Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696): Topic 7 – Tropical environments – 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 from your board or school.

These questions cover topic 7, Tropical environments (sections 7.1 to 7.4), of the Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026. The topic is one of four Advanced Physical Geography Options assessed in Paper 3, where you answer on two options. All places and data in the questions are fictional.

Revise first with the study guide and revision notes. Track your progress on the Cambridge A Level Geography hub and checklist.

Questions

1. Define the term “plagioclimax”. [2]

2. Outline how monsoon winds produce a wet season in South Asia. [4]

3. The table shows climate data for Kandoro, a fictional station at 10°N in a seasonally humid tropical area.

Month	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Mean temperature (°C)	25.1	27.3	29.8	31.2	30.4	28.0	26.3	25.9	26.4	27.2	26.8	25.0
Rainfall (mm)	0	2	9	31	88	142	210	245	168	52	4	0

(a) Calculate the annual temperature range at Kandoro. Show your working. [2] (b) State the total annual rainfall and the number of months with less than 60 mm. [2] (c) Explain the seasonal pattern of rainfall at Kandoro. [4] (d) Suggest why the highest mean temperature occurs in April rather than in July. [2]

4. Explain why the diurnal temperature range in humid tropical areas is often greater than the annual range. [3]

5. With the help of a labelled diagram, explain the formation of a bornhardt. [5]

6. Distinguish between cone karst and tower karst, and explain how tower karst forms. [5]

7. The table shows calcium stores (kg per hectare) on a fictional rainforest plot in Selvara before clearance and after three years of cropping.

Store	Before clearance	After three years of cropping
Biomass	820	40
Litter	45	5
Soil	135	95

(a) Calculate the percentage of the total calcium store held in biomass before clearance. [2] (b) Calculate the percentage fall in the total store after three years. [2] (c) Explain why the total store fell so sharply. [4]

8. Describe the profile of an oxisol (latosol) and explain the processes that form it. [6]

9. Explain how savanna vegetation is adapted to drought and fire. [5]

10. The table shows forest cover in Tavora, a fictional district of a rainforest country. Satellite clearing alerts began in 2016 and a community-managed reserve was created in 2019.

Year	2010	2015	2020	2025
Forest cover (km²)	4,800	4,350	4,050	3,930

(a) Calculate the mean annual forest loss for 2010-2015 and for 2020-2025. [2] (b) Suggest two reasons for the fall in the rate of loss. [4] (c) Give two limitations of using these data alone to judge whether the policies worked. [2]

11. A fictional savanna reserve has kept one plot free of fire for 25 years; trees now cover much of it, while burned plots nearby remain open grassland. Using this evidence and your own knowledge, assess how far savanna is a plagioclimax rather than a climatic climax. [12]

12. “Satellites and laws matter less than the people who live in the forest.” With reference to a case study of either the rainforest or the savanna ecosystem, evaluate this view of attempts at sustainable management. [16]

Answers

1. A plant community whose succession has been deflected or halted [1] by human activity, such as burning, grazing or clearance [1]. [2] Examiner insight: the human cause is the mark-earning part; “stopped by a factor” alone describes a subclimax.

2. In the high-sun season the land heats faster than the sea [1], so low pressure forms over the land [1]. The ITCZ moves far north, and moist air flows onshore from the ocean [1]. This air rises and cools, giving heavy rain from about June to September [1]. [4] Examiner insight: link the wind reversal to the pressure difference; naming “the monsoon” as the cause of itself earns nothing.

3. (a) 31.2 − 25.0 [1] = 6.2 °C [1]. [2] (b) 951 mm [1]; seven months [1]. [2] (c) Rain falls mainly from May to September (853 mm, about 90% of the total) [1] when the ITCZ moves north over Kandoro [1]. Converging air and strong heating cause convection and storms [1]. From October to April the ITCZ is south and the subtropical high brings sinking, dry air [1]. [4] (d) In April the sun is high and skies are clear before the rains [1]; from June, cloud and rain cut sunshine and evaporation cools the surface [1]. [2] Examiner insight: quote the table’s figures in (c); a general ITCZ account without Kandoro’s months stays in the lower marks.

4. Day length and sun angle change little through the year [1], so monthly means stay almost the same [1]. Each night, heat is lost by radiation, and each day strong sun heats the ground, so day-night differences are larger [1]. [3] Examiner insight: both ranges must be explained; describing only the small annual range answers half the question.

5. Granite with widely spaced joints resists chemical weathering [1], while closely jointed rock around it is rotted by hydrolysis to a deep regolith [1]. A change in base level or climate lets erosion strip the regolith [1], leaving the massive rock as a steep-sided dome [1]. Sheeting joints parallel to the surface then peel off slabs, keeping the dome shape [1]. [5] Examiner insight: the diagram earns credit only if labels name the weathering front, regolith and joints.

6. Cone karst has conical hills sharing a common base with closed hollows between them [1]; tower karst has isolated, steep-sided towers rising from a flat plain [1]. Solution deepens depressions until they reach the water table [1]. Rivers and swamps then spread alluvium and widen the plain [1], and solution at the base cuts foot caves that keep the tower sides steep [1]. [5] Examiner insight: “distinguish” needs a direct contrast in the same sentence, not two separate descriptions.

