Landscapes of the UK (River Tees and Jurassic Coast) Flashcards
What is an upland landscape?
An area of elevated land that contains hills and mountains often above 600m above sea level
What is a lowland landscape?
An area of flat land that below 200m above sea level
What is a glaciated landscape?
An upland area that was once covered in glaciers. They have dramatically eroded peaks and ridges
How are igneous rocks produced?
When magma cools either beneath or above the ground e.g. granite or basalt
How are metamorphic rocks produced?
When heat and pressure on existing igneous and sedimentary rocks changes its structure e.g. slate
How are sedimentary rocks produced?
When layers of sediment are laid down and compressed at the bottom of the ocean e.g. chalk and limestone
What are the three main factors for the UK climate?
- Altitude
- Latitude
- Precipitation
What effect does altitude have on the UK climate?
There are lower temperatures in upland areas and higher temperatures in lowland areas as the heat capacity of air decreases as altitude increases
What effect does latitude have on the UK climate?
There are lower temperatures in higher latitude locations and warmer temperatures in lower latitude locations. This is because at high latitudes, the Earth receives less solar radiation than low latitudes
What effect does precipitation have on the UK climate?
There is more rainfall in upland areas and less rainfall in lowland areas. This is because of relief rainfall with the east side of the UK in a rain shadow from the mountains on the west side
What are the three main human activities in the UK?
- Farming
- Settlements
- Electricity generation
What is abrasion?
Sand or pebbles thrown against river banks, wearing it away
What is attrition?
Rocks carried by water collide, breaking up into smaller pieces, becoming smaller and rounder
What is solution?
Minerals dissolved in water
What is hydraulic action?
Water forces its way into cracks, creating weaknesses in rocks, splitting them apart
What is traction?
Large boulders and rocks are rolled along the river bed
What is saltation?
Small pebbles and stones are bounced along the river bed
What is suspension?
Fine and light materials are suspended in water
What is sliding?
A section of land falls down a slope and dislodges other material on its way down
What is slumping?
Material at the bottom of a slope move outward
What is biological weathering?
Rocks and land are broken down from the action of organisms such as rabbits burrowing into river banks
What is chemical weathering?
Minerals react chemically, such as water breaking down rocks and air weakening minerals through oxidation
What is mechanical weathering?
Physical actions of rain, frost and wind that create weaknesses in rocks such as freeze-thaw weathering
How do V-shaped valleys form?
- Large boulders cut rapidly downwards, causing vertical erosion
- Hill slopes become unstable with rain reacting with rock around it, breaking it down into smaller pieces
- Landslides send material down into the river. Over time, vertical erosion causes steep V-shaped valleys
How are waterfalls and gorges formed?
- Hard rock (whinstone) is so hard that the river cannot wear it away
- River erodes the softer rock underneath and undercuts more resistant whinstone due to hydraulic action and abrasion
- The overhang becomes unstable and collapses due to mass movement
- The process repeats over time, causing the waterfall to retreat upstream and create a gorge
How are meanders formed?
- The thalweg (fastest flow of water) is on the bend where the channel is deep, flinging water to the outside bend as it flows around the meander
- Lateral erosion results in the undercutting of the river bank and the formation of a steep-sided cliff
- On the other side, the water flows slower, so it has less energy leading to deposition
- Over time, a small beach of material - a slip-off slope - is formed
How is an ox-bow lake formed?
- Hydraulic action and abrasion on the outside bend leads to the formation of a river cliff. On the inside bend, deposition occurs, building up a slip-off slope
- Over time, the erosion on the outside bend causes the neck of the meander to narrow
- Eventually, the neck is broken through and the river flows a straight path
- The old meander is sealed off by deposition to form an ox-bow lake which dries up forming a meander scar
How is a floodplain formed?
- When a river floods, it overflows its banks and spreads across the valley
- As water slows down, it loses energy and deposits sediment
- This creates wide land due to lateral erosion
How is a levee formed?
As a water in a floodplain retreats, the water drops the heaver sediment closer to the river channel. After the river has been flooded several times, it can form levees on either side of the river
What influence does climate have on the River Tees?
- Heavy rainfall in the upper course in the Pennines cause mass movement because the land becomes more saturated, making it more prone to slumping and sliding, creating V-shaped valleys
- Winter temperatures in the upper course speed up the rate of physical weathering as exposed rocks are weathered more quickly by processes, such as freeze-thaw weathering
What influence does geology have on the River Tees?
- In the upper course at High Force waterfall, the river is unable to erode a hard layer called Whinstone. It erodes the softer rock underneath due to hydraulic action and abrasion, causing it to undercut the Whinstone and collapse into the plunge pool
- In the middle course, the geology is more mixed with rocks having alternating bands of resistance. The fastest flow of water erodes the softer rock. Lateral erosion undercuts the river bank and forms steep river cliffs and meanders
How many reservoirs are there along the River Tees?
9
What are the positives of the Cow Green resevoir?
- Controls flooding for downstream communities
- Gives recreational opportunities on/around reservoirs
- Creates new habitats for aquatic species
- Water storage for drought conditions
What are the negatives of the Cow Green resevoir?
- Reduces fertility of downstream agricultural areas
- Drowns forestry
- Fish populations may lose easy migration routes upstream
What are the positives of the Tees Barrage?
- Prevents high tides flooding the lower course of the river
- Creates recreational opportunities on/around the barrage
- Fish ladders installed to reduce the impact on migrating fish
- White Water Rafting Centre created leading to economic growth
What are the negatives of the Tees Barrage?
- Aesthetically unappealing
- Constant management to ensure no man-made disasters, such as barriers shut in heavy rainfall events
- Lands are less fertile due to less flooding
How do headlands and bays form?
- There must be a discordant coastline where there are bands of rock of different resistances next to each other
- Due to differential erosion, the softer rock erodes quicker than the harder rock
- Hydraulic action and abrasion erodes the softer rock
- The more resistant rock juts out into a headland and a bay
How does a beach form?
- As water approaches the headland, it slows around the headland as it’s shallower
- This causes the wave to refract and hit the headland side on, protecting the bays and leading to more deposition forming a beach
