Paper 2 Flashcards
The Cheshire plain
Area of low, flat land formed by deposition of material eroded by glaciers.
The land is fertile, and used for farming
North west england
Grampian Mountains
Part of the highlands and home to Ben Nevis (highest mountain in uk)
The mountains are steep, rocky and sparsely populated
Found in Scotland
Snowdonia
Is a Glaciated upland area formed from rock from extinct volcanoes.
Contains steep mountains and glaciated valleys
The downs and the Weald
A lowland area with a wide valley situated between the parallel hills.
Now mainly agricultural
Igneous rock
Formed when molten rock from mantle cools and hardens and the rock forms crystals as it cools.
E.g. Granite
Sedimentary rock
Formed when layers of sediment are compacted together until they become solid rock.
E.g. carboniferous lime stone and chalk which are formed from tiny shells and skeletons of dead sea creatures (limestone is hard and chalk is soft)
Also, clays and shales are made from mud and clay materials and are soft.
Metamorphic rock
Formed when other rocks are changed by heat and pressure. The new rocks formed are harder and more compact
E.g. shale and marble
Harder rocks
- Carboniferous limestone
- slate and shale
- schist
- Igneous rocks
Softer rocks
- Clays
- sandstone
- Chalk
Active volcanoes
Forced magma through the earths crust back when the UK used to be closer to a plate boundary, which cooled to form igneous rocks. (Granite)
Plate collisions
1) caused rock to be folded and uplifted, thus forming mountain ranges (granite which is resistant to erosion)
2) the intense heat and pressure caused by plate collisions formed hard metamorphic rocks
Plate movement
1) a long time ago, britain was in the tropics and was partially under water (forming carboniferous limestone) in warm shallow seas
2) the youngest rocks which are the chalks and clays formed in shallow seas and swamps
Granite characteristics
Very resistant and forms upland landscapes
Has lots of joints and cracks which in these places the rock wears away quickly
Granite is impermeable (doesn’t let water through)
Slate and schist characteristics
Slate forms in layers, creating weak planes in the rock
Generally very resistant to weathering
Schist has bigger crystals than slate and splits easily
They often form upland landscapes and are impermeable
Carboniferous limestone characteristics
Rain water slowly eats away at limestone through carbonation weathering. This creates limestone pavements…
Limestone is permeable
Chalk and clay characteristics
Chalk is harder than clay (it forms escarpments) in UK lowlands
Chalk is permeable
Clay is very soft and easily eroded (wide flat valleys)
Clay is impermeable
Weathering
Is the breakdown of rock into smaller pieces. It can be mechanical, chemical or biological
Erosion
Wears away rock. During last glacial period, ice eroded the landscape. And now rivers do as well
Post glacial river processes
Melting ice at the end of glacial periods made rivers much bigger than normal with more power to erode landscape. The ice also left distinctive landforms when melted
Slope processes
Including mass movements, e.g. rockfalls slides soil creep
Physical processes are also affected by the climate
For example, a cold climate increases the likelihood of freeze thaw weathering and a wet climate increases the number of rivers…
How have humans changed the landscape through agriculture
Cleared forest areas to make space for farming
Hedgerows have been made to mark out fields
Different types of farming (arable for crops, dairy, sheep…)
Mechanical weathering
Is the breakdown of rock without changing its chemical composition.
Salt weathering- 1) sea water gets into cracks in rocks
2) when water evaporates, crystals are left and they
expand which puts pressure on the rock and this
Process repeats, thus breaking up the rock.
Chemical weathering
Is the break down of rock by changing its chemical composition.
E.g.- Carbonation weathering (sea water and rain has carbon dioxide disolved in them, making them weak carbonic acids and this reacts with the rock that contains calcium carbonate so the rock is disolved by the water)
Biological weathering
Is the breakdown of rock by living things (plant roots, which grow into cracks in rocks and push them apart)
What is mass movement
Is the shifting of rock and loose material down a slope as the force of gravity acting in it is greater than the force supporting it
Coasts retreat rapidly
Most likely when wet due to increased mass and water acting as lubricant
Three types of mass movement
Slides
Slumps
Rockfalls
Mass movement- Slides
Material shifts in a straight line
Mass movement- Slumps
Material shifts with a rotation
Mass movement- Rockfalls
Material breaks up and falls down the slope
Three processes of erosion via waves
Hydraulic power, abrasion, attrition
Hydraulic power
Waves crash against the rock an compresses the air in the cracks. This puts pressure on the rock and repeated compression widens the cracks and makes bits of rock break off.
Abrasion
Eroded particles in the water scrape and rub against rock, removing small pieces.