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AQA GCSE Geography (9-1) > Physical Landscapes > Flashcards

Physical Landscapes Flashcards

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1
Q

How can vertical erosion be slowed?

A

If the rock type beneath is very hard

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2
Q

What is alluvium?

A

The mud and sand that the river deposits

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3
Q

What is a river’s energy used for?

A

95% for overcoming friction with beds/banks

5% for erosion and transporting load

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4
Q

What type of erosion are V shaped valleys formed by?

A

Vertical erosion

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5
Q

What type of erosion are U shaped valleys formed by?

A

Glacial erosion

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6
Q

An example of a U shaped valley?

A

Nant Ffrancon, Snowdonia

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7
Q

What type of erosion causes valleys with wide floodplains?

A

Lateral erosion

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8
Q

What is scree?

A

Angular, broken pieces of rock due to freeze thaw weathering of the cliff/rock face

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9
Q

When do discordant landscapes occur?

A

When the landforms seem to have no relationship with the underlying geology e.g. rivers do not follow lines of weakness such as soft rock or fault lines

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10
Q

What is a plateau?

A

A high flat place e.g. flat topped hills or mountains which are usually harder than the surrounding rock

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11
Q

Difference between dykes and sills?

A
  • Dykes are vertical intrusions with horizontal cooling cracks
  • Sills are horizontal intrusions along the lines of bedding planes with vertical cooling cracks
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12
Q

How are fault scarps formed?

A

From movement along a fault bringing softer rock against harder rock - erosion at different rates so hard rock forms upland

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13
Q

Difference between erosion and weathering?

A

Erosion occurs due to the movement of rocks whereas writhing occurs when an object is in situ

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14
Q

How is material transported in a river?

A
  • fine material rubs against bank, wearing it away
  • large boulders rolled along by traction collide and break up
  • smaller stones and pebbles bounced along river bed break down in size
  • dissolved material carried along in solution
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15
Q

Landforms in the upper course of a river?

A

Small waterfalls, rapids, potholes, large boulders, uneven steep river bed, v shaped valley, interlocking spurs

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16
Q

Describe the valley profile in the upper course of a river

A

Steep sides

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17
Q

Erosion in the upper course of a river?

A

Hydraulic and attrition, mostly vertical

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18
Q

Transportation in the upper course of a river?

A

Mostly large boulders (ledload). Some in suspension and little in solution

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19
Q

Deposition in the upper course of a river?

A

Limited to the large bedload

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20
Q

Landforms in the middle course of the river?

A

Rapids, small meanders, small floodplain,

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21
Q

Describe the valley profile in the middle course of the river

A

Small floodplain, less steep sides than in upper course

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22
Q

Erosion in the middle course of the river?

A

Mostly attrition with a little hydraulic, less vertical erosion, lateral erosion begins

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23
Q

Transportation in the middle course of the river?

A

Smaller sized bed load moved by traction, suspension load increased. Little in solution

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24
Q

Deposition in the middle course of the river?

A

Coarser material builds up, deposition. On slip-off slopes, floodplain built up in times of foood

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25
Q

Landforms in the lower course of the river?

A

Large meanders, ox bow lakes, levées, floodplain

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26
Q

Describe the valley profile in the lower course of the river

A

Wide floodplain, with levées either side of the river

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27
Q

Erosion in the lower course of the river?

A

Erosion reduced - some lateral erosion on outside bends of meanders

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28
Q

Transportation in the lower course of the river?

A

Smaller sized bed load of peoples, gravel and sand form the load. Most transported by suspension

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29
Q

Deposition in the lower course of the river?

A

Mostly fine particles. Forms slip-off slopes, levées and floodplains

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30
Q

How are waterfalls formed?

A
  • upper course - water erodes soft rock faster than hard rock
  • hard rock is undercut and left over hanging
  • overhang isn’t supported and collapses
  • fallen rocks into plunge pool - created due to falling water and rocks
  • fallen rocks erode rock (abrasion grinds at bedrock and attrition makes fallen rocks smaller)
  • waterfall moves upstream and steep gorge is created
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31
Q

Where is the river tees?

A

In the north east of England

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32
Q

What direction does the tees flow in?

A

An Easterly direction

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33
Q

How tall do v shaped valleys tend be in the upper course of the tees?

A

575-675m

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34
Q

How are V shaped valleys formed?

A
  • vertical erosion
  • weather exposed rock
  • mass movement
  • transportation
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35
Q

What is the Hjulström curve?

