Geography Glossary- Lithosphere

Asthenosphere

• The outer shell of the earth, consisting of solid rock (100 to 150 kilometres thick), soil and geological formations.

• Vibrations and shockwaves caused by the sudden movement of tectonic plates along fracture zones, or faults, in the earth’s crust.

• a layer of partially molten material with the upper part of the mantle, upon which the lithospheric plates move.

• Small particles with very high surface-to-volume ratios formed by the combination of organic and mineral materials.

Colloids

• The wearing away of land by running water, rainfall, wind, ice or other geological agents.

• Small particles with very high surface-to-volume ratios formed by the combination of organic and mineral materials.

• The study of landforms, including their origin, evolution, form and distribution.

• Material that has been transported downhill and accumulated on the lower slopes.

Desertification

• Material that has been transported downhill and accumulated on the lower slopes.

• Those processes that result from gravity and the Suns radiant energy in which act up on the surface of the lithosphere and bring it to a common level; they include the fragmentation of rocks by weathering, their mass movement downslope, and the detachment and removal of these materials by the agents of erosion and deposition of debris at a lower elevation.

• The downslope movement of weathered rock material under the influence of gravity.

• The spread of desert like conditions in arid and semiarid regions resulting from a combination of climatic changes and increasing human pressures, such as overgrazing, removal of vegetation and the cultivation of marginal land.

Colluvial

• Vibrations and shockwaves caused by the sudden movement of tectonic plates along fracture zones, or faults, in the earth’s crust.

• Material that has been transported downhill and accumulated on the lower slopes.

• The wearing away of land by running water, rainfall, wind, ice or other geological agents.

• The study of landforms, including their origin, evolution, form and distribution.

Earthquakes

• Vibrations and shockwaves caused by the sudden movement of tectonic plates along fracture zones, or faults, in the earth’s crust.

• a decline in the quality of natural land resources, commonly caused by improper use by humans.

• The downslope movement of weathered rock material under the influence of gravity.

• Disturbances in the earth’s crust that result from the earth's internal energy and create physical features, such as mountains on the earth's surface.

Eluviation

• The wearing away of land by running water, rainfall, wind, ice or other geological agents.

• The removal of material from soil by percolating water.

• a decline in the quality of natural land resources, commonly caused by improper use by humans.

• The loose material composed of both mineral and organic matter that cover the earth's land surface; it's thickness varies from place to place.

Erosion

• The removal of material from soil by percolating water.

• Material that has been transported downhill and accumulated on the lower slopes.

• a decline in the quality of natural land resources, commonly caused by improper use by humans.

• The wearing away of land by running water, rainfall, wind, ice or other geological agents.

Geomorphology

• The downslope movement of weathered rock material under the influence of gravity.

• Those processes that result from gravity and the Suns radiant energy in which act up on the surface of the lithosphere and bring it to a common level; they include the fragmentation of rocks by weathering, their mass movement downslope, and the detachment and removal of these materials by the agents of erosion and deposition of debris at a lower elevation.

• The study of landforms, including their origin, evolution, form and distribution.

• The movement of soil-forming materials through the developing soil profile; translocation occurs by water running through the soil transferring materials from upper to lower portions of the profile.

Gradational processes

• A process resulting in the upward movement and expulsion of molten material from within the earth to the surface, where it cools and hardens.

• Those processes that result from gravity and the Suns radiant energy in which act up on the surface of the lithosphere and bring it to a common level; they include the fragmentation of rocks by weathering, their mass movement downslope, and the detachment and removal of these materials by the agents of erosion and deposition of debris at a lower elevation.

• A process resulting in the upward movement and expulsion of molten material from within the earth to the surface, where it cools and hardens.

• The in situ physical disintegration and chemical decomposition of rocks and minerals at or near the earth's surface by atmospheric and biological agents.

Land degradation

• The loose material composed of both mineral and organic matter that cover the earth's land surface; it's thickness varies from place to place.

• Disturbances in the earth’s crust that result from the earth's internal energy and create physical features, such as mountains on the earth's surface.

• The downslope movement of weathered rock material under the influence of gravity.

• a decline in the quality of natural land resources, commonly caused by improper use by humans.