GEOG 105 Lab Study Guide

Climographs

A graphical representation of basic climatic parameters, that is monthly average temperature and precipitation, at a certain location. It is used for a quick-view of the climate of a location.

Biome

A large naturally occurring community of distinct flora and fauna (animals/plants) occupying a major habitat, e.g., forest or tundra.

Rain Shadow

A region having little rainfall because it is sheltered from prevailing rain-bearing winds by a range of hills. Leeward side of mountain. ex.) Western KS

Vertical Zonation

A term applied to vegetation zones defined by altitude. or the main distribution pattern of littoral assemblages on rocky shores at a regional scale. ex.) Coniferous trees stop growing once the altitude exceeds their ability to live.

Orographic Uplift and the rain shadow

Air mass forced up by rising elevation. Air mass gains altitude and cools, potentially increasing the relative humidity to 100% creating cloud and precipitation. Rain shadow is on the leeward side of the mountain and has very little rainfall due to all of it being deposited on the mountain in which the air mass came from. Ex.) eastern CO/ western KS

Air masses, fronts, and how to read a weather map

Air mass is a volume of air with nearly constant moisture and temperature. influenced by surrounding air masses. Named for their sources regions ex.) maritime tropical. A front is created by air masses of different temperature and moisture collide. They have different densities. Cold front: cold air mass advances toward a warm one; forces warm air up. Warm front: opposite. Occluded front: cold and warm fronts merge. Stationary Front: boundary between two weak air masses that are not strong enough to move each other.

Drainage Basins

Also known as watershed. An area of land drained by a river and its tributaries (river system). It includes water found in the water table and surface run-off. There is an imaginary line separating drainage basins called a drainage divide. a land area where all runoff goes toward a particular stream or other body of water.

Flood Plain

An area of low-lying ground adjacent to a river, formed mainly of river sediments and subject to flooding.

Biomes & Ecotones

Biome is defined as a geographical area constrained by climate, with ecologically similar communities of plants and animals. Biomes fall into 3 major classes: terrestrial (land), marine, and freshwater. Biomes are separated by ecotones. Species from both biomes bordering an ecotone can find a niche in the ecotone, so they are often areas of high plant and animal species diversity.

O: Organisms

Burrowing animals, growing plant roots, and enzyme-secreting bacteria and fungi chemically alter and physically mix soils.

Types of tectonic plate boundaries

Convergent (toward), Transform (rubbing), Divergent(away)

Reading Tree Rings

Dendronchronology is using tree rings to date events or the age of trees. Dendroclimatology is using the character of the tree rings as a proxy of prevailing climate during a given year of grown sometime during the past. Each ring is another year in age. Close rings= dry season. Distant rings= wet season. dark portion of ring= scar from forrest fire. middle dot= first year of growth.

LACEMOPS

Latitude, Air Masses, Continental, Elevation, Mountains, Ocean Currents, Pressure Cell, (storms). All factors that affect the climate of that area.

CLORP

Next few slides

Orographic Lift

Occurs when an air mass is forced from a low elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain. As the air mass gains altitude it quickly cools down adiabatically, which can raise the relative humidity to 100% and create clouds and, under the right conditions, precipitation.

Climate Proxy data

Proxy data is data that paleoclimatologists gather from natural recorders of climate variability, e.g., tree rings, ice cores, fossil pollen, ocean sediments, coral and historical data. By analyzing records taken from these and other proxy sources, scientists can extend our understanding of climate far beyond the 140 year instrumental record.

Map Scale

Refers to the relationship (or ratio) between distance on a map and the corresponding distance on the ground. For example, on a 1:100000 scale map, 1cm on the map equals 1km on the ground. Small scale: larger area. Big scale: smaller area.

Adiabatic Processes

Related to changes in pressure caused by changes in altitude. A rising air mass expands and cools, while descending air mass contracts and warms. When a rising air mass is not saturated, it cools at the dry adiabatic lapse rate (DAR), which is about 1 degree celsius per 100 meters change in altitude. An air mass cools at DAR until its dew point temperature is reached. Once an air mass reaches its dew point temperature it cools at the wet adiabatic rate (WAR).

Aeolian

Relating to or arising from the action of the wind. Relating to wind action - erosion or transportation by wind. Named after the Greek god of the winds - Aeolus. Examples: These sand dunes have been formed by years and years of aeolian action.

Pollen Diagram

Series of graphs for different plant species displayed side by side. A diagram produced after the analysis of the pollen from a column of peat or other soil.

CL: Climate

Temperature speeds up or slows down chemical reactions that break down, or weather, rocks and minerals. In areas of high rainfall, more water drains downward,leaching minerals through soil layers.

Subduction zone

The biggest smash-up on Earth, marking the collision between two of the planet's tectonic plates, the pieces of crust that slowly move across the surface over millions of years. When two tectonic plates meet, one may slide underneath the other, curving down into the mantle.

Meteorology

The branch of science concerned with the processes and phenomena of the atmosphere, especially as a means of forecasting the weather.

Latitudinal Temperature Gradient

The change of temperature with distance from the equator. A physical quantity that describes in which direction and at what rate the temperature changes the most rapidly around a particular location. The temperature gradient is a dimensional quantity expressed in units of degrees (on a particular temperature scale) per unit length.

P: Parent Material

The chemical composition of original unweathered rock influences the mineral content of soil. Parent materials can be underlying.

Depositional

The geological process in which sediments, soil and rocks are added to a landform or land mass. Wind, ice, and water, as well as sediment flowing via gravity, transport previously eroded sediment, which, at the loss of enough kinetic energy in the fluid, is deposited, building up layers of sediment.

Erosional

The process that breaks things down. As far as we're concerned, erosion is the breakdown of the continents and the land around you. The overall effect of breaking down and weathering the land is called denudation.

Weather

The state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards heat, dryness, sunshine, wind, rain, etc.

Climate

The weather conditions prevailing in an area in general or over a long period.

R: Relief

Topography- the slope and the direction a landscape faces- influences sunlight hours, temperature, water runoff, erosion, and organic matter build- up.

T: Time

Weathering partly depends on age: older soils are more weathered than younger ones. Soils in the tropics tend to be old because they have not been affected by the remixing effects of glaciation.