Changing UK Landscapes

Question 1

Main UK Rock Types

Answer 1

Sedimentary - chalk, sandstone
Igneous - granite, basalt
Metamorphic - schist, slate

Question 2

Sedimentary Rocks

Answer 2

Sedimentary rocks are formed in layers called beds. They often contain fossils. Examples include chalk and sandstone.
- Chalk is made up of calcium carbonate, and is susceptible to chemical weathering.
- Sandstone is made of sand-sized grains cemented together. It can be hard and resistant to weathering, but is permeable.

Question 3

Igneous Rocks

Answer 3

Igneous rocks are hard and formed of crystals so are resistant to erosion. They are usually permeable - water doesn’t pass through them. Examples include granite and basalt.
- Granite is affected by chemical weathering. Granite landscapes drain badly, so tend to be boggy.
- Basalt is a grey rock made from very small crystals. Lava flows cool to form basalt.

Question 4

Metamorphic Rocks

Answer 4

Metamorphic rocks are formed by great heat and pressure. Examples are schist and slate.
- Slate is formed from mudstone and convergent plate boundaries.
- Schist is formed at higher pressure at the same plate boundary.

Question 5

Upland and Lowland Landscapes

Answer 5

Geology and past tectonic activity have influenced the physical landscapes of the UK.

Question 6

Geology

Answer 6

The UK is split into two halves geologically.
- The north-western UK is mainly harder igneous and metamorphic rocks, forming upland landscapes.
- The south-eastern UK is mainly softer sedimentary rocks, forming lowland landscapes.

Question 7

Plate Tectonics

Answer 7

Millions of years ago, the UK was close to plate boundaries. Plate movements caused mountains (huge folds) and faults in the rocks.
520 million years ago, two plates converged to form upland mountain landscapes - northern Scotland, the Lake District and North Wales.
50-60 million years ago, diverging plate boundaries caused the Atlantic Ocean to open. Rising lava produced the distinctive basalt geology of the Giant’s Causeway.

Question 8

Distinct Landscapes

Answer 8

North-west of the Tees-Exe line the UK’s geology is largely igneous: rocks formed from magna and lava, associated with tectonic events. Long-extinct volcanoes form hills and mountains.
Basalt can form a very distinct landscape as the lava cools into polygon shapes: for example, the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland and Fingal’s Cave in Scotland.

Question 9

Explain why lowland landscapes are usually formed by sedimentary rock.

Answer 9

Sedimentary rocks are much softer and more easily eroded than igneous and metamorphic rocks. Therefore sedimentary rocks are worn down rapidly to form low hills and lowland basins.

Question 10

Physical Processes

Answer 10

Some distinctive upland and lowland UK landscapes result from physical processes working together: glacial erosion and deposition, weathering and climatological processes, and post-glacial river and slope processes.

Question 11

Upland landscape in the Lake District. OS map extract scale is 1:25 000.

Answer 11

• Weathering: the crags are exposed rock faces. Weathering leads to rock fragments breaking off and falling to the base of the cliff to form a scree slope.
• Climate: high precipitation here means there is a lot of surface drainage over the impermeable rocks; there are many streams.
• Post-glacial river: the valley floor at the bottom is too wide for the stream to have eroded it. The flat bottom and steep sides shows that it is a U-shaped valley formed by a glacier.

Question 12

Lowland Landscape in Herefordshire. OS map extract scale is 1:50 000. The landscape has been formed by the actions of two rivers: the River Lugg and the River Wye.

Answer 12

• River erosion: as the rivers meander, they have eroded a wide valley between low hills. The rivers transport silt eroded from the river channel.
• River deposition: prolonged heavy rain can cause the rivers to flood. Water spreads out all over the valley floor, depositing the silt to form a wide, flat floodplain.

Question 13

Study the photograph of Bowerman’s Nose, Dartmoor, a tor made of granite. Explain how it has formed from the interaction of physical processes.

Answer 13

Dartmoor formed when a dome of magma (batholith) developed underground 290 millions years ago. The magma cooled and contracted to form granite, with cooling joints. Chemical weathering caused the joints to widen. Granite was exposed on the surface. Freeze-thaw weathering, erosion and mass movement removed the broken granite. Outcrops of rock less affected by weathering and erosion are left behind, forming tors.

Question 14

Human Activity

Answer 14

The UK has been settled by humans for many thousands of years and all its landscapes have been heavily influenced by human activity.

Question 15

Agriculture

Answer 15

This OS map extract is at 1:25 000 scale. It shows a region of Suffolk in the east of the UK.
- The blue lines are drainage ditches, built to drain water away from low-lying agricultural land to allow crops to grow.
- Straight drainage ditches are not produced by natural physical processes so they are a good indication of human activity.

Question 16

Forestry

Answer 16

Forestry is managing woodland for timber.
- Many UK upland landscapes have been planted with trees for forestry. Sometimes they are in straight rows to make them easy to manage.
- The UK would naturally be covered by deciduous woodland. However, some UK landscapes feature conifer plantations, which are very distinctive.

Question 17

Explain why lowland landscapes have been more altered by human settlement than upland landscapes.

Answer 17

Settlements grew up where the landscape offered advantages, such as flat land that is easier to build on. Lowland landscapes also provided river meander loops where it was easy to defend towns, coastal plains and natural harbours for fishing villages and shallow points on rivers where fords could be made (for example, Oxford). Over time, the settlements spread over the landscape. In big cities, many streams and small rivers now run in underground tunnels, so cannot be seen on maps. Upland landscapes of hills and mountains make it more difficult to construct settlements so are less built up.