AQA GCSE Geography (8035) · Spec 3.1.1.1 and 3.1.1.2
Tectonic hazards
Read the notes, then try the questions. Each one is marked the moment you press Check, and shows the right answer and why.
Key ideas
- A natural hazard is a natural event or process that threatens people and property. Risk is how likely it is to harm people, so it depends on who lives there and how ready they are.
- The Earth's crust is split into plates. Most earthquakes and volcanoes happen where plates meet, at plate margins.
- At a constructive margin plates move apart and magma rises to fill the gap. At a destructive margin the denser oceanic plate is subducted under the continental plate, melts and feeds explosive volcanoes. At a conservative margin plates slide past each other and lock, so there are earthquakes but no volcanoes.
- Primary effects happen straight away, such as buildings collapsing. Secondary effects follow later, such as fires, tsunamis and disease. Immediate responses come in the first hours and days. Long-term responses rebuild and prepare for next time.
- People manage the risk by monitoring, prediction, protection and planning. Earthquakes cannot be predicted exactly, so being ready matters.
Key terms
- Natural hazard
- A natural event or process that threatens people and property.
- Risk
- The chance that a hazard will harm people, depending on how many are exposed and how well they cope.
- Subduction
- The denser oceanic plate sinking beneath a continental plate at a destructive margin.
- Primary effect
- Damage caused straight away by the hazard itself.
- Secondary effect
- A knock-on problem that happens later, such as fire, flooding or disease.
- Immediate response
- Action taken in the hours and days after a hazard, such as rescue and emergency aid.
Common mistakes
- Naming a plate, such as the Philippine plate, when asked for the type of margin. The type is constructive, destructive or conservative, read from the arrows on the map.
- Saying plates just crash together at a destructive margin. The denser oceanic plate is subducted, and friction and melting cause the earthquakes and volcanoes.
- Using a tropical storm example for a tectonic question. The example must match the hazard asked about.
Exam tip
Explain is the 4-mark word: each point needs a reason, so use because and so. Section A of Paper 1 has a 4, a 6 and a 9-mark question, and 3 SPaG marks, so check your spelling, punctuation and grammar. In the 6 and 9 mark answers, use named facts from your own case study that fit the hazard in the question.
Free practice questions
6 questions, 11 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which statement best describes a natural hazard?
- Question 2 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]
A natural ___ is the event itself, while ___ is the likely effect of that event on people.
Word bank: magnitude · hazard · risk
- Question 3 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
At a destructive margin between oceanic and continental plates, which plate is subducted?
- Question 4 · Matching[3 marks]
Match each process to the margin type where it happens.
- Question 5 · Sort into groups[3 marks]
Sort each effect of an earthquake into primary or secondary.
Fires spread from broken gas pipes
Buildings collapse in the shaking
A tsunami floods the coast
- Question 6 · Put in order[1 mark]
Put these stages of a volcanic eruption at a destructive margin in the correct order.
Use the arrows to put these in the right order, first at the top.
- 1The sinking plate melts to form magma
- 2The oceanic plate moves towards the continental plate
- 3Magma rises through weaknesses in the crust
- 4The denser oceanic plate is subducted
- 5An explosive eruption occurs