Summary OCR A Level Geography: Physical Systems Notes
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Course
Physical Systems
Institution
OCR
Full A Level Geography Notes for options 1.1.1 A Coastal Landscapes and 1.2 Earth's Life Support Systems including Case Studies, Place Specific Detail and detailed information
OCR Geography A Level Notes:
Physical Systems
Coastal Landscape Systems: 4
1. How can coastal landscapes be viewed as systems 4
1.a: Coastal landscapes can be viewed as systems 4
1.b: Coastal landscape systems are influenced by a range of physical factors 5
1.c: Coastal sediment is supplied from a variety of sources 7
2. How are coastal landforms developed? 8
2.a: Coastal landforms develop due to a variety of interconnected climatic and geomorphic
processes 8
2.b: Coastal landforms are interrelated and together make up characteristic landscapes 11
CASE STUDY - Low Energy Coastline:Nile Delta 11
CASE STUDY - High Energy Coastline:Jurassic Coast 15
3. How do coastal landforms evolve over time as climate changes? 18
3.a: Emergent coastal landscapes form as sea level falls 18
3.b: Submergent coastal landscapes form as sea level rises 19
4. How does human activity cause change within coastal landscape systems? 20
4.a: Human activity intentionally causes change within coastal landscape systems 20
CASE STUDY - Poole Bay 20
4.b: Economic development unintentionally causes change within coastal landscape systems 22
CASE STUDY - Mangawhai-Pakiri Coast, New Zealand 22
Earth Life Support Systems (ELSS): 24
1. How important are water and carbon to life on Earth? 24
1.a: Water and carbon support life on Earth and move between the land, oceans and atmosphere
24
1.b. The carbon and water cycles are systems with inputs,outputs and stores. 25
1.c: The carbon and water cycles have distinctive processes and pathways that operate within
them 27
2. How do the water and carbon cycles operate in contrasting locations? 31
2.a: It is possible to identify the physical and human factors that affect the water and carbon
cycles in a tropical rainforest 31
CASE STUDY - Amazon Rainforest 31
2.b: It is possible to identify the physical and human factors that affect the water and carbon
cycles in an Arctic tundra area 35
CASE STUDY - Arctic Tundra 35
3. How much change occurs over time in the water and carbon cycle 39
3.a: Human factors can disturb and enhance the natural processes and stores in the water and
carbon cycles 39
3.b: The pathways and processes which control the cycling of water and carbon vary over time 43
4. To what extent are the water and carbon cycles linked 46
4.a: How human activities cause changes in the availability of water and carbon stores 46
Water Stores 46
4.b: The global implications of water and carbon management 46
,Coastal Landscape Systems:
1. How can coastal landscapes be viewed as systems
1.a: Coastal landscapes can be viewed as systems
Components of Coastal Landscape Systems:
Systems - Interrelated objects composed of components and processes that connect to form a
working unit. Systems have inputs, processes and outputs
Open Systems - Transfer energy and matter across boundaries. All environmental systems are
open
Closed Systems - Closed to matter but energy may be transferred. Closed systems are rare
Isolated Systems - No interaction with surroundings over boundary. Only found in a laboratory
Coastal systems are open as matter and energy are transferred from neighbouring systems
Sediment Cells - Stretch of coastline where the movement of coastal sediment is largely
contained. There are 11 large sediment cells around England and Wales
Sediment Cells are generally regarded as closed systems although it is unlikely to be closed
entirely
Inputs of Coastal Systems:
● Kinetic energy from wind and waves
● Thermal energy from the sun
● Material from deposition, weathering and mass movement
● Potential energy from material on slopes
● Fluvial sediment from rivers
Outputs of Coastal Systems:
● Marine and wind erosion from beach and rocky surfaces
● Evaporation
Processes of Coastal Systems:
● Stores such as beach and nearshore sediment accumulating
● Flows such as movement of sediment by longshore drift
,System Feedback in Coastal System:
Dynamic equilibrium - When Inputs and outputs of energy and matter are in balance.
Negative Feedback - Balance is disrupted so system adjusts to restore equilibrium
Example: Sediment is eroded from a beach during a storm, Sediment is deposited offshore to
form a bar. This causes waves to break before reaching the beach, reducing their energy and
stopping further erosion. When storm calms normal wave conditions move bar back onto beach
and restores equilibrium
Positive Feedback - Initial change in a system is amplified causing further change and the
equilibrium is lost.
Example: Damage to vegetation on sand dunes by trampling causes erosion of the sand that
results in further loss of vegetation causing more sand to erode and equilibrium to be lost
1.b: Coastal landscape systems are influenced by a range of physical factors
Physical factors that affect coasts:
Wind:
● Wind is a source of energy for coastal erosion, sediment transport and wave action
● Wave energy is generated by frictional drag of wind across ocean surface
● Higher wind speed and longer fetch leads to larger waves with more energy
● Winds approaching at oblique angle leads to longshore drift
Waves:
● Waves possess potential energy as a result of its position above wave trough and kinetic
energy from motion of water
● Swell Waves (Ocean) - Longer wavelength with wave period of 20 secs
● Storm Waves (Local) - Shorter wavelength with greater height and shorter wave period
Breaking Waves:
● Waves break when they reach shallow water due to friction with seafloor changing speed
● Swash is created when wave breaks moving water up beach
● Backwash draws water back due to gravity
● Spilling Waves - Gentle sloping beach leads to slow release of energy
● Surging Wave - Rapid swash causes base of wave to move quickly and not actually
break
, Tides:
● Tides are the periodic rise and fall of the sea surface produced by the gravitational pull of
the moon.
● Can be a significant factor in development of coastal landscapes
● In enclosed seas, tidal range is low and wave action is restricted to a narrow area of land
● Tidal ranges influence where wave action occurs, Weathering can happen on exposed
land between tides and have a scouring effect of waves along coast with a high tidal
range
Geology:
● Lithology - The physical and chemical composition of rocks
● Some rock types have weak lithology such as clay that has little resistance to erosion
● Some rocks like basalt are highly resistant to erosion and more likely to form cliffs and
headlands
● Soluble rock like chalk and limestone are weak to acids and therefore vulnerable to
chemical weathering
Structure:
● Concerns the properties of rock types such as jointing, bedding and faulting
● Concordant coastlines - Form when the same rock type runs parallel to the coast
creating straight coastlines
● Discordant coastlines - Form when geology of coast alternates between strata of hard
rock and soft rock leading to formation of headlands and bays along coastline
Currents:
● Rip Currents transfer sediment and create Cusps
● Ocean currents generated from earth's rotation and convection moves water from warm
to cold places to equalise global temperature
● Current has limited impact on coastal systems but transfers heat that affects sub-aerial
processes
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