Category: Geography Dictionary

crater : Any large, roughly circular depression, pit, or hole in the Earth’s surface. Craters can be classified into different types based on their ultimate causes; see impact crater, volcanic crater, and pit crater.

cove : 1.  A walled, rounded, cirque-like opening at the head of a small valley.

2.  A small, narrow, sheltered bay, inlet, tidal creek, or recess in an estuary, often within a larger embayment.

3.  A small, often approximately circular, wave-cut indentation or recess in a cliff on a large body of water, especially one with a relatively narrow or secluded entrance.

4.  A shallow tidal river, or the backwater near the mouth of a tidal river.

course :The cardinal direction in which a vessel or aircraft is moving, or in which it is steered. This is not necessarily the same as the heading, the direction in which the craft’s bow or nose is pointed; any difference between heading and course is due to the motion of the air or water through which the vessel is moving, or other aerodynamic effects such as skidding or slipping. See also bearing.

county : A type of subnational division of a country or federal state used for administrative or other purposes.

country : A region identified as a distinct national entity in political geography. Compare state.

couloir : A narrow gully with a steep gradient in a mountainous terrain, often enclosed by sheer cliffs and filled with snow or ice even during the summer months.

coulee : A dry canyon eroded by Pleistocene floods that cut into the lava beds of the Columbia Plateau in the western United States.

corrasion : The process of mechanical erosion of the Earth’s surface by the impact or grinding action of particles being transported across it, either by moving water, waves, glaciers, wind, or gravity.

core area : The portion of a country that contains its economic, political, intellectual, and cultural focus. It is often the center of creativity and change. See hearth.

conurbation : An extensive urban area formed when two or more initially separate cities coalesce to form a continuous metropolitan area.

contour interval : The difference in elevation between any two adjacent contour lines as depicted on a particular topographic map

contour line: Also isoline or isopleth.

A line marked on a topographic map which connects points of equal elevation above or below a specified reference datum. Multiple contour lines, each representing a different elevation, are depicted together to show the shape of the terrain within the map area.

continentality : The quality of being located on a continent.

continental shelf : A portion of a continent that is submerged beneath an area of relatively shallow water known as a shelf sea. Though continental shelves are usually treated as physiographic provinces of the ocean, they are not part of the deep ocean basin proper but the flooded margins of the continent.

continental divide : The line of high ground that separates the different oceanic drainage basins of a particular continent. The river systems of a continent on opposite sides of a continental divide flow toward different oceans. See drainage divide.^[

continental climate : The type of climate found in the interior of the major continents in the middle, or temperate, latitudes. The climate is characterized by a great seasonal variation in temperatures, four distinct seasons, and a relatively small annual precipitation.

continent : One of several very large, contiguous landmasses into which the Earth’s land area is divided, generally by geographical or political convention rather than any strict criteria.^[1] Geologically, continents correspond largely to areas of continental crust on continental plates.

contiguity : The characteristic of a group of neighboring political or geographical divisions not being interrupted by politically unaffiliated land or water. Such divisions are said to be contiguous.

coniferous : Bearing cones; from the conifer family

confluence : The place at which two or more rivers or other watercourses flow together to form one larger river or watercourse.^[

compass rose : A figure on a compass, map, nautical chart, or monument used to display the orientation of the four cardinal directions — North, East, South, and West — and their intermediate points.

compass : An instrument used for navigation and orientation that indicates direction relative to the geographic cardinal directions by measuring the orientation of the Earth’s magnetic field with respect to the North Magnetic Pole. Compasses often display markings for angles or degrees, which allow them to show azimuths and bearings, in addition to a compass rose.

colony : A territory under the immediate complete political control of a sovereign metropolitan state but otherwise distinct, often geographically, from the state’s home territory. Colonies have no international representation independent of the metropolitan state. Compare satellite state.

col: Also called a gap or notch.

The lowest point on a mountain ridge between two peaks.

coast: Also coastline or seashore.

The area where land meets a sea or ocean. Coastal zones are regions where the interaction of terrestrial and marine processes occurs. Compare shore

climax vegetation : The vegetation that would exist in an area if growth had proceeded undisturbed for an extended period. This would be the “final” collection of plant types that presumably would remain forever, or until the stable conditions were somehow disturbed

cliff : Any vertical or nearly vertical rock exposure, usually formed by the processes of weathering and erosion.

city-state : A sovereign state or small independent country that usually consists of a single city and its dependent territories

city : A large human settlement, generally with extensive systems constructed for housing, transportation, sanitation, utilities, and communication.

cirque: Also corrie or cwm.

