GEOG-120 Teacher Study Guide

With examples, discuss the types of plate movements.

1. Transform boundaries occur where plates slide or, perhaps more accurately, grind past each other along transform faults. The relative motion of the two plates is either sinistral (left side toward the observer) or dextral (right side toward the observer). The San Andreas Fault in California is one example. 2. Divergent boundaries occur where two plates slide apart from each other. Mid-ocean ridges (e.g., Mid-Atlantic Ridge) and active zones of rifting (such as Africa's Great Rift Valley) are both examples of divergent boundaries. 3. Convergent boundaries (or active margins) occur where two plates slide towards each other commonly forming either a subduction zone (if one plate moves underneath the other) or a continental collision (if the two plates contain continental crust). Deep marine trenches are typically associated with subduction zones. The subducting slab contains many hydrous minerals, which release their water on heating; this water then causes the mantle to melt, producing volcanism. Examples of this are the Andes mountain range in South America and the Japanese island arc.

What are transnational corporations and what role do they play in globalizing the world economy?

A multinational corporation (MNC) or multinational enterprise (MNE) is a corporation that is registered in more than one country or that has operations in more than one country. It is a large corporation which both produces and sells goods or services in various countries. It can also be referred to as an international corporation.

What is albedo, and how is it different on the Earth and Moon and why?

Albedo, or reflection coefficient, derived from Latin albedo "whiteness" (or reflected sunlight) in turn from albus "white," is the diffuse reflectivity or reflecting power of a surface. It is the ratio of reflected radiation from the surface to incident radiation upon it. Its dimensionless nature lets it be expressed as a percentage and is measured on a scale from zero for no reflection of a perfectly black surface to 1 for perfect reflection of a white surface. A lower albedo would mean that the Earth would absorb more solar energy and warm up more.

What is the adiabatic process?

An adiabatic process (/ ˌ æ d i ə ˈ b æ t ɪ k / ) is a transfer of energy as work, ocurring without transfer of heat between a system and its surroundings. A key concept in thermodynamics, adiabatic transfer provides a rigorous conceptual basis for the theory used to expound the first law of thermodynamics. It is also key in a practical sense, that many rapid chemical and physical processes are described using the adiabatic approximation; such processes are usually followed or preceded by events that do involve heat transfer.

What is El Niño?

An irregularly occurring and complex series of climatic changes affecting the equatorial Pacific region and beyond every few years, characterized by the appearance of unusually warm, nutrientpoor water off northern Peru and Ecuador, typically in late December

What is remote sensing and why is it used?

Analyze any object or phenomenon or radar without being in physical contact with it. Remote sensing is used for geography. Remote sensing is one of the tools in geography. Remote sensing is widely applied in science and day to day life. From planning development for an area to daily weather forecasts. Images obtained from remote sensing give a bird's eye view. These images can be processed to derive information on temperature, minerals, crops, hydrology etc.

Identify and describe the four Earth systems.

Atmosphere= it contains the oxygen we breathe and protects the earth from radiation. Lithosphere= which includes the crust and uppermost mantle. Hydrosphere= is made up of the water elements on the earth. Biosphere= the part of the earth where plants and animals live.

What process transfers tremendous amounts of energy from Earth's surface to the atmosphere, from low latitudes to high ones, and it is also the mechanism most influential in causing precipitation.

Convection. The movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in transfer of heat. It releases energy then motion conduction

What are the 3 major types of plate tectonic boundaries?

Convergent, Divergent, and Transform

What is the difference between Environmental Determinism and Possibilism?

Environmental determinism, also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism, is the view that the physical environment, rather than social conditions, determines culture. Possibilism in cultural geography is the theory that the environment sets certain constraints or limitations, but culture is otherwise determined by man's actions. In Cultural ecology Marshall Sahlins used this concept in order to develop alternative approaches to the environmental determinism dominant at that time in ecological studies.

What is the difference between an earthquake epicenter and it focus?

Epicenter is 3D Focus is longitude and latitude and in depth The focus of an earthquake is the place where an earthquake occurred along the fault underground, while the epicenter is the place directly above it where the seismic waves were felt. The difference is that focus is where an earthquake starts and epicenter is where the earthquakes is hit the hardest.

London, UK is on the Prime Meridian. Using the 90 degrees West longitude for Chicago, what is the time in London if Chicago's time is 8 AM?

