Key term
Edexcel A-Level Geography 9GE0
Tectonic Processes and Hazards
Topic overviewGlobal distribution of tectonic hazards and plate boundary processesThe structure of the Earth and mantle convectionRidge push, slab pull and sea-floor spreadingDestructive and constructive plate marginsCollision and transform marginsMagma composition and eruption styleThe Benioff zone and earthquake magnitudeSeismic waves and their effectsVolcanic hazards and tsunamisHazard, vulnerability, resilience and the risk equationThe Pressure and Release modelThe impacts of tectonic hazardsMeasuring hazards, and the hazard profileSpeed of onset, areal extent, duration and predictabilityWhy impacts differ between countriesEducation, buildings, healthcare and income as factors in vulnerabilityGovernance at local and national levelPopulation density, isolation and urbanisationHow development level shapes disaster outcomesTrends in tectonic disasters, data reliability and samplingMega-disasters and multiple-hazard zonesTheoretical frameworks for prediction, impact and managementLand-use zoning and hazard-resistant designMonitoring, prediction, preparedness and aid
Glaciated Landscapes and ChangeLandscape
Topic overviewThe cryosphere and the types of glacierGlacial chronology and the causes of climate changeEvidence for Pleistocene ice extentRelict glacial landscapes, and polar against temperate glaciersPermafrost, nivation, frost heave and solifluctionIce wedges, patterned ground, pingos and loessGlacial mass balance and the ice-albedo feedbackAccumulation and ablation processesThe equilibrium line and how glaciers moveWhat controls the rate of glacial movementBasal slip and internal deformationWhat speeds a glacier up or slows it downDebris entrainment, transport and the scale of glacial landformsGlacial erosion, corries, aretes and pyramidal peaksTroughs, hanging valleys, ribbon lakes and roches moutonneesMoraines: lateral, medial, recessional and terminalDrumlins, till plains and the two kinds of tillErratics and reconstructing former ice movementMeltwater pathways, and analysing fluvioglacial sedimentFluvio-glacial (meltwater) landformsThe value of glaciated landscapes to peopleNatural hazards and human threats to glaciated landscapesClimate change and the players who manage these landscapesManagement approaches, legislation and scale
Coastal Landscapes and ChangeLandscape
Topic overviewThe littoral zone and the influences that shape itConcordant and discordant coasts, and geological structureCoastal types and the influence of rock structureFaulting, folding and geological weaknessesRock type, permeability and cliff profilesPsammosere succession on sand dunesHalosere succession and rates of recessionWaves, beach profiles and marine erosionWave-cut notches, platforms and cliffsCaves, arches, stacks and stumpsLongshore drift and the transport of sedimentSpits, bars, tombolos and other depositional landformsSediment cells: sources, transfers and sinksWeathering on the coastMass movement and its landformsRapid coastal recession and variations in its rateCauses of sea level change, and emergent coastlinesSubmergent coastlines and contemporary sea level riseCoastal flooding as a significant and increasing riskLosses from coastal recession, and environmental refugeesHard and soft engineering on the coastIntegrated coastal zone management and shoreline policiesHow coastal management decisions are made, and by whomUsing GIS, photographs and crowd-sourced data in coastal management
Globalisation
Topic overviewWidening, deepening and the global flowsThe five global flows definedTransport, ICT and the shrinking worldPolitical and economic decision making in globalisationMeasuring globalisation: the AT Kearney and KOF indicesTNCs, glocalisation, outsourcing and switched-off placesThe global shift and who gains from itThe social and environmental costs of the global shiftDeindustrialised regions in developed countriesRural-urban migration and the growth of megacitiesGlobal hub cities and international migrationThe costs and benefits of economic migrationCultural diffusion and the spread of a global cultureCultural erosion and opposition to globalisationMeasuring development: GDP, HDI and the Gender Inequality IndexEnvironmental measures, the Gini coefficient and the Lorenz curveGeographical skills: statistics, data and research ethicsWinners, losers and the widening development gapSocial, political and environmental tensions from global changeLocal sourcing and its costs and benefitsFair trade, ethical consumption and recycling
Regenerating PlacesPlaces
Topic overviewEconomic classification and variation from place to placeThe functions of a place and why they changeMeasuring place change and deprivationPast and present connections shaping economic and social characteristicsEconomic and social inequalities changing perceptions of areasLived experience, attachment and conflict over placeEvidence, representations, Spearman's rank and significance testingMeasures of dispersion: range, interquartile range and standard deviationSuccessful regions and the spiral of declinePerceptions of the need for regenerationNational planning, transport and funding decisionsNational policy: Levelling Up, house-building targets and foreign investmentLocal government incentives and inward investmentWhat attracts investment, and the multiplier effectLocal interest groups and tourism, sport and rural regenerationRebranding to change public perception of placesRebranding deindustrialised cities and rural areasEconomic, social and environmental measures of successDeprivation domains and demographic changeHow different stakeholders judge regenerationUrban stakeholders and their criteria for successUrban regeneration: reality, image and contested decisionsRural stakeholders and their criteria for successRural regeneration: reality, image and contested decisions
