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GCE A/L Geography practice questions

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Question 1Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which type of plate boundary is characterised by two plates moving apart, with new oceanic lithosphere created at the gap between them?

  1. Divergent (constructive) boundary Correct answer.
  2. Intraplate hot-spot setting
  3. Convergent (destructive) boundary
  4. Transform (conservative) boundary

Explanation

At a divergent boundary, tensional forces pull plates apart, magma rises to fill the gap and cools to form new ocean floor. This sea-floor spreading is why constructive margins are associated with mid-ocean ridges and rift valleys. Convergent, transform and hot-spot settings involve different mechanisms and landforms.

Question 2Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

At a subduction zone, which process directly generates the deep ocean trench found on the seaward side of the island arc?

  1. A mantle plume pushes the lithosphere upward from below
  2. Tensional rifting thins the oceanic crust in the middle of the plate
  3. The descending slab bends and pulls the oceanic plate downward Correct answer.
  4. Friction melts the overriding plate into a rising diapir

Explanation

Where a dense oceanic plate bends and sinks into the asthenosphere, the flexure of the slab produces a long, narrow trench. The downbending also helps drive slab-pull, a key plate-driving force. Melting occurs at depth above the slab and feeds the volcanic arc, but it does not excavate the trench.

Question 3Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which seismic wave type travels fastest and is the first to be recorded at a seismograph station?

  1. Secondary (S) waves
  2. Love waves
  3. Rayleigh waves
  4. Primary (P) waves Correct answer.

Explanation

P waves are compressional body waves and travel through solids, liquids and gases at the highest velocity, so they arrive first. S waves are slower shear waves, and Love and Rayleigh waves are slower still surface waves. The arrival-time difference between P and S waves is used to locate an earthquake epicentre.

Question 4Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

A shield volcano such as those forming the Hawaiian chain is built mainly from which material and eruption style?

  1. Welded tuff and pyroclastic flows from a caldera collapse
  2. High-viscosity rhyolitic lava erupted explosively from a central vent
  3. Alternating layers of ash and andesitic lava
  4. Low-viscosity basaltic lava erupted effusively from fissures Correct answer.

Explanation

Shield volcanoes form where fluid, low-silica basaltic lava flows long distances before solidifying, building broad, gently sloping cones. Low gas content and low viscosity allow effusive rather than explosive activity. Stratovolcanoes instead build from alternating ash and viscous lava.

Question 5Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which landform is produced by the collapse of a magma chamber roof following a large explosive eruption?

  1. Volcanic neck
  2. Cinder cone
  3. Lava dome
  4. Caldera Correct answer.

Explanation

When a large volume of magma is evacuated during an explosive eruption, the unsupported roof of the chamber may subside, leaving a wide depression called a caldera. It differs from a crater, which is a smaller vent feature. Lava domes and cinder cones are constructional, while a volcanic neck is an exposed conduit.

Question 6Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

The point on the Earth's surface directly above the focus of an earthquake is known as the:

  1. Epicentre Correct answer.
  2. Hypocentre
  3. Seismic shadow zone
  4. Isoseismal line

Explanation

The focus (hypocentre) is the actual rupture point at depth, and the epicentre is the surface point vertically above it. Seismic energy radiates outward from the focus, so the epicentre usually experiences the strongest shaking. Isoseismal lines join places of equal shaking intensity.

Question 7Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which feature is typical of a conservative (transform) plate margin such as the San Andreas Fault system?

  1. Oceanic lithosphere is consumed in a deep trench
  2. Crust is neither created nor destroyed as plates slide past each other Correct answer.
  3. Continental crust is thickened by collision and folding
  4. New ocean floor is generated along a mid-ocean ridge

Explanation

At conservative margins the plates move laterally past one another, so lithosphere is conserved rather than produced or consumed. Stress builds until it is released as shallow-focus earthquakes along the fault. Volcanism is generally absent because no magma is generated.

Question 8Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

A geologist maps a fault where the hanging wall has moved down relative to the footwall. Which fault type and stress regime does this indicate?

  1. Strike-slip fault, produced by shear stress
  2. Normal fault, produced by tensional stress Correct answer.
  3. Reverse fault, produced by compressional stress
  4. Thrust fault, produced by compressional stress

Explanation

In a normal fault the hanging wall drops relative to the footwall because the crust is being pulled apart under tension. Reverse and thrust faults show the opposite sense of movement and reflect compression. Strike-slip faults involve horizontal displacement along the fault plane.

