Process
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
The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security
- 21 subtopics
- 62 things to know
- Papers 1 and 3
What The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security covers
Covers carbon as a global system and energy as a strategic resource: the slow and fast carbon cycles, what energy security depends on, the alternatives to fossil fuels, and what human activity is doing to the carbon and water cycles.
Where it is assessed
Papers 1 and 3
Physical Geography, then the synoptic investigation.
Check the Pearson Edexcel specification ↗The 21 subtopics
Each one has its own page.
- Carbon stores and fluxesRecall questions on terrestrial, oceanic, atmospheric and geological stores, and on the fluxes between them.Open →
- Chemical weathering, carbonate rocks and the slow carbon cycleRecall questions on carbonic acid, silicate weathering, carbonate rock formation and volcanic return.Open →
- Biological processes sequestering carbon (fast carbon cycle)How phytoplankton sequester carbon and the carbonate pump and thermohaline circulation carry it to the deep ocean, terrestrial primary producers and consumers, carbon in soils and decomposition, and why these biological processes form the fast carbon cycle.Open →
- Balanced carbon cycle sustaining earth systemsRecall questions on how a balanced cycle regulates the atmosphere, oceans and ecosystems.Open →
- Energy security and measuring energy useRecall questions on what energy security means, per capita consumption, energy intensity and the energy mix.Open →
- What shapes a country's energy mixRecall questions on physical availability, cost, technology, public perception, development level and environmental priorities.Open →
- Contrasting energy mixes, public perception and OPECRecall questions on the USA and France as contrasting cases, attitudes to nuclear power, and the role of OPEC.Open →
- The players in energy security, and energy pathwaysRecall questions on TNCs, governments and consumers as players, and on why pathways must be secured.Open →
- Energy pathways and the mismatch between supply and demandRecall questions on pipelines, shipping routes and chokepoints, and on the risk of depending on one supplier.Open →
- Unconventional fossil fuels and their environmental costTar sands, oil shale, shale gas and deep water oil, the costs and benefits of developing them, their effects on the carbon cycle and fragile environments, the Canadian tar sands, US shale gas and Brazil's deep water oil as examples, conflict over their development, and continued reliance on fossil fuels.Open →
- Renewables and nuclear: the costs and benefitsRecall questions on the economic, social and environmental costs and benefits of nuclear, wind and solar.Open →
- Biofuels, carbon capture, hydrogen and the uncertaintiesRecall questions on each radical technology, and on the uncertainties over feasibility, cost, scale and infrastructure.Open →
- Land-use change and its effect on the carbon and water cyclesRecall questions on deforestation, afforestation and farming, and on what they do to evapotranspiration, infiltration and runoff.Open →
- Ocean acidification and coral reefsRecall questions on how dissolved carbon dioxide acidifies the ocean, and on what coral reefs provide.Open →
- Climate belts, Amazonian drought and ecosystem servicesRecall questions on shifting climate belts, Amazonian drought and tree mortality, tipping points and the four ecosystem services.Open →
- Forest loss, the Kuznets curve and consumer attitudesRecall questions on what forest loss costs, and on what the environmental Kuznets curve proposes.Open →
- How warming changes the hydrological cycleRecall questions on evaporation, precipitation, glaciers, permafrost, soil moisture and groundwater under a warming climate.Open →
- Uncertainty, ocean health and vulnerable regionsRecall questions on why projections are uncertain, on ocean warming and deoxygenation, and on which regions are most exposed.Open →
- Uncertainty, feedback loops and tipping pointsRecall questions on carbon sinks, peatland and permafrost feedbacks, forest dieback and thermohaline change.Open →
- Adaptation and mitigation strategiesRecall questions on water conservation, resilient agriculture, land-use planning and flood management, and on carbon taxation, renewables and afforestation.Open →
- Why players disagree, and handling climate dataRecall questions on why countries, corporations and individuals take different positions, and on calculating means and rates of change.Open →
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
Your recallNot started
Evaluation
What determines whether a country is energy secure?
Key term
How does the natural greenhouse effect influence the global distribution of precipitation?
Process
In what units are annual carbon fluxes between stores typically measured?
Process
Explain how carbonic acid forms in rainwater.
Process
What is the carbonate pump?
Key term
Give examples of terrestrial primary producers that sequester atmospheric carbon.
Key term
How does the concentration of atmospheric carbon affect the natural greenhouse effect?
Key term
What does energy consumption per unit of GDP measure?
Study
How does level of economic development affect energy consumption?
Key term
How does public perception of nuclear power differ between the USA and France?
Key term
What would happen to a country's energy security if consumers widely adopted energy-efficient technologies?
Key term
Give three examples of energy pathway infrastructure.
Key term
In what way does road transport serve as an energy pathway?
Key term
Define oil shale as an unconventional energy resource.
Study
What country provides a case study for the impacts of shale gas extraction through fracking?
Evaluation
Identify two social costs that wind power developments can create for local communities.
Evaluation
Why is there uncertainty over how carbon neutral biofuels actually are?
Evaluation
Why is there uncertainty about the extent to which carbon capture and storage can reduce carbon emissions?
Key term
How can land-use changes cause soil erosion?
Process
How does the formation of carbonic acid affect ocean pH?
Key term
What causes the enhanced greenhouse effect?
