AQA Geography Paper 1: Physical landscapes in the UK
3.1.3.1 UK physical landscapes
Most of the upland areas are found in the North and West of the UK. The South
and East have mostly lowlands.
The Tees-Exe line divides the colder and wetter North and West from the warmer
and drier South and East.
Rivers flow from uplands to lowlands and in the case of the British Isles this
means that it flows from the centre towards the coastline/ the edge.
3.1.3.2 Coastal landscapes in the UK
When the wind blows over the sea, it creates waves. The size and energy of the
wave depends on certain factors:
The fetch – how far the wave has travelled
The strength of the wind
How long the wind has been blowing for
Destructive waves have a weak swash and a strong backwash. The strong
backwash removes sediment from the beach. The waves are steep and close
together and the waves are high in proportion to their length. They are tall
breaker waves (it breaks downwards with great force).
Constructive waves have a strong swash and a weak backwash. The strong
swash brings sediments to build up the beach. The backwash is not strong
enough to remove the sediment. The waves are low in proportion to their length
and further apart.
When a wave reaches the shore, the water that rushes up the beach is known as
the swash.
The water that flows back towards the sea is known as the backwash.
Coastal processes
Exposes rocks along the coastline can be broken down by the processes of
weathering.
Freeze-thaw weathering is mechanical weathering and occurs when rocks
are porous or permeable.
1) Water enters cracks in the rock.
2) When temperatures drop, the water freezes and expands causing the
crack to widen.
3) The ice melts and water makes its way deeper into the cracks.
4) The process repeats itself until the rock splits entirely.
Biological weathering occurs when roots burrow down, weakening the
structure of the rock until it breaks away.
1) Plant roots can get into small cracks in the rocks.
, 2) As the roots grow, the cracks become larger.
3) This causes small pieces of rock to break away.
Chemical weathering occurs when rocks such as limestone or chalk, which
make up a coastline, become dissolved by the (weak) acid in the rainwater or
seawater.
Mass movement is the downhill movement of weathered material under the
force of gravity. The speed can vary considerably.
Rockfall occurs when bits of rock fall off the cliff face, usually due to freeze-thaw
weathering.
Sliding occurs after periods of heavy rain when loose surface material becomes
saturated and the extra weight causes the material to become unstable and
move rapidly downhill, sometimes in an almost fluid state.
Slumping is a rapid mass movement, which involves a whole segment of the
cliff moving down-slope along a saturated shear-plane or line of weakness.
Hydraulic power (action) is the process by which breaking waves compress
pockets of air in cracks in a cliff. The pressure may cause the crack to widen,
breaking off rock.
Abrasion (or corrasion) is the wearing away of cliffs by sediment flung by
breaking waves.
Attrition is erosion caused when rocks and boulders transported by waves
bump into each other and break up into smaller pieces.
Saltation occurs when stones and pebbles are bounced along by waves.
Solution (or corrosion) occurs where chemical erosion is caused by the
dissolving of rocks and minerals by sea water.
Suspension is where small particles are carried in sea water, e.g. sands, silts
and clays, which can make the water look cloudy.
Traction is where large rocks are rolled along by the waves.
Longshore drift is the zigzag movement of sediment along a shore caused by
waves going up the beach at an oblique angle (swash) and returning at right
angles (backwash). This results in the gradual movement of beach materials
along the coast.
Deposition occurs when material being transported by the sea is dropped due
to the sea losing energy. It can occur on coastlines that have constructive waves.
Factors leading to deposition include:
Waves starting to slow down and lose energy.
Shallow water
Sheltered areas, e.g. bays.
Little or no wind
,Erosional landforms
Headlands and bays occur when there are alternating bands of hard and soft
rocks (a discordant coastline) running perpendicular to incoming waves.
Differential erosion occurs where the less resistant rocks experience most
erosion through hydraulic action and abrasion. At first the soft rock is eroded
faster, and this forms an inlet. As the inlet continues to erode it curves inwards,
and a bay is formed, usually with a beach. The hard rock is left protruding out to
sea as a headland. This causes the waves to slow down and break earlier in
front of the headlands causing wave refraction. This causes the highest energy
waves to concentrate on the headlands, leaving them vulnerable to the forces of
erosion. The low-energy waves enter the sheltered bays, and these constructive
waves allow sediment to accumulate on the beaches through the swash and
backwash.
