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Part - 12 (Glossary of Geographical Terms)

Glossary of Geographical Terms:

Ablation: Loss of ice in the body of a glacier through melting etc.

Abrasion: Erosion of rocks by water, wind or ice (glacier)

Abyssal: Lowest depths of oceans

Accretion: Deposition or Accumulation, for example, accumulation of water in the rocks as ground water

Advection: Transfer of heat through horizontal movement of air. Its opposite is convection (vertical)

Aeolian: Relating to or caused by wind, for example, Aeolian landforms

Altimeter: A type of aneroid barometer used for measuring height. Mainly used in aeroplanes.

Anemometer: An instrument used for measuring wind velocity

Anticline: The arch or crest of a fold in the rocks. Its opposite is a syncline, the bottom of a fold.

Antipodes: Two points diametrically opposite each other on the surface of the earth

Apiculture: Rearing of honey bees and production of honey

Aphelion: The position of the earth in its orbit when it is at its greatest distance from the sun. Its opposite of Perihelion

Apogee: The position of the moon when it is at its greatest distance from the earth. Its opposite is perigee

Atoll: A ring or horseshoe-shaped coral reef

Aurora Australis and Borealis: The light phenomena seen in the sky at the night in the higher latitudes of the southern and northern hemisphere, respectively.

Avalanche: A large mass of snow and ice at high altitude, sliding down slope on a mountain.

Barometer: Instrument used for measuring pressure.

Beaufort Scale: A scale identifying wind strength. The lowest point on the scale is zero which refers o clam conditions and the highest is 12 referring to a hurricane.

Biosphere: That portion of the earth and its environment occupied by various forms of life.

Blizzard: Storm of powdery snow in polar regions

Bora: A cold and dry wind experienced along the eastern coast of Adriatic Sea

Bore: A high tidal wave causing backflow of water in the mouth of a river.

Caatinga: Thorn-forest of Brazil

Canyon: A narrow, deep, steep-sided river valley cut in the soft rocks

Cardinal Points: The four main directions or points of the compass - north, south, east and west

Cartography: The art of drawing maps and charts

Chronometer: An accurate time-keeping instrument

Clinometer: An instrument used for determining the difference in elevation between two points. It measures angles in a vertical plane

Condensation: The process by which a substance changes from vapour to liquid

Coniferous: Cone-bearing plants, generally having needle shaped leaves

Connate Water: Water entrapped in the interstices of rocks during their formation; also called fossil water

Convection: Vertical movement of gases

Coral: A kind of rock formed by polyps forming reefs in the oceans.

Colour of the sky: Seems blue because of the selective scattering of light in the atmosphere by gases and dust particles

Deciduous forest: Consists of trees that shed their leaves in the dry season or in winter.

Downs: Temperate grasslands of Australia

Denudation: Wearing away of rocks by various agencies like wind, water and ice (glaciers)

Ecology: The science that studies organisms in relation to their environment

Epicentre: Point on the surface of the earth vertically above the seismic focus.

Estuary: Mouth of a river where tidal effects are evident and where fresh water and sea water mix

Eustatic movement: A large scale rise or fall of sea level

Fathometer: Instrument used for measuring the depth of the ocean

Glacier: A moving mass of ice

Geyser: A thermal spring which throws up a jet of hot water and steam intermittently

Gorge: A narrow, steep-sided valley of a river usually found in a mountainous region

Gulf: A large, deep bay

Halophyte: A plant which grows naturally in a saline environment

Hinterland: Area from which a port gets most of its exports

Horse Latitudes: Subtropical belts of high pressure over the oceans

Humus: Decomposed ad partly decomposed organic matter in the soil

Hydrology: The study of water content on the earth

Hydrophyte: A plant growing in water

Hyetograph: A self-recording rain-gauge

Hygrometer: Instrument used for measuring humidity in the atmosphere

Hygrophyte: A plant growing in wetlands

Insolation: Energy radiated from the sun received by the earth

International Date Line: The line approximating to 180 degree longitude, where the date changes by one day as it is crossed. The date is one day earlier east of this line.

Isobars: Lines of equal pressure

Isobaths: Lines of equal depth in sea

Isobronts: Lines joining places experiencing a thunderstorm at the same time

Isochrones: Lines joining places located at equal travel time from a common centre

Isogonals: Lines joining places with same magnetic declination

Isohyet: Lines joining places of equal rainfall

Isohels: Lines joining places of equal amount of sunshine

Isotherms: Lines of equal temperature

Isthmus: A narrow strip of land joining two land masses, for example, the Isthmus of Panama joining North and South America

Karst region or Karstland: Limestone region in which most of the drainage is underground, the surface being dry and barren

Katabatic Wind: Local wind caused by the flow of air downwards along mountain slopes into the valleys

Lagoon: Part of sea partially cut off from it by deposits of sand or coral reefs, for ex: Chilka lake in Orissa

Lapse rate: The rate of change of temperature in atmosphere with height. In general, temperature decreases with increasing height. Temperature inversion is opposite to Lapse rate

Latitude: The angular distance of a point on the earth's surface north or south of the equator, as measured from the centre of the earth. Latitudinal lines are also called parallels of latitude

Leaching: The process by which soluble substances are washed out of the upper layers of the soils into the lower layers of soil by percolating rainwater

Leeward: The side or direction sheltered from the wind

Light Year: The distance travelled by light in one year, the speed being 1,86,000 miles per second.

