AQA A-Level Geography 7037
Water and Carbon Cycles
Hot Desert Systems and LandscapesLandscape
Coastal Systems and LandscapesLandscape
Glacial Systems and LandscapesLandscape
HazardsHazards or ecosystems
Ecosystems Under StressHazards or ecosystems
Global Systems and Global Governance
Changing Places
Contemporary Urban EnvironmentsHuman option
Population and the EnvironmentHuman option
Resource SecurityHuman option
Glacial Systems and Landscapes
Corrie Formation
- 3 things to know
- Component 1
Overview
Recall questions on nivation creating the initial hollow, the steepening of the backwall and the part rotational sliding plays.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Why does a rock lip (threshold) form at the front of a corrie?
Explain the processes that deepen and steepen a corrie.
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What process initiates the formation of a corrie by creating a shallow depression in the mountainside?
Model answer
Nivation – a combination of freeze-thaw weathering and meltwater erosion beneath a semi-permanent snow patch creates the initial hollow.
- 2
After nivation creates a hollow, what accumulates there to begin true glacial erosion?
Model answer
Snow and ice accumulate in the hollow, compacting into glacier ice that can then erode the basin.
- 3
How does the steep backwall of a corrie become progressively steeper during glaciation?
Model answer
Freeze-thaw weathering shatters rock above the glacier surface; loosened debris falls onto the ice, maintaining and steepening the backwall.
- 4
Explain how rotational sliding contributes to the characteristic shape of a corrie floor.
Model answer
The glacier moves with a rotational motion, pivoting downward into the bedrock, which deepens the basin floor and creates the over-deepened, armchair-shaped profile.
- 5
Which erosional process removes rock from the back and sides of a corrie by freezing meltwater in joints and pulling away blocks?
Model answer
Plucking (quarrying) – meltwater refreezes around jointed rock, and moving ice tears blocks away.
- 6
What process over-deepens the floor of a corrie, and how does it operate?
Model answer
Abrasion – debris embedded in the base of the glacier grinds and scours the bedrock floor, deepening it below the level of the threshold.
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