AQA GCSE Geography · 3.1.3

UK landscapes and coastal processes and landforms

Revision questions with answers for 3.1.3 UK landscapes and coastal processes and landforms in AQA GCSE Geography (spec 8035). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below.

All questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 3.1.3.1
Give an overview of the UK's upland and lowland areas.
Answer:
Uplands (above about 200 m) are mainly in the north and west: the Scottish Highlands, Pennines, Lake District, Snowdonia and Dartmoor. Lowlands lie mainly in the south and east, such as the London Basin and East Anglia.
Question 2 · Spec 3.1.3.1
Which are the highest and best-known upland areas in the UK?
Answer:
Ben Nevis (1,345 m) in the Scottish Highlands is the highest. Others include the Cairngorms, the Pennines, the Lake District (Scafell Pike), Snowdonia (Snowdon) and the Brecon Beacons.
Question 3 · Spec 3.1.3.1
Why do upland and lowland areas differ in the UK?
Answer:
Uplands are mostly older, harder, more resistant rocks (granite, slate, millstone grit) shaped by ice, while lowlands are younger, softer rocks such as clay and chalk that erode more easily.
Question 4 · Spec 3.1.3.1
Name the main river systems of the UK.
Answer:
The Severn (the longest at about 354 km), the Thames, Trent, Mersey, Tyne, Tees, Great Ouse, Clyde and Tay. Most rise in the uplands and flow to the sea across lowlands.
Question 5 · Spec 3.1.3.1
How are most UK river systems related to relief?
Answer:
Rivers rise in the wetter upland areas of the north and west and flow downhill across lowlands, so east and south coasts have long, wide rivers flowing east or south.
Question 6 · Spec 3.1.3.1
How do upland and lowland areas differ in land use?
Answer:
Uplands have steep slopes, thin soils and wet, cold weather, so land is used for sheep farming, forestry, tourism and water supply. Lowlands have flat fertile land for arable farming, towns and cities.
Question 7 · Spec 3.1.3.1
Why are most UK cities in the lowlands?
Answer:
Flat land, rivers for trade and fertile soils make building, transport and farming easier, while uplands are steep, exposed and harder to reach.
Question 8 · Spec 3.1.3.1
Which major physical processes shaped UK landscapes?
Answer:
Glaciation in the ice age (mainly the north and west), erosion and deposition by rivers and the sea, and weathering and mass movement acting over millions of years.
Question 9 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How are waves formed?
Answer:
Wind blowing across the sea surface creates friction, which makes water move in circles and form waves. The longer the fetch (distance of open water) and the stronger the wind, the bigger the wave.
Question 10 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is fetch and why does it matter?
Answer:
The distance of open water a wind blows over. A long fetch (such as the Atlantic reaching the south-west of the UK) produces large, powerful waves.
Question 11 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Describe constructive waves.
Answer:
Low, long waves with a gentle slope and weak backwash. Swash is stronger than backwash, so they build up beaches by depositing material.
Question 12 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Describe destructive waves.
Answer:
High, steep waves with a short wavelength and a strong backwash. Backwash is stronger than swash, so they erode beaches and cliffs.
Question 13 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What are swash and backwash?
Answer:
Swash is the movement of water and sediment up the beach as a wave breaks. Backwash is the water running back down the beach.
Question 14 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is mechanical weathering at the coast?
Answer:
The breakdown of rock without changing it chemically. Freeze-thaw weathering occurs when water in cracks freezes, expands and gradually splits the rock.
Question 15 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is chemical weathering at the coast?
Answer:
Rainwater is slightly acidic and reacts with certain rocks. Carbonation dissolves limestone and chalk, which are made of calcium carbonate.
Question 16 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is mass movement?
Answer:
The downhill movement of rock and soil under gravity, such as rockfalls, sliding and slumping. It happens when cliffs are weakened by weathering or soaked by rain.
Question 17 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Describe rockfall on a cliff.
Answer:
Weathering weakens a steep cliff face and pieces of rock break off and fall, building up scree at the base. It is common in hard rock like chalk.
Question 18 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Describe sliding and slumping.
Answer:
Sliding is rock or soil moving down a slope along a flat surface. Slumping is a curved, rotational movement of soft saturated material such as clay.
Question 19 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Why does heavy rain increase mass movement on cliffs?
Answer:
Water adds weight and makes clay slippery, and it fills pore spaces so the cliff material loses strength and slides.
Question 20 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is coastal erosion?
Answer:
The wearing away of the coastline by waves. The main processes are hydraulic power, abrasion and attrition.
Question 21 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is hydraulic power?
Answer:
Waves crash against the cliff and force air and water into cracks. The compressed air blasts the rock apart over time.
Question 22 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is abrasion (corrasion)?
Answer:
Waves pick up rocks and pebbles and hurl them against the cliff, scraping and chipping the rock like sandpaper.
Question 23 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is attrition?
Answer:
Rocks and pebbles carried by waves crash into each other and wear down, becoming smaller, smoother and rounder.
Question 24 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What factors affect the rate of coastal erosion?
Answer:
Wave strength and fetch, rock type and structure, weathering, human activity such as sea defences, and the amount of beach in front of the cliff.
Question 25 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is longshore drift?
Answer:
Waves approach at an angle because of the prevailing wind. Swash carries material up the beach at an angle, but backwash drags it straight down, so material zig-zags along the coast.