Diverse PlacesPlaces
Topic overviewPopulation structure variation from place to place and over timePopulation characteristics variation from place to place and over timeGlobal, national and regional influences on placeHow places are represented in film, art, music and mediaContinuity and change in demographic and cultural characterUrban places viewed differently by different groupsIdyllic and negative perceptions of rural placesHow reputation, media and lived experience shape rural viewsEvidence about living spaces, and research ethicsMedia and creative sources, coding and samplingIncreasing cultural and social diversity in the UKWhat causes segregationSegregation along the rural-urban continuum, and migrationPerceptions of segregated places, and measuring segregationLand-use change and tension between residents and newcomersMeasuring integration, and community cohesion in SloughDiverse rural communities: the Lake District
The Water Cycle and Water Insecurity
Topic overviewThe processes of the hydrological cycleThe stores of water and their relative sizeFluxes, residence time, fossil water and the cryosphereThe drainage basin as an open systemWhat influences drainage basin processesWater budgets and river regimesWhat shapes a storm hydrographReading a storm hydrographMeteorological and hydrological drought, ENSO and human causesThe impacts of drought on wetlands and forestsThe physical causes of floodingHuman causes of floodingThe environmental and economic impacts of floodingSocial impacts, case studies and synoptic chartsHow climate change alters the hydrological cycleENSO, uncertainty and future projectionsWater stress, scarcity and the physical causes of insecurityHuman causes of water insecurity and rising demandPhysical and economic water scarcityWhy economic scarcity happens, and the price of waterHow water is used: industry, energy and agricultureThe consequences of water insecurityCompeting users and trans-boundary riversThe players in water conflict, and its causesWater transfers as a hard engineering solutionMega dams and their costsDesalination, and the case against the techno-fixThe value of more sustainable schemes of restoration of water supplies and water conservationIntegrated drainage basin management and water treatiesThe players in water management and the conflicts between them
The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security
Topic overviewCarbon stores and fluxesChemical weathering, carbonate rocks and the slow carbon cycleBiological processes sequestering carbon (fast carbon cycle)Balanced carbon cycle sustaining earth systemsEnergy security and measuring energy useWhat shapes a country's energy mixContrasting energy mixes, public perception and OPECThe players in energy security, and energy pathwaysEnergy pathways and the mismatch between supply and demandUnconventional fossil fuels and their environmental costRenewables and nuclear: the costs and benefitsBiofuels, carbon capture, hydrogen and the uncertaintiesLand-use change and its effect on the carbon and water cyclesOcean acidification and coral reefsClimate belts, Amazonian drought and ecosystem servicesForest loss, the Kuznets curve and consumer attitudesHow warming changes the hydrological cycleUncertainty, ocean health and vulnerable regionsUncertainty, feedback loops and tipping pointsAdaptation and mitigation strategiesWhy players disagree, and handling climate data
Superpowers
Topic overviewWhat makes a superpower: economy, politics and militaryCultural, demographic and resource characteristicsHard power, soft power and smart powerThe Belt and Road Initiative, and power indexesPatterns of power change over timeEmerging powers and how their strengths are assessedWorld systems, dependency and modernisation theoryIGOs and how superpowers dominate themTNCs, cultural influence and WesternisationHow superpowers and emerging nations act in global decisionsAlliances, IGOs and geostrategyThe environmental cost of superpower demandThe rising middle class in emerging superpowersContested resources and intellectual propertyContested political spheres and open conflictChina's ties with the developing worldTensions in Asia and the Middle EastChallenges to existing superpowers, and future power structures
Health, Human Rights and InterventionConnections
