Rock Cycle: Describes the transitions through rock types (igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic) due to processes like melting, cooling, and weathering.

Physical Geography: Studies natural Earth features, such as landforms, climate, ecosystems, and processes.

5 Themes of Geography: Location, Place, Human-Environment Interaction, Movement, Region.

Plate Boundaries: Types include divergent, convergent, and transform.

Shape of Earth: Oblate spheroid, slightly flattened at the poles.

Uniformitarianism: Geologic processes occurring now operated similarly in the past.

Latitude & Longitude: Latitude (horizontal lines) measures north-south; longitude (vertical lines) measures east-west.

Main Types of Rocks: Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic; these types recycle through the rock cycle.

Advantages of Maps: Visual representation of locations, distances, and spatial relationships.

Planet: A celestial body orbiting a star with sufficient mass to maintain a nearly round shape.

Parallelism: Earth’s tilt remains consistent during orbit, affecting seasons.

Declination: Angular distance north or south of the celestial equator, impacting solar position and seasons.

Importance of Maps: Essential for navigation, planning, and understanding geography.

Geologic Time Scale: Based on fossil and rock data, dividing Earth’s history into eons, eras, periods, etc.

Solstices: Days of the year when the Sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky.

Plate Tectonic Activities: Convergent (collision), divergent (separation), transform (sliding) boundaries cause earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain formation.

Law of Superposition: In undisturbed layers, older rocks are at the bottom.

Fossils in the Geologic Record: Found in sedimentary layers, indicating organism ages.

Geomorphology: Study of landforms and processes that shape Earth’s surface.

Endogenic & Exogenic Processes: Internal (tectonics) vs. external (weathering, erosion) Earth processes.

Mercator Projection: Cylindrical map projection useful for navigation but distorts size near poles.

Earth’s Spheres: Lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere.

Mineral and Rock: Minerals are naturally occurring substances; rocks are composed of minerals.

Solar Insolation Distribution: Solar energy received varies by latitude, affecting climate zones.

Most Common Minerals in Earth’s Crust: Quartz, feldspar, mica.

Cartography: The science of making maps.

Sedimentary Rock Characteristics: Formed from sediment deposition; often layered and fossil-rich.

Radiometric Dating: Determines rock age by measuring radioactive decay.

Wegener’s Continental Drift Hypothesis: Proposed that continents were once connected and have since drifted apart.

Types of Plate Boundaries: Divergent, convergent, transform (influence seismic activity).

Earth’s Magnetic Field & Plate Boundaries: Generated by Earth’s core, affecting the direction and speed of plate movement.

Earth’s Energy Source: Primarily solar energy, with additional internal geothermal energy from radioactive decay.