A

A graph to show how the speed of a river flow affects the size of the particles in the water

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36
Q

What is along the top of a Hjulström curve graph?

A

The type of particles starting from the finest along to the least fine

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37
Q

What happens when the size of sediment goes below 0.1mm?

A

The grains are so small that they start to stick together and need a greater speed of water for them to be eroded

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38
Q

How are meanders formed?

A
  • deep pools in the river have less friction so the river has more energy for erosion
  • erosion is lateral
  • lateral erosion moves river sideways so it bends
  • shallow riffles stay put
  • river deposits on inside of bend and erodes on outside of bend
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39
Q

How are ox bow lakes formed?

A
  • river erodes outside of bend and deposits inside of bend
  • neck of land between loop gets narrower, new shape of meander
  • river cuts through narrow neck of land during flood
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40
Q

How do meanders migrate?

A
  • as the river flows downstream it becomes deeper and wider
  • meanders become larger and wider as they migrate downstream
  • erosion of bend widens valley
  • deposition creates valley floor
  • erosion and deposition move downstream and create a line of river cliffs along the edge of the valley floor
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41
Q

Why does deposition happen?

A
  • the velocity decreases such as the inside bend in a meander
  • an obstruction e.g. river enters a lake and velocity falls
  • a fall in the volume of water e.g. at times of low flow during a period of drought
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42
Q

What does a river deposit first when it floods?

A

The heaviest of the particles first

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43
Q

How are levées formed?

A
  • before the levée, silt deposits lie over the bedrock on the floodplain
  • during flood - fine particles carried further onto floodplain and heaviest sediment deposits closest to river
  • after many floods - river bed builds up bed load deposits over time so river level is raised and increases probability of floods
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44
Q

What is an estuary?

A
  • the lower course of a river valley which has been drowned by a rise in sea level/fall in land level
  • river channel is wide with mud flat and salt marshes
  • valley is low lying and flat
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45
Q

Examples of estuaries in Britain?

A

The Thames, the Mersey, the Humber, and the Tees

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46
Q

Geology to cause a slow response?

A

Permeable rock e.g. chalk limestone

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47
Q

Gradient to cause a slow response?

A

Gentle gradients

48
Q

Basin size to cause a slow response?

A

Large basin- large areas without streams - take time for water to reach streams

49
Q

Basin surface to cause a slow response?

A

Forested

50
Q

Basin shape to cause a slow response?

A

Pinnate basin - long and thin

51
Q

Rainfall intensity to cause a slow response?

A

Frontal precipitation - long duration, low intensity, nimbostratus

52
Q

Geology to cause a flashy response?

A

Impermeable rock - surface runoff/overland flow

53
Q

Gradient to cause a flashy response?

A

Steep gradients

54
Q

Basin size to cause a flashy response?

A

Small basin

55
Q

Basin surface to cause a flashy response?

A

Urban - roads, roofs, gutters, pavements

56
Q

Basin shape to cause a flashy response?

A

Circular basin

57
Q

Rainfall intensity to cause a flashy response?

A

Convective storm - short duration, high intensity, cumulonimbus

e.g. on a summer afternoon, or as relief rainfall in mountains

58
Q

Natural causes of flooding?

A
  • rock type - impermeable rock means no infiltration
  • steep slopes - water will not have time to seep into rock means surface runoff
  • drainage density - when there are more streams water will get into the river more easily
  • snowmelt - water will fill soil
  • long profile - steeper in the upper course
59
Q

Human causes of flooding?

A
  • house construction - houses are built close to rivers on floodplains because flat and large
  • deforestation - less interception
  • agriculture - farmers should plough sideways so there are ridges to hold the water
  • ineffective flood management and warning systems
  • intense and prolonged rainfall
60
Q

How frequent are high magnitude floods?

A
  • large magnitude floods don’t happen very often

* small magnitude floods are more frequent

61
Q

Why do large floods usually occur?

A

Due to usually heavy or prolonged rainfall

62
Q

Where do large floods still happen often?

A

In places where there is annual snowmelt or monsoon rains e.g. Bangladesh

63
Q

How do hydrologists predict how often a flood of a certain magnitude can occur?

A

By keeping records (e.g. hydrographs) - which is called the flood recurrence interval (RI)

64
Q

What is the flood recurrence interval?

A

When hydrologists use hydrographs to predict how often a flood of a certain magnitude can occur

e.g. a small flood may have an RI of 2 years and a large flood may have an RI of 10 years

65
Q

What could be reducing the RIs of river?

