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Файл:Fundamentals of Geography. Study guide
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C O NC L U S I O N
In this study guide, the authors have reflected both traditional approaches and
modern, in some cases, discussion points and ideas in Geography. Students studying the discipline will be invited to discuss certain theories, views, as well as
a critical approach and discussion situations will be activated in every possible
way. Diverse tasks can be offered – from presentations with reports on the nature
and socio-economic development of the countries of residence of students, to
graphic and cartographic works, as well as on mastering the skills of working with
the simplest geo information systems. Since the study guide is designed for students studying at the preparatory faculty of Southern Federal University, teachers
will pay special attention to the ways of involvement of learners in discussion,
material consolidation through surveys, tasks for reading texts in geography with
retelling (reviewing), questions and other types of control of the assimilation of
the material. To facilitate the understanding of some terms, a glossary of terms is
provided at the end of the study guide, which will be supplemented together with
students while they learn the discipline.
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G L OS S AR Y
ABRASION – АБРАЗИЯ – an erosive process of erosion of the shores of seas,
lakes, large reservoirs under the influence of natural (wave impacts, weathering)
and anthropogenic factors. As a result, abrasive shores or abrasive terraces are
created on the shores subject to abrasion.
ALBEDO – АЛЬБЕДО (from Lat. – whiteness) – the reflectivity of the surface
of the body; it is measured by the ratio of the amount of reflected radiation to the
total amount of radiation falling on this surface. The albedo of the earth's surface
depends on its properties and condition. Thus, the albedo of freshly fallen snow is
80–90 %, sand (deserts) – 30–35 %, green leaves (forests) – 15–20 %, water surface (sun height – 90 °) – 2–5 %, etc.
ANTICYCLONE – АНТИЦИКЛОН – an area of high atmospheric pressure
characterized by the predominance of descending air movements that contribute
to the establishment of dry, clear and almost windless weather. The highest pressure is fixed in the center of the anticyclone and gradually decreases to its periphery.
AREA – АРЕАЛ – the area of distribution on the earth's surface of a systematic group of living organisms or communities. They are continuous, when organisms occupy territories without significant interruptions, and intermittent.
ARID TERRITORIES – АРИДНЫЕ ТЕРРИТОРИИ – are characterized by
a hot and very arid climate (precipitation up to 200–250 mm), the absence of constant surface runoff, significant salinization of soils, sparse xerophytic vegetation
cover, etc. According to UNESCO, the area of arid territories in the world is 48
million km2 (or more than 30 % of the land surface).
ATMOSPHERE – АТМОСФЕРА (from Greek – steam and ball) – the gas
shell of the Earth, the mass of which is 5.15 * 1015 tons. The atmosphere is permeated through by the powerful radiation of the Sun, which determines the thermal regime of the planet's surface. The chemical composition of the atmosphere:
nitrogen – 78.08 % (volume), oxygen – 20.95 %, argon – 0.93%, carbon dioxide
(CO2) – 0.03 %. The remaining components are contained in very small quantities
(methane, ozone, hydrogen, helium, krypton, etc.). The atmosphere extends upwards from the Earth's surface to about 3000 km, and the chemical composition
and physical properties change with altitude. Therefore, the atmosphere is divided
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113
into the following layers: troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, ionosphere and
exosphere.
AUTOTROPHS – АВТОТРОФЫ (from Greek. – self-feeding) – living organisms capable of independently producing organic substances necessary for
their existence from inorganic ones, using solar energy or oxidation of inorganic
compounds (chemoautotrophs). These include mainly green plants, algae and
some bacteria.
BENTHOS – БЕНТОС – a collection of organisms (benthic) living at the
bottom of a reservoir and adapted to the appropriate substrate. It is divided
into plant (phytobenthos), animal (zoobenthos) and bacterial (bacteriobenthos). The species composition, distribution, and bioproductivity of benthos
depends on a number of environmental factors: the nature of the substrate,
water flow velocity, temperature, gas regime, etc. Benthos is especially diverse in the coastal zone of the ocean and can be represented by: attached,
sessile organisms (corals, algae, sponges, mosses, ascidia), burrowing (mollusks, annelids), crawling (crustaceans, echinoderms) or free-floating at the
bottom (stingrays, flounder, etc.).
BIOLOGICAL CYCLE – БИОЛОГИЧЕСКИЙ КРУГОВОРОТ – a cycle of
chemical elements and substances that appeared simultaneously with life on
Earth; it exists thanks to the vital activity of organisms. Ecological groups of
living organisms (producers, consultants and reducers) take part in it. The biological cycle is carried out mainly along trophic (food) chains. An important indicator of the intensity of the cycle is the rate of circulation of chemical elements.
