Physical Flash Cards- Ones Teacher Has Made

Question 1

Describe the formation of a pyramidal peak?

Answer 1

• snow collects in north facing hollows
• compacts/compresses to form ice
• uneven equilibrium reaches
• gravity pulls glacier down hill
• plucking and abrasion widen and deepen hollow
• frost shattering occurs on back wall to make it jagged
• sometimes after ice age a Corrie lochan is left behind

Question 2

Describe the formation of a Drumlin?

Answer 2

• all the material the glacier carries will eventually be dropped
• this happens once the land starts to level out and the glacier cannot move anymore
• it dumps all of its load as it loses its power
• this dumped material is usually all dumped at once and rounded over by the glacier
• drumlins have a lee and stoss side

Question 3

Describe the formation of a terminal moraine?

Answer 3

• as the glacier bulldozes downhill by gravity it picks up debris
• this debris can be found at the snout of the glacier
• once the ice has melted this mound of moraine can stay leaving a hill on the valley floor
• shows the furthest point the glacier has travelled

Question 4

Describe the key features of a gley soil?

Answer 4

• poorly drained
• periodic or permanent water logging
• lack of oxygen in pore space so anaerobic conditions
• well defined profile layers
• gleying and yellow/ orange coloured mottling in sub-soil
• Horizons generally rich in organic matter- mor humus

Question 5

Describe the formation of a u- shaped valley?

Answer 5

• starts of being v - shaped
• valley has interlocking spurs - river firs valley
• valley glacier moves out of Corrie and starts to make its way down the hill by gravity
• the glacier acts as a bull dozer, removing all debris
• once ice age has gone, truncated spurs are left
• misfit streams now sit in the u- shaped valley

Question 6

Describe the formation of a tombolo?

Answer 6

• headland had fault lines
• faultlines eroded by 3 processes of erosion - haudralic action, corrasion and corrosion
• destructive waves form other features due to the tide
• cave, arch, stack, stump

Question 7

Describe the key features of podzol soil?

Answer 7

• extensive group of leached, acidic souls
• free draining
• well defined layers
• coniferous woodland/ heather woodland
• litter low in nutrients
• little biological activity e.g. Earth worms
• mor humus

Question 8

Describe the features of brown earth soil?

Answer 8

• free draining
• well mixed undefined layers
• deciduous woodland
• litter rich in nutrients
• intense biological activity e.g. Earth worms
• mull humus

Question 9

Name the soil forming factors?

Answer 9

• relief
• biota
• climate
• time
• parent material

Question 10

Describe the formation of a bay?

Answer 10

• forms when a variety of different types of rock can be found
• the hard rock erodes slower
• soft rock erodes quicker
• where hard rock is at either side of the soft rock and the soft rock erodes in the way leaving a bay

Question 11

Formation of a wave cut platform?

Answer 11

• high tide and low tide on a cliff face mean the waves erode the cliff into a notch
• the notch eventually becomes to far into the cliff
• cliff becomes unstable and cracks into the sea
• the gradual lift out of the water is the wave cut platform

Question 12

Name the key stages in the formation of a glacier?

Answer 12

1. Snow collects in north/ east facing hollows
2. The weight of lots of snow compressed air out of it making a neve layer (half ice half snow)
3. The melting and the refreezing that can occur leaves areas partly ice (firn)
4. Eventually the weight of the snow pushes all the air out and it becomes solid ice.

Question 13

Describe plucking, abrasion and frost shattering?

Answer 13

• Plucking is when ice freezes onto sides and back walls and as glacier moves by gravity the sticks to the rocks and pulls parts of the rocks out
• abrasion occurs when rocks are trapped under the glacier and the weight of the glacier makes the rock rub against the valley/Corrie floor, as the glacier moves it scars and erodes the land scape. Sometimes one the ice has been melted striations can be seen
• frost shattering or freeze thaw can occur when water gets into cracks in the rocks, usually sitting above the glacier, at night when temperatures drop below freezing the water turns to ice and expands by 9% causing rocks to be forced apart, this is a repeated process which loosens rocks and leaves behind jagged surfaces

Question 14

Describe the formation of an esker ?

Answer 14

• lower down the valley where the ice can start to melt under glacier rivers can occur
• these rivers carry all the materials used for abrasion with them
• once the ice melts, mounds of this material can be piled in a snake like formation along the valley

Question 15

Explain the cell model?

Answer 15

• surplus equator
• deficit poles
• cell model takes heat from equator to the poles
• explain each of the cells- Hadley cell, Ferrell cell and polar cell

Question 16

Explain the ITCZ?

Answer 16

• tropical continental air mass, from Sahara desert dry hot stable (harmattan winds)
• tropical maritime from Gulf of Guinea, wet hot unstable storms
• where the two air masses meet bring rain
• sun directly over head in July
• not as far over head in January
• ITCZ moves with the sun
• thermal equator

Question 17

From a map, how could you tell and area is glaciated?

Answer 17

• bare rock symbols
• scree
• mix of different contours
• horse- shoe shaped contour lines
• u shaped valley
• misfit stream

Question 18

Explain the 4 erosion processes of a coast line?

Answer 18

Hydraulic action- force of water breaking down valley or cliffs

corrasion- force of water with rocks being thrown against cliffs or banks and beds of river

Corrosion- chemicals in the water eroding rocks

Attrition - rocks hitting of against each other breaking down

Question 19

Describe and explain the North Atlantic gyre?

Answer 19

Ocean currents- Gulf Stream, North Atlantic drift, canaries current and north equatorial current

• Coriolis effect
• trade winds
• land masses

Question 20

Explain the heat budget (%)

Answer 20

• 100% of the suns energy reaches the earths atmosphere
• 19% is absorbed by clouds
• 6% is reflected by the earths outer atmosphere
• 20% is reflected by clouds, gases and dust back into space
• 4% is reflected by the earths surface due to high albedo
• 51% is absorbed by the earths surface

Question 21

Name the different types of moraine?

Answer 21

• englacial
• lateral
• medial
• sub glacial
• terminal

Question 22

Explain things that can change the hydrological cycle?

Answer 22

For deforestation:
Increase run off and the potential for soil erosion
Decreases in evapo-transpirtation
More extreme river flows and water is not intercepted and stored by trees

For irrigation-
Reduce river flow
Increased farming opportunities proved by irrigating crops removes water

For urbanisation:
Removal of natural vegetation can speed overland flow
Evaporation from concrete increases as the rate of percolation through the land surfaces decreases

Other human activities: 
Water vapour are released into the atmosphere from industrial process 
Soil compaction ( mainly due to agriculture) creates an impermeable surface

Question 23

Name the stages in the hydrological cycle? ( long list )

Answer 23

Evaporation
Transpiration 
Precipitation 
Condensation 
Advection 
Sublimation 
Water table 
Infiltration 
Ground water flow 
Through flow 
Storage