T
Taiga: A moist subarctic coniferous forest that begins where the tundra
ends and is dominated by spruces and firs.
Talik: Talik is a Russian term used to describe a permanently unfrozen
section of ground in a region of permafrost. There are different types of talik
like through talik, closed talik and open talik.
Tariffs: tax (customs duties) charged on imported goods. e.g.
manufactured goods from LEDCs to the EU face a tariff of 30%. Japanese
companies have located in the EU to avoid tariffs; these do not apply if 60% of
the components are made in Europe.
Tarn: a deep circular lake filling a cirque hollow.
Technology: New ways of using resources and developing new equipment.
Tectonic: Tectonic is a term used to define anything that is causing,
related to, or resulting from processes that work to give the earth's crust
some sort of shape.
Teleworking: using telecommunications to work from home.
Teleworking: working from home using telecommunications.
Temperate Crops: plants best suited to the climate of the cooler
temperate latitudes e.g. Britain.
Temperature: Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Two different
temperature scales; in Celsius (freezing point is 0 degress, boiling point is
100 degrees) and in Fahrenheit (freezing point is 32 degress, boiling
point is 212 degrees).
Temperate Deciduous Forest: Temperate deciduous forests are seasonal
biomes found in central, western and eastern Europe, eastern Australia, some
parts of China and Japan, and eastern North America. These forests are
characterized by moderate temperature and rainfall and deciduous trees like
oak, maple, ash, etc. that lose their leaves annually.
Temperature inversion: An increase in temperature with height above the
Earth's surface, a reversal of the normal pattern.
Temperature Inversion: Temperature inversion is a phenomenon in which
the temperature increases with increasing altitude instead of decreasing with
increasing altitude. This is due to factors like sea air being invaded by
onshore breeze that is cooler than the sea air or because of the passage of a
cold front.
Temperature range Maximum minus the minimum temperature for a particular
location.
Temperature A physical quantity characterizing the mean random motion of
molecules in a physical body. In other words, it is a measure of the degree of
hotness or coldness of a substance.
Tenant Farmer: farmers who do not own the land they cultivate. Their
rent is usually a fixed percentage of the harvest each year.
Tenant: a person who rents his/her home from a private landlord or the
local council.
Tenement Blocks: Large residential blocks built in the inner cities of
the MEDCs during the Industrial Revolution to house workers in high density
cramped and unhygienic conditions next to the factories.
Tenure: the way in which property is held. A house of flat may be owned
by the occupier or rented, either from the council or from a private landlord.
Tephra: Solid material of all sizes explosively ejected from a volcano
into the atmosphere.
Terminal Moraine: a prominent ridge of rock debris dumped at the end of
a glacier and formed of unsorted boulders, sand, gravel and clay.
Terms of Trade: the relationship between the average price of exports
and the average price of imports. Terms of Trade always favour MEDCs at the
expense of LEDCs. See Structure of Trade.
Terraced House: a house within a (usually) long line of joined housing.
Terraced housing is typical of the inner city zone in the U.K.
Terraces: fields on steep hillsides are terraced to provide flat growing
areas for crops.
Terracettes: step-like features on banks and hillsides, the result of
soil creep.
Terracing: the construction of horizontal steps down the cliff face;
once these become vegetated, they help stabilise the cliff and prevent erosion.
Territory: A specific area or portion of the Earth's surface; not to be
confused with region.
Tertiary Industry: does not produce anything but involves work in the
service sector of the economy. It includes activities associated with commerce
and distribution (wholesaling and retailing) as well as banking, insurance,
administration, transport, tourism, health, education and entertainment
services.
Tertiary sector: That portion of a region's economy devoted to service
activities (e.g., retail and wholesale operations, transportation, insurance).
Thermosphere: Thermosphere is the outermost surface of the atmosphere,
that lies above the mesosphere and below the exosphere. It is a region where
temperature increases steadily with altitude.
Threshold Population: the minimum number of people required to support a
particular good, shop or office. For example, large stores such as Marks &
Spencer have a threshold population of over 100,000, whilst shoe shops have a
threshold population of about 25,000.
Threshold: The minimum-sized market for an economic activity. The
activity will not be successful until it can reach a population larger than
this threshold size.
Tidal Energy: The energy obtained from harnessing tidal motions of water
is called tidal energy. The energy harnessed is used to produce electricity.
Till: also known as Boulder Clay.
Time distance: A time measure of how far apart places are (how long does
it take to travel from place A to place B?). This may be contrasted with other
distance metrics such as geographic distance (how far is it?) and cost-distance
(how much will it cost to get there?).
Time: an important factor in coastal erosion and deposition.
Time: an important factor in glacial erosion and deposition.
Time: an important factor in river erosion and deposition.
Tombolo: a spit joining an island to the mainland.
Topographic map: A map that uses contour lines to represent the
three-dimensional features of a landscape on a two-dimensional surface.
Topographical Map: Topographical map is a type of large-scale map that
represents both natural and man-made two-dimensional, surface geographical
features.
Topography: The physical features of a place; or the study and depiction
of physical features, including terrain relief.
