Cambridge A-Level Geography: Core Physical Geography (9696)

This guide covers Paper 1 Core Physical Geography, one of two AS Level papers in Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696). Paper 1 and Paper 2 (Core Human Geography) are each 50% of the AS award and 25% of the full A Level; A Level adds Paper 3 and Paper 4, where candidates answer on 2 of the optional topics offered within each paper.

Where this fits in 9696

Candidates must study all three topics within Paper 1. Each option within Paper 3 (Advanced Physical Geography Options) builds directly on this core physical content, so a secure foundation here supports the optional topics chosen later in the A Level.

Syllabus coverage

CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL GEOGRAPHY (9696) — PAPER 1 CORE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY

• 1. Hydrology and fluvial geomorphology — 1.1 the drainage basin system (inputs, stores, flows and outputs); 1.2 discharge relationships and hydrographs; 1.3 river channel processes (erosion, transport and deposition) and landforms (meanders, floodplains, deltas); and 1.4 the human impact on drainage basins, including flood risk and management. Case study: a recent river flood event
• 2. Atmosphere and weather — 2.1 diurnal energy budgets; 2.2 the global energy budget (latitudinal excesses and deficits, atmospheric transfers by wind belts and ocean currents, and seasonal variations in temperature, pressure and wind belts); 2.3 weather processes and phenomena (atmospheric moisture processes, causes and types of precipitation); and 2.4 the human impact (the enhanced greenhouse effect and global warming). Case study: an urban area showing the effects of human activity on climate
• 3. Rocks and weathering — 3.1 plate tectonics; 3.2 weathering; 3.3 slope processes; and 3.4 the human impact on the stability of slopes. Case study: the impacts of human activity on slopes

How to approach it

Hydrology and fluvial geomorphology (topic 1) is the most process-rich of the three, so build a clear model of the drainage basin as a system – inputs, stores, flows, outputs – before tackling the more applied content on channel processes and human impact, since exam questions often ask students to trace how a change in one part of the system affects another. Because candidates study all three topics rather than choosing between them, spread revision time evenly across hydrology, atmosphere and weather, and rocks and weathering rather than favouring the topic that feels most familiar. Using real, named examples and case studies throughout – as the syllabus itself expects, drawing on a variety of environments – strengthens answers considerably compared with describing processes in the abstract.

Official syllabus

Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026 — cambridgeinternational.org.

Hydrology and fluvial geomorphology

The drainage basin hydrological cycle is an open system with inputs (precipitation), stores (interception, surface, soil moisture, groundwater, channel), flows (infiltration, percolation, throughflow, overland flow, baseflow) and outputs (evapotranspiration, channel discharge).

A storm hydrograph plots discharge against time after a rainfall event. Its shape is described by lag time (peak rainfall to peak discharge), peak discharge, and rising and falling limbs. A flashy hydrograph — short lag, high peak — results from impermeable rock, steep slopes, saturated or frozen ground, sparse vegetation, urbanisation and intense rainfall. Permeable geology, gentle slopes and dense woodland produce the opposite.

River processes cover erosion (hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition, solution), transport (traction, saltation, suspension, solution) and deposition, with the Hjulström curve showing the relationship between velocity and whether a particle is eroded, transported or deposited. Note its counter-intuitive feature: fine clays need surprisingly high velocities to be entrained because of cohesion.

Channel efficiency is measured by the hydraulic radius; a semi-circular channel is most efficient because it minimises wetted perimeter for a given area.

Fluvial landforms result from these processes acting together. A waterfall forms where a river crosses from hard to soft rock: differential erosion undercuts the softer rock, forming a plunge pool and an overhang that eventually collapses, so the fall retreats upstream and leaves a gorge behind it. A meander develops because flow is fastest on the outside of a bend, eroding a river cliff, while slower flow on the inside deposits a slip-off slope. An ox-bow lake forms when a meander’s neck narrows until it is breached in flood, and deposition then seals off the abandoned loop. A levée and floodplain result from overbank flooding, which deposits the coarsest material nearest the channel and progressively finer material further away. A delta requires both a high sediment load and low wave and tidal energy to allow that sediment to settle rather than being redistributed along the coast.

Atmosphere and weather

The global energy budget drives everything: insolation received exceeds outgoing radiation at low latitudes and falls short at high latitudes, and this imbalance is corrected by atmospheric and oceanic transfers.

Atmospheric circulation is organised into Hadley, Ferrel and Polar cells, with the Coriolis effect deflecting winds — right in the northern hemisphere, left in the southern.

