Paper 1 questions to go over Flashcards
Suggest two reasons for different rates of erosion
Wave energy
Wind
Configuration of the coast and offshore depths
Nature of materials
Longshore drift
Human activity
Nature of coastal vegetation
Explain how pyroclastic flows are formed
Column collapse of lava, ash and gas expelled loses upward momentum due to cooling and falls back down the volcano sides
Side eruptions occurs when a lava plug blocks a volcanic vent and gas charged lava can escape through a gap in the flank leading to a hot cloud of gas and particles then rapidly flow down
When a lava dome becomes too steep and collapses so the fragments mix with air and flow quickly downslope
Flow stays close to the ground, following the relief and so generally flow down the existing valleys
Explain summer and winter beach profiles
Differences are mainly caused by the types of waves that are characteristic of summer and winter locations
Summer tends to have relatively low energy waves with a swash greater than backwash pushing material up the beach to create the berm
Winter tends to have high energy waves with a backwash greater than the swash removing material from the top of the beach and depositing it offshore as sandbars
Explain the causes of precipitation
Evaporation is a requirement of most processes to produce moist air that can then undergo uplift, cooling, reaching dew point and condensation
Cooling by conduction can lead to the formation of dew
Growth of water droplets, collision theory and processes leading to hail or snow and the role of condensation nuclei
Suggest reasons for different patterns of cloud cover
Orographic uplift
The air is forced to rise through the process of adiabatic cooling, condensation takes place
The temperature difference between land and sea causing air to cool
Cooler surface temperature leads to condensation
The evaporation over the ocean so moist air is carried towards islands or forms over sea
Rivers are a source of moisture leading to convection
Describe how land/sea distribution affects the seasonal variation of temperature
The sea has higher thermal heat capacity than the land which means sea heats up more slowly in summer but loses heat more slowly too
Land areas in the summer heat up more quickly and so in those latitudes the isotherms are displaced poleward
Land heats more quickly but also cools more quickly
Therefore the sea has a moderating impact on temperatures, milder winters and cooler summers
Continental areas have higher summer temperatures and lower winter temperatures than areas close to the sea
Evaluate the attempts to reduce the impacts of a recent river flood event
Forecasting (meteorology, insurance, emergency planning)
Hard engineering (dredging, dams, embankments)
Soft engineering (floodplain zoning, afforestation, conservation)
Clywedog dam in Wales at the head of the River Severn was built between 1963 and 1967 to regulate the flow of the river and help prevent flooding downstream
The volume of rain in February 2020 was in excess of the capacity of the dam
Explain the formation of volcanic island arcs
Convergence of two oceanic plates
Heavier and denser plate subducts
Magma rises leading to oceanic underwater activity
The arc pattern of upwelling is related to the curvature of the Earths surface
Explain the formation of snow
Evaporation to water vapour
If temperatures are cold enough vapour changes directly into small ice crystals
Ice and supercooled water droplets exist together
Water attracted to ice crystals which grow
Become heavier as updraughts move then through large clouds
If heavy enough they start to fall
Will remain as ice crystals if air temperature is low enough
If fall through moist air, melt around the edges and stick
Describe how through-flow occurs on slopes
After infiltration of water from the surface, percolation through the soil in a downslope direction parallel to the ground surface as a result of gravity
More permeable soils or steeper gradients have a faster through-flow
Describe and explain the formation of gorges
Gorges are steep sided river valleys where river downcutting has exceeded lateral erosion
The headward extension of waterfalls creating a gorge as the fall retreats
River and mass movement processes also lead to steep slopes
Can also be formed by tectonic uplift or changes in sea level where the river is rejuvenated and rapid vertical erosion occurs to reach base level
How far do you agree that convection is the main cause of precipitation?
