Explore

08. North America

Key Terms

Prepared by: learnloophq@gmail.com

Last edited 42 days ago by Learn LoopHQ.

Chapter: 08. North America

⁠

Amerigo Vespucci: An Italian explorer after whom the continent of North America was named in 1507 CE.

Christopher Columbus: A 15th-century seaman considered to have discovered North America in 1492 CE while seeking a new sea route to India.

New World: A term referring to North and South America, as they were discovered by Europeans as recently as the 15th century CE.

Isthmus of Panama: A narrow stretch of land joining North America to South America.

Bering Strait: The narrow body of water that separates Asia from North America in the north-west.

Tropic of Cancer: A significant latitude that passes through Mexico in North America.

Central America: The narrow part of the continent south of the Tropic of Cancer, comprising countries like Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, El Salvador, and Panama.

West Indies: The collective name for the tropical islands of the Caribbean Sea, including Cuba, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Puerto Rico.

Greenland: The largest island in the world, geographically part of North America but belonging to Denmark.

Mt Denali (formerly Mt McKinley): The highest point in North America (6,194 m), located in the Alaska Range, meaning ‘the high one’ or ‘the great one’ in the native Indian Koyukon language.

Cordillera: A Spanish word meaning “a rope or chain,” used to refer to a series of parallel mountain ranges that resemble twisted cords.

Pacific Ring of Fire: A region characterized by frequent earthquakes and numerous active and extinct volcanoes, part of which lies very close to North America’s Pacific Coast.

Intermontane plateau: A plateau that is surrounded by mountains on all sides, such as the Columbian Plateau and Colorado Plateau in North America.

Gorge: A deep, narrow valley with a river running along its bottom, typically smaller but steeper and narrower than a canyon.

Canyon: A deep, narrow valley with a river running along its bottom, generally larger and less steep than a gorge.

Grand Canyon: A world-famous, approximately 2,000-m-deep and 480-km-long canyon carved out by the Colorado River in North America.

Piedmont Plateau: A plateau located at the foot of the Eastern Highlands, across which rivers flow before descending to the coastal plains.

Fall Line: A line or zone marking where rivers flowing from a mountain region or plateau edge descend onto a lowland in a series of waterfalls, often utilized for hydroelectric power.

Mississippi-Missouri River System: The largest river system in North America, draining the Central Lowlands southwards into the Gulf of Mexico.

“Melting Pot”: A term often used to describe the United States of America, referring to its diverse groups and cultures that blend together.

Lumbering: The economic activity involving the cutting down of trees and the processes leading to the manufacture of products such as paper, newsprint, and synthetic fibres, also encompassing tree planting and forest fire prevention.

Coniferous forests / Taiga forests: Forests found in Canada, characterized by softwood trees like spruce, jack pine, hemlock, cedar, and poplar, growing in a broad, continuous belt.

Lumberjacks: Specialized workers engaged in lumbering, who often live in lumber camps and perform hard work, especially during winter.

High Riggers: A category of lumberjacks who climb tall coniferous trees to cut off branches and then the trunk using electric and mechanical saws.

Sawers / Buckers: Lumberjacks who use saws and axes to cut felled tree trunks into specific lengths (1 m to 5 m) before sending them to sawmills or pulp mills.

Skidders: Lumberjacks whose main task is to collect and drag logs to stack them along a frozen river bank, road, or railway line.

Haulers / Transporters: Lumberjacks responsible for transferring logs down a river to sawmills or factories, including clearing log-jams.

Log-jams: Obstructions formed by accumulated logs in a river, which must be cleared to allow log transportation.

Newsprint: A major paper product manufactured from wood pulp, with Canada being the largest producer globally.

Rayon: A synthetic fibre produced from wood pulp.

Vasco Núñez de Balboa: A Spanish explorer known for leading the first European expedition across the Isthmus of Panama and discovering the Pacific Ocean in the early 16th century CE.

Maritime climate: A climate type experienced by places close to the sea, characterized by a low range of temperature.

Continental climate: A climate type experienced by places located far away from the sea in the interior of continents, characterized by extreme differences between summer and winter temperatures.

North-East Trade Winds: Rain-bearing winds that bring heavy rainfall to the east coast and southern parts of North America during summer.

South Westerlies: Winds coming from the Pacific Ocean that bring rain throughout the year to north-west North America and winter rain to south-west North America.

Gulf Stream: A warm ocean current found in the south-east of North America.

Alaskan Current: A warm ocean current in the north-west of North America that keeps the coastal parts of Alaska frost-free even in winter.

California Current: A cold ocean current in the south-west of North America that contributes to the formation of deserts in the region.

Labrador Current: A cold ocean current found in the north-east of North America, whose mixing with the warm Gulf Stream creates rich fishing grounds.

Tundra vegetation: Vegetation found in areas with an Arctic climate, consisting of mosses, lichens, grasses, and dwarf bushes, where the subsoil remains frozen year-round.

Prairies: Temperate grasslands found in the interior cool temperate latitudes of North America, originally characterized by rich, tall grasses but now largely converted to wheat farms.

Mediterranean vegetation: Flora adapted to hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters, including trees like cork oak and olive, and fruit trees, with original scrub-like vegetation (chaparral) replaced by orchards.

Chaparral: The original scrub-like vegetation found in Mediterranean climate regions.

Tropical vegetation: Dense forests in the hot and humid tropical regions of Central America, characterized by hardwood trees like mahogany, palms, rubber, and cocoa.

Mixed forests: Forests composed of both deciduous and coniferous trees, found in regions south of the taiga belt and east of the prairies.

Deciduous trees: Trees that have broad leaves and shed them once a year in the dry season, yielding hardwood.

Coniferous trees: Trees that have needle-like leaves and do not shed them in any particular season, appearing green at all times, yielding softwood.

Hydroelectric power: Electricity generated by utilizing the force of water, often from waterfalls or dams built across rivers.

Renewable sources: Energy sources that are naturally replenished, such as geothermal, wind, and solar power.

Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.

Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (

CtrlP

) instead.