Academician V. A. Kovda proposed an index, and the higher its value, the lower
the intensity of the biological cycle. For various vegetation zones, it is characterized by: tundra and swampy forests – more than 50, dark coniferous forests of
the taiga – 10–17, broad–leaved forests – 3–4, savannas - no more than 0.2, humid tropical forests – index no more than 0.1.
BIOSPHERE – БИОСФЕРА – a kind of envelop of the Earth containing the
biota (all living organisms) and that part of the planet's substance that is in continuous exchange with these organisms. The modern doctrine of the biosphere
was developed by Academician V. I. Vernadsky (1926). It includes the lower
part of the atmosphere (up to the ozone belt – at an altitude of 20–25 km), the
entire hydrosphere – up to maximum depths (11022 m) and the upper part of the
lithosphere (about 4–5 km).
Glossary
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BOGS – БОЛОТА – a special type of terrestrial ecosystems characterized
by excessive moisture, the presence of moisture–loving vegetation and the process of peat formation (at least 30 cm). Depending on the method of nutrition
and the nature of vegetation, they are divided into lowland (eutrophic), upper
(oligotrophic) and transitional (mesotrophic). Lowland swamps feed on groundwater or river waters, are relatively rich in nutrients, therefore they are characterized by a relatively rich vegetation cover. The bulk of these swamps are
found in relatively arid areas, mainly along the valleys and deltas of large rivers.
The upper marshes feed mainly on atmospheric precipitation, therefore they are
poor in minerals and their vegetation is represented by sphagnum mosses. This
type of swamps is confined to the landscapes of the tundra and taiga zones of
Eurasia.
CHERNOZEMS – ЧЕРНОЗЕМЫ – a type of soil characterized by a high
humus content (up to 10–12 %), a large humus-accumulative horizon and a granular-lumpy structure. This type of soil is common within the forest-steppe and
steppe zones of Eurasia (about 6 % of the land area). Chernozems are formed
in conditions of arid climate, with the main role played by steppe vegetation
with a predominance of sod cereals. On the territory of Russia from north to
south there is a distribution: leached and podzolized chernozems, which are
replaced by typical chernozems, and even further south – ordinary and southern.
Chernozems are the most fertile soils and serve as the main base for growing
grain crops.
CHESTNUT SOILS – КАШТАНОВЫЕ ПОЧВЫ – a zonal type of soils char-
acteristic of dry cereal and sagebrush–cereal steppes of a moderately arid belt.
They occupy about 7 % of the world's land area. Compared with chernozems, they
are poorer in humus (less than 4 %), have a lower capacity of the soil profile. These
soils are quite widely used in agriculture. The largest areas of chestnut soils are
typical for the Black Sea coast and Caspian lowlands, and significant massifs are
also found in Kazakhstan and in the steppes of southeastern Transbaikalia. They
are abundant in Mongolia, Northern China, on the plains of the north of the USA
and Canada.
CHIONOSPHERE – ХИОНОСФЕРА – (from Greek chióni – snow and
sphaira – ball) – a layer of the atmosphere inside which a constant positive balance
of solid precipitation is possible. It was first identified by M. V. Lomonosov under
the name "frosty atmosphere"; the term was proposed by academician S. V. Kalesnik
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(1939). The lower boundary of the chionosphere, above which snow accumulation
is possible, is visible and forms a snow line.
CLIMATE – КЛИМАТ – long-term weather patterns typical for a particular
territory. The idea of climate is formed by statistical processing of meteorological
observations over a long-term period (50–100 years). There are a number of climate classifications, in particular according to the degree of dryness (or humidity
of the air) – arid, semiarid, humid; by geographical zones (climate of taiga, tropical
deserts, savannas, etc.)
CONSUMERS – КОНСУМЕНТЫ (from Lat. – consume) – organisms that
consume ready-made organic substances created by photo- and chemosynthetic
species (producers). These include all animals, as well as humans, some microorganisms, and insectivorous plants. There are primary consumers (of the first order), feeding on plant food, and secondary consumers (of the second, third and
subsequent orders), feeding on animal food.
CONTINENTAL SHOAL (SHELF) – МАТЕРИКОВАЯ ОТМЕЛЬ (ШЕЛЬФ) –
a coastal oceanic shallow water, bounded on the one hand by the coastline, and on
the other by a noticeable bend in the continental slope (depths on average up to
200 m, sometimes up to 400 m or more). The total area of the shelf is about 8 %
of the area of the World Ocean floor.
