Earth Science: Key Concepts and Definitions

Posted on Feb 14, 2025 in Geology

Key Concepts in Geology and Climatology

In geology, a fault is a discontinuity that forms in the rock fracture surface of the Earth (about 200 km depth) where tectonic forces exceed the resistance of the rocks. The rupture zone is an area, generally a well-defined fault plane, and its formation is accompanied by a landslide of rocks tangential to this plane.

An area of low pressure, or a storm, is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than the surrounding air. Tropical storms, extratropical cyclones, and polar and arctic cyclones are called low-pressure cells, especially in Anglo-speaking communities.

Sustainable Development

The term sustainable development, or implementing sustainable socio-economic development, was first formalized in the document known as the Brundtland Report (1987), the result of the work of the World Commission on Environment and Development of the United Nations, established at the United Nations Assembly in 1983. This definition would be included in Principle 3 of the Rio Declaration (1992).

Continental Climate

Continental climate is known as a harsh climate where the temperature differences between winter and summer are great. Likewise, day and night temperatures vary greatly, with hot summers and cold winters. There’s always freezing in winter (temperatures below 0°C) and generally low rainfall. These features are produced by locations in the interior of continents or in regions isolated by mountain ranges, which prevents maritime influence.

Mediterranean Climate and Forests

The forest or Mediterranean scrub biome is one that develops in regions with a Mediterranean climate, characterized by mild winters, dry summers, and autumns and springs with abundant rainfall, and frequent forest fires to which the vegetation is adapted. It is present primarily in the endorheic areas around the Mediterranean Sea, but there are similar plant communities in the four other Mediterranean climate regions of the world (California chaparral, Chilean matorral, South African fynbos, and western and southern Australia) located on the western front of continents, about 30° and 40° latitude. The dominant soil is red and brown Mediterranean, and terra rossa.

Weather Fronts

Fronts are surfaces separating two air masses of different characteristics. Therefore, on both sides of a front, there is a sudden change of air properties. The most important front for Spain is the polar front that separates tropical and polar air masses, since it falls on the peninsula throughout the Northwest (Galicia). Its ripples are storms on two fronts, causing precipitation. The polar front is the collision of warm air from the subtropical anticyclones with cold air from the polar anticyclone, driven by westerly winds from polar winds from the east. In summer, the polar front moves northward and southward in winter. It consists of a succession of fronts in chains.