Process
How do shifting climate belts affect drought frequency?
Key term
What is the turning point in the environmental Kuznets' curve model?
Key term
What happens to groundwater recharge rates under changing climate conditions?
Evaluation
Why does the complexity of climate system modelling create uncertainty in water cycle projections?
Evaluation
Why does variability in emission scenarios create uncertainty in future water cycle projections?
Evaluation
Why does the variable role of carbon sinks create uncertainty in future climate warming projections?
Evaluation
How does the future mix of energy sources contribute to uncertainty in emissions projections?
Key term
Distinguish between adaptation and mitigation as climate responses.
Key term
Name the three main reservoir types in which carbon stores are located within the biogeochemical carbon cycle.
Key term
How does cost influence energy consumption patterns?
Key term
How does per capita energy consumption in the USA compare to France?
Key term
Define energy pathways.
Key term
What are the main economic costs associated with nuclear power, and what benefit does it provide in return?
Key term
Why does the ocean act as a carbon sink?
Key term
How does forest loss affect the global carbon balance?
Key term
Why does warmer air intensify the hydrological cycle?
Key term
What practices are involved in developing resilient agricultural systems as an adaptation strategy?
Key term
Name three approaches included within flood-risk management as an adaptation strategy.
Key term
Why has achieving global agreement on mitigation to re-balance the carbon cycle proved problematic?
Key term
What are terrestrial carbon stores?
Key term
What causes chemical weathering of silicate minerals in rocks?
Key term
How do phytoplankton remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere?
Key term
Name one of the two main atmospheric carbon compounds that influences the natural greenhouse effect.
Key term
What is meant by energy security?
Key term
What would happen to energy consumption if global oil prices rose sharply?
Key term
What factors explain the USA's higher per capita energy consumption compared to France?
Key term
What are energy pathways?
Key term
How do pipelines function as energy pathways?
Key term
What is shale gas?
Key term
State one environmental cost and one environmental benefit of nuclear power.
Key term
Define biofuels.
Key term
Why does soil disturbance during deforestation lead to carbon release?
Key term
What happens when atmospheric CO₂ dissolves in seawater?
Key term
What happens to precipitation patterns as climate belts shift?
Key term
What happens to biodiversity and habitat when forests are cleared?
Key term
How might climate change alter the spatial distribution of precipitation?
Key term
Why is the Arctic particularly sensitive to temperature changes?
Key term
How do rates of economic growth contribute to uncertainty in future emissions projections?
Key term
Why must adaptation strategies be evaluated in terms of costs, risks, and benefits?
Key term
What factors make national actions on climate mitigation problematic?
Take The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security further
The same content, four other ways.
Commonly confused
Pairs that lose marks when they are blurred together.
Carbon source vs Carbon sink
Carbon source: store releasing more carbon than it absorbs. Carbon sink: store absorbing more carbon than it releases.
Sequestration vs Conservation
Sequestration: capture and long-term storage of atmospheric carbon. Conservation: protection of stores and ecosystems from degradation.
Energy security vs Energy independence
Energy security: reliable affordable access to adequate energy. Energy independence: ability to meet demand without external supply.
Questions from this topic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Name the three main reservoir types in which carbon stores are located within the biogeochemical carbon cycle.
Model answer
Terrestrial stores, oceanic stores, and atmospheric stores.
- 2
What are terrestrial carbon stores?
Model answer
Carbon reservoirs located on land, including vegetation, soils, and geological formations such as rocks and fossil fuels.
- 3
What are oceanic carbon stores?
Model answer
Carbon reservoirs within the oceans, including dissolved carbon dioxide, carbonate ions, and carbon held in marine organisms and sediments.
- 4
What are atmospheric carbon stores?
Model answer
Carbon held in the atmosphere, primarily as carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄).
- 5
In what units are annual carbon fluxes between stores typically measured?
Model answer
Petagrams (Pg) or gigatonnes (Gt).
- 6
How do carbon fluxes between stores vary?
Model answer
They vary in size, rate, and timescale.
What is inside Levo
Six ways to work the same material.
The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security revision questions
- What does The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security cover in Edexcel A-Level Geography?
- 21 subtopics: carbon stores and fluxes, chemical weathering, carbonate rocks and the slow carbon cycle, biological processes sequestering carbon (fast carbon cycle), balanced carbon cycle sustaining earth systems, energy security and measuring energy use, what shapes a country's energy mix, contrasting energy mixes, public perception and opec, the players in energy security, and energy pathways, energy pathways and the mismatch between supply and demand, unconventional fossil fuels and their environmental cost, renewables and nuclear: the costs and benefits, biofuels, carbon capture, hydrogen and the uncertainties, land-use change and its effect on the carbon and water cycles, ocean acidification and coral reefs, climate belts, amazonian drought and ecosystem services, forest loss, the kuznets curve and consumer attitudes, how warming changes the hydrological cycle, uncertainty, ocean health and vulnerable regions, uncertainty, feedback loops and tipping points, adaptation and mitigation strategies and why players disagree, and handling climate data. Each one has its own page with questions and model answers.
- How is The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security organised?
- By the Edexcel 9GE0 specification, subtopic by subtopic, so it matches the order you are taught it in.
Every question in The Carbon Cycle and Energy Security, 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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