Year 10 Paper 4: Physical Geography Topics
This paper covers tectonic hazards, weather hazards, climate change, UK ecosystems, hot deserts and rainforests, river landscapes and coastal landscapes.
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 [1 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
Name the type of plate boundary found where the Indian Plate collides with the Eurasian Plate to form the Himalayas.
Question 2 [1 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
Name one producer that might be found in a UK pond ecosystem.
Question 3 [1 marks]
Weather Hazards
Name the calm area of clear skies and light winds found at the centre of a tropical storm.
Question 4 [1 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
Name the erosional process in which air trapped in cracks in a cliff face is compressed by waves, weakening the rock.
Question 5 [3 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
State three causes of deforestation in a tropical rainforest.
Question 6 [3 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
State three landforms found on a river's floodplain.
Question 7 [3 marks]
Climate Change
State three human activities that increase the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Question 8 [2 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
A cliff at Combe Head has retreated 54 metres over the last 30 years.
Calculate the average annual rate of coastal erosion at this location, in metres per year.
Question 9 [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 10 [3 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
A small pond ecosystem in a school field in Yorkshire contains pondweed, tadpoles, small fish and herons.
Explain how removing the small fish from this ecosystem could affect the rest of the food web.
Question 11 [4 marks]
River Landscapes and Processes
A river has a bankfull cross-sectional area of 24 square metres upstream of a meander, and a velocity of 0.9 metres per second.
Use the formula discharge = cross-sectional area x velocity to calculate the river's discharge in cubic metres per second, then state what would most likely happen if the discharge exceeded this bankfull level.
Question 12 [5 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
Before groynes were built, a beach had an average width of 12 metres. Five years after the groynes were installed, the beach on the up-drift side had widened to 34 metres.
Calculate the percentage increase in the beach's width, then suggest one problem this might create for a settlement further along the coast, in the direction sediment was previously moving.
Question 13 [5 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
In a UK grassland ecosystem, a survey recorded 4800 grass plants, 240 rabbits and 12 foxes in one hectare.
Calculate the ratio of grass plants to rabbits, and the ratio of rabbits to foxes, both in their simplest form, then explain what these ratios show about energy loss between trophic levels.
Question 14 [5 marks]
Climate Change
Explain two ways that a country could adapt its farming to cope with a changing climate.
Question 15 [5 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
A nature reserve covering 60 hectares recorded 210 individual birds during a survey. A nearby intensively farmed area of the same size recorded only 84 birds.
Calculate the bird density, in birds per hectare, for each area, then explain one reason for the difference.
Question 16 [5 marks]
Coastal Landscapes and Processes
Explain the formation of a spit, such as one you have studied on the UK coastline.
Question 17 [6 marks]
Ecosystems and Biomes
For a small-scale UK ecosystem you have studied, explain how it has changed over time as a result of succession, and evaluate the impact of one human activity on the ecosystem.
Question 18 [6 marks]
Climate Change
A country's coastline experiences an average of 4 severe coastal flooding events per decade. Scientists estimate that, with the sea level rises expected by 2100, this will rise to 11 severe flooding events per decade.
Calculate the percentage increase in the frequency of severe flooding events, then evaluate whether adaptation or mitigation would be the more appropriate response to this specific finding.
Question 19 [6 marks]
Weather Hazards
Compare the immediate responses to a named tropical storm in a higher-income country with the immediate responses to a named tropical storm in a lower-income country, both of which you have studied.
Question 20 [6 marks]
Tectonic Hazards
In 2010, an earthquake measuring magnitude 7.0 struck Haiti, a lower-income country, killing an estimated 220,000 people. In the same year, an earthquake measuring magnitude 6.3 struck Christchurch, New Zealand, a higher-income country, killing 185 people.
Calculate how many times greater the Haiti death toll was than the Christchurch death toll, giving your answer to the nearest whole number, then explain why Christchurch, despite experiencing a lower-magnitude earthquake, suffered far fewer deaths than Haiti.
Question 21 [6 marks]
Development in Extreme Environments
For a hot desert environment you have studied, evaluate the opportunities and challenges that mineral extraction creates for the local population.
