Physical

Question 1

Mechanical weathering

Answer 1

weathering caused by forces

Question 2

Freeze - Thaw weathering

Answer 2

Rain water freezes in the cracks of rocks and expands

Question 3

Chemical weathering

Answer 3

weathering caused by chemical alteration to the rocks and minerals due to exposure

Question 4

Acid rain

Answer 4

Minerals in the rock can react with the acid rain causing the rock to dissolve

Question 5

Formation of Levees

Answer 5

• When a flood occurs friction with the land reduces velocity and causes deposition.
• Heavy sediment is deposited closer to the river and the size gets smaller with increased distance.
• With each flood the banks gar built up higher

Question 6

Formation of Floodplains

Answer 6

• A flood occurs.
• Water spills onto the floodplain. Friction causes the water to lose energy which causes sediment to be deposited.
• Over time the floodplain grows in size with the sediment from previous floods

Question 7

Formation of Spits

Answer 7

• Spits are formed when the coastline changes direction.
• Long shore drift continues in the direction of the prevailing wind and deposits sediment out at sea.
• As sediment builds up it forms a spit.
• The end of a spit can curve allowing a salt march to develop behind it.

Question 8

Formation of Bars

Answer 8

• Bars are formed when long shore drift continues to deposit sediment in the direction of the prevailing wind causing a spit to extend across a bay
• Bars can sometimes create lagoons - lakes trapped behind the ridge of sand

Question 9

The Formation of Sand dunes

Answer 9

• Dunes form when sand blown from the beach is deposited around an obstacle
• These embryo dunes grow overtime and become stabilised by vegetation
• In time, rotting vegetation adds organic matter making it more fertile
• Between dunes a dune slack may form. A dune is a depression in which ponds may form
• The mature dunes are so fertile that woodlands begin to grow

Question 10

The Formation of Interlocking Spurs

Answer 10

• In the uplands the geology is made of hard rock
• Due to freeze - thaw weathering the valley gradually broadens
• Repeated weathering causes rock to break and fall into the river where they are carried away
• The water takes a winding path which goes around the hard rock
• This results in the formation of alternate sides, these are interlocking spurs

Question 11

The Formation of a Waterfall

Answer 11

• A river flows over hard and soft rock
• Due to differential erosion the soft rock erodes faster undercutting the hard rock
• This creates a plunge pool which grows in size due to abrasion and hydraulic action
• Gravity and lack of support causes the overhang to collapse
• The materials from the overhang are used in abrasion to cause further erosion and undercutting
• This process repeats and overtime the waterfall retreats, leaving a steep sided gorge

Question 12

Types of Mass movement

Answer 12

Slumping, Sliding and Rockfall

Question 13

Slumping

Answer 13

• The soil gets saturated and then slumps down a slope
• The material is often unconsolidated
• Occurs on weaker rocks like clay
• Slow process, can take days or weeks

Question 14

Sliding

Answer 14

• Large blocks of consolidated rock ,like limestone, slide down hill
• One-way landslides can happen if waves hit the base of the cliff
• This makes the bottom of the cliff weaker, undercutting the top
• The removal of support allows blocks of rock to slide down the cliff

Question 15

Rockfall

Answer 15

• This is when smaller bits of rock fall off the cliff face
• This often occurs on slopes that are very steep
• The rock is loosened by physical processes like freeze-thaw weathering
• Rockfall is very rapid, it only takes a few seconds