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Ice age: A time of widespread glaciation (see Pleistocene).
Ice Age: a period of colder climate when ice sheets form on the land,
causing a lowering of sea level.
Ice Berg: A huge floating mass of ice is known as an ice berg in
geography terms.
Ice Core: A cylinder of ice drilled out of a glacier is known as an ice
core. It can be used for determining the climate in the past.
Ice Lens: An ice area which has convex lens on both of its sides is
known as an ice lens.
Ice Movement: when under pressure, ice behaves as jelly and flows with
the aid of gravity and melt water lubrication. The melting point of ice at the
base of the glacier can be lower than 0ºC due to the pressure of weight.
Ice Sheet: Extensive layers of ice covering a large area (often over
50000 km2, are known as ice sheets.
Ice Sheet: huge mass of ice covering the landscape that moves very
slowly. Only the mountain peaks protrude above the ice.
Ice Wedge: In geography terminology, an almost vertical ice sheet
tapering downward for about 12m is an ice wedge.
Iceberg: Huge mass of ice separated from glacier in the Polar Regions.
These masses of ice float in the oceans with nine parts submerged in the ocean
and one part visible.
Igloo: Eskimo dome-shaped hut.
Igneous rock: Rock formed when molten (melted) materials harden.
Illuviation: Deposition of colloids, soluble salts and mineral particles
in the lower layers of the soil due to percolation from the above layers is
termed illuviation.
Immigrant: someone who moves into an area from elsewhere.
Impermeable Rock: a rock that will not allow water to pass through it
e.g. clay.
Impermeable: A rock that will not let groundwater pass through it. Clay
is a good example.
Import Substitution: when a country (LEDC) tries to produce all its own
goods and services in order to limit imports.
Imports: goods bought from abroad.
Incised Stream: A deep water course formed as the new river cuts through
the original water course.
Income: What a person or country earns or gains in money from working,
selling or trading.
Indentured labor: Work performed according to a binding contract between
two parties. During the early colonial period in America, this often involved
long periods of time and a total work commitment.
Industrial Classification: the categorization of industry into Primary,
Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary sectors.
Industrial Development Certificates: these are issued by the UK
government to control where industry can locate; they are difficult to obtain
for firms wishing to locate in the South-East of England. See Core Region.
Industrial Estate: an area of land planned and zoned for industry,
usually with good access to the motorway network.
Industrial Inertia: the survival of an industry in an area even though
the initial advantages of location are no longer relevant. e.g. the survival of
the steel works in Sheffield is due to the prestige of Sheffield cutlery.
Industrial Revolution: the growth and development of manufacturing
industry and the factory system which began in the UK in the eighteenth
century.
Industrialised: Using machines and power (energy) to make things.
Industry: a general term for working and making money.
Infant Mortality Rate: The number of children out of every 1000 born
alive that die before they reach the age of one year.
Infant Mortality: the number of babies dying before their first birthday
per 1000 live births.
Infertile: Poor soil or land in which crops won’t grow well.
Infield-Outfield: An outdated farming system, wherein the land closer to
the farming building gets intensive farming and the one farther away is left
fallow for animal grazing.
Informal Sector: casual, irregular work, e.g. street selling.
Informal Sector: This is particularly strong in LEDCs and made up of
work done without the official knowledge of the government and therefore
without paying taxes.
Informal Work: this involves jobs people have set up for themselves,
such as shoe shining. The jobs require little capital to set up, require few
skills, are labour intensive, small scale and can often be done from home.
Information Technology (IT): The exchange of ideas and information.
Infrastructure: the facilities which provide the essential framework for
industry e.g. roads, power supply, sewerage etc.
Inner City: the part of the urban area surrounding the CBD; it often
contains older housing and industry, in a state of poor repair and dereliction
(See urban redevelopment and urban renewal).
Inorganic: of non-biological origin e.g. chemical fertiliser.
