COMPO Geography : Dynamic Landscapes, Fluvial

Landscapes, Limestone, Glacial Landscapes and

Dynamic Landscapes.
-Dynamic : ‘Charaterized by constant change, activity or progress’.
-Landscape : ‘All the visible features of an area of land’
-Dynamic landscapes : The idea that landscapes can change overtime,
they are not fixed in appearance.
-Many geological processes are constantly at work changing the
landscape, sometimes quickly ( eg. Earthquakes, Landslides, Volcanic
Eruptions, Floods, etc) but more often very slowly, where changes can
take thousands, susuallly millions of years to happen by combination of
two processes : WEATHERING and EROSION = DENUDATION
-The features of a landscape are linked with the rocks found in the area.
(The study of rocks is called geology).
Main ideas :
-There are many rock types but only three categories :
-SEDIMENTARY : Laid down in layers, or stratus, usually under water.
Made of small particles that have been eroded, transported and
deposited ( sediments). Overtime the weight of deposit creates pressure
to fuse the particles together into solid rock.
-IGNEOUS : Formed by volcanic activity and made of crystals that formed
as magma rock cooled down. If the magma cooled slowly (beneath the
earth) it is called granite. And if the magma cooled quickly ( usually under
water) it is called basalt.
-METAMORPHIC : A sedimentary or igneous rock that has been changed
into a different rock by high pressures or high temperatures or even both.
Dynamic Landscapes.
Main ideas :
-The three main groups were formed in different ways and each rock type
produces its own distinctive landscape.
-How man uses the land in an area often depends on the rock type there.
Weathering :
-Weathering prepares the rock ( breaks it up or dissolves it) for erosion.
-There are different type of weathering : Biological, Chemical and Physical
-It is the progressive destruction of rock in situ ( latin : where they lie)
-Weathering does not involve movement/ transportation, erosion does.
Exemples of weathering :
-Physical weathering : water, wind, ice , (gravity)
-Chemical weathering : rust, acid rain, water
-Biological weathering : roots, lichen, animals, insects, humans
-Freeze-Thaw : Water gets into cracks and freezes over night, its volume
expands and then in the morning when the temperature rises, it melts no
takes up less space. Overtime this process will weaken the rock.
-Exfoliation : Repeated heating and cooling of a rock, causing it to shatter
into layers ( kind of like the skin of an onion). Often happens in deserts.
-Pressure release : rock expands and cracks after overlying rock gets
removed.
Erosion :
-It is the break up and removal of rocks by agents of erosion such as
rivers, waves, wind, ice, ( gravity)
Weathering —> Erosion—> Transportation—> Deposition
See powerpoint on dynamic landscapes.
Fluvial landscapes.
Vocabulary :
-Load : material carried by a river.

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Fluvial Landscapes.
Vocabulary :
-Traction : large rocks are rolled along the river bed by the hydraulic force
of the river.( Occurs in the upper course)
-Saltation : small pebbles and stones are bounced along the river bed.
(Occurs a little lower in the upper course when rocks have gotten more
eroded by the water).
-Suspension : fine material is carried along in the water, in suspension.
(Occurs more in the middle course and lower course).
-Solution : minerals are dissolved in the water and carried along the river.
(Occurs throughout all the different courses).
-Deposition : the drop of material at the sides of the river banks or on the
river bed.
-Meander : winding curve or bend in the river.
-Helicoidal flow : a corkscrew movement in a meander.
-River beach : deposition on the inside bank of a meander ( slow river
flow= deposition).
-River cliff : erosion on the outside bank of a meander ( fast river flow=
erosion).
-Ox-bow lake : crescent shaped lake formed when meanders are cut
through by two river cliffs meeting.
-Meander migration : when a meander moves accross or down the valley
as the river cliff is further eroded.
-Floodplain : area of land that gets flooded when a river overflows.
-Alluvium : sediments deposited on land when a river overflows.
-Levée : raised river banks created naturally or not to avoid overflows.
-Mouth : place where the river ends and meets the ocean.
-Delta : where the mouth of a river flows into the ocean.
-Source : where the river begins.

