B
Back Wall: Back wall is the steep cliff at the rear of a corrie.
Background Extinction: Background extinction refers to the extinction of
species on the Earth due to changes in the environmental conditions.
Backshore: The area, behind the shore that is untouched by water is
known as backshore. It an extension of the beach, between the beach berm and
backshore slope.
Backwash: Backwash is a backward movement of water from the shore, once
it has washed the run up of the beach.
Backwash: the return of water to the sea after waves break on a beach.
Backwater: Backwater is defined as a water body formed due to an
obstruction in drainage.
Badlands: Very irregular topography resulting from wind and water
erosion of sedimentary rock.
Bahada: In geography terms, a bahada is a gently sloping plain, at the
foot of the mountains. This slope is created by descending streams. A bahada is
generally seen when several alluvial fans fuse together.
Balance of Trade: the value of exports minus the value of imports; there
may be a trade deficit or tradesurplus.
Bankfull Discharge: It is the maximum discharge made by a river without
flooding.
Bar Chart: Bar chart is a graphical representation of various amounts or
frequencies. These items are shown with variations in lengths.
Bar: A bank of sand near the mouth of river.
Bar: where a spit grows across a bay. A bar can eventually enclose the
bay to create a lagoon.
Barchan: Barchan is an exact crescent shaped sand dune made by the winds.
The crescent tips point downwind, which move fast due to wind movements. The
wind brushes the sand on the windward side which collapses on the leeward
making the barchan sand dunes to move forward.
Barrage: A barrage is defined as a barrier in a watercourse to divert it
or to increase the depth of the water.
Barrier Beach: A bar shaped sand or a low-lying coral island, which is
parallel to the coastline but slightly away from it is called a barrier beach.
Basal Sapping: In geographical terms, basal sapping means erosion at the
foot of a slope caused by chemical erosion usually in tropical areas.
Basalt: Basalt is an igneous rock. This fine grained rock is formed when
erupted lava cools down rapidly under water.
Base Flow: Groundwater seepage, which flows into streams is known as
base flow.
Base Level: The lowest level at which the erosion can take place is
known as the base level.
Base level: The lowest level to which a stream can erode its bed. The
ultimate base level of all streams is, of course, the sea.
Base Level: the mouth of the river and the point where the gradient
becomes zero. No further erosion is possible during normal river flow at this
point.
Basic Volcano: Basic volcano is when hot lava, having low viscosity
erupts from the vent and cools down to form a shallow conical mountain surface.
Bathysphere: Inner portion of the earth.
Battery Farming: The latest geography term, battery farming is a
cost-effective method of farming used to reduce the per unit cost. The cattle
are reared in cages and are watered and fed automatically.
Bay: As per geography definitions, a bay is a water body that surrounds
a crescent-shaped coast line or a piece of land. For example, the Bay of Bengal
on the eastern coast of India. It is larger than a cove but smaller than gulf.
Bays: found between headlands where there are alternating outcrops of
resistant (harder) rock and less resistant (softer) rock. Waves erode the areas
of softer rock more rapidly to form bays. The more resistant, harder rock forms
the headlands that protrude out to sea.
Beach Depletion: Loss of sand and shingles from the beach due to low
replenishment and rising sea levels and longshore drift is called beach
depletion.
Beach Depletion: the loss of beach material e.g. by offshore dredging of
shingle banks.
Beach Replenishment: the addition of new material to a beach naturally,
through the action of longshore drift or artificially, through the dumping of
large amounts of material.
Beach: In geography terminology a beach is accumulation of sand and
shingles along a water body due to sedimentation.
Beach: the temporary deposition of sand and shingle along the coastline.
Without its beach a coast is vulnerable to erosion, e.g. the cliffs at Barton
on Sea were easily eroded following the construction of a groyne updrift at
Bournemouth.
Beaufort Scale: Beaufort scale is a measure used to describe the speed
of wind on the basis of observations of the sea conditions. This is an empirical
instrument created in 1805 by Sir Francis Beaufort.
Bed Load: In geography terms list, bed load describes the flowing
particles that are transported along the river bed with the currents. A bed
load movements are rolling, sliding, traction and saltation.
Bedding Plane: Bedding planes are boundaries that define the layers or
strata of a sedimentary rock.
Bedding Plane: a line in rocks separating two different layers: one
usually more resistant to erosion, one usually weaker. The layers, deposited
horizontally millions of years ago as sediment on the sea bed, have often been
tilted through earth movements (tectonics), creating an angle of dip.
Bedload: the material carried by a river by being bounced or rolled
along its bed.
Bedrock: In geographical terms, a bedrock is a consolidated rock form
beneath the surface of the earth.
Bedrock: The solid rock that underlies all soil or other loose material;
the rock material that breaks down eventually to form soil.
Benthos: Benthos are the marine organisms that live near, in or on the
seabed. In geography terms, these regions are called the benthic zone.
Bergeron-Findeisen Process: Bergeron-Findeisen process is the process of
rain formation. It is the formation of cold rain or ice crystal in the cold
clouds of the mid and higher latitudes of the atmosphere.
