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GCSE Geography > 4) The UK's Evolving Physical Landscape > Flashcards

4) The UK's Evolving Physical Landscape Flashcards

1
Q

What is the longest river in the UK?

A

The longest river in the UK is the River Severn (354km)

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2
Q

Where are the upland areas of the UK?

A

Scotland
Lake District
Pennines

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3
Q

What are UK upland areas used for?

A

Sheep Farming
Tourism
Paper-making

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4
Q

Where are the lowland areas of the UK?

A

The lowland areas are the south and east of the UK- Norwhich and East Anglia

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5
Q

What are the UK lowland areas used for?

A

Farming as the soil is very soft and fertile

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6
Q

What is the largest city in the UK?

A

London (9.3 million)

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7
Q

Where are large cities often located?

A

Near water sources

Lowland areas

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8
Q

What are the UK’s 3 main rock types?

A

Igneous
Sedimentary
Metamorphic

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9
Q

How do igneous rocks form?

A

Igneous rocks form when magma from the Earth’s mantle cools and hardens

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10
Q

Where are igneous rocks located in the UK?

A

Highland areas

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11
Q

How do sedimentary rocks form?

A

Sedimentary rocks form when layers of sediment are compacted together

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12
Q

What are the 3 main types of sedimentary rock in the UK?

A

Carboniferous Limestone
Chalk
Clay

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13
Q

How do metamorphic rocks form?

A

Metamorphic rocks form when heat and pressure causes rocks to become harder and more compact

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14
Q

Where are metamorphic rocks located in the UK?

A

Mountainous Regions

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15
Q

Where are sedimentary rocks located in the UK?

A

Near sources of water

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16
Q

When was the UK in the tropics?

A

300 million years ago

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17
Q

What did the UK being in the tropics cause?

A

Carboniferous limestone formed in the warm and shallow seas as sea levels were higher

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18
Q

When did active volcanoes erupt onto the UK?

A

500 million years ago

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19
Q

What formed the Scottish Highlands and Lake District’s mountain ranges?

A

Plate collisions generating hard metamorphic rocks

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20
Q

What are characteristics of slate and schist?

A

Hard and resistant

Easily split

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21
Q

What are the characteristics of granite?

A

Very hard and resistant
Lots of unevenly spread joints
Impermeable

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22
Q

What are the characteristics of chalk and clay?

A

Soft
Chalk- permeable
Clay- impermeable

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23
Q

What are characteristics of carboniferous limestone?

A

Heavily affected by carbonation weathering
Permeable

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24
Q

What is erosion?

A

The wearing down of rocks as a result of being picked up and moved elsewhere

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25
Q

What are some slope processes?

A

Mass movement

Soil creep

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26
Q

What is weathering?

A

The breakdown of rocks where they are

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27
Q

What is meant by climatological processes?

A

The climate effects how physical processes happen and interact e.g. freeze-thaw weathering at below 0 C

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28
Q

What are the physical landscape processes?

A 
Weathering
Erosion
Post-glacial processes
Slope processes
Climatological processes
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29
Q

What are human landscape processes?

A

Agriculture
Forestry
Settlement

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30
Q

How has agriculture affected the UK’s landscape?

A

Forests cleared for space
Walls installed for field boundaries
Drainage ditches installed

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31
Q

How has forestry affected the UK’s landscape?

A

Deciduous woodland replaced by coniferous forests for timber

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32
Q

What biome did the UK use to mainly be?

A

Deciduous woodland

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33
Q

How has settlement affected the UK’s landscape?

A

Good water supplies, shelter, bridging points have been built
Drainage patterns have been affected by concrete
Some rivers diverted

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34
Q

What are the types of weathering?

A

Chemical
Mechanical
Biological

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35
Q

What is biological weathering?

A

Living organisms breaking down rocks

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36
Q

What is mechanical weathering?

A

Freeze-thaw weathering

Physical erosion with the chemical composition of rock staying the same

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37
Q

What is chemical weathering?

A

When the chemical composition of the rock changes due to external factors

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38
Q

What are examples of chemical weathering?

A

Acid rain

Carbonic dioxide

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39
Q

What is mass movement?

A

Large movements of soil and rock down a slope or hill

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40
Q

What are examples of mass movement?

A

Rockfalls
Slumps
Slides

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41
Q

What are rockfalls?

A

When the cliff materials break and crumble down the cliff

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42
Q

What are slumps?

A

When material moves down a slope at a curve

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43
Q

What are slides?

A

When material moves down a slope in a straight line

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44
Q

What causes mass movements?