CORAL REEFS – КОРАЛЛОВЫЕ РИФЫ – peculiar communities of shallow–water marine organisms of the tropical ocean zone, representing a symbiosis
of madreporarian corals and unicellular algae (dinoflagellates). They are characterized by high productivity, a huge species diversity of organisms (clown fish,
red grouper, sea angel, moray eels, crustaceans, etc.). Reef-forming corals are very
demanding to environmental factors of the environment: they do not tolerate water
temperatures below +18 °C and above +35 °C, need normal salinity (about 35 %),
the waters should be transparent and rich in oxygen. Thus, more than 3,000 species
of living organisms live on the Great Barrier Reef (off the coast of Australia).
More information about the inhabitants of coral reefs can be found in the book by
Charles Sheppard "The Life of a coral reef" (1987).
CRYOSPHERE – КРИОСФЕРА – a zone of cold and ice, one of the outer
natural shells, which, along with the lithosphere, atmosphere and hydrosphere, determines the specifics of the Earth as a planet. Its main components are snow
cover, glaciers and ice sheets, sea ice, permafrost rocks ("permafrost"), etc. The
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total area of the cryosphere reaches 100 million km2 (19.6 % of the earth's surface). In the zone dominated by negative temperatures, there is about 30 million
km3 of ice (Kotlyakov, 1998).
CYCLONE – ЦИКЛОН – (from Greek kyklónas – circling) – an area of low
pressure in the atmosphere, which is a huge vortex with a radius of several hundred
or thousands of kilometers, moving at an average speed of 30-40 km/ h. The cyclone is dominated by cloudy weather with precipitation, storm and hurricane
winds. Air circulation within the cyclone occurs in the northern hemisphere
against, and in the southern hemisphere clockwise. Tropical cyclones are especially dangerous, often causing natural disasters.
DECOMPOSERS – РЕДУЦЕНТЫ – (from lat. – reducing) organisms that
decompose dead organic matter and turn it into inorganic compounds that are assimilated by other organisms. These include: bacteria, fungi, microorganisms.
DESERTS – ПУСТЫНИ – a terrestrial biome characterized by extremely
unfavorable climatic conditions: precipitation less than 200 mm, salinity of soils,
poor vegetation cover, etc. In the world, they occupy about 36 % of the land area.
There are many classifications of deserts: according to the lithology of the substrate (rocky, sandy, clay), according to climatic parameters (tropical, subtropical, temperate), etc. In deserts, gray-brown and gray-earth soils predominate,
with a wide distribution of salt marshes and salt marshes. Xerophytes dominate
among vegetation (camel thorn, black saxaul, juzgun, etc.), and psammophytes
dominate in sandy deserts, halophytes predominate on saline soils (solyanka, sarsazan, soleros, tamarisk, etc.). Thus, the flora of the Sahara has about 1200 plant
species, the sandy deserts of Turan – 536, Kyzylkum – 533, Southern Ustyurt –
259 species.
ENDEMIC SPECIES – ЭНДЕМИКИ (from Greek. – local) – plants and animals with an extremely narrow range and limited in their distribution by a separate
region or country. Islands and mountainous countries are characterized by the
highest degree of endemism. Thus, the flora of Madagascar has more than 70 %
of endemics, the Hawaiian Islands – 82–90 %, etc. In the flora of the Caucasus
there are 26 % of endemic species, in the mountainous regions of Central Asia –
up to 30 %. The flora and fauna of Australia is especially rich in endemics, and
almost all types of eucalyptus (more than 450 species) are endemic; there are many
endemics among animals (platypus, echidna, koala marsupial bear, kangaroo, marsupial wolf, possum, etc.).
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117
EPHEMERA – ЭФЕМЕРЫ – annual herbaceous plants with a very short life
cycle, developing mainly in early spring, usually during the wet period (February–
May). They are characteristic of semi-deserts, deserts (on average up to 60 % of
species), partly for steppes. So, in the most extreme areas of the Sahara, ephemera
are the only plants that appear here after rare rains.
EPHEMEROIDS – ЭФЕМЕРОИДЫ – perennial herbaceous plants with
a short period of annual vegetation, and most of the year is spent at rest in the form
of bulbs, tubers or rhizomes. They play an important role in the vegetation cover
of deserts, semi-deserts and dry steppes (bulbous bluegrass, sedge, tulip, etc.).
