Physical Geography

Question 1

Rain splash erosion

Answer 1

Rain drops landing on a surface and eroding it. The amount of erosion depends on the rainfall intensity,velocity and raindrop distribution. The higher the rain drop the more damage it makes.

Question 2

Surface wash

Answer 2

occurs when soil’s infiltration capacity is. exceeded and can lead to the formation of gullies. Happens in uk winter and tropical areas.

Question 3

Quantification

Answer 3

the collection of methods that are applied, or could/can be applied, by geographers to study something

Question 4

Diurnal energy budgets

Answer 4

the amount of energy entering a system, the amount leaving the system, and the transfer of energy within the system

Question 5

components of the daytime energy budget

Answer 5

Incoming shortwave solar radiation, Reflected solar radiation, Latent heat transfer, Sensible heat transfer, Surface and subsurface absorption, Long wave radiation.

Question 6

What are the Surface Wind Belts

Answer 6

the trade winds, the prevailing westerlies, and the polar easterlies

Question 7

The jet stream

Answer 7

The jet stream is a core of strong winds around 5 to 7 miles above earth’s surface, blowing from west to east

Question 8

Ocean Currents

Answer 8

Surface currents are influenced by prevailing winds
- warm currents such as the North Atlantic drift away from the equator raise winter temperatures
- cold currents from polar regions such as the Labrador currents reduce summer temperatures
- salty water sinking allows the global conveyor to exist

Question 9

Condensation

Answer 9

change from a vapour to a liquid often creating clouds and rainfall

Question 10

Coolings three main ways

Answer 10

three main ways- radiation cooling , contact cooling of air as it rests over a cold surface, adiabatic cooling as it rests other a cold surface

Question 11

Freezing and melting

Answer 11

Freezing change of liquid water into a solid as temperatures fall below 0C
Melting change from solid to liquid as temperatures rise above 0C

Question 12

Bergeron-findeisen Theory

Answer 12

clouds at high altitude contain a mixture of water droplets and ice crystals
The ice crystals grow rapidly by attracting vapour from the water
Eventually the ice crystals become to heavy and drop off

Question 13

Collision-Coalescence Theory

Answer 13

A second theory explains rainfall in the warm tropics
Super-sized condensation nuclei

cloud droplets collide and coalesce or stick together.

Question 14

Urban heat islands

Answer 14

An urban heat island is a metropolitan area which is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas.

Question 15

anthropogenic

Answer 15

Human caused heat. Buildings, industrial, cars, sweating.

Question 16

thermal capacity

Answer 16

The storage of heat

Question 17

Urban heat island is biggest when

Answer 17

it’s night time , in the summer , when there is no wind , when the sky is clear , when the weather doesn’t change at night

Question 18

Urban canyon

Answer 18

Where tall buildings can slow the wind speeds they can channel airflow into urban canyons beneath them. This leads to increased wind speeds.

Question 19

The greenhouse

Answer 19

natural process that warms the earth’s surface. When the sun’s energy reaches the earth’s atmosphere, some of it is reflected back to space and some is absorbed and re-radiated by greenhouse gases.

Question 20

What causes The enhanced greenhouse effect

Answer 20

increased levels of carbon dioxide , methane, chlorofluorocarbons and other gases in the air released by carbon activity.

Question 21

Earths tilt

Answer 21

21.5-24.5, changes every 41000 years, today it’s 23.5, 21.5 means global cooling

Question 22

How many of the top 5 uk summers have occurred since the millennium?

Answer 22

4

Question 23

When was hottest temperature in the uk

Answer 23

2022, 40 degrees

Question 24

Heatwaves applied

Answer 24

Heatwaves are when the temperature doesn’t drop below 20 at night
Every month in 2022 was warmer than the 1991- 2020 average

In 2022 a temperature of 40 was recorded for the first time in the uk

Temperatures in the uk are changing faster than most other places in the uk

Question 25

Dendrochronology applied

Answer 25

the study of growth rings in deciduous trees to identify absolute dates of wooden objects
Rain , temperature and humidity affect the trees growth so when you look at the tree rings you can look at the weathering

Question 26

Ice Cores

Answer 26

cylinders of ice drilled from ice sheets and glaciers.

You can determine the temperature by measuring the ratios of different water and isotopes in polar ice cores

Question 27

Ocean acidification
Applied

Answer 27

When the sea absorbs co2 it results in hydrogen ions in the sea lowering the seas overall ph. This reduces carbonised ions which help shell fish to survive. Effects on margarine life are the billion dollar shelfishing industry at risk and coral is also at risk of being destroyed

Question 28

Droughts applied

Answer 28

As temperatures become warmer , it enhances evaporation. But this water doesn’t precipitate causing long times without rain.
Droughts create low crop yields as its to drown, less leads to starvation and forced migration and water scarcity which effects the world’s population.

Question 29

Tropical storms applied

Answer 29

A very powerful low pressure system. It has strong winds and heavy rainfall that are very dangerous. There is no clear climate change as he is increasing the frequency of climate changes but there is evidence it is increasing the intensity of tropical storms. Leading to heavier rain and more flooding. Impacts are human death

Question 30

How to calculate drainage density

Answer 30

Total length of all streams/area of drainage basin

Question 31

Types of mass movement

Answer 31

Heave, flows, slides and slumps, creeks

Question 32

Weathering of Rocks

Answer 32

Freeze thaw , salt crystallisation, heat in and cooling, pressure release, vegetation weathering

Question 33

Albedo

Answer 33

Albedo is the fraction of light that a surface reflects. If it is all reflected, the albedo is equal to 1.

Question 34

How can mass movement be reduced

Answer 34

Netting, grading , pinning and afforestation