Topic overviewConcepts of human developmentWhat causes variations in health and life expectancyHealth variations within countriesGovernments and IGOs defining development targets and policiesHuman rights in international law and agreementsDifferences between countries in definitions and protection of human rightsVariations in rights within countriesProgress towards equality, and the case studiesForms of geopolitical interventionDevelopment aid and the arguments about itEconomic development projects and military aidDevelopment focused on human rights and welfareHealth and life expectancy variation between and within countriesWelfare states, neo-liberalism and IGO programmesThe Responsibility to Protect and UN authorisationMilitary alliances, war crimes and the cost of military powerMeasuring the success of geopolitical interventionsThe mixed record of development aidWhy superpowers give aid, and the Gini coefficientMilitary interventions, both direct and indirect, have a mixed record of success
Migration, Identity and SovereigntyConnections
Topic overviewGlobalisation and the growth of migrationWhat changes migration patterns, and flow-line mapsVaried and complex causes of migrationConsequences of international migrationNation states and their varied historiesNationalism in the development of the modern worldTax havens, new state forms and alternatives to capitalismThe UN and its interventionsThe IMF, World Bank, WTO and other IGOsMigration in a globalised worldOpen borders, deregulation and migrant integrationNation states, borders and contested territoryNationalism, decolonisation and low-tax regimesIGOs managing environmental problemsNational identity as an elusive and contested conceptChallenges to national identityConsequences of disunity within nations
Glaciated Landscapes and Change
- 24 subtopics
- 71 things to know
- Paper 1
- Landscape Systems option, one of two
What Glaciated Landscapes and Change covers
Covers ice as a system and as a sculptor: where ice sits now and where it once reached, how a glacier gains and loses mass and how it moves, the landforms it erodes and deposits, and how people use and manage glaciated country.
Where it is assessed
Paper 1
Physical Geography. Optional content is not drawn on by the synoptic paper.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 24 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- The cryosphere and the types of glacierWhat the cryosphere is and how it regulates albedo, sea level, freshwater storage and atmospheric and oceanic circulation, and ice sheets, ice caps, cirque and valley glaciers, ice fields, polar and temperate glaciers, and the present-day Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.Open →
- Glacial chronology and the causes of climate changeGlacials, interglacials, stadials and interstadials, the lengthening Pleistocene cycles, the Anglian and Devensian glaciations and the Loch Lomond Stadial, the Holocene, the Little Ice Age and the Anthropocene, and the Milankovitch, solar, atmospheric and volcanic causes of climate change.Open →
- Evidence for Pleistocene ice extentRecall questions on erratics, striations, moraines, drumlins and till as records of how far the ice reached.Open →
- Relict glacial landscapes, and polar against temperate glaciersRecall questions on the landforms left behind in Britain, and on what separates a polar from a temperate glacier.Open →
- Permafrost, nivation, frost heave and solifluctionRecall questions on continuous, discontinuous and sporadic permafrost, the active layer, and the periglacial processes at work.Open →
- Ice wedges, patterned ground, pingos and loessRecall questions on how each periglacial landform develops and where it is found.Open →
- Glacial mass balance and the ice-albedo feedbackRecall questions on what mass balance measures, and on the feedback loops that amplify or dampen change.Open →
- Accumulation and ablation processesRecall questions on snowfall, avalanche and wind deposition against melting, sublimation, evaporation and calving.Open →
- The equilibrium line and how glaciers moveRecall questions on the equilibrium line altitude, the accumulation and ablation zones, and basal slip against internal deformation.Open →
- What controls the rate of glacial movementHow altitude, basal temperature, gradient, lithology, ice thickness and mass balance control the rate of glacial movement, positive and negative feedback in glacier flow, extending and compressing flow, calculating mass balance and the equilibrium line, and using GIS to map glacier zones and assess glacier health.Open →
- Basal slip and internal deformationRecall questions on regelation creep, the role of meltwater, and how ice crystals deform under pressure.Open →
- What speeds a glacier up or slows it downRecall questions on the positive and negative feedback loops governing the rate of flow.Open →
- Debris entrainment, transport and the scale of glacial landformsHow glaciers entrain debris, supraglacial, englacial and subglacial load, why glacial deposits are unsorted, macro, meso and micro-scale landforms, and the landforms of the sub-glacial, ice-marginal, proglacial and periglacial process environments.Open →
- Glacial erosion, corries, aretes and pyramidal peaksRecall questions on abrasion, plucking and rotational slip, and on how each upland landform is cut.Open →
- Troughs, hanging valleys, ribbon lakes and roches moutonneesRecall questions on how a U-shaped valley and its associated landforms are produced.Open →
- Moraines: lateral, medial, recessional and terminalRecall questions on where the debris in each moraine comes from and what its position records.Open →