Precipitation is classified by uplift mechanism: convectional (surface heating), relief or orographic (air forced over high ground), and frontal (warm air rising over cold at a front); the syllabus also names radiation cooling as a cause, and the types of precipitation as clouds, rain, hail, snow, dew and fog.

Diurnal energy budgets (2.1) describe how energy at a surface changes over 24 hours. By day the inputs and outputs are incoming shortwave solar radiation, reflected solar radiation (set by the surface albedo), energy absorbed into the surface and subsurface, sensible heat transfer, longwave radiation, and latent heat transfer through evaporation. At night there is no solar input: the surface loses energy by longwave radiation (less under cloud), while absorbed energy returned from the subsurface, sensible heat transfer from the air and latent heat released as dew forms offset some of the loss.

The human impact (2.4) covers the enhanced greenhouse effect and global warming: the evidence, possible causes and atmospheric impacts. The required urban climate case study must show the effects of human activity on an urban area’s temperature (the heat island), humidity, precipitation and winds. Cities are usually warmer than their rural surroundings, especially on calm, clear nights, because low-albedo materials store heat, less water is available for evaporation and human activity releases heat; relative humidity is usually lower; convection and pollution particles can increase rainfall and thunderstorms; and buildings lower mean wind speeds but channel gusts between tall blocks.

Rocks and weathering

Plate tectonics (3.1) covers the nature and global pattern of tectonic plates; the types of plate boundary — divergent (constructive), conservative and convergent (destructive); and the processes and landforms associated with them: sea floor spreading, subduction, fold mountain building, ocean ridges, ocean trenches and volcanic island arcs.

Weathering is in situ breakdown, distinct from erosion which involves transport.

• Physical — freeze-thaw, exfoliation, salt crystallisation, pressure release.
• Chemical — carbonation, hydrolysis, oxidation, hydration, solution.
• Biological — root action and organic acids.

Climate governs which dominates: freeze-thaw requires repeated crossing of zero degrees, chemical weathering accelerates with heat and moisture.

Mass movement is classified by speed and water content, from slow soil creep through solifluction and slumping to rapid rockfall and landslides.

Slope processes (3.3) are grouped in the syllabus as mass movements — heaves, flows, slides and falls — and water and sediment movement on slopes: rainsplash and surface runoff (sheetwash and rills). For each, know the conditions under which it occurs and its effect on the slope.

The human impact on slopes (3.4) covers human activities that increase and that decrease slope stability, and the strategies used to modify slopes to reduce mass movement: pinning, netting, grading and afforestation. The required case study must show the impacts of human activity on a slope, the effect on its stability, and an evaluation of attempts to reduce mass movement.

Required case studies

Paper 1 names three case studies: a recent river flood event (its causes, its impacts on people and the environment, and an evaluation of attempts to reduce its impact); an urban area showing the effects of human activity on climate (temperature, humidity, precipitation and winds); and the impacts of human activity on slopes (the effect on slope stability and an evaluation of attempts to reduce mass movement).

Worked example

Explain why urbanisation produces a flashier storm hydrograph.

Impermeable surfaces  -> infiltration reduced, overland flow increased
Drains and gutters    -> water reaches the channel faster
Vegetation removed    -> less interception, less evapotranspiration
Channels straightened -> higher velocity, faster transfer downstream

Result: shorter lag time, higher peak discharge, steeper rising limb,
so a greater flood risk downstream.

Common mistakes

Confusing weathering with erosion — weathering involves no transport. Describing lag time as the duration of the storm. Saying the Hjulström curve shows only erosion. Placing the Coriolis deflection the wrong way for the hemisphere. Listing hydrograph factors without linking each to lag time or peak discharge. Omitting a named example, which physical geography answers still require.

Quick revision checklist

• Draw the drainage basin system with all inputs, stores, flows and outputs.
• Interpret a storm hydrograph and explain what makes it flashy.
• Name the erosion and transport processes and interpret the Hjulström curve.
• Explain the global energy budget and the three-cell circulation model.
• Classify the three types of precipitation by uplift mechanism.
• Classify weathering and mass movement, and link each to climatic conditions.
• Explain the day and night components of a diurnal energy budget.
• Describe the plate boundary types and their associated landforms.
• Explain how human activity decreases or increases slope stability, and name the strategies used to reduce mass movement.
• Learn the three required case studies: a river flood, an urban climate, and human impact on slopes.