pressure

“Parent Rock” could have been igneous, sedimentary, or another metamorphic rock

Sedimentary rocks

Unconsolidated material that have been eroded and deposited, then compressed and cemented.

Plate tectonics

Movement of rigid “plates” of rock over a weak layer in the upper mantle.

The study of large-scale movement and deformation of the earth’s outer layers.

Theory of Continental drift

Continents and other landmasses have shifted their positions during Earth’s history

Convergent boundaries

One plate boundary pushes up and over another. This is how the Himalayas formed, between India and Asia.

Transform plate boundaries

Two plate boundaries shift against each other. The San Andreas fault and the Coastal range of California.

Divergent plate boundaries

Two plate boundaries pull apart from one another. The great rift valley of Africa or the red sea between Saudi Arabia and Africa.

Convection in the Earth’s upper mantle

The reason for the force in the Continental Drift

Volcanism

The rise of magma and its cooling at the Earth’s surface.

Includes the landforms formed by this process.

Shield volcanoes

Gently sloping, dome shaped cone

Hawaii Islands

Cinder volcanoes

Most common

Simple “construction”

Usually only one vent

Steep-sided cones

Composite volcanoes

Large and Explosive

Multiple vents

Death and destruction…if in a populated place

Sometimes called Stratovolcanoes

Plug (Lava) dome volcanoes

A mound that will form when lava piles up over a volcano’s vent instead of moving away

Mt. St. Helens

Earthquakes

Evidence of present-day tectonic activity

Ground motions of Earth caused when accumulating tectonic stress is suddenly relieved

Seismic waves

Epicenter

Aftershocks

Richter scale

Richter scale

Measurement of earthquakes

Weathering

The process of wearing or being worn by long exposure to the atmosphere

Mechanical weathering

Any way that rock is broken down into smaller pieces by mechanical (physical) processes

Chemical weathering

Turns the rock into something “different”

Karst landscapes

Underground erosion caused by water flow that dissolves passageways and carves large caverns in limestone

Erosion

The movement of weathered material

Mass wasting

The downslope movement of rock debris in response to gravity

Talus slope

Mitigation

Actions that limit, stop or reverse adverse affects of human activities on the environment

Fluvial geomorphology

Study of flowing water as a land-shaping process

Stream Meandering

Stream erosion

Floodplain

Nearly level surface at the valley bottom through which a river flows

Glaciation

Thick layers of moving ice

Terminal moraines

A moraine deposited at the point of furthest advance of a glacier or ice sheet

Lateral moraines

Sharp-crested piles of glacially-transported rocks and debris that are dropped by the ice as it melts

Medial moraines

Form where two tributary glaciers come together

Glacial deposits

The settling of sediments left behind by a moving glacier

Glacial cirque

An amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion

How v-shaped valleys are formed

Typically caused by stream or river erosion

How u-shaped valleys are formed

Formed through glacial erosion

Wind erosion landscapes

A significant shaper of landforms especially in dry regions

Loess plateau - China

Deposits of windblown material

Sand dunes formation

Where this sediment is deposited when wind velocities are lower.

Geographic Systems analysis

Geographic inquiry which views Earth as a set of interrelated environmental and human systems.

Atmosphere

A thin layer of gases surrounding Earth, composed of nitrogen, oxygen and other gases

Variances of solar energy based on 2 things

Intensity and Variation

Intensity

Angle of incidence

Variable

Season

Degree of tilt on Earths axis

23 .5 °

Angle of Incidence

The angle at which solar radiation strikes a particular place at any point in time

Earths orbital position at Winter Solstice

Directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, which is located at 23.5

Earths orbital position at Spring Equinox

Earth's 23.5° axis not tilting toward or away from the sun

Earths orbital position at Summer Solstice

The sun's direct rays reach their northernmost position with respect to Earth's equator, along the Tropic of Cancer, at 23.5 degrees north latitude

Earths orbital position at Fall Equinox

Perpendicular to the orbital plane at 23.5 degrees

Climograph

A graphic representation of the relation of two climatic elements

Wavelengths of solar radiation

Short and long wave

Urban heat islands

Sun gives off short-wave radiation

Earth emits long-wave radiation

Greenhouse gasses

Water vapor, carbon dioxide, ozone, methane

Water vapor

H2O

Carbon dioxide

CO2

Ozone

O3

Methane

CH4

Air density in atmospheric pressure

Heavier closer to the surface

The way wind blows around an area of high pressure

Blows away

The way wind blows around an area of low pressure

Blows toward

How the Coriolis effect affects global air movement

Deflection of wind above rotating Earth.

On a spinning planet, winds follow an indirect, curving path.

How the ocean currents warm the air and are circulated across the globe

Travels north or south and cools, then returns