Geography key terms

A mound or ridge of wind-deposited sand, often stabilised by vegetation.

The principle that conservation takes priority where the statutory National Park purposes are in irreconcilable conflict.

The safe collection, removal and treatment of human waste and wastewater.

An image produced using measurements collected by a satellite. Its colours may be natural-looking or assigned to highlight particular features.

Images of the Earth's surface captured by sensors on satellites, which can be used to examine visible landscape features.

Soil whose pore spaces are filled with water, leaving little capacity to absorb further rainfall.

The condition in which the spaces within soil are filled with water.

Tropical grassland dominated by grasses with scattered trees and a distinct dry season.

The relationship between a distance on a map or image and the corresponding distance on the ground.

A graph plotting paired numerical values as separate points to show the relationship between two variables.

A graph in which each point represents a paired observation of two numerical variables.

A site containing research and technology-based businesses, usually with links to a university.

An accumulation of loose rock fragments on a slope, often below an exposed rock face.

Frozen seawater covering part of an ocean; its position and extent change through the seasons and over longer periods.

The area of ocean covered by sea ice, measured using a defined ice-cover threshold.

Food harvested at its usual time of year in a particular place.

A wall built along the shore to protect the land behind from the sea.

Information already collected or published by someone else and used in an investigation.

An indirect consequence resulting from a hazard's primary effects, such as food shortages following crop destruction.

A consequence of a primary impact, such as unemployment following the destruction of a business.

Economic activities that manufacture goods or construct buildings, such as steel production and car manufacturing.

Information collected or produced by someone else, rather than gathered first-hand by the person using it.

Protection of a person’s right to occupy their home or land, reducing the risk of eviction.

Loose material such as sand, gravel and pebbles that can be transported and deposited.

Rock formed from accumulated sediment that becomes solid through compaction and cementation, or from accumulated remains of organisms.

The solid material carried by a river, including material moved along its bed and particles suspended in the water.

Waves that carry energy away from an earthquake through the Earth and along its surface.