Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Landscapes of the UK - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Formation - Magma that has cooled either on the ground surface (extrusive when a volcano erupts or below the ground (intrusive).
      - Characteristics - Tough and resistant to erosion; igneous rocks can be found form in the uplands.
      - Examples - Dartmoor which is granite, Norther Ireland which is basalt and Cuillin Hills which is gabbro.
    - - Formation - Rocks formed from the accumulation and compaction of sediment, usually in the ocean.
      - Characteristics - Variable resistance to erosion; chalk and limestone are resistance and will from uplands, whereas weaker clays and sands form lowlands.
      - Examples - Chalk ridges and escarpments (for example, Lincolnshire, the Chilterns and the South Downs), limestone (for example, the Pennies), and sands and gravels (lowlands in southern England).
    - - Formation - Existing rocks that have undergone change due to extreme heating or pressure.
      - Characteristics - Very tough and resistance to erosion, often forming uplands.
      - Examples - Slate, schist and gneiss form uplands (for example, Snowdonia and the Scottish mountains).
  - - - These arears are have a low population due to the harsh climate and steep relief. Human activity is limited to extensive sheep rearing and forestry are common in the Uplands. In some areas reservoirs have been created in some areas to supply water and to generate hydroelectric power. In recent years, wind farms have been constructed in some uplands areas because they have strong winds.
    - - These arears are more densely populated due to the moderate climate and gentler relief. Commercial farming dominates the countryside and much more of this landscapes is urbanised or crisscrossed by transport and service infrastructure.
  - - - Weathering involves the decomposition or disintegration of rock in its original place at or close to the ground surface. There are two main types of weathering: chemical weathering and mechanical (physical) weathering.
      - Chemical weathering
        
        Carbonation - carbon dioxide dissolved in rainwater forms a weak carbonic acid; this reacts with calcium carbonate (limestone and chalk) to form calcium bicarbonate, which is soluble and can be carried away by water.
        
        Hydrolysis - acidic rainwater reacts with feldspar in granite, turning it into clay and causing granite to crumble.
        
        Oxidation - oxygen dissolved in water reacts with iron-rich minerals, causing rocks to crumble.
      - Mechanical weathering
        
        Freeze-thaw - repeated cycles of freezing and thawing causes water trapped in rocks to expand and contract, eventually causing rock fragments to break way.
        
        Salt weathering - crystals of salt, often evaporate from seawater, grow in cracks and holes, expanding to cause rocks fragments to flake away.
      - A third type of weathering is biological weathering, involves living organisms such as nesting birds, burrowing animals and plants roots. Plants roots may expand in cracks, slowing prising rocks apart. Acids that promote chemical weathering may be active beneath soils and rotting vegetation.
    - - Mass movement is active at the coast, particularly where cliffs are undercut by the sea, making them unstable. It includes sliding and slumping, as well as fall (rockfalls) and flow (mudflows).
      - Sliding - this involves rock or loose material sliding downhill along a slip plane, such as bedding plane. Slides are often triggered by ground shaking (for example, an earthquake or heavy rain.
      - Slumping - this involves the collapse of weak rock, such as sand and clays, often found at the coast. slumping often results from heavy rainfall when the sediments become saturated and heavy.
      - Common forms of mass movement at the coast include:
        
        Rockfall: individual fragments or chunks of rock falling off a cliff face, often resulting from freeze-thaw weathering.
        
        Landside: blocks of rock sliding rapidly downslope along a linear shear-plane, usually lubricated by water.
        
        Mudflow: saturated material (usually clay) flowing downhill, which may involve elements sliding or slumping as well as flow.
        
