Unit 2: Physical Geography

Question 1

Precambrian era

Answer 1

Formed 5 billion to 570 million years ago.
Formation of the Earth, cellular life & the Canadian shield.

Question 2

Paleozoic era

Answer 2

Formed 570 million to 230 million years ago. Formation of Appalachian mountains, age of aquatic life. Canada had warm, tropical climate. Continents colliding (Pangea).

Question 3

Mesozoic era

Answer 3

Formed 230 million years to 65 million years ago. Formation of rocky mountains. Age of reptiles & dinosaurs. Supercontinent Pangea breaks up.

Question 4

Cenozoic era

Answer 4

65 million years ago to present. Formation of ice ages. Cooling climates & humans.

Question 5

Weathering

Answer 5

Weathering is the breakdown of rocks through water, heat/cold, wind, chemicals.

Question 6

Erosion

Answer 6

Erosion is rocks being broken down by natural forces (water, wind).

Question 7

Deposition

Answer 7

Deposition is the buildup of eroded sediments in a new location.

Question 8

Glaciation

Answer 8

Glaciation is basically the process of glaciers forming, moving, and melting.

Question 9

What are plates?

Answer 9

Plates are large pieces of the upper few hundred kilometers of Earth that move more or less as a single unit. They are bounded by an interconnected network of ridges, transform faults, and trenches.

Question 10

Ridges

Answer 10

Ridges occur when two plates are moving away from each other.

Question 11

Transform

Answer 11

Transform occurs where two plates are moving against each other.

Question 12

Trenches

Answer 12

Trenches (subduction zones) occurs where two plates are moving towards each other.

Question 13

Convergent boundaries (Collisions)

Answer 13

Plates moving towards each other. When continental plates collide, they create mountains. When an oceanic plate collides with an continental plate, the oceanic plate will subduct, or go under the continental plate, because it is denser.

Question 14

Divergent Boundaries (Spreading)

Answer 14

Occurs when two tectonic plates move away from each other. In the ocean, it causes the seafloor to spread and creates ridges & new land. On land, it creates a valley as continental plates move apart. It can create volcanoes, long & narrow lakes. It can cause plate to spilt into two creating a new plate.

Question 15

Transform boundaries (Grinding)

Answer 15

Plates slides past each other. Creates cracks in Earth’s crust, known as fault lines. Jagged edges of plates get stuck, tension builds and when tension is released, earthquakes occur. Points along the fault line will move away or closer to each other as plates slide

Question 16

Natural disasters

Answer 16

An event causes by or involving natural forces that has an impact on humans. Causes by forces within the Earth, changes in the Earth’s atmosphere, or threats from the solar system.

Question 17

Volcanoes

Answer 17

A rupture in the Earth that allows magma from Earth’s mantle to reach the surface where it cools to form a new crust.

Question 18

Shield volcanoes

Answer 18

Erupts slowly and frequently.

Question 19

Composite volcanoes

Answer 19

Erupts violently but less frequently.

Question 20

Super-volcanoes

Answer 20

Extremely rare but are so powerful that they can create extinction level events.

Question 21

Earthquakes

Answer 21

Causes by the movement of the Earth’s plates. Very few earthquakes occur away from the plate boundaries (intraplate earthquakes).

Question 22

Hypocenter

Answer 22

The point within the earth where an earthquake rupture begins.

Question 23

Epicenter

Answer 23

The point directly above the hypocenter at the surface of the Earth, where the move damage happens.

Question 24

Richter scale

Answer 24

Used to rate the magnitude of an earthquake (amount of energy released). Calculated using info gathered by a seismograph.

Question 25

Tsunamis

Answer 25

Caused by underwater earthquake or volcano. Produces a wave of water that ripples throughout the ocean. Causes widespread damage and flooding when it hits land.

Question 26

Latitude

Answer 26

How close a place is to the equator.
*As latitude increases temperature decreases.

Question 27

Ocean currents

Answer 27

Warm currents = warmer weather.
Cold currents = colder weather.
Currents act like a conveyer belt, bringing hot water from equator toward the poles and cold water from the poles to tropics.

Question 28

Winds

Answer 28

Winds from the poles are cold and dry.
Winds from the tropics ae hot and moist.
Winds from the ocean are wet.
Winds from the continents are dry.

Question 29

Elevation

Answer 29

How high a place is above sea level.
*Higher a place, lower the air pressure and more air expands.
*As elevation increases the temp decreases

Question 30

Relief

Answer 30

How elevated a place is or the side of a mountain.
Windward side of a mountain = wet (rain).
Leeward side of a mountain = dry (no rain).
Air masses on this side have already dumped their moisture on the windward side, hence the leeward side experiences a “rain shadow” effect, leading to dry conditions.

Question 31

Nearness to water

Answer 31

• water moderates the temperature
  - cooler summers, warmer winters
  
  • water has the ability to store heat
  • large water bodies release heat during the winter and soak it up during the

Question 32

Crust

Answer 32

Hard outer shell. 8-64 km in thickness. Always moving. 71% crust covered in water. Movement cause earthquakes at weak parts of crust.

Question 33

Mantle

Answer 33

Layer above the core. 10km below the ocean. 2800km thick. Makes up 80% of Earth’s volume.

Question 34

Core

Answer 34

Inner part of earth. 2800km below surface. Iron & nickel. Innor core is solid and outer core is molten.

Question 35

Tornado

Answer 35

A violently rotating column of air that extends from the base of a thunderstorm to the ground. Occur when warm, humid air masses, and cool, dry air masses meet.

Question 36

Hurricanes

Answer 36

Hurricanes form in warm ocean waters.

Question 37

Ice storms

Answer 37

Caused by a prolonged accumulation of freezing rain

Question 38

Forest fires

Answer 38

Can be caused by natural forces or human forces. Dry conditions are more prone.