Question 9Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Why do the Hawaiian Islands become progressively older toward the northwest?

  1. A chain of transform faults propagates northwest along the plate
  2. The Pacific Plate moves northwest over a stationary mantle plume Correct answer.
  3. Sea level falls progressively toward the northwest
  4. Subduction removes the youngest crust in the northwest

Explanation

A fixed hot spot in the mantle generates volcanoes as the plate passes over it; the plate then carries each volcano away, so distance from the plume correlates with age. Erosion and subsidence further reduce the older, northwest islands. This age progression is classic evidence used to reconstruct plate motion.

Question 10Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Oceanic lithosphere is subducted beneath continental lithosphere rather than the reverse mainly because oceanic lithosphere is:

  1. Underlain by a weaker mantle layer
  2. Older and therefore hotter than continental lithosphere
  3. Composed mainly of granite rather than basalt
  4. Denser and thinner than continental lithosphere Correct answer.

Explanation

Oceanic lithosphere is made of basalt and gabbro, is thin, and cools to become dense, so it is gravitationally unstable and sinks. Continental lithosphere is thicker, less dense and buoyant, so it resists subduction. This density contrast explains the asymmetry of ocean-continent convergence.

Question 11Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which sequence correctly describes the formation of a stratovolcano above a subduction zone?

  1. Friction melts the overriding plate at the surface, forming a lava plateau
  2. Water released from the slab lowers mantle melting point, magma rises and erupts as viscous andesitic lava and ash Correct answer.
  3. Mantle plume melts the base of the plate, producing fluid basaltic flows
  4. The slab melts completely in the trench and floods the surface with basalt

Explanation

As the descending slab heats, water and other volatiles are released, which lowers the melting temperature of the overlying mantle wedge. The resulting intermediate magma rises, stalls and differentiates, feeding viscous andesitic eruptions that build steep composite cones. This contrasts with the fluid basalt of shield volcanoes.

Question 12Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

A seismograph station records a 25-second interval between the first P-wave arrival and the first S-wave arrival. This interval is used primarily to determine the:

  1. Depth of the Moho beneath the station
  2. Distance of the station from the earthquake focus Correct answer.
  3. Direction of fault rupture along the fault plane
  4. Magnitude of the earthquake from a single station

Explanation

Because P and S waves travel at known, different velocities, the growing time gap between their arrivals increases with distance travelled. Plotting this interval against a travel-time curve gives the distance to the focus. Three or more stations are then needed to triangulate the epicentre.

Question 13Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which feature would most reliably indicate that a region has experienced a large, shallow earthquake in the recent geological past?

  1. A deeply weathered lava flow cut by erosion
  2. A series of raised marine terraces
  3. A folded sequence of ancient limestones
  4. A surface rupture displacing young sediments along a mapped fault Correct answer.

Explanation

Surface rupture that offsets young, datable sediments shows that faulting reached the surface recently and provides evidence of ground displacement. Such trenching evidence is used in palaeoseismic studies to estimate recurrence intervals. The other features reflect long-term uplift or deformation rather than a specific recent earthquake.

Question 14Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Why is volcanic activity generally absent along conservative plate margins?

  1. No magma is generated because lithosphere is neither created nor consumed Correct answer.
  2. Earthquakes along the fault prevent magma from rising
  3. The plate boundary lies beneath thick continental crust
  4. Magma is generated but is too viscous to reach the surface

Explanation

Volcanism requires a source of melt, usually from decompression at divergent margins or volatile-induced melting above a subduction zone. At conservative margins the plates simply slide past each other, so there is no mechanism to generate magma. The resulting hazard is mainly seismic.

Question 15Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which type of magma is most likely to produce a highly explosive Plinian eruption?

  1. High-silica rhyolitic magma with high gas content Correct answer.
  2. Basaltic magma erupted from a fissure
  3. Andesitic magma with low viscosity and low gas content
  4. Low-silica basaltic magma with low gas content

Explanation

Explosive eruptions occur when viscous, silica-rich magma traps gas until pressure builds and is released violently, fragmenting the magma into ash and pumice. High viscosity prevents gas from escaping easily, so explosivity increases with silica and gas content. Fluid basaltic magma degasses readily and tends to erupt effusively.