Every 15 Degrees is an hour. Therefore 6 hours and the time would be 2 P.M.

What are the different types of regions?

Formal Region - a region with a defined, predetermined boundary. A good example might be a school district, a country, a city zoning district, a no-fly-zone, etc. Vernacular Region - Using language or customs native to a region. ("Dixie"or "Midwest") Functional Region - Areas served by business and economic activities. (the local cable or power company)

What are the 3 pairs of change of state processes that are involved with water and how are they different from each other?

Freeze and Melting, Suspiration and Deposition,

Explain the difference between GIS and GPS.

GIS (Geographic Information Systems) is tool to display and analyze information geographically. GPS (Global Positioning Systems) is a technology that uses satellites to give one its position on the Earth with the aid of a GPS device or unit. GPS can be incorporated into GIS by using a GPS device to collect points, lines, or polygons, which can be imported into a GIS application for future analysis and interpretation

Discuss some landforms created as a result of glacial movements.

Glacial landforms are those created by the action of glaciers. Most of today's glacial landforms were created by the movement of large ice sheets during the Quaternary glaciations. Some areas, like Fennoscandia and the southern Andes, have extensive occurrences of glacial landforms; other areas, such as the Sahara, display very old fossil glacial landforms.

On a clear, calm day when do the temperature highs and lows occur and why?

Highest= Afternoon to Mid Afternoon Lowest= Right after dawn

What are the differences between meridians and parallels?

I believe a meridian are the imaginary lines going around the globe, for example, the Equator. Parallels are the imaginary lines going around the globe from the north to the south poles.

What country probably has the most experience with earthquakes and earthquake preparedness

Japan

What do we mean by "latent" and how is latent heat different from sensible?

Latent means store or heat. Two forms of heat are relevant in air conditioning: 1. Sensible Heat 2. Latent Heat Sensible heat When an object is heated, its temperature rises as heat is added. The increase in heat is called sensible heat. Similarly, when heat is removed from an object and its temperature falls, the heat removed is also called sensible heat. Heat that causes a change in temperature in an object is called sensible heat. Latent heat All pure substances in nature are able to change their state. Solids can become liquids (ice to water) and liquids can become gases (water to vapor) but changes such as these require the addition or removal of heat. The heat that causes these changes is called latent heat. Latent heat however, does not affect the temperature of a substance - for example, water remains at 100°C while boiling. The heat added to keep the water boiling is latent heat. Heat that causes a change of state with no change in temperature is called latent heat. Appreciating this difference is fundamental to understanding why refrigerant is used in cooling systems. It also explains why the terms 'total capacity' (sensible & latent heat) and 'sensible capacity' are used to define a unit's cooling capacity. During the cooling cycling, condensation forms within the unit due to the removal of latent heat from the air. Sensible capacity is the capacity required to lower the temperature and latent capacity is the capacity to remove the moisture from the air.

What do we use to identify absolute location on the surface of the Earth, as with a GPS?

Latitude (shown as a horizontal line) is the angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds of a point north or south of the Equator. Lines of latitude are often referred to as parallels. Longitude (shown as a vertical line) is the angular distance, in degrees, minutes, and seconds, of a point east or west of the Prime (Greenwich) Meridian. Lines of longitude are often referred to as meridians.

What are some of the important tools that geographers use?

Maps, GPS, GIS, Hard Copy Maps. Some tools geographers use are maps, globes, sensors, compasses and many more. And they also use Key map lendge to help them where certain things are

What are the different types of weathering?

Mechanical (physical) weathering is the breakdown of rock into smaller particles due to such factors as freezing and thawing, release of pressure, water absorption salt crystal formation, landmass uplift, expansion and contraction from the sun or fire, plant root growth, actions of animals, abrasion, or other means that do not directly affect the rock's chemistry. Chemical weathering is the dissolution, carbonation, oxidation, or hydrolysis of rock and mineral by chemical means only, mostly from reactions with water or the acids contained in rainwater. Other materials are formed in the process. Warm, tropical climates are ideal environments for chemical weathering to take place as the chemical reactions are quickened by the bountiful rain and warm temperatures.

What are the 4 major gases in a dry atmosphere?

Nitrogen (78%), Oxygen (21%), Argon (0.9%) and Carbon Dioxide (less than 0.4%)

What are the 3 major forces or effects that influence surface winds and how do they function?

PGF= Pressure Gradient force High Pressure to Low Pressure Coriolis Effect

What was Pangaea?

