Key Concepts in Geography, Environment, and Earth Science
Desertification
Desertification is the transformation of land used for crops or pastures into desert or near-desert lands. Desertification is moderate when lost productivity is between 10% and 25%. It is severe if the loss is between 25% and 50% and very severe if greater. The process of desertification is observed in many parts of the world and is a serious threat to the environment and agricultural performance in some areas.
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the Earth, the livelihoods
Read MoreSteel Materials: Properties, Treatments, and Applications
Steel materials result from processing iron-containing ores. The most commonly used ores are oxides, which undergo mechanical treatments to reduce their size and classify them. Physical processes like hydro-separation, flotation, and magnetic separation are employed to separate the ore from the gangue. The resulting ore is then agglomerated and fed into a blast furnace.
In the blast furnace, the ore is introduced along with a fluxing agent to lower the melting temperature of impurities. Coking coal
Read MoreNuclear Power Plants: Reactors, Operation, and Safety
Nuclear Power Plants
A thermoelectric central is a source of thermal energy obtained from the fission of uranium and plutonium atoms. The transformations of energy in a nuclear power plant are: nuclear energy (fuel) -> thermal energy (boiler) -> kinetic energy (steam) -> kinetic energy of rotation (turbine) -> power (alternator) -> use.
Nuclear Reactor
The Nuclear Reactor is the most important component of a nuclear power plant and constitutes its core. The reactor is a system that allows
Read MoreCardinal Points, Continents, Maps, Sun, Moon, and GIS
The Four Cardinal Points
- North
- South
- East
- West
The Continents
- North America
- South America
- Europe
- Africa
- Asia
- Antarctica
- Oceania
North
- True North: The geographic North Pole to which the Earth revolves.
- Grid North: North based on the design of a map.
- Magnetic North: The magnetic point of the North to which a compass points.
Maps
- Topographic Map: Shows the shape of the Earth’s surface using elevation contour lines. Thanks to these maps, we can know in detail the surface of a terrain.
- Thematic Map: Displays information,
Key Factors Shaping Spanish Industrial Activity
Raw Materials
Industry is the process of transforming raw materials into products suitable for consumption or for use in new industrial processes. The starting point of industrial activity is the raw material to be processed by applying energy in terms of available technology and facilities constructed for such an effect. Raw materials, natural resources used in processing, are varied. These, together with the source of energy, have been key to industrial location. However, these factors have changed
Read MoreEarth’s Landscapes: Formation, Factors, and Modeling
The landscape is characterized by a portion of space with a combination of physical, ecological, biological, and historical influences that come together to configure the appearance of that portion of space. We are looking for ways and forms of relief modeling. Relief modeling involves descriptive expressions and an analysis of the topography.
Factors Shaping the Landscape
The forms of relief (cliffs, dunes), the weather, density of human presence, and the type of vegetation and wildlife (desert,
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