Key term
Eduqas A-Level Geography A110QS
Coastal LandscapesLandscape
Topic overviewThe coast as a system: inputs, outputs, stores and transfersSediment sources, sediment cells and dynamic equilibriumTides, currents and wave typesHigh and low energy coastal environmentsFetch, wave refraction and wave reflectionLithology and structural geology at the coastSub-aerial weathering and mass movement at the coastMarine erosion processesCliffs, wave-cut platforms, geos and blowholesHeadlands, bays and the cave to stump sequenceCoastal transport and longshore driftCoastal deposition, flocculation and sediment sortingBeaches, spits and barsTombolos, cuspate forelands and sandy coastlinesCoastal sand dunes and aeolian processesEstuarine coastlines, tidal flats and salt marshesCoral reefs and mangrove coastlinesStorms, seasons and sea level changeCoastal processes and human activityHuman impacts and coastal management
Glaciated LandscapesLandscape
Topic overviewThe glacier as a system: inputs, outputs, stores and transfersThe glacial budget, mass balance and feedbackThe Quaternary Ice Age and the Little Ice AgeCold-based and warm-based glaciersGlacier ice movement and types of flowTypes of ice mass and their distributionFreeze-thaw weathering and glacial erosion processesFactors affecting the rate of glacial erosionCirques, arêtes and pyramidal peaksGlacial troughs, ribbon lakes, hanging valleys and truncated spursRoches moutonnées, crag and tail and striationsGlacial and fluvioglacial transportTill and types of moraineDrumlins and lowland glacial depositionIce-contact fluvioglacial landformsProglacial landforms: sandurs, varves and kettle holesGlacial landscape suites and change over timePeriglacial ground ice and permafrost featuresPeriglacial weathering, mass movement, water and windGlacial landscapes and human activity
Changing Places
Topic overviewPlace characteristics and the home placeA contrasting place: profiles comparedFlows, connections and the shaping of placeGlobal connections and MNC fast food chainsPlace meaning, attachment and identity in the Lake DistrictRepresenting places through advertising and promotionBirmingham Grand Central and the marketed placeFormal, media and popular images comparedStructural employment change and the Clark Fisher modelExternal forces driving economic restructuringDecline of primary employment in rural placesDeindustrialisation, deprivation and social exclusionGovernment policy in deindustrialised placesRetail, commercial and entertainment change in central areasGentrification and re-urbanisationKnowledge economy clusters and their locational factorsRural rebranding and the post-productive countrysideRural management, counter-urbanisation and second homesUrban rebranding: flagship developments and cultural quartersUrban management, conflict and the Covid-19 legacy
Water and Carbon Cycles
Topic overviewSystems, mass balance and the water balanceGlobal water stores, their size and residence timesChanging stores: sea level change and cryospheric processesThe drainage basin as an open systemPrecipitation inputs and interceptionInfiltration, overland flow and throughflowPercolation, groundwater flow, channel flow and basin outputsRiver regimes and the factors that control themThe storm hydrograph: components and shapeClimatic factors influencing storm hydrographsCatchment factors influencing storm hydrographsCloud formation and theories of precipitationExcess runoff: natural and human causesDeficit in the water cycle and aquifer rechargeThe global carbon cycle: stores, fluxes and mass balanceFast carbon pathways between land and atmosphereOcean and atmosphere exchange and the slow carbon cycleCarbon stores in tropical rainforest and temperate grasslandLand-use change and the carbon storePeatlands and the changing carbon storeRising atmospheric carbon, the energy budget and its impactsFeedback, thresholds and permafrost thaw
Global Migration
Topic overviewGlobalisation, global systems and global flowsClassifying migrants and mapping global migration patternsA shrinking world: transport, communication and media representationPoverty, primary commodity prices and access to marketsDiasporas, colonial and Commonwealth links and freedom of movementSuperpowers, global hubs and the competition for migrantsRemittances and the brain drainInterdependency of host and source countriesMigration policies and contested views on cultural changeCauses of refugee movements and internal displacementConsequences of refugee movements for refugees and host statesManaging refugee crises: UNHCR, national governments and NGOsRural push factors, land grabs and indigenous displacementUrban pull factors, export processing zones and megacity growth
Global Governance of the Oceans
Topic overviewSupranational institutions and the law of the seaMaritime zones from the baseline to the high seasChokepoints, canals and piracy in maritime tradeBritain's maritime past and the CommonwealthContainer shipping, oil tankers and shipping regulationSmuggling and people trafficking at seaSeafloor data cables: growth, patterns and usesRisks to seafloor cables and international protectionOwnership of ocean resources and contested sovereigntyUnequal access: landlocked states and indigenous coastal peoplesThe Global Commons and over-exploitation of marine ecosystemsSustainable management: quotas, no-catch zones and conservation zonesSources and consequences of ocean pollutionManaging marine waste and the scales of ocean governance
Tectonic Hazards
Topic overviewEarth's internal structure and plate movementDivergent plate marginsConvergent margins, subduction and collisionConservative margins and hot spotsGlobal distribution of tectonic hazardsThe hazard profile and magnitude scalesTypes of volcano and styles of eruptionPrimary volcanic hazardsSecondary volcanic hazardsImpacts of volcanic activity at local, regional and global scalesContrasting volcanic eruptionsEarthquake characteristics and seismic wavesGround shaking, liquefaction and landslidesTsunami generation and impactsImpacts of earthquakes in contrasting contextsHuman factors affecting risk and vulnerabilityMonitoring, prediction and warningMitigation and the hazard management cycle
EcosystemsContemporary theme
Topic overviewThe value of ecosystems: goods and servicesGlobal distribution of biomes and its climatic controlsThe ecosystem concept, energy flow and trophic levelsNutrient cycling and the Gersmehl modelContrasting nutrient cycles: tropical rainforest and taigaNet primary productivity and limiting factorsMeasuring biodiversityThreats to biodiversity from local to global scaleTropical rainforests and coral reefs at riskWetlands at riskConserving biodiversity: strategies, priorities and fundingSuccession, seres and the climatic climaxSub-climax and plagioclimax communitiesThe Arctic tundra: climate, soils, plants and animalsImpacts of climate change on the Arctic tundraSustainable use and management of the Arctic tundra