An amphitheatre-shaped valley surrounded on three or more sides by steep, cliff-like slopes and formed by glacial or fluvial erosion.

circle of latitude : See latitude.

cinder cone : A steep-sided volcano formed by the explosive eruption of cinders that form around a vent. Cinders are lava fragments about 1 centimetre (0.39 in) in diameter.

choropleth : A map showing the distribution of a phenomenon by graded shading which indicates the density per unit area of that phenomenon; the darker the shading, the greater the density.

chorography : The art of establishing, describing, or mapping a geographic region or district, or more broadly, the representation of space or place.

chinook : A warm, dry wind experienced along the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. Most common in winter and spring, it can result in a rise in temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) in a quarter of an hour.

chine : A steep-sided coastal gorge, typically of soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clay, through which a river or stream flows to the sea. The term is used primarily in southern England.

chimney : See salient.

chart : A special-purpose map designed for navigation, especially nautical and aeronautical navigation, or to present specific data or technical information.^[

chaparral : A class of terrestrial vegetation characterized by dense, impenetrable thickets of shrubs or dwarf trees

channel: Also strait.

1.  A waterway separating two relatively close landmasses.2.  Any narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water.3.  The deepest part of a shallow body of water, often used as a passageway for large ships.

chain : A unit of length equal to 66 feet (20.117 m), used especially in public land surveys in the United States; 10 square chains is equal to 1 acre (0.40 hectares). Though the literal chains used to measure this distance have long been superseded, surveying tapes are often still called “chains”, and measuring with a tape may be called “chaining”.

census-designated place (CDP) : A concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes.

central business district : A centrally located commercial business district in an urban area, typically containing a concentration of office and retail activities.

cenote : A natural pit or sinkhole resulting from the collapse of limestone bedrock which exposes groundwater underneath.

celestial pole : Either of the two imaginary points in the sky at which an indefinitely extended projection of the Earth’s axis of rotation intersects the celestial sphere. As the Earth rotates upon its axis, the north and south celestial poles remain permanently fixed in the sky (directly overhead to observers at the North Pole and South Pole, respectively), and all other points appear to rotate around them.

cay: Also key.

A small, sandy, low-elevation island on the surface of an otherwise submerged coral reef; a type of coral island. Compare atoll.

cavern : A type of solutional cave that is formed in soluble rock with the ability to grow speleothems.

cave : Any naturally hollow underground space large enough for a person to enter.

cartogram: A map in which some thematic mapping variable, such as travel time, population, or gross national product, is substituted for traditional measures of land area or distance such that the geometry or space of the map is distorted in order to convey and emphasize the information of the alternate variable.

carrying capacity : The total number of human beings that an area can support given the quality of the natural environment and the level of technology of the population

cardinal directions: The set of four primary directions used in cartography and navigation: north (N), south (S), east (E), and west (W). Together they form the primary divisions of the compass rose. They can be further subdivided into the intercardinal directions and secondary-intercardinal directions.

caprock : A stratum of erosion-resistant sedimentary rock (usually limestone) found in arid areas. Caprock forms the top layer of most mesas and buttes

cape : A large headland or promontory extending into a body of water, usually a sea or ocean.

canyon: Also gorge or cañon.

A deep cleft between cliffs or escarpments, or a rift between two mountain peaks, resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over long periods of geologic time.

canal : A navigable artificial water channel, usually built as a conduit for human activity.

caldera : A large, cauldron-shaped depression that forms through the subsidence and collapse of a ground surface following the evacuation of an underlying magma chamber.

calanque : A narrow, steep-sided valley surrounding an inlet formed in karstic regions along the Mediterranean coast, either by fluvial erosion or the collapse of the roof of a cave that has been subsequently partially submerged by a rise in sea level.

cadastre: Also cadaster.

A type of parcel-based land recording system containing a comprehensive record of interests in individual units of land within a country or other polity, usually including a geometric description of each parcel’s physical location, dimensions, and boundaries that is linked to legal information detailing the nature of the interests (e.g. rights, restrictions, and responsibilities), the ownership or control of those interests, and the economic value of the land and its improvements. The cadastre is a fundamental source of data used in resolving disputes between landowners.

butte : An isolated hill or mountain with steep or precipitous sides, usually having a smaller summit area than a mesa.

burgh : Scottish administrative subdivision equivalent to borough.

built environment : The human-made spaces that provide the setting for human activity, in which people live, work, and recreate on a day-to-day basis.

breakwater : Any man-made structure built on the coast of a body of water, typically the sea, in order to reduce the intensity of wave action in an area adjacent to the shore, thereby providing safe harbourage for human activities in the inshore waters. Breakwaters may also be designed to protect the coastline from coastal erosion and longshore drift.b

break-in-bulk point : A transfer point on a transport route where the mode of transport or type of carrier changes and where large-volume shipments are reduced in size. For example, goods may be unloaded from a ship and transferred to trucks at an ocean port.

box canyon : A short, narrow canyon with steep walls on three sides, allowing entry and exit only through the mouth of the canyon.

borough : A type of administrative subdivision in certain English-speaking parts of the world. Though traditionally used to refer to a fortress or a walled town, modern usage of the term can variably refer to any town with its own local self-government, a formal or informal subdivision of a large metropolis (as in New York City and London), or an entire administrative region (as in the U.S. state of Alaska).

bornhardt : A bald, steep-sided, dome-shaped hill, mountain, or rock outcropping at least 30 metres (98 ft) in height and several hundred meters in width. Compare inselberg, tor, and nubbin.

border : The geographical boundary of a political entity or legal jurisdiction, such as a country, state, or other subnational entity

bootheel : See salient.

bog: Also called a mire, quagmire, or muskeg.