Pangaea (pronounced "Pan-JEE-uh" -- also spelled Pangea) was a supercontinent that formed around 300 million years ago and began to break apart around 175 million years ago. It was roughly C-shaped and had all of our modern continents together as one landmass. Its name is derived from Ancient Greek: Pan meaning "entire" and Gaea meaning "Earth."

What are the different types of diffusion?

Relocation diffusion: The spread of idea by physical movement of people from one place to another. Expansion Diffusion: Spread of idea from one play to another by snowballing. Hierarchial Diffusion: Spread of an idea from people of authority Contagious Diffusion: Rapid and wide spread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population

What are the 3 different rock types and how do they form?

Rocks are categorized into three distinct types based on their method of formation. The three types are igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. Early in Earth's history, all rock was igneous, having formed from the cooling of melt on the surface.

What is the difference between site and situation?

Site is the location of the city and its various features within it Situation is what is surrounding the city, or what features are located near the city.

What are the 3 primary greenhouse gases?

The forcing numbers for all significant greenhouses gases are as follows: water vapor 36-72% carbon dioxide 9-26% methane 4-9%

Discuss some of the uncertainties around global warming, as well as the role of humans on global warming.

The global warming controversy concerns the public debate over whether global warming is occurring, how much has occurred in modern times, what has caused it, what its effects will be, whether any action should be taken to curb it, and if so what that action should be. In the scientific literature, there is a strong consensus that global surface temperatures have increased in recent decades and that the trend is caused primarily by human-induced emissions of greenhouse gases. No scientific body of national or international standing disagrees with this view, though a few organizations hold non-committal positions. Disputes over the key scientific facts of global warming are now more prevalent in the popular media than in the scientific literature, where such issues are treated as resolved, and more in the United States than globally

What are the different types of scale and how are they different?

Three Types of Scale There are three different ways to write scale. Stated • 1 cm = 250 km Scale Linear Scale Ratio • 1:25 000 000 Scale 6. Map ScalesStated Scale 1 cm = 8 km A stated scale says exactly how much distance is represented by 1 cm, in this case, 8 km. It is the most useful scale for calculating distances. 1 cm = 8 km 7. Map ScalesLinear Scale: A linear scale is usually present on most maps. It tells us how much map distance represents a certain real distance. For example, the scale shows the map distance that equals 10 kilometers in real distance. Map ScalesRatio Scale A ratio scale will almost always be found on maps. It is very accurate. In this example we can see that 1 unit on the map represents 25 000 000 units in real life. So, 1 cm = 25 000 000 cm and 1 m = 25 000 000 m, etc.

What role do streams play in transporting weathered materials?

Transports settlement and creates new landforms.

What are tropical cyclones and what conditions are needed for their development?

Warm Water Temperature....Need a lot of Heat Energy...Clam Conditions in the Temperature Warm ocean waters (of at least 26.5°C [80°F]) throughout a sufficient depth (unknown how deep, but at least on the order of 50 m [150 ft.]). Warm waters are necessary to fuel the heat engine of the tropical cyclone. An atmosphere which cools fast enough with height such that it is potentially unstable to moist convection. It is the thunderstorm activity which allows the heat stored in the ocean waters to be liberated for the tropical cyclone development. Relatively moist layers near the mid-troposphere (5 km [3 mi]). Dry mid-levels are not conducive for allowing the continuing development of widespread thunderstorm activity. A minimum distance of at least 500 km [300 mi] from the equator. For tropical cyclogenesis to occur, there is a requirement for non-negligible amounts of the Coriolis force to provide for near gradient wind balance to occur. Without the Coriolis force, the low pressure of the disturbance cannot be maintained. A pre-existing nearsurface disturbance with sufficient vorticity and convergence. Tropical cyclones cannot be generated spontaneously. To develop, they require a weakly organized system with sizable spin and low level inflow. Low values (less than about 10 m/s [20 kts 23 mph]) of vertical wind shear between the surface and the upper troposphere. Vertical wind shear is the magnitude of wind change with height. Large values of vertical wind shear disrupt the incipient tropical cyclone and can prevent genesis, or, if a tropical cyclone has already formed, large vertical shear can weaken or destroy the tropical cyclone by interfering with the organization of deep convection around the cyclone center.

What is the relationship between glaciations and world sea levels?

When glaciers grow sea levels drop When glaciers melt sea levels rise