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54 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
geography as a discipline has a unique set of perspectives. geographers look at the wold from the viewpoint of
geographic space, synthesizing ideas from different disciplines, and techniques of multipulate spatial info.
five major fields of physical geography

water resouces and hazards assessment are important applied fields
coastal & marine
soil & biogeography
environmental change is produced by both natural & human processes. human activities are currently changing
the earth's climate & global flows of carbon from earth to ocen to atmosphere
the earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun. the rotation produces
day-night cycle, while the revolution produces the seasons
the direction of the earths rotation is counterclockwise when viewed from above the north pole
west to east if viewed with the north pole up
geographic grid consists of an orderly system of circles __ &__ that are used to locate position on the globe.
meridians :north-south lines

parellels: east-west lines
latitude and longitude uniquely determine the postion of a point on the globe. latitude & longitude record
latitude record: parallel
longitude record: meridian
associated with the point
the Goode projection displays the relative areas of
land masses correctly but disorts their shape-especially near the poles
in the standard time system we keep global time according to
nearby standard meridians that normally differ by one hour from each other
the axis of the earths rotation is titled by ___ away from the ----
this tilt causes seasons
23 1/2
plane of the ecliptic
at the june solstice the north pole is tilted toward the__
at the december solstice it is tiltied away from the___
toward sun
away sun
the suns declination describes the latitude of the subsolar point as it ranges from
23 1/2 S. (december)
23 1/2 N. (june)

throught the year
visible light includes colors ranging from __ to __ and spands the wavelength range of about __
0.4 to 0.7
hotter objects radiate energy at ___ wavelengths than cooler objects. hotter objects also radiate more__
energy than cooler objects
the intensity of solar radiation is greatest in___ portion of the spectrum. in this range most of the solar radiation___
penetrates the earths atmosphere to reach the surface
shortwave radiation refers to emitted by the___
longwave radiation refers to wavelengths emitted by___
cooler objects like the earths surface
insolation refers to the flow rate of ___ solar radiation. it is high when the sun is __in the sky
the path of the sun in the sky varies with___ and ___. in the summer the sun rises ___ in the sky for a longer part of the 24 hr. day
latitude and season
the tilt of the earths axis of rotation causes ___ to be distributed more evenly from __ to__ . on an annual basis the pole recives __
pole to pole
40% of the insolation recived at the equator
nitrogen is the most abundant of the __ gases. oxygen is ___ to living tissue. water vapor and carbon dioxide absorb __ radiation and help warm the__
sensible heat transfer refers to the flow of heat between the __and the__ by conduction or convection. _____ refers to the flow of heat carried by changes of state of water
earths surface and the atmosphere
latent heat transfer
counterradiation from the atmosphere to the earths surface helps warm the surface and creates the____. it is enhabced by carbon dioxide, wateer droplets and____ in the atmosphere
greenhouse effect
water vapor
poleward heat transfer moves heat from___ toward the poles. the heat transfer is in the form of__ &warm moist air that flows polewrdand is relaced by___
the low latitudes
warm ocean water
cooler water & cooler drier air moving equatorward
five key factors influence a stations air temperature , its daily variation & annual variation:
3.surface type
4.coastal vs. interior location
surface air temp. is measured under standard conditions @ __ above ground. ___&__ temp. are typically recorded. the mean daily temp. is taken as the__
maximum & minimum
average of the minimum and maximum temp/
the daily cycle of surface air temp. is controlled by the__ during the day positive net radiation causes temp. to rise until afternoon highs are reached. at nigh__
daily cycle of net radiation
negative net radiation causes air temp. to fall
urban sufaces lack moisture and so are __than rural surfaces during the day. at night urban materials conduct stored heat to the surface also keeping__
temp. warmer
in the lower atmosphere air temp decreases with---. the average rate of temp decrease with height is termed the __
increasing altitude
environmental temp lapes rate
the troposhere and statosphere are two lowermost atmospheric layers. -- -- phenomena occur in the
___. the statoshere is the home of__
clouds and weather
strong persistent winds that flow west to east
at high elevations air temp are generally __and show a greater __ range. both effects occur beacause the thickness and __ of the air column above decrease with elevation and therefore the __ is weaker at high elevations
day to night
a temp__ occurs when air temp increases with altitude . low level inversions typically occur on ____with still air and are often found over snow covered surfaces in winter
clear cold nights
the annual cycle of net radiation which results from the variation of ___ with the seasons drives the annual cycle of air temp. where net radiation __ strongly with the seasons so does surface air temp
air temp at coastal locations tend to be more__ than at interior continental locations because water bodies

air temp at coastal locations tend to be more __ than at interior continental locations because water bodies __and__ more slowly than the land surfaces
heat and cool
because water bodies heat & cool more slowly than land surfaces monthly temp __&__ occur later in the year at coastal ststions than @inteior stations
maximum & minimum
__ are lines of equal temp drawn on a map. maps of isotherms show centers of __&__ temp as well as temp gradents
high & low
the global pattern of annual temp range shows that ___ have the smallest range while __continental interiors show the largest ranges
tropical oceans
northern hemisphere
geenhouse gases act to warm the atmosphere and enhance the greenhouse effect. co2 is the most important __ gas
the last decade has brought a succession of very warm years including the warmest year of the last thousand yr 1998. most scientist agree that __primarliy released greenhouse gases to the atmosphere is responsible for the__
human activity
warming trend
water exists in __ __ &__ states as ice water and water vapor. __ heat energy is released or absorbed as water change from one state to another
the hydrologic cycle describes the global flow of water to and from _,__&__. water is exchanged between the atmosphere and the oceans and atmosphere and land by __&__. water moves from land to ocean by runoff
oceans, land,& atmosphere
evaporation & precipitation
the dew-point temp of a mass of air is the temp at which __ will occur. the more water vapor in the air the higher is the __ temp
humidity refers to the amount of __ present in air. warm air can hold much more water vapor than __
water vapor
cold air
relative humidity depends on both the water vapor content & the __ of the air. it compares the amount of water held by air to the maximum amount that can be held at that __
the adiabatic principle states that compression warms a gas while expansion cools it. in an __ the temp of a gas change in pressure not from an __ or __ of heat
adiabatic process
inflow or outflow
rising air cools less rapidly when ___ is occuring , owing to the release of __. this explains why the wet adiabatic cooling rate has a lesser value than __
the dry adiabatic cooling rate
a cloud consists of __,__, or __. these form on tiny condensation nuclei which are normally minute specks of sea salt or dust
water droplets
ice particles
mixture of both
there are 2 major classes of clouds:__&__. cumulonimbus clouds are dense tall clouds that produce thundershowers
stratiform (layerd)
cumuliform (globular)
in warm clouds experiencing strong uplift, water droplets grow by condensation then collide and coalesce to form __. in colder clouds ice particals grow from collisions with supercooled __that freeze on contact
water droplets
raindrops form in warm clouds by collision and coalescence. snow forms in cool clouds as water droplets __ and are deposited as ice crystals
__ types of precipitation are orograpgic , convectional, cyclonic and convergant
in oograpghic precipitation moist air is forced up and over a __ barrier producing cooling condensation and __
in convectional preciptiation moist air is warmed at the surface expands becomes less__ than surrounding cooler air and is buoyed __. at the lifting condensation level clouds begin to form
unstable air: can produce abundant convectional precipitation. it is typical of hot summer air masses in the central and southern us
warm moist and heated by the surface
a thunderstoem is an intens local stoem associated with tall __ clouds in which there are strong updrafts of air. thunderstorms can produce both __ and clould-to-ground lighting