The UK's physical landscape Flashcards
(30 cards)
Give 3 examples of an igneous rock
- granite
- basalt
- pumice
Give 3 examples of a sedimentary rock
- chalk
- sandstone
- limestone
Give 3 examples of a metamorphic rock
- schist
- slate
- marble
What are the 4 main charcteristics of igneous rocks?
- hardest of all three rock types
- often contain crystals
- resistant to erosion (they are formed of crystals)
- usually impermeable
What does impermeable mean?
water does not pass through
What type of rock is basalt?
How does it form?
- basalt is an igneous gray rock
- it is formed from very small crystals
- lava flows cool to form basalt
What type of rock is granite?
- give two characteristics of granite?
- granite is an igneous rock
- granite is affected by chemical weathering
- granite landscapes drain badly (so tendto be boggy)
What are the 3 main characteristics of sedimentary rocks?
- weakest of all three rock types
- often have fossils within them
- formed in layers called beds
What type of rock is chalk?
Give 2 characteristics of chalk?
- chalk is a sedimentary rock
- made up of calcium carbonate
- susceptible to chemical weathering
What type of rock is sandstone?
Give 3 characteristics of sandstone
- sandstone is a sedimentary rock
- made of sand- sized grains semented together
- It can be hard and resistant to weathering
- permeable
What are the 2 main characteristics of metamorphic rocks?
- changed in shape or form
- harder forms of the original rock (with greater economic value)
What type of rock is slate?
Give two characteristics of slate
- slate is a metamorphic rock
- slate easily splits into thin layers
- formed from mudstone at convergent plate boundaries
(schist is formed at a higher presure at the same plate boundary)
How are igneous rocks formed?
- begin as magma cooling inside the earth OR lava cooling on the earth’s surface after a volcanic eruption
How are sedimantary rocks formed?
- small particles of rock transported by water, ice or wind after weathering
- most will eventually reach the seabed
- over years layers of sediment accumulate and compress into sedimentary rocks
- these rocks are laid down in layers
How are metamorphic rocks formed?
- begin as igneous or sedimantary roks but are later altered by heat or pressure
- for example, when tectonic plates push together
What type of rock is basalt?
Where is it found in the UK?
- basalt is an igneous rock
- it is found in the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland
What type of rock is granite?
Where is it found in the UK?
- it is an igneous rock
- exposed in many places in Devon, Scotland and Cornwall
What type of rock is clay?
How does it form?
- clay is a sedimantary rock
- formed from the deposits and compression of mud
What type of rock is limestone?
How does it form?
- limestone is a sedimentary rock
- consist of calcium carbonate which come from the remains of plants and animals
What type of rock is marble?
How is it formed?
- marble is a metamorphic rock
- marble is formed from limestone
Where are sedimatary rocks (particularly limestone) found in the UK?
On the UK South Coast
What type of rock is slate?
Where is it found in the UK?
- slate is a metamorphic rock
- large outcrops of slate are found in Scotland, Northern England and Wales
What are the main physical processes that form upland and lowland physical landscapes? (6)
- glacial erosion
- deposition
- weathering
- climatological processes
- post glacial rover processes
- slope processes
What is the definition of erosion? (1)
when broken rocks or sediment are picked up and moved to another place by wind, water or ice
