subject: IMP GEO WORDS [print this page] IMP GEO WORDS IMP GEO WORDS
Altitude: The highest of an area, measured form sea level.
Antarctic Circle: An imaginary circle at latitude 66030'S, around the South Pole.
Antipodes: A pair of points that are on opposite sides of a planet (like the North Pole and the South Pole)
Archipelago: A group or chain of islands clustered together in a sea of ocean.
Arctic Circle: An imaginary circle at latitude 66030'N. around the North Pole.
Atoll: A ring (or partial ring) of coral that forms an island, or island, in an ocean or sea.
Bathymetric Map: A map of the bottom of a body of water, nothing the depth contours (these are called isobaths).
Bay: A body of water that is partly enclosed by land (and usually smaller than gulf).
Canal: A manmade waterway used for transportation or irrigation.
Canyon: A deep valley with very steep sides, often carved in the Earth by a river.
Cape: A pointed piece of land that sticks out into, a sea, ocean, lake or river.
Cartographer: A map maker.
Channel: A channel (sometimes called a strait') is a narrow body of water that connects two larger bodies of water (like the English Channel). A channel is also a part of a river or harbor that is deep enough to let ships sail through.
Compass Rose: A design of a map that shows direction. It points north, south, east, west, and some intermediate directions on the map.
Conic Projection: A type of map In which a cone is wrapped around the sphere (the globe), and the details of the globe are projected onto the conical surface. Then, the cone is unwrapped into a flat surface. Some conic projections preserve shape, others preserve size.
Contour: A lone on a topographic map that represents locations that have the same altitude.
Cove: a small, horseshoe-shaped body of water along the coast; the water is surrounded by land.
Cylindrical Projection: A type of map in which a cylinder is wrapped around the globe, and the details of the globe, and the details of the globe are projected onto the cylindrical surface. Then, the cylinder is unwrapped onto the flat surface, yielding a rectangular-shaped map. Cylindrical maps have gratly distorted and exaggerated polar regions.
Delta: A low, watery land formed at the mouth of the river, with the silt, sand and small rocks that flow downstream in the river and are deposited in the delta. A delta is often (but not always) shaped like a triangle (hence its name, delta, a triangle-shaped Greek letter).