Question 16Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

A tsunami generated by an earthquake is most likely when the earthquake:

  1. Produces strong ground shaking but little vertical sea-floor movement
  2. Has a strike-slip mechanism with horizontal displacement
  3. Displaces the sea floor vertically along a shallow subduction thrust Correct answer.
  4. Occurs at great depth within a descending slab

Explanation

A tsunami requires a large, sudden vertical displacement of the sea bed that displaces a huge volume of water. Shallow thrust earthquakes at subduction zones are the most effective generators because the rupture reaches the sea floor. Horizontal motion and deep events displace far less water.

Question 17Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which evidence best supports the theory of sea-floor spreading at mid-ocean ridges?

  1. The presence of granite in the oceanic crust
  2. Symmetrical magnetic stripe patterns on either side of the ridge Correct answer.
  3. Identical fossil assemblages on all continents
  4. Uniform sediment thickness across the entire ocean floor

Explanation

Palaeomagnetic reversals are recorded in newly formed crust as it cools, producing matching stripes of normal and reversed polarity on both sides of a ridge. Their symmetry shows that crust has been added equally on each side and has moved away from the ridge axis. This is a key line of evidence for sea-floor spreading.

Question 18Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which landform is formed where a river has incised into uplifted terrain along a fault line, producing a steep-sided, narrow gorge?

  1. Delta
  2. Antecedent gorge Correct answer.
  3. Depositional floodplain
  4. Meander belt

Explanation

Where tectonic uplift raises land across a river's course, the river may maintain its path by cutting down rapidly, producing a steep-sided antecedent gorge. This reflects interaction between fluvial erosion and tectonic uplift. Depositional features such as deltas and floodplains form where the river loses energy.

Question 19Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which statement best explains why the Andes are a high mountain range with abundant intermediate volcanism?

  1. A continental plate subducts beneath an oceanic plate, forming an island arc
  2. A mantle plume raises the crust beneath a stationary continent
  3. Two continental plates collide and thicken the crust without volcanism
  4. An oceanic plate subducts beneath a continental plate, causing crustal thickening and arc magmatism Correct answer.

Explanation

The Andes form at an ocean-continent convergent margin where the Nazca Plate subducts beneath South America. Compression thickens the continental crust, and volatiles from the slab generate andesitic magma that feeds the volcanic arc. Collision of two continents thickens crust but produces little volcanism.

Question 20Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

P waves are not recorded in the seismic shadow zone beyond about 103 degrees from the epicentre because they are:

  1. Cancelled by S waves travelling in the same direction
  2. Refracted by the liquid outer core, leaving a shadow between about 103 and 143 degrees Correct answer.
  3. Absorbed completely by the solid mantle
  4. Blocked by the crust at the surface

Explanation

P waves passing into the liquid outer core are refracted downward because of the velocity drop, so a zone beyond about 103 degrees receives no direct P arrivals until they re-emerge at about 143 degrees. This shadow zone provided key evidence that the outer core is liquid. S waves do not pass through the liquid core at all, creating a much larger shadow.

Question 21Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

A transform fault offsets segments of a mid-ocean ridge. Which statement correctly describes the relative motion along the active fault segment between the two ridge axes?

  1. The blocks move in the same direction, as on a ridge-parallel fracture zone
  2. The blocks converge, producing a subduction trench
  3. The blocks move vertically, producing normal faulting
  4. The blocks move in opposite directions, consistent with the spreading direction Correct answer.

Explanation

Between offset ridge axes, the two blocks move in opposite senses, matching the spreading direction of the plates on either side. Outside this active segment, along the fracture zone, the blocks move in the same direction and generate little seismicity. Confusing the two segments is a common error.

Question 22Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

A subducted slab descends steeply and reaches great depth. How does this affect the position of the associated volcanic arc relative to the trench?

  1. A steeper slab places the arc farther from the trench
  2. Slab dip has no effect on arc position
  3. A steeper slab places the arc closer to the trench Correct answer.
  4. A steeper slab eliminates arc volcanism entirely

Explanation

Magma is generated at a fairly constant depth above the slab, so the surface position of the arc depends on slab geometry. A steeper dip means the slab reaches melting depth closer to the trench, shifting the arc trenchward. A shallower dip produces a more distant arc.

