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Geography A Level (Edexcel B)
Dynamic Landscapes Topic 1: Tectonic Processes and Hazards
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Revision Audit
Topics
Response
(Please tick)
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Enquiry Question 1: Why are some locations more
at risk from tectonic hazards?
What is the global distribution of tectonic hazards (earthquakes,
volcanic eruptions and tsunamis)?
What is plate-tectonic theory and its key elements? The earth’s
internal structure, mantle convection, palaeomagnetism and sea
floor spreading, subduction and slab pull).
What are the different plate boundaries (divergent, convergent,
and conservative) and what causes them?
Divergent – Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland, 2010
Convergent (oceanic-continental) – Philippines,
Convergent (continental-continental)– Himalayas
Conservative / Transform – California, Haiti, Christchurch
(New Zealand)
Hotspots – Hawaiian Islands
Understand the causes of intra- plate earthquakes and volcanoes
associated with hotspots.
What physical processes impact on the magnitude and type of
volcanic eruption, earthquake magnitude and focal depth (Benioff
zone)?
What are the different type of earthquake waves (P, S and L
waves)? What are the primary effects (ground shaking and
crustal fracturing) and secondary effects (liquefaction, landslides
and tsunamis)?
E.g. - Loma Prieta or Christchurch for liquefaction
What primary hazards (lava flow, pyroclastic flow, tephra/ash fall
and gas eruptions) and secondary hazards (lahars, jökulhlaup)?
E.G.
- Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland for pyroclastic flows
- Lake Nyos, Cameroon gas eruptions
How are tsunamic caused by sub-marine earthquakes at
subduction zones?
- E.g. 2004 Asian tsunami
OK
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Confident
Enquiry Question 2: Why do some tectonic
hazards develop into disasters?
What is the definition of a natural hazard and a disaster?
How important are resilience and risk in determining the outcome
of a hazard?
Explain how the Pressure and Release model (PAR) show the
complex inter-relationship between the hazard and other factors.
E.g. Haiti, 2010
Why do some countries suffer more impacts than others (PAR
model)?
What different scales are used to measure magnitude and
intensity of tectonic hazards?
Mercalli, Moment Magnitude Scale (MMS) and Volcanic Explosivity
Index (VEI).
Using hazard profiles compare the different characteristics of
earthquakes, volcanoes and tsunamis (magnitude, speed of onset
and areal extent, duration, frequency, spatial predictability),
showing the severity of social and economic impact in developed,
emerging and developing countries.
E.g. Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland, 2010
Explain why the impacts vary in different countries for different
reasons relating to the physical and human geography of the area.
Explain why the impacts vary in different countries for different
reasons relating to physical (causes) and human geography
(governance, access to education, housing, healthcare,
vulnerability and resilience) of the area:E.g.
Developing country – Haiti, 2010
Emerging country – Sichuan, 2008
Developed country – Japan, 2011
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Confident
Enquiry question 3: How successful is the
management of tectonic hazards and
disasters?
Describe and interpret the geophysical disaster patterns and
trends since 1960 questioning accuracy and reliability.
Evaluate two different case studies of mega-disasters.
E.g.
- 2004 Asian tsunami
- 2011 Japanese tsunami
Assess why some countries suffer from multiple hazards and
appreciate the impacts this can have on a country.
E.g.
- Hydrometeorological Philippines OR California
Evaluate and explain the importance of different hazardmanagement strategies to examine impacts and management
response.
E.g. Compare Haiti, 2010 and Japan 2011
- The hazard-management cycle
- The Park hazard-response curve
Explain the difference between mitigation and adaptation. For
both look at a range of strategies and question their
effectiveness.
Assess the role of different players e.g. planners, governments,
local governments and individuals in hazard preparation and
response.
Explain the variety of different techniques to reduce
vulnerability to hazards. Describe different techniques for
countries at different levels of development.
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Dynamic Landscapes Topic 1: Tectonic Processes and Case Studies
Case studies
Earthquake
Haiti, 2010
(Developing)
Volcanic eruption
Eyjafjallajökull
eruption in Iceland,
2010 (socioeconomic impacts)
Japan, 2011
Lake Nyos,
(Developed)
Cameroon gas
eruptions (rhyolitic)
Sichuan, 2008
Kilauea/ Mauna Loa
(emerging)
(Hawaii, USA) –
hotspot (basaltic)
Christchurch, 2011
Montserrat, 1995
/ Loma Prieta, 1989
(secondary /
(liquefaction)
primary impacts)
Nepal, 2015
(Avalanches /
Landslide / role of
NGOs)
Other –
Tsunami
Asian tsunami,
2004 (megadisaster)
Japan, 2011
(mega-disaster)
Hydrometeorological
Philippines OR
California
Dynamic Landscapes Topic 1: Tectonic Processes and Hazards Key Terms
All key term definitions can be found in the Geography for Edexcel textbook.