A

Weathering
Erosion
Gravity

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45
Q

What are the 2 types of wave?

A

Constructive

Destructive

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46
Q

What are constructive waves?

A

Short waves which deposit material onto coastlines

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47
Q

Describe constructive wave’s swash and backwash?

A

Strong swash

Weak backwash

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48
Q

Describe constructive wave’s frequency?

A

Low (7-10) per minute

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49
Q

What are destructive waves?

A

Taller waves which cause erosion on coastlines

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50
Q

Describe destructive wave’s swash and backwash?

A

Weak swash

Strong backwash

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51
Q

Describe destructive wave’s frequency?

A

High (10-15) per minute

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52
Q

What is deposition?

A

Depositing solid material from water onto land

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53
Q

What types of erosion do destructive wave cause?

A

Hydraulic power
Abrasion
Attrition

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54
Q

What is hydraulic power?

A

The force of a wave hitting a rock

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55
Q

What is abrasion?

A

When material and rock carried by water damages the coastal rock

56
Q

What is attrition?

A

The bedload colliding with itself

57
Q

Where do headlands and bays form?

A

When areas have alternating areas of hard and soft rock adjacent to the sea
Discordant coastlines

58
Q

What is is a rock with lots of crack and joints called?

59
Q

Do hard or soft rocks erode quicker?

A

Soft rocks

60
Q

What are condorant coastlines?

A

Alternating layers of hard and soft rock parallel to the sea

Sea’s waves hit only 1 rock type when they meet the coast

61
Q

What are discordant coastlines?

A

Alternating chunks of hard and soft rocks adjacent (90 degrees) to the sea
Sea’s waves hit both rock types when they meet the coast

62
Q

Where are bays usually created?

A

Where the sea meets areas of soft rock

Discordant coastlines

63
Q

Where are headlands usually created?

A

Where the sea meets areas of hard rock

Discordant coastlines

64
Q

What factors affect shaping coastal landscapes?

A

Seasonality
Prevailing winds and wind speed
Storm frequency
Rainfall

65
Q

What causes lots of destructive waves?

A

Strong prevailing winds

66
Q

How does rainfall affect soil?

A

Soil is more saturated
Mass movements more likely
Chemical weathering more likely

67
Q

What is freeze-thaw weathering?

A

Water fills cracks, freezes, expands putting pressure on the rock. Water melts but leaves pressure on the rock

68
Q

What is a wave cut platform?

A

A flat, gently sloping ledge of rock that extends out into the sea from the base of a cliff

69
Q

How is a wave-cut platform formed?

A

1) Destructive waves erode base of cliff to form a wave-cut notch
2) Continued erosion causes rock above wave-cut notch to be less stable until it collapses
3) Waves wash away debris, process repeats

70
Q

What is a headland?

A

Hard rocking sticking into the sea

71
Q

What can eroded headlands create?

A

Caves
Arches
Stacks

72
Q

How do caves form?

A

Cracks widen and become large enough to create a cave

73
Q

How do arches form?

A

Caves can be eroded from one side through to the other

74
Q

How do stacks form?

A

The top of an arch collapses due to gravity

Column called a stack left behind

75
Q

What process transports material along coastlines?

A

Longshore drift

76
Q

What are the stages of longshore drift?

A

1) Wind approaches the coast at an angle due to prevailing wind direction
2) Waves are controlled by wind and this angle will be the direction swash moves up the beach
3) Gravity is the only force acting on backwash so it falls back into the sea at right angles to the coastline
4) This causes sediment to repeatedly move in the shape of a right angle triangle across the beach

77
Q

How do coasts grow in size?

A

More sediment is deposited then lost by erosion

78
Q

How are sandy beaches created?

A

Sand is deposited on the shoreline

79
Q

What are characteristics of sandy beaches?

A

Very long

Flat

80
Q

How are shingle beaches created?

A

Pebbles and shingle are deposited on the coast

81
Q

What are characteristics of shingle beaches?

A

Short

Steep

82
Q

What increases the amount of deposition?

A

Lots of rock from erosion

More sediment in the ocean

83
Q

What is the high water mark?

A

The point highest up the beach that the sea level rises to

84
Q

What is the low water mark?

A

The point lowest down the beach the sea level falls to

85
Q

When does deposition happen on beaches?

A

When constructive waves break on the shore

86
Q

What can deposition create?

A

Beaches
Bars
Spits
Sand dunes

87
Q

What are spits?

A

Piles of sand that create sheltered zones on the coast

Long fingers of sand sticking out from the coastline

88
Q

What often forms in a spit’s sheltered zone?

