GEOGRAPHY VOCABULARY

Abyss: a bottomless gulf or pit

He felt he was on the edge of an abyss

Altitude: elevation above sea level or above the earth’s surface

The pilots began shifting gears in order to gain altitude.

Archipelago: a group of many islands in a large body of water

The country of Indonesia is an archipelago as it is made up of many separate islands.

Cascade: a small waterfall or series of small waterfalls

The gardens feature a spectacular cascade

Cataclysm: a sudden violent change in the earth’s surface

The floods were a cataclysm from which the local people never recovered

Continental drift: the gradual movement of very large land masses

He used statistical methods to support the theory of continental drift

Evaporation: the process by which a liquid turns into a gas.

Our bodies can sweat, thereby losing heat by evaporation 

Geothermal: of or relating to the heat in the interior of the earth

There are basically three methods of recovering geothermal energy.

Islet: a small island

The film was shot on an islet near San Diego.

Peninsular: of a mass of land projecting into a body of water

They built their house on a narrow peninsula.

Subterranean: being or operating under the surface of the earth

There is still a vast reservoir of subterranean water inside the earth