Key term
Natural hazard
Definition
A naturally occurring process or event that has the
potential to affect people.
Natural disaster
A major natural hazard that causes significant social,
environmental and economic damage.
Seismic hazards Generated when rocks within 700km of the Earth’s surface
come under stress that they break and become displaced.
Asthenosphere
The part on which tectonic plates ‘float’
Lithosphere
The surface layer of the Earth is a rigid outer shell
composed of the crust and upper mantle. It is broken up
into huge sections, which are tectonic plates.
Oceanic crust
A thin dense layer (6-10km thick), which lines the ocean
floors.
Continental crust
An older, thicker layer (usually 45 – 50km thick), which
makes up the Earth’s landmasses. It is less dense than
oceanic crust.
Mantle plume
Volcanoes can also form in the middle of plates, where
plumes of hot magma rise upward and erupt onto the sea
floor (at what is called a hotspot).
Palaeomagnetism
The study of past changes in the Earth’s magnetic field
(determined from rocks, sediment or archaeological
records).
Convection
In the mantle convection, heat produced by decay of
radioactive elements in the earth’s core heats the lower
mantle – creating convection currents. These hot, liquid
magma currents are thought to move in circles in the
asthenosphere – thus causing plates to move.
Slab pull
Newly formed oceanic crust at mid oceanic ridges becomes
dense and thicker as it cools. This causes it to sink into the
mantle under its own weight – pulling the rest of the plate
further down with it forming deep ocean trenches.
Convergent
Where two plates collide also known as destructive
boundary
margins.
Divergent boundary Where two plates move apart also known as constructive
margins.
Conservative
boundary
Locked fault
Where two plates slide past each other, also known as
transform margins.
A fault that is not slipping because of frictional
resistance on the fault is greater than the sheer stress
across the fault, that is, it is stuck.
Fold Mountains
As two continental plates collide, the plates are folded
and slowly push up, forming chains of Fold Mountains.
Sea floor spreading These are formed when hot magma is forced up from the
asthenosphere and hardens – forming new oceanic crust.
The new crust pushes the tectonic plates apart in a
process called sea floor spreading.
Island arcs
Volcanoes created as a result of subducted plates. These
volcanoes rise above sea level to form separate island
volcanoes, which are usually found in a curved lines.
Subduction
New crust is being created in one place, it is being
destroyed in another by subduction. As two oceanic
plates (or an oceanic and a continental plate) move
towards each other, one slides under the other into the
mantle – where it melts in an area known as the
subduction zone.
Intensity
A measure of the ground shaking. It is the ground
shaking that causes building damage and collapse, and all
the loss of life from the hazard.
Magnitude
The magnitude of an earthquake is related to the amount
of movement, or displacement, in the fault, which is in
turn a measure of energy release.
Benioff zone
The friction created between colliding plates (and
subduction) causes intermediate and deep earthquakes in
an area called the Benioff zone.
Primary waves,
Primary (P) waves – these are the fastest and first to
secondary waves
reach the surface. They travel through both solid and
and surface love
liquid.
waves
Secondary (S) waves – these are slower. They only travel
through solids.
Surface love (L) waves – these are the slowest but cause
the most damage shaking the ground from side to side.
They are larger and focus all their energy on the Earth’s
surface.
Seismic waves
Moment Magnitude
Scale (MMS)
Focus or
hypocentre and
epicentre
Intra-plate
earthquakes
Primary and
secondary effects
Crustal fracturing
Soil Liquefaction
Landslide and
avalanches
Tsunami
Water displacement
Water Column
Gas eruptions
Pyroclastic flows
Tephra and ash fall
Shock waves released by tectonic movement and
measured using a seismometer.
The generally preferred scale to measure magnitude
(energy released at the epicentre). It measures total
energy released by an earthquake the moment it occurs.
Focus or hypocentre - The point within the ground where
the strain energy of the earthquake stored in the rock is
first released. The distance between this and the
epicentre on the surface is called the focal length.
Epicentre – the location on the Earth’s surface that is
directly above the earthquakes focus.
Earthquakes which occur in the middle interior of
tectonic plates and are much rarer than boundary
earthquakes.
Primary – happen as a direct result of a hazard.
Secondary – happen as an indirect result of a hazard.
When energy released during an earthquake causes the
Earth’s crust to crack.
Secondary hazard -The process by which watersaturated material can temporarily lose normal strength
and behave like a liquid under the pressure of strong
shaking. Occurs in saturated soils.