Some ephemeroids are found in deciduous forests of the middle band (anemone,
proleska).
EPIPHYTES – ЭПИФИТЫ – plants that live on other plants (mainly on trunks
and branches), non-parasitic "aerial individuals" that do not have roots in the soil.
They are widely distributed in tropical forests, where in addition to herbaceous
plants (ferns, orchids, bromeliads), there are also shrub epiphytes. They use finegrained earth and moisture accumulated in irregularities on trunks and branches,
partly resort to the decay products of the uppermost parts of the bark of plants.
Epiphytes are an indispensable component of humid tropical forests.
ETERNAL (PERENNIAL) PERMAFROST – ВЕЧНАЯ (МНОГОЛЕТНЯЯ)
МЕРЗЛОТА – a geographical phenomenon including rocks which have been
in a cooled state for a long time (from several years to millennia). It is common in
areas with a cold continental climate (northern Eurasia, northern North America,
etc.). Permafrost rocks occupy about 34 million km2 on Earth, including about
21 million km2 in the Northern Hemisphere. Its thickness in places reaches several
hundred meters (in Yakutia – more than 1000 m). It is associated with the phenomena of thermokarst, the occurrence of ice in river valleys, heave mounds, in
some cases is the cause of swamping landscapes.
EXOSPHERE – ЭКЗОСФЕРА (from Greek – exo, outside and ... sphere) –
a layer of the atmosphere that is located above the ionosphere and extends up to
2000-3000 km. Here the temperature exceeds 2000 °C, and the gas velocity is
approaching a critical value (11.2 km/s). In this sphere of scattering, hydrogen and
helium atoms dominate, forming a corona around the Earth, extending to heights
of 20 thousand km.
FOUCAULT PENDULUM – ФУКО МАЯТНИК – a device for proving the
rotation of the Earth around its axis. The experiment was carried out by L. Foucault
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in 1851 in the Pantheon building in Paris (the length of the pendulum is 67 m).
A few minutes after the launch of the pendulum, the plane of its swing noticeably
deviated in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the Earth, which
was proof of the rotation of the latter. A similar pendulum (length 98 m) is suspended from the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
FROST MOUNDS – БУГРЫ ПУЧЕНИЯ – low mounds formed during freez-
ing of heavily moistened soils. They are found mainly in areas of permafrost distribution.
FUMAROLES – ФУМАРОЛЫ (from ital. fumare – smoke) – places where
gaseous and vaporous products are released in the craters of volcanoes or on fresh
lava flows covered with a slag crust. They are observed in areas of modern volcanism (Iceland, New Zealand, Italy, Kamchatka, etc.).
GEOID – ГЕОИД – a figure which surface coincides with the level surface of
the World Ocean, and at each point of the geoid, the direction of gravity is perpendicular to its surface. This term was proposed in 1873 by the German scientist
I. Listing. The surface of the geoid differs from the ellipsoid by an insignificant
amount (± 50–100 m).
GLACIERS – ЛЕДНИКИ – a mass of natural ground ice, mainly of atmospheric origin, with independent movement as a result of deformations caused by
gravity. They are formed in places of a positive balance of solid precipitation,
while the feeding area is located above the snow border. The total area of glaciers
is about 16 million km2 (about 11 % of the land area), with 96.6 % of their area in
Antarctica and Greenland.
GREY SOILS (SEROZEMS) – СЕРОЗЕМЫ – a type of soils of semi–deserts
and deserts of the temperate and subtropical zones, characterized by a low humus
content (up to 1-1.5 %) and high salinity. The share of gray soils and gray-brown
soils accounts for up to 17 % of the land area. They are characterized by low fertility and are suitable for agricultural use only under the condition of irrigation and
the use of fertilizers.
HIGH-ALTITUDE BELT OF LANDSCAPES – ВЫСОТНАЯ ПОЯСНОСТЬ
ЛАНДШАФТОВ – a natural change of natural landscapes in mountainous areas
due to altitude above sea level. It is associated with a decrease in air temperature,
an increase in the amount of ultraviolet radiation, a decrease in the amount of
evaporation, etc. The altitude zone is clearly expressed in the change of climate,
soils and vegetation types in height. The composition and altitude position of
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119
belts in mountain systems depend on their distribution in the coordinates of latitudinal zones, and proximity to the equator leads to an increase in the set of altitude belts.
