GCSE Geography Key Terms and Tectonics Revision

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering physical and human geography terms, coastal and river processes, tectonics, climate systems, and development metrics.

What defines a 1% flood event?

A 1% flood event has a $1\text{ in }100$ chance or greater of happening each year, or a probability of $0.01$.

What is the difference between abiotic and biotic factors in an ecosystem?

Abiotic refers to the non-living parts of an ecosystem, while biotic refers to the living parts of an ecosystem.

What is abrasion in river erosion?

Abrasion is caused by the river picking up material in the river and rubbing it against the bed and banks of the channel in the flow.

What are the key characteristics of andesitic lava?

Andesitic lava is thick and sticky lava erupted from composite volcanoes.

What are antecedent conditions in a drainage basin?

Antecedent conditions are conditions in a drainage basin in the period before a rainfall event, such as saturated or frozen ground.

What is the asthenosphere?

The upper layer of the Earth's mantle, below the lithosphere, in which convection currents cause tectonic plate movement.

How does attrition erode particles in rivers or waves?

Particles carried by rivers or waves are worn down as they collide with each other, becoming smaller and rounded.

What are the physical properties of basaltic lava/rock?

Basaltic lava/rock is low in silica, fluid, and flows easily.

Which countries comprise the BRICS group?

BRICS is a group of large and influential emerging countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

When were carboniferous limestone rocks deposited?

Between $363$ and $325\text{ million}$ years ago.

What is the Coriolis effect?

The deflection of air movement by the Earth's rotation.

What was the timeframe of the Cretaceous Period?

It was a period of the Mesozoic Era, lasting from $140\text{ million}$ to $65\text{ million}$ years ago.

How is river discharge defined and measured?

Discharge is the amount of water flowing in a river, made up of its volume and speed, and measured in cubic metres per second ($\text{m}^3/\text{sec}$, or cumecs).

What happens at a divergent plate boundary?

Two tectonic plates are moving apart.

What happens at a convergent plate boundary according to the glossary definition?

Two plates are moving towards each other, resulting in one plate sinking beneath the other.

What happens at a conservative plate boundary?

Two plates are sliding alongside each other.

What layers make up the Earth's core?

The core is the central part of the Earth's structure, made up of a solid inner core and a liquid outer core.

What components form the lithosphere?

The lithosphere is made up of the Earth's crust and upper mantle.

How does oceanic crust differ from continental crust?

Oceanic crust lies beneath the oceans and is thinner but denser than continental crust, which forms the Earth's land masses.

What does a high Gini coefficient indicate?

The higher the value of the Gini coefficient, the more unequal a country is.

What is the Hadley Cell responsible for?

It is a circulation cell near the Equator responsible for storms at the Equator and desert belts north and south of the Equator.

What is the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)?

A belt of low pressure around the Earth just north and south of the Equator, where warm, moist trade winds come together.

What does lag time represent on a hydrograph?

The difference in time between the peak rainfall and the river's peak discharge on a hydrograph.

What is a Milankovitch cycle?

A long-term change in the Earth's orbit that causes natural climate change.

What is a pyroclastic flow?

A lethal hot mixture of broken rocks and gases that races down the sides of a volcano.

What volume of material must a volcano erupt to be classified as a supervolcano?

A supervolcano erupts at least $1000\text{ km}^3$ of material.

When was Silurian rock formed?

During the Silurian Period, from about $440$ to $420\text{ million}$ years ago.

What is significant about the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn?

Located at 23^\bar\text{ degrees} north and south of the Equator, they are the farthest points where the Sun's rays strike the Earth's surface at 90^\bar\text{ degrees}.

Where is the subarctic climate zone located?

It runs around the northern hemisphere, just south of the Arctic Circle at a latitude of around 66^\bar\text{ degrees north}.

What does the collective term 'three Ps' stand for?

Prediction, protection, and preparation.