Question 23Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

Which combination of observations would best allow a geologist to identify a depression as a caldera rather than an impact crater of similar diameter?

  1. Absence of any volcanic rock within the depression
  2. Abundant shattered quartz cones and shatter cones in the floor rocks
  3. Presence of welded ignimbrite and a ring fault, with no shock-metamorphic minerals Correct answer.
  4. A raised rim of ejected debris and a central peak

Explanation

Calderas form by collapse along ring faults and are commonly associated with thick ignimbrite deposits from the eruption that emptied the chamber. Impact craters instead contain shock-metamorphic features such as shatter cones and shocked quartz. The presence of volcanic deposits and ring faults therefore points to a caldera.

Question 24Physical Geography: Tectonic Processes and Landforms

In the elastic rebound theory, why does the ground suddenly shake during an earthquake?

  1. Tidal forces periodically flex the crust and generate waves
  2. Groundwater pressure gradually dissolves the fault rock
  3. Magma suddenly intrudes along the fault and fractures the rock
  4. Accumulated strain exceeds rock strength, the fault ruptures and stored elastic energy is released as seismic waves Correct answer.

Explanation

Elastic rebound theory holds that rock on either side of a locked fault deforms elastically as stress accumulates. When the stress exceeds the rock's strength, the fault slips and the deformed rock snaps back, releasing stored energy as seismic waves. This explains why earthquakes occur suddenly after long periods of strain build-up.

Question 25Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which coastal process is primarily responsible for the landward movement of a shingle ridge during a storm surge?

  1. Solution dissolving calcium carbonate in the shingle
  2. Hydraulic action quarrying the cliff base
  3. Longshore drift transporting sediment along the beach
  4. Overtopping and overwash carrying sediment across the crest Correct answer.

Explanation

During storm surges, swash overtops the crest and deposits sediment on the landward side, so the ridge migrates inland while maintaining its form. This overwash process is the classic mechanism of landward barrier migration. Longshore drift moves material parallel to the coast rather than across the ridge.

Question 26Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

A coastline where the dominant wave approach is oblique to the shore will most typically develop which feature?

  1. A series of offshore stacks aligned perpendicular to the shore
  2. A raised beach terrace above the present shoreline
  3. A spit growing in the direction of net sediment transport Correct answer.
  4. A fjord drowned by post-glacial sea-level rise

Explanation

Oblique wave approach drives longshore drift, which carries sediment along the shore until the coastline changes direction, allowing a spit to grow in the direction of net transport. Spits are therefore diagnostic of oblique approach and a change in coastal alignment. The other features reflect erosion, uplift or drowning rather than alongshore deposition.

Question 27Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which statement best describes the role of a groyne in coastal management?

  1. It raises beach level by pumping sand from offshore
  2. It allows sediment to pass around the structure while reducing wave energy
  3. It absorbs wave energy by floating on the sea surface
  4. It traps sediment on its updrift side and starves the downdrift coast Correct answer.

Explanation

A groyne interrupts longshore drift, so sediment accumulates on the updrift side while the downdrift coast receives less supply and erodes. This downdrift starvation is the recognised side-effect of groyne construction. Beach nourishment and floating breakwaters work by different mechanisms.

Question 28Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which combination of conditions produces the strongest constructive wave action on a beach?

  1. Long fetch, low wave height and short wavelength
  2. Short fetch, steep wave front and high frequency
  3. Offshore gale with plunging breakers at the shore
  4. Long fetch, long wavelength and gentle wave front Correct answer.

Explanation

Constructive waves form where a long fetch generates swell with long wavelength and low steepness, giving a gentle front and strong swash relative to backwash. This net landward movement builds the beach profile. Short fetch and plunging breakers characterise destructive conditions.

Question 29Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which term describes the gradual sinking or downward displacement of a coastal wetland relative to sea level?

  1. Subsidence Correct answer.
  2. Isostatic rebound
  3. Eustatic rise
  4. Accommodation space

Explanation

Subsidence is the local or regional lowering of the land surface, which increases the rate of relative sea-level rise experienced at the coast. It is distinct from eustatic change, which is a global change in ocean volume. Isostatic rebound is the opposite vertical land movement.

