4: UK Landscapes

Question 1

What is the wettest region of the UK?

Answer 1

The Lake District (>2000mm of rain per year)

Question 2

What did glaciation form in the Lake District?

Answer 2

• Lakes in hollows

- U-shaped valleys with misfit streams that deposit fertile alluvium

Question 3

What’s scree?

Answer 3

Angular rock fragments created by freeze-thaw weathering in the winter (10% expansion)

Question 4

What slope processes are prominent in the Lake District?

Answer 4

• Rockfalls from scree fragments

- Landslides due to the large amounts of rain

Question 5

What’s an anticline?

Answer 5

A dome of folded rocks forming an arch (of continuous strata)

Question 6

What is scarp and vale topography?

Answer 6

• Resistant rocks, like chalk, form steep escarpments
• Behind the escarpment, gentle dip slopes follow the dip
• Softer clays are lower and flatter and form the vales

Question 7

Which types of weathering occur in southern England?

Answer 7

• Chemical weathering (acidic rainwater dissolves alkaline rock)
• Biological weathering (warmer weather)

Question 8

Where are rivers found in the Weald?

Answer 8

On the vales where there is impermeable clay

Question 9

What are dry valleys?

Answer 9

Valleys with no visible streams (they flow underground through permeable chalk). Glacial periods froze water in chalk, making it impermeable. Snowmelt also meant more water in streams.

Question 10

What slope process is common in The Weald?

Answer 10

Soil creep caused by rain dislodging soil particles