Physical Geography: Landforms and Processes
What this domain tests
Landforms and processes questions ask you to explain how rock type, structure, climate and slope processes create distinctive landscapes, and to interpret evidence such as slope profiles, sediment size and contour patterns. You must use process vocabulary precisely and link cause to effect.
Core rules and concepts
- Weathering is in situ breakdown: freeze-thaw needs joints, water and repeated temperature crossing 0 °C; chemical weathering such as carbonation dominates in limestone.
- Mass movement is gravity-driven and classified by speed and water content: soil creep, mudflow, landslide and rockfall.
- Rivers erode by hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition and solution; they transport by traction, saltation, suspension and solution.
- Slope form reflects rock resistance and climate: granite uplands tend to form steep tors and blocky scree; clay lowlands tend to form gentle, unstable slopes.
Worked example
A slope rises 400 m over a horizontal distance of 2 km. Convert 2 km to 2,000 m, then gradient = vertical rise ÷ horizontal distance = 400 ÷ 2,000 = 0.2, or 1:5, or 20%. If the same rise occurred over 1 km, gradient would be 0.4 (1:2.5, 40%), so the slope is twice as steep. The reasoning matters: always convert units before dividing, and state whether the answer is a ratio, percentage or angle.
Traps that cost marks
Do not confuse weathering with erosion: erosion involves transport away from the site. Do not call all downslope movement a landslide; specify rockfall, mudflow or creep. In gradient questions, mixing metres and kilometres is the commonest arithmetic error. Avoid describing a landform without naming the process that formed it.