UK Physical landscapes- Glacial landscapes Flashcards
Case study for topic
(used for both human and physical)
- Lake District, Cumbria
Most common land use in UK
- Pastures (feeding cows and sheep)
-28% of land use
Least abundant land use in UK
- Houses and Gardens
-5%
What does Relief of land mean
- Refers to highest and lowest elevation points in an area
What does Topography mean
- The natural features of land, especially the shape of the surface
What does altitude mean
- Height above sea level
What does land use mean
- Purpose of function of land
What is the Tees-exe line?
- Divides North West uplands from South East Lowlands
Why do glacial landscapes exist in the uk?
- Glacial periods 20,000 years ago meant UK would have been largely covered in ice
-when large glaciers flow downhill it shapes these ‘glacial’ landscapes
Why do interglacial/glacial periods happen
- Changes in Earth’s orbit
Which areas of the UK were covered in ice?
- North West of England, All of Scotland
Formation of a glacier process
1- Snow stays in same area year round, slowly transforming into ice
2- Each year, new layers of snow bury and compress proves layers
3- Compression forces snow to re-crystallise, forming small grains
4- Grains grow larger and air pockets between them get smaller- snow compacts and gets denser
5- After about 2 winters, snow is in a middle state between snow and glacier ice (firn/neve)
6- After about 100 years, a glacier is formed
What is weathering
- The breakdown of rocks in-site( stay in same place) by the action of rainwater, extremes of temp and biological activity
- NOT the same as erosion
What is freeze-thaw weathering
- When rainwater fills cracks in rock on hills/mountains
- At night, temp drops and water freezes, causing it to expand by 10%
- During day, temp rises and ice thaws out into water
- Process repeats and rocks break apart
What is glacial erosion
- The wearing away and removal of land by flowing water, ice or wind
2 main processes of glacial erosion
- Plucking
- Abrasion
What is plucking
- When a glacier moves over an area of rock, and due to friction, the bottom of the glacier melts and water seeps into cracks in the rocks.
- Water refreezes, and rock effectively becomes part of the glacier and is ripped out when glacier moves forward
What is Abrasion
- Where rocks at the bottom of the glacier act like sandpaper, grinding over the bedrock
- causes smooth, polished rocks OR sharp grooves called striations
What is glacial till
- Debris that is transported along with the glacier
What is subglacial material
- Material from bedrock below that is carried under the ice
What is englacial material
- Material that falls into crevasses in ice and is transported inside the ice
What is supraglacial material
- Material that falls onto the ice from surrounding mountain sides
What is glacial till when it gets deposited
- Moraine
What is sediment carried by meltwater rivers called
Outwash
What is bulldozing
- When a glacier moves forwards, moving piles of rock debris in front of it to create a high ridge called moraine
- The furthest advance of a glacier is marked by Terminal Moraine
Why does glacial deposition take place?
- Glaciers carry ice far from regions of snowfall- as they move to lowland areas, the climate becomes warmer, causing meltwater rivers to carry outwash towards the ocean
What is a land form
An individual feature on Earths surface caused by processes, eg. erosion or deposition
What are corries
- Bowl shaped hollows with a steep back wall and ridges, forming an armchair shape around a hollow
What is a tarn
- A lake that can often form inside a corrie
How are carries formed
- Snow accumulates in a high up depression, where is compresses into glacial ice
- ice begins to slowly slide downhill
- plucking occurs at backwall, making it steeper
- freeze thaw weathering causes scree to get incorporated into glacier
- glacier contines to slide downhill, and abrasion causes the base of the corrie to be worn away, making it
- less erosion at front of glacier, so lip forms
- when ice melts, tarn forms
What is an arete
- A narrow, steep ridge between the back walls of two corries
What is a pyramidal peak
- A steep sided peak where three corries form back to back
What are ribbon lakes
- Long and thin lakes that collect from meltwater and rainwater
Why do ribbon lakes form
- Glacier moves over area of soft rock, which it can easily erode, causing a rock basin
- ribbon lake is dammed by a rock bar, from harder rock which the glacier was unable to erode
How do glacial troughs/U shaped valleys form
- Glaciers descend down old, V shaped river valleys, turning them into steep sided U shaped valleys
- This is due to plucking underneath the glacier, and abrasion of these rocks rubbing against the ground, and bulldozing at the front
What are truncated spurs
- Interlocking spurs that a glacier has eroded, causing the interlocking land to be cut off and become truncated
