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30 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Physical Geography |
Elements of physical geography are natural in origin
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Cultural Geography
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Elements of cultural geography are of human endeavor
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Lithosphere |
The solid, inorganic portion of Earth, comprising the rocks of Earth's crust as well as the broken and unconsolidated particles of mineral matter that overlie the solid bedrock
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Atmosphere
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the gaseous envelope of air that surrounds Earth
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Hydrosphere
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comprises water in all its forms
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Cryosphere |
water frozen as snow or ice
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Biosphere
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encompasses all parts of Earth where living organisms can exist
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Plane of the Equator
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An imaginary plane passing through Earth halfway between the poles and perpendicular to the axis of rotation
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Equator
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Imaginary midline of the Earth, where the plane of the equator intersects Earth's surfaces
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Great Circle
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any plane that is passes through the center of a sphere bisects that sphere and creates a great circle where it intersects the surface of the sphere
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Gradicule
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The grid system of Earth, and consists of latitude and longitude
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Latitude
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description of location expressed as an angle north or south of the equator
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Parallel
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a line connecting all points of the same latitude
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Longitude
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an angular description of east=west location
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Meridians
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not parallel to one another except where they cross the equator
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Prime Meridian
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Greenwich, England (for all longitudinal measurement)
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Perihelion
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Closest Earth Sun distance
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Aphelion
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Farthest Earth-Sun distance
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Plane of the Ecliptic |
the imaginary plane defined by the orbital path of Earth around the Sun
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Inclination of Earth's axis
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tilt of the Earth
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Polarity of the Rotation Axis (Parallelism)
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at any time during the year, Earth's rotation axis is parallel to its orientation at all other times
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Solar Altitude
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the height of the Sun above the horizon
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June Solstice |
occurs about June 21, the Earth reaches the position in its orbit where the North Pole is oriented most directly toward the Sun. Rays of Sun at noon strike perpendicular to the surface at the Tropic of Cancer
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Circle of Illumination
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dividing line between the daylight half of Earth and nighttime half of Earth
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Arctic Circle; Antarctic Circle
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66.5 degrees north; 66.5 degrees south
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September Equinox
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occurs about September 22. rays of sun strike perpendicular to equator
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December Solstice
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occurs about December 21. Rays of sun strike perpendicular to the Tropic of Capricorn
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March Equinox
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occurs about March 20. Rays of sun strike perpendicular to equator
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Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), Universal Time Coordinated (UTC)
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the time at the prime meridian, still considered the reference for standard time
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International Date line
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is in the middle of the time zone defined by the 180 degree meridian. When you cross the international date line going from west t oeast, it becomes one day earlier
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