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
Superpowers
- 18 subtopics
- 53 things to know
- Papers 2 and 3
What Superpowers covers
Covers who holds power in the world and how they use it: what makes a superpower, how the pattern has changed, the emerging powers challenging it, the institutions through which influence is exercised, and the places where it is contested.
Where it is assessed
Papers 2 and 3
Human Geography, then the synoptic investigation.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 18 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- What makes a superpower: economy, politics and militaryRecall questions on economic size and trade share, Security Council membership and alliances, and defence spending and force projection.Open →
- Cultural, demographic and resource characteristicsRecall questions on language, media and universities, population and skills, and energy, minerals and land as sources of power.Open →
- Hard power, soft power and smart powerRecall questions on force, sanctions and conditional aid against culture, education and diplomacy, and on combining the two.Open →
- The Belt and Road Initiative, and power indexesRecall questions on how infrastructure financing extends influence, the debt-trap criticism, and how power indexes are built.Open →
- Patterns of power change over timeRecall questions on unipolar, bipolar and multipolar structures, imperialism, neo-colonialism and hegemony.Open →
- Emerging powers and how their strengths are assessedBrazil and the BRIC group, other emerging powers in the G20 such as Mexico, Indonesia and Turkey, their role in environmental governance, and the economic, political, military, cultural, demographic and environmental factors that are strengths or weaknesses for an emerging power's future role.Open →
- World systems, dependency and modernisation theoryRecall questions on core, semi-periphery and periphery, unequal exchange, and what each theory claims about development.Open →
- IGOs and how superpowers dominate themRecall questions on the World Bank, IMF, WTO and World Economic Forum, and on why influence within them is uneven.Open →
- TNCs, cultural influence and WesternisationRecall questions on how TNCs drive globalisation, patents and transfer pricing, and on cultural homogenisation.Open →
- How superpowers and emerging nations act in global decisionsHow superpowers and emerging nations respond to humanitarian disasters, conflict and climate change, sanctions against military intervention, acting as global police as the USA has, and military and economic alliances such as NATO, ANZUS, the EU, USMCA and ASEAN.Open →
- Alliances, IGOs and geostrategyHow military, economic and environmental alliances such as NATO and the IPCC create interdependence, the UN Security Council, International Court of Justice, peacekeeping missions and climate change conferences as influences on geopolitical stability, and what geostrategy means for alliance members.Open →
- The environmental cost of superpower demandRecall questions on what demand for food, fossil fuels and minerals does to land, water and air.Open →
- The rising middle class in emerging superpowersHow rising middle classes in emerging superpowers increase demand for rare earth elements through devices and renewable energy, oil through vehicles, industry and petrochemicals, grain through meat-rich diets, and water through homes, irrigation and industry, the future consequences for resources, habitats, pollution and emissions, and mapping impacts with proportional symbols.Open →
- Contested resources and intellectual propertyRecall questions on disputes over physical resources including the Arctic, and on counterfeiting and patents.Open →
- Contested political spheres and open conflictRecall questions on the South China Sea and East China Sea, and on what open conflict costs people and environments.Open →
- China's ties with the developing worldRecall questions on the benefits and costs of China-Africa links, debt dependency and neo-colonial criticism.Open →
- Tensions in Asia and the Middle EastRecall questions on the economic, political, cultural and environmental sources of tension in each region.Open →
- Challenges to existing superpowers, and future power structuresRecall questions on national debt, unemployment and the cost of maintaining military power, and on possible future power structures.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Evaluation
How do the three theories of development differ?
Key term
What pollution increases are expected from future middle-class consumption growth in emerging superpowers?
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Why is GDP size and growth rate used as an economic indicator of power status?
Evaluation
Why is nuclear weapons possession considered a key military characteristic of power?
Process
How does demographic structure affect a country's power status?
Evaluation
Why is agricultural land and water access a resource characteristic of power?
Study
Give an example of military action as a hard power mechanism.
Process
What are neo-colonial mechanisms?
Key term
What is hegemony?
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How can population size act as both a strength and a weakness for an emerging power?
Evaluation
How can abundant natural resource endowments be both an advantage and a disadvantage for an emerging power?
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In World Systems Theory, what characterises core nations?
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Define a transnational corporation (TNC).
Evaluation
Give an example of a superpower acting as 'global police' through military intervention.
Process
What would happen if a member of a military alliance like NATO were attacked?
Process
Explain the mechanism by which mineral extraction leads to water table contamination.
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What contrasting attitudes explain differences in superpower willingness to act on emissions?
