UK's Evolving Physical Landscape Flashcards
Igneous Rock
Formed from cooled magma/lava
95% Earth’s crust
Sedimentary Rock
Formed when layers of sediment pile on top of each other
Fossils are preserved in sedimentary rock
Metamorphic Rock
Formed by extreme heat and pressure acting on a rock
Weathering
Physical, chemical, biological breakdown of solid rock
Chemical Weathering
Acid in rain reacts with the calcium carbonate in rock which breaks ot down
Biological Weathering
Roots break up rock
Animals weaken structures
Mechanical/Physical Weathering
Water gets into cracks in rock and freezes (expands by 9-10% and breaks the rock). This keeps happening and the rock splits.
Batholith Formation
Magma intrudes into the ground
The magma cools and solidifies
The land around it erodes and leaves the dome-shaped batholith (igneous rock)
Glacian
A glacier flows through a v-shaped valley
It erodes the valley through abrasion and plucking
The valley widens and becomes more steep-sided, becomes a u-shaped valley
A ribbion lake forms when the glacier melts
Malham Cove Formation
300 million years ago, the UK was submerged in tropical water
Tropical fish and corals throved
As they died, skeletons fell to the sea floor, forming horizontal layers (strata)
As more fell, it crushed the fossils underneath, squeezing out the water and compacting the rock
Calcium Carbonate crystallises around the rock which sticks them together
More strata is deposited which strengthens the rock
Malham Cove is formed
Rockfall
Fragments of rock break away from the surface and fall
Lamdslide
Blocks of rock slide down the slope
Mudflow
Saturated soil and weak rock flows down a slope
Rotational Slip
The slump of saturated soil and weak rock along a curved surface
Concordant Coastlines
Rock layers parallel to the coastline