HUMUS – ГУМУС (from Latin – earth, soil) – a dark-colored organic matter
of the soil formed as a result of the biochemical decomposition of plant and animal
residues and accumulating in the upper soil horizon. The fertility of the soil depends on its quantity. Humus consists of two organic compounds: group I – plant
and animal residues (10–15 % of the total mass of soil organic matter); group II –
substances that arose during the synthesis of organic residues (85–90 %). Thus,
the humus content increases from taiga podzolic soils (4–5 %) to steppe chernozems (10–15 %), decreasing in desert gray soils to 1–2 %.
HYDRATION – ГИДРАТАЦИЯ – the process of attaching water to ions, atoms or molecules of other substances. In another way, it is the process of binding
particles of a water-soluble substance with water molecules. The products of this
process are called hydrates.
HYPSOGRAPHIC CURVE – ГИПСОГРАФИЧЕСКАЯ КРИВАЯ – reflects
the most common features of the land relief and the ocean floor. Two stages are
clearly distinguished on it: the continental and oceanic. Analysis of the curve
shows that high mountains and deep-water troughs occupy the smallest areas on
Earth (about 1 %). On land, heights of less than 1000 m (more than 70 % of the
land surface) prevail, and in the ocean – depths of 3000–6000 m. The average
height of the land is 875 m, the average depth of the ocean is 3790 m (including
underwater ridges – 3704 m).
ICEFIELDS – НАЛЕДИ – ice formations that occur during the freezing of
surface (river, lake) and underground waters pouring onto the earth's surface.
River ice is formed as a result of water pressure in the living section of the river,
which is observed when rivers freeze to the bottom. They are typical for areas with
severe low-snow winters with the presence of permafrost.
INNER SOLAR SYSTEM – ВНУТРЕННЯЯ СОЛНЕЧНАЯ СИСТЕМА –
our Solar System is a huge and amazing place. It includes eight planets, 176 moons,
5 dwarf planets (possibly hundreds of others), 659,212 known asteroids and
3,296 known comets, discoveries are still being made. The solar system consists
of various regions, which are determined due to their distance from the Sun, as
well as the types of planets and bodies that belong to them. In the inner Solar
System there are "Inner Planets" – Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, which are so
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120
named because they rotate the closest to the Sun. In addition to their proximity,
these planets have a number of key differences that distinguish them from other
planets in the Solar System. Firstly, the inner planets are rocky and solid, consisting
mainly of silicates and metals, while the outer planets are gas giants. The inner
planets are also located much closer than their outer counterparts in the Solar System. In fact, the radius of the entire region is less than the distance between the
orbits of Jupiter and Saturn. This region is also located near the “frost line”, which
is slightly less than 5 AU (about 700 million km) from the Sun. This line represents
a boundary in a system where conditions are warm enough for hydrogen compounds such as water, ammonia and methane to take on a liquid form. Beyond the
freezing line, these compounds condense into ice grains. As a rule, inner planets
are smaller and denser than their counterparts, and they have few or no moons or
rings around them. Outer planets, meanwhile, often have dozens of moons and
rings made up of ice and rock particles. The inner planets of the earth consist
mainly of refractory minerals such as silicates, which form their crust and mantle,
and metals such as iron and nickel, which form their cores. Three of the four inner
planets (Venus, Earth and Mars) have an atmosphere sufficient to create weather.
All of them have impact craters and tectonic surface features such as rift valleys
and volcanoes.
IONOSPHERE (thermosphere) – ИОНОСФЕРА (термосфера) – a layer of
the atmosphere extending at an altitude of 80 to 800 km, which is characterized by
a significant increase in temperature (up to 1500 °C or more). Under the influence
of ultraviolet solar radiation, gases are ionized, causing the dissociation of oxygen
and nitrogen molecules. Auroras and magnetic storms are observed in the ionosphere, affecting the state of living organisms in the biosphere.
JUVENILE WATERS – ЮВЕНИЛЬНЫЕ ВОДЫ – (from lat. Iuvenes –
young) – waters arising from oxygen and hydrogen released from magma, and for
the first time entering the general moisture cycle of the globe. In part, the juvenile
waters include thermal baths.
LAKES – ОЗЕРА – reservoirs of slow water exchange and do not have access to the World Ocean. They occupy about 2.7 million km2 (1.8 % of the land
area) on the globe. Based on computer processing of numerous lake data, it has
been found that there are approximately 8.5 million natural lakes with an area
of more than 0.01 km2 on the globe (Nature, 2005, No. 4). According to the
origin of the basins, lakes are divided into a number of genetic types: tectonic,
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