What are interlocking spurs and where are they found?

Ridges of higher land that jut into the valley from alternate sides in the upper course, where the river winds between them instead of cutting through.

Why does a river wind around spurs rather than remove them in its upper course?

It has little energy left over after cutting downwards, so it takes the easiest route around resistant obstacles rather than eroding sideways through them.

How is a plunge pool created at the foot of a waterfall?

Falling water and the rocks it carries attack the bed by hydraulic action and abrasion, hollowing out a deep basin.

What is a river cliff and how is one cut?

A steep bank on the outer side of a bend, undercut by the fastest flow through hydraulic action and abrasion until the material above collapses.

Edexcel GCSE Geography A 1GA0

Changing Cities

Topic overview Global urbanisation trends and rates The UK’s urban population and why urbanisation varies by region The chosen UK city: site, situation, connectivity and structure Urbanisation, suburbanisation and migration in the chosen UK city Population change and deindustrialisation in the chosen UK city Inequality and changes in retailing in the chosen UK city Making the chosen UK city more sustainable The chosen developing or emerging city: site, situation and structure Population growth and migration in the chosen developing or emerging city Inequality and quality of life in the chosen developing or emerging city Rapid urbanisation: challenges, and bottom-up and top-down responses Government policy and quality of life in the chosen city

Coastal Landscapes and ProcessesLandscape option

Topic overview Coastal processes: weathering, mass movement, erosion, transport and deposition Geology, wave type and UK weather at the coast Coastal landforms of erosion and deposition Coastal recession, flooding and coastal defences A named distinctive coastal landscape in the UK

Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management

Topic overview The world’s large-scale ecosystems and what controls their distribution The biosphere as a resource, and its commercial exploitation UK terrestrial and marine ecosystems Tropical rainforest characteristics and the nutrient cycle Rainforest biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations Rainforest goods and services, and the causes of deforestation Sustainable management of a named rainforest Deciduous woodland characteristics and the nutrient cycle Woodland biodiversity and plant and animal adaptations Woodland goods and services, and the causes of deforestation Sustainable management of a named deciduous woodland

Energy Resource ManagementResource option

Topic overview Renewable and non-renewable energy resources compared The UK’s energy mix and why energy mixes vary Rising energy demand and the development of non-renewables Developing renewables, and fracking Stakeholder attitudes to energy Sustainable management of energy resources

Geographical Investigations – Fieldwork

Topic overview River fieldwork: enquiry questions, methods and secondary data Coastal fieldwork: enquiry questions, methods and secondary data Urban fieldwork: enquiry questions and methods Urban fieldwork: secondary data sources Rural fieldwork: enquiry questions and methods Rural fieldwork: secondary data sources The enquiry process: asking questions and choosing methods The enquiry process: presenting, analysing and concluding The enquiry process: evaluating fieldwork

Geographical Investigations − UK Challenges

Topic overview The UK’s resource consumption and sustainability challenge The UK’s settlement, population and economic challenges The UK’s landscape challenges: National Parks and flood risk The UK’s climate change challenges

Geographical Skills

Topic overview Atlas and map skills: distributions, patterns and sketch maps Describing the site, situation and shape of settlements Interpreting diagrams, sketches and photographs Using online census sources Hypotheses, sampling and risk assessment Collecting, recording and presenting data Writing about findings and building an argument

Glaciated Upland Landscapes and ProcessesLandscape option

Topic overview Glacial processes and the processes at work on relict landscapes today Past climate and present UK weather in glaciated uplands Glacial landforms of erosion and deposition Crag and tail, and drumlins Human activity and development in glaciated uplands A named distinctive glaciated upland landscape in the UK

Global Development

Topic overview Defining and measuring development The global pattern of development and why it is uneven The consequences of uneven development for quality of life Strategies to reduce uneven development: aid, top-down and bottom-up The chosen country: location, context and internal unevenness Economic change, trade, aid and investment in the chosen country Population and social change in the chosen country Geopolitics and technology in the chosen country The impacts of rapid development and how they are managed

Mathematics and Statistics Skills

Topic overview Cartographic skills: contours, transects, scale and distance Using GIS and geo-spatial data Choosing, constructing and interpreting graphs and charts Numerical skills: number, scale, proportion and ratio Drawing conclusions from numerical data Statistical skills: averages, spread, percentages and correlation Spotting weaknesses in how data is presented

Resource Management

Topic overview What natural resources are, and how people exploit them How exploitation changes environments The distribution and consumption of food, energy and water

River Landscapes and ProcessesLandscape option

Topic overview River processes: weathering, mass movement, erosion, transport and deposition The long profile of a river and the effect of UK weather River landforms from source to mouth Land use, flood risk and river defences A named distinctive river landscape in the UK

The Changing Landscapes of the UK

Topic overview The UK’s rock types and geology How the UK’s upland and lowland landscapes were formed

Water Resource ManagementResource option

Topic overview The global distribution of fresh water, and water surplus and deficit Changing water supply and demand How water use differs between countries Water supply problems in the UK and in developing countries Stakeholder attitudes to water, and desalination Sustainable management of water resources

Weather Hazards and Climate Change

Topic overview Global atmospheric circulation and the transfer of heat Natural climate change and the evidence for it The enhanced greenhouse effect and the effects of climate change The climate of the UK and how it varies How tropical cyclones form, and where they occur Why tropical cyclones are hazardous, and their impacts Responses to tropical cyclones The causes of drought and why some places are more vulnerable The impacts of drought and responses to it

River Landscapes and Processes

River landforms from source to mouth

3 things to know
Paper 1 section A

Overview

Interlocking spurs, waterfalls, plunge pools and gorges, river cliffs, flood plains, levees and point bars, how meanders develop into oxbow lakes and meander scars, and how valleys, meanders, flood plains and waterfalls are recognised on OS maps.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started

Key term

Explain how a difference in rock hardness produces a waterfall.

Key term

Explain how a waterfall retreats upstream and leaves a gorge behind it.

Key term

Explain how repeated flooding builds up a flood plain.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
What are interlocking spurs and where are they found?
Model answer
Ridges of higher land that jut into the valley from alternate sides in the upper course, where the river winds between them instead of cutting through.
2
Why does a river wind around spurs rather than remove them in its upper course?
Model answer
It has little energy left over after cutting downwards, so it takes the easiest route around resistant obstacles rather than eroding sideways through them.
3
Explain how a difference in rock hardness produces a waterfall.
Model answer
The river cuts quickly through weaker rock downstream but barely touches a harder band, leaving a step over which the water falls.
4
How is a plunge pool created at the foot of a waterfall?
Model answer
Falling water and the rocks it carries attack the bed by hydraulic action and abrasion, hollowing out a deep basin.
5
Explain how a waterfall retreats upstream and leaves a gorge behind it.
Model answer
Splashback undercuts the softer rock beneath the hard cap until the unsupported overhang collapses; repeated over time this moves the fall upstream and leaves a steep-sided narrow valley in its place.
6
What is a river cliff and how is one cut?
Model answer
A steep bank on the outer side of a bend, undercut by the fastest flow through hydraulic action and abrasion until the material above collapses.

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Changing Cities

Coastal Landscapes and Processes

Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Management

Energy Resource Management

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