Inorganic: This geography term means one which involves all the
inorganic matter or abiotic elements of the environment.
Inputs: the investments necessary on a farm to produce food. They
include land, labour, machinery, seeds, fertiliser, pesticides and fodder.
Inputs: the things needed to run a factory e.g. capital, raw materials,
power, labour etc.
Insular: Either of an island, or suggestive of the isolated condition of
an island.
Intensive Agriculture: The inflow and usage of upgraded technology,
capital and trained labor in production, is known as intensive agriculture or
intensive farming. It is an agricultural production system and is characterized
by highly organized technical tools such as good quality fertilizers and
pesticides. More on advantages and disadvantages for intensive farming.
Intensive Farming: Farms which cover small areas but which use either
many people or a lot of capital (money). No land is wasted.
Intensive Farming: one with high capital and/or labour inputs, a small
area of land, and high outputs.
Interception: The process by which the precipitation is caught and held
by the leaves, foliage, twigs and branches, is termed as interception. This
water never reaches the ground as it gets evaporated.
Interdependence: The mutual relation of dependence between the elements
of the environment is known as interdependence.
Interglacial: a warmer spell between ice ages, lasting about 10,000
years.
Interlocking Spurs: As the river descends from the highland, it begins
to meander between spurs which interlock down the valley.
Intermediate Technology: technology best suited to a developing country
which is neither too simple nor too advanced; it can be easily repaired and
does not rely on spare parts and technical know-how from MEDCs should it break
down. (See Appropriate Technology).
International Date Line: A line of longitude generally 180 degrees east
and west of the prime meridian. The date is one day earlier to the east of the
line.
International Dateline: An imaginary line which lies around 180°
meridian from Greenwich and is the basis of the calendar dates is known as the
international dateline.
Interquartile Range: The area which is exposed to air due to the
movement of tides is the interquartile range. It's the area which connects the
sea to the land.
Intertropical Convergence Zone: This is a term used to describe the
convergence of the North-East and the South-East trade wind.
Intervening Opportunity: The existence of a closer, less expensive
opportunity for obtaining a good or service, or for a migration destination. Such
opportunities lessen the attractiveness of more distant places.
Intervention: where the CAP intervenes to keep food prices artificially
high, even though there are food surpluses in the EU.
Intrazonal Soil: A type of soil that is developed by a local factor and
not through climatic changes is called intrazonal soil.
Intrusive Landform: Intrusive landforms are made by cooling of magma.
These form igneous rocks within the crust and are then known as intrusive
landforms.
Invisible Trade: trade in products that cannot be 'seen' e.g. tourism,
financial services and technological 'know-how'.
Irrigation: A well-developed technique of watering the land for
agricultural purposes is called irrigation in geography terms list.
Irrigation: the artificial watering of the land.
Island Arc: An arc-shaped chain formed by undersea volcanic mountains is
known as island arc.
Island: A body of land surrounded by water in all sides is known as an
island in simple geographical terms.
Isobar A line of equal or constant pressure. Measured in millibars (mb).
Isobar: A line drawn on a map which connects the points of equal
pressures (high and low) is known as an isobar.
Isobars: Map lines connecting lines of equal barometric pressure.
Isotherms: Map lines connecting places of equal temperature. Latitude: Distance
of any place north or south of the Equator. Lithosphere: The outer crust of the
earth. Longitude: The distance of a place east or west of fixed meridian.
Greenwich is supposed to be on "O" meridian in English-speaking
countries.
Isohyet: A line on a map connecting points that receive equal
precipitation.
Isolated: Difficult to reach. Far from other places.
Isolation: It is the energy of heat thrown out by the sun and absorbed
by the earth and the air.
Isostatic: Increase or decrease in the land levels due to the
melting/formation of ice sheets, is an isostatic phenomenon.
Isotropic: Flat land areas having uniform soil and weather conditions
and other conditions being variable, are called isotropic areas.