AQA A
LEVEL
GEOGRA
PHY
PAPER 1
– Coasts
Summer
2024
Student revision
guide
,Specification content:
, 1. Coasts as natural systems
Specification content:
a) Systems in physical geography
Systems are Made Up of Stores, Flows, Boundaries, Inputs and Outputs:
Element of a Description
system
Inputs when matter or energy (e.g. solar energy) is added to the
system.
Transfers/flows when matter or energy moves from one store to another.
Outputs when matter or energy leaves the system.
Stores/ where matter or energy builds up.
Components
Boundaries The limits of the system
Example: In a drainage basin system, water enters as rain (input). The system’s watershed is the boundary.
Some water is stored in the soil and in vegetation. Water travels from the drainage basin to the river and
then down the river (flows). It leaves the system where the river meets the sea (output).
Systems can be open or closed.
Features of an open system Features of a closed system
• Both energy and matter CAN enter and • Matter CAN’T enter or leave a closed system
leave an open system — there are inputs — it can only cycle between stores.
and outputs of both. • Energy CAN enter and leave a closed system
• Example: drainage basins are open — it can be input or output.
systems — energy from the Sun enters and • Example: the carbon cycle is a closed
leaves the system. Water is input as system — energy is input (e.g. from the sun
precipitation, and output as river discharge by photosynthesis) and output (e.g. by
into the sea. respiration), but the amount of carbon on
Earth stays the same because there are no
inputs or outputs of matter.
LEVEL
GEOGRA
PHY
PAPER 1
– Coasts
Summer
2024
Student revision
guide
,Specification content:
, 1. Coasts as natural systems
Specification content:
a) Systems in physical geography
Systems are Made Up of Stores, Flows, Boundaries, Inputs and Outputs:
Element of a Description
system
Inputs when matter or energy (e.g. solar energy) is added to the
system.
Transfers/flows when matter or energy moves from one store to another.
Outputs when matter or energy leaves the system.
Stores/ where matter or energy builds up.
Components
Boundaries The limits of the system
Example: In a drainage basin system, water enters as rain (input). The system’s watershed is the boundary.
Some water is stored in the soil and in vegetation. Water travels from the drainage basin to the river and
then down the river (flows). It leaves the system where the river meets the sea (output).
Systems can be open or closed.
Features of an open system Features of a closed system
• Both energy and matter CAN enter and • Matter CAN’T enter or leave a closed system
leave an open system — there are inputs — it can only cycle between stores.
and outputs of both. • Energy CAN enter and leave a closed system
• Example: drainage basins are open — it can be input or output.
systems — energy from the Sun enters and • Example: the carbon cycle is a closed
leaves the system. Water is input as system — energy is input (e.g. from the sun
precipitation, and output as river discharge by photosynthesis) and output (e.g. by
into the sea. respiration), but the amount of carbon on
Earth stays the same because there are no
inputs or outputs of matter.
