F
Facilities: Services that are people feel are essential such as toilets,
heating, telephones etc..
Facilities: see amenities.
Factories: Places where things are made from natural resources and raw
materials.
Factory Farming: keeping animals in intensive artificial conditions
indoors.
Fallow: a field left for a year with just grass in order for it to
naturally regain its nutrients after several years of crops. This is usually
part of a Crop Rotation cycle.
Family Life Cycle Model: a model which is based on the movements of people
within a city seeking a better home as their personal circumstances (both
financial and social) change over time.
Family Planning: using contraception to control the size of your family.
Family status: This is the position of a person in the . A person's
family status reflects age, whether or not the person is married and whether or
not the person has children.
Family Ties: the lack of family ties (no wife or children) encourages
young males to migrate from LEDCs to MEDCs or from rural to urban areas to seek
a better life. The young (20-35) are also best-suited physically to heavy
unskilled/semi-skilled work. See Guest-Worker.
Famine: A drastic and a long spell of food shortage, a dearth of water
which results in poor living conditions is known as famine.
Famine: a shortage of food causing malnutrition and hunger.
Fault zone: A fracture in the Earth's crust along which movement has
occurred. The movement may be in any direction and involve material on either
or both sides of the fracture. A "fault zone" is an area of numerous
fractures.
Fault: A fracture in the Earth's crust accompanied by a displacement of
one side of the fracture.
Fault: In geography terms, a fault is a crack in the Earth's crust,
which may be the result of tension, compression and horizontal tearing.
Fault: a large crack in the rock caused by earthquake movements.
Fault-block mountain: A mountain mass created by either the uplift of
land between faults or the subsidence of land outside the faults.
Faulting: A faulting is a shallow earthquake that causes displacement
around the fault.
Fauna: In geographical terminology, fauna refers to the animal species
inhabiting a particular region.
Favela: a Brazilian term for an informal, shanty-type settlement.
Federation: A form of government in which powers and functions are
divided between a central government and a number of political subdivisions
that have a significant degree of political autonomy.
Feedback: the link between farm output and inputs, i.e. reinvestment of
some of the profits to buy new seed, fertiliser.
Feedback: the reinvestment of some of the profits into new inputs within
the factory system.
Feldspar: Feldspar is the name of a rock forming minerals which are
commonly present in igneous, plutonic and metamorphic rocks.
Fen: A low lying swampy land is known as fen.
Ferralitic: Ferralitic soils have very high aluminum and iron content.
These soils are very weathered and are generally found in the tropical regions.
Fertile Age Group: the child-bearing years of women, normally 18-45
years of age.
Fertile: Land or soil where crops can be grown successfully.
Fertiliser: nutrients applied to the soil, either artificial (inorganic)
or natural (organic).
Fertilizer: It is a natural or a synthetic material used for making soil
fit for cultivation.
Fetch: the maximum distance of water over which winds can blow. In the
case of south-west England the maximum fetch is from the south-west (5000
miles). This also coincides with the direction of the prevailing wind and leads
to large storm waves attacking Barton on Sea, particularly in Winter.
Field Capacity: Field capacity in geography terms, is explained as the
maximum water retention capacity of the soil.
Filtering: a process by which social groups move from one residential
area to another, leading to changes in the social nature of residential areas.
(See Social leapfrogging).
Fiord (or Fjord): a long, narrow, steep-sided inlet formed by glaciers
and later drowned by a rise is sea level. Fjords are often over 3 kilometres
deep.
Fiord (or Fjord): a long, narrow, steep-sided inlet formed by glaciers
and later drowned by a rise is sea level. Fjords are often over 3 kilometres
deep.
Firn: A semi consolidated snow, which has passed through one season of
melt, but is not yet glacial in nature.
Fissure: It is a long narrow opening or a crack. Fissure is the process
of splitting up.
Fixed Industry: one which is tied to a particular location.
Fjord: A narrow and long inlet of sea set between steep cliffs or
slopes.
Flash Flood: Flash flood is the sudden overwhelming rise of water levels
due to a heavy rainfall.
Flocculation: The process in which the soil comes together to form
fluffy and lumps of masses.
Flood Plain: The flat area at the bottom of a valley which is often
flooded.
Flood Plain: the wide, flat floor of a river valley. It consists of
sediments (alluvium) deposited by the river.
