Earth Science: Landforms, Climate, and Water Flow

Earth and Geographic Features

Circles perpendicular and parallel to the terrestrial axis are parallel. Ecuador, at 0 degrees, is a semicircle. Meridians go from pole to pole. Meridian 0 degrees passes through Greenwich.

Latitude and Longitude

Latitude is the angular distance from any point of land to Ecuador. Longitude represents the distance from meridian 0.

Maps and Relief

A map proportionally represents land or a part of it. Geography is the science that studies landscapes, understood as a set of physical and human elements that relate to each other.

Relief is the set of forms that the Earth's surface presents, shaped by terrestrial forces.

Morphostructural Units

Organic and erosive forms are the internal disposition that relief takes. Erosion is the modification or wear that affects relief, determined by erosive agents. Sedimentation is the deposit on the Earth's crust or maritime continent.

Marine Transgression and Regression

Marine transgression is the progress of the sea into a territory not yet produced. Marine regression is the sinking or elevation of the coast relative to sea level.

Geological Structures

Fractures and Faults

A fracture is a break in the Earth's crust without separation of the blocks. A fault is a break in the Earth's crust with separation of the blocks.

Folds

A fold is a deformation of a geological stratum in the form of undulations, caused by tectonic pressure. Lithology is the science that studies the physical and chemical nature of rocks.

• Anticline: The convex part of a simple fold.
• Syncline: The concave part of a simple fold.

Flexure is the deformation of layers so that both sides of a line are raised on one side and sunken on the other.

Coastal Features

• Cliffs: Steep mountains that penetrate the sea.
• Rasas: Staggered plains parallel to the coast.
• Marshes: Low, muddy plains in bays.
• Dunes: Mounds of sand typical of coasts.
• Tombolos: Sandbars that bind rocky islands to the shore.

Climate and Weather

Climate is the usual succession of weather types in a place.

• Solana: The mountainous area that receives full sun.
• Umbria: The area that is always in the shade.

Humidity is the percentage of water vapor that the air contains, relative to the maximum it could hold if saturated. Saturation point is the maximum amount of vapor the air can hold without reaching condensation. A storm is an intense local storm.

Hydrology

Lithology studies rocks and their characteristics. Runoff is the movement of water across the surface of the land or underground. A river is a stream that flows into another river or the sea. The riverbed is where the river flows. Flow is the quantity of water that a river carries at a specific point and moment.

• Endorheic: A drainage basin that does not reach the sea.
• Drought: The period during which a stream's flow reaches its lowest point.
• Flood: The time of maximum flow of a river.
• Absolute flow: The quantity of water that passes in one second through a given point of the river.
• Regime: Seasonal variations in flow.
• Rain flow: Flow influenced by rainfall.