Geographic Dictionary
Terms
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- lake
- a sizable inland body of water.
- canyon
- deep and narrow valley with steep walls.
- Prime Meridian
- line of the global grid running from the North Pole to the South Pole through Greenwich, England; starting point for measuring degrees of east and west longitude.
- sea
- large body of water completely or partly surrounded by land.
- physical feature
- characteristic of a place occuring naturally, such as a landform, body of water, climate pattern, or resource.
- ocean current
- stream of either cold or warm water that moves in a definite direction through an ocean
- strait
- narrow strectch of water joining two larger bodies of water.
- map
- drawing of the earth shown on a flat surface.
- lowland
- land, usually level, at a low elevation
- peninsula
- body of land jutting into a lake or ocean, surrounded on three sides by water.
- moutain peak
- pointed top of a mountain
- harbor
- a sheltered place along a shoreline where ships can anchor safely.
- ocean
- one of the four major bodies of salt water that surround the continents
- absolute location
- exact location of a place on the earth described by global coordinates.
- cape
- point of land that extends into a river, lake, or ocean
- basin
- area of land drained by a given river and its branches; area of land surrounded by lands of higher elevations.
- source
- (of a river) place where a river or stream begins, often in highlands.
- longtitude
- distance east or west of the Prime Meridian, measured in degrees.
- elevation
- heigh of land above sea level.
- gulf
- part of a large body of water that extends into a shoreline, generally larger and more deeply indented than a bay.
- divide
- stretch of high land that seperates river systems.
- continent
- one of the seven large landmasses on the earth.
- river
- large natural stream of water that runs through the land.
- hill
- elevated land wtih sloping sides and rounded summit; generally smaller than a mountain.
- parallel
- one of mant lines on the global grid that circles the earth north or south of the Equator; used to measure degrees of latitude.
- bay
- part of a large body of water that extends into a shoreline, generally smaller than a gulf.
- downstream
- direction in which a river or stream flows from its source to its mouth
- volcano
- mountain created as liquid rock and ash erupt from inside the earth.
- plateau
- area of flat or rolling land at a high elevation, about 300-3,000 feet high.
- mountain
- land with steep sides that rises sharply (1,000 feet or more) from surrounding land; generally larger and more rugged than a hill.
- latitude
- distance north or south of the Equator, measured in degrees.
- meridian
- one of many lines on the global grid running from the North Pole to the South Pole; used to measure degrees of longtitude.
- upstream
- direction opposite the flow of a river; toward the source of a river or stream.
- seacoast
- land lying next to a sea or an ocean.
- valley
- area of low land between hills or mountains.
- tributary
- small river or stream that flows into a larger river or stream; a branch of the river.
- Equator
- imaginery line that runs around the earth halfway between the North and South Poles; used as the starting point to measure degrees of north and south latitude.
- plain
- area of level land, usually at low elevation and often covered with grasses
- glacier
- large, thick body of slowly moving ice.
- delta
- flat, low-lying land built up from soil carried downstream by a river and deposited at its mouth.
- cliff
- steep, high wall of rock, earth or ice.
- mouth
- (of a river) place where a stream river flows into a larger bodt of water
- isthmus
- narrow stretch of land connecting two larder land areas
- mountain range
- a series of connected mountains
- island
- land area, smaller than a continent, completely surrounded by water.
- highland
- elevated land area such as a hill, moutain, or plateau
- sound
- broad inland body of water, often between a coastline and one or more islands off the coast.
- channel
- wide strait or waterway between two landmasses that lie close to each other; deep part of a river or other waterway.
- relief
- changes in elevation over a given area of land.
- mesa
- broad, flat-topped landforms with steep sides; smaller than a plateau.