IELTS® Vocabulary Flashcard

The Antarctic is the area around the South Pole

The Arctic is the area of the world around the North Pole. It is extremely cold and there is very little light in winter and very little darkness in summer.

Definition: Relating to the atmosphere of the earth:

Example senences:

• Oceans are playing a very vital role in maintaining the atmospheric balance of the earth.

Definition: A natural electrical phenomenon characterized by the appearance of streamers of reddish or greenish light in the sky, especially near the northern or southern magnetic pole.

Example sentences:

• The Hubble Space Telescope has spotted auroras near the poles of both Saturn and Jupiter.

Definition: Of, relating to, or near a coast

Example sentences:

• The process of coastal erosion and deposition further down the coast has been going on for centuries.

A continent is a very large area of land, such as Africa or Asia, that consists of several countries.

Continental is used to refer to something that belongs to or relates to a continent. Here are example sentences:

• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.
• Tectonic plates are pieces of Earth's crust and uppermost mantle, together referred to as the lithosphere. Tectonic plates have two primary types: oceanic plates and continental plates. 

Definition: The angular distance of a point north or south of the celestial equator;The angular deviation of a compass needle from true north (because the magnetic north pole and the geographic north pole do not coincide).

Example senences:

• To calculate the distance we need to know the declination of the sun on a given day.
• The compass needle and a knowledge of magnetic declination, the angle between the magnetic north and geographic north, were developments from this knowledge; they were described by Shen Kua in 1088

Definition: An obscuring of the light from one celestial body by the passage of another between it and the observer or between it and its source of illumination

Example sentences:

• On average a total solar eclipse is visible from any location only once every few centuries.

Definition: Of, relating to, or having the form of an ellipse.

Example sentences:

• This surface is called an elliptic paraboloid because the vertical cross sections are all parabolas, while the horizontal cross sections are ellipses

Definition: form a circle around

Example sentences:

• The Southern Ocean encircles Antarctica and is home to a unique upwelling current that cycles carbon between the atmosphere and deep water.
• Soft lights encircle the room like a bright twilight horizon and diffuse across the ceiling so seamlessly that there appears to be nothing overhead.

An imaginary line is drawn around the middle of the earth an equal distance from the North Pole and the South Pole. An example in a sentence:

• Indonesia is/lies on the equator.

An estuary is the wide part of a river where it joins the sea

Definition: A circular pattern of currents in an ocean basin:

Example sentences:

• Zones of minimum upwelling and, therefore, productivity, occur in the central regions of the oceans known as the gyres.

A hemisphere is one half of the earth like the northern hemisphere or the southern hemisphere

A hemisphere is also one half of the brain. An example in a sentence:

• In most people, the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.

Humidity refers to the concentration of water vapor present in the air. It is an important factor in both weather forecasting and in determining human comfort levels. When the humidity is high, the air feels more oppressive and can make high temperatures feel even warmer. Conversely, low humidity can make the air feel cooler and more comfortable, but it can also dry out the skin and mucous membranes.

• The humidity today makes it feel much hotter than it actually is.

• High humidity can cause problems for people with respiratory issues.

• Many electronic devices are sensitive to humidity and must be stored in dry conditions. 

Inshore is an adjective, describing something is in the sea but close to the land. If something is inshore, it is in the sea but quite close to the land. If something moves inshore, it moves from the sea towards the land. An example in a sentence:

• In the Northeast, many adult fish reproduce out on the continental shelf, but their young develop to adulthood in inshore estuaries.

The Intertidal Zone is where the land meets the sea. It is the area between high tide and low tide.

Definition: The layer of the earth’s atmosphere which contains a high concentration of ions and free electrons and is able to reflect radio waves. It lies above the mesosphere and extends from about 80 to 1,000 km above the earth’s surface.

Example sentences:

• The ionosphere reflects neither FM radio nor broadcast television, itself a part of the radio spectrum.

The position north or south of the equator measured from 0° to 90°.

The phrase "at these latitudes" is often used. For example:

• At these latitudes, the sun does not rise at all on winter days.

Definition: he rigid outer part of the earth, consisting of the crust and upper mantle.

Example sentences:

• After new oceanic crust forms, the lithosphere cools and thickens as it moves away from the ocean ridge. An alternative to an active mantle thermal anomaly is greater stretching of the mantle lithosphere than the crust

The distance of a place east or west of an imaginary line between the North Pole and the SouthPole, measured in degrees.

There are two types of eclipse: solar eclipse and lunar eclipse. A solar eclipse happens when the Moon, on its journey around the Earth, happens to pass between the sun and the Earth for a moment. A solar eclipse can only happen during a phase of the lunar cycle where the Moon lies between the Earth

Definition: A seasonal prevailing wind in the region of South and South East Asia, blowing from the south-west between May and September and bringing rain (the wet monsoon), or from the north-east between October and April (the dry monsoon).

