Eduqas GCSE (9-1) Geography A (C111) · Spec 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3
Theme 1: UK landscapes, rivers, coasts and flooding
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 uplands are mostly in the north and west, on older, harder rock. Lowlands are mostly in the south and east, on younger, softer rock such as chalk and clay.
- A honey pot site draws large numbers of visitors to a small area. Tourism brings jobs and income, but also eroded paths, traffic and litter.
- Waves erode cliffs by hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition and solution. A crack widens into a cave, then an arch, then a stack, then a stump.
- In a drainage basin, rain is stored (interception, soil, groundwater) or flows (infiltration, throughflow, overland flow). When the soil is saturated, overland flow rises and water reaches the river faster.
- Concrete and tarmac cut infiltration, so a town gives a short lag time and a high, steep peak on a storm hydrograph. Flood risk can be cut with hard engineering, soft engineering or land-use zoning.
Key terms
- Honey pot
- A small area that draws large numbers of visitors and can become crowded.
- Carrying capacity
- How many visitors a place can take before it is damaged or the experience gets worse.
- Hydraulic action
- Waves force air and water into cracks in the rock, which pushes it apart.
- Abrasion
- Pebbles thrown by waves wear away the foot of a cliff.
- Attrition
- Pebbles knock against each other and become smaller and rounder.
- Infiltration
- Water soaking into the soil.
- Lag time
- The time between peak rainfall and peak river discharge.
- Land-use zoning
- Keeping high-risk land, such as a floodplain, for uses like playing fields instead of housing.
Common mistakes
- Saying hydraulic action is waves throwing pebbles at the cliff. That is abrasion. Hydraulic action is the force of water and air in cracks.
- Treating a slip-off slope as a coastal feature. It forms on the inside bend of a river meander, so it cannot appear in a coastal photograph.
- Calling any tourist place a honey pot. A honey pot has so many visitors that it becomes crowded or pressured.
- Naming a hard-engineering scheme such as a dam or dredging and stopping. A description says how it works, for example a dam stores and releases water.
Exam tip
A 4-mark Explain is marked in two bands (1-2 and 3-4), so one simple point is not enough. Give a point, then a chain: what happens next and why. On the 8-mark Resource Box questions in Component 1, use the photographs and map, then add your own knowledge. Most of these ask you to weigh both sides and reach a decision. If the question says to suggest why, explain the factors named and no verdict is needed.
Free practice questions
6 questions, 9 marks. Answer, then press Check. The marking guide explains how the marks are worked out. Nothing is saved.
- Question 1 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Four features are listed. Which one could you correctly find on a rocky coast? Tick one box.
- Question 2 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Tick one box. Which statement describes hydraulic action?
- Question 3 · Fill the gaps[4 marks]
Complete the paragraph using words from the box. Use each word once only. One word is not needed. Waves compress air and water into cracks in a cliff: this is ___. Pebbles hurled at the cliff wear it away: this is ___. Pebbles knock into each other and become smaller and rounder: this is ___. Seawater slowly dissolves limestone: this is ___.
Word bank: abrasion · solution · attrition · deposition · hydraulic action
- Question 4 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Tick one box. Which description best fits a honey pot site in a national park?
- Question 5 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Heavy rain falls on soil that is already saturated. What happens to overland flow? Tick one box.
- Question 6 · Multiple choice[1 mark]
Which is an example of land-use zoning to reduce flood risk? Tick one box.