NZ Scholarship Geography flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Choropleth map

A thematic map in which administrative areas are shaded in proportion to a standardised value such as a rate per 100 000 people, so that shading reflects the phenomenon rather than population size.

Distance decay

The decline in interaction between two places as the distance between them increases. It is commonly graphed as a decay curve and underpins the gravity model of spatial interaction.

Pattern versus process

Pattern is the observable spatial arrangement of a phenomenon, such as clustered, dispersed or linear. Process is the mechanism, such as migration or erosion, that generates that arrangement.

Standard deviation

A measure of dispersion showing the average spread of values around the mean. Two distributions can share the same mean yet differ greatly in standard deviation.

Gravity model

A model predicting that interaction between two centres is proportional to the product of their populations and inversely proportional to the square of the distance separating them.

Large-scale map

A map with a small representative fraction, such as 1:50 000, covering a small area in high detail. At this scale one centimetre represents five hundred metres on the ground.

Sustainability concept

Meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. Geographers apply it through the interaction of environmental, social, economic and political dimensions.

Stratified sampling

A sampling method in which the study area or population is divided into sub-groups or strata, and samples are drawn from each, improving representativeness across the whole.

Correlation coefficient

A statistic between minus one and plus one summarising the strength and direction of a linear relationship. A high coefficient does not establish a causal link between the variables.

Perspectives concept

The concept that people experience and value the same environment differently according to culture, identity, livelihood and power, producing contested decisions about resources and places.

Alpine Fault

A right-lateral strike-slip transform fault marking the Australian and Pacific plate boundary through the South Island, and the source of large shallow earthquakes.

Hikurangi subduction margin

The zone east of the North Island where the Pacific Plate dives westward beneath the Australian Plate, feeding the Taupō Volcanic Zone and creating tsunami risk.

Orographic rainfall

Moist air forced to rise over a mountain range cools and condenses, releasing heavy rain on windward slopes and leaving leeward areas in a drier rain shadow.

Braided river

A river with multiple shifting channels separated by gravel bars, formed where sediment supply is high, flow is highly variable and banks are easily eroded.

Longshore drift

The zigzag movement of sediment along a coast by swash and backwash angled to the shoreline, driven by the direction of the dominant incoming swell.

Wave refraction

The bending of wave crests as they slow in shallow water, concentrating energy on headlands and spreading it across bays, so headlands erode faster than bays.

Glacier mass balance

The difference between accumulation from snowfall and ablation from melting and calving. A negative balance means the glacier loses ice and its terminus retreats.

Equilibrium line altitude

The elevation on a glacier where annual accumulation equals annual ablation. A rise in this altitude indicates a warming-driven negative mass balance and retreat.

El Niño

An ENSO phase in which weakened trade winds warm the eastern tropical Pacific, shifting global pressure patterns and typically strengthening southwesterly flow over New Zealand.

Andisols

Fertile soils formed from volcanic ash, widespread in the North Island, with high phosphate retention and good structure but high susceptibility to erosion when cleared.

Karst landscape

Terrain developed on soluble limestone, featuring sinkholes, caves, disappearing streams and fluted rock, as at Waitomo in the North Island.

Demographic transition model

A staged model linking falling birth and death rates to development. New Zealand sits in late stage four with sub-replacement fertility and an ageing population.

Kaitiakitanga

The Māori concept of guardianship, imposing obligations on people to protect and sustain the mauri, or life force, of land, water and resources for future generations.

Gentrification

The in-migration of wealthier residents into a low-income inner-city area, raising rents and property values and displacing many of the existing occupants.

Central place theory

Christaller's model in which settlements supply goods to surrounding areas. Low-order goods have small thresholds and short ranges, high-order goods require larger populations and travel further.

Counter-urbanisation

The movement of people from cities to rural areas and small towns, driven by housing costs, lifestyle preference, remote working and retirement migration.

Tourism Satellite Account

A statistical framework measuring the direct contribution of tourism to GDP. It excludes indirect and induced effects, so it understates the sector's full economic role.

Te Ture Whenua Māori Act

The 1993 statute governing Māori freehold land, prioritising retention of land in Māori ownership and providing governance structures such as ahuwhenua trusts and incorporations.

Remittances

Money sent by migrants to family in their home country. For Pacific states such as Tonga and Samoa they can exceed aid flows and export earnings combined.

Trans-Tasman migration

The largely unrestricted movement of New Zealand and Australian citizens across the Tasman Sea, with New Zealand consistently recording net losses to Australia.

Residential red zone

Land in Christchurch retired from residential use after the 2010–2011 earthquakes because of unacceptable risk from flooding, liquefaction and ground damage.

Multiple nuclei model

Harris and Ullman's urban model in which a city develops around several independent centres rather than a single CBD, reflecting transport nodes and specialised land uses.