Geography flashcards

Two types of hazards and examples of each

Tectonic hazard - volcanoes and earthquakes

Weather hazard - tropical storm and droughts

what is a method to work out climate change in the past?

Tree rings

What are the causes of climate change both natural and human?

Natural: orbital changes - more energy = earth gets warmer

Human activity: burning of fossil fuels - co2 is released into the atmosphere

What are the affects of climate change on the environment?

Ice melting,rising sea levels,polar habitats are dying

What are the affects of climate change on people?

More deaths due to heat,dry/hot areas become uninhabitable,affects crops

What are the ways to manage climate change?

Planting trees,carbon capture

What is an ecosystem?

All the biotic and abiotic things in an area

What is a decomposer?

Gets it’s energy from breaking down dead material for example bacteria and fungi

What is a producer?

Uses sunlight energy to produce food for example grass and plants

What is a consumer?

Gets it’s energy from eating producers or other consumers for example rabbits or birds

What is a food chain and food web?

Food chain shows what eats what

Food web shows the energy transfer between organisms

What are the 4 ecosystems and their climate?

1- tundra - dry,cold,permanent layer of permafrost

2-polar - cold,dry,dark

3- grassland - hot summers and cold winters

4- tropical rainforest -hot,high rainfall

What is the climate in a tropical rainforest?

Hot and high rainfall all year round

What are the different adaptations in a tropical rainforest?

Plant adaptations - buttress roots (for support), drip tip leaves (to shed rainfall)

Animal adaptations - spider money (long arms to swing from tree to tree), sloth (camouflage)

What are the 2 methods for breaking down rock?

Mechanical weathering - the breakdown of rock without changing its chemical decomposition

chemical weathering - the breakdown of rock by changing its chemical decomposition

What are the 2 different types of waves?

Constructive - waves that deposit material

Destructive - waves that erode the coast

What are the 3 processes of erosion?

1 - hydraulic action - the force of water crashing against the coastline causing sediment to be carried away

2 - abrasion - when rock grinds along a cliff making rocks smoother

3 - attrition - when rocks knock into eachother causing them to break apart and get rounder

What are the 4 types of transportation of rocks?

1 - traction - large particles are pushed along the sea bed by the force of water

2 - saltation - pebble sized particles are bounced along the sea bed

3 - suspension - small particles are carried along in the water

4 - solution - soluble material is dissolved in water and carried along

What are the different coastal management strategies? And why are they good?

Sea wall - a wall that reflects water back to the sea, prevents erosion and flooding

Gabion - a wall of wired cages full of rocks, absorb wave energy therefore reducing erosion

Groyne - a wooden or stone fence built at a right angle, trapping material to prevent erosion and flooding

What is the name of the coastal management strategy that involves doing nothing?

Managed retreat - removing current flood defences and letting the sea flood an area

The course of a river (3 parts)

Upper - v shaped valley,deep,narrow,shallow,steep gradient

Middle - gentle sloping valley sides,medium gradient,wider,deep

Lower - almost flat valley,deep,very wide

What is the long profile of a river?

The rivers journey from source (highlands,steep) to the mouth (sea,not steep)

What is the cross profile of a river?

Shows the side to side view of a river channel

How is a V-shaped valley formed?

By vertical erosion

How is an ox-bow lake formed?

From meanders when a meander is cut off from the main channel

River features on maps and what they show

Orange lines - shows the steepness of the land by how close together they are

Numbers - shows the height of the land (metres)

What are the causes of river flooding?

Heavy rainfall,steep slopes

What is hard and soft engineering?

Hard - man made structures built to reduce flooding

Soft - natural methods to reduce the effects of flooding

Name one flood management strategy and its pros and cons

Dams/reservoirs - barriers built across a river

Pros - controls river flow,prevents floods downstream

Cons - very expensive

Name another flood management strategie and its pros and cons

Channel straightening - meanders are removed by building straighter channels

Pros - flood risk is lower due to water leaving the area quicker

Cons - flooding may happen downstream, faster moving water may cause erosion downstream

name another flood management method and its pros and cons

Embankments - raised walls built on either side of a river

Pros - floods are less frequent

Cons - risks to flooding if the walls break,expensive