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GEOG 301 Geography of the U.S. > Exam #1 > Flashcards

Exam #1 Flashcards

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1
Q

What is geography?

A

Geography is the study of Earth as the home of humanity; the interdisciplinary perspective that allows for the analysis of anything across Earth’s space

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2
Q

What is the Greek meaning for geo + graphia?

A

To write about or describe the Earth

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3
Q

What are the two types of geography?

A

Human geography and physical geography

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4
Q

What is human geography?

A

Human geography is the branch of geography that is centered around people, places, and the relationship between people and environment

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5
Q

What is physical geography?

A

Physical geography is the branch of geography that is centered around the Earth, the environment, and human-environment interactions

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6
Q

How do Geographers use scales?

A

They use it to view distance on a map and on Earth. They also use scale of analysis (which is the geographical scope local, national, or global to analyze.

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7
Q

Why is looking at data at different scales important?

A

To understand the context and integrate knowledge on multiple scales

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8
Q

What is a region?

A

It is a part of Earth’s surface with one or more similar characteristics that make it unique from other areas

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9
Q

What are the types of regions?

A

Formal, Functional, and Perceptual

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10
Q

What is a formal region?

A

A uniform/homogeneous territory where one or more features are present throughout the area and absent or unimportant beyond it

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11
Q

What is a functional region?

A

Area is unified by a shared economic, political, or social purpose (can overlap, must have at least one node)

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12
Q

What is a perceptual region?

A

This region is derived from people’s sense of identity and attachment to an area; borders highly variable

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13
Q

What is regional geography?

A

A branch in geography that studies the world’s regions (unique characteristics like culture, economy, topography, climate, politics, etc)

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14
Q

What are the elements of Regional Geography?

A

Economic geographies, Human geographies, natural environment, political geographies

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15
Q

Why is North America considered a region?

A

It includes US and Canada, which are culturally similar etc.

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16
Q

What is historical spatial interaction?

A

It plays in role in shaping the distinct regional effects

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17
Q

What are the 12 Defining Traits of US and Canada?

A

Diverse physical environments, resource wealth, high standard of living, healthy, educated, share British heritage, multiethnic societies, mobile, well-connected, urban, post-industrial (service-based) economies, Democratic

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18
Q

What is topography?

A

The arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area

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19
Q

What are the the Gulf Coastal Plains?

A

It is an area of flat land along a sea or ocean, estuaries, swamps, marshes, lagoons are present

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20
Q

How is the Gulf Coastal Plains split?

A

Inner coastal plain (Farming, timber) and outer coastal plain (outer banks)

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21
Q

What is the Mississippi alluvial valley?

A

Area that stretched from the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers TO the freshwater swamps along the Mississippi River

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22
Q

What is a delta?

A

A triangular shaped plain of sediment that forms where a river meets the sea

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23
Q

What is the largest drainage basin in North America?

A

The Mississippi Watershed

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24
Q

What is the Central Lowlands?

A

Area that was made by deposition; West of the Appalachian system next to the great lakes