A type of wetland which accumulates deposits of dead plant material, especially mosses, known as peat. Bogs occur where the water at the ground surface is acidic and low in dissolved nutrients. They are one of four main types of wetland.

body of water : Any significant accumulation of water, either natural or artificial, on the surface of the Earth. Bodies of water may hold or contain water, as with lakes and oceans, or they may collect and move water from one place to another, as with rivers, streams, and other watercourses.

bocage : A landscape of mixed woodland and pasture, with fields and winding country lanes sunken between low, narrow ridges and banks surmounted by tall, thick hedgerows, especially as found in rural parts of western Europe.

blowout : A sandy depression formed when wind erodes into patches of bare sand on otherwise vegetation-stabilized sand dunes at the margins of coastal and arid ecosystems.

biota : The animal and plant life of a region considered as a total ecological entity.

biosphere : The realm of all living things

biogeography : The study of the distribution of biological species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time.

biological diversity: Also called biodiversity.

A concept recognizing the variety of life forms in an area of the Earth and the ecological interdependence of these life forms

bight : A bend or curve in a coastline, river, or other geographical feature typically indicating an especially large, open bay that is shallower than a sound.

berm : 1.  A level space, shelf, or raised barrier separating two areas, often man-made and built of compacted earth. Berms often function as impoundments, fortification lines, or border walls and other lines of demarcation.2.  A low, impermanent, nearly horizontal or landward-sloping shelf, ledge, or narrow terrace on the backshore of a beach and parallel to the shoreline, formed by waves which deposit material beyond the average high water line, e.g. during storms. Some beaches have no berms; others may have one or more

bedrock : The solid rock in the Earth’s crust that underlies all soil and other loose material; the rock material that breaks down eventually to form soil

bearing : The direction or position of an object, or the direction of an object’s movement, relative to a fixed point. It is typically measured in degrees and can be determined with a compass. By convention, magnetic north is defined as having a bearing of zero degrees.

beach :A landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake, or river with a loose surface of sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, shells, stones, or coral.

bay : A coastal body of water that is directly connected to but recessed from a larger body of water, such as an ocean, sea, lake, or another bay. The land surrounding a bay usually shelters it from strong winds and waves, making bays ideal places for ports and harbors.

bathymetry : 1.  The measurement of water depth, mainly of seas and oceans but sometimes of deep lakes. 2.  The study and depiction of the physical features or relief of the floor of a lake or ocean. In this sense bathymetry is considered the underwater equivalent of hypsometry or topography.

batholith : A very large body of igneous rock, usually granite, which has been exposed by erosion of the overlying rock

basin : See depression.

base level : The lowest level to which a stream can erode its bed. The ultimate base level of all streams is the sea

barrier ridge : Any steep, unnavigable ridge or escarpment isolating one terrain from another.

bar : An elevated region of sediment such as sand or gravel which has been deposited by the flow of a river or other moving body of water. See also shoal.

bajada: Also spelled bahada.

A series of adjacent alluvial fans coalescing in a basin at the foot of a mountain range.

badlands: An area of rugged or irregular topography resulting from extensive wind and water erosion of sedimentary rock.^[

backwater : A part of a river in which there is little or no current.

backslope : The part of the profile of a hillslope that forms the steepest, typically linear portion of the slope, generally located in the middle and bounded by a convex shoulder above and a concave footslope below. The backslope may or may not include vertical or near-vertical cliffs.

azimuth : The angle formed between a reference vector (often magnetic north) and a line from the observer to a point of interest projected perpendicularly to the zenith on the same plane as the reference vector. Azimuth is usually measured in degrees and can be determined with a compass.

ayre : Another name for a shingle beach or other gravel-covered spit, bar, or tombolo, used primarily in the archipelagos of northern Scotland.

atoll : A ring-shaped coral reef that partially or completely encircles a lagoon.

atmosphere : The mixture of gases, aerosols, solid particles, and water vapor that envelops the Earth

atlas : A bound collection of maps.

Atlantic Seaboard fall line : The physiographic border between the Piedmont and Atlantic coastal plain regions of eastern North America. The name derives from the river rapids and waterfalls that occur as the water flows from the hard rocks of the higher piedmont onto the softer rocks of the coastal plain

aspect: Also exposure.

The direction toward which a slope faces with respect to a compass or to the Sun’s position in the sky,^[4] or the direction toward which a segment of coastline faces as it meets the sea.

ash : Fragments of lava or rock less than 1⁄3 centimetre (0.13 in) in diameter that have been ejected into the atmosphere by a volcanic explosion.