Geography Aqa Gcse Unit 1A - The Restless Earth

Front 1

What are the types of Plate Margins?

Back 1

Destructive, Constructive, Conservitive and Collision

Front 2

What is a Destructive Margin?

Back 2

A Destructive Margin is where a oceanic plate is forced underneath a continental plate and destroyed.

E.G. East Coast of Japan

Front 3

What is a Constructive Margin?

Back 3

A Constructive Margin is where two plates move away from each other. Magma rises from the mantle to fill the gap and cools, creating new crust.

E.G. The Mid Atlantic Ridge

Front 4

What is a Conservative Margin?

Back 4

A Conservitive Margin is where two plates are moving sideways to each other, or moving the same way at different speeds. Crust isn't created or destroyed.

E.G. West Coast USA

Front 5

What is a Collision Margin?

Back 5

A Collision Margin is two plates of the same type colliding. Crust isn't created or destroyed.

Front 6

Name the four layers of the earth with their propeties.

Back 6

Crust: Solid, about 20km thick, divided into different plates which float on convection currents in the...

Mantle: Semi-Liquid, about 2800km thick. Contains convection currents.

Outer Core: Liquid, mainly Iron and Nickel.

Inner Core: Solid, due to pressure, mainly Iron and Nickel

Front 7

Fold Mountains: What are they and how are they formed?

Back 7

Fold mountains are formed when sediment inbetween two plate boundries is forced upwards.

Front 8

Which plate boundries can Fold Mountains be found between?

Back 8

Destructive Plates, places where Destructive Boundaries used to exist and Collision Boundaries.

Front 9

What are the four main things that Humans use fold mountains for?

Back 9

Farming, Mining, Hydro-Electric Power, Forestry and Tourism.

Front 10

Using the Fold Mountains case study The Alps, list the key facts about these fold mountains.

Back 10

Location: Central Europe - it stretches across Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Lichtenstein, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Formation: The Alps were formed by the collision of the African and Eurasian plates.

Age: 30 million years

Tallest Peak: Mount Blanc at 4810m.

Population: Around 12 million people.

Front 11

How do people use the Alps for Farming?

Back 11

The steep slopes are used to farm Goats, which are used for cheese, milk and meat.

Some of the sunnier slopes are terraced (like the Incas did) for vineyards (e.g. Lavaux, Switzerland).

Front 12

How do people use the Alps for Hydro-Electric Power (HEP)?

Back 12

Narrow valleys are dammed to generate HEP. E.g. the Berne area in Switzerland. Switzerland gets 60% of its electricity form HEP.

The electricity produced is used locally to power homes and businesses. It is also exported further away.

Front 13

How do people use the Alps for Mining?

Back 13

Salt, iron ore, gold, silver and copper were all mined in the Alps. However, mining in the Alps has reduced dramatically dues to cheaper sources elsewhere.

Front 14

How do people use the Alps for Forestry?

Back 14

Scots Pine is planted all over the Alps, becauseit is resiliant to the Goats that are farmed in the Alps. The wood is then logged and sold to make things like furniture.

Front 15

How do people use the Alps for Tourism?

Back 15

100 millon tourists visit the Alps a year, making it a huge part of the economy.

70% of tourists visit in the winter for skiing, snowboarding and ice climbing. In the summer people walk, cycle and climb.

New villages have been build to cater for the tourists - e.g. Tignes in France.

Ski runs, ski lifts, cable cars, holiday homes and restaurants pepper the landscape.

Front 16

How have people adapted to the conditions of the Alps?

Back 16

Steep Relief: Goats are farmed. Trees and Manmade defences protect against avalanches and rockslides.

Poor Soils: Animals are grazed in the high areas, because they are the least fertile.

Limited Communications: Roads built through passes (e.g. Brenner Pass) can be blocked by snow, so tunnels are cut to provide rapid transport. E.g. the Lötschberg Base Tunnel.

Front 17

At what plate margins are Volcanoes found?

Back 17

Volcanoes can be found at Destructive an Constructive plate margins.

Volcanos are also found where the mantle is really hot - 'hotspots' - like Hawaii.

Front 18

What are the three major types of Volcano?

Back 18

Composite, Shield and Dome Volcanoes are the three main types.

Front 19

What are the main characteristics of a Composite Volcano?

