Aqa Geography GCSE

What's the name of the last ice age?

How long ago did the last glacial period end?

How much of England's land surface is currently covered by ice?

What three types of evidence are used to identify past temperature changes?

The last ice age was the Pleistocene.

The last glacial period ended about 10 000 years ago.

Today, 10% of the Earth's land surface is covered by ice.

Chemical evidence - the chemical composition of ice change as temperature changes. Geological evidence - Landforms that we see today were created by glaciers in the past. Fossil evidence - Remains of some oranisms are preserved when they die, creating fossils.

Define the term accumulation.

What is the zone of ablation?

What happens when a glacier has a positive glacial budget?

Why does a glacier retreat in summer?

Accumuation is the input of snow and ice into the glacier.

Ablation is the output of water from a glacier as the ice melts. You get more ablation than accumulation in the lower part of a glacier so it is the zone of ablation.

A positive glacial budget is when accumulation exceeds ablation. The glacier gets larger and the snout advances down the valley.

The glacier retreats in the summer becuase the ablation exceeds the accumulation. The glacier gets smaller and retreats up the valley.

Give an example of a retreating glacier.

What evidence is there that the glacier you names has retreated since the 19th century?

Explain why this has happened?

What is rotational slip?

Rhone glacier in the Swiss Alps is retreating.

Evidence of it retreating is: The amount of meltwater is much more, Monitoring data shows that the glacier has decreased in length and pictures show the difference.

It is caused by global warming and the increase in temperature of the weather.

When a glacier moves down, it doesnt move in a straight line. It moves in circular motions called Rotational Slip.

Explain what freeze-thaw weathering is.

What is a corrie?

How does a pyramidal peak form?

Give an example of a pyramidal peak.

When water is forced into cracks into the rocks, it freezes and expands and puts pressure on the rock. When it thaws, it releases the pressure causing rock to be broken off.

A corrie begins as hollows containing a small glcier. As the oce moves by rotational slop, it erodes the hollow into a steep-sided armchair shape with a lip at the bottom end. Often contains a tarn.

Pyramidal peak is formed with three or more back-to-back glaciers erode a mountain.

An example of a pyramidal peak in Snowdon, Wales.

Explain how a hanging valley forms.

What is bulldozing?

Give one difference between lateral and ground moraines?

Where is a medial moraine deposited?

A hanging valley is formed by tributary glaciers which flow into a main glacier.

When a glacier pushes loose materal infront of it.

A lateral moraine is a long mound of materal deposited where the side of a glacier was and a ground moraine is a thin layer of material deposited over a large area as a glacier melts.

A medial moraine is a long mound of material deposited in the centre of a valley where two glaciers met.

Describe what a drumlin looks like.

How would you identify a pyramidal peak on a map?

Describe what a glacial trough looks like on a map?

Give an example of a glacial trough.

A drumlin is an elongated hill of glacial deposites. They are often round, blunt and steeo with a gently sloping side.

A pyramidal peak would have tightly pakced contour lines that curve away froma central high point.

A glacial trough would have no contour lines. They are very flat valleys with sleep sides.

Nant Ffrancon is an example of a Glacial trough.

What does a ribbon lake look like on a map?

Give one reason why areas covered in snow and ice are fragile environments.

Give two social impacts of tourism on areas covered in snow and ice.

Describe two environmental impacts of tourism on area covered in snow and ice. 

Ribbon lakes look like a flat valley with steep sides surrounding a long thin lake.

Areas that are covered in snow and ice attract lots of tourists for things like winter sports and sightseeing. They are easily damaged though, have a short growning season so plants cannot recover when they are damaged and decay is slow so pollution and little stays around for ages.

More job opportunities mean that young people can live in the area and tourists can tragger avalanches on the ski slopes.

More people means that there will be more pollution and CO2 emissions. Energy is used for heating and hotels ect.

Give one example of an area in the Alps used for winter sports and sightseeing of glaciers.

Give one economic, one social and one environmental impacts of tourism in the area you named.

Give three management strategies used in the area you named.

Name an industry afftected by glacial retreat.

Chamonix in eastern France.

Economic - Lots of jobs for the locals (2500 people at work seasonally) Social - More avalanches meaning more deaths (12 deaths in 1999) Environmental - Energy is used for hotels ect.

They have avalanche barriers to keep people safe, free public services and hotels are reducing energy uses.

Companies such as holets or restaurants.

Give one economic impact of glacial retreat.

Give one social impact of glacial retreat.

Glacial retreat is linked with an increase in the sea levels as there is more meltwater.

Disruption to power supplies from HEP could leave some people with in unreliable power supply.

What are the differences between a Valley glacier and an Ice sheet?

What is Abrasion?

What is Plucking?

Name the case study for the glacier topic? And what is happening to this glacier?

A Valley glacier is a moving mass of ince in which the movement is confned within a valley and an ice sheet is a moving mass of ice that covers a whole area of land.

Abrasion is where rocks embedded in the bottom of a glacier wear away the rocks over which the glacier passes.

Plucking is the tearing away of blocks of rock from the bedrock as the glacier moves.

Grosser Altsch glacier, It is in continuous retreat.

What is an example of a place where tourism is common?

What are negative impacts of tourism?

How is tourism controlled in this region?

Jungfrau region of Switzerland.

There has been a big decline in farming, traditional ways of living is under pressure, many outcsiders are coming to the region, Alpine forests are being cleared for ski-runs and chair lifts, habitats are being lost, vehicle emmision are causing acid rain and pollution and there is an avalanche hazard. Economic pressures are strong.

Car access is restricted in the area, hydroelectric power is being used, free public services, at the end of each year a survey is taken about the impact of people on the ice ect, areas of bare snow are being fenced off, people are employed to collect rubbish and the Swiss government have signe up to the Convention of the Protection of the Alps which prohibits further developments of skicentres and promotes sustainable living ect.