Geographical Word Definitions

Front 1

The scraping of a river bed and banks by stones and sand in the river.

Back 1

ABRASION

Front 2

A volcano that has erupted recently and is likely to do so again.

Back 2

ACTIVE VOLCANO

Front 3

The wearing down of rocks and stones by banging against each other.

Back 3

ATTRITION

Front 4

Stones and other material that rolls or bounces along a river bed.

Back 4

BEDLOAD

Front 5

To change from a gas to a liquid.

Back 5

CONDENSE

Front 6

Where two rivers join.

Back 6

COFLUENCE

Front 7

The inner layer of the Earth, made of mainly iron plus a little nickel.

Back 7

CORE

Front 8

The thin outer layer of the Earth, made of rock.

Back 8

CRUST

Front 9

To drop material; rivers deposit stones, sand and mud as they approach the sea.

Back 9

DEPOSIT

Front 10

A "sleeping" volcano; it has not erupted for years, but seeps gas now and then.

Back 10

DORMANT VOLCANO

Front 11

The land around a river, from which water drains into a river.

Back 11

DRAINAGE BASIN

Front 12

Work you earn money from.

Back 12

ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

Front 13

An imaginary line aorund the middle of the Earth (0* latitude).

Back 13

EQUATOR

Front 14

The wearing away of rock, stones and soil by rivers, the waves, the wind or glaciers.

Back 14

EROSION

Front 15

The change from a liquid to a gas.

Back 15

EVAPORATION

Front 16

A volcano that has not erupted for thousands of years and is unlikely to erupt again.

Back 16

EXTINCT VOLCANO

Front 17

Flat land around a river that gets flooded when the river overflows.

Back 17

FLOOD PLAIN

Front 18

The vent or opening in or around a volcano, that gives out steam and hot gases; dormant volcanoes often have ones in their craters.

Back 18

FUMAROLE

Front 19

Energy from hot rock; water is pumped down to the rock and turned into steam, which can then be used to heat homes or make electricity.

Back 19

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY

Front 20

A burst of boiling hot water and steam from the ground; it is groundwater that has been boiled by hot rock below the Earth's surface.

Back 20

GEYSER

Front 21

A narrow valley with steep sides.

Back 21

GORGE

Front 22

Rainwater that has soaked down through the ground and filled up the cracks in the rocks below.

Back 22

GROUNDWATER

Front 23

Does not let water pass through.

Back 23

IMPERMEABLE

Front 24

The soaking of rainwater into the ground.

Back 24

INFILTRATION

Front 25

The capture of rainwater by leaves.

Back 25

INTERCEPTION

Front 26

Line on a map joinnig places with the same temperature.

Back 26

ISOTHERM

Front 27

A feature formed by erosion or deposition (for example a V-shaped valley).

Back 27

LANDFORM

Front 28

How far a place is north or south of the equator, in degrees.

Back 28

LATITUDE

Front 29

Melted rock that erupts from a volcano.

Back 29

LAVA

Front 30

Sheltered from the wind.

Back 30

LEEWARD

Front 31

The hard outer part of the Earth's surface; it is brocken into large pieces called plates which are moving slowly around.

Back 31

LITHOSPHERE

Front 32

How far a place is east or west of the prime meridian; it is measured in degrees.

Back 32

LONGITUDE

Front 33

Melted rock below the Earth's surface, when it reaches the surface it is called lava.

Back 33

MAGMA

Front 34

The middle layer of the Earth, between the crust and the core.

Back 34

MANTLE

Front 35

A bend in a river.

Back 35

MEANDER

Front 36

A natural substance in rock.

Back 36

MINERAL

Front 37

A river of mud; it can form when the material from an eruption mixes with rain or melting ice.

Back 37

MUDFLOW

Front 38

To do with the whole country.

Back 38

NATIONAL

Front 39

A warm current in the Atlantic OCean; it keeps the weather on the west coast of Britain mild in winter.

Back 39

NORTH ATLANTIC DRIFT

Front 40

A lake formed when a loop in a river is cut off by floods.

Back 40

OXBOW LAKE

Front 41

Lets water soak through.

Back 41

PERMEABLE

Front 42

The Earth's surface is broken into large pieces, like a cracked eggshell.

Back 42

PLATES

Front 43

Deep pool at the base of a waterfall.

Back 43

PLUNGE POOL

Front 44

Holes down through the ground, caused by weathering and erosion.

Back 44

POTHOLE

Front 45

The average number of people per square kilometre.

Back 45

POPULATION DENSITY

Front 46

Water falling from the sky (as rain, sleet, hail, snow).

Back 46

PRECIPITATION

Front 47

An imaginary line of 0* longitude; it is also called the reenwhich meridian because it passes through Greenwhich in London.

Back 47

PRIME MERIDIAN

Front 48

A flood of gas, dust, ash and lava rushing down the side of a volcano, after an eruption.

Back 48

PYROCLASTIC FLOW

Front 49

Area sheltered from the rain by a hill or mountain.

Back 49

RAIN SHADOW

Front 50

THe ring of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean.

Back 50

RING OF FIRE

Front 51

Countryside, where people live on farms and in small villages.

Back 51

RURAL AREA

Front 52

A place where people live; it could be a hamlet, village, town or city.

Back 52

SETTLEMENT

Front 53

Settlements in order of size with the largest one first.

Back 53

SETTLEMENT HIERACHY

Front 54

Fine particles of soil carried by rivers.

Back 54

SILT

Front 55

The dissolving of minerals from a river bed and banks, by the water.

Back 55

SOLUTION

Front 56

The starting point of a river.

Back 56

SOURCE

Front 57

Small particles of rock and soil carried along by a river; they make the water look cloudy or muddy.

Back 57

SUSPENSION

Front 58

The flow of rainwater sideways through the soil.

Back 58

THROUGHFLOW

Front 59

The rolling movemnet of rocks and stones along a river bed.

Back 59

TRACTION

Front 60

The flow of water vapour from trees and plants to the air.

Back 60

TRANSPIRATION

Front 61

Deep V-shaped valley in the ocean.

Back 61

TRENCH

Front 62

A river that flows into a larger one.

Back 62

TRIBUTARY

Front 63

A built-up area, such as a town or city.

Back 63

URBAN AREA

Front 64

A valley shaped like the letter U, carvec out by a glacier.

Back 64

U-SHAPED VALLEY

Front 65

A very broad open valley.

Back 65

VALE

Front 66

An area of low land, with higher land on each side; it often has a river flowing through it.

Back 66

VALLEY

Front 67

A hole through which lava erupts, on a volcano.

Back 67

VENT

Front 68

A cone-shaped hill or mountain fromed by the lava and ash from eruptions.

Back 68

VOLCANO

Front 69

A valley shaped like the letter V, carved out by a river.

Back 69

V-SHAPED VALLEY

Front 70

The non-stop cycle in which water evaporates from the sea, falls as precipitation, and returns to the sea in rivers.

Back 70

WATER CYCLE

Front 71

Water in gas form.

Back 71

WATER VAPOUR

Front 72

Where a river or stream flows over a steep drop.

Back 72

WATERFALL

Front 73

An imaginary line seperating one drainage basin from the next.

Back 73

WATERSHED

Front 74

The state of the atmosphere - for example how warm or wet or windy it is.

Back 74

WEATHER

Front 75

Facing into the wind.

Back 75

WINDWARD