Back 19

Layers of Ash and Lava

Steep Sided

Small Base

Thick Lava that hardens quickly and flows slowly

A Vent and sometimes a number of Side Vents

Erupts Ash and Lava

Front 20

What are the main characteristics of a Dome Volcano?

Back 20

Layers of just Lava

Steep Sided

Small Base

Thick Lava that hardens quickly and flows slowly

A Vent and sometimes a number of Side Vents

Front 21

What are the main characteristics of a Shield Volcano?

Back 21

Layers of just Lava

Flat Sided

Wide Base

Runny lava that flows quickly and spreads over a wide area.

A Vent. Side Vents are rare.

Front 22

How do Scientists try to predict Volcanic Eruptions in advance?

Back 22

Scientists look for tell-tale signs that come beforean eruption; things like tiny earthquakes, escaping gas and changes in the shape of the volcano (i.e. bulges in the land).

Front 23

Eyjafjallajökull: Where, and on which plate margin, is Eyjafjallajökull?

Back 23

Eyjafjallajökull is located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, between the North American plate and the Eurasian plate. It is on the island called Iceland.

Front 24

Eyjafjallajökull: When were the inital and the main eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull?

Back 24

The initial eruption, in Eyjafjallajökull's valley, occured on the 20th of March 2010. The main eruption then occurred on Eyjafjallajökull itself on the 14th of April 2010.

Front 25

Eyjafjallajökull: What were some Social effects of the erruption?

Back 25

500 farmers and their families had to be evacuated. 107,000 flights had to be cancelled over the Easter holidays – about 40% of total air traffic and 10 million passengers. People were stranded in countries over the holiday period, or stuck in their own. The ash cloud coincided with the Easter holidays, meaning holidays had to be cancelled.

Front 26

Eyjafjallajökull: What were some Economic effects of the erruption?

Back 26

Farmers lost cattle from contaminated water and food.

Imports and Exports were disrupted because of the flight ban, such as Kenya, which couldn’t export its goods to Europe, which makes up for 20% of its economy.

Hire-car and other transport companies increased their prices extortionately (and unjustly).

Airlines and their associated companies lost an estimate of £130 million a day.

Front 27

Eyjafjallajökull:What are some Enviromental effects of the erruption?

Back 27

Animals were killed from drinking water contaminated by the ash. The CO2 levels of the Earth were feared to have been raised, but the fact that so many flight and associated businesses weren’t working meant the environment benefitted - The grounding of European flights avoided about 3.44×108 kg of CO2 emissions per day, while the volcano emitted about 1.5×108 kg of CO2 per day.

Front 28

Eyjafjallajökull: What were the solutions and responses to the eruption?

Back 28

Iceland itself was prepared for the large eruption, because of the smaller eruption earlier. 500 people had already been evacuated, and the Emergency Services were also on standby for such an even.Iceland also has high-tech equipment to predict such eruptions, which alerted the populace of the eruption 30 minutes before the event. The countries then affected by the ash cloud's economies and servicescould cope with such disasters. The actions of these countries, particularly groundingof planes, cancelled the chance of casualties, as we know the dangers of planesflying in ash clouds.

Front 29

What are Supervolcanos?

Back 29

Supervolcanoes are huge volcanoes.

Front 30

What are the main events that happen during and after a supervolcano eruption?

Note: Not effects yet

Back 30

The bulge above the magma basin of the supervolcano cracks, creating vents for the magma to escape through. The lava erupts out these cracks, creating earthquakes and sending huge plumes of ash and rock. When the eruption is complete, the rock above the magma basin collapses inwards. This Caldera can sometimes become a lake, such as Lake Toba in Indonesia.

Front 31

Yellowstone: What would be the Local consequences of an eruption?

Back 31

A 10000km square of land would be destroyed

87000 people would be killed (approx.)

15cm of ash would cover the land, killing 1 in 3

Water contaminated heavily

Front 32

Yellowstone: What would be the National consequences of an eruption?

Back 32

Electricity outages across the country

Smaller amounts of ash would settle, doing lots of damage and killing some

Crops would be destroyed under the ash

Front 33

Yellowstone: What would be the International consequences of an eruption?

Back 33

Ash would reach the UK in 5 days

Air Transport would be grounded

Global Climate Change

Crops would fail, leading to famine

Lots of people would die