- Drumlins, till plains and the two kinds of tillDrumlin shape, stoss and lee ends and formation, till plains, how lodgement and ablation till are deposited and how they differ in consolidation and clast orientation, and drumlin morphometry and orientation surveys compared statistically between locations.Open →
- Erratics and reconstructing former ice movementRecall questions on using erratics, crag and tail, drumlin orientation and till fabric to work out where the ice came from.Open →
- Meltwater pathways, and analysing fluvioglacial sedimentSupraglacial, englacial and sub-glacial meltwater pathways, how glacial and fluvioglacial deposits are told apart using central tendency and the Student t-test on clast size, shape and sorting, and what imbrication in outwash reveals about former meltwater flow.Open →
- Fluvio-glacial (meltwater) landformsOutwash plains, eskers, kames, kame terraces, kettle holes, proglacial lakes and meltwater channels, and how sorting, stratification and clast shape distinguish fluvioglacial from glacial deposits.Open →
- The value of glaciated landscapes to peopleRecall questions on the environmental, cultural and economic value of these landscapes, and on farming, mining, energy, tourism and forestry.Open →
- Natural hazards and human threats to glaciated landscapesRecall questions on avalanches and outburst floods, and on tourism, reservoirs, urbanisation, trampling and deforestation.Open →
- Climate change and the players who manage these landscapesRecall questions on what a changing mass balance does downstream, and on conservationists, government and NGOs as players.Open →
- Management approaches, legislation and scaleLegislative frameworks and the management of glaciated landscapes at local, national and global scales, with Yosemite Valley as the example, why climate change makes management harder and the future uncertain, mitigation against adaptation, and comparing average rates of glacier retreat around the world.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Key term
Describe how a corrie forms.
Process
How does differential geology influence glacial erosional landforms?
Key term
In what way does the cryosphere influence global sea levels?
Key term
Name five mountain ranges where present-day high altitude glaciated upland landscapes are found.
Process
How do polar and temperate glacial environments differ in terms of basal thermal regime?
Process
Why does the active layer experience seasonal changes while permafrost remains frozen?
Key term
Why does the frozen layer beneath the active layer promote solifluction?
Key term
What forms of patterned ground can develop in periglacial environments?
Key term
Name two regions that serve as examples of distinctive periglacial tundra landscapes.
Process
How can avalanches act as an ablation process?
Process
How does calving remove mass from a glacier?
Key term
What are polar glaciers and why do they move slowly?
Process
What role does meltwater play in basal slip?
Process
How does basal temperature control whether basal slip can occur?
Key term
What is compressing flow and where does it occur?
Process
What characteristic of temperate glaciers allows them to move faster than polar glaciers?
Process
How does basal temperature determine the type of glacial movement possible?
Key term
How might a negative mass balance affect the rate of glacial movement?
Process
What is plucking (also called quarrying)?
Process
What happens when two glaciers converge that leads to the formation of a medial moraine?
Key term
Which end of a drumlin is steeper, and which direction does it face?
Process
Where is debris located before lodgement till is deposited?
Key term
How is the elongated shape of a drumlin oriented relative to ice movement?
Key term
In a crag and tail landform, which feature is located on the up-glacier side?
Key term
What would happen to sub-glacial water flow if the ice-bedrock interface became impermeable?
Key term
What is englacial flow?
Process
Why are fluvioglacial (outwash) deposits sorted and stratified while till is not?
Process
How does an esker form?
Key term
Why is tourism an important economic use of glaciated landscapes?
Process
Explain how changes in glacial mass balance disrupt the hydrological cycle.
Study
How can changes in glacial mass balance affect water quality?
Key term
What measurements are taken in a drumlin morphometry and orientation survey?
Key term
What do till deposits reveal about Pleistocene glaciation?
Key term
What are relict glacial landscapes?
Key term
What is glacial mass balance?
Key term
In the context of glacial mass balance, what does accumulation represent?
Process
What role does water play in the process of basal sliding?
Key term
What is a glacial trough (U-shaped valley)?
Key term
Where does debris accumulate when two glaciers join to form a medial moraine?
Key term
What is a relict glaciated landscape?
Key term
What are glacial outburst floods and why are they hazardous?
Key term
How does soil erosion occur as a form of landscape degradation in glaciated areas?
Key term
How are legislative frameworks used to protect glaciated landscapes?
Key term
What is the cryosphere?
Key term
What are stadials and interstadials?
