AQA GCSE Geography · 3.1.3

Glacial landscapes

50 revision questions with answers for 3.1.3 Glacial landscapes in AQA GCSE Geography (spec 8035). Practise with flashcards, a topic quiz, a random quiz across the course, 5 crosswords, or read every question and answer below. Not official AQA material.

All 50 questions and answers

Question 1 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What was the maximum extent of ice cover in the UK in the last ice age?
Answer:
About 20,000 years ago ice covered Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales and northern England, reaching south to around the Midlands and Norfolk coast. Southern England stayed ice-free but frozen.
Question 2 · Spec 3.1.3.4
When did the ice melt in the UK?
Answer:
The ice sheets reached their maximum about 20,000 years ago and retreated as the climate warmed, leaving most of the UK ice-free by around 10,000 years ago.
Question 3 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is a glacier?
Answer:
A large mass of ice that moves slowly downhill under gravity, eroding the land and carrying rock debris.
Question 4 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is freeze-thaw weathering?
Answer:
Water gets into cracks in rock, freezes and expands, then thaws. Repeated cycles split the rock and produce angular fragments.
Question 5 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is plucking?
Answer:
Meltwater freezes onto rock at the base and sides of a glacier. As the ice moves, it pulls away pieces of rock and leaves a jagged surface.
Question 6 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is abrasion in glacial erosion?
Answer:
Rock fragments frozen into the base and sides of the glacier scour the surface as the ice moves, like sandpaper, leaving scratches called striations.
Question 7 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is rotational slip?
Answer:
The glacier moves in a curved, circular motion within a hollow such as a corrie, deepening the hollow by erosion.
Question 8 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is bulldozing?
Answer:
A glacier pushes loose material such as rock fragments and soil ahead of it as it advances, like a bulldozer.
Question 9 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How do glaciers transport material?
Answer:
Rock debris from freeze-thaw and plucking is carried on top of, inside and underneath the ice, and moved forward as the glacier flows.
Question 10 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Why do glaciers deposit sediment?
Answer:
When the climate warms and the ice melts, the glacier loses energy and can no longer carry its load, so it drops the debris where it melts.
Question 11 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What are till and outwash?
Answer:
Till is unsorted, mixed clay, sand and boulders dropped directly by melting ice. Outwash is sediment carried away by meltwater and laid down in sorted layers.
Question 12 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is a corrie?
Answer:
An armchair-shaped hollow high on a mountain with a steep back wall, a flat floor and a rock lip, often containing a small lake (tarn).
Question 13 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How does a corrie form?
Answer:
Snow collects in a hollow and becomes ice. Freeze-thaw and plucking steepen the back wall, abrasion and rotational slip deepen the floor, and a rock lip remains as the ice melts.
Question 14 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Name a UK corrie.
Answer:
Red Tarn, on the side of Helvellyn in the Lake District, is a classic corrie containing a tarn. Cwm Idwal in Snowdonia is another.
Question 15 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is an arete?
Answer:
A narrow, steep-sided, knife-edge ridge between two corries that have eroded back-to-back, for example Striding Edge on Helvellyn.
Question 16 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is a pyramidal peak?
Answer:
A sharp, pointed mountain summit formed when three or more corrie glaciers erode back to back, leaving a pyramid with aretes between faces, such as Snowdon.
Question 17 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What are truncated spurs?
Answer:
Steep, cliff-like ends of interlocking spurs that were sliced off by a glacier as it moved down the valley.
Question 18 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is a glacial trough?
Answer:
A wide, flat-floored, steep-sided U-shaped valley, deepened and widened by a glacier, e.g. Great Langdale in the Lake District.
Question 19 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How does a glacial trough form?
Answer:
A glacier flows down an existing V-shaped river valley, and plucking and abrasion straighten, deepen and widen it, leaving a U-shaped cross-section.
Question 20 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is a ribbon lake?
Answer:
A long, narrow lake in the floor of a glacial trough, formed where the glacier eroded deeper into softer rock or was blocked by a dam of moraine. Windermere and Wastwater are examples.
Question 21 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is a hanging valley?
Answer:
A tributary valley left high up on the side of a glacial trough because its small glacier eroded less deeply. A waterfall often falls into the main trough.
Question 22 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is an erratic?
Answer:
A large boulder transported by ice and dumped in an area of different rock type, such as the Norber erratics on limestone in the Yorkshire Dales.
Question 23 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is a drumlin and how does it form?
Answer:
An egg-shaped hill of till, 1-2 km long. The ice moulds deposited till as it moves, leaving a steeper end facing up-ice and a long gentle slope down-ice.
Question 24 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What are the different types of moraine?
Answer:
Lateral moraine builds up along the valley sides, medial moraine forms where two glaciers meet, terminal moraine marks the glacier's furthest advance, and ground moraine is till left beneath the ice.
Question 25 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How does a terminal moraine form?
Answer:
As the glacier stops advancing, melting ice drops rock debris at its snout. The resulting curved ridge of till marks the furthest extent of the ice.
Question 26 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Case study: where is the Lake District and why was it glaciated?
Answer:
A mountain area in Cumbria, north-west England. High, wet and cold, it grew its own ice sheet and glaciers that flowed outwards along valleys, shaping the landscape.
Question 27 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Which landforms of erosion are found in the Lake District?
Answer:
Corries and tarns (Red Tarn), aretes (Striding Edge), glacial troughs (Great Langdale), ribbon lakes (Windermere, Wastwater), truncated spurs and hanging valleys (Aira Force).
Question 28 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Which landforms of deposition are found in the Lake District?
Answer:
Till and moraines on valley floors, erratic boulders on the fells and drumlins in the lowlands, such as the Eden Valley to the north-east.
Question 29 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What are Windermere's main features?
Answer:
England's largest lake, about 18 km long and narrow in a deep glacial trough. It is a ribbon lake, dammed by moraine in the south.
Question 30 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Give an overview of economic activities in glaciated upland areas.
Answer:
Tourism, upland farming (mainly sheep), forestry and quarrying. Each uses the landscape in a different way and they can conflict.
Question 31 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Why is tourism the main activity in glaciated uplands?
Answer:
Dramatic scenery, lakes and walking routes attract visitors. Lakeland tourism supports a large share of local jobs and income.
Question 32 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How is farming used in glaciated uplands?
Answer:
Steep slopes, thin soils and a wet cold climate mean mainly hill sheep farming (such as Herdwicks) on the fells, with some cattle and crops on the valley floors.
Question 33 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How is forestry used in glaciated uplands?
Answer:
Conifer plantations like Grizedale Forest provide timber and jobs on poor soils. Forests also store carbon but can change the character of the landscape.
Question 34 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How is quarrying used in glaciated uplands?
Answer:
Slate, granite and limestone are quarried for building and road stone, giving jobs but causing noise, dust, lorry traffic and visual scars.
Question 35 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What types of land-use conflict occur in glaciated uplands?
Answer:
Between tourism and farming, quarrying and conservation or tourism, forestry and landscape, and development (homes, roads, hotels) versus conservation.
Question 36 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Why do tourists and farmers sometimes conflict?
Answer:
Walkers can leave gates open, disturb livestock and trample crops, and traffic and litter affect farmland, while farmers may block paths.
Question 37 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Why does quarrying cause conflict in national parks?
Answer:
Quarries bring jobs but spoil the landscape, create noise, dust and heavy traffic and harm wildlife, which upsets tourists and conservationists.
Question 38 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Why does development cause conflict in glaciated uplands?
Answer:
New homes, hotels and roads create jobs and housing but spoil views and use scarce land, and second homes push prices beyond local people.
Question 39 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What attracts tourists to the Lake District?
Answer:
Lakes and mountains, walking and climbing, water sports, villages, Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter heritage, and World Heritage Site status from 2017.
Question 40 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What are the social impacts of tourism in the Lake District?
Answer:
Jobs and services for locals, but busy roads, crowded villages, noise, second-home ownership and house prices that locals cannot afford.
Question 41 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What are the economic impacts of tourism in the Lake District?
Answer:
Around 18 million visitors a year spend over £1 billion and support roughly 18,000 jobs, but work is seasonal and often low paid.
Question 42 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What are the environmental impacts of tourism in the Lake District?
Answer:
Footpath erosion, litter, traffic pollution and congestion, noise and pressure on wildlife, especially at honeypot sites.
Question 43 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How does the National Park Authority manage tourism?
Answer:
The Lake District National Park Authority (set up in 1951) controls planning and development, protects landscapes and wildlife, and provides information and rangers.
Question 44 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How are footpaths managed in the Lake District?
Answer:
Eroded paths are repaired with stone pitching and drainage by teams such as Fix the Fells, and signs and fences guide walkers away from fragile areas.
Question 45 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How are traffic and honeypot sites managed?
Answer:
Car parks, bus services and cycle routes reduce car use, and visitor facilities are concentrated in places like Ambleside, Bowness and Keswick.
Question 46 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How is water-based tourism managed on Windermere?
Answer:
A 10 mph speed limit on the lake reduces noise, erosion and danger, and protects wildlife and the quality of the visitor experience.
Question 47 · Spec 3.1.3.4
How can education and codes protect the National Park?
Answer:
The Countryside Code and visitor information encourage people to respect farming and wildlife, take litter home and stay on paths.
Question 48 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Why do glaciers erode uplands so effectively?
Answer:
Thick ice moves downhill under gravity, and the debris in the base of the glacier acts like sandpaper, especially where the ice is warm-based and meltwater helps plucking.
Question 49 · Spec 3.1.3.4
Evaluate the management of tourism in the Lake District.
Answer:
Controls and projects protect the landscape and support jobs, but high visitor numbers still cause congestion and erosion, and managing visitors costs money.
Question 50 · Spec 3.1.3.4
What is a tarn?
Answer:
A small, deep lake in a corrie, formed when meltwater and rain fill the hollow behind the rock lip after the ice has melted.

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