Flood: It is an overwhelming rise in the water level, which enters the
settlement areas.
Floodplain: In a geography glossary, a floodplain is an area located
next to the river. As this area is highly prone to floods it is called
floodplain.
Flora: Plants of a particular country, region or time is called flora.
Flume: It is a narrow gorge, which has a stream flowing through it.
Fluvioglacial Landforms: Fluvioglacial landforms are landforms molded by
glacial meltwater.
Fluvioglacial: Fluvioglacial are streams or rivers, which are formed due
to melting of glaciers.
Fodder: crops grown for animal feed, usually stored and fed to the
animals during the winter months.
Fog Saturated air with visibility below one kilometre. Fog differs from
cloud only in that the base of fog is at the Earth's surface while clouds are
above the surface.
Fog: In geographical terms, fog is condensed water vapor which is closer
to the ground and which obstructs visibility.
Fog: When the atmospheric moisture touches cold earth and condenses on
dust particles.
Föhn: Föhn is dry warm winds, which blow from the lee side of mountain
slopes.
Fold Mountains: In a geography glossary, mountains that are formed due
to folding are known asfold mountains.
Folding: Folding in geographical terms, means a bent of stratified rocks
formed due to tectonic movements in the Earth's crust.
Food Chain: A group or organisms that are interdependent on each other
for food make a food chain. This is an important part of our ecosystem.
Food Mountains and Lakes: Surplus supplies of farm products that are
stored.
Food Web: A food web is a complex structure of all food chains in the
ecosystem.
Footloose Industry: one which could set up in many different locations.
It is not tied to a fixed location. It may locate where labour is cheaper, or
where the government offers incentives.
Ford: A crossing where the river is shallow.
Formal Employment: where people work to receive a regular wage and are
assured certain rights e.g. paid holidays, sickness leave. Wages are taxed.
Formal Sector: the employment sector comprising 'proper' jobs that are
usually permanent, with set hours of work, agreed levels of pay, and sometimes
pensions and social security rights.
Fossil Fuel: Fuel which is extracted from the bowels of the Earth is called
fossil fuel. This fuel is derived from decaying of dead organic matter.
Fossil Fuels: Fuels from the remains of plants or ancient life.
Fossil Water: Fossil water or paleowater is groundwater that has
remained in an aquifer for millennia.
Free Range: allowing animals to move about a sizeable area.
Freeze-thaw Weathering: Weathering of rock which occurs as water enters
the cracks of the rocks and freezes is known as freeze-thaw weathering in
geographical terms.
Freeze-Thaw Weathering: also called frost-shattering as it occurs in
cold climates when temperatures are often around freezing point and where
exposed rocks contain many cracks. Water enters the cracks during the warmer
day and freezes during the colder night. As the water turns into ice it expands
and exerts pressure on the surrounding rock, causing pieces to break off.
Freeze-Thaw Weathering: also called frost-shattering as it occurs in
cold climates when temperatures are often around freezing point and where
exposed rocks contain many cracks. Water enters the cracks during the warmer
day and freezes during the colder night. As the water turns into ice it expands
and exerts pressure on the surrounding rock, causing pieces to break off.
Freeze-Thaw Weathering: also called frost-shattering as it occurs in
cold climates when temperatures are often around freezing point and where
exposed rocks contain many cracks. Water enters the cracks during the warmer
day and freezes during the colder night. As the water turns into ice it expands
and exerts pressure on the surrounding rock, causing pieces to break off.
Front The meeting point between two air masses of different density.
Since the temperature is the most important regulator of the atmosphere
density, a front almost invariably separates air masses of different
temperature. When warmer air replaces the colder, it is a warm front, and a
front is a cold one when the opposite occurs.
Frontier (Border): The boundary around a country.
Frost Shattering: Frost shattering is the mechanical weathering of rocks
or also weathering.
Frost: A deposit of tiny water crystals, which is formed as the
temperature touches the freezing point.
Frost-Shattering: see Freeze-Thaw Weathering.
Fuelwood: Fuelwood is defined as the wood, basically, used as fuel for
cooking and heating.
Function of a Settlement: what the settlement does to 'earn its living'
e.g. market town, mining town, administrative centre, tourist resort etc..
Function: The reason for something to be somewhere. It is its use or
purpose such as a port, market, industry or tourism.
