Glossary

Abrasion – waves erode coastline by throwing pebbles against cliff faces
Adventure holidays – more active with more risk, off the beaten track, in more unusual destinations
Ageing population – increasing percentage of old people (aged 65 and over)
Agri-business – type of farming that is run as a big business (no longer a way of life)
Aid – money, goods and expertise given by one country to another, either free or at low cost
Anticyclone – area of high pressure
Appropriate technology – level in terms of size and complexity that makes it suitable for local people to use
Arch – rocky opening through a headland formed by wave erosion
Arête – sharp-edged two-sided ridge on the top of a mountain

Bar – ridge of sand or shingle across the entrance to a bay or river mouth
Beach – sloping area of sand and shingle between the high and low water marks
Biodiversity – level of plant and animal variety in an ecosystem
Birth rate – number of live births per 1000 population per year
Boulder clay/till – all materials deposited by ice, usually clay containing sharp-edged boulders of many sizes
Brown earth – uniform brown-coloured soil that forms under deciduous woodland
Brownfield site – area of previously built-up land that is available to be built on again

Carbon credits – each one gives the buyer the right to emit 1 tonne of carbon into the atmosphere
Carbon footprint – emissions of carbon dioxide left behind by burning fossil fuels
Carbon trading – companies that have exceeded their carbon emissions allowance buy carbon credits from those that have not
Cash crop farming – crops grown for sale instead of farmer’s own use (the opposite of subsistence farming)
Cave – hollow at the bottom of a cliff eroded by waves
Central Business District (CBD) – urban zone located in the centre, mainly shops and offices
Cliff – steep rock outcrop along a coast
Climate – average weather conditions recorded at a place over many years
Commercial farming – type of agriculture based on growing crops or rearing livestock for sale
Commuter – person who travels to work in another place every day by car or public transport
Conflict – opposing views about issues, leading to debate between people about them
Constructive wave – gently breaking wave with a strong swash and weak backwash
Continentality – influence of land surface on weather and climate
Corrie – circular hollow, high on a mountainside, surrounded by steep rocky walls except for a rock lip on the open side
Cross profiles of river valleys – V-shaped sections, changing downstream from steep to gentle
Death rate – number of deaths per 1000 population per year
De-industrialisation – declining importance of manufacturing industry
Dependency ratio – relationship between people of working and non-working ages
Depression – area of low pressure
Destructive wave – powerful wave with a weak swash and strong backwash
Development – level of economic growth and wealth of a country
Discharge – amount of water in a river at any one time

Earthquake – shaking of the ground
Ecosystem – system in which living things (plants and animals) and physical factors (climate and soils) are linked
Ecotourism – involves protecting the environment and the way of life of local people
Effects – primary (first effects) and secondary (later effects), positive (good) and negative (bad)
Environmental degradation – productive land turned into wasteland by damage to the soil
Erosion processes – wearing away the land surface by hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition and solution
External factor – something unrelated to tourism, which affects tourist numbers, such as the economy, currency exchange rates, political unrest, wars and terrorism
Extreme environment – difficult place for humans to live in or visit, often due to hostile climate
Extreme weather – weather event more severe than normally expected

Fair trade – farmers and producers in developing countries are given a fair deal by buyers in developed countries; prices paid are always higher than their costs of production
Flood plain – flat land built of silt on the sides of a river, usually in its lower course
Flooding – water covering land that is normally dry after a river bursts its banks
Fold mountains – long, high mountain range formed by upfolding of sediments
Food chain/web – nutrients and energy absorbed by plants are passed along a line of living things
Food miles – distance that food travels between supplier and supermarket shelf
Fragile environment – place where wildlife and landscape are easily damaged by outsiders
Function (of a settlement) – what it does, why it is there, e.g. capital city, port, industrial centre
Functional parts (of a settlement) – purpose of that area, e.g. residential, industrial, port area

Glacial trough – U-shaped valley, with flat floor and steep sides, formed by a valley glacier
Global climate change – variations in temperature and rainfall affecting the whole world
Global interdependence – shared need between two or more countries, located anywhere in the world, for one another’s goods or services
Globalisation – increasing importance of international operations for people and companies
Gorge – steep narrow valley, with rocky sides
Gross National Income (GNI) per head – total income of the country, divided by the number of inhabitants, to give average income per person
Gross National Product (GNP) – total value of all the goods and services produced by people and companies in the country in one year

Hanging valley – tributary valley, high above the main valley floor, with a waterfall
Hard engineering strategies – strong construction methods to hold floodwater back or keep it out
Hazard – natural hazards are short-term events that threaten lives and property
Hazard (climatic) – short-term weather event that threatens lives and property
Human Development Index (HDI) – is a measure of people’s quality of life using more than one measure of development, based on life expectancy, education and standard of living
Hydraulic power – erosion of rocks by the force of moving water in waves

Ice sheet – moving mass of ice that covers all the land over a wide area
Igneous rock – rock formed by volcanic activity, from magma that has cooled
Immigration – movement of people into a country from another country
Industrialisation – growth and increasing importance of manufacturing industry (making goods)
Inequalities in wealth – unfair differences/big gaps in income and development between different countries, or between regions/different groups of people within a country
Infant mortality rate – number of child deaths under one year old per 1000 people
Informal sector – not regular paid employment; unofficial work, often self-help small-scale services such as street sellers and shoe shiners
Infrastructure for tourism – support structures and services for visitors such as airports, hotels, electricity, tour agencies
Inner city – urban zone around the edges of the CBD, quite old

