General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Geography Syllabus

What scale categorises tropical storms and how many categories?

The Saffir–Simpson scale, which has 5 categories based on sustained wind speed, with Category 5 being the most intense (winds over $\sim252\ \text{km/h}$).

Distinguish between primary and secondary effects of a natural hazard.

Primary effects happen immediately as a direct result (e.g. buildings collapsing, people killed by ground shaking). Secondary effects happen later as a knock-on consequence (e.g. fires, disease, homelessness, economic decline).

What is the difference between immediate and long-term responses to a hazard?

Immediate responses occur during and right after the event (rescue, emergency aid, medical care). Long-term responses occur in the weeks and years afterwards (rebuilding, improving defences, economic recovery).

How does extreme weather in the UK pose a hazard? Give two examples.

Examples: heavy rainfall causing flooding; prolonged dry spells causing drought; storms with strong winds; heatwaves; heavy snow and ice disrupting transport. These cause economic damage, deaths and disruption.

Give two pieces of evidence for natural climate change in the past (Quaternary period).

Ice cores (trapped air bubbles record past CO2 and temperature); tree rings (dendrochronology — wider rings = warmer/wetter years); pollen analysis; historical records and paintings.

What are the natural causes of climate change?

Orbital (Milankovitch) changes in the Earth's orbit, axial tilt and wobble; variations in solar output (sunspots); and major volcanic eruptions ejecting ash and gases that block sunlight.

What are the main human causes of climate change?

The enhanced greenhouse effect from burning fossil fuels (CO2), agriculture (methane from livestock and rice; nitrous oxide from fertilisers), and deforestation reducing CO2 absorption.

Distinguish between mitigation and adaptation strategies for climate change.

Mitigation reduces the causes/emissions of climate change (e.g. renewable energy, carbon capture, afforestation, international agreements). Adaptation responds to its effects (e.g. flood defences, drought-resistant crops, managing water supply).

Name the four main types of wave erosion at the coast.

Hydraulic action (air compressed in cracks by waves), abrasion/corrasion (rocks thrown against cliff), attrition (rocks knock together and get smaller/rounder), and solution/corrosion (chemical dissolving of rock).

Explain the difference between constructive and destructive waves.

Constructive waves have a strong swash and weak backwash, depositing material to build beaches (low energy, long wavelength). Destructive waves have a weak swash and strong backwash, eroding beaches (high energy, steep, frequent).

Describe the formation of a wave-cut platform.

Waves erode the base of a cliff between high and low tide, forming a wave-cut notch. The notch deepens until the overhanging cliff collapses; the cliff retreats, leaving a flat wave-cut platform at its base.

Describe the sequence of headland erosion features.

Cracks in a headland are widened by erosion to form a cave; the cave is eroded through to form an arch; the arch roof collapses leaving a stack; the stack erodes into a stump.

What is longshore drift?

The zigzag movement of sediment along a coast. Swash carries material up the beach at the angle of the prevailing wind, and backwash pulls it straight back down under gravity, transporting material along the shore.

How does a spit form?

Longshore drift moves sediment along the coast; where the coastline changes direction, sediment is deposited in the sea, building up a long ridge (spit). A change in wind direction can curve the end (recurved/hooked spit).

Compare hard and soft engineering coastal management.

Hard engineering uses artificial structures to control natural processes (e.g. sea walls, groynes, rock armour, gabions) — effective but expensive and unnatural. Soft engineering works with nature (e.g. beach nourishment, managed retreat, dune regeneration) — cheaper and more sustainable.

Name the four main types of river erosion.

Hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition, and solution — the same four erosion processes as at the coast, acting on the river bed and banks.

Describe how a waterfall and gorge form.

A river flows over hard rock onto softer rock; the softer rock erodes faster, creating a step. Undercutting forms a plunge pool and an overhang of hard rock, which collapses. The waterfall retreats upstream, leaving a steep-sided gorge.

Describe how a meander and ox-bow lake form.

On the outer bend, faster flow causes erosion forming a river cliff; on the inner bend, slower flow deposits a slip-off slope. The neck narrows until the river cuts across during a flood; deposition seals off the loop, leaving an ox-bow lake.

What is a river's long profile and how does the cross profile change downstream?

The long profile shows the river's gradient from source to mouth (steep upper course, gentle lower course). Downstream the channel becomes wider and deeper, and the valley cross profile becomes wider and flatter with a floodplain.

How does a floodplain and a levee form?

A floodplain is the wide flat valley floor formed by deposition of alluvium when the river floods. Levees are raised banks formed when the largest/heaviest sediment is deposited first at the channel edge during repeated floods, building up over time.

Name two physical and two human factors that increase flood risk.

Physical: heavy/prolonged rainfall, impermeable rock (geology), steep relief. Human: urbanisation (impermeable surfaces and drains speed runoff) and deforestation (less interception).

Describe the formation of a corrie (cirque) in a glacial landscape.

Snow accumulates in a hollow and compacts into ice. Plucking steepens the back wall and abrasion deepens the base, rotating the ice. When the glacier melts it leaves an armchair-shaped hollow, often with a tarn (lake), backed by a steep wall.

What is the difference between glacial plucking and abrasion?

Plucking is when ice freezes onto rock and pulls fragments away as the glacier moves. Abrasion is when rock embedded in the ice scratches and grinds the surface beneath, like sandpaper, producing striations.

What is a U-shaped valley and how does it differ from a river valley?

A U-shaped valley (glacial trough) is a steep-sided, flat-bottomed valley carved by a glacier. It differs from a river's V-shaped valley, which is narrower with sloping sides cut by vertical erosion.

What is a moraine, and name two types?

Moraine is unsorted rock material (till) transported and deposited by a glacier. Types include lateral (along the sides), medial (centre, where two glaciers meet), ground (beneath the ice) and terminal (at the snout, marking the furthest extent).

Define urbanisation and state the global trend.

Urbanisation is the increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities. Globally over half the world's population now lives in urban areas, and the fastest rates of urbanisation are in LICs and NEEs.

What are push and pull factors of rural-to-urban migration?

Push factors drive people away from rural areas (e.g. poverty, drought, lack of jobs/services). Pull factors attract people to cities (e.g. jobs, better wages, healthcare, education, services).

What is a megacity, and roughly how many exist?

A megacity is an urban area with a population over 10 million people. There are over 30 megacities worldwide, and most are now found in LICs and NEEs (e.g. Lagos, Mumbai, São Paulo).

What is a squatter settlement (slum) and name two problems associated with it?

A squatter settlement is an area of poor-quality, often illegally built housing on the edge of cities in LICs/NEEs. Problems include lack of clean water and sanitation, disease, crime, unemployment, and no secure land ownership.

Define urban regeneration and the rural–urban fringe.

Urban regeneration is the reinvestment and revival of run-down inner-city or derelict areas. The rural–urban fringe is the transition zone at the edge of a city where urban and rural land uses mix, often facing pressure for new housing and business parks.

What is the formula for the Human Development Index (HDI) and what does it combine?

HDI combines three dimensions into a single index between 0 and 1: life expectancy (health), education (mean/expected years of schooling), and GNI per capita (income). It is calculated as the geometric mean of the three indices: $$\text{HDI}=\sqrt[3]{I_{\text{health}}\times I_{\text{education}}\times I_{\text{income}}}$$

Define GNI per capita and birth rate as development measures.

GNI (Gross National Income) per capita is the total value of goods, services and income earned by a country in a year, divided by its population (often given in US\$, PPP-adjusted). Birth rate is the number of live births per 1000 people per year.