A

Climate change

66
Q

What quality of flood defence do the EA recommend to build?

A

Flood defences should be built to withstand a 1 in 50 year event

67
Q

What is hard engineering?

A

Involves building structures to defend places from floodwater

68
Q

Examples of hard engineering?

A
  • build flood banks
  • straightening and deepening the river
  • dams and reservoirs
  • flood walls
  • storage areas
  • barriers e.g. the thames barrier
69
Q

How do flood banks work in terms of river management?

A

Raise the banks of a river, so it can hold more water

70
Q

Comment on flood banks in terms of river management?

A
  • relatively cheap, one-off costs
  • looks unnatural
  • water moves quickly and increases the flood risk downstream
71
Q

How does straightening and deepening the river work in terms of river management?

A
  • straighten the river channel to speed up the flow, or line it with concrete
  • dredge the river to make it deeper and able to carry more water
72
Q

Comment on straightening and deepening the river in terms of river management?

A
  • dredging needs to be done every year
  • lining with concrete is expensive
  • speeding up the flow increases the flood risk downstream
73
Q

How do dams and reservoirs work in terms of river management?

A

Trap and store water, and release it in a controlled way. Can be multi-purpose and generate electricity

74
Q

Comment on dams and reservoirs in terms of river management?

A
  • very expensive
  • the creation of a reservoir means huge changes to the ecosystem
  • dams trap sediment
75
Q

How do flood walls work in terms of river management?

A

Built around settlements, industry or roads

76
Q

Comment on flood walls in terms of river management?

A
  • expensive and looks unnatural

* effective if the flood isn’t too extreme

77
Q

How do storage areas work in terms of river management?

A

Water is pumped out of the river and stored in temporary lakes. Its then lumped back when the water level in the river has dropped

78
Q

Comment on storage areas in terms of river management?

A
  • effective

* needs large areas of spare land

79
Q

How do barriers work in terms of river management?

A

The barrier is raised when a high tide or flood is forecast

80
Q

Comment on barriers in terms of river management?

A
  • very expensive

* Thames barrier - a new one may be needed in the future to protect London from higher flood surges

81
Q

Case study for river realignment or channelisation?

A
  • the jubilee river - bypass channel for the Thames
  • Maidenhead to Windsor
  • opened 2002, cost over £80m
  • why? serious floods in 1947 - cope with sudden increase in discharge of the Thames
  • stopped flooding of 5000 homes, 12500 people, 700 businesses and M4
  • efficient, reduced flooding
  • however water moves quicker so properties below point where Channel rejoins the Thames have now been flooded for the 1st time (Datchet)
  • ^probably due to poor management of other channels
82
Q

What is soft engineering?

A

Involves adapting to flood risks and allowing natural processes to deal with rainwater

83
Q

Examples of soft engineering?

A
  • flood abatement
  • flood proofing
  • flood plain zoning
  • flood prediction and warning
  • washlands
  • flood tubes
84
Q

How does flood abatement work in terms of river management?

A

Change the land use upstream e.g. by planting trees

85
Q

Comment on flood abatement in terms of river management?

A

• slows down the flow of rainwater into rivers e.g. by increasing interception

86
Q

How does flood proofing work in terms of river management?

A

Design new buildings, or alter existing ones, to reduce the flood risk

87
Q

Comment on flood proofing in terms of river management?

A

Expensive to alter existing buildings

88
Q

How does flood plain zoning work in terms of river management?

A

Different uses are allowed, depending on the distance from the river

grazing for animals - playing fields - industry - housing - hospitals

89
Q

Comment on flood plain zoning in terms of river management?

A
  • land close to river may only be used for grazing

* land furthest from the river is used for hospitals, old people’s homes etc

90
Q

How does flood prediction and warning work in terms of river management?

A

The EA monitors river levels and rainfall. They use this information, plus weather forecasts, to predict flooding

91
Q

Comment on flooding prediction and warning in terms of river management?

A

They issue warnings and produce flood maps which show areas at risk from flooding

92
Q

How do wash lands work in terms of river management?

A

These are parts of the flood plain that are allowed to flood

93
Q

Comment on wash lands in terms of river management?

A

Wash lands can’t be built on. They’re usually used for sports pitches or nature reserves

94
Q

How do flood tubes work in terms of river management?

A

Blown up to form flood defences, weighted at the bottom

95
Q

Why does the river tees need a catchment flood management plan in the upper course?

