World Physical Geography L21-23
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Created by:
JWflashcards on January 11, 2012
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vocab words
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29 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 hydrosphere | the water on or surrounding the surface of the earth, including the water in the oceans and in the atmosphere |
| desalination | the process of removing salt from sea water |
| aquifer | any geological formation containing water. It is not a large empty space underground, but rather the tiny spaces in porous rocks and between rocks. |
| groundwater | water held in aquifers below the surface of the earth |
| water table | the upper limit of the water level when the ground is filled with water. It rises after rains and lowers as water is pumped out or there is a drought. |
| precipitation | movement of hail, mist, rain, sleet, or snow from the atmosphere onto the surface of the earth |
| permeable | having openings or pores which allow water or gases to pass through |
| solar energy | energy (in the form of light or heat) coming from the sun |
| mean | average, middle point between extremes, holding a middle position |
| desert | a region with less than ten inches of precipitaion per year and having extremes in temperature |
| altitude | height above sea level |
| character | that which distinguishes one object, person or thing from another |
| crop | to bite or tear grasses at the roots, many times pulling up the entire plant. This leaves the soil exposed and vulnerable to erosion. |
| trade winds | almost constant winds blowing in one direction; in the Northern Hemisphere they blow in a belt from northeast to southwest and in the Southern Hemisphere in a belt from southeast to northwest. |
| upwelling | the movement of deep cold nutrient rich waters to the ocean surface. |
| krill | small, planktonic organisms that form the major food source for whales. |
| sirocco | a hot, dusty wind blowing from the Libyan desert of northern Africa into Italy, Malta and Sicily |
| prevailing westerlies | continuous winds coming from the west |
| leeward | the side or direction away from the wind |
| Coriolis effect | the creation of wind paterns by the movement of the earth as it spins to the east |
| desert pavement | close-fitting pebbles and stones that prevent erosion of the underlying surface |
| reg | an Arabic term for "desert pavement" |
| erg | a sea of land |
| oasis | a point where the water table rises to the surface resulting in significant growth of vegetation |
| Sahel | dry grasslands south of the Sahara |
| drought | a prolonged period of dry weather; lack of rain |
| OPEC | Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries |
| thermal buffer | thermal refers to heat and buffer is a zone of transition between different zones. We know large bodies of water moderate extremes of temperature. |
| desertification | the process of productive land losing its fertility due to overuse, overgrazing, removal of land cover, and salinization |
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