Key term
What is the Anthropocene, and what is its current status?
Process
How can variations in solar output cause climate change?
Key term
What is the key criterion for distinguishing between ice sheets and ice caps?
Key term
What is the active layer in periglacial environments?
Key term
Explain how ice wedges grow larger over time.
Key term
What is a positive mass balance and what effect does it have on a glacier?
Key term
How do avalanches contribute to accumulation on a glacier?
Key term
What is the equilibrium line altitude (ELA)?
Key term
How does higher altitude affect both accumulation and ablation rates?
Key term
What happens to the meltwater produced during regelation creep?
Key term
Why does higher altitude typically reduce glacial movement rates?
Key term
What is englacial load and how does debris get there?
Process
Which landforms are typical of the sub-glacial process environment?
Key term
What are meso-scale glacial landforms? Give examples.
Key term
How does freeze-thaw (frost shattering) weathering supply material for glacial erosion?
Key term
What is a roche moutonnée?
Process
What weathering process loosens rock from valley sides to supply material for lateral moraines?
Process
What is the initial stage in drumlin formation?
Key term
How can erratics be used to reconstruct former glacial conditions?
Key term
Describe the pathway of englacial water movement within a glacier.
Key term
What is an outwash plain (sandur)?
Key term
What defines an active glaciated landscape?
Key term
How can human activity trigger landslides in glaciated landscapes?
Key term
How can direct actions by players reduce the resilience of glaciated landscape ecology?
Key term
Why does climate change make successful management of glaciated landscapes increasingly challenging?
Take Glaciated Landscapes and Change further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Abrasion vs Plucking
Abrasion: erosion caused by debris scraping bedrock. Plucking: erosion caused when ice freezes onto and removes rock.
Corrie vs Arête
Corrie: armchair-shaped hollow formed by glacial erosion. Arête: narrow ridge formed between adjacent glacial hollows.
Till vs Outwash
Till: unsorted sediment deposited directly by ice. Outwash: sorted sediment deposited by meltwater.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What is the cryosphere?
Model answer
The portion of Earth's surface where water is frozen, including glaciers, ice sheets, ice caps, sea ice, permafrost, and snow cover.
- 2
How does the cryosphere regulate Earth's albedo?
Model answer
Ice and snow surfaces reflect a high proportion of incoming solar radiation back into space, helping to regulate global temperatures.
- 3
In what way does the cryosphere influence global sea levels?
Model answer
Ice sheets and glaciers store vast amounts of water on land; when they melt, water is released into the oceans, raising sea levels.
- 4
Why is the cryosphere important for freshwater storage?
Model answer
Glaciers and ice sheets contain approximately 69% of Earth's freshwater, acting as long-term reservoirs that release water gradually.
- 5
How does the cryosphere affect atmospheric and oceanic circulation patterns?
Model answer
Cold polar regions create temperature gradients that drive global wind systems and ocean currents, influencing heat distribution across the planet.
- 6
What would happen to global albedo if the cryosphere significantly decreased in extent?
Model answer
Global albedo would decrease as less reflective surfaces (land, ocean) replace ice and snow, leading to greater absorption of solar radiation and further warming.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Glaciated Landscapes and Change revision questions
- What does Glaciated Landscapes and Change cover in Edexcel A-Level Geography?
- 24 subtopics: the cryosphere and the types of glacier, glacial chronology and the causes of climate change, evidence for pleistocene ice extent, relict glacial landscapes, and polar against temperate glaciers, permafrost, nivation, frost heave and solifluction, ice wedges, patterned ground, pingos and loess, glacial mass balance and the ice-albedo feedback, accumulation and ablation processes, the equilibrium line and how glaciers move, what controls the rate of glacial movement, basal slip and internal deformation, what speeds a glacier up or slows it down, debris entrainment, transport and the scale of glacial landforms, glacial erosion, corries, aretes and pyramidal peaks, troughs, hanging valleys, ribbon lakes and roches moutonnees, moraines: lateral, medial, recessional and terminal, drumlins, till plains and the two kinds of till, erratics and reconstructing former ice movement, meltwater pathways, and analysing fluvioglacial sediment, fluvio-glacial (meltwater) landforms, the value of glaciated landscapes to people, natural hazards and human threats to glaciated landscapes, climate change and the players who manage these landscapes and management approaches, legislation and scale. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Glaciated Landscapes and Change organised?
- By the Edexcel 9GE0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Glaciated Landscapes and Change, on a schedule.
Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.
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