Geography Terms +
(geography includes mapmakers, scientists, explorers of the earth and provides a way to look at both the physical world and the people who live in various parts this globe)
atoll
A circular coral reef enclosing a shallow lagoon.
avalanche
The general term for extremely rapid slides and falls of snow, ice, rocks, and trees.
bajada
A graded slope which is an alluvisl fan, extending from a mountain base to playa or a temporary lake or lake bed in a desert.
barrier island
A landform created by long linear wave deposits that form parallel to shorelines.
barrier reef
A coral reef separated from the shoreline by a lagoon.
biodiversity
The number of species present in an ecosystem.
biogeography
1. The science of the geographic distribution of living species.
2. The study of the distribution patterns of plants and animals and the processes that produce those patterns.
2. The study of the distribution patterns of plants and animals and the processes that produce those patterns.
biomass
1. The dry weight of living organic matter in a particular ecosystem.
Units are grams of organic matter per square meter.
2. Plant-derived material usable as a renewable energy source, including wood energy crops; such as, hybrid poplars and willow trees, agricultural crops including soybeans and corn, and animal and other wastes.Biomass is one of the two most common energy sources in the U.S. today, along with hydropower. Forms of biomass; such as, wood can be burned to produce heat and generate electricity.
Agricultural crops can be chemically converted into fuels; such as, ethanol and biodiesel; these are the only known renewable liquid energy sources, and may one day replace petroleum and fossil-fuel.
biotic communities
Local communities of interdependent plants and animals that are often found together.
biotic factor
1. An organic variable affecting an ecosystem; for example, the changing population of elephants and its effect on the African savanna.
2. A factor created by a living thing or any living component within an environment in which the action of the organism affects the life of another organism; for example, a predator consuming its prey or in a quail’s environment, the biotic factors include the living elements of the environment; such as, the quail’s prey: insects, seeds, etc.; and the quail’s predators: the coyotes.
2. A factor created by a living thing or any living component within an environment in which the action of the organism affects the life of another organism; for example, a predator consuming its prey or in a quail’s environment, the biotic factors include the living elements of the environment; such as, the quail’s prey: insects, seeds, etc.; and the quail’s predators: the coyotes.
birth rate
The number of live births per 1,000 population in a given year.
braided stream
A small waterway with shallow channels that carry multiple flows.
breakwaters
Piles of rocks built parallel to the shore to prevent damage to watercraft or construction.
caldera
A steep-sided circular depression which results from the explosion and subsidence of a large composite volcano.
calving
Breaking off of blocks of glacial ice into the ocean which forms icebergs.
