Physical Geography

Commercial Farming

Raising crops for sale, often on large farms

Livestock Raising

Aising animals for food, milk, wool, or other products

Vegetation

All the plants and trees in an area

Physical features

Any natural characteristic of Earth's surface, such as landforms and bodies of water

landforms

Any natural feature of Earth's surface that has a distinct shape. Landforms include major features such as continents, plains, plateaus, and mountain ranges. They also include minor features such as hills, valleys, canyons, and dunes.

Hunting and Gathering

(Anthropology & Ethnology) (of a society, lifestyle, etc) surviving by hunting animals and gathering plants for subsistence

Pollution

Damage to the natural environment caused by harmful substances; also refers to harmful substances

crater

A bowl-shaped hole in Earth's surface

volcano

A break in Earth's crust where magma and other material erupts from Earth's interior

tropical wet and dry

A climate or climate zone that is hot all year with rainy and dry seasons]. Mexicans call this tropical area the "Tierra Caliente," or hot land

tropical wet

A climate or climate zone that is hot and rainy all year

ice cap

A climate or climate zone that is very cold all year with permanent ice and snow; also a permanent, dome-shaped covering of ice over a large area; also a vegetation zone that is too cold to support plant life

subarctic

A climate or climate zone with cold, snowy winters and cool, rainy summers

humid subtropical

A climate or climate zone with hot, rainy summers and mild winters with some rain

marine west coast

A climate or climate zone with warm summers, cool winters, and rainfall all year

Mediterranean

A climate or climate zone with warm to hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters

humid continental

A climate or climate zone with warm, rainy summers and cool, snowy winters

tundra

A climate zone with very cold winters, cold summers, and little rain or snow; a vast, treeless plain in the arctic regions between the ice cap and the tree line; also a vegetation zone that is a treeless plain with grasses, mosses, and scrubs adapted to a cold climate

convergent boundaries

A convergent boundary is an area on Earth where two or more lithospheric plates collide. One plate eventually slides beneath the other causing a process known as subduction. The subduction zone can be defined by a plane where many earthquakes occur, called the Benioff Zone.

Desert

A geographic region with too little rainfall to support much plant life; also a vegetation zone

mountain range

A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills ranged in a line and connected by high ground. ... Mountain ranges are formed by a variety of geological processes, but most of the significant ones on Earth are the result of plate tectonics.

highlands

A mountainous part of a country; a climate zone where temperature and precipitation vary with latitude and elevation; a vegetation zone where the mix of plants varies with latitude and elevation; also refers to the type of vegetation in this zone

isthmus

A narrow strip of land that links two larger landmasses

arid

Dry or lacking rainfall; also a climate or climate zone that is hot and dry all year with very little rain

semiarid

Dry, with little rainfall; a climate or climate zone with hot, dry summers and cool, dry winters

physical map

A physical map is one which shows the physical features of a place or country, like rivers, mountains, forests and lakes.

political map

A political map shows the state and national boundaries of a place.

Natural resources

A useful material that is found in nature, such as water, wood, coal, or oil

flood plain

The flat area around a river that is covered with sediment as a result of frequent flooding

crust

The hard outer layer of Earth

Elevation

The height of the land above sea level

core

The innermost part of Earth, made of solid iron and surrounded by a layer of liquid iron

bodies of water

The part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean)

Climate

The pattern of weather over a long period of time

Forestry

The planting, growing, and harvesting of trees

Nomadic Herding

The raising of livestock for food by moving herds from place to place to find pasture and water

delta

The triangle-shaped deposit of sand and sediment that occurs where a river flows into an ocean

Land Use

The ways in which people use a particular area of Earth's surface; for example, for farming, development, or preservation.

Types of maps

There are 6 Different Types of Maps

bay

a broad inlet of the sea where the land curves inwards.

water

a colourless, transparent, odourless liquid that forms the seas, lakes, rivers, and rain and is the basis of the fluids of living organisms.

coal

a combustible black or dark brown rock consisting chiefly of carbonized plant matter, found mainly in underground seams and used as fuel.

canyon

a deep gorge, typically one with a river flowing through it, as found in North America.

lake

a large area of water surrounded by land.

river

a large natural stream of water flowing in a channel to the sea, a lake, or another river.

cartograms

a map on which statistical information is shown in diagrammatic form

chloropleth maps

a map which uses differences in shading, colouring, or the placing of symbols within predefined areas to indicate the average values of a particular quantity in those areas.

strait

a narrow passage of water connecting two seas or two other large areas of water.

island

a piece of land surrounded by water.

Plate Tectonics

a theory explaining the structure of the earth's crust and many associated phenomena as resulting from the interaction of rigid lithospheric plates which move slowly over the underlying mantle.

topological maps

a topological map is a type of diagram that has been simplified so that only vital information remains and unnecessary detail has been removed. These maps lack scale, and distance and direction are subject to change and variation, but the relationship between points is maintained.

ocean

a very large expanse of sea, in particular each of the main areas into which the sea is divided geographically.

oil

a viscous liquid derived from petroleum, especially for use as a fuel or lubricant.

Region

an area, especially part of a country or the world having definable characteristics but not always fixed boundaries.

Bodies of water

body of water - the part of the earth's surface covered with water (such as a river or lake or ocean)

Commercial FIshing

catching fish for sale, often with the use of large ships

sediment

matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid; dregs.

Plateau

plateau a raised area of land, such as a hill or mountain, with a flat top

Trade

the action of buying and selling goods and services.

Farming

the activity or business of growing crops and raising livestock

sea

the expanse of salt water that covers most of the earth's surface and surrounds its land masses.

wood

the hard fibrous material that forms the main substance of the trunk or branches of a tree or shrub, used for fuel or timber.

Manufacturing

the making of articles on a large scale using machinery; industrial production.

erosion

the process of eroding or being eroded by wind, water, or other natural agents

gulf

A large inlet of the sea that cuts deeply into the land

glacier

A large mass of ice found near Earth's poles (continental glacier) or in a high, cold mountain valley (alpine glacier)

tectonic plate

A large piece of Earth's crust that floats on the liquid mantle

fault line

A line on Earth's surface that occurs where there is a break in the crust

peninsula

A long, narrow stretch of land that is surrounded by water on three sides

thematic map

A map that shows a particular theme, or topic

Subsistence Farming

Farming carried out mainly to provide food for farm families, with little surplus for sale to others

topographic maps

In modern mapping, a topographic map is a type of map characterized by large-scale detail and quantitative representation of relief, usually using contour lines, but historically using a variety of methods. Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both natural and man-made features.

divergent boundaries

In plate tectonics, a divergent boundary or divergent plate boundary is a linear feature that exists between two tectonic plates that are moving away from each other. Divergent boundaries within continents initially produce rifts, which eventually become rift valleys.

isoline maps

Isolines are lines drawn on a map connecting data points of the same value. They are commonly used by geographers. Contour lines, for example, show relief and connect points on the map that have the same height.

Precipitation

Moisture that falls from the sky as rain, snow, sleet, or hail

lava

Molten, or liquid, rock that flows out of a volcano

mantle

The middle layer of Earth that lies between the core and the lithosphere

transform boundaries

Transform boundaries are where two of these plates are sliding alongside each other. This causes intense earthquakes, the formation of thin linear valleys, and split river beds. The most famous example of a transform boundary is the San Andreas Fault in California.