Test your knowledge of UK physical landscapes for GCSE with this 14-question quiz.

If you haven't already done it, work through the physical processes web enquiry on the PowerPoint. Or do it again to help fill any gaps in what you know!

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HIGH SCORES

Rank Name Score
1st BGA 28
2nd SJC 28
3rd AML 28
4th E.B 28
5th BaT 28
6th BaT 28
7th JPS 28
8th wtr 28
9th Aaa 28
10th S.C 28

QUIZZES // Physical processes – erosion, transportation and deposition

Q1. Which one of the following is the best definition of a process?

A detailed proposal for doing something

An action or series of actions that have a particular result

Carrying out something regularly

Made ready for use

Q2. Erratics are large boulders that are out of place in their landscape because they have a different geology. How do the erratics get where they are?

Flash flooding

Glacial transportation and deposition

Aeolian processes (wind)

Human activity

Q3. Which one of these is a landform formed by erosion?

River cliff

River delta

Floodplain

Levee

Q4. Which one of these is a landform formed by deposition?

Wave-cut platform

Cliff

Sea cave

Spit

Q5. Which one of these is a landform formed by both erosion and deposition?

U-shaped valley – the deep, flat-bottomed and steep-sided valley carved by a glacier

Arête – the sharp-edged, steep-sided rock ridge that is left when two glaciers are near each other

River meander – where there is a river cliff on one side of the bend and a small beach (slip-off slope) on the other side

River waterfall – where there is a harder band of rock above a softer layer and the river erodes the less resistant layer, undercutting the more resistant layer

Q6. What is kinetic energy?

Energy stored in an object because of its position – for example, a bag of flour on top of high kitchen shelf

Energy stored in the bonds of chemical compounds – for example, the energy stored in petroleum

Energy stored in the bonds keeping the nucleus of an atom together – for example, the energy released when uranium atoms are split apart in a nuclear chain reaction

Energy that an object has because of its motion – for example, a bag of flour falling from a high shelf towards your head

Q7. Which one of these is a term used for material broken down by weathering and erosion?

Saltation

Sediment

Solution

Suspension

Q8. Is it correct to say that rivers in mountains have more energy (higher velocity) than rivers on floodplains?

Yes, because they are higher above sea level and so have more gravitational potential energy

Yes, because the load carried by mountain rivers hasn’t yet been broken down by erosion

No, because rivers on floodplains have smooth beds and wide channels, giving them much more kinetic energy than mountain rivers

No, because mountain rivers have very rocky and angular beds, which produces much less friction

Q9. As particle size increases, the Hjulstrom curve shows that it takes more energy for the water to transport it. This is an example of:

A negative correlation

A positive correlation

A best fit line

Independent variables

Q10. Which one of these Hjulstrom curve facts best explains why levees are formed?

It takes more energy to entrain the very smallest particles because they stick together

Once they are entrained, it takes very little energy to transport the smallest particles

It only takes a small decrease in velocity for large particles to be deposited

Larger particles take more energy to erode than smaller particles

Q11. What physical process explains why some sandy beaches have a ridge high up the beach made of larger pebbles and rocks?

Winter storms create high-energy waves that can move larger pebbles and rocks higher up the beach than normal

Longshore drift carries sediment along the beach, but it can get deposited if there are obstacles up and down it, e.g. groynes

This is because of beach management techniques designed to reduce cliff retreat

This occurs where waves have a more powerful backwash than swash (destructive waves)

Q12. Which one of the following is something the Hjulstrom curve doesn’t consider?

Particle size

Flow speed/velocity

Depth of water

Entrainment

Q13. Which one of the following do you think would increase erosion in a river?

Clay banks and river bed

A smooth river bed

A drought

A rough river bed

Q14. A glacial outwash plain is a depositional landform created by meltwater that flows out from the snout of a glacier, carrying sediment eroded by the glacier. Using your Hjulstrom curve knowledge, predict which one of these statements is correct.

Glacial outwash plains would have the largest sediment (rocks, boulders) furthest from the glacier’s snout as these would be deposited last

Glacial outwash plains would have unsorted sediment – a mix of all different sizes of sediment

Glacial outwash plains would have the smallest sediment (silt, sand) closest to the glacier’s snout as these would be deposited first

Glacial outwash plains would have the largest sediment (rocks, boulders) closest to the glacier’s snout as these would be deposited first

Finished!

You scored this time. The more correct answers you give, and the fewer incorrect answers you guess, the better your score.

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