Pearson Edexcel GCSE (9-1) Geography B (1GB0) · Spec 4.1 and 4.2
The UK physical landscape
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
- UK rocks are igneous (for example granite), sedimentary (for example chalk and clay) or metamorphic (for example schist).
- Weathering breaks rock down where it is. Erosion wears rock away and carries it off using a moving agent such as waves, a river or ice.
- At the last glacial maximum ice covered most of the UK north of roughly the Midlands. Southern England stayed ice-free. The last ice age ended about 11,700 years ago.
- Ice shaped upland landforms such as corries, arêtes, U-shaped valleys and ribbon lakes. The Lake District and Snowdonia are glaciated uplands.
- People use glaciated uplands for sheep farming, tourism and quarrying. Tourism can cause congestion and footpath erosion.
Key terms
- Igneous rock
- Rock formed when magma or lava cools and hardens.
- Sedimentary rock
- Rock made from layers of sediment squashed and cemented together.
- Metamorphic rock
- Rock changed by heat or pressure, such as schist.
- Corrie
- A hollow with a steep back wall, cut by ice. It often holds a lake.
- Arête
- A sharp ridge between two corries.
Common mistakes
- Mixing up weathering and erosion. Frost action is weathering, not erosion.
- Saying freeze-thaw is an impact of glaciation. Glacial landforms made by moving ice are the impact.
- Describing sea level rise when asked about ice shaping the land.
Exam tip
Paper 2 Section A starts with a 1-mark multiple-choice question and then 2-mark Explain questions. In Explain one, the second mark is for developing the same point, not for adding a different one. Name landforms accurately, because the exam rewards the correct term.
Free practice questions
6 questions, 10 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Put in order[1 mark]
Put these events in order, starting with the one furthest back in time.
Use the arrows to put these in the right order, first at the top.
- 1Earth forms (4,600 million years ago)
- 2Last ice age ends (11,700 years ago)
- 3White Peak limestone forms (340 million years ago)
- 4Whin Sill intruded (295 million years ago)
- 5Dinosaurs die out (66 million years ago)
- Question 2 · Choose more than one[2 marks]
Which TWO of these UK rocks are igneous or metamorphic rather than sedimentary?
Choose 2.
- Question 3 · True or false[3 marks]
Decide whether each statement about ice in the UK is true or false.
1. At the last glacial maximum, ice covered most of the UK north of roughly south Wales and the Midlands.
2. Southern England was buried under ice at the last glacial maximum.
3. There are no glaciers in the UK today.
- Question 4 · Fill the gaps[2 marks]
A hollow with a steep back wall and a lake, such as Cwm Idwal in Snowdonia, is a ___. A ridge between two of them is an ___.
Word bank: drumlin · corrie · moraine · arête
- Question 5 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which of these is a UK glaciated upland?
- Question 6 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Why can you not walk on a glacier in the Lake District today?