Geology: Plate Tectonics and Climate

Geography Exam Study Notes

• Exam Focus: Focus on underlined headings. Starred concepts are unfamiliar.
• Compass Rules: Measured from North in a clockwise direction. Written as 3 figures (e.g., 095). Cardinal points: North, East, South, West. Ordinal points: NE, SSE, SW, etc. Compass bearings always start with North/South then East/West.
• Bearings: Measuring the bearing of one point from another. Draw a line between the points, a North line at one point. Measure the clockwise angle.
• International Date Line: Runs through the Pacific Ocean, separating one day from another. Zigzags to avoid dividing landmasses or island groups that belong to the same country.
• Mapping Requirements: All maps MUST have these elements: title (underlined/boxed), date of publication, border (equal proportions, title/legend/labeling inside border), direction arrow(North at top), and a scale.
• Contour Lines: Lines on a topographic map showing elevation or depression. Connect points of equal elevation. Display 3D relief features.
• Contour Interval: The distance between contour lines on a map, consistent across the entire map.
• Spot Height: The exact elevation of a specific point on the map, shown by a red circle.
• Time Zones: Canada has different time zones - PST, MST, CST, EST, NST.
• Capital Cities: List of Canadian capital cities (Victoria, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, etc.)
• Rivers: Mackenzie River and others
• Great Lakes: Great Slave, Great Bear, Lake Huron, Lake Ottawa, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Superior.
• Bays: Hudson Bay, James Bay
• Oceans: Arctic, Pacific, Atlantic
• GIS: Global Information System → used for mapping information
• GPS: Global Positioning System → to find exact locations.
• Geologic Timeline: Cenozoic era → Ice sheets covering North America, formation of Rocky Mountains.
• Continental Drift: The theory that Earth's continents were once joined in a supercontinent and have since drifted apart. Evidence includes: apparent fit of continents, fossil correlation, and rock/mountain correlation.
• Plate Tectonics: Lithosphere plates move due to mantle convection currents. Three types of plate boundaries: divergent, convergent, and transform.
• Divergent Boundaries: Plates move apart, creating new crust. Example: Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
• Convergent Boundaries: Plates collide, subduction occurs (denser plate sinks). Three subtypes: Continental-Continental Collision, Oceanic-Continental Collision, Oceanic-Oceanic Collision.
• Transform Boundaries: Plates slide past each other. Example: San Andreas Fault.
• Hotspots: Areas where magma rises from deep within the Earth's mantle creating volcanoes. These volcanoes aren't on plate boundaries.
• Soil: Composition of minerals, organic matter, gases, liquids, and organisms. Support plant life, store water. Soil profile features layers such as the O, A, B, and C horizons (and others).
• Leaching: Nutrients in soil are washed out due to excess water.
• Calcification: A process where minerals (like calcium) are left behind after water evaporates in arid regions, leaving a higher amount near the surface.
• Climate Regions: Arctic, Taiga, Cordilleran, Pacific Maritime, Boreal, Prairie, Southeastern, Atlantic Maritime.
• Precipitation Types: Relief and convectional precipitations
• Climate factors: latitude, elevation, relief, near water
• Population Density: Number of people per square kilometer.
• Population Distribution: General pattern of population distribution across a region (e.g linear, concentrated, dispersed).
• Population Growth Rate: Natural increase rate + net migration rate
• Dependency Load: Proportion of population that must be supported that are not working-age.
• Push and Pull Factors: Factors influencing migration
• Types of Urban Land Use: Residential, transportation, commercial, industrial, institutional, open space.
• Natural Vegetation Regions: Deciduous, mixed wood, boreal forest, grasslands, etc.
• Types of Renewable Energy: Hydropower, solar, geothermal, biomass, wind.
• Non-Renewable Energy: Coal, oil and natural gas, nuclear
• Sustainable Resource Management: Practices and approaches to managing resources responsibly to ensure their availability in the future.