GEOGRAPHY STYUDY GUIDE

William Morris Davis- father of American geography,
Light year- a unit of distance equal to the distance that light travels in one year
Terrestrial planets- Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, The terrestrial planets in our Solar System are also known as the inner planets because these planets are the four closest to the Sun.

Jovian planets- known as gas giants. There are four Jovian planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. These four planets also comprise the outer planets.

Solar systems- comprises the Sun and its planetary system of eight planets
Rotation- when a planet or moon turns all the way around or spins on its axis one time. The axis of rotation is an imaginary line going from the north pole to the south pole.
Revolution- earth goes around the sun once a year
Tropic of Cancer- also referred to as the Northern tropic, is the circle of latitude on the Earth that marks the most northerly position at which the Sun may appear directly overhead at its zenith
Tropic of Capricorn- It is the southernmost point on Earth where the sun's rays can be directly overhead at local noon. It is also one of the five major circles of latitude dividing the Earth
Contour lines- a line on a map or chart joining points of equal height or depth Often shortened to contour
The weather elements-
Insolation- is a measure of solar radiation energy received on a given surface area and recorded during a given time
Electromagnetic spectrum- is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation.[1] The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object has a different meaning, and is instead the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object.
Distribution of insolation-

Composition of atmosphere- Nitrogen - 78% - Dilutes oxygen and prevents rapid burning at the earth's surface. Living things need it to make proteins. Nitrogen cannot be used directly from the air.
Oxygen - 21% - Used by all living things. Essential for respiration. It is necessary for combustion or burning.
Argon - 0.9% - Used in light bulbs.
Carbon Dioxide - 0.03% - Plants use it to make oxygen. Acts as a blanket and prevents the escape of heat into outer space. Scientists are afraid that the buring of fossil fuels such as coal and oil are adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Water Vapor - 0.0 to 4.0% - Essential for life processes.
Structure of atmosphere-
Heterosphere- The upper portion of a two-part division of the atmosphere

Homosphere- the lower portion of the atmosphere
Importance of ozone- protects all life from the sun's harmful radiation, but human activities have damaged this shield.
Importance of carbon dioxide- The heated atmosphere keeps the earthworm. Thus carbon dioxide helps in keeping the earth warmer by blocking the infrared radiations
Greenhouse effect- short wavelengths of visible light from the sun pass through a transparent medium and are absorbed, but the longer wavelengths of the infrared re-radiation from the heated objects are unable to pass through that medium.
Global warming- is the rise in the average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans since the late 19th century and its projected continuation
Magnetosphere- the region surrounding the earth or another astronomical body in which its magnetic field is the predominant effective magnetic field

Distribution of insolation- is the amount of solar energy, direct or diffuse, reaching a surface per unit of time.
Global heat balance- The difference between the total influx of solar radiation to the earth's surface and the loss of this energy via terrestrial radiation, evaporation, and the dissipation of sensible heat into the ground.

Aphelion- The point when the earth is farthest from the sun during its annual orbit
Perihelion- is the point in the orbit of a planet, asteroid or comet where it is nearest to the sun
Big bang theory- is a process of expansion in our universe that is still active today. any physicists describe this event as an explosion, or flash, hence the name Big Bang
Topography- the arrangement of the natural and artificial physical features of an area
Radiation- is energy that comes from a source and travels through some material or through space. Light, heat and sound are types of radiation.
Conduction- the process by which heat or electricity is directly transmitted through a substance when there is a difference of temperature or of electrical potential between adjoining regions, without movement of the material
Convection- the movement caused within a fluid by the tendency of hotter and therefore less dense material to rise, and colder, denser material to sink under the influence of gravity, which consequently results in transfer of heat.
Northern hemisphere- is the half of a planet that is north of its equator, consists of all of Europe, North America and Asia, a portion of South America, two-thirds of the African continent and a very small portion of the Australian continent
Southern hemisphere- is part of a rotating astronomical body that lies south of the equator, (Antarctica, Australia, South America Africa), four oceans (Indian, South Atlantic, Southern, and South Pacific)
Western hemisphere- The half of the earth comprising North America, Central America, and South America
Eastern hemisphere- The half of the earth comprising Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia
Annual temperature range- range of hottest and coldest temperature of the year