Secondary hazard - The ground shaking places stress on
the slopes, so they may fall resulting in landslides, rock
slide, mudslide and avalanches.
Secondary hazard - A series of larger than normal
waves, which are caused by a volcanic eruption or
underwater earthquakes.
The energy released during an earthquake causes the
seafloor to uplift – displacing the water column above.
This displaced water forms a tsunami wave.
The area of seawater from the surface to the sea floor.
Magma contains dissolved gases that are released into
the atmosphere during a volcanic eruption.
A mixture of dense hot rock, lava, ash and gas ejected
from a volcano.
Tephra are pieces of volcanic rock and ash that blast
Lahars
Jökulhlaups
Volcanic Explosivity
Index (VEI)
Resilience
Risk
Vulnerability
Development
Inequality
Governance
Mercalli
Tectonic Hazard
profile
Hazard Mitigation
into the air during volcanic eruptions.
Secondary hazard - Masses of rock, mud and water that
travel quickly down the sides of a volcano.
Secondary hazard - The heat of a volcanic eruption can
melt snow and ice in glaciers – causing heavy and sudden
floods caused jökulhlaups or glacial outburst floods.
This is used to describe and compare the size or
magnitude of volcanic eruptions. The VEI uses a scale
from 0 (non-explosive) to 8 (extremely large)
The ability to protect lives, livelihoods and
infrastructure from destruction, and to restore an area
after a natural hazard has occurred.
The exposure of people to a hazardous event. More
specifically, it is the probability of a hazard occurring
that leads to the loss of lives and/or livelihoods.
The ability to anticipate, cope with, resist and recover
from a natural hazard.
Linked to and improving society, enabling people to
achieve their aspirations. It includes the provisions of
social services, acquisition of economic assets, improved
productivity and reducing vulnerability to hazards. Loew
levels of development are closely associated with high
levels of risk and vulnerability to natural disasters.
An unfair situation or distribution of assets and
resources. It may be sued when people or nations and
non-state players have different levels of authority,
competence and outcomes.
The sum of many ways individual, institutions, public and
private manage their common affairs. It is a continuing
process through which conflicting or diverse interests
may be accommodated and co-operative action may be
taken.
A scale which measure earthquake intensity, which takes
observations from people who experienced the
earthquake and puts them on a scale of I (hardly
noticed) to XII (catastrophic).
A technique used to try to understand the physical
characteristics of different types of hazards.
Strategies meant to avoid, delay or prevent hazard
Hazard adaptation
Multiple-hazard
zones
Land use zoning
Spearman’s Rank
correlation
Hydrometeorological
Precursors
Pressure and
Release (PAR)
model
Hazard
management cycle
The Park Model
Early Warning
systems
Hazard risk
equation
events (e.g. land use zoning, diverting lava flow, GIS
mapping and hazard resistant design and engineering).
Strategies designed to reduce the impacts of hazard
events (e.g. high-tech monitoring, public education and
community preparedness).
An area at risk from multiple hazards, and is vulnerable.
Process by which local government regulates how land in
a community may be used.
A statistical method used to test the strengths of a
relationship between two variables. +1 indicates a
perfect correlation, -1 indicates a negative correlation
and 0 indicates no correlation.
Natural hazards caused by climate processes (including
droughts, floods, hurricanes and storms).
Warning signs that may suggest a hazard is about to
happen.
PAR model looks at the underlying causes of a disaster.
Looking at processes which create vulnerability (root
cause, dynamic pressures and unsafe conditions) and the
hazard itself.
A process in which governments and other organisations
work together to protect people from natural hazards
that threaten their communities. The different stages in
the hazard management cycle (response, recovery,
mitigation, preparedness).
The Park hazard-response curve is a model that shows
how a country might respond after a hazard event.
In place in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. These
systems use seismic sensors to detect underwater
earthquakes.
Revision Techniques
Below are a list of suggestions of revision techniques, and ways to improve your
exam performance. See which ones work best for you. If you know what works
well for you, then your revision will be more successful.
Revision Style/Content
Response
(Please tick)
Techniques
Mind Maps (spider diagrams)
Out loud (Speak the information that is to be
learned)
Discussion
Revision Postcards
Listen to revision tapes
Condensing class notes
Teacher led revision session
Revise alone without teacher input
Revise in groups
Revise in pairs
Use a revision guide
Quizzes
Other:
Improving your performance in the
exam
Practise A level questions
Analysis of questions – what’s the difference
between a grade C and D answer?
Making sure you understand command words
Peer/self-assessing answers using mark
schemes
Other:
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