Year 10 Paper 1: Hazards and Landscapes
This paper covers tectonic hazards, weather hazards and climate change together with river landscapes, coastal landscapes and geographical skills.
Year 10 here means a typical teaching order, not a syllabus rule. No exam board defines what belongs to Year 10, and schools sequence the course differently. Check it against your own scheme of work before using it to decide what a class has covered.
Questions
Question 1 [2 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
State two processes by which a river transports its load, other than solution.
Question 2 [2 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
State two factors that affect the rate at which a coastline is eroded.
Question 3 [3 marks]
Weather Hazards
State three types of flooding that can affect the UK.
Question 4 [3 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
State three primary effects of a volcanic eruption.
Question 5 [3 marks]
Geographical Skills
Explain one advantage of using stratified sampling, rather than random sampling, when a study area has clearly different zones, such as a town with distinct residential, retail and industrial zones.
Question 6 [3 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
A river falls from a height of 340m at its source to 20m where it reaches the sea, over a horizontal distance of 64km.
Calculate the average gradient of the river in metres per kilometre.
Question 7 [5 marks]
Geographical Skills
A land use survey recorded the number of each building type along a high street:
Shops: 24 Offices: 9 Restaurants and cafes: 15 Banks: 4 Other services: 8
Calculate the mean number of buildings per category, then state the modal building type, and suggest what this tells us about the street's land use.
Question 8 [5 marks]
Climate Change
Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was 315 parts per million (ppm) in 1960 and had risen to 415 ppm by 2020.
Calculate the increase in CO2 concentration over this period, then calculate the average rate of increase in ppm per year, and suggest one implication of this rate compared with natural rates of change seen in ice-core records.
Question 9 [5 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
A city has a population of 850,000. A hazard assessment estimates that 34,000 residents live within the zone most at risk from lahars (volcanic mudflows).
Calculate the percentage of the city's population living within the highest-risk zone, then state whether this is a small or large share of the total population, and give a reason for a hazard planning strategy that follows from this.
Question 10 [5 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
A meander on the River Wyre has a steep, undercut bank on the outer bend and a gently sloping sandy beach on the inner bend.
Explain how erosion and deposition work together to form this meander.
Question 11 [6 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
For a tectonic hazard you have studied, either an earthquake or a volcanic eruption, assess the extent to which its long-term impacts affected the local economy.
Question 12 [6 marks]
Weather Hazards
Assess the extent to which better forecasting technology has reduced the impact of tropical storms in recent decades.
Question 13 [6 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
Compare the causes and effectiveness of a hard engineering flood management scheme with a soft engineering flood management scheme, both on rivers you have studied.
Question 14 [6 marks]
Geographical Skills
A local council wants to build a new footbridge across a river, and compares four possible sites: Site W (channel 45m wide, steep valley sides on both banks); Site X (channel 18m wide, gently sloping land on both banks, no flood risk marked); Site Y (channel 22m wide, but located within a mapped flood zone); Site Z (channel 60m wide, gently sloping land on both banks).
State, with two reasons, which site would be the best choice for the footbridge, then calculate the straight-line distance in metres represented by 3.6cm on a map with a scale of 1:25,000.
Model solutions
| Question 1[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| one valid process, e.g. traction (rolling large boulders along the bed) | B1 |
| a second valid process, e.g. saltation (bouncing small stones along the bed) or suspension (carrying fine sediment within the flow) | B1 |
| Final answer: Any two of: traction (rolling along the bed), saltation (bouncing along the bed), suspension (carried within the flow) | |
| Question 2[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| one valid factor, e.g. rock type/resistance (geology) | B1 |
| a second valid factor, e.g. fetch, wave energy or height, or the presence of a protective beach | B1 |
| Final answer: Any two of: rock type/resistance, fetch, wave energy or height, presence of a protective beach | |
| Question 3[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid flood type, e.g. river (fluvial) flooding | B1 |
| identifying a second valid flood type, e.g. flash flooding | B1 |
| identifying a third valid flood type, e.g. coastal flooding or groundwater flooding | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: river (fluvial) flooding, flash flooding, coastal flooding, groundwater flooding | |
| Question 4[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid primary effect, e.g. lava flows destroying buildings and vegetation | B1 |
| identifying a second valid primary effect, e.g. ash fall damaging crops or causing roofs to collapse | B1 |
| identifying a third valid primary effect, e.g. pyroclastic flows destroying property and killing people, or the release of toxic volcanic gases | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: lava flows destroying buildings/vegetation, ash fall damaging crops or causing roofs to collapse, pyroclastic flows destroying property and killing people, release of toxic volcanic gases | |
| Question 5[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that stratified sampling deliberately selects a set number of sample points from within each identified zone | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. this ensures every distinct zone is represented in the results in proportion to its size or importance | B1 |
| a valid concluding link, e.g. purely random sampling could, by chance, miss out on a smaller zone entirely, giving a less complete picture | B1 |
| Final answer: Stratified sampling deliberately selects sample points from within each identified zone, ensuring every zone is represented, whereas purely random sampling could by chance miss out on a smaller zone entirely | |
