Geography Paper 1 AQA

What is the difference between a natural hazard and a natural disaster?

A natural hazard is a potential threat to people or property; a natural disaster causes actual damage or loss of life.

What are the two types of tectonic plates?

Oceanic (thin and dense) and continental (thicker and less dense).

What happens at a destructive plate boundary?

The oceanic plate is subducted under the continental plate, causing earthquakes and volcanoes.

Give two primary effects of an earthquake.

Building collapse and infrastructure damage.

Give two secondary effects of a volcanic eruption.

Homelessness and contaminated water supplies.

Why do people live in hazardous areas?

Fertile soils, tourism, geothermal energy, lack of choice.

What is the difference between weather and climate?

Weather is day-to-day conditions; climate is the average over 30 years.

Name three UK weather hazards.

Flooding, storms, drought.

What is an ecosystem?

A community of plants, animals, and their environment interacting.

What is nutrient cycling?

The transfer of nutrients between living organisms and the environment.

Give one characteristic of a tropical rainforest climate.

High temperatures and heavy rainfall all year.

Name one adaptation of plants in the rainforest.

Drip-tip leaves to shed heavy rainwater.

What are the causes of deforestation in the Amazon?

Logging, cattle ranching, agriculture, road building.

How can tropical rainforests be managed sustainably?

Selective logging, ecotourism, education, replanting.

Name a hot desert you have studied.

(Student's case study – likely Thar Desert or Sahara)

What is desertification?

The process where land becomes drier and less productive.

What are the four types of erosion?

Hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition, solution.

How are headlands and bays formed?

Differential erosion of hard and soft rock.

What is longshore drift?

The movement of sediment along the coast by wave action.

How is a spit formed?

Longshore drift deposits sediment at a bend in the coastline.

Name two types of coastal management.

Hard engineering (e.g., sea wall), soft engineering (e.g., beach nourishment).

What is the long profile of a river?

A diagram showing the river's gradient from source to mouth.

What causes a river to flood?

Prolonged rainfall, steep slopes, impermeable rock, urbanisation.

Name one method of managing river flooding.

Dams and reservoirs, floodplain zoning, afforestation.

What is a natural hazard?

A natural event that threatens people or has the potential to cause damage.

Name three types of tectonic plate boundaries.

Destructive, constructive, conservative.

What is the focus of an earthquake?

The point underground where the earthquake starts.

What is the epicentre?

The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus.

Name a primary effect of a volcanic eruption.

Buildings destroyed by lava or ash.

Name a secondary effect of an earthquake.

Landslides, disease outbreaks, homelessness.

What is the difference between a LIC and HIC earthquake response?

HICs respond quicker with better resources.

What is the aim of the three Ps?

Predict, Protect, Plan – used to reduce risk.

What causes tropical storms?

Warm ocean water, low pressure, Coriolis effect.

What is the eye of a tropical storm?

The calm, clear centre of the storm.

Where are tropical rainforests found?

Around the equator between the Tropic of Cancer and Capricorn.

What is the soil like in tropical rainforests?

Nutrient-poor and thin due to heavy rainfall leaching.

Why is biodiversity high in tropical rainforests?

Favourable climate and layered structure.

Name a cold environment you have studied.

Svalbard or Alaska.

How are animals adapted to hot deserts?

Camouflage, water storage, nocturnal behaviour.

What is overgrazing?

When too many animals eat vegetation, leading to desertification.

What is the role of decomposers in an ecosystem?

They break down dead matter and recycle nutrients.

What are the impacts of deforestation?

Loss of biodiversity, climate change, soil erosion.

How is ecotourism sustainable?

Low impact on the environment, supports conservation, educates visitors.

What is interdependence in an ecosystem?

Where components of the ecosystem rely on each other.

Name a coastal landform of erosion.

Cliffs, wave-cut platforms, headlands and bays.

Name a coastal landform of deposition.

Spits, bars, beaches.

What is hard engineering?

Using man-made structures to control natural processes.

Give an example of hard engineering.

Sea walls, rock armour.

What is soft engineering?

Using natural systems to manage the coast.

Give an example of soft engineering.

Beach nourishment, dune regeneration.

How does a meander form?

Through erosion on the outside and deposition on the inside of a bend.

What is a floodplain?

Flat land around a river that floods.

What is river discharge?

The volume of water passing a point in a river over time.

How can urbanisation increase flood risk?

More impermeable surfaces, faster runoff.