Headlands and bays can form in areas of concordant geology. The geological
structure is rocks of different levels of resistance organised in rows parallel to the
coastline. As a result of the more resistant rock being located on the coastline,
marine erosion slowly attacks the faults or lines of weakness in the rock
until, through hydraulic action and abrasion, a small hollow is formed in the
rock called a cave. Overtime, the cave will be eroded further, especially during
storm conditions, causing it to be enlarged and fully breached, forming an arch
through the resistant rock. As the waves pass through a narrow arch of resistant
rock into an increasingly large bay behind, they spread out causing wave
diffraction to form a semi-circular shaped bay.
A headland’s typical features: A bay’s typical features
Cliffs along its sides A wide, open entrance from the sea
Projections out to sea A roughly semi-circular shape
Longer than it is wide Land lower than the surrounding
headlands
Geology of resistant rock (Maybe) a beach
, Cliffs are vertical or steeply sloping rocks. Tall and steep cliffs usually form in
resistant rock types, such as granite, chalk, or limestone. Less resistant rock
types, such as clay, are susceptible to slumping and tend to produce more gently
sloping cliffs.
If the waves reach the base of the cliff at high tide, the cliff will likely have a
wave-cut notch: an indentation at the base of the cliff. This notch is formed due
to marine erosion: abrasion occurs as sediment transported by the waves are
thrown at the base of the cliff when the wave breaks; hydraulic action occurs
as the waves force water into faults and cracks in the cliff causing an increase in
pressure on the rock; and corrosion can occur in rocks containing calcium
carbonate (e.g. chalk and limestone) when acids in the seawater dissolve the
rock. These erosional processes take place at high tide. Eventually, the wave-
cut notch may become so large that the cliff above is left unsupported and
collapses under gravity. This process will continue over a long period of time,
forming a wave-cut platform, which is a flat are where the cliff once stood. The
cliff continues to retreat.
3.1.3.1 UK physical landscapes
Most of the upland areas are found in the North and West of the UK. The South
and East have mostly lowlands.
The Tees-Exe line divides the colder and wetter North and West from the warmer
and drier South and East.
Rivers flow from uplands to lowlands and in the case of the British Isles this
means that it flows from the centre towards the coastline/ the edge.
3.1.3.2 Coastal landscapes in the UK
When the wind blows over the sea, it creates waves. The size and energy of the
wave depends on certain factors:
The fetch – how far the wave has travelled
The strength of the wind
How long the wind has been blowing for
Destructive waves have a weak swash and a strong backwash. The strong
backwash removes sediment from the beach. The waves are steep and close
together and the waves are high in proportion to their length. They are tall
breaker waves (it breaks downwards with great force).
Constructive waves have a strong swash and a weak backwash. The strong
swash brings sediments to build up the beach. The backwash is not strong
enough to remove the sediment. The waves are low in proportion to their length
and further apart.
When a wave reaches the shore, the water that rushes up the beach is known as
the swash.
The water that flows back towards the sea is known as the backwash.
Coastal processes
Exposes rocks along the coastline can be broken down by the processes of
weathering.
Freeze-thaw weathering is mechanical weathering and occurs when rocks
are porous or permeable.
1) Water enters cracks in the rock.
2) When temperatures drop, the water freezes and expands causing the
crack to widen.
3) The ice melts and water makes its way deeper into the cracks.
4) The process repeats itself until the rock splits entirely.
Biological weathering occurs when roots burrow down, weakening the
structure of the rock until it breaks away.
1) Plant roots can get into small cracks in the rocks.
, 2) As the roots grow, the cracks become larger.
3) This causes small pieces of rock to break away.
Chemical weathering occurs when rocks such as limestone or chalk, which
make up a coastline, become dissolved by the (weak) acid in the rainwater or
seawater.
Mass movement is the downhill movement of weathered material under the
force of gravity. The speed can vary considerably.
Rockfall occurs when bits of rock fall off the cliff face, usually due to freeze-thaw
weathering.