Question 26 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Why is sediment deposited at the coast?
Answer:
Waves lose energy in sheltered bays or when the wind drops, and there is a large supply of sediment to carry. Constructive waves deposit more than they remove.
Question 27 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How does rock type influence coastal landforms?
Answer:
Hard, resistant rock (granite, chalk) forms headlands and high cliffs, while soft rock (clay, sand) erodes quickly to form bays and low, gentler cliffs.
Question 28 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is the difference between a concordant and a discordant coastline?
Answer:
Concordant: bands of different rock run parallel to the coast, giving a smooth line with coves. Discordant: bands run at right angles, giving alternating headlands and bays.
Question 29 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How does geological structure such as dip and joints affect cliffs?
Answer:
Rock dipping out to sea tends to slide and give gently sloping cliffs, while rock dipping inland or horizontal gives steep cliffs. Joints and faults are lines of weakness that waves exploit.
Question 30 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How do headlands and bays form?
Answer:
Waves erode soft rock faster than hard rock on a discordant coastline. The soft rock forms bays and the more resistant rock is left jutting out as headlands.
Question 31 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Which UK example shows headlands and bays?
Answer:
Swanage Bay in Dorset: soft clays and sands in the bay lie between resistant chalk at Ballard Down and limestone at Durlston Head.
Question 32 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How do cliffs and wave-cut platforms form?
Answer:
Waves undercut the base of a cliff to form a wave-cut notch. The unsupported rock above collapses, so the cliff retreats and leaves a gently sloping rock platform.
Question 33 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Describe the features of a wave-cut platform.
Answer:
A flat or gently sloping rocky surface at the foot of a cliff, covered at high tide and often with rock pools, formed as the cliff retreats.
Question 34 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How do caves, arches and stacks form?
Answer:
Waves enlarge cracks in a headland into a cave. The cave erodes through to form an arch, then the roof collapses to leave a stack, which later erodes into a stump.
Question 35 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Name Dorset examples of an arch and stacks.
Answer:
Durdle Door is a limestone arch, and Old Harry Rocks near Swanage are chalk stacks and a stump.
Question 36 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How does a beach form?
Answer:
Constructive waves deposit sand, shingle or pebbles when they lose energy. The material builds up between high and low tide marks.
Question 37 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How do sand and shingle beaches differ?
Answer:
Sand beaches are gentle, wide and flat with fine material. Shingle beaches are steeper and narrower with coarse pebbles, and often occur where cliff erosion supplies material.
Question 38 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How do sand dunes form?
Answer:
Sand dries at low tide and is blown inland, trapped by an obstacle such as driftwood. Marram grass colonises it, traps more sand and builds the dune, e.g. at Studland, Dorset.
Question 39 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How does a spit form?
Answer:
Longshore drift carries sediment along the coast. Where the coastline bends or at a river mouth, deposition continues out into the sea. Wind and waves hook the end and salt marsh forms behind.
Question 40 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Give an example of a spit.
Answer:
Spurn Head on the Yorkshire coast, a curved spit that stretches across the mouth of the Humber estuary.
Question 41 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How does a bar form?
Answer:
A spit grows across a bay until it joins two headlands. The area behind becomes a lagoon, such as Slapton Ley in Devon behind Slapton Sands.
Question 42 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Describe a section of UK coastline to identify landforms of erosion and deposition.
Answer:
The Dorset coast near Swanage and Lulworth has headlands and bays (Swanage Bay, Durlston), arches and stacks (Durdle Door, Old Harry Rocks), cliffs and wave-cut platforms and the dunes at Studland.
Question 43 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Why is Lulworth Cove a distinctive landform?
Answer:
Waves broke through a resistant limestone barrier to reach softer clays behind, which eroded to form a near-circular cove, protected from erosion by a narrow entrance.
Question 44 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is a wave-cut notch?
Answer:
A groove at the base of a cliff, cut between high and low tide by waves and abrasion. It undercuts the cliff and eventually causes collapse.
Question 45 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Why do cliffs retreat faster in soft rock?
Answer:
Soft rock such as clay is weak and easily eroded by waves and slumping, especially when saturated, while hard rock resists erosion.
Question 46 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How do weathering and erosion work together at the coast?
Answer:
Weathering weakens cliff rock and mass movement brings it to the base, where waves remove it. This lets waves erode the cliff again.
Question 47 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is the role of prevailing winds at the coast?
Answer:
They decide wave direction and strength, so they control the direction of longshore drift and where sediment is eroded or deposited.
Question 48 · Spec 3.1.3.2
How do humans affect natural coastal processes?
Answer:
Sea walls and groynes can interrupt longshore drift, starve beaches downdrift of sediment and speed up erosion elsewhere.
Question 49 · Spec 3.1.3.2
Why is the Dorset coast good for studying geology?
Answer:
Its different rock types and layers, from chalk to clay and limestone, are tilted and exposed in cliffs. This is why it is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site.
Question 50 · Spec 3.1.3.2
What is the Jurassic Coast?
Answer:
A 95-mile (153 km) stretch of coast in Dorset and East Devon, a UNESCO World Heritage Site because its rocks record about 185 million years of geological history.

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