Example sentences:

• Besides, both north-east and south-west monsoons have a higher level of rainfall which may discourage farmers from applying more fertilisers.

Definition: Relating to the ocean

Example senences:

• The occurrence of major pulses of oceanic water has proved unpredictable, being non-existent during the 1980s. The two eastern forks of Long Island jut into oceanic waters, creating a mixing zone for currents and coastal and offshore migratory species.

Definition: (O3))A colourless unstable toxic gas with a pungent odour and powerful oxidizing properties

Example senences:

• The four usual agents of deterioration in the air apart from oxygen and water are sulphur dioxide, hydrogen sulphide, ozone and nitrogen dioxide

To precipitate is to cause (something solid) to become separated from a liquid especially by a chemical process. For example:

• When substances are precipitated by inorganic or organic processes the material is known as chemical sediment.

A precipitate action or decision happens or is made more quickly or suddenly than most people think is sensible. For example:

• I don't think we should make precipitate decisions.
• Many of our current problems have been caused by precipitate policy making in the past.

Precipitation is rain, snow, or hail. An example in a sentence:

• A tropical climate has warm temperatures throughout the year and a significant amount of precipitation.

Precipitation is also a process in a chemical reaction which causes solid particles to become separated from a liquid.  An example in a sentence:

• If you would add more sugar to a saturated sugar-water solution, sugar crystals would just gather at the bottom of the glass. This is the precipitation.

Definition: winds that blow predominantly from a single general direction over a particular point on the Earth's surface

Example sentences:

• Prevailing winds are winds that blow predominantly from a single general direction over a particular point on the Earth's surface.

Definition: A large natural or artificial lake used as a source of water supply

Example sentences:

• If more reservoirs or artificial lakes are needed, they should be built.

A savanna is a rolling grassland scattered with shrubs and isolated trees, which can be found between a tropical rainforest and desert biome. Not enough rain falls on a savanna to support forests. Savannas are also known as tropical grasslands. They are found in a wide band on either side of the equator on the edges of tropical rainforests.

Savannas have warm temperature year round. There are actually two very different seasons in a savanna; a very long dry season (winter), and a very wet season (summer).

There are two types of eclipse: solar eclipse and lunar eclipse. A solar eclipse happens when the Moon, on its journey around the Earth, happens to pass between the sun and the Earth for a moment. A solar eclipse can only happen during a phase of the lunar cycle where the Moon lies between the Earth

Definition: Either of the two times in the year, the summer solstice and the winter solstice, when the sun reaches its highest or lowest point in the sky at noon, marked by the longest and shortest days.

Example sentences:

• The minimum length of shadow during a day is less in summer than in winter and at the solstices it changes from lengthening to shortening or visa versa. Now that the solstice has passed, winter is officially upon us.

The stratosphere is the layer of the earth's atmosphere which lies between 10 and 50 kilometers above the earth.

The adjective "subterranean" describes something that is under the ground or below the surface of the earth. For example:

• A subterranean river or tunnel is under the ground.
• The Japanese Gardens' coral reef, situated in the western tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is considered one of the most beautiful reefs on earth, contains many fish which are indigenous to it, and exhibits a unique construction of the subterranean landscape.

The summer solstice is the longest day of the year. Solstices are opposite on either side of the equator, so the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa.

The noun terrain is used to refer to an area of land or a type of land when you are considering its physical features. For example:

• The terrain changed quickly from arable land to desert.
• Despite the fact that Japan as such has mountainous terrain and poor soils, the climatic conditions have made it possible to grow a variety of crops

Definition: Of, on, or relating to the earth

Example senences:

• Concerns about global climate change and predicted changes in terrestrial ecosystems highlight the need for the accurate quantification of productivity at all scales. Clearly we still have a ways to go before oceans and marine wildlife receive the same level of attention afforded to terrestrial ecosystems.

Tidal means relating to or produced by tides. 

Example sentences:

• The movement of water associated with tides can also result in the formation of tidal currents.
• The tidal stream or current gradually decreases in the shallows.
• The 20-minute boat ride through a maze of tidal rivers and marshes is wonderful.

Tundra comes from the Finnish word "tunturia", which means a barren land. The ground is permanently frozen 10 inches to 3 feet (25 to 100 cm) down so that trees can't grow there. The bare and sometimes rocky ground can only support low growing plants like mosses, heaths, and lichen. In the winter it is cold and dark and in the summer, when the snow and the top layer of permafrost melt.

Plants, trees, and flowers can be referred to as vegetation.

Definition: Land consisting of marshes or swamps; saturated land.

Example sentences:

• Dredging and drying a wetland can create more land for homes, businesses, or agriculture.

The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. Solstices are opposite on either side of the equator, so the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere is the winter solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, and vice versa.