89
Q

When are bars created?

A

When a spit grows across a bay

90
Q

What is often created behind bars?

A

Lagoons (saltwater pools separated from the ocean)

91
Q

What are sand dunes?

A

Hills of sand created at the back of a beach

92
Q

What are older sand dunes called?

A

Mature dunes

93
Q

What are newer sand dunes called?

A

Embryo dunes

94
Q

How are sand dunes created?

A

Wind blows deposited sand up the beach, objects like wood can block the wind leading to hills of sand

95
Q

What are direct effects?

A

Immediate consequences of human’s behaviour

96
Q

What are indirect effects?

A

Knock-on effects of primary effects

97
Q

What are exmaples of effects of human activity on coasts?

A

Development
Agriculture
Industry
Coastal Management

98
Q

How has development effected coasts?

A

Towns are protected by sea walls, groynes etc

This can shift the impact of erosion down the coast

99
Q

How have coasts affected agriculture?

A

Farmland can be lost as coastal erosion destroys land

100
Q

How has the coast effected industry location?

A

Most industries do not located near the coast

Incase of natural disaster

101
Q

What are examples of coastal defenses?

A

Sea walls
Rock armour
Gabions
Groynes

102
Q

What do coastal defences aim to reduce?

A

Erosion

Weathering

103
Q

What type of effect are coastal defences an example of?

A

Direct effect

104
Q

Where is most ice stored?

A

The Artic

The Antartic

105
Q

What is causing sea levels to rise?

A

Climate change

Melting ice

106
Q

What could higher sea levels lead to?

A

Coastal flooding

107
Q

What do higher sea surface temperatures lead to?

A

More frequent cyclones

More severe cyclones

108
Q

What wave type is becoming more common?

A

Destructive waves

109
Q

What are the environmental threats of coastal flooding?

A

Salt is bad for soil fertility and living organisms

Flooding can kill animals in nature reserves

110
Q

What are coastal flooding threats to people?

A

Homes and businesses can be destroyed
Infrastructure and tourism destroyed
Death, injury

111
Q

What is meant by hard engineering?

A

Using man-made constructions to protect the coastline

112
Q

What are examples of hard engineering?

A

Sea Walls
Rock armour
Gabions
Groynes

113
Q

What are sea walls?

A

Walls that block waves
Shape can be desgined to reflect waves
Expensive

114
Q

What is rock amour?

A

Piles of rocks or bolders
Absorb pressure and energy from waves
Cheap

115
Q

What are gabions?

A

Wire cages full of boulders and rocks

Absorb pressure and energy from waves

116
Q

What happens to gabions over time?

A

Metal wire corrodes

117
Q

What are groynes?

A

Fences that stick out 90 degress to the coast

Cheap

118
Q

What process do groynes stop?

A

Longshore drift

Creates wide beaches

119
Q

What is meant by soft engineering?

A

Artificially using the sea, physical and natural processes to protect the coastline

120
Q

What are examples of soft engineering?

A

Beach nourishment
Dune regenration
Beach profling

121
Q

What is beach nourishment?

A

Adding more sand to a beach

122
Q

What is dune regeneration?

A

Improving and maintaing sand dunes
Planting plants helps dunes resist wind and absorb wave energy
Expensive

123
Q

What is beach profiling?

A

Changing the make-up of sediment and sand on a beach

Making beaches wider slows waves and reduces wave energy

124
Q

What is a negative of beach profiling?

A

Moving sand and shingle can damage wildlife living amongst it

125
Q

What is managed retreat?

A

Accepting defeat

Allowing land to be flooded to protect land behind it

126
Q

What are disadvantages of managed retreat?

A

Land is lost to sea

Homes and land lost

127
Q

What are advantages of managed retreat?

A

Protects land behind swamps
Costs no money
No maintenance needed
Swamps are biodiverse

128
Q

What can managed retreat also be called?

A

Coastal realignment

129
Q

What does ICZM stand for?

A

Integrated Coastal Zone Management

130
Q

What does intergrated coastal zone management look at?

A

Citizens’ and businesses’ long term needs

Balancing soft and hard engineering with coastal realignment

131
Q

What does coastal realignment involve?

A

Prioritising certain areas of land to protect against floods and erosion

132
Q

What is most likely to be protected by coastal realignment?

133
Q

What is the river case study?

134
Q

What are scree slopes?

A

Piles of angular rocks on slops created by freeze thaw weathering

135
Q

What are the case studies?

A

Somerset levels
Happisburgh
Boscastle
London

GCSE Geography (9 decks)

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