Economic Growth and Challenge: IndiaContemporary theme
Topic overviewRelief and drainage patterns of IndiaIndia's climate and the monsoonWater availability and water stressPopulation distribution, growth and structureGovernance, health, education and welfareCaste, gender and cultural influencesResources, relief and climate as opportunity and constraintDroughts, floods and climate variabilityEconomic activity, democracy and the role of governmentThe changing size and structure of India's economyGlobal shift, outsourcing and offshoringIndia's soft power and global governanceEnvironmental pressures of economic growthWater, food and energy security and urban pressuresSustainable development strategies in India
Economic Growth and Challenge: ChinaContemporary theme
Topic overviewRelief and drainage patterns of ChinaChina's climate and the monsoonWater availability and the north-south imbalancePopulation distribution, growth and structureGovernance, health, education and welfareGender and minority groups in ChinaResources, relief and climate as opportunity and constraintDroughts, floods and climate variabilityEconomic activity, modified communism and the role of governmentThe changing size and structure of China's economyGlobal shift, offshoring and the workshop of the worldChina's soft power and global governanceEnvironmental pressures of economic growthWater, food and energy security and urban pressuresSustainable development strategies in China
Development in an African ContextContemporary theme
Topic overviewChanging definitions of developmentSimple, composite and qualitative measures of developmentThe development gap and the development continuumRegional, ethnic and gender variation within countriesThe resource base: minerals and energySoils, relief, climate and water availabilityClimate variability, drought and floodFree trade, trade blocs and protectionismThe resource curse and conflict mineralsMNCs, foreign direct investment and offshoringTourism and fair tradeColonialism, neo-colonialism, governance and corruptionEducation, health, welfare and the position of womenThe environmental costs of developmentDesertification in the SahelStrategies to promote development
Energy Challenges and DilemmasContemporary theme
Topic overviewClassifying energy resourcesFossil fuel stocks, reserves and their global distributionGeological factors in energy supplyInsolation, wind strength and reliabilityRelief, dam sites and hydroelectric powerWaves, tides and biofuels: favourable locationsChanging global patterns of energy demandEconomic and technological influences on energy demandTransfers, storage and the pricing of oil and gasOPEC, national governments and the oil and gas companiesEnvironmental problems of energy extraction, transport and usePolitical, economic and technological problems of energyAppropriate technology and micro-generation in developing countriesNational energy mixes and world energy pricesDemand reduction and energy efficiency policiesClean fossil fuel technologies and the sustainability of alternatives
Weather and ClimateContemporary theme
Topic overviewStructure of the atmosphereThe atmospheric heat budgetGlobal atmospheric circulation and the tricellular modelPressure belts and planetary surface windsOceanic circulation, continentality and altitudeThe world's major climate typesThe ITCZ and seasonal migrationThe monsoon climateThe climate of the UKAir masses affecting the UKThe jet stream and UK weatherENSO and short-term climate changeVulnerability, resilience and adaptive capacityHazards of low- and high-pressure systems and their managementUrban climates and air qualityClimate change: shifting belts, tipping points and response
Geographical Skills
Topic overviewGrid references, coordinates and locating a placeDistance, area, direction and scaleSampling and sources of errorPercentages, ratios, densities and frequenciesMeasures of central tendencyMeasures of dispersionConcentration, ratios and development indicesCorrelation and Spearman RankChi-square and significance testingMapping techniquesGraphs and diagramsDigital and qualitative field techniques
Tectonic Hazards
Earth's internal structure and plate movement
- 3 things to know
- Component 3 Section A
Overview
Depth of the Gutenberg discontinuity and what it separates, two main sources of the Earth's internal heat and how mantle convection currents move tectonic plates.
What you need to know
Answer each one before you reveal it.
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Key term
Name the four main layers of the Earth's interior, from the surface inwards.
Key term
What is the Moho, and where does it lie?
Questions from this subtopic
Each one with the model answer underneath.
- 1
Name the four main layers of the Earth's interior, from the surface inwards.
Model answer
The crust, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core make up the interior. The crust and uppermost mantle together form the rigid lithosphere.
- 2
What is the Moho, and where does it lie?
Model answer
The Mohorovičić discontinuity, or Moho, marks the boundary between the crust and the mantle. Depth ranges from around 5 km under oceans to 70 km under mountain belts.
- 3
State the depth of the Gutenberg discontinuity and what it separates.
Model answer
The Gutenberg discontinuity lies at a depth of about 2,900 km. The boundary separates the solid lower mantle from the liquid outer core.
- 4
Which discontinuity separates the outer core from the inner core?
Model answer
The Lehmann discontinuity separates the liquid outer core from the solid inner core, at about 5,150 km depth. Pressure there is high enough to keep the iron-nickel inner core solid.
- 5
Contrast the density and composition of oceanic and continental crust.
Model answer
Oceanic crust is basaltic and dense, at roughly 3.0 g cm⁻³, and only 5–10 km thick. Continental crust is granitic and lighter, around 2.7 g cm⁻³, and 30–70 km thick.
- 6
Why is oceanic crust much younger than continental crust?
Model answer
Oceanic crust is created at ridges and destroyed at subduction zones, so none is older than about 200 million years. Continental crust is too buoyant to subduct and survives for billions of years.
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