AQA A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY (7037) | INDEPENDENT PRACTICE RESOURCE
AQA A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY
150 Original Multiple-Choice Practice Questions
Correct Answers • Explanations • 2026 Revision
Qualification: AQA A-level Geography (7037)
Resource type: Independent revision question bank
Format: 150 single-best-answer questions, four options per question, answer key and explanations
Important note
This is an independently written practice resource aligned broadly to the published AQA A-level Geography
7037 topic structure. It is not an official AQA paper, does not reproduce a live or past examination, and is not
an official “Grade A script.” No grade can be guaranteed from completing it. Always check your teacher’s
selected optional topics and the current AQA specification.
How to use this guide
Attempt the questions before looking at the answer key.
Choose one best answer (A, B, C or D) for each item.
Use the explanations to review the underlying geographical concept, then revisit topics where you made
mistakes.
The AQA course includes extended written responses and an individual fieldwork investigation; multiple-
choice practice does not replace those skills.
Original practice questions • Not an official AQA examination paper
, AQA A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY (7037) | INDEPENDENT PRACTICE RESOURCE
Contents
1. 1. Water and carbon cycles (Questions 1-15)
2. 2. Hot desert systems and landscapes (Questions 16-21)
3. 3. Coastal systems and landscapes (Questions 22-27)
4. 4. Glacial systems and landscapes (Questions 28-33)
5. 5. Hazards (Questions 34-47)
6. 6. Ecosystems under stress (Questions 48-60)
7. 7. Global systems and global governance (Questions 61-75)
8. 8. Changing places (Questions 76-89)
9. 9. Contemporary urban environments (Questions 90-102)
10. 10. Population and the environment (Questions 103-115)
11. 11. Resource security (Questions 116-129)
12. 12. Fieldwork, data and geographical skills (Questions 130-150)
Coverage note: This bank samples the listed physical and human geography options as well as fieldwork and
geographical skills. The AQA assessment asks students to answer only the optional sections they have studied,
so use the sections relevant to your own course.
Original practice questions • Not an official AQA examination paper
, AQA A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY (7037) | INDEPENDENT PRACTICE RESOURCE
Part 1 — Questions
Select one best answer for each question. The answer key and explanations are provided in Part 2.
Correct answers are highlighted in light green and labelled [CORRECT ANSWER].
1. Water and carbon cycles
1. Which statement best describes a drainage basin?
A. A closed system with no inputs or outputs
B. A system in which water exists only underground
C. A system controlled entirely by human activity
D. An open system that receives inputs and transfers water to outputs [CORRECT ANSWER]
2. Which is an input to the drainage-basin water cycle?
A. River discharge
B. Evapotranspiration
C. Precipitation [CORRECT ANSWER]
D. Groundwater flow out of the basin
3. What is interception?
A. Precipitation temporarily held on vegetation or other surfaces [CORRECT ANSWER]
B. Water moving through rock pores
C. Water flowing over a channel bed
D. Water vapour changing directly into ice
4. Which process moves water from the ground surface into soil?
A. Condensation
B. Infiltration [CORRECT ANSWER]
C. Transpiration
D. Channel flow
5. Which statement correctly distinguishes percolation from infiltration?
A. Percolation is rainfall; infiltration is river flow
B. Percolation occurs only in the atmosphere
C. They are two names for condensation
D. Percolation is downward movement through soil or rock, often after infiltration [CORRECT ANSWER]
6. On a storm hydrograph, what does the rising limb represent?
A. The period when river discharge is increasing [CORRECT ANSWER]
B. The time before any rainfall occurs
C. The period when discharge is at its minimum
D. The long-term average annual rainfall
7. Which combination is most likely to produce a short lag time on a storm hydrograph?
A. Permeable bedrock, dense vegetation and gentle slopes
B. A dry period followed by low rainfall on deep soils
C. Urban surfaces, steep slopes and intense rainfall [CORRECT ANSWER]
D. A large forested basin with extensive infiltration
8. What is throughfall?
A. Water that drains down plant stems
B. Precipitation that reaches the ground by passing through gaps in vegetation or dripping from leaves
[CORRECT ANSWER]
C. Water lost from leaves by transpiration
D. Water stored permanently in deep aquifers
Original practice questions • Not an official AQA examination paper
, AQA A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY (7037) | INDEPENDENT PRACTICE RESOURCE
