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Rainshadow the area on the
leeward side of
a mountain range which experiences drier conditions
than the
windward side. This is due to the
air being drier as it has experienced
condensation and
precipitation on the
windward side, plus the fact that the air will be
sinking and therefore warming meaning
relative
humidity is falling and condensation cannot
occur.
Rainsplash soil
erosion caused by the force
of impact of raindrops.
Raised beach a relict beach left dry by a relative
fall in sea-level.
Ranching vast, extensive livestock farms, usually
found in remote, marginal areas which are not viable
for other types of farming.
Range in human geography, the maximum distance
that people are willing to travel to obtain a good
or service. Accuracy is limited by multiple local
factors plus the subjective nature of the idea, but
generalizations can be drawn.
Rank-size rule the size of a settlement is
inversely proportional to its rank i.e. the second
largest city is half the size of the largest etc. If
the largest city is much larger than all others,
primacy exists. If two cities are broadly similar
and larger than all others then it is said to be a
binary situation.
Rationalization the reorganization of a company to
increase efficiency, usually by cutting costs
especially labour costs.
Ravine deep, steep-sided valley, gorge or cleft
cut into a rocky landscape.
Raw
materials unprocessed inputs to an industrial
process.
Reclaimed land artificial land created in coastal
areas.
Recreation any activity people do during their
leisure time. Some definitions require it to be
activities away from home but that take up less than
a day, after which they become tourist activities.
Recreational forest forests maintained for
recreation activities such as bird-watching,
cycling, horse-riding, camping etc.
Recycling the re-use of materials that would
otherwise be deemed rubbish.
Redevelopment the regeneration of urban areas that
have fallen into poverty and disrepair. May involve
renewal of existing infrastructure, or wholesale
demolition and rebuilding.
Reduction a chemical reaction involving the
removal of oxygen.
Refraction the tendency for waves to become more
parallel to the coastline as they approach it.
Caused by the slowing of waves at their base as they
enter shallower water.
Refugee a person who flees their home country
through a fear of persecution on the grounds of race
or religion, or membership of some other group.
Regelation the refreezing of water into ice after
pressure which caused it to melt is released.
Regeneration - see
redevelopment.
Region an area defined from its surroundings by
common characteristics of physical landscape,
economy or function.
Regolith rock material that has been weathered
from the original
bedrock.
Rejuvenation the increased
erosional
activity of a river brought about by a relative fall
in sea-level which means the river must flow further
and at increased gradient thus giving it more
energy.
Relative humidity ratio of water vapour in the air
compared to the maximum possible at that temperature
and pressure, expressed as a percentage.
Relief the shape of the land particularly as it
pertains to
elevation.
Remembrement the consolidation of fragmented land
parcels, split by inheritance practices over many
years, back into larger units.
Remote-sensing the study of the surface from data
gathered at high altitude by photography and other
technology carried on aircraft and satellites.
Rendzina a thin soil developed on limestone or
chalk bedrock.
Renewable resources flows or living things which
are either never-ending or grow quickly enough that
their use does not lead to exhaustion.
Replacement rate the
fertility rate
required to maintain a population at its current
size. It is 2.1 children per woman to allow both
mother and father to be replaced.
Residential area an area where the dominant
land-use is for homes.
Residential type the housing tenure of an area:
owner-occupied, rented privately, or rented from the
government.
Resource anything that we use for survival in the
first place and wealth generation in the second. May
be natural, economic or human.
Resource management the control of resources so
that they do not become depleted or exhausted.
Resurgence the reappearance of a river at the
surface after it has spent some time running
underground. Common on limestone areas where the
limestone is underlain by an impermeable rock.
Retailing sale of goods and services to the
public.
Retail park an out-of-town centre which allows
several stores to operate around some shared
resources such as car park and restaurants.
Ria
the flooded lower valley of a river caused by a
relative rise in sea-level to form a small inlet.
Ribbon lake long, narrow, shallow lake formed in
the bottom of a
glacial trough due to a
segment of over-deepening and/or blocking by
deposits such as
terminal moraine.
Richter scale a measure of the total amount of
energy released during an
earthquake. Runs
from 1 to 10 on a logarithmic scale i.e. each level
is ten times stronger than the one below.
Riffle a bar-shaped deposit on a channel bed,
midstream.
Rift valley a valley created by the subsidence of
land between two parallel faults undergoing tensile
forces which pull them apart.
Rilling a series of small channels which form on a
slope after heavy rainfall. Each channel may only be
a couple of metres wide and half a metre deep, but
they can develop into
gullies if rainfall
events are particularly frequent. Slopes are often
put at danger after ploughing.
Rime very heavy frost created when fog touches
surfaces which are below 0˚C
River an overland flow of water which forms a
vital link in the hydrological cycle.
River capacity the maximum amount of load a river
can carry.
River capture when the headwaters of one river are
able to generate headward erosion and then break
into another river channel and divert the flow into
the new channel.
River cliff steep slope on the outer bend of a
river where erosion allows for undercutting.
River profile see
long profile.
River regime the variation in
discharge
over a year.
River terrace remnants of previous
floodplains
left higher than the existing river channel by
increased erosion due to
rejuvenation.
Roche moutonιe lit. sheep-like rock. Where a more
resistant rock is passed over by a glacier the rock
around it is removed more quickly leaving it
protruding from the valley floor. The upglacier side
is smoothed by
abrasion and covered by
striations. The downglacier side is rough due to
plucking.
Rossby waves the wave-pattern of flow of the
westerly winds which blow in the upper atmosphere.
Thought to be the result of diversion of air flow
around the Rockies and Andes, they change in both
number and amplitude throughout the year. Have a
crucial impact on pressure systems in the
troposphere and thus on mid-latitude climate.
Rostow model of growth after W.W. Rostow who
identified five stages of development in a national
economy:
-
traditional society mainly agricultural with
limited, low-tech industry
-
pre-conditions for take-off capital investment
in one or two industries along with investment in
agriculture to free up labour.
-
takeoff rapid growth in manufacturing, decline
in agricultural employment. Development of
infrastructure.
-
drive to maturity self-sustained economic growth
and prolonged urbanization.
-
age of mass-consumption expansion of service
industry and decline in manufacturing.
Rotational movement slip or slide over a curved
path.
Run-off all water leaving a
drainage basin.
Rural lit. of the countryside.
Rural depopulation the net movement of people to
urban areas.
Rural settlement small settlements such as
hamlets and
villages, up to
market
towns which are tied to the countryside by
function. The distinction between rural and
urban is increasingly unclear as people increasingly
move away from urban areas and into rural
settlements.
Rural-urban migration the movement of people from
rural areas to
urban areas.
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