Question 30Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

A concordant coastline is best characterised by which arrangement?

  1. Alternating bands of resistant and weak rock running at right angles to the shore
  2. Rock strata running parallel to the coast, producing a relatively straight shoreline Correct answer.
  3. A shoreline dominated by deeply indented rias and fjords
  4. A coast where longshore drift changes direction seasonally

Explanation

Concordant coasts have strata aligned parallel to the shoreline, so resistant bands protect the coast and produce a comparatively straight, cliff-dominated shore. Discordant coasts have structures perpendicular to the shore, producing bays and headlands. The distinction is structural, not about drift direction.

Question 31Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which feature is produced by the collapse of a sea arch?

  1. A geo
  2. A stack Correct answer.
  3. A blowhole
  4. A wave-cut notch

Explanation

When the roof of a sea arch collapses, the isolated remnant seaward of the former arch stands as a stack. Continued erosion reduces stacks to stumps. Geos and blowholes form by different routes involving cave collapse or vertical joints.

Question 32Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

A coastal sediment cell is best defined as which of the following?

  1. A stretch of coast within which sediment movement is largely self-contained Correct answer.
  2. The offshore region beyond the breaker line
  3. A single beach bounded by two headlands
  4. The depth zone between high and low water marks

Explanation

A sediment cell is a coastal compartment in which sediment is largely recycled internally, with limited exchange across its boundaries. Cells are the standard unit for shoreline management because interventions in one part affect the budget elsewhere in the same cell. The other definitions describe morphological or depth zones.

Question 33Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

A beach has a sediment budget in which inputs equal outputs over a decade, yet its mean grain size coarsens and its profile steepens. Which explanation is most consistent?

  1. The beach is eroding because coarse sediment is being removed
  2. Waves are becoming more energetic and winnowing fine sediment offshore Correct answer.
  3. Longshore drift has ceased entirely
  4. Sea level is falling and exposing a coarser source

Explanation

Winnowing removes fine material to deeper water, leaving coarser grains and a steeper, more reflective profile, while the total volume balance can remain near zero. Thus grain size and profile shape can change without a net budget deficit. Falling sea level or halted drift would not produce this specific textural change.

Question 34Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which condition most strongly favours the formation of a tombolo?

  1. A deeply indented ria coastline with strong tidal currents
  2. An offshore island in a low-energy setting with abundant sediment supply Correct answer.
  3. A cliffed coast of resistant igneous rock
  4. An offshore island close to the shore in a high-energy drift environment

Explanation

A tombolo forms where an island shelters the shore, reducing wave energy so sediment accumulates as a connecting ridge. Abundant supply and low wave energy are the key controls. High drift energy or strong tidal scour would disperse the sediment instead.

Question 35Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which statement correctly distinguishes eustatic from isostatic sea-level change?

  1. Eustatic change is a global ocean volume change; isostatic change is local land movement Correct answer.
  2. Both are driven solely by ice-sheet melting
  3. Eustatic change is local land movement; isostatic change is a global ocean volume change
  4. Both are measured only by tide gauges at a single site

Explanation

Eustatic change alters the volume of water in the oceans globally, for example through ice-sheet growth or melting. Isostatic change is vertical movement of the land, such as post-glacial rebound, and is local or regional. Relative sea level at a coast is the combined result of both.

Question 36Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

A cliff of horizontally bedded sandstone and shale retreats mainly by which mechanism?

  1. Undercutting of weak shale by wave action, followed by collapse of the overlying sandstone Correct answer.
  2. Gradual abrasion of the whole cliff face by wind-blown sand
  3. Hydraulic action opening vertical joints from above
  4. Chemical solution of the sandstone at the cliff top

Explanation

Where weak beds underlie resistant beds, wave erosion removes the weaker shale at the base, creating a notch until the overhanging sandstone fails by mass movement. This produces a stepped, episodic retreat rather than uniform wearing back. Wind abrasion and top-down solution are minor on most wave-exposed coasts.

Question 37Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which factor most directly increases the rate of longshore drift along a beach?

  1. A reduction in sediment supply from rivers
  2. A fall in wave height with unchanged period
  3. A decrease in the angle between wave crests and the shoreline toward zero
  4. An increase in the angle between wave crests and the shoreline up to about 45 degrees Correct answer.

