Physical landscapes in the UK
What's covered
Key facts
Abrasion (corrasion) is coastal erosion where waves hurl loose rock fragments against the cliff face, wearing it away.
An arête is a narrow, knife-edge ridge formed where two corries erode back-to-back into the same mountainside.
Afforestation is the planting of trees in a drainage basin to intercept rainfall, increase evapotranspiration and reduce surface run-off into the river.
East Anglia is lowland — flat, low-lying land mostly below 200 m above sea level, including the fens.
Attrition is coastal erosion where rock fragments carried by the sea collide and wear each other down, becoming smaller, smoother and more rounded.
A corrie (also cirque, cwm) is an armchair-shaped hollow eroded high on a mountainside by snow accumulating, compacting into ice, and rotating under gravity.
A river deposits its largest (heaviest) particles first when velocity falls, because competence (the largest particle a river can carry) drops sharpest at low energy.
The Scottish Highlands is the UK's highest range, containing Ben Nevis (1,345 m).
A bar forms when a spit grows across the mouth of a bay, cutting off the bay from the sea and often impounding a lagoon behind it.
Corries form when snow accumulates in a north-east facing hollow, compacts into firn then ice, and rotates downslope under gravity (rotational slip) while freeze-thaw shatters the back wall, deepening the armchair shape.
Sample questions
A taste of the 91 questions in this topic — answers marked. Sign up to practise the full set with spaced repetition.
What is a stack?
- •a curved bay formed between two headlands
- •a flat platform worn at the base of a retreating cliff
- •a narrow ridge of sand extending from the coast
- ✓an isolated rock pillar standing in the sea
What is a drumlin?
- •a pile of rocks deposited at the snout of a glacier
- •a sharp ridge formed between two glacial hollows
- ✓a smooth, egg-shaped hill of glacial till
- •an armchair-shaped hollow carved by a glacier
Why does urbanisation increase flood risk?
- •Buildings channel wind which increases the intensity of rainfall
- ✓Impermeable surfaces increase run-off; urban drains channel water to rivers faster
- •Urban areas receive more rainfall due to the heat island effect
- •Urban populations use more water, increasing river volume
Which of the following best describes the landscape of East Anglia?
- •Highland — glaciated peaks and deep valleys
- ✓Lowland — flat, low-lying land below 200 m
- •Moorland — exposed peat bogs above 400 m
- •Upland — high, rugged terrain above 200 m
What is the correct sequence of landform development from a cave?
- •Arch → cave → stack → stump
- ✓Cave → arch → stack → stump
- •Cave → arch → stump → stack
- •Cave → stack → arch → stump
What does the presence of erratics tell geographers about past glacial activity?
- •Erratics form where two glaciers merged, mixing material from both valleys
- •Erratics show where glaciers deposited their heaviest load as they slowed
- ✓Rock type matched to source reveals the glacier direction and travel distance
- •The size of erratics indicates the maximum thickness of the ice sheet
Try it for four weeks. Free.
One school. Unlimited classes. No card limit. No teacher limit. If your students aren't practising daily by the end of the trial, you owe us nothing.