Earth's Coordinates, Maps, Landforms, and Geological Processes
Classified in Geology
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Parallels and Meridians
Parallels: Circles perpendicular to the Earth's axis. Latitude 0° is the Equator, which divides the Earth into two hemispheres.
Meridians: Semicircles that run from pole to pole. The 0° meridian, also known as the Prime Meridian, passes through Greenwich, a town near London.
Geographic Coordinates
Latitude: The angular distance from any point on Earth to the Equator. It can be north or south.
Longitude: The angular distance from any point on Earth to the Prime Meridian (0°). It can be east or west.
Maps and Scale
Map: A representation of the Earth's spherical surface on a flat, reduced, and simplified form.
Scale: The relationship between a measured length on a map and the corresponding length in reality.
Landforms
Plateau: An elevated, flat area resulting from the erosion of a mountain range during the Primary Era.
Basin: A plain formed in the Primary Era due to the devastation caused by the erosion of mountain ranges during orogeny.
Old Massif: A low mountain with a flattened peak resulting from the erosion of a block of a base or plateau during the Tertiary Era.
Understanding Terrestrial Relief
Relief: The set of forms that the Earth's surface presents.
Sedimentary Basin: A sunken area formed by the sinking of a block of a base or plateau during the Tertiary Era. It is subsequently filled with Tertiary and Quaternary materials, forming a plain.
Mountain Ranges
Intermediate Range: A mountain formed by the folding of material deposited by the sea on the edge of a base during the Tertiary Era.
Alpine Cordillera: Mountains formed by the folding of material deposited by the sea at the bottom of trenches during the Tertiary Era.
Geological Processes
Orogeny: The process of mountain building.
Erosion: The wearing down of relief by erosive agents, which can be climatic or biological.
Faults and Fractures
Fracture: A break in the Earth's crust without separation of the fractured blocks.
Fault: A break in the Earth's crust with separation of the fractured blocks.
Rock Types
Granite: A magmatic rock formed in the Earth's interior and solidified from a molten state.
Limestone: A sedimentary rock formed in the Earth's interior from rock fragments or existing organisms.
Volcanic Features
Calderas: Large, circular craters caused by the explosion of a volcano.