Tornado: A tornado is a violent and destructive windstorm or column of
air that extends downward from a cumulonimbus or funnel-shaped cloud. Its speed
is about 100 to 300 miles per hour and it is known to cause a lot of
destruction along its path.
Tourist Attractions: Places where people travel for interest and
pleasure.
Tourist Developments: resorts such as Barton on Sea wish to build their
beaches to attract tourists who are an important source of income to the area.
Cliff-top hotels, however, can actually contribute to erosion,creating an
impermeable zone that increases saturation in the surrounding cliff area.
Tourists walking on the cliff face also contribute to erosion by destroying
vegetation.
Toxic Waste: Poisonous waste material that comprises chemical compounds
that can cause injury or death if inhaled or ingested is called toxic waste.
Traction: material rolled along the bed of the river.
Trade Deficit: where a country imports more goods than it exports.
Trade Surplus: where a country exports more goods than it imports.
Trade Winds: Trade winds are the steady winds that blow towards the
equator, from the northeast in the northern hemisphere, and from the southeast
in the southern hemisphere.
Trade: The exchange of goods or services.
Trading Blocs: groups of countries who join together for tax-free
trading purposes e.g. the EU.
Traditional Industries: old heavy industries located where cheap energy
(coal) and raw materials, e.g. iron ore were found.
Trampling: a process caused by overgrazing, where the soil becomes
compacted (compressed) by animal hooves, making it impermeable and useless for
farming.
Transferability: The extent to which a good or service can be moved from
one location to another; the relative capacity for spatial interaction.
Transhumance: The seasonal movement of people and animals in search of
pasture. Commonly, winters are spent in snow-free lowlands and summers in the
cooler uplands.
Transition Zone: see Zone in Transition.
Trans-national Corporation (TNC): large companies which have branch
plants throughout the world; their headquarters are often found in MEDCs.
Transnational Corporation: a very large company, with factories in many
different countries, often making and selling a range of products.
Transpiration: The process by which moisture leaves the plants through
small openings in the leaves, known as stomata, into the atmosphere, is known
as transpiration. This process is regulated by the plant on the basis of its
water requirement and the climate and the process also affects the growth and
wilting of the plant.
Transport: Ways of moving people and goods from one place to another.
Transportation: The movement of eroded material by rivers, sea, ice and
wind.
Transportation: the river moves material as bedload, suspended load or
dissolved load (in solution). Bedload can be moved by saltation or traction.
Tree line: Either the latitudinal or the elevational limit of normal
tree growth. Beyond this limit, closer to the poles or at higher or lower
elevations, climatic conditions are too severe for such growth.
Tributary: A small river which flows into the main river.
Tributary: A tributary is a stream or river that flows into a larger
river or a large body of water called the main channel.
Tributary: a smaller river that joins a larger one.
Trophic Level: Trophic level is the position in the food chain that is
occupied by different organisms. The trophic level indicates the frequency of
energy transfer that has taken place through feeding.
Tropical Cyclone: A tropical cyclone is a type of violent storm that
develops over tropical and subtropical water bodies, between latitudes 23°30'
North and 23°30' South. It is characterized by heavy, violent rainstorms and
cyclonic winds and is known by different names like willy-willy, taifu, etc. in
different countries.
Tropical Rainforest: Tropical rainforest is a biome situated in regions
if high rainfall and high temperature, consists of tall evergreen trees that
grow close to each other and are known to have the maximum number of medicinal
plants. The trees have columnar trunks that are somewhat unbranched and they
form a flat crown that spreads frequently. Read more on tropical rainforest
biome.
Tropics: Technically, the area between the Tropic of Cancer (21-1/2 N
latitude) and the Tropic of Capricorn (21-1/2 S latitude), characterized by the
absence of a cold season. Often used to describe any area possessing what is
considered a hot, humid climate.
Tropics: the areas of the world which are close to the equator, between
the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
Troposphere: Troposphere is the atmospheric zone that is the lowest. It
is situated between the tropopause and the earth's crust and comprises vertical
wind motions and water vapor. It is characterized by a decrease in temperature
with increasing altitude.
True North: The direction which points to the North Pole.
Truncated Spur: a former river valley spur which has been sliced off by
a valley glacier.
Tsunami: A tsunami is a huge ocean wave that occurs due to an underwater
volcanic eruption or underwater earthquake. It can travel at speeds of 600
km/hr, and can soar up to heights of 30 m.
Tundra: A treeless plain characteristic of the arctic and subarctic
regions.
Tundra: The vast, treeless region located in the Arctic and subarctic
regions and characterized by black mucky soil and frozen subsoils is known as
the tundra region. This region extends across Europe, North America and
Greenland.
Tundra's: Peripheral area of Arctic Ocean.
Twilight Zone: the term applied to an inner city area as it begins to
change into the Zone of Transition.
Twilight Zone: The twilight zone is the lowest level or the point up to
which natural light is able to penetrate in the ocean.
Typhoon: Typhoon is a type of tropical cyclone that occurs typically in
the Indian ocean and the western Pacific ocean.