Model solutions
| Question 1[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| collision (destructive/convergent) plate boundary, where two continental plates collide | B1 |
| Final answer: Collision (destructive/convergent) plate boundary | |
| Question 2[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| a valid producer, e.g. pondweed or algae | B1 |
| Final answer: Any valid producer, e.g. pondweed or algae | |
| Question 3[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| the eye (of the storm) | B1 |
| Question 4[1 mark] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| hydraulic action | B1 |
| Question 5[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid cause, e.g. commercial farming or cattle ranching | B1 |
| identifying a second valid cause, e.g. logging for timber, or road building | B1 |
| identifying a third valid cause, e.g. mineral extraction, subsistence (slash-and-burn) farming, or dam construction | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: commercial farming/cattle ranching, logging, road building, mineral extraction, subsistence farming, dam construction | |
| Question 6[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid landform, e.g. levees | B1 |
| identifying a second valid landform, e.g. ox-bow lakes | B1 |
| identifying a third valid landform, e.g. meanders, or flat land built from deposited alluvium | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: levees, ox-bow lakes, meanders, flat land built from deposited alluvium (silt) | |
| Question 7[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying a valid activity, e.g. burning fossil fuels for energy | B1 |
| identifying a second valid activity, e.g. deforestation, which reduces the amount of carbon absorbed | B1 |
| identifying a third valid activity, e.g. methane from livestock farming or rice paddies, or industrial processes such as cement production | B1 |
| Final answer: Any three of: burning fossil fuels, deforestation, methane from livestock or rice farming, industrial processes such as cement production | |
| Question 8[2 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| dividing total retreat by the number of years, 54 / 30 | M1 |
| 1.8 metres per year | A1 |
| Question 9[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 10[3 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying an immediate change, e.g. tadpole numbers would increase because a predator has been removed | B1 |
| a knock-on effect, e.g. more tadpoles means more pondweed is eaten, so pondweed declines | B1 |
| a further consequence, e.g. herons have less food available, so heron numbers may fall or they move elsewhere | B1 |
| Final answer: Removing a link causes knock-on changes through the food web, e.g. tadpole numbers rise, pondweed is grazed more, herons lose a food source | |
| Question 11[4 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| substituting into the formula, 24 x 0.9 | M1 |
| 21.6 cubic metres per second (cumecs) | A1 |
| correctly stating the river would flood, spilling out of its channel onto the surrounding floodplain | B1 |
| a valid linked point, e.g. this is why bankfull discharge is used to define a river's flood risk threshold | B1 |
| Final answer: 21.6 cumecs; if discharge exceeded this bankfull level, the river would flood, spilling out onto the surrounding floodplain, which is why bankfull discharge marks a river's flood risk threshold | |
| Question 12[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the increase, 34 - 12 = 22 | M1 |
| setting up the percentage calculation, (22 / 12) x 100 | M1 |
| approximately 183% (accept 183-184%) | A1 |
| a valid problem, e.g. the settlement further along the coast that used to receive this sediment now receives less, leaving its own beach thinner | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. a thinner beach there provides less natural protection from wave energy, increasing that settlement's own erosion or flood risk | B1 |
| Final answer: Approximately 183% increase; the settlement further along the coast now receives less sediment, leaving its beach thinner and providing less natural protection, which can increase its own erosion or flood risk | |
| Question 13[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| simplifying the grass to rabbit ratio, 4800 : 240 | M1 |
| 20 : 1 | A1 |
| simplifying the rabbit to fox ratio, 240 : 12 | M1 |
| 20 : 1 | A1 |
| explaining that far fewer individuals exist at each higher trophic level because energy is lost, e.g. as heat, through respiration, or in uneaten/undigested parts, at each stage of the food chain | B1 |
| Final answer: Grass to rabbits = 20 : 1; rabbits to foxes = 20 : 1; both show a sharp fall in numbers at each trophic level because most energy is lost, as heat or waste, at each stage rather than passed on | |
| Question 14[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying growing more drought-resistant crop varieties | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. so yields are maintained even if rainfall becomes less reliable | B1 |
| identifying changing planting times or dates to fit new seasonal rainfall or temperature patterns | B1 |
| developing this, e.g. so crops are not damaged by unexpected heat or lack of water at a critical growth stage | B1 |
| a valid concluding point, e.g. both allow farming to continue despite a changing climate rather than trying to prevent the change itself | B1 |
| Final answer: Growing drought-resistant crop varieties maintains yields despite less reliable rainfall; and changing planting times to fit new seasonal patterns avoids damage at critical growth stages; both are adaptation strategies that cope with, rather than prevent, a changing climate | |
| Question 15[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| the reserve's density, 210 / 60 | M1 |
| 3.5 birds per hectare | A1 |
| the farmed area's density, 84 / 60 | M1 |
| 1.4 birds per hectare | A1 |
| a valid reason for the difference, e.g. the farmed area has fewer hedgerows, trees and wild plants providing food and nesting habitat than the more natural reserve | B1 |
