NCERT Class 11 Geography Appendix Glossary

GLOSSARY

Alluvial Plain : A level tract of land made up of alluvium or fine rock material brought down by a river.

Archipelago : A group of islands that lie in fairly close proximity.

Arid : Denoting any climate or region in which the rainfall is insufficient or barely sufficient to support vegetation.

Backwater : A stretch of water that has become bypassed by the main flow of a stream, although still joined to it. It has a very low rate of flow.

Bedrock : The solid rock lying beneath soil and weathered material.

Biosphere Reserve : These are multi-purpose protected areas, where every plant and animal size is to be protected in its natural habitat. Its major objectives are :

   (i) to conserve and maintain diversity and integrity of the natural heritage in its full form, i.e. physical environment, the flora and the fauna;

   (ii) to promote research on ecological conservation and other aspects of environment at preservation;

   (iii) to provide facilities for education, awareness and explaining.

Bunding : The practice of constructing embankments of earth or stone for conserving water and soil to increase crop production.

Calcareous : Composed of or containing a high proportion of calcium carbonate.

Catchment Area : The area drained by a major river and its tributaries.

Climate : The average weather conditions of a sizeable area of the earth’s surface over a period of time (usually spread over a span of at least 30 years).

Coast : The boundary between land and sea. It includes the strip of land that borders the sea shore.

Coastal Plain : It is a flat low lying land between the coast and higher ground inland.

Conservation : The protection of natural environment and natural resources for the future. It includes the management of minerals, landscape, soil and forests to prevent their destruction and over exploitation.

Coral : It is a small calcium secreting marine polyp that occurs in colonies, mainly in warm shallow sea water. It forms the coral reefs. 

Depression : In meteorology; it denotes an area of relatively low atmospheric pressure, which is found mainly in temperate regions. It is also used as synonym for temperate cyclones.

Estuary : The tidal mouth of a river where fresh and saline water get mixed.

Fauna : The animal life of a given area or time.

Fold : A bend in rock strata resulting from compression of an area of the earth’s crust.

Glacier : A mass of snow and ice that moves slowly away from its place of accumulation carving gradually a broad and steepsided valley on its way.

Gneiss : A coarse grained metamorphic rock with a banded structure. It is formed by the large scale application of heat and pressure associated with mountain building and volcanic activity.

Gorge : A deep valley with steep and rocky side walls.

Gully Erosion : It is the erosion of the soil and rock by the concentration of runoff into gullies.

Humus : The dead organic content of the soil.

Island : A mass of land that is surrounded by water and is smaller than a continent.

Jet Stream : A very strong and steady westerly wind blowing just below the tropopause.

Lake : A body of water that lives in a hollow in the earth’s surface and is entirely surrounded by land.

Landslide : A form of mass movement in which rock and debris moves rapidly

Rapids : A stretch of swift flowing water where a river bed suddenly becomes steeper due to the presence of hard rocks.

Reserved Forest : An area notified under the provisions of Indian Forest Act or the State Forest Acts having full degree of protection. In Reserved Forests, all activities are prohibited unless permitted.

Sanctuary : A sanctuary is an area, which is reserved for the conservation of animals only and operations such as harvesting of timber, collection of minor forest products are allowed so long as they do not affect the animals adversely.

Soil Profile : It is the vertical section of soil from the ground surface to the parent rock.

Subcontinent : A big geographical unit which stands out distinctly from the rest of the continent.

Terai : A belt of marshy ground and vegetation on the lower parts of the alluvial fans.

Tectonic : Forces originating within the earth and responsible for bringing widespread changes in the landform features.

Unclassed Forest : An area recorded as forest but not included in reserved or protected forest category. Ownership status of such forests varies from state to state.

Please refer to attached file for NCERT Class 11 Geography Appendix Glossary