How do hanging valleys form
- Main glacier erodes deeper and wider than smaller, tributary glaciers
- Meaning that main valley is deeper and wider, and the tributary glacier’s valley is hanging high above main valley
What is moraine
- Accumulations of rock debris
What is lateral moraine
- Moraine that runs along edges of a glacial trough close to valley side
What is medial moraine
- When two lateral moraines from two different glaciers meet, forming a large ridge of rock debris
What is ground moraine
- Material that gets lodged and deposited underneath the glacier
What is terminal moraine
- Ridge of material that gets bulldozed by snout of glacier
What is a drumlin
- A hill made of glacial till deposited by a moving glacier, usually elongated or oval in shape
What are erratics
- Rocks which have been transported and deposited by a glacier a long way from their source region
How are drumlins formed
- material is deposited under glacier as ground moraine
- the moraine is sculpted to form drumlin shapes by further ice movements
Rock type in lake district
- Volcanic rock
Landform NOT found at lake district
- Pyramidal peak
Named arete in lake district
- Striding edge
Named hanging valley in lake district
- Griseldale
What activities take place on glacial moraine at Lake district
- Farming- terminal moraine used as boundries
Where can drumlins be found in L.D
- Swindale
Where have some erratics at L.D come from
- Scotland
Key physical characteristics of lake district
- Largest of UK’s 15 national parks
- Landscape formed 18,000 years ago
How many visit Lake District each year
- 18 Million people
How many people live in the lake district
- 41,000
How much do tourists spend in Lake District yearly
- £1.2 Billion
Economic activities in Lake District
- Tourism
- Farming
- Forestry
- Quarrying
What attracts tourists to Lake District
- Natural beauty
- Opportunity for walking and hiking- adventure
- Many lakes allows for sailing, fishing and cruises
- heritage/history
Why is Lake district good for farming
- Lots of pastures for Sheep/cattle
-In summer, they bring livestock up into hills, and in winter they bring them down into Valley- regenerative farming, which encourages biodiversity
Why is lake district good for forestry
- Lots of space
- Lots of rain- tree growth
- Many of the trees are invasive species, which are ok to cut down
How does forestry create economic opportunities
- People needed to drive machinery
- people needed to drive lorries to pick up timber
Why is Lake District good for quarrying
- Lots of gravel, slate and sand
-in demand as used in construction
Problems with quarrying in Lake District
- ruins landscape
-may have to be stopped soon as it is a World Heritage site
What us a honeypot site
- A place of natural or human interest that attracts people in large numbers
example of honeypot site in Lake District
- Lake windermere
What features make lake windermere a honeypot site
- Bike Hire
- Boat hire
- Car parks, information centre, toilets
- museums
- transport infrastructure
Examples of tourist activities at Windermere
- World of Beatrix Potter- attracts older people
- Falcon cry- attracts families
- Private sailing experience- attracts young couples
Examples of other tourist activities at other parts of Lake District
-Ambleside- Mountain bike hire available
- Keswick- ‘Alpacaly ever after’ Pay for going on 1hr walk with an Alpaca
Impacts of tourism at Lake District
- Traffic congestion
- High demand for properties
- Pressure on local transport
- Environmental damage
Details of traffic congestion in Lake District
- Social/environmental impact
- 90% of people who travel to Lake District go by car- small roads lead to high congestion
-annoying for locals- conflict
Ways to manage traffic congestion
- Improving accessibility of local transport
- Make more accessible by bike
- road signs to warn drivers of small/unsuitable roads
Issues with managing traffic congestion
- Building new roads is NOT an option
Details of high demand for properties
- Economic impact
- People buy houses which they only use in summer/other holidays- left empty for rest of year, yet locals looking to buy houses forced to rent
How to manage high demand for properties
- Building more properties
- instead of buying houses and leaving it empty, use Air B and B
Issues with managing property demand
- Lack of space to build new housing
Details of pressure on local transport
- Social impact
- locals who need local transport to commute are unable to due to many tourists occupying public transport
How to manage pressure on local transport
- £7 million given by government to improve local transport
- Bus routes from beginning and end of popular walking routes back to car parks
Issues with managing local transport
- Roads are small- getting more buses etc may cause more problems
Name of arete in L.D
- Striding edge
Name of Tarn in L.D
- Red tarn
Name of ribbon lake in L.D
- Windermere
Name of erratic in L.D
- Bowder stone
