GES 302X
1.
SPRING 2016
The two most prominent aspects of climate are:
(a) ____________________________
2.
STUDY GUIDE Chapter 3
(b) ____________________________
The temperatures associated with any given location in Latin America are a function primarily of the interactions of
three factors:
(a) ___________________________
(b) ___________________________
(c) ___________________________
3.
Why is altitude a more reliable predictor of temperature in much of Latin America?
4.
A general rule is that temperature decreases on the average ____(a)____ for every 1000 feet of increased elevation.
(a) ___________________________
5.
Explain the concept of altitudinal life zones.
6.
Most of Latin America, from sea level to 3,000 feet, is dominated by ____(a)____, or the hot lands.
(a) ___________________________
7.
The dominant crop in the hot lands, when measured in terms of acreage, is often ____(a)____
(a) ___________________________
8.
Identify some other crops common in tierra caliente.
9.
Another principal landuse of the tierra caliente is extensive ____(a)____, which is associated with ever increasing
infusions of Bos indicus (____(b)____) cattle.
(a) ____________________________
10.
The ____(a)____ of the tierra caliente tends to be concentrated in ____(b)____, which relay goods and people passing
between the interior ____(c)____ centers and the outside world.
(a) ___________________________
11.
(b) ____________________________
(b) ___________________________
(c) ___________________________
An altitudinal zone of year-round mild temperatures, lands of eternal spring, that extend to approximately 6000 feet.
(a) ___________________________
12.
The principal commercial crop of the tierra templada has been ____(a)____.
(a) ___________________________
1
GES 302X
13.
STUDY GUIDE Chapter 3
In terms of agriculture, the tierra templada is often a ____(a)____ zone, supporting ____(b)____, bananas, and other
____(c)____ crops in its lower reaches and _____(d)____ products along its ____(e)____ margins.
(a) _______________ (b) _______________ (c) _______________
14.
SPRING 2016
(d) _______________ (e) _______________
The ____(a)____, or cold lands, extends in many regions to 12,000 feet.
(a) ___________________________
15.
Only three of the following cities are found in a tierra fría zone. Which one does not belong?
a. Mexico City
b. Quito
c. Santiago
d. Bogotá
16.
Identify some crops common to the tierra fría zone.
17.
In the tierra fría zone, the most common cattle breed is the ____(a)____ (Bos taurus).
(a) ___________________________
18.
The highest altitudinal zone in Latin America.
(a) ___________________________
19.
What are some crops and animals that are common in this zone?
20.
The absolute upper limit of crop cultivation is typically ____(a)____ to ____(b)____ feet.
(a) ____________________________
(b) ____________________________
21.
What is a páramo?
22.
Although local ____(a)____ are most generally a function of ____(b)____, many of the broad regional temperature
patterns of Latin America are a reflection of the prevailing ____(c)____. These currents are far larger and deeper than
the rivers of the continents and are classified as either ____(d)____ or ____(e)____.
(a) _______________ (b) _______________ (c) _______________
23.
(d) _______________ (e) _______________
Cold currents move from ____(a)____ or ____(b)____ areas into the ____(c)____ zones. Conversely, warm currents
bring waters from ____(d)____ regions into areas whose seas would otherwise be colder.
(a) ____________________ (b) ____________________ (c) ____________________ (d) ___________________
24.
How do cold and warm currents affect the temperatures and humidity on adjacent land?
2
GES 302X
25.
SPRING 2016
These three cold currents influence Latin America:
(a) ___________________________
26.
STUDY GUIDE Chapter 3
(b) ___________________________
(c) ___________________________
The Falkland and Peru currents derive from the ____(a)____ off the coast of Antarctica.
(a) ___________________________
27.
Explain the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event.
28.
Identify the main warm currents that dominate the remaining coastal regions of Latin America.
29.
Seasonal ____(a)____ fluctuations tend to increase as one moves away from the ____(b)____.
30.
Where and when are the highest temperatures in Latin America encountered and why?
31.
What are the nortes?
32.
What are the pamperos?
33.
What are the friajes or friagem?
34.
The ____(a)____ restrict the poleward expansion of the cultivation of cold-sensitive crops, particularly ____(b)____ in
Mexico and ____(c)____ in Brazil.
(a) ___________________________
35.
(b) ___________________________
(c) ___________________________
As with temperature, ____(a)____ patterns in Latin America are primarily an expression of the interrelationship
between three physical controls. These controls are ____(b)____, shifting atmospheric ____(c)____ belts, and the
prevailing ____(d)____ and ____(e)____.
(a) _______________ (b) _______________ (c) _______________
(d) _______________ (e) _______________
3
GES 302X
STUDY GUIDE Chapter 3
SPRING 2016
36.
What is continentality and why is it important in Latin America?
37.
The key to understanding the major seasonal ____(a)____ patterns of Latin America is knowing the nature and
movement of the earth’s great atmospheric ____(b)____ belts. These are the product of both ____(c)____ and nonthermal, or dynamic, forces, and they extend east to ____(d)____ around the earth in huge cells or bands that average
some ____(e)____ degrees of latitudinal width.
(a) _______________ (b) _______________ (c) _______________
38.
(d) _______________ (e) _______________
Over the city of Paramaribo, Suriname, at approximately 6º N latitude, one would expect this atmospheric pressure belt.