| Question 6[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the fall in height, 340 - 20 = 320m | M1 |
| dividing the fall by the horizontal distance, 320 / 64 | M1 |
| 5 metres per kilometre | A1 |
| Question 7[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| adding the five totals, 24 + 9 + 15 + 4 + 8 = 60 | M1 |
| dividing the total by 5 | M1 |
| the mean, 12 buildings per category | A1 |
| correctly identifying shops as the modal (most common) building type | B1 |
| a valid comment, e.g. shops being the modal category suggests the street's land use is dominated by retail rather than other services | B1 |
| Final answer: Mean = 12 buildings per category; the modal building type is shops, suggesting the street's land use is dominated by retail | |
| Question 8[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the increase, 415 - 315 = 100 | M1 |
| 100 ppm | A1 |
| dividing the increase by the number of years, 100 / 60 | M1 |
| 1.7 ppm per year (accept 1.6-1.7) | A1 |
| a valid implication, e.g. this rate is far faster than natural CO2 changes seen in ice-core records over past millennia, suggesting a human rather than a purely natural cause | B1 |
| Final answer: An increase of 100 ppm; an average rate of about 1.7 ppm per year, far faster than natural historical rates of change, suggesting a human rather than a purely natural cause | |
| Question 9[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| setting up the percentage calculation, (34,000 / 850,000) x 100 | M1 |
| 4% | A1 |
| stating this is a small proportion of the total population | B1 |
| a valid reason, e.g. although the number at risk is large in absolute terms, it is a small fraction of the whole city | B1 |
| a valid planning implication, e.g. hazard mitigation resources should be targeted at the highest-risk zone rather than spread across the whole city | B1 |
| Final answer: 4%; a small proportion of the total population, so hazard mitigation resources should be targeted at the highest-risk zone rather than spread across the whole city | |
| Question 10[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying that water flows fastest on the outside of the bend | B1 |
| linking this to erosion, e.g. lateral erosion by abrasion and hydraulic action undercuts the outer bank | B1 |
| identifying that water flows slowest on the inside of the bend | B1 |
| linking this to deposition, e.g. the river deposits sediment there, building a gently sloping slip-off slope | B1 |
| naming the resulting landform pair, i.e. a river cliff on the outer bank and a slip-off slope on the inner bank | B1 |
| Final answer: Fast flow on the outer bend causes erosion, forming a river cliff; slow flow on the inner bend causes deposition, forming a slip-off slope | |
| Question 11[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates the tectonic hazard studied (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a long-term economic impact, e.g. destroyed infrastructure such as roads or a port reduced trade and business activity for months or years (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a second long-term economic impact, e.g. tourism income fell sharply as visitors avoided the area (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains a factor that helped the economy recover, e.g. international aid or reconstruction investment funded rebuilding (1 mark) | 1 |
| Evaluates a limitation of recovery, e.g. some businesses and jobs never returned, especially in poorer areas (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on how far the local economy was affected in the long term (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named hazard with two described long-term economic impacts, a factor supporting recovery, an evaluated limitation and a supported judgement on the overall economic effect | |
| Question 12[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Identifies an improvement in forecasting technology, e.g. satellite tracking now predicts a storm's path and strength days in advance (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains how this reduces impact, e.g. giving authorities time to issue evacuation orders and residents time to prepare or leave (1 mark) | 1 |
| Identifies a limitation of forecasting, e.g. the exact landfall location and strength can still change suddenly close to when a storm makes landfall (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains a further limitation, e.g. in lower-income countries, warnings may not reach remote or rural communities effectively (1 mark) | 1 |
| Uses a specific example to support a point (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on how far forecasting has reduced impacts (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: An answer describing forecasting improvements and their benefit, at least one limitation, a supporting example and a supported judgement on how far impacts have been reduced | |
| Question 13[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates a hard engineering scheme studied, e.g. a flood relief channel or embankments on a named river (1 mark) | 1 |
| Names and locates a soft engineering scheme studied, e.g. river restoration or floodplain zoning on a named river (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains how the hard engineering scheme reduces flood risk (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains how the soft engineering scheme reduces flood risk (1 mark) | 1 |
| Compares their relative cost, speed of protection, or environmental impact (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on which scheme has been more effective (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named hard scheme and a named soft scheme with explained mechanisms, a compared cost or impact, and a supported judgement on which was more effective | |
| Question 14[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| correctly identifying Site X as the best choice | B1 |
| a valid reason, e.g. it has the narrowest channel of the sites without flood risk, giving a shorter, cheaper bridge to build | B1 |
| a second valid reason, e.g. gently sloping land on both banks makes access and construction easier than the steep valley sides at Site W | B1 |
| converting the map distance to real distance, 3.6 x 25,000 | M1 |
| converting the answer from centimetres to metres by dividing by 100 | M1 |
| 900 metres | A1 |
| Final answer: Site X; it has the narrowest channel of the sites without flood risk, giving a shorter, cheaper bridge, and gently sloping land on both banks makes construction easier than Site W's steep valley sides; 3.6cm represents 900 metres at this scale | |