Explanation

Longshore transport depends on the alongshore component of wave energy, which rises as the approach angle increases up to roughly 45 degrees before declining again. A perpendicular approach gives no alongshore component. Sediment supply affects availability, not the transport rate itself.

Question 38Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which management approach is most consistent with shoreline management plan policy of 'managed realignment'?

  1. Dredging the nearshore to increase wave energy
  2. Constructing groynes to widen the beach artificially
  3. Removing defences and allowing the shoreline to move landward in a planned way Correct answer.
  4. Building a concrete sea wall to hold the existing line

Explanation

Managed realignment deliberately removes or sets back defences to allow controlled landward movement, often creating intertidal habitat and reducing long-term defence costs. It contrasts with hold-the-line policies that maintain the existing position. Groynes and walls are hold-the-line or advance-the-line measures.

Question 39Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which sequence correctly orders the development of coastal erosional features?

  1. Cave, blowhole, arch, stack, stump Correct answer.
  2. Arch, cave, stack, blowhole, stump
  3. Blowhole, arch, cave, stump, stack
  4. Stack, cave, arch, stump, blowhole

Explanation

Erosion along a joint or weakness begins with a cave, which may be extended upward as a blowhole or through the headland to form an arch. Collapse of the arch leaves a stack, which is finally reduced to a stump. The sequence reflects progressive removal of supporting rock.

Question 40Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which evidence would most strongly support a claim that a coastline has experienced relative sea-level rise?

  1. Marine terraces cut into uplifted rock
  2. A wave-cut platform above the present high-water mark
  3. Submerged forests and drowned valley mouths along the present shore Correct answer.
  4. A flight of raised beaches at increasing altitude inland

Explanation

Submerged forests and drowned valleys indicate that land which formerly supported trees or river valleys now lies below sea level, a clear sign of relative rise. Raised beaches and uplifted terraces indicate relative fall or uplift. These are complementary lines of evidence.

Question 41Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which statement best explains why a salt marsh typically develops behind a growing spit?

  1. Wave energy is high, so coarse sediment is deposited directly
  2. Sheltered low-energy conditions allow fine sediment to settle and vegetation to colonise Correct answer.
  3. Strong tidal scour removes all fine sediment
  4. Freshwater springs deposit calcium carbonate

Explanation

A spit shelters the area behind it from wave attack, so fine silt and clay settle in low-energy conditions and halophytes colonise, trapping more sediment. Vertical accretion and lateral expansion follow, building a marsh. High energy or scour would prevent this accumulation.

Question 42Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

A coastal cliff is composed of chalk with well-developed vertical joints. Which process combination best explains rapid block collapse?

  1. Solution widening joints, followed by toppling of blocks Correct answer.
  2. Longshore drift undercutting the cliff base
  3. Wind abrasion smoothing the cliff face
  4. Hydraulic action and abrasion opening joints, followed by mass movement

Explanation

Chalk is permeable and soluble, so percolating water dissolves calcium carbonate and enlarges joints, reducing rock strength until blocks topple or fall. Solution is therefore the key preparatory weathering process on chalk cliffs. Hydraulic action and abrasion act mainly at the base, and drift does not undercut cliffs.

Question 43Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Which comparison correctly distinguishes a ria from a fjord?

  1. Both are formed by tectonic subsidence of fault blocks
  2. A ria is a drowned glacial trough; a fjord is a drowned river valley
  3. A ria is a drowned river valley; a fjord is a drowned glacial trough Correct answer.
  4. A ria has steep glacial walls; a fjord has a dendritic river pattern

Explanation

Rias are drowned river valleys, typically shallow and branching, whereas fjords are drowned glacial troughs with steep walls and often a threshold at the mouth. The distinction lies in the origin of the pre-existing valley. Tectonic subsidence is a separate mechanism.

Question 44Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

In a coastal sediment budget, which pair represents an output and an input respectively?

  1. Aeolian dune accumulation and longshore transport
  2. Offshore loss and river supply Correct answer.
  3. River supply and cliff erosion
  4. Cliff erosion and offshore loss

Explanation

Offshore loss removes sediment from the littoral system, while river supply delivers new material, so this pair correctly matches an output with an input. Cliff erosion and longshore transport are internal transfers or inputs, not outputs. Recognising each term's role is essential for budget analysis.

