Section D: Physical Landscapes - Hot Deserts Or
Overview
This is the one section of Paper 1 where you get a choice. Section D offers hot desert landscapes as one question and river landscapes as the other, and you answer whichever one you have been taught. Both are shaped by the same idea: a moving fluid picks material up, carries it, and puts it down again when it runs out of energy. In a desert the fluid is usually air. In a river valley it is water. Everything else follows from that.
This lesson teaches both options in full, so that whichever your school has chosen you have it here, and so that the shared machinery is obvious. You will learn the wind and water processes that carve a desert, and build yardangs, zeugen, dunes, badlands, wadis, alluvial fans and salt lakes from them. You will follow a river from its steep headwaters to its estuary, explaining interlocking spurs, waterfalls, gorges, meanders, ox-bow lakes, levees and flood plains as you go. Then you will read a storm hydrograph, weigh hard engineering against soft, and follow the largest river management scheme on Earth from the floods that caused it to the arguments it is still causing.
Objectives
- Hot deserts are shaped by a number of physical processes.
- Distinctive landforms result from different physical processes in hot deserts.
- Development of hot desert environments creates opportunities and challenges.
- River landscapes The shape of river valleys changes as rivers flow downstream.
- Distinctive fluvial landforms result from different physical processes.
- Different management strategies can be used to protect river landscapes from the effects of flooding.
- Aeolian (wind) processes:
- erosion - abrasion and deflation
- transportation - surface creep, saltation and suspension
- deposition - why wind deposits sediment. Water processes:
- erosion - abrasion and hydraulic power
- transportation - traction, saltation and suspension
- deposition - why water deposits sediment.
- Characteristics and formation of landforms resulting from the effects of the wind - yardangs, zeugen and dunes.
- Characteristics and formation of landforms resulting from water-badlands, wadis, alluvial fans and salt lakes. Examples should be used from the region and integrated into the teaching of the content. Use example(s) in hot deserts to illustrate:
- development opportunities in hot desert environments: oil and mineral extraction, energy, farming, tourism
- challenges of developing hot desert environments: extreme temperatures, water supply, inaccessibility.
- The long profile and changing cross profile of a river and its valley.
- Fluvial processes:
- erosion - hydraulic action, abrasion, attrition, solution, vertical and lateral erosion
- transportation - traction, saltation, suspension and solution
- deposition - why rivers deposit sediment.
- Characteristics and formation of landforms resulting from erosion - interlocking spurs, waterfalls and gorges. Characteristics and formation of landforms resulting from erosion and deposition - meanders and ox-bow lakes. Characteristics and formation of landforms resulting from deposition - levées, flood plains and estuaries. Examples should be used from the region and integrated into the teaching of the content. How physical and human factors affect the flood risk - precipitation, geology, relief and land use.
- The use of hydrographs to show the relationship between precipitation and discharge. The costs and benefits of the following management strategies:
- hard engineering - dams and reservoirs, straightening, embankments, flood relief channels
- soft engineering - flood warnings and preparation, flood plain zoning, planting trees and river restoration. An example of a river flood management scheme in the region to show:
- why the scheme was required
- the management strategy/strategies
- the social, economic and environmental issues.
Mind map
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Lesson Note
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Lesson Evaluation
Congratulations on completing the lesson on Section D: Physical Landscapes - Hot Deserts Or. Now that youve explored the key concepts and ideas, its time to put your knowledge to the test. This section offers a variety of practice questions designed to reinforce your understanding and help you gauge your grasp of the material.
You will encounter a mix of question types, including multiple-choice questions, short answer questions, and essay questions. Each question is thoughtfully crafted to assess different aspects of your knowledge and critical thinking skills.
Use this evaluation section as an opportunity to reinforce your understanding of the topic and to identify any areas where you may need additional study. Don't be discouraged by any challenges you encounter; instead, view them as opportunities for growth and improvement.
- Which process removes loose fine material from a desert surface and leaves coarse stones behind? A. Abrasion B. Deflation C. Saltation D. Attrition Answer: B
- Which landform is a fan shaped deposit at the point where a desert valley opens onto a plain? A. Yardang B. Zeugen C. Alluvial fan D. Playa Answer: C
- Which type of erosion dominates in the upper course of a river? A. Lateral erosion B. Vertical erosion C. Coastal erosion D. No erosion occurs Answer: B
- What is lag time on a storm hydrograph? A. The time from the start of the rain to the peak discharge B. The time from peak rainfall to peak discharge C. The time the river stays above bankfull discharge D. The time taken for discharge to return to normal Answer: B
- Which of the following is soft engineering for flood management? A. Building an embankment B. Straightening a channel C. Flood plain zoning D. Constructing a flood relief channel Answer: C
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