Land uses (urban) – ways in which the Earth’s surface is used, e.g. houses, factories, shops, transport, parks in towns and cities
Landscape – inland scenery, with varied landforms
Latosol – deep soil, red or yellow in colour, which forms under tropical rainforest
Leaching – downward movement of minerals through soil
Levée – raised bank along the sides of a river, made of silt from river floods
Life expectancy – average number of years that a new-born child can expect to live
Long profile of a river – a summary of the shape and gradient of a river bed from source to mouth

Managed retreat – abandon defence of present coastline in a controlled manner
Management of problems – making changes for improvement, planning ahead to stop them occurring in the future
Management strategies – ways to control development and change, to preserve and conserve, and to plan for a sustainable future
Marginal land – areas of land previously not considered good enough to be worth using
Maritime influence – influence of the sea on weather and climate
Mass tourism – large numbers of visitors, often on package holidays with accommodation and travel included
Meander – bend in a river, usually along its middle or lower course
Measure of development – statistical way to show the size of differences in levels of economic growth and wealth between countries
Metamorphic rock – rock that has been changed by natural agencies
Migration – movement of people either into or out of an area
Moraine – materials deposited by ice, with different names according to where they were deposited
Multicultural – when people from different ethnic, racial or religious backgrounds live together
Multiplier effect – spin-offs from one business growing, allowing other businesses to grow as well

National Park – area set aside to protect landscape and habitats, managed to stop visitor damage
Natural decrease – death rate higher than birth rate, declining population
Natural hazard – short-term event that is a danger to life and property, caused by natural events; examples are earthquakes, volcanoes and tropical storms
Natural increase – birth rate higher than death rate, growing population
Nutrient cycling – dead remains of plants and animals are decomposed and used again

Organic farming – type of agriculture that does not use chemicals and artificial growth stimulants; farming in a natural and sustainable way
Ox-bow lake – semi-circular lake on the flood plain of a river, a cut-off meander

Plates – large rock areas that make up the Earth’s crust
Population policy – national plan for population change (either to lower or increase birth rates)
Population structure – the make-up (age and sex) of a population, usually shown in a population pyramid
Precipitation – all moisture that reaches the Earth’s surface from the atmosphere
Pull and push factors – circumstances that attract or drive people to migrate

Quality of life – how well a person is able to enjoy living; high quality is living comfortably (without always being wealthy) and low quality is struggling to survive

Refugee – person forced to flee from their country or place of residence
Renewable energy – natural source of power that will never run out
Resource – something useful for human needs
Responses – actions immediately after the event or in the long-term
Ribbon lake – long and narrow lake in the floor of a glaciated valley
Rock cycle – rocks weathered, eroded and transported to sea beds, and used to form new mountains
Rural depopulation – decline in numbers living in country areas, often due to out-migration
Rural–urban fringe – area of countryside lying on the edge of the main built-up area, sometimes partly built on

Salinisation – increasing concentrations of salt in the topsoil where evaporation rates are high
Scree – pieces of rock with sharp edges, lying towards the foot of a slope
Second home – house (often in rural areas) that is not the owner’s main place of residence
Sedimentary rock – rock formed by sediments laid down in the sea bed
Segregation (in urban areas) – high concentration of land uses and/or groups of people in certain areas of the city, separate from other uses/people
Soft engineering strategies – more natural ways to reduce the impact of flooding on humans, with less intervention and more preparation
Soil erosion – loss of fertile topsoil by action of wind and water
Spit – ridge of sand or shingle attached to the land, but ending in open sea
Squatter settlement – homes on land not owned by the people living there, built illegally
Stack – pillar of rock surrounded by sea, separated from the coastline
Stewardship – entrusted to look after and manage places and areas
Striations – deep grooves in surface rocks, made by the sharp edges of stones carried in the bottom of moving ice
Subsistence economy – one that is based on what can be grown and provided for itself
Subsistence farming – type of agriculture based on growing crops and rearing livestock mainly to feed the family
Suburbanised village – small settlement in the countryside that has grown with new housing and now is less like the old rural settlement it used to be
Succulent – plant that stores water in a fleshy stem to survive drought
Sustainable city – city with low use of energy and raw materials, replacement by renewables and waste recycling
Sustainable development – growth of activities working with the environment for a long future
Sustainable living – people working with the environment for a long future for their economic activities
Sustainable management – planning ahead and controlling development for a long future

Tarn – circular lake in a corrie hollow, where water is trapped by the steep sides and rock lip
Tectonic activity – movement of the large rock plates of the Earth’s crust
Trade – exchange of goods and services between countries
Trade bloc – a group of countries (e.g. those in the European Union) that are linked for trade
Transnational corporations (TNCs) – large businesses with interests in many countries
Transportation processes – movement of sediment by traction, saltation, suspension and solution
Tropical revolving storm – area of very low pressure in low latitudes, with strong winds and heavy rain
Truncated spurs – higher areas on the straight rocky sides of a glaciated valley
Tsunami – giant sea wave travelling at high speed

Urban sprawl – outward spread of towns and cities into and taking over rural areas
Urbanisation – increase in the percentage of people living in urban areas

Valley glacier – a moving mass of ice confined in a valley
Volcano – cone-shaped mountain formed by surface eruptions of magma from inside the Earth

Wave-cut platform – gently sloping surface of rock, in front of cliffs, exposed at low tide
Weather – condition of the atmosphere at any one time, day-to-day variations
Weathering – breakdown of rock in the place where it outcrops (in situ)

Xerophytic – adaptations in plants that allow them to survive in a dry climate

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