Question 45Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

Two adjacent sediment cells are separated by a large headland. A groyne field is built in the updrift cell. Which outcome is most likely over the following decades?

  1. The downdrift cell experiences erosion because supply across the headland is limited Correct answer.
  2. Both cells remain unchanged because cells are closed systems
  3. The updrift cell erodes because groynes accelerate offshore loss
  4. The downdrift cell gains sediment because the headland focuses wave energy

Explanation

Headlands limit sediment exchange between cells, so trapping sediment updrift reduces the already restricted supply reaching the downdrift cell, which then erodes. Cells are only partially closed, but a major headland makes cross-boundary transfer small. Groynes typically cause updrift accretion, not erosion.

Question 46Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

A beach that has been nourished with coarse sand develops a steeper profile than the original fine-sand beach. Which explanation is most defensible?

  1. Coarse grains are more easily suspended, increasing offshore transport
  2. Coarse grains have higher permeability and greater infiltration, reducing backwash and steepening the profile Correct answer.
  3. Coarse grains dissolve more readily, releasing cement that hardens the beach
  4. Coarse grains settle more slowly, so they are carried offshore and steepen the lower shoreface

Explanation

Coarser sediment has higher permeability, so swash infiltrates more rapidly, weakening backwash and leaving more material on the upper beach, which steepens the profile. This reflective profile is typical of coarse, permeable beaches. Coarse grains are actually harder to suspend than fines.

Question 47Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

A salt marsh shows rapid vertical accretion but its seaward edge is retreating landward. Which interpretation is most consistent?

  1. The marsh is unaffected by sea-level change and the pattern reflects tidal currents only
  2. The marsh is accreting because sediment supply has ceased
  3. The marsh is expanding seaward because accretion exceeds sea-level rise everywhere
  4. The marsh is keeping pace with sea-level rise by accreting vertically while eroding at the seaward margin Correct answer.

Explanation

Vertical accretion can keep pace with sea-level rise while the low, seaward edge is eroded by waves, so the marsh migrates landward even as its surface builds up. This combination is typical of marshes under rising sea level with adequate sediment supply. Seaward expansion would require accretion to outpace rise at the margin.

Question 48Physical Geography: Coastal Landscapes and Change

A shoreline management plan must choose between holding the line and managed realignment for a low-value agricultural embayment. Which argument most strongly favours managed realignment on economic and ecological grounds?

  1. It reduces long-term defence costs and creates intertidal habitat that can offset coastal squeeze Correct answer.
  2. It guarantees that sediment budgets will become positive
  3. It eliminates all future flood risk to the embayment
  4. It prevents any landward movement of the shoreline

Explanation

Managed realignment can lower maintenance costs by abandoning defences that protect low-value land, while the new intertidal area provides compensatory habitat for features lost to coastal squeeze elsewhere. It does not eliminate flood risk entirely or guarantee a positive sediment budget. Prevention of landward movement is the opposite of realignment.

Question 49Physical Geography: Glacial and Periglacial Environments

Which glacial process involves the removal of bedrock fragments by ice freezing onto them and pulling them away as the glacier moves?

  1. Nivation
  2. Abrasion
  3. Plucking Correct answer.
  4. Rotational flow

Explanation

Plucking (quarrying) occurs where meltwater penetrates joints in bedrock, refreezes, and the ice then drags the loosened blocks away as the glacier advances. Abrasion is a separate process in which already-entrained debris scrapes the bed like sandpaper. The two processes together produce the characteristic scratched and smoothed bedrock surfaces beneath a glacier.

Question 50Physical Geography: Glacial and Periglacial Environments

A corrie (cirque) glacier typically produces which combination of features?

  1. A steep backwall, an over-deepened basin and a rock lip Correct answer.
  2. A straight U-shaped valley with truncated spurs
  3. A fan of fluvioglacial gravel beyond a valley mouth
  4. A ridge of till running across a valley floor

Explanation

Repeated freeze-thaw on the headwall and rotational erosion of the bed deepen and steepen a hollow, leaving a steep backwall, an over-deepened basin, and a rock lip at the down-valley end that may later hold a tarn. The other options describe features of valley glaciers, terminal moraine and outwash respectively, which form beyond the corrie environment.