GCSE Geography AQA Preparation Podcast & Quick Notes

GCSE Geography Review Paper-1: Natural Processes and Hazards

Short Answer Questions

Instructions: Answer the following questions in 2-3 sentences each.

1. Differentiate between climate change and global warming.
2. Explain how ice cores provide evidence for climate change.
3. Describe two human activities that contribute to climate change.
4. Explain the process of freeze-thaw weathering.
5. Describe the difference between sliding and slumping as types of mass movement.
6. Explain how longshore drift occurs.
7. What are the characteristics of a destructive wave?
8. Define desertification and explain one of its main causes.
9. Explain how the Richter scale is used to measure earthquakes.
10. Describe the role of producers, consumers, and decomposers in an ecosystem.

Short Answer Key

1. Climate change refers to any significant change in Earth’s climate over a long period, while global warming specifically describes the rapid increase in global temperatures observed over the last century.
2. Ice sheets form layers annually, trapping atmospheric gases within the ice. By analyzing these trapped gases in drilled ice cores, scientists can determine the temperature for each year, providing a long-term record of climate change.
3. Burning fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and deforestation reduces the planet’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide, both contributing to climate change.
4. Freeze-thaw weathering occurs when water enters cracks in rocks. When the water freezes, it expands, putting pressure on the rock. Thawing releases the pressure, and this repeated cycle weakens the rock, causing it to break down.
5. Sliding occurs when material moves down a slope in a straight line along a slip plane, while slumping involves the rotation of material along a curved slip plane.
6. Longshore drift is the movement of sediment along a coastline. Waves approach the shore at an angle, carrying material up the beach (swash). The backwash then carries material back down the beach at a right angle, creating a zigzag movement of sediment along the coast.
7. Destructive waves have a stronger backwash than swash, leading to the erosion of the coastline. They are high and steep with a short wavelength.
8. Desertification is the degradation of land, making it drier and less productive. One main cause is climate change, leading to reduced rainfall and increased evaporation, making it difficult for vegetation to survive.
9. The Richter scale is a logarithmic scale measuring the magnitude of an earthquake based on the energy released. Each whole number increase on the scale represents a tenfold increase in amplitude and approximately 31.6 times more energy released.
10. Producers like plants use sunlight to create food. Consumers obtain energy by eating producers or other consumers. Decomposers break down dead organisms and waste, returning nutrients to the ecosystem.

Essay Questions

1. Discuss the various natural and human causes of climate change and their potential impacts on global ecosystems.
2. Compare and contrast the characteristics and formation processes of destructive and constructive waves, highlighting their impacts on coastal landscapes.
3. Explain the concept of desertification and its consequences. Evaluate the effectiveness of various management strategies in combating desertification.
4. Using specific examples, describe the different types of plate boundaries and the associated tectonic hazards.
5. Analyze the adaptations of plants and animals in either a tropical rainforest or a polar environment, explaining how these adaptations enable their survival.

Glossary of Key Terms

Abrasion: The process of rocks and sediment grinding against each other, wearing them down.

Attrition: The process of rocks and sediment colliding with each other, breaking into smaller and more rounded pieces.

Backwash: The movement of water down a beach after a wave breaks.

Biotic: Living components of an ecosystem.

Carbonation: A type of chemical weathering where carbonic acid in rainwater reacts with rocks containing calcium carbonate, dissolving them.

Climate Change: Long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns.

Consumers: Organisms that obtain energy by consuming other organisms.

Continental Crust: The thicker, less dense portion of the Earth’s crust that makes up the continents.

Convection Currents: Circular movements of fluid material (like magma) caused by differences in temperature and density.

Coriolis Force: The effect of Earth’s rotation on moving objects, causing deflection to the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern Hemisphere.

Decomposers: Organisms that break down dead organic matter and waste, returning nutrients to the ecosystem.

Desertification: The process of land degradation in arid and semi-arid regions, leading to a decrease in productivity.

Ecosystem: A community of interacting organisms and their physical environment.

Epicenter: The point on the Earth’s surface directly above the focus of an earthquake.

Erosion: The process of rocks and soil being moved by natural forces like wind, water, or ice.

Evaporation: The process of liquid water changing into water vapor.

Food Chain: A linear sequence showing the transfer of energy from one organism to another through feeding.

Food Web: A complex network of interconnected food chains.

Fossil Fuels: Carbon-based fuels formed from the remains of ancient organisms, such as coal, oil, and natural gas.

Freeze-Thaw Weathering: A type of mechanical weathering where water repeatedly freezes and thaws in cracks in rocks, causing them to break apart.

Global Warming: The long-term increase in Earth’s average surface temperature due to human activities, primarily the release of greenhouse gases.

Greenhouse Gases: Gases in the atmosphere that trap heat, contributing to global warming.

Hydraulic Action: The force of water eroding coastlines.

Ice Cores: Cylinders of ice drilled from glaciers and ice sheets, containing trapped air bubbles and other materials that provide evidence for past climate conditions.

Interdependent: The interconnectedness of organisms within an ecosystem, where each species relies on others for survival.

Longshore Drift: The movement of sediment along a coastline caused by waves approaching at an angle.

Mass Movement: The downslope movement of rock and soil under the influence of gravity.

Mitigation: Actions taken to reduce or prevent the severity of climate change.

Nutrient Cycle: The continuous movement of nutrients between living organisms and the environment.

Oceanic Crust: The thinner, denser portion of the Earth’s crust that makes up the ocean floor.

Permafrost: A layer of permanently frozen ground found in polar and tundra regions.

Plate Boundaries: The zones where Earth’s tectonic plates meet.

Plate Tectonics: The theory that Earth’s outer layer is made up of plates that move and interact with each other, causing earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building.

Producers: Organisms, like plants, that make their own food through photosynthesis.

Richter Scale: A logarithmic scale used to measure the magnitude of earthquakes.

Slumping: A type of mass movement where a mass of rock and soil rotates downslope along a curved surface.

Solar Radiation: Energy from the sun that reaches the Earth.

Subduction: The process of one tectonic plate sinking beneath another.

Swash: The movement of water up a beach after a wave breaks.

Tectonic Plates: Large pieces of Earth’s lithosphere that move and interact with each other.

Weathering: The breakdown of rocks, soil, and minerals through contact with Earth’s atmosphere, water, and biological organisms.