9. Which is a major long-term carbon store?
A. The atmosphere only
B. The lithosphere, including sedimentary rocks and fossil carbon [CORRECT ANSWER]
C. Cloud droplets
D. The leaves of annual crops only
10. Which process transfers carbon from the atmosphere into plant biomass?
A. Combustion
B. Respiration
C. Photosynthesis [CORRECT ANSWER]
D. Volcanic outgassing
11. How does decomposition affect the carbon cycle?
A. It can release carbon dioxide and transfer carbon into soils [CORRECT ANSWER]
B. It permanently removes all carbon from the biosphere
C. It converts all carbon into oxygen
D. It stops nutrient cycling
12. Which is an example of a positive feedback involving climate and the carbon cycle?
A. Cooling reduces evaporation and therefore always ends climate change
B. More vegetation absorbs carbon and always causes immediate warming
C. Ocean uptake of carbon always increases without limit
D. Permafrost thaw releases greenhouse gases, which cause further warming and thaw [CORRECT ANSWER]
13. What does dynamic equilibrium mean in a geographical system?
A. The system never changes
B. All stores are empty
C. Inputs and outputs remain balanced over time, although stores and flows may fluctuate [CORRECT
ANSWER]
D. Human activity is absent
14. How can urbanisation increase surface runoff?
A. By increasing infiltration through all paved surfaces
B. By adding roofs and roads that reduce infiltration and speed water transfer [CORRECT ANSWER]
C. By replacing impermeable surfaces with forests
D. By stopping precipitation
15. If precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration and river discharge for a period, what is likely to
happen to basin water storage, all else being equal?
A. Storage must fall to zero
B. Carbon storage automatically doubles
C. The basin becomes a closed system
D. Storage is likely to increase [CORRECT ANSWER]
2. Hot desert systems and landscapes
16. What is the most useful general description of aridity?
A. A condition where water supply is low relative to atmospheric demand and potential evapotranspiration
[CORRECT ANSWER]
B. A place with no wind
C. A place where temperatures are below freezing all year
D. An area with daily rainfall
Original practice questions • Not an official AQA examination paper
AQA A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY
150 Original Multiple-Choice Practice Questions
Correct Answers • Explanations • 2026 Revision
Qualification: AQA A-level Geography (7037)
Resource type: Independent revision question bank
Format: 150 single-best-answer questions, four options per question, answer key and explanations
Important note
This is an independently written practice resource aligned broadly to the published AQA A-level Geography
7037 topic structure. It is not an official AQA paper, does not reproduce a live or past examination, and is not
an official “Grade A script.” No grade can be guaranteed from completing it. Always check your teacher’s
selected optional topics and the current AQA specification.
How to use this guide
Attempt the questions before looking at the answer key.
Choose one best answer (A, B, C or D) for each item.
Use the explanations to review the underlying geographical concept, then revisit topics where you made
mistakes.
The AQA course includes extended written responses and an individual fieldwork investigation; multiple-
choice practice does not replace those skills.
Original practice questions • Not an official AQA examination paper
, AQA A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY (7037) | INDEPENDENT PRACTICE RESOURCE
Contents
1. 1. Water and carbon cycles (Questions 1-15)
2. 2. Hot desert systems and landscapes (Questions 16-21)
3. 3. Coastal systems and landscapes (Questions 22-27)
4. 4. Glacial systems and landscapes (Questions 28-33)
5. 5. Hazards (Questions 34-47)
6. 6. Ecosystems under stress (Questions 48-60)
7. 7. Global systems and global governance (Questions 61-75)
8. 8. Changing places (Questions 76-89)
9. 9. Contemporary urban environments (Questions 90-102)
10. 10. Population and the environment (Questions 103-115)
11. 11. Resource security (Questions 116-129)
12. 12. Fieldwork, data and geographical skills (Questions 130-150)
Coverage note: This bank samples the listed physical and human geography options as well as fieldwork and
geographical skills. The AQA assessment asks students to answer only the optional sections they have studied,
so use the sections relevant to your own course.
Original practice questions • Not an official AQA examination paper
, AQA A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY (7037) | INDEPENDENT PRACTICE RESOURCE
Part 1 — Questions
Select one best answer for each question. The answer key and explanations are provided in Part 2.