Process
How does vehicle ownership growth in emerging superpowers affect global oil demand?
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Define intellectual property rights.
Evaluation
Which region provides an example of contested spheres of influence resulting in open conflict?
Process
What infrastructure opportunities arise from ties between emerging powers and developing nations?
Evaluation
What are neo-colonial power dynamics in the context of emerging power-developing world relationships?
Evaluation
Why does the Middle East present ongoing challenges to superpowers and emerging powers?
Evaluation
What environmental tensions affect the Middle East?
Evaluation
Explain the economic burden of maintaining air power for a superpower.
Numbers
What is China's Belt and Road Initiative and when was it launched?
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How does the BRI create trade dependencies?
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What conditions are typically attached to World Bank funding for developing nations?
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What type of assistance does the International Monetary Fund provide to countries?
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What do patents grant to TNCs and why are they significant?
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How might an emerging nation contribute to global crisis response differently from a superpower?
Process
Through what mechanisms do economic alliances increase interdependence?
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In which three main spheres is global influence contested between superpowers and other nations?
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What can contested political spheres of influence lead to tensions over?
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Explain how high levels of national debt can challenge the superpower status of countries such as the USA.
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What defines a superpower in terms of global influence?
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How does global language adoption contribute to cultural power?
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Define hard power in the context of international relations.
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What types of characteristics are used when constructing a power index?
Who and when
What role did military force play in maintaining imperial power during the colonial era?
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Beyond the BRIC nations, which international grouping contains other countries that function as emerging powers with growing global influence?
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In World Systems Theory, what is the role of semi-periphery nations?
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What does the IMF typically require from countries receiving its assistance?
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Define Westernisation.
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What type of alliance is NATO and what is its geostrategic significance?
Process
What is the mechanism by which superpower food demand causes biodiversity loss?
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What demographic change in emerging superpowers is driving increased per-capita resource consumption?
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Why does the contest for global influence across economic, environmental and political spheres create tensions?
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Name a sea in East Asia that represents a contested political sphere of influence.
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What is meant by interdependence between emerging powers and developing nations?
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What causes economic tensions between rising powers within Asia?
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What is meant by economic restructuring in the context of existing superpowers?
Take Superpowers further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Hard power vs Soft power
Hard power: influence exercised through military or economic coercion. Soft power: influence exercised through attraction and persuasion.
Unipolar world vs Multipolar world
Unipolar world: system dominated by one leading state. Multipolar world: system containing several major centres of power.
Sphere of influence vs Alliance
Sphere of influence: region strongly affected by an external power. Alliance: formal agreement for cooperation between states.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
What defines a superpower in terms of global influence?
Model answer
A superpower is a state with dominant global influence across multiple dimensions, capable of projecting power worldwide and shaping international affairs.
- 2
What distinguishes an emerging power from a superpower?
Model answer
Emerging powers are states with growing influence and increasing capacity to project power regionally or globally, but they have not yet achieved superpower status.
- 3
How would you define a regional power?
Model answer
A regional power is a state with significant influence within its geographical region but limited global reach.
- 4
Why is GDP size and growth rate used as an economic indicator of power status?
Model answer
GDP size indicates the total economic output of a state, while growth rate shows economic dynamism; together they reflect a country's economic capacity to sustain and expand its influence.
- 5
How does a country's share of global trade contribute to its power status?
Model answer
A large share of global trade indicates economic interdependence with other nations, giving the country leverage in international economic relations and the ability to influence global markets.
- 6
Why is control of financial institutions an economic characteristic of power?
Model answer
Control of global financial institutions such as the IMF or World Bank allows states to influence lending conditions, economic policies, and development priorities of other nations.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
Superpowers revision questions
- What does Superpowers cover in Edexcel A-Level Geography?
- 18 subtopics: what makes a superpower: economy, politics and military, cultural, demographic and resource characteristics, hard power, soft power and smart power, the belt and road initiative, and power indexes, patterns of power change over time, emerging powers and how their strengths are assessed, world systems, dependency and modernisation theory, igos and how superpowers dominate them, tncs, cultural influence and westernisation, how superpowers and emerging nations act in global decisions, alliances, igos and geostrategy, the environmental cost of superpower demand, the rising middle class in emerging superpowers, contested resources and intellectual property, contested political spheres and open conflict, china's ties with the developing world, tensions in asia and the middle east and challenges to existing superpowers, and future power structures. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is Superpowers organised?
- By the Edexcel 9GE0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in Superpowers, 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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