A
  • 1% of residential and 2% of commercial properties are at risk with a 1% chance of occurring in any year
  • after heavy rainfall or snowmelt river level rises and can cause ‘tees roll’ - a 1m height in 15 mins
  • rainfall, steep slopes and little infiltration
96
Q

Why does the river tees need a catchment flood management plan in the middle catchment?

A
  • gentle gradient and valley sides open to reveal wide, flat floodplains
  • Croft-on-Tees - about 390 people at risk, 6% of residential and 13% of commercial properties
  • A1 and A66
  • electricity stations
97
Q

Why does the river tees need a catchment flood management plan in the lower course?

A
  • meanders - wide flood plains
  • major population centres
  • yarm- jan 1995 & neasham 1771 = regular flood events surrounding meanders
  • small communities at risk - 4% of residential and 28% of commercial properties (£2 mil property damage)
  • 2012 & 2015 serious floods in Stockton - 3m deep, 240 properties, 3% of homes, 5% of businesses at risk
98
Q

Management schemes used in the upper course of the river tees?

A
  • informing people, flood watch (soft engineering)
  • building dams like Cow Green, to hold back flow in reservoir (hard engineering)
  • in Barnard Castle weirs slow down the flow (hard engineering)
  • tree planting in Barnard Castle (soft engineering)
99
Q

Management schemes used in the middle catchment of the river tees?

A
  • avoid building on a flood plain (soft engineering)
  • install temperature flood walls for Crofton-on-Tees (hard engineering)
  • river Skerne near Darlington - tributary originally built concrete walls and deepened river but this caused flooding downstream - concrete was removed and the floodplain was put back with natural wasteland (hard engineering)
100
Q

Cost of management schemes in the middle catchment of the river tees?

A

temp. flood walls - £1 mil

101
Q

Impact of management schemes used in the middle catchment of the river tees?

A
  • some houses may not be protected because of cost e.g. Croft-on-Tees so need sandbags
  • now have a great place for recreation - close to residential area in Darlington
102
Q

Management schemes used in the lower course of the river tees?

A

• Lustrum Beck which flows into Tees near Stockton, and Yarm:

  • reinforced concrete walls with flood gates (hard engineering)
  • install levées to contain river and placed gabions (hard engineering)
  • planting scheme (soft engineering)

• Tees Barrage - stop incoming tide from moving up the Tees and preventing storm flow, regulate river flow

103
Q

Cost of management schemes in the lower course of the river tees?

A
  • new flood scheme at Lustrum Beck £1.2-2.1 mil

* Tees barrage - £54 mil

104
Q

Impact of new flood scheme used in the lower course of the river tees?

A
  • stop the £2 mil property damage, saved up to 150 properties
  • provides access for people and vehicles
  • gabions protect walls and embankments from erosion
  • surrounding wildlife can thrive
  • reduced flood risk to Yarm
105
Q

Impact of the Tees barrage in the lower course of the river tees?

A
  • water is fresher and cleaner - doesn’t mix with tidal salt water in lower estuary
  • reduces risk of flooding at high tide/during storm surge
  • £500 mil investment in offices, educational, leisure and shopping facilities - attracted jobs
  • regeneration of derelict land along river side
  • recreation - international canoeing location
106
Q

Which strategy (hard v soft) dominates down the tees? Why?

A

Hard engineering dominated because the EA need quick solutions to stop further property damage due to flooding

107
Q

Are the EA getting it right in terms of the river tees catchment flood management plan?

A
  • they are effectively reducing flooding of the tees
  • need to look at more soft methods - longer term and less expensive
  • if government cut EA’s budget then hey will not be able to maintain and build more structural defences
108
Q

How do tributaries affect erosion downstream?

A
  • increase the volume of water which increases kinetic energy, velocity and thus erosive power
  • cuts a much deeper channel with increased distance downstream
109
Q

Why does a channel become wider downstream?

A

Less steep gradient, so less vertical erosion

110
Q

How are interlocking spurs formed?

A

Fluvial erosion

111
Q

What is lag time?

A

Time difference between peak rainfall and peak discharge

112
Q

What is the rising limb?

A

Shows how quickly discharge rises after a rainstorm

113
Q

What is the falling limb?

A

Shows reduced discharge after the main effect of runoff has passed

114
Q

What is bank full discharge?

A

the level of discharge above which flooding

will occur as the river will burst its banks

115
Q

What is a flood-relief/bypass channel?

A

Back up channel for a river that frequently floods

AQA GCSE Geography (9-1) (7 decks)

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