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Fluvial Landscapes.
Vocabulary :
-Drainage bassin : area from where all the rain water will eventually end
up in the main river we’re referring to.
-Tributary : small river that falls into main river.
-Distributary : a branch of the river that doesn’t return to it.
-Confluence : the junction of two rivers.
-Lateral erosion : erosion of the river banks sideways.
-V-shape valley : a steep river valley in the upper course.
-Interlocking spurs : V-shape valleys that interlock together because of
vertical erosion.
-Pot holes : holes in the river bed caused by vertical erosion and stones
and rocks swirling around on the river bed.
-Waterfall : lol, created when there is a sudden interruption in the course
of the river.
-Plunge pool : deep bassin at the bottom of a waterfall.
-Undercutting : water eroding soft rock usually that lies under hard rock.
-Gorge : vertical river banks/ valley created by a waterfall moving
backwards.
-Hydraulic action : the force of the flowing water itself.
-Solution ( corrosion) : water dissolves minerals from the river’s bed and
banks.
-Corrasion ( abrasion) : load of the river hits the bed and banks breaking
them up.
-Attrition : rocks and stones knock together and break each other up.
-Weathering : breaking down/ wearing out of rocks by weather.
-Friction : rubbing of one thing against another.
-Wetted perimeter : where the water comes in contact with river bed and
banks.

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Fluvial Landscapes.
Vocabulary :
-Long profile : profile of a river from the source to the mouth seen from
the side.
-Swan’s neck meander : a very tight meander with a narrow neck.
-Mudlfat : dominant deposition where the river meets the sea. Dried out
mudflats are ideal for industry.
Stages of a river :
-The Upper Course : youthful river, narrower stream, fast flow, steep
slope, lots of stones and boulders in the water.
-The Middle Course : mature river, wider and deeper stream, river begins
to flow more slowly, slope is becoming more gentle, small pebbles in the
water, river starts to meander or bend.
-The Lower Course : senile river, widest and deepest stream, slow flow,
almost no slope, fine material or minerals in the water, floodplain.
-Although it might appear as if the water flows fast in the upper course
( lots of turbulence) it actually flows faster during the middle course
because in the upper course the river is not flowing efficiently.
How waterfalls form :
-1 : Falling water and rock particles or boulders loosen and wear away the
softer rock that is under hard rock at the bottom of the waterfall.
-2 : The hard rock above is undercut as erosion of the soft rock continues.
-3 : The hard rock collapses into the plunge pool broken up and washed
away by the river. The position of the waterfall moves back.
-4 : Erosion continues and the waterfall slowly eats up its way upstream,
leaving a gorge behind.
Additional notes on fluvial landscapes :
-V-shaped valleys and interlocking spurs are created by vertical erosion
which leads to a steep-sided narrow valley. Due to loose rocks being
washed downhill and added to the load of the river, the river itself is

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Additional notes on fluvial landscapes :
forced to win dits way around protruding hillsides which are the
interlocking spurs.
How levees are created/ work :

Limestone.
-Limestone, also known as Karst Scenery : a rock that constats mainly of
calcium carbonate. There are several types of limestone ( Chalk, Jurassic ,
Carboniferous)
Carboniferous Limestone :
-Carboniferous limestone contains many fossils, including coral, indicating
that it was formed on the bed of warm clear seas, until it later emerged
from the sea.
-The development of Karst landscapes is influenced by 3 factors : The
rock’s structure, its permeability ( its resistance to water) and its
vulnerability to chemical weathering.
Structure :
-Carboniferous limestone is a hard grey sedimentary rock which was laid
down in layers on a sea-bed.
-The horizontal junctions between the layers : bedding planes.
-The lines of weaknesses at the right-angles to the bedding planes : joints.

