The uk physical Landscape

• The UK has large Upland and Lowland Areas, and Important Rivers
• Upland areas

  • Tend to be in the north and west of the country
  • Formed of hard, igneous (e.g. granite) and metamorphic (eg. slate and schist) rocks that are resistant to erosion
• Lowland areas


  • To the south and east
  • Formed of softer, sedimentary rocks (e.g. chalk and clays) that erode more easily
• Most cities are in lowland areas and often on the UK's main rivers
• Cities on UK rivers


  • London (on the Thames)
  • Liverpool (on the Mersey)
  • Cardiff (on the Severn Estuary)
• River Clyde


  • Wide lower valley and flood plain
  • City of Glasgow situated on the flat ground of the Clyde's flood plain
• Lake District


  • National park popular with tourists
  • Upland area with lots of glacial features
• Grampian Mountains


  • Part of the Highlands
  • Home to Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in the UK)
  • Steep, rocky and sparsely populated
• Holderness Coast


  • Made mainly of soft boulder clay
  • Cliffs eroding quickly allowing landforms such as the Spum Head spit to form
• Dorset Coast


  • Bands of hard and soft rock leading to landforms such as stacks, arches and spits
• The Fens


  • Marshy, flat, low-lying area
  • Used to be larger but a lot of land has been drained for farming
• Weathering


  Breakdown of rocks in situ (where they are)
• Erosion


  Rocks are broken down and carried away by something, eg, by seawater
• Mechanical weathering

  1. Breakdown of rock without changing its chemical composition

  2. Freeze-thaw weathering - water freezing and expanding in cracks, then thawing and contracting, widening the cracks
• Chemical weathering


  • Breakdown of rock by changing its chemical composition
  • Carbonation weathering - rainwater with dissolved carbon dioxide reacting with rocks containing calcium carbonate
• Mass movement

  • Shifting of rocks and loose material down a slope, eg. a cliff
  • Happens when the force of gravity acting on a slope is greater than the force supporting it
• Types of mass movement

  • Slides
  • Slumps
  • Rockfalls
• Waves


  • Destructive waves - high frequency, high and steep, backwash more powerful than swash
  • Constructive waves - low frequency, low and long, swash more powerful than backwash
• Erosion by waves


  1. Hydraulic power - waves compressing air in cracks

  2. Abrasion - eroded particles scraping and rubbing against rock

  3. Attrition - eroded particles colliding and breaking into smaller pieces
• Longshore drift


  1. Waves following the direction of the prevailing wind, hitting the coast at an oblique angle

  2. Swash carrying material up the beach, backwash carrying material down the beach at right angles
• Processes of transportation


  • Traction - large particles pushed along sea bed
  • Saltation - pebble-sized particles bounced along sea bed
  • Suspension - small particles carried in water
  • Solution - soluble materials dissolved in water
• Deposition


  Dropping of material when water carrying sediment loses energy and slows down
• Concordant coastline


  • Alternating bands of hard and soft rock parallel to the coast
• Discordant coastline


  • Alternating bands of hard and soft rock at right angles to the coast
• Formation of headlands and bays

  Less resistant rock eroded faster forming bays, resistant rock erodes more slowly forming headlands
• Erosion of headlands


  Waves enlarging cracks to form caves, arches and stacks as the rock is worn away
• Formation of wave-cut platforms

  Waves causing erosion at the foot of cliffs, forming a wave-cut notch which enlarges over time causing the cliff to collapse and retreat
• Sand beaches


  • Formed by low energy waves, flat and wide with small sand particles
• Shingle beaches


  • Formed by high energy waves, steep and narrow with larger shingle particles
• Formation of spits


  Longshore drift transporting sand and shingle past a sharp bend in the coastline and depositing it, forming a spit that can become recurved
• Formation of bars


  Spit joining two headlands together, cutting off a bay and forming a lagoon behind the bar
• Formation of sand dunes


  Sand deposited by longshore drift being blown inland and accumulating to form dunes
• Spits


  • Form at sharp bends in the coastline, e.g. at a river mouth
  • Longshore drift transports sand and shingle past the bend and deposits it in the sea
  • Strong winds and waves can curve the end of the spit (forming a recurved end)
• Sheltered area behind a spit


  Material accumulates and plants are able to grow
• Sheltered area behind a spit

  • Welwick Saltmarsh, Yorkshire
• Bars


  • Form when a spit joins two headlands together
  • The bay between the headlands gets cut off from the sea, forming a lagoon
  • Offshore bars can form if the coast has a gentle slope-friction with the sea bed causes waves to slow down and deposit sediment offshore, creating a bar that is not connected to the coast
• Sand Dunes


  • Formed when sand deposited by longshore drift is moved up the beach by the wind
  • Obstacles (e.g driftwood) cause wind speed to decrease so sand is deposited, forming small embryo dunes
  • Embryo dunes are colonised by plants, eg Marram grass, which stabilise the sand and encourage more sand to accumulate, forming foredunes and mature dunes
  • New embryo dunes form in front of stabilised dunes
  • Dune slacks (small pools) can form in hollows between dunes
• Erosional coastal landforms


  • Caves, arches and stacks can't be seen on a map because of the rock above them
  • Stacks look like little blobs in the sea
  • Cliffs (and other steep slopes) are shown on maps as little black lines
  • Wave-cut platforms are shown as bumpy edges along the coast
• Depositional coastal landforms


  • Sand beaches are shown on maps as pale yellow
  • Shingle beaches are shown as white or yellow with speckles
  • Spits are shown by a beach that carries on out to sea, but is still attached to the land at one end
  • There might also be a sharp bend in the coast that caused it to form
• Coastal landforms in Dorset

  • Durdle Door (arch)
  • Lulworth Cove (bay)
  • Chesil Beach (tombolo)
  • Swanage Bay, The Foreland and Studland Bay (bays and headland)