A Level Geography: Core Physical Geography — Practice Questions

These are original questions written for Marlbridge, for revision and practice on this content. They are not reproduced past-paper questions, and they do not replicate the exam’s exact structure, question count or mark tariffs — 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 how the energy budget of a ground surface differs between day and night, referring to the components of the diurnal energy budget. [8]

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

6. With reference to an urban area you have studied, evaluate the extent to which human activity has changed its climate. [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. Up to 4 marks for the daytime budget and up to 4 marks for the night-time budget, 1 mark per valid point. Day (max 4): incoming shortwave solar radiation is the main energy input, greatest around midday [1]; part is reflected, the proportion depending on the surface albedo (high for snow or pale surfaces, low for dark soil or tarmac) [1]; energy is absorbed into the surface and conducted into the subsurface, warming the ground [1]; sensible heat transfer moves heat from the warm surface into the air by conduction and convection [1]; latent heat transfer uses energy to evaporate water, cooling a moist surface [1]; the warmed surface also emits longwave radiation [1]. Night (max 4): with no solar input, the surface loses energy mainly by net emission of longwave radiation, so it cools [1]; cloud cover absorbs and re-radiates longwave radiation back towards the surface, so cloudy nights cool less than clear nights [1]; heat stored during the day is conducted back upwards as absorbed energy returned to the surface [1]; sensible heat transfer now runs from the warmer air to the cooler surface [1]; as the surface cools to dew point, dew forms and releases latent heat, slowing further cooling [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. The syllabus case study covers the effects of human activity on an urban area’s temperature (heat island), humidity, precipitation and winds. Marks are capped per element as shown; maximum 12. Temperature — urban heat island (max 3): the urban area is warmer than the surrounding rural area, with the difference usually greatest on calm, clear nights [1]; dark, low-albedo surfaces and concrete, brick and tarmac absorb and store heat by day and release it at night [1]; heat from vehicles, industry, heating and air conditioning adds energy, impermeable surfaces leave little water for evaporation so less energy is used as latent heat, and polluted air absorbs outgoing longwave radiation [1]. Humidity (max 2): relative humidity is usually lower in the urban area because rapid drainage and little vegetation reduce evapotranspiration [1]; the higher urban temperatures also lower relative humidity [1]. Precipitation (max 2): extra heat and the uplift of air over tall buildings can strengthen convection, giving more convectional rainfall and thunderstorms, often downwind of the city [1]; pollution particles act as condensation nuclei, encouraging cloud and rain formation [1]. Winds (max 2): buildings increase surface roughness, lowering mean wind speeds [1]; but tall buildings channel and accelerate air between them (the canyon effect), producing gusts and eddies [1]. Evaluation and judgement (max 3): supports the answer with named, located detail from the case study, such as a measured urban–rural temperature difference [1]; recognises that the extent varies — the heat island is strongest at night and in calm anticyclonic conditions and weaker in windy, cloudy weather, and varies with the size and density of the built-up area [1]; reaches a reasoned overall judgement, for example that temperature is the most clearly changed element, while changes in precipitation are smaller and harder to separate from the regional climate [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.
• Describing the night-time energy budget as if solar radiation still applied, or forgetting that dew formation releases latent heat.
• Describing the urban heat island without explaining its causes or the conditions in which it is strongest.