Bergschrund: a deep crevasse found at the back wall of a cirque, formed
as the ice moves away downhill. This may have an important role in the
processes leading to the deep erosion of the cirque basin.
Biodiversity: The diversity of species found in a particular area. It
includes the variety of flora and fauna in the given ecosystem.
Biofuel: Substances such as gas, alcohol and long dead biological
material constitute biofuel. Use of organic materials makes biofuel different
from fossil fuels.
Biogas: Biogas in geography glossary of terms and definitions is defined
as a type of biofuel produced from decomposition of organic matter without
oxygen.
Biogeography: Biogeography is included in the geography terms, because
it studies the distribution of animals and plants on the planet.
Biological Control: Biological control is a natural way of controlling
weeds and pests in agriculture.
Biological diversity: A concept recognizing the variety of life forms in
an area of the Earth and the ecological interdependence of these life forms.
Biological Weathering: the breakdown of rock through the action of
plants and animals.
Biomass is a conventional and renewable source of energy. This energy is
generated from dead organic or living organic materials such as wood and
plants. Read more on biomass energy.
Biomass is defined as the living matter and biological organisms in a
particular area's ecosystem at a given time.
Biomass: Biomass can be defined in two ways:
Biome: Biome are areas with similar climatic conditions, similar ecology
of plants, animals and soil organisms. There are commonly known as ecosystems.
Biomonitoring: Biomonitoring is a detailed observation of an ecosystem
to monitor, understand and record changes.
Biosphere: Biosphere is a total of plant life, animal life and all other
factors that make up the earth.
Biosphere: Biosphere is the sum total of the ecosystems present in the
world. In other words, biosphere is a global integration of all living beings,
their interactions, interdependence and relationships.
Biosphere: The realm of all living things.
Biota: Biota is the collection of a wide range of plant and animal life
of a geographic region.
Biotechnology: Biotechnology is a technology, which uses biology,
agriculture, food science and medicine for research and development in the
field of pharmacy.
Biotic Factors: Biotic factors are all living organisms of an ecosystem.
It is the effect of one living organism on another, which include animals,
plants, humans and aquatic flora and fauna.
Biotope: Biotope is an area with uniform climatic conditions, conducive
to specific plants and animals. The meaning of biotope is similar to habitat.
Birth Rate: The number of live births per 1000 people per year.
Birth Rate: The number of people being born for each 1,000 of the
population.
Blizzard: A blizzard is a torrential winter storm having very low
temperatures, strong winds and heavy snow.
Blowout Depression: Blowout depressions are formed in sandy areas due to
erosion of sediments by winds.
Bore: A high tide running up a river.
Boulder Clay: an unsorted mixture of sand, clay and boulders carried by
a glacier and deposited as ground moraine over a large area. Now regarded as an
obsolete term.
Brackish: Brackish water has more salinity than freshwater. But the
salinity is less than the sea water.
Break of Bulk Point: the place where goods have to be unloaded e.g. a
port.
Break of Bulk Location: a location such as a coastal port which takes
its advantage from a position where there is a forced transfer of raw materials
or goods from one form of transport to another. Coastal locations are favoured
for iron and steel plants in the UK since the coal and iron ore raw materials
are now imported.
Breaker: Breakers are reefs against which sea waves break.
Breakwaters: offshore coastal defence structures built of stone parallel
to the coastline; they help absorb the energy of breaking waves. Deposition
occurs in the calmer water created behind the breakwater.
Bridging Point: a settlement site where a river is narrow or shallow
enough to be bridged. The bridge becomes a route centre and trading centre, the
natural location for a market. It is also a good defensive site. The lowest
bridging point on a river is the bridge nearest to the sea; this site is ideal
for a river port settlement.
Bridging Point: An easy crossing point where the river narrows or is
shallower.
Brook: Brook is a small stream that flows with gravity. It is smaller
than a creek.
Brown Earth: It is a type of soil that is found in European deciduous
woodland areas.
Brownfield land: urban land that has previously been developed, such as
a the site of a demolished building or factory.
Brownfield Site: an inner-city derelict site which can be cleared and
reused for new industry.
Bulge of Young Male Migrants: on a population pyramid; young males move
to urban areas due to push-pull factors.
Burgess Model: an urban land use model showing five concentric zones, based
upon age of houses and wealth of their inhabitants. (See concentric ring
model).
Business Park: New offices built in pleasant surroundings on the edge of
cities.
Business Parks: these are mainly found on edge-of-city greenfield sites,
although some are part of inner city redevelopment schemes. Usually over 70% of
the land is converted into ornamental gardens and lakes. They are ideal
locations for high-tech industries such as electronics and research
institutions.
Buying in Bulk: negotiating low prices from the supplier by offering to
buy very large quantities of a particular product.
By-pass: A road built around a busy urban area to avoid traffic jams.
By-products: what is left over after something is made e.g. chemicals
following the refining of oil. Some by-products can be treated to make other
products.
