UK's Evolving Physical Landscape Flashcards
Give 3 ways that the UK’s past tectonic processes has shaped the UK landscape.
Active volcanoes
Plate movements
Plate collisions
What are the 3 main types of sedimentary rock in the UK?
- Carboniferous limestone
- Chalk
- Clay
How has plate collisions affected the UK landscape?
The UK was much closer to a plate margin 520 million years ago.
Active volcanoes at this boundary erupted magma onto the UK landscape, which then cooled to form igneous rocks, such as granite.
How has plate movements affected the UK landscape?
Approzimately 300 million years ago, the UK was in the tropics. Sea levels were higher, so carboniferous limestone formed in the warm and shallow seas.
These areas are now found in the uplands of the Peak District, South Wales & south-west England.
The lowland chalk and clay landscapes of southern England also formed in the shallow seas and swamps at this point in time.
Mountain ranges (e.g. Scottish Highlands, Lake District) were formed by rocks folding and uplifting as a result of plate collisions.
These collisions also generated intense heat and pressure which led to the formation of hard metamorphic rocks in northern Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Slate is hard and resistant but, because it forms in layers, it can easily be split into thin slabs.
Schist is made up of bigger crystals and also splits easily into small flakes.
These rocks often form upland landscapes with waterlogged and acidic soils because of their resistance and impermeability.
Limestone is heavily affected by carbonation weathering, which happens mainly along joints and can end up creating some incredible features, such as limestone pavements and caverns.
Because limestone is permeable, there are also dry valleys and resurgent rivers in limestone landscapes.
Chalk, which is harder than clay, forms escarpments in UK lowlands and cliffs on UK coastlines.
Because chalk is permeable, water flows within it before emerging as a spring where the chalk meets impermeable rock.
Clay forms wide and flat valleys because it is easily eroded.
There are lots of water features in clay landscapes because the rock is impermeable and so water flows on the surface.
Granite is very hard and resistant and so forms upland landscapes.
Granite has lots of unevenly spread joints.
Fewer joints mean slower erosion and so these areas can end up sticking out as tors.
Moorlands are created on top of granite because of its impermeability.
Moorlands are large areas of waterlogged and acidic soil.
Which rock type commonly forms wide, flat valleys?
Clay.
How has the UK’s past glacial periods and ice ages affected the UK landscape?
During the last 2.6 million years, the UK has experienced many glacial periods. In some of these periods, an ice sheet covered large parts of the UK.
Glaciation has heavily influenced the UK’s physical landscape through erosion, deposition, and transportation of material.
At the end of glacial periods, rivers became much bigger and more powerful as melted ice flowed into them. This meant that they eroded the landscape with great force.
When the ice melted, distinctive glacial landforms (e.g. hanging valleys, truncated spurs, glacial troughs etc.) were left behind.
What 3 human landscape activities have shaped the UK landscape?
- Settlements
- Agriculture
- Forestry
How has forestry affected the UK’s landscape?
The UK used to be mainly deciduous woodland, but now little remains.
Large areas of deciduous woodland have been replaced by coniferous forests, which are managed for their timber. These forests look unnatural and, once felled, the landscape looks bare.
Some attempts are being made to replant deciduous woodland and return UK landscapes back to their natural state.
How have settlements affected the UK’s landscape?
Many factors have influenced where settlements have been built:
* A good water supply, easy defence, good shelter, bridging points over rivers and resource availability.
As settlements have grown, landscapes have changed considerably:
* Drainage patterns have been affected by concrete.
* Some rivers have been diverted through underground channels, others have been straightened or had embankments built.
How has agriculture affected the UK’s landscape?
Forest has been cleared to make space for agriculture.
Hedgerows and walls have been installed to mark out field boundaries.
Drainage ditches have been installed in some places to make the land dry enough to be farmed.
