HUMAN GEO: Study guide Definitions

Pangea

A supercontinent containing all of Earth's land that existed about 225 million years ago.

Ring of Fire

The horseshoe shaped distribution of intense seismic activity around the Pacific Ocean. This region (of plate tectonics) is responsible for 90% of the worlds earthquakes and 75% of volcanic eruptions.

Plate Tectonics

A theory describing the origin and movement of the Earth's crust and its numerous plates. Which float and slowly move atop a molten rock layer (AKA Mantle)

Distance Decay

states that the interaction between two locales declines as the distance between them increases.

Budding

Migration that involves small subgroups breaking away to settle new places.

Land Bride

Dry land that allowed humans to pass between continents that rising sea levels since separated.

Megafauna

Large animals weighing more than 220 pounds Which were slower than other animals therefore vulnerable to human hunters at the end of the last Ice Age (Lead to extinction).

Pleistocene Overkill

Th extinction of many large mammals around 11,000 years ago. The main reasons are thought to be human overhunting and climate change.

6th Mass Extinction

We are now considered to be in the 6th mass extinction, an inter-glacial period. The sixth mass extinction is likely being caused by human-induced events which destroy species habitats.

Wallace's Line

The zoo-geographical boundary proposed by Alfred Russel Wallace that separates the marsupial fauna of Australia and New Guinea from the nonmarsupial fauna of indonesia

Permafrost

A subsurface layer of soil that usually remains frozen all year round. Common in the higher latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere.

Mitigation

Mitigation means to reduce or prevent the effects of something from happening
EX: Climate Change - Solar Energy, Wind Energy, and Energy Efficient Buildings

Adaptation

Adjusting a translation based on the cultural environment of the target language.

Cosmography

Study of the Earth through the understanding of the interconnected Cosmos., incorporating other disciplines such as Astronomy and Astrology.

Atlas

A collection of Printed Maps.

Latitude

lines that run parallel to the equator. North to South

Longitude

(AKA Meridians) East to West

Parallel

imaginary lines around the Earth parallel to the equator.

Meridian

an arc drawn between the North/South poles that measures longitude.

Absolute Location

exact location of a place on the earth described by global coordinates: meridians and parallels.

Relative Space

The social dimension of space such as the different incomes of different regions often contrasted with the lines of latitude and longitude.

Tropical Zone

Geographical location that covers the equator and extends to the lines of latitude known as the Tropics of cancer and Capricorn.

Mercator Projection

conformal cylindrical map projection, the Mercator projection is particularly useful for navigation because it maintains accurate direction but makes landmasses at the poles appear oversized

Isotherm

A line on a weather map that joins places that have the same temperature.

Geographic Profiling

An investigative technique that uses crime scene locations to predict the most likely area where an offender resides

Disease Mapping

The mapping of the incidence, causes, and consequences o disease and ill health.

environmental Determinism

theory that That a physical environment effects social and cultural development

Heartland Theory

Hypothesis proposed by Halford MacKinder that held that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain enough strength to eventually dominate the world.

Tober's Law

A geographical law that "Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things

Political Ecology

The study of the struggle over resources, who controls them, and how the cost and benefits are apportioned.

Anthrome

Describes the terrestrial biosphere using global ecosystems defined by global patterns of direct human interaction with an ecosystem

Pristine Myth

The mistaken belief of a vast wilderness before the first European explorers and conquers arrived. Instead, it theorized that a new wilderness developed as indigenous population were depleted.

Columbian Encounter

The arrival of Europeans to the Americas.

Anthropecene

Defined as the current geological age, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment.

Rewilding

A movement that aims to create landscapes and ecosystems similar to those existed in Paleolithic times.

Tragedy of the Commons

Overconsumption of one product / resource used by all the people that leads to extinction of the resource

Ecumene

The proportion of the earth inhabited by humans.

Demographic Transition Model

A sequence of demographic changes in which a country moves from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates through time.

Current World Population

7 billion

Types of Population Density

(1) Arithmetic Density
(2) Physiological Density
(3) Agricultural Density

the 4 areas where populations are concentrated

- East Asia
- South Asia
- Southeast Asia
- Europe

Crude Birth Rate (CBR)

The total number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.

Crude Death Rate (CDR)

The total number of deaths in a year for every 1,000 people alive in the society.

Rate of Natural Increase (RNI)

The percentage of annual growth in a population excluding migration.

Population Growth Model

how a population may increase exponentially until it reaches the carrying capacity of its environment. When a population's number reaches the carrying capacity, population growth slows down or stops altogether.