7. (a) 820 ÷ 1,000 × 100 [1] = 82% [1]. [2] (b) (1,000 − 140) ÷ 1,000 × 100 [1] = 86% [1]. [2] (c) Most calcium was in the biomass, which was removed or burned [1]. Without a canopy and litter, heavy rain leached nutrients from the soil [1]. Crops took up nutrients and were harvested, so they left the plot [1]. Little litter returned, so the cycle could not resupply the soil, which fell from 135 to 95 kg per hectare [1]. [4] Examiner insight: use the store names from Gersmehl’s model; “nutrients disappear” is too vague for credit.

8. A thin, humus-rich A horizon [1] above a very deep red or yellow B horizon [1] rich in iron and aluminium oxides and kaolinite clay [1]. Ferrallitisation removes silica in solution and leaves sesquioxides [1]. Heavy rain leaches bases downwards [1], and fast decomposition means little humus builds up [1]. [6] Examiner insight: name each horizon and match it to a process; a list of processes with no profile caps the answer.

9. Deep tap roots reach groundwater in the dry season [1]. Small, waxy or thorny leaves reduce water loss [1], and many trees drop leaves in the dry season [1]. Thick, corky bark protects trees from fire [1], and grasses die back above ground but regrow from roots after burning [1]. [5] Examiner insight: each feature needs its function; “acacias have thorns” with no reason scores nothing.

10. (a) 2010-2015: 450 ÷ 5 = 90 km² per year [1]; 2020-2025: 120 ÷ 5 = 24 km² per year [1]. [2] (b) Satellite alerts from 2016 let officials find and fine illegal clearing quickly, lowering its profit [1][1]. The 2019 reserve gave local people control and an interest in protecting the forest [1][1]. [4] (c) Five-year gaps hide year-to-year changes [1]; the fall may reflect other causes, such as lower beef prices or less accessible forest remaining [1]. [2] Examiner insight: in (b), each reason needs a link to the dates given; reasons that ignore the 2016 and 2019 changes are generic.

11. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these are indicative creditworthy points.

• Defines climatic climax and plagioclimax [1].
• Climate case: a dry season under the subtropical high limits tree growth [1].
• Savanna boundaries broadly follow rainfall gradients between rainforest and desert [1].
• Drought adaptations suggest long evolution under a seasonal climate [1].
• Soil case: laterite crusts and poor drainage can stop trees, an edaphic subclimax [1].
• Human case: people have used fire for a very long time to clear land and renew grazing [1].
• The fictional reserve’s unburned plot gained tree cover, so fire holds savanna back [1].
• Grazing by livestock removes seedlings and changes the grass-tree balance [1].
• Derived savanna on forest margins shows clearance can create savanna [1].
• But savanna also occurs where human influence is low [1].
• Judgement: climate sets where savanna can exist; fire and grazing control its structure [1].
• Conclusion weighs the evidence and states a clear extent of agreement [1]. [12] Examiner insight: “assess how far” needs a stated judgement, and the reserve evidence should be used, then tested against cases where fire is not the control.

12. The real exam marks extended answers with levels of response, not point by point; these are indicative creditworthy points for a Brazilian Amazon answer.

• Names and locates the case study [1].
• Threat: cattle ranching, the main cause of clearing [1].
• Threat: roads, such as the Trans-Amazonian Highway, open the forest [1].
• Threat: soy, logging and mining add pressure [1].
• Problem: weak land titles and remote areas make enforcement hard [1].
• PPCDAm (2004) combined DETER alerts, fines and protected areas [1].
• Clearing fell from 27,772 km² in 2004 to 4,571 km² in 2012 [1].
• Judgement: the fall shows enforcement worked when politically backed [1].
• Enforcement weakened after 2019 and clearing rose, so success was fragile [1].
• Soy Moratorium (2006) removed a market for soy grown on new clearings [1].
• Limitation: supply-chain deals may push clearing to the Cerrado [1].
• CADE’s September 2025 decision to suspend it shows voluntary deals can be overturned [1].
• Amazon Fund (2008) paid for projects; payments frozen 2019, resumed 2023 [1].
• Mamirauá (1996) shows community management at a local scale [1].
• Evaluates scale: community schemes are small compared with ranching [1].
• Overall judgement on whether government enforcement or local communities did more for sustainability, with a reason [1]. [16] Examiner insight: credit for evaluation comes from judging each scheme against evidence; listing schemes with dates alone stays in the lower levels.

Where marks are usually lost

• Leaving out working on calculation questions, so a slip loses every mark.
• Describing the ITCZ without tying it to the months in a table.
• Drawing diagrams with no labels on processes, or never referring to them in the text.
• Treating “distinguish” as two separate descriptions.
• Explaining soil infertility without naming Gersmehl stores and flows.
• Listing plant adaptations without saying what each one does.
• Ignoring the dates of policy changes when explaining a data trend.
• Writing essays with no final judgement, or a judgement that does not match the argument.

Next steps

• Check gaps in your knowledge with our diagnostics.
• Compare with another option: Coastal environments study guide and the earlier Coastal environments overview.
• Plan your Paper 3 timing with the 9696 exam preparation guide.
• Book a free trial class.

Official syllabus

These questions are written for the Cambridge International AS & A Level Geography (9696) syllabus for examination in 2025 and 2026, topic 7 (sections 7.1-7.4). Check the latest version on the Cambridge International website; your teacher will confirm anything the syllabus does not print.