A Level Geography: Core Physical Geography — Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, in the style and at the standard of the examination. They are not reproduced past-paper questions — examination boards hold copyright in their own papers. Use these alongside the official past papers available free from your board.

Related: Core Physical Geography revision notes

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Section A

1. Define the drainage basin hydrological cycle and state whether it is an open or closed system, explaining why. [3]

2. Name the inputs, stores, flows and outputs of a drainage basin, giving one example of each. [4]

Section B

3. Explain the factors affecting the shape of a storm hydrograph, referring to four factors. [8]

4. Explain the processes of coastal erosion and the formation of a wave-cut platform. [8]

5. Explain the difference between constructive, destructive and conservative plate margins, giving a landform or hazard associated with each. [9]

6. Evaluate the effectiveness of hard and soft engineering approaches to coastal management. [12]

7. Explain what the Hjulström curve shows, and describe the counter-intuitive feature of its treatment of fine clay. [4]

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Answers

1. The movement of water through a river basin, from precipitation to its output as river discharge or evaporation [1]. It is an open system [1], because energy and matter cross its boundaries — precipitation enters from outside and water leaves as evaporation and channel flow [1].

2. Input — precipitation [1]. Stores — soil moisture, groundwater, interception, surface storage [1]. Flows — throughflow, infiltration, percolation, overland flow, baseflow [1]. Outputs — evapotranspiration and river discharge into the sea [1].

3. Any four, 2 marks each: Rainfall intensity and duration — intense rain exceeds the infiltration capacity, so more water reaches the channel quickly as overland flow, giving a shorter lag time and higher peak [1] [1]. Soil and rock type — impermeable clay or granite prevents infiltration, producing a flashy hydrograph, whereas permeable chalk gives a flatter one with a longer lag [1] [1]. Basin relief — steep slopes accelerate overland flow, shortening lag time [1] [1]. Vegetation — dense woodland intercepts rainfall and increases evapotranspiration, reducing and delaying peak discharge; deforestation does the opposite [1] [1]. Urbanisation — impermeable surfaces and storm drains deliver water to the channel almost immediately, giving a very short lag and high peak [1] [1]. Antecedent conditions — saturated soil from earlier rain leaves no storage capacity [1] [1].

4. Hydraulic action — the sheer force of water and the compression of air in cracks by breaking waves widens joints [1] [1]. Abrasion (corrasion) — waves hurl sediment against the cliff face, wearing it away [1]. Attrition — rock fragments collide and are rounded and reduced in size [1]. Solution (corrosion) — chemical dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone [1]. Wave-cut platform formation: erosion is concentrated between high and low tide, cutting a wave-cut notch at the cliff base [1]. As the notch deepens, the cliff above becomes unsupported and collapses [1]. The debris is removed and the process repeats, so the cliff retreats landwards, leaving a gently sloping rock platform exposed at low tide [1].

5. Constructive (divergent) — plates move apart as magma rises from the mantle, forming new crust [1]; landforms include mid-ocean ridges and rift valleys [1]; hazards are shallow-focus, low-magnitude earthquakes and effusive basaltic volcanoes — e.g. Iceland [1]. Destructive (convergent) — the denser oceanic plate subducts beneath the less dense continental plate [1]; landforms include ocean trenches, fold mountains and island arcs [1]; hazards are deep-focus, high-magnitude earthquakes and explosive andesitic volcanoes — e.g. the Andes [1]. Conservative (transform) — plates slide past one another with no crust created or destroyed [1]; friction causes stress to build until it is released suddenly [1]; the hazard is large shallow-focus earthquakes with no volcanic activity — e.g. the San Andreas Fault [1].

6. Hard engineering — strengths: structures such as sea walls, groynes and rock armour give immediate, visible and reliable protection to high-value assets [1]; a sea wall can also serve as a promenade, and groynes build up beaches that support tourism [1]. Weaknesses: it is extremely expensive to build and maintain [1]; it is visually intrusive and can destroy habitats [1]; crucially it often displaces the problem, since groynes starve downdrift beaches of sediment, increasing erosion further along the coast — terminal groyne syndrome [1] [1]. Soft engineering — strengths: beach nourishment, dune stabilisation and managed retreat work with natural processes, so they are usually cheaper and more sustainable [1]; they maintain a natural appearance and can create valuable habitat, as with saltmarsh created by realignment [1]. Weaknesses: nourishment must be repeated regularly, so long-run costs accumulate [1]; managed retreat requires land to be surrendered, which is politically and socially very difficult for the people whose homes or farmland are abandoned, and compensation is expensive [1]. Judgement: the appropriate approach depends on the value of the land at risk and the rate of erosion [1] [1]. Hard engineering is justifiable where a city or port is threatened; along low-value agricultural coasts, soft engineering and managed retreat are more sustainable and increasingly the preferred policy under integrated coastal zone management [1] [1].

7. The Hjulström curve shows the relationship between a river’s velocity and whether a given particle size is eroded, transported or deposited [1]. It has one counter-intuitive feature: fine clay needs a surprisingly high velocity to be entrained (picked up), higher than for sand, because clay particles are small and cohesive, sticking together and resisting erosion [1] [1]; once suspended, though, clay stays in transport at very low velocities and so is deposited only when flow is almost still [1].

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Where marks are usually lost

• Confusing infiltration with percolation.
• Describing hydrograph factors without stating the effect on lag time and peak.
• Omitting the collapse stage in wave-cut platform formation.
• Evaluating coastal management without reference to cost or land value.