Loess: Deposits of fine silt or dust generally transported to its present location by wind

Lunar Month: The interval of time in which the moon makes one complete revolution around the earth, about 29.5 days

Meridian: A line of longitude, or half of one of the great circles that passes through the poles and cuts the equator at right angles

Mesophyte: A plant that requires moderate amount of moisture. Most common trees and shrubs are Mesophytes

Midnight Sun: A phenomenon observed in high latitudes around midsummer when the sun does not sink below the horizon throughout the 24 hours of a day and night cycle and may thus be visible even at night.

Moraine: The debris or fragments of rock material brought down with the movement of a glacier

Nivation: Erosion due to action of snow

Oasis: Area in the desert where water is available. They are spots of greenery in the desert

Opisometer: Instrument used for measuring distances on a map

Orographic rain: Rain caused by mountains

Pampas: The mid-latitude grasslands of South America

Pastoralism: Practice of breeding and rearing cattle.

Pedology: The science of the study of soils

Peninsula: A stretch of land almost surrounded by water

Petrology: The study of the composition, structure and history of rocks forming the crust of the earth

Phenology: Science dealing with the effects of seasonal changes upon animal and plant life

Phytogeography: The study of the distribution of plants on the earth, in relation to environment

Piedmont: Belonging to or related to the foot of a mountain

Plateau: Extensive level or near level area of elevated land

Prairies: Mid-latitude grasslands of North America

Precipitation: Falling of water (in liquid or solid form, as the case may be) from the atmosphere to the earth

Pressure Gradient: Rate at which pressure declines per unit of horizontal distance on the earth's surface.

Psychrometer: Instrument used for measuring humidity of the atmosphere

Radiation: Process by which a body emits radiant energy, for example, in the form of heat

Saprophyte: A plant which lives on decaying organic matter. Most such plants are fungi

Savanna: An area of tropical grassland with scattered trees

Seismic focus or deep focus: Point below the earth's surface where an earthquake originates

Seismograph: Instrument used for measuring and recording earthquake shocks

Seismology: Science of the study of earthquakes

Selvas: Dense equatorial forests of the Amazon basin in South America

Sericulture: The culture of silkworms for production of raw silk

Sidereal day: The period of time during which a star describes a complete circle in its apparent journey around the pole star, representing the period of one rotation of the earth on its axis and equal to 23 hours 56 minutes and 4 seconds. It is thus about 4 minutes shorter than the mean solar day.

Silviculture: Growing and rearing of small plants

Sleet: Precipitation consisting of a mixture of ice pellets and rain

Smog: Fog heavily laden with smoke

Solar day: The average period (24 hours) taken by the earth in making one rotation on its axis in relation to the sun

Solstice: The time during summer or winter when the sun is vertically above the point which represents its farthest distance north or south of the equator - the two tropics

Steppe: Mid-latitude grasslands of Eurasia

Strait: Narrow stretch of sea connecting two extensive areas of sea, for example the Strait of Gibraltar connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean

Syncline: Trough or inverted arch of a fold in rock strata

Sublimation: Change of state of water from solid to vapour directly or vice versa

Taiga: Coniferous forest land of Siberia

Temperature Inversion: Condition when the temperature is found increasing instead of decreasing with height.

Theodolite: Instrument used for measuring angular distances in the vertical plane (elevation) and the horizontal plane (azimuth)

Tidal range: Average difference in water level between high and low tide at one place. Bay of Fundy in Canada has the highest tidal range in the world

Transhumance: Practice among pastoral communities to move their animals seasonally between two regions of different climate

Tributary: Smaller river which joins a larger river

Tropics: The Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn located at 231/2 degree N and S, respectively, are the northward and southward limits up to which the sun's vertical rays can reach. The area bounded by the two tropics is called the tropical zone.

Tropophyte: A plant which acts as a hygrophyte in one season and a xerophyte in the other.

Tsunami: A high magnitude sea wave caused by an earthquake originating on the sea bed.

Viticulture: The culture of grape wine

Willy-willy: Tropical cyclone in the Pacific ocean near the east coast of Australia

Xerophyte: Plant which is adapted to living in a region where little moisture is available.

Zoophyte: An animal which resembles a plant, for example, a coral polyp, a sponge.

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