Correct answers are highlighted in light green and labelled [CORRECT ANSWER].
1. Water and carbon cycles
1. Which statement best describes a drainage basin?
A. A closed system with no inputs or outputs
B. A system in which water exists only underground
C. A system controlled entirely by human activity
D. An open system that receives inputs and transfers water to outputs [CORRECT ANSWER]
2. Which is an input to the drainage-basin water cycle?
A. River discharge
B. Evapotranspiration
C. Precipitation [CORRECT ANSWER]
D. Groundwater flow out of the basin
3. What is interception?
A. Precipitation temporarily held on vegetation or other surfaces [CORRECT ANSWER]
B. Water moving through rock pores
C. Water flowing over a channel bed
D. Water vapour changing directly into ice
4. Which process moves water from the ground surface into soil?
A. Condensation
B. Infiltration [CORRECT ANSWER]
C. Transpiration
D. Channel flow
5. Which statement correctly distinguishes percolation from infiltration?
A. Percolation is rainfall; infiltration is river flow
B. Percolation occurs only in the atmosphere
C. They are two names for condensation
D. Percolation is downward movement through soil or rock, often after infiltration [CORRECT ANSWER]
6. On a storm hydrograph, what does the rising limb represent?
A. The period when river discharge is increasing [CORRECT ANSWER]
B. The time before any rainfall occurs
C. The period when discharge is at its minimum
D. The long-term average annual rainfall
7. Which combination is most likely to produce a short lag time on a storm hydrograph?
A. Permeable bedrock, dense vegetation and gentle slopes
B. A dry period followed by low rainfall on deep soils
C. Urban surfaces, steep slopes and intense rainfall [CORRECT ANSWER]
D. A large forested basin with extensive infiltration
8. What is throughfall?
A. Water that drains down plant stems
B. Precipitation that reaches the ground by passing through gaps in vegetation or dripping from leaves
[CORRECT ANSWER]
C. Water lost from leaves by transpiration
D. Water stored permanently in deep aquifers
Original practice questions • Not an official AQA examination paper
, AQA A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY (7037) | INDEPENDENT PRACTICE RESOURCE
9. Which is a major long-term carbon store?
A. The atmosphere only
B. The lithosphere, including sedimentary rocks and fossil carbon [CORRECT ANSWER]
C. Cloud droplets
D. The leaves of annual crops only
10. Which process transfers carbon from the atmosphere into plant biomass?
A. Combustion
B. Respiration
C. Photosynthesis [CORRECT ANSWER]
D. Volcanic outgassing
11. How does decomposition affect the carbon cycle?
A. It can release carbon dioxide and transfer carbon into soils [CORRECT ANSWER]
B. It permanently removes all carbon from the biosphere
C. It converts all carbon into oxygen
D. It stops nutrient cycling
12. Which is an example of a positive feedback involving climate and the carbon cycle?
A. Cooling reduces evaporation and therefore always ends climate change
B. More vegetation absorbs carbon and always causes immediate warming
C. Ocean uptake of carbon always increases without limit
D. Permafrost thaw releases greenhouse gases, which cause further warming and thaw [CORRECT ANSWER]
13. What does dynamic equilibrium mean in a geographical system?
A. The system never changes
B. All stores are empty
C. Inputs and outputs remain balanced over time, although stores and flows may fluctuate [CORRECT
ANSWER]
D. Human activity is absent
14. How can urbanisation increase surface runoff?
A. By increasing infiltration through all paved surfaces
B. By adding roofs and roads that reduce infiltration and speed water transfer [CORRECT ANSWER]
C. By replacing impermeable surfaces with forests
D. By stopping precipitation
15. If precipitation exceeds evapotranspiration and river discharge for a period, what is likely to
happen to basin water storage, all else being equal?
A. Storage must fall to zero
B. Carbon storage automatically doubles
C. The basin becomes a closed system
D. Storage is likely to increase [CORRECT ANSWER]
2. Hot desert systems and landscapes
16. What is the most useful general description of aridity?
A. A condition where water supply is low relative to atmospheric demand and potential evapotranspiration
[CORRECT ANSWER]
B. A place with no wind
C. A place where temperatures are below freezing all year
D. An area with daily rainfall
Original practice questions • Not an official AQA examination paper