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Permeability :
-Permeabilty is the rate at which water can either be stored in a rock or
pass through it.
-Chalk which can store water is called a porous rock.
-Carboniferous Limestone lets water pass through its joints and bedding
planes is a pervious rock.
Vulnerability to chemical weathering :
-Rainwater contains carbonic acid, although it is weak it reacts with the
calcium carbonate in the limestone and it dissolves the rock.
-This process is called carbonation, it widens the weaknesses in the rock
( bedding planes and joints).
Underground landforms :
-Carboniferous limestone areas are characterised by a lack of surface
drainage, a river that flows onto impermeable rock will flow until it
reaches an area of limestone.
-Since the limestone is a pervious rock, the water of the river will be able
to pass through it and to weaken the joints and bedding planes of the
limestone to create swallow holes or sinks ( holes in the limestone)
-The river will then end up falling into one of those swallow holes and
continue its journey, passing through the limestone and widening the
bedding planes and joints further more in a process of erosion called
solution,until it reaches another area of impermeable rock underground.
-Where the process of solution is stronger in the limestone, underground
caverns may form.
-The river will then continue to flow underground over impermeable rock
until it reaches the surface as a spring or resurgence.

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Limestone.
Karst Scenery representation :

Surface Landforms :
-Dry Valleys are evidences that a river once flowed over limestone, this
might have occurred during the ice age when the ground was frozen and
acted as an impermeable rock. The dry valleys are usually very steep
sided.
-Limestone areas a-often have a flat plateau-like appearance due to the
underlying bedding planes.
-Many joints of the bedding planes reach the surface and are then eroded
by solution to form grykes ( solution fissure that divides an exposed
limestone into sections called clints = flat topped block of limestone in
between the grykes)
-Limestone can collapse over underground caves because it has become
too weak due to solution, the small depression ( hollow in the ground)
that’s created is called doline and if this process creates a big depression
then it is called a polje.
Deposition landforms :
-Water containing carbonic acid continually drips from the ceilings of
underground caves, this dripping associated with evaporation creates
stalactites ( from ceiling to ground) or stalagmites ( from ground to
ceiling) and when stalactites and stalagmites join together they are called
pillars.

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Glacial landscape and glaciation :
How glaciers are created :
-Glaciers are created because of an accumulation of snow, snow builds up
on the floor of a valley and gets compressed into firn (or neve) by more
snow being added on top.

-The V-shaped valley is then filled up, the glacier is formed and starts to
flow downhill.

-As the glacier flows downhill, two main processes of erosion occur :
-PLUCKING is when rocks get stuck to the ice and get pulled away by the
glacier.
-ABRASION is when the rocks contained in the ice scrape or rub against
the valley sides and floor, eroding them. Due to abrasion, the valley sides
may have cuts and grooves which are called striations.
-These two processes of erosion lead to a transformation of the V-shaped
valley : When the ice of the glacier will melt, the valley’s shape will have
changed to a U-shaped valley due to the abrasion of the glacier and a
small river will usually be found at the bottom of this U-shaped valley.

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Glacial landscape and glaciation :
How glaciers are created :
-The small river is called a misfit stream because it looks very small and
out of place in the big U-shaped valley.
-U-shaped valleys , when they are close to the sea, can sometimes get
‘filled up’ with water. They are then called fiords and are very common in
countries like Norway, Chile or even New Zealand.
-At the bottom of a glacier is found its deposit, which is called moraine.
Different types of moraine :
There are five types of moraine :
-End/ Terminal moraine : deposition found at snout or end of a glacier, it
marks the maximum advance of the glacier ( how far downhill it went).
Terminal moraine can build if the glacier stays stationary for a long period
fo time.
-Lateral moraine : It is material added to the sides of the glacier mainly
due to the freeze-thaw weathering of the valley sides, rocks and
sediments fall down from the valley sides and build up on either side of
the glacier.
-Medial moraine : moraine found in the centre of a glacier after two
lateral moraines met up.
-Ground moraine : Material dragged underneath the glacier, which is then
deposited to form the flat valley floor. It is also called till or boulder clay.
-Recessional moraine : moraine that is found behind and parallel to
terminal moraine. It marks interruptions in the retreat of the glacier. If
the glacier stays stationary long enough, ridges can develop across the
valley.
Glacial action :
-Glacial action involves : erosion- transportation- deposition.
-Glacial erosion : creates spectacular localised ( good for tourism)
landscapes.
-Glacial deposition : creates boring but huge landscapes.