The main causes of precipitation are convection, frontal uplift and the orographic uplift
Convectional uplift associated with higher temperature in low latitudes, urban heat islands and seasonality
Orographic uplift associated with mountainous terrain
Frontal uplift associated with mid latitude depressions
Explain whether the atmospheric impact of global warming might vary with location
Increased extreme weather would have a difference in impact
Only certain locations can host the origin for a tropical storm and as a result also limits the latitudes within which it travels
Small increase in temperature could lead to significant changes at some altitudes and latitudes
Changes of temperature would cause the loss or gain of snow cover leading to a change in albedo if snow cover decreased, albedo would decrease, reflecting less radiation, accelerating global warming
Increased temperatures can lead to increased rainfall due to more evaporation and moisture
Increased cloud cover from more evaporation over large areas of water may decrease temperature
Changes in pressure systems and weakening of the jet stream causing blocking
Ocean currents moderate climate
Explain how fog can form
Radiation fog occurs in winter with clear skies and calm conditions
The land cooling overnight by thermal radiation cools air near the surface, reducing ability to hold moisture, allowing condensation
Advection fog occurs when moist, warm air from the sea passes over the colder land surface and is cooled
Valley fog forms when cold dense air settles into the lower valley condensing the forming fog
Upslope fog forms when wind blows air up a slope, cooling and condensing
Describe and explain how energy is transferred in the atmosphere by wind belts
The main wind belts are the trade winds, westerlies and easterlies
These move from high to low pressure
The north/south westerly wind belts move energy from the equator via the sub tropical air masses towards polar regions
When the ITCZ moves north the trade winds move north and heat to northern latitudes
Reverse when ITCZ moves south
Hot air rises at the equator and moves north and south with the ITCZ transferring heat
Winds travelling over oceans are affected by sea temperatures and ocean currents
Explain how the mass movement process of heave may occur
Wetting and drying
Freezing and thawing
Soils expand when wet and contract on drying
During cold temperatures small ice crystals form in wet soil leading to expansion with contraction on thawing
Soils expand on freezing and contract on melting
Soil is lifted upward and falls back down slope
Define the atmospheric term ‘sensible heat transfer’
The movement of heat from warmer to colder objects by conduction or convection when they are in direct contact, the heat that can’t be felt
Assess the extent to which fold mountains are the main landforms associated with convergent boundaries
Convergent plate boundaries ca be destructive or collision
Both produce fold mountains
There is no subduction at collision plate boundaries so fold mountains are the only major landforms that are related to collision
At destructive plate boundaries ocean trenches and volcanoes are landforms that are formed as well as fold mountains because of subduction
Oceanic/continental: leads to formation of ocean trench, continental crust lifts and buckles creating fold mountains, rising magma creates volcanoes
Oceanic/oceanic: subduction, trench, formation of volcanic island arcs
Continental/continental: typically no subduction so only fold mountains are created
Accretionary wedges
‘The movement of tectonic plates is determined by subduction’. How far do you agree?
Subduction from convection currents causing the movement of plates
Slab pull and ridge push can also cause plate movement
The subducting slab gives rise to the slab pull
Type of plate, density of plate and location are also factors
Conservative and constructive plate boundaries have movement not related to subduction
Briefly explain how frontal uplift of air may result in precipitation
When warm air is forced to rise over cold air
Leading to temperature drop
Condensation and then precipitation
At a warm front cold air undercuts the warm air
At a cold front warm air overrides the cold air
Examine the factors that influence sheetwash and rills on slopes
Infiltration capacity needs to be exceeded leading to overland flow
This is governed by soil characteristics such as permeability, vegetation cover and type and antecedent rainfall amounts
Steeper slopes are likely to increase both processes
Sheetwash is the movement of water uniformly over the surface which requires a uniform surface and large volume of water
Minor irregularities will lead to the water flow concentrated into thin threads which cause minor erosion to form rills
Explain the factors that influence the size and shape of deltas
Birds foot: powerful river with a large sediment load entering a sea with low tidal currents
Cuspate: rivers deposit in strong wave action from different directions
Arcuate: tidal range is low and currents remove sediment
Salt content influences flocculation
Rainfall influences density of distributaries
Vegetation stabilises deltas
Depth of marine seabed
State the characteristics of wind belts
Winds that blow in a consistent direction
For a long distance
For a long period of time
Over a wide area
From high to low pressure areas
Explain how ocean currents contribute to the global atmospheric transfer of energy
Warm ocean currents transfer heat from the Equator to the poles and cold ocean currents transfer heat in the opposite direction maintaining a balance in the transfer of energy
Wind passing over the currents also take on the characteristics of the currents and aid in the transference of energy
