Geography and Geology Fundamentals

Essential Geographical and Geological Terms

Cartography and Coordinates

• Parallels: These are circles perpendicular to the Earth's axis.
• Meridians: These are semicircles ranging from pole to pole.
• Latitude: The angular distance of any point from the equator.
• Longitude: The angular distance of any point from the Prime Meridian (0).
• Map: A graphic and proportional representation of land or a part of it.
• Scale: The relation between a longitudinal measure on the map and the corresponding reality. This includes numerical scales and graphic scales. A small-scale map is typically less than 1:10,000.

Location and Relief

• Location: The specific point or place where a position is found.
• Situation: The position of a point relative to other geographic features.
• Relief (High-profile): The aspect of the crust in a determined area. Relief is the result of orogenic forces that create slopes and erosive forces from external sources that file down those slopes.
• Orogenic Forces: Forces that originate from inside the Earth.
• Morphostructural Units: The forms and internal disposition that the relief takes.
• Sockets (Zócalos): Plains or plateaus formed by the erosion and leveling of ancient ridges.

Geological Processes and Materials

• Erosion: The wearing away or modification of relief by various erosive agents.
• Sedimentation: The deposit of solid materials resulting from the disaggregation of rocks or substances in solution.
• Sedimentary Rocks: These are generally soft and plastic.
• Metamorphic Rocks: These are hard and brittle.
• Crystalline Rocks: These are hard and fragile.
• Marine Transgression: The progress of the sea over a territory that was previously dry. This occurs due to the sinking of the coast or an increase in sea level.

Tectonics and Landforms

• Fracture: A break in the crust without the separation of blocks.
• Fault (Failure): A break in the crust accompanied by the separation of blocks.
• Sheet (Fold): A deformation of geological strata in the form of an undulation, often fractured due to tectonic pressure.
• Glaciers: Large accumulations of ice found in the headwaters of valleys.
• Lithology: The science that studies the physical and chemical nature of rocks.
• Granite: A rock formed inside the Earth that has solidified, often featuring diaclases.
• Berrocal: Heaps of granite "balls" or boulders that remain perpendicular to each other.
• Polje: Large, closed depressions or valley bottoms.
• Dolina (Sinkhole): Cavities where water stagnates, often horizontal in nature.
• Earthquakes (Chasms): Narrow openings on the surface that communicate with underground galleries.