| Final answer: Reserve = 3.5 birds per hectare; farmed area = 1.4 birds per hectare; the farmed area likely has fewer hedgerows, trees and wild plants providing food and nesting habitat | |
| Question 16[5 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| identifying longshore drift as the process transporting sediment along the coast | B1 |
| identifying that the coastline changes direction, e.g. at a river mouth or bay | B1 |
| explaining that deposition continues in the same direction beyond the bend, building a ridge out into open water | B1 |
| identifying that a change in wind or wave direction can curve the end of the ridge into a hook | B1 |
| naming a real UK example of a spit, e.g. Spurn Point or Orford Ness | B1 |
| Final answer: Longshore drift transports sediment along the coast; where the coastline changes direction, deposition continues out into open water, building a spit, often with a hooked end | |
| Question 17[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates the small-scale UK ecosystem studied (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes an early stage of succession in this ecosystem, e.g. pioneer species colonising bare ground or open water (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a later stage, e.g. a build-up of soil or nutrients allowing larger plants such as shrubs or trees to establish (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a human activity affecting the ecosystem, e.g. grazing, drainage, or recreational trampling (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains the impact of this activity on the ecosystem's development, e.g. grazing can hold succession at an earlier stage by preventing shrubs establishing (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on how significant this human impact has been (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named UK ecosystem with described early and later successional stages, an explained human impact and a supported judgement on its significance | |
| Question 18[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| finding the increase, 11 - 4 = 7 | M1 |
| setting up the percentage calculation, (7 / 4) x 100 | M1 |
| 175% increase | A1 |
| a valid point favouring adaptation, e.g. the sea level rise causing this increase is already committed due to past emissions, so defending the coast now protects people regardless of future mitigation success | B1 |
| a valid point favouring mitigation too, e.g. reducing future emissions could prevent the frequency rising even further beyond this estimate | B1 |
| a supported overall judgement, e.g. both are needed together, since adaptation manages the flooding already locked in while mitigation limits how much worse it becomes | B1 |
| Final answer: A 175% increase; adaptation (such as coastal defences) is needed to manage the flooding already locked in by past emissions, but mitigation is also needed to prevent the frequency rising even further, so both are likely needed together | |
| Question 19[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates both named storms (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes an immediate response in the higher-income country, e.g. well-organised evacuation using the country's own emergency services and resources (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes an immediate response in the lower-income country, e.g. reliance on international aid agencies for search and rescue or emergency supplies (1 mark) | 1 |
| Explains why the responses differed, e.g. the higher-income country had greater existing infrastructure and funding to respond quickly (1 mark) | 1 |
| Evaluates which response was more effective, with a reason drawn from the evidence given (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on how far income level explains the difference in response (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: Two named storms with contrasted immediate responses, an explanation for the difference, an evaluated comparison and a supported judgement on the role of income level | |
| Question 20[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| dividing the two death tolls, 220,000 / 185 | M1 |
| approximately 1189 times greater (accept 1189-1190) | A1 |
| noting that Christchurch's magnitude (6.3) was lower than Haiti's (7.0), yet its death toll was far smaller | B1 |
| a valid reason for the difference, e.g. New Zealand's strict building codes meant most structures withstood the shaking | B1 |
| a second valid reason, e.g. Haiti's capital had a high population density and the earthquake's focus was shallow and close to the city | B1 |
| a concluding point that level of economic development, not magnitude alone, best explains the difference in death toll | B1 |
| Final answer: Approximately 1189 times greater; despite its lower magnitude, Christchurch suffered far fewer deaths because of stricter building codes, while Haiti's high population density, shallow focus and lower level of development greatly increased its death toll | |
| Question 21[6 marks] | |
|---|---|
| Answer or working | Marks |
| Names and locates the hot desert environment and mineral extraction activity studied (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes an economic opportunity created, e.g. jobs in the mining industry or associated infrastructure (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a second opportunity, e.g. investment in local roads, schools or water supply funded by mining revenue (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a challenge or cost created, e.g. water used by the mining operation reduces the supply available to local communities and farming (1 mark) | 1 |
| Describes a second challenge, e.g. pollution or damage to fragile desert ecosystems from the extraction process (1 mark) | 1 |
| Reaches a supported overall judgement on whether the opportunities outweigh the challenges for the local population (1 mark) | 1 |
| Final answer: A named desert and mineral extraction activity with two described opportunities, two described challenges and a supported overall judgement | |