(a) ___________________________
39.
Explain why the answer to item 38 makes sense.
40.
Over the city of Havana, Cuba, at approximately 23º N latitude, one would expect this atmospheric pressure belt.
(a) ___________________________
41.
Explain why the answer to item 40 makes sense.
42.
Over Tierra del Fuego, at approximately 54º latitude, one would expect this atmospheric pressure belt.
(a) ___________________________
43.
Explain why the answer to item 41 makes sense.
44.
What atmospheric pressure belt can be found in the Antarctica and why?
45.
The simplest way to understand the relationship between atmospheric ____(a)____ and precipitation is to remember that
____(b)____ pressure is almost always associated with dry, or ____(c)____, atmospheric conditions. Conversely,
____(d)____ atmospheric pressure is generally associated with ____(e)____ atmospheric conditions.
(a) _______________ (b) _______________ (c) _______________
46.
(d) _______________ (e) _______________
Both the ____(a)____ and the ____(b)____ pressure belts are associated with ____(c)____ atmospheric conditions,
while the ____(d)____ and polar high pressure cells produce ____(e)____ conditions.
(a) _______________ (b) _______________ (c) _______________
(d) _______________ (e) _______________
4
GES 302X
47.
STUDY GUIDE Chapter 3
SPRING 2016
It is the north-south ____(a)____ or shifting of these belts, in response to the annual migration of the direct ____(b)____
of the sun, that most accounts for the ____(c)____ of ____(d)____ in Latin America.
(a) ____________________ (b) ____________________ (c) ____________________ (d) ___________________
48.
Evaluate the statement: “The equatorial regions of South America are rainy mostly in the summer.”
49.
When is the rainy season in Cancún, Mexico? Explain.
50.
When is the rainy season in Santa Cruz, Bolivia? Explain.
51.
Explain how the terms verano, invierno and veranillo get used by many Latin Americans and why.
52.
What seasonal precipitation patterns would one reasonably expect to find around Hermosillo, Mexico and Santiago,
Chile in July? Why?
53.
What would precipitation patterns be like around Punta Arenas, Chile? Why?
54.
What is orographic precipitation?
55.
TRUE
FALSE
Dominant winds in Latin America are driven by pressure differences between neighboring regions.
5
GES 302X
STUDY GUIDE Chapter 3
FALSE
SPRING 2016
56.
TRUE
Air moves from areas of low pressure to areas of high pressure.
57.
The ____(a)____ the difference in atmospheric air pressure, or pressure ____(b)____, the ____(c)____ the winds.
(a) ___________________________
(b) ___________________________
(c) ___________________________
58.
Theoretically, if earth were not rotating on its axis, how would Latin American wind patterns be different? Why?
59.
What are the westerlies?
60.
What are the trade winds?
61.
What is the ICZ or doldrums?
62.
In the Caribbean, when the warm, moisture-laden ____(a)____ winds flow along a northeast-to-southwest path,
torrential downpours occur on the ____(b)____, northeastern slopes of the mountainous cores of the islands. As the
former rain-bearing winds descend the ____(c)____ side of the interior highlands, their temperatures rise, resulting in a
drying of the air mass and the formation of ____(d)____ deserts on the ____(e)____ portions of the islands.
(a) _______________ (b) _______________ (c) _______________
63.
This same pattern prevails on the island of the ____(a)____ Antilles, with the exception of those belonging to the low,
drought-stricken outer volcanic arc whose more ____(b)____ relief and ____(c)____ surfaces conspire both to minimize
____(d)____ and to reduce the presence of ____(e)____ streams and lakes.
(a) _______________ (b) _______________ (c) _______________
64.
(d) _______________ (e) _______________
(d) _______________ (e) _______________
The identical pattern of ____(a)____, lushly vegetated, ____(b)____ regions abutting dry, desertlike, ____(c)____ zones
occurs throughout the Latin American ____(d)____.
(a) ____________________ (b) ____________________ (c) ____________________ (d) ___________________
65.
Where are the two most intense orographic rainfall zones in all Latin America? Why are they where they are?
6
GES 302X
STUDY GUIDE Chapter 3
SPRING 2016
66.
What is a chubasco?
67.
What are the necessary conditions for a hurricane to develop?
68.
What are the three categories of tropical cyclones according to the WMO?
69.
It’s a lovely day on the beach in the Dominican Republic, when you notice bands of high cirrus clouds approaching.
Why is this most likely happening and what should you expect to happen next?
70.
____(a)____ historically have ranked with ____(b)____ and ____(c)____ eruptions as the greatest ____(d)____
disasters of the greater Caribbean Basin.
(a) ____________________ (b) ____________________ (c) ____________________ (d) ___________________
71.
What is one positive consequence of hurricanes?
 Altitudinal life zones
 doldrums
 El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
 equatorial low
 huricanes
KEY TERM
 Intertropical Convergence Zone
 latitude
 northeast trades
 ocean currents
 orographic effect
 polar highs
 southeast trades
 subpolar low
 subtropical highs
 westerlies
KEY QUESTIONS
1.
In Jamaica, average rainfall declines from 348 cm at Port Antonio, on the northeast coast, to 81 cm in Kingston, on the
southern plain just a few kilometers away. Explain this phenomenon.
2.
What can we learn about hurricanes and their effects from studying the 2008 Caribbean hurricane season?
7