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25
What is deposition?
The settling out or depositing of eroded rock and soil particles
26
Where is Mississippi-Great Lakes section located?
Central Lowlands
27
What was the effect of glacation?
It left material behind; glacial drift had transported earth and rocks because of moving ice
28
What is the driftless area?
The driftless area is a large peninsula of land, mostly located in Southwest Wisconsin, that went unglaciated throughout the last glacial period
29
What makes up the world's biggest freshwater system?
The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River
30
What is the Public Trust Doctrine?
A legal principle establishing that certain natural and cultural resources are preserved for public use (natural resources held in trust)
31
What is a moraine?
Moraine is an accumulation of boulders, stones, or other debris carried and deposited by a glacier
32
What are terminal moraines?
Dammed river valleys that form at the end of glaciers
33
What is a shield?
It is a stable area of ancient rock that has usually been weathered and eroded down to an uneven plain
34
How much of Canada is covered by the Canadian Shield?
About 40%
35
What is another name for the Canadian Shield?
Laurentian Shield
36
What is the definition of erosion?
Process by which fragmented rock and soil are moved over a distance
37
What is part of the Appalachian system?
Piedmont, Blue Ridge Mountains, Fall Line, Ridge and Valley system
38
What is the Appalachian Ridge and Valley System?
A sequence of parallel valleys and long, steep-sided ridges
39
What is the Piedmont?
It is a transition zone where coastal plains meet Appalachian Mountains
40
What is a fall line?
It is where old erosion-resistant rocks of piedmont meet younger, softer sedimentary (water flows from mountain to the ocean)
41
What are the characteristics of the Blue Ridge Mountains?
Mountains that form a divide between rivers that flow to Atlantic or Gulf
42
What is a plateau?
A relatively flat, elevated area
43
What is part of Cordilleran Province?
The Rockies (stretching from Central Northern Mexico to Central Alaska)
44
Which mountains are younger (Rockies or Appalachian)? How do you know?
The Rockies; Mountains lower in elevation is how you tell which mountain is older.
45
Do the Rockies show evidence of volcanic activity?
Yes
46
How can you identify evidence of glaciers?
When the landforms have sharp edges
47
What is part of the Intermontane Region?
Intermountain Basin and Range Country; Located between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast mountain ranges
48
What are the landforms located in the Intermontane region?
Plateaus, Colorado Plateaus, Basin and Range Country, and Great Basin
49
Where are Pacific Coastlands?
West Coast of North America (Faults, Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, and Coast Range) Twin Rows of Mountains
50
What are faults?
A linear break in Earth's surface along which movement has occurred (Ex: San Andreas)
51
Which area has the most tectonic activity?
The Western margin
52
What is an archipelago?
A chain of islands (Hawaii)
53
What is weather?
It is seeing atmospheric conditions in an area at a particular point in time (what you experience when you walk out the door)
54
What is climate?
Average weather conditions occurring at a place over a period of time
55
What are the three geographic influences of climate? Which two are the most significant?
LATITUDE (Distribution of solar radiation), Different ways land and water absorb solar energy , and topography/orography
56
What is the difference between water's absorption of light and land's?
Water absorbs and loses heat less quickly than land. Oceans regulate climate.
57
What is the definition of Continentality?
The effect of location within a continent on climate (locations that are close to oceans have more regulated climate)
58
What connects topography and climate?
Elevation and temperature (higher elevation has colder temperatures)
59
What is orographic precipitation?
Windward (moist air masses rises cool and falls as rain) and Leeward (wind descends warm and creates dry climates)
60
What are the characteristics of Tropical climates?
Associated with tropical air masses throughout the year, areas are surrounded by water
61
What are the characteristics of Subtropical Wetland?
Subtropical climate with protected marshes and mangroves. Covers 20% of Florida.
62
What are the characteristics of Tropical rainforest?
Warm and moist climate with tropical vegetation
63
What is convectional precipitation?
It occurs when air is heated up, usually by the land, air heats up and rises where it will eventually cool
63
What are the characteristics of humid subtropical?
Known for convectional precipitation and hurricanes
64
What are the characteristics of Eastern Mixed Forest?
Humid subtropical climate region with Deciduous and coniferous trees
65
What are the characteristics of the Southeastern mixed forests?
Pine barrens and Palmetto barrens
66
What are the characteristics of humid continental climate?
Hot summers and cold winters with Cyclonic precipitation
67
What is cyclonic precipitation?
Also known as frontal precipitation, occurs when a warm front meets a cold front
68
What are the characteristics of Northern mixed forests?
Humid Continental Climate, mixed broadleaf deciduous and needleleaf evergreen forest
69
What are the characteristics of Eastern Hardwood forests?
Temperate (mild temperatures) humid continental with deciduous trees and needleleaf evergreen
70
What are the characteristics of Grasslands in the Great Plains region?
Tall-grass prairie, short-grass prairie, and mixed-grass prairie
71
What creates the difference between short-grass and tall-grass?
The differences come from in precipitation and temperature extremes, the climate there does not support trees
72
What are the characteristics of the Tall-grass prairie?
Distinct wet and dry seasons. Known as the "Prairie Peninsula"
73
What are the characteristics of short-grass prairie?
Semi-arid, flat and rolling with mesas and stream valleys
74
What classifies desserts as desserts?
It has to have less than 10 inches of rain
75
What is arid (dessert) climate?
It is dry because of high pressure systems (which bring subsiding air), air is warm
76
What is semi-arid climate?
Similar to arid BUT descending air is not as warm and dry
77
What is a dryline?
Distinct boundary where dry air descending over Rockies collides with humid air moving west from Gulf of Mexico
78
What are the characteristics of the Mediterranean climate?
Most precipitation occurs during the winter and dry summer
79
What are the characteristics of Marine West Coast climate?
Coastal area is not as hot during the summer, rainier winters, and unpredictable
80
What are the characteristics of subarctic climates?
Dry conditions, cool summers, short growing seasons, long, cold winters, permafrost zone
81
What is the permafrost zone?
Where soils are totally or partially frozen all year
82
What are the characteristics of the Boreal Forest?
Long and very cold winters, moderate to high precipitation
83

GEOG 301 Geography of the U.S. (4 decks)

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