Geography
25 flashcards
~13 min
Physical Geography - Landforms and Processes
Understand how the Earth's surface is shaped and reshaped with this comprehensive physical geography flashcard deck. Physical geography examines the natural processes that create mountains, valleys, coastlines, and plains — from the slow movement of tectonic p...
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Understand how the Earth's surface is shaped and reshaped with this comprehensive physical geography flashcard deck. Physical geography examines the natural processes that create mountains, valleys, coastlines, and plains — from the slow movement of tectonic plates to the violent power of volcanic eruptions and the gradual carving of rivers. This deck covers plate tectonics, earthquake and volcano processes, river landform formation (erosion, transportation, deposition), coastal processes and landforms, glacial processes, and weathering. Essential for GCSE Geography, A-Level Geography, AP Environmental Science, and university physical geography courses.
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The scientific theory that Earth's lithosphere is divided into large plates that move slowly (a few cm/year) over the asthenosphere. Their interactions cause earthquakes, volcanoes, and mountain building.
Convergent: Plates move toward each other (subduction or collision). Divergent: Plates move apart (ocean ridges, rifts). Transform (conservative): Plates slide past each other horizontally (e.g., San Andreas Fault).
Plates collide. If oceanic meets continental: oceanic plate subducts (sinks), forming a trench and volcanic arc. If continental meets continental: fold mountains form (e.g., Himalayas).
Plates move apart, creating a gap. Magma rises to fill it, creating new oceanic crust. Forms mid-ocean ridges (e.g., Mid-Atlantic Ridge) or rift valleys (e.g., East African Rift).
Where a denser oceanic plate sinks beneath a less dense plate into the mantle. Creates deep ocean trenches, volcanic arcs, and earthquakes. Example: Pacific Ring of Fire.
A 40,000 km horseshoe-shaped zone around the Pacific Ocean with ~75% of Earth's volcanoes and ~90% of world's earthquakes. Caused by multiple subduction zones surrounding the Pacific Plate.
Both measure earthquake magnitude. Richter scale: Older system, each unit = 10× more ground motion. Mw (Moment Magnitude): More accurate modern scale used for large earthquakes. Both are logarithmic.
Focus (hypocentre): The underground point where the earthquake originates. Epicentre: The point on the surface directly above the focus — where shaking is usually strongest.
Shield: Low, broad, gentle slopes. Basaltic lava, non-explosive. Example: Mauna Loa, Hawaii. Composite: Steep-sided, cone-shaped. Alternating lava and ash layers, violent eruptions. Example: Mount Fuji, Vesuvius.
Hydraulic action: Force of water breaks rock. Abrasion: Rock particles scrape and wear the channel. Attrition: Rocks collide and break into smaller pieces. Solution (corrosion): Water dissolves soluble rocks.
Traction: Large boulders rolled along the bed. Saltation: Pebbles bounced along the bed. Suspension: Fine particles carried within the water. Solution: Dissolved material carried invisibly.
Forms when a river flows over a band of hard rock overlying softer rock. The softer rock erodes faster, creating a step. Hydraulic action undercuts the hard rock, forming an overhang that collapses — the waterfall retreats upstream.
A crescent-shaped lake formed when a river meander is cut off. As a meander tightens, the river breaks through the neck during a flood, taking a shorter path. The old loop is sealed by deposition, forming an ox-bow lake.
A landform at the mouth of a river where sediment is deposited as the river slows entering the sea. Arcuate (fan-shaped): e.g., Nile Delta. Bird's foot: e.g., Mississippi Delta. Cuspate (tooth-shaped): e.g., Ebro Delta.
Waves trap and compress air in cracks in the cliff face. When the wave retreats, the compressed air expands explosively, breaking off rock fragments. Also called wave quarrying.
The zigzag movement of sediment along a coastline. Waves approach at an angle (driven by prevailing winds), carrying sediment diagonally up the beach. Backwash returns sediment straight back down the beach.
A long, narrow ridge of sand or shingle extending from the coast into the sea or across a river mouth. Forms by longshore drift depositing material beyond a headland or change in coastline direction. Example: Spurn Head, UK.
Plucking: Meltwater freezes around rock fragments, which are pulled away as the glacier moves. Abrasion: Rock fragments embedded in the glacier's base scratch and grind the valley floor, smoothing it.
A wide, flat-bottomed, steep-sided valley formed by a glacier. Glaciers erode by plucking and abrasion, transforming a V-shaped river valley into a U-shape. Example: Yosemite Valley, USA.
Physical (mechanical): Rock broken without chemical change (e.g., freeze-thaw, thermal expansion). Chemical: Rock altered by chemical reactions (e.g., carbonation dissolving limestone). Biological: Organisms break down rock (e.g., tree roots, lichens).
Water enters cracks in rock and freezes, expanding by ~9%, widening the crack. Repeated freezing and thawing progressively breaks the rock into angular fragments (scree). Common in mountain and periglacial environments.
A long, narrow, deep inlet carved by a glacier that has since retreated and been flooded by the sea. Characterized by steep cliff walls. Famous examples in Norway, New Zealand (Milford Sound), and Chile.
The downhill movement of rock, soil, or debris under gravity. Types include: rockfall (free fall), landslide (sliding along a plane), slump (rotational sliding), mudflow (fluid movement of saturated debris).
A threshold beyond which a system rapidly shifts to a new state that may be difficult to reverse. Example: Arctic ice melting reduces albedo, causing more warming — a positive feedback loop.
All the land that drains into a particular river system. Separated from adjacent drainage basins by a watershed (ridge of high land). Includes the river and all its tributaries.