TCA449 Unit 1 Study Guide

Weather

Atmospheric condition at any given moment in a specific, fairly small location: e.g. raining, sunny, snowing, etc.

Hectare/Acre

Units of measure that state the size of a geographical area.

Melanesia

("black islands," named for its dark- skinned residents) The islands from New Guinea to Fiji and New Caledonia.

Micronesia

("small islands") The islands in the western part of the Pacific from Palau to Kiribati, the Marshalls and Nauru.

Alps

A European mountain chain running in an east-west direction, primarily in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy and Slovenia.

Tuvalu

A Polynesia island outside the triangular area.

Andes

A South American mountain chain, running in a north-south direction, primarily in Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Argentina

Polynesia

A triangular formation of islands that include Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island (each side of the triangle extends 5,000 mi/3,200 km).

Japan current

A warm current going from the Equator past Japan, it moderates Alaska's coastal temperatures.

Bay

A body of water partly surrounded by land, with a wide opening to an ocean.

California current

A cold current flowing southward along the Pacific coast of North America that causes land temperatures to be fairly constant.

Dune

A hill of loose sand blow together by the wind.

Peninsula

A landform almost surrounded by water.

Cape

A landform projecting into a sea or ocean, generally smaller than a peninsula

Reef

A line of rocks or coral that rises near to the surface of a body of water.

Fjord (fee-YORD)

A long, narrow arm of a sea bor- dered by high, rocky cliffs.

Cay

A low reef or island composed of sand or coral.

Sierra Madre

A mountain chain that runs through Mexico in a north-south direction (actually a continuation of the Rockies).

Isthmus

A narrow landform connecting larger landforms across a body of water.

Strait

A narrow passage of water connecting two larger bodies of water.

Canyon

A narrow valley with steep sides, often with a stream or river flowing through it.

Trade winds

Air currents in the tropics that flow east to west.

Himalaya

An Asian mountain chain running in an east-west direction, primarily in China (Tibet), Bhutan, Nepal, India and Pakistan.

Climate

An area's year-round weather, based on a comparison of several years.

Plateau

An extended, flat area of land higher than the land surrounding it.

Archipelago

An island group.

Fiji

An island in the Polynesia triangle but not considered as one, it is a Melanesia island.

Antilles

Another name for the Caribbean islands.

Great circle routes

Any route connecting two points on Earth that uses the shortest navigational path.

Bahamas

Are just south of the Caribbean islands, but not considered as part of them.

Kilometer/Mile

Are units of measure that state the distance between two points.

Benguela current

Cold Antarctic current along the southwest African coast.

Humboldt current

Cold water along the Peruvian and Chilean coastline.

Polar routes

Flight paths from one continent to another going over the pole to shorten the distance.

Lapse Rate

For every 1,000 ft/305 m in elevation you rise, the temperature drops 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit, or approximately 1.5 degrees Celsius

Time Zones

For every 15 degrees longitude away from Greenwich, England, add (if going east) or subtract (if going west) one hour.

GMT

Greenwich Mean Time

5 Major ocean currents

Gulf stream, Japan current, Humboldt, California, and Benguela

Foothills

Hills near the bottom of a mountain range.

International Date Line

Imaginary line that runs north/ south through the Pacific Ocean. It is both 12 hours ahead of GMT and 12 hours behind GMT.

Latitude

Imaginary lines circling the globe in an east-west direction (parallel to the Equator).

Longitude

Imaginary lines going in a north-south direction, perpendicular to the Equator, at intervals of 15 degrees.

Prime meridian

Is also considered Greenwich Mean Time.

Greenwich Mean Time

Is an imaginary line that runs north-south through Greenwich, England. It was set by international agreement and is the point from which all time zones are measured.

Bermuda

Is just north of the Caribbean islands, but is not considered to be part of them.

Oceania

Islands in the Pacific Ocean that are not associated with a continent.

Equator

It divides the Northern Hemisphere from the Southern Hemisphere.

Delta

Land built up by silt that has overflowed from rivers as they meet large bodies of water. Deltas are usually triangular in shape.

Plain

Large area of mostly flat, treeless land.

Glacier

Large mass of ice moving slowly down a slope. Glaciers are usually formed at heights where snow cannot melt and run off down streams.

Ocean currents

Move in a generally clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and a generally counter- clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere

Rockies

North American range running north- south from Alaska to Mexico. The Sierra Nevada range between California and Nevada is actually part of the Rockies.

Worlds oceans

Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and Arctic

Gulf

Part of an ocean or sea that juts into the land.

Pacific Islands

Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia

Jet stream

Same thing as the westerlies.

Centigrade/Fahrenheit

Scales for temperature.

Atoll

Small ring, horseshoe shaped island formed from the remains of coral animals.

Westerlies

Strong upper wind currents both above and below the tropics that flow west to east.

Tropics

The area bordered on the north by the Tropic of Cancer (23 1/2 degrees north of the Equator) and on the south by the Tropic of Capricorn (23 1/2 degrees south of the Equator).

Cyclone

The general name for a low-pressure, circular, violent storm system characterized by very strong winds and rains. Known as hurricanes if they materialize in the Caribbean and typhoons when they occur in the China Sea or western Pacific.

Coast

The land along an ocean or sea.

North America

The landmass bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the east, the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Arctic Ocean on the north and the nation of Colombia on the south. It includes Greenland, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the islands of the Caribbean Sea.

Africa

The landmass bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, the Indian Ocean on the east, the Red Sea and Suez Canal on the northeast and the Mediterranean Sea on the north. It includes the islands/ nations of the Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, Reunion, Sao Tome and Principe, Madagascar and Cape Verde, as well as the Canary Islands (a Spanish possession)

Australia

The landmass bordered by the Indian Ocean on the west, south and northwest; the Timor Sea, the Arafura Sea and the Gulf of Carpenteria on the north; the Coral Sea on the east and northeast; and the Tasman Sea on the southeast.

South America

The landmass bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, the Atlantic Ocean on the east and the nation of Panama on the north. It includes the Galapagos Islands and the Falkland Islands.

Asia

The landmass that extends east from the Bosporus Strait in Turkey, the Ural Mountains in Russia and the Suez Canal in Egypt to the Pacific Ocean. It includes the Middle East region and the islands/nations of Cyprus, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Europe

The landmass that extends west from the Ural Mountains in Russia and the Bosporus Strait in Turkey to the Atlantic Ocean. It includes the islands/ nations of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland and Malta.

Greater Antilles

The largest of the Carib- bean islands: Cuba, Hispaniola (the home of the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic), Jamaica and Puerto Ric

Leeward

The side of a mountain or other geographical feature that is sheltered from the wind.

Windward

The side of a mountain or other geographical feature that the wind hits

Antarctica

The southernmost landmass is bordered on the north by the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

Caribbean islands

These are islands that border (or are in) the Caribbean Sea.

Lesser Antilles

Those islands not among the Greater Antilles islands.

Ecotourism

Tourism that involves traveling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas with the specific objective of admiring, studying and enjoying the area's scenery including wild plants, animals, and culture.

Gulf stream

Warm North Atlantic current originating in the Caribbean that helps to moderate temperatures as far north as Great Britain and Norway.

Lagoon

Water surrounded by a coral island or a shallow body of water separated from the sea by a sand dune or reef.

Monsoons

Winds found in Southeast Asia that bring rains in the summer and cool (but not necessarily cold) dry weather in the winter.