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Glacial landscapes and glaciation.
Vocabulary :
-pyramidal peak : where several corries cut back into a mountain, forming
a steep, sometimes triangular summit.
-truncated spur : a former river valley interlocking spur cut off by a
glacier.
-tarn : a deep and circular lake in a corrie made of remains of melted
glacier on impermeable rock at the bottom of the corrie.
-ribbon lake : a long narrow lake found at the bottom of a u-shaped valley
( partly the result of erosion when a glacier over-deepens part of its valley
or partly created by deposition of moraine across the main valley)
-snout : the end of a glacier where melting and terminal moraine are
deposited.
-plucking : a type of erosion where the glacier freezes onto rocks and
pulls them out as it moves forward.
-misfit stream : after the ice has melted and the river returns to the
valley, it looks small and out of place in the big u-shaped valley.
-hanging valley : a tributary valley to the main glacier that had a smaller
glacier in it and so was not eroded as much as the main valley and is now
left hanging over it.
-fiord/ fjord : a long narrow steep sided sea inlet formed by glaciers and
later drowned by rise in sea level.
-erratics rocks transported and deposited a long way from their source
region by a glacier.
-corrie : an arm chair shaped hollow on a mountain side formed by glacial
erosion and weathering at the source of a glacier.
-crevasse : a deep crack on the surface of a glacier.
-arete :a sharp ridge formed by two corries cutting back into the
mountain, the summit of an arete is called a horn or pyramidal peak.
-abrasion ; erosion caused by rocks in a glacier scrapping on the valley
sides as the glacier moves downwards.

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Glacial landscapes and glaciation.
Vocabulary :
-moraines : frost shattered rocks and eroded materials transported and
deposited by glaciers
-outwash : the rocks, stones and sediments deposited by meltwater
streams from a glacier. It is a fluvio-glacial process. Ancient outwash
plains are flat wide low land often with poor soils so little farming in those
areas.
-striations : cuts/ marks left behind on rocks eroded by a glacier.
-freeze-thaw : a weathering process on the upper slopes of valley sides
that adds to glacier’s moraine.
-zone of accumulation : The upper part of a glacier where snow and ice
build up, input.
-zone of ablation : The lower part of a glacier where melting is dominant,
output.
-drumlins : ground moraine deposited by a glacier that has been shaped
into ‘eggs’ or ‘cigars’ by the moving ice. ‘basket of eggs’ topography.
-alluvial fan : a sloping triangle deposit of sediment located where a
mountain stream meets level land.
-stratification : different layers of sediments.
-glacial till/ boulder : deposition under a glacier with a variety in
sediments. No stratifications, usually fertile soil.
-loess : thick, rich, fertile soil formed by a glacier’s winds blowing and
depositing ice eroded materials.
-ice calving : blocks of ice falling of, more common nowadays because of
global warming.
-vik : extensive flat land areas in a fiord ( they’re pretty rare).

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Glacial landscape and glaciation.
Malnutrition :
-Malnutrition is caused by deficiencies in diet, either in amount (quantity)
or type ( quality).
-Malnutrition is attributed to poverty : poor populations are unable to
afford an adequate diet.
-Malnutrition and starvation are two different things, malnutrition only
leads to starvation under extreme conditions.
-Malnutrition’s consequences are : reduced capacity to work, reduced
resistance to diseases, retard in mental and physical development or
cause illnesses.
-The increase in malnutrition over the years is mainly due to human
factors such as civil wars, political instability or even international debt
rather than physical causes such as natural disasters.
Dietary Energy Supply ( DES) :
-DES is the number of calories per capita ( per person) available each day
in a country.
-It does not take ito account differences between individuals or between
areas within a country.
-Statistics show that most people living in MEDCs need more calories per
day than those living in LEDCs. This si partly because there is a greater
population of adults in MEDCs than in LEDCs and partly because most
MEDCs are in cooler latitudes where more energy is needed for body
heating.

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