Sliding occurs after periods of heavy rain when loose surface material becomes
saturated and the extra weight causes the material to become unstable and
move rapidly downhill, sometimes in an almost fluid state.
Slumping is a rapid mass movement, which involves a whole segment of the
cliff moving down-slope along a saturated shear-plane or line of weakness.
Hydraulic power (action) is the process by which breaking waves compress
pockets of air in cracks in a cliff. The pressure may cause the crack to widen,
breaking off rock.
Abrasion (or corrasion) is the wearing away of cliffs by sediment flung by
breaking waves.
Attrition is erosion caused when rocks and boulders transported by waves
bump into each other and break up into smaller pieces.
Saltation occurs when stones and pebbles are bounced along by waves.
Solution (or corrosion) occurs where chemical erosion is caused by the
dissolving of rocks and minerals by sea water.
Suspension is where small particles are carried in sea water, e.g. sands, silts
and clays, which can make the water look cloudy.
Traction is where large rocks are rolled along by the waves.
Longshore drift is the zigzag movement of sediment along a shore caused by
waves going up the beach at an oblique angle (swash) and returning at right
angles (backwash). This results in the gradual movement of beach materials
along the coast.
Deposition occurs when material being transported by the sea is dropped due
to the sea losing energy. It can occur on coastlines that have constructive waves.
Factors leading to deposition include:
Waves starting to slow down and lose energy.
Shallow water
Sheltered areas, e.g. bays.
Little or no wind
,Erosional landforms
Headlands and bays occur when there are alternating bands of hard and soft
rocks (a discordant coastline) running perpendicular to incoming waves.
Differential erosion occurs where the less resistant rocks experience most
erosion through hydraulic action and abrasion. At first the soft rock is eroded
faster, and this forms an inlet. As the inlet continues to erode it curves inwards,
and a bay is formed, usually with a beach. The hard rock is left protruding out to
sea as a headland. This causes the waves to slow down and break earlier in
front of the headlands causing wave refraction. This causes the highest energy
waves to concentrate on the headlands, leaving them vulnerable to the forces of
erosion. The low-energy waves enter the sheltered bays, and these constructive
waves allow sediment to accumulate on the beaches through the swash and
backwash.
Headlands and bays can form in areas of concordant geology. The geological
structure is rocks of different levels of resistance organised in rows parallel to the
coastline. As a result of the more resistant rock being located on the coastline,
marine erosion slowly attacks the faults or lines of weakness in the rock
until, through hydraulic action and abrasion, a small hollow is formed in the
rock called a cave. Overtime, the cave will be eroded further, especially during
storm conditions, causing it to be enlarged and fully breached, forming an arch
through the resistant rock. As the waves pass through a narrow arch of resistant
rock into an increasingly large bay behind, they spread out causing wave
diffraction to form a semi-circular shaped bay.
A headland’s typical features: A bay’s typical features
Cliffs along its sides A wide, open entrance from the sea
Projections out to sea A roughly semi-circular shape
Longer than it is wide Land lower than the surrounding
headlands
Geology of resistant rock (Maybe) a beach
, Cliffs are vertical or steeply sloping rocks. Tall and steep cliffs usually form in
resistant rock types, such as granite, chalk, or limestone. Less resistant rock
types, such as clay, are susceptible to slumping and tend to produce more gently
sloping cliffs.
If the waves reach the base of the cliff at high tide, the cliff will likely have a
wave-cut notch: an indentation at the base of the cliff. This notch is formed due
to marine erosion: abrasion occurs as sediment transported by the waves are
thrown at the base of the cliff when the wave breaks; hydraulic action occurs
as the waves force water into faults and cracks in the cliff causing an increase in
pressure on the rock; and corrosion can occur in rocks containing calcium
carbonate (e.g. chalk and limestone) when acids in the seawater dissolve the
rock. These erosional processes take place at high tide. Eventually, the wave-
cut notch may become so large that the cliff above is left unsupported and
collapses under gravity. This process will continue over a long period of time,
forming a wave-cut platform, which is a flat are where the cliff once stood. The
cliff continues to retreat.