        Rotational slip/slump: slumping of loose material often along a curved shear-plane, lubricated by water.
    - - Erosion involves the wearing away and remove of material by a moving force, such as breaking wave. The main processes of erosion are abrasion, hydraulic action, attrition and solution.
      - Abrasion: This is the 'sandpapering' effect as loose rock particles carried by the water scrape against solid bedrock. It can involve loose particles being flung against a sea cliff or river bank by the water - a process sometimes referred to as corrasion.
      - Hydraulic action: this involves the sheer power of the water, often compressing air into cracks in sea cliffs or river banks, causing rock to break away.
      - Attrition: erosion caused when rocks and boulders transport by waves bump into each other and break up into smaller pieces. Over time the rock become smaller and more rounded.
      - Solution: the dissolving of soluble rocks, such as chalk and limestone.
    - - Transportation involves the movement of eroded sediment from one place to another.
      - Saltation: a bouncing or hopping motion by pebbles too heavy to be suspended.
      - Suspension: particles suspended within the water.
      - Solution: chemicals dissolved in water.
    - - Deposition occurs when material being transported is dropped due to a reduction in energy. This typically occurs in areas of low energy, where velocity is reduced and sediments can no longer be transported. At the coast, disposition is common in bays or in areas sheltered by bars and spits. In rivers, deposition is common clos to the river banks, in estuaries and at the inside bend of meanders.
- - - - Erosion (primarily hydraulic action and abrasion) undercuts the hard rock forming the waterfall to create an overhang.
      - Eventually this overhang collapse into the plunge pool causing the waterfall to retreat upstream.
      - Over many thousands of years, this process of undercutting and collapse continues and a gorge is formed immediately downstream.
  - - - Gentle gradients
      - relatively fine sediments
      - steady precipitation regime throughout the year.
    - - Riffles: these shallow areas are associated with the straighter sections of rives in-between meanders. They usually have rocky beds and turbulent flow dues to friction with the river bed.
      - Pools: these deeper areas are associated with the meander bends. They usually have finer sediment and less turbulent flow due to the smoother river bed.
  - - - 1) As water overtops the ricer banks, there is a sudden localised reduction in the velocity of the water, which had previous been flowing very fast along the river channel.
      - 2) This causes sediment in suspension to be deposited at the river bank.
      - 3) Coarse (heavier sediment is deposited first and this traps the finer sediment.
      - 4) With each successive flood, the deposited sediment raise the river banks by as much as a few meters.
  - - - When the outside bend of a meander meets the edge of the river valley, erosion will cut into it, thereby widening the valley at this point.
      - As meanders slowly migrate downstream, the entire length of the valley will eventually be widened.
- - - - 1) Cracks in the cliff (joints or faults) are eroded and enlarged by hydraulic action to form a wave-cut notch at the base of the cliff. This is eroded further by hydraulic action and abrasion to from a cave.
      - 2) The cave is eroded right through the headland to form an arch.
      - 3) Over time, processed of erosion widen the arch and processes of weathering weaken its roof.
      - 4) Eventually the roof collapses to from an isolated pillar of rock called a stack. Over time the stack will be eroded and will collapses to form a stump, which is only exposed at low tide.
  - - - The North Norfolk coast is exposed to powerful waves from the north-east, the direction of maximum fetch (over 4000km). When the winds come from the north-east, waves are at their most powerful.
      - Longshore firth predominantly operates from east tp west along this stretch of coastline, although opposing currents transport sediment southwards along the east coast of England, and the Wash.
      - Mechanical weather processes, such as freeze-thaw and mass movement (particularly slumping, are very active on the cliffs in the east of the region, particularly between Overstrand and Happisburgh. Unlike longshore drift, these process are more localised and smaller scale.
      - Coastal erosion is active in the east, with coastal deposition dominating in the west.
    - - Cromer Ridge - a 100m ridge just inland from Cromer - is a terminal moraine, a glacial deposition that marks the furthest extent of ice advance.
      - Sand and gravels deposited by glacial meltwater streams are found along of the coast to the west of the region.
      - Till - unsort glacial sediment - forms thick deposits along much of the coast, spreading some distance inland.
    - - The north coast to the west of Sheringham is a coastline dominated by deposition. Longshore drift transports sediment from east to west, forming an extensive spit a Blakeney (Blakeney Point). Sand dunes (for example, at Holkham) and salt marshes (for example, at Stiffkey) are also feature of this stretch of coastline.
    - - There are many villages and small towns on the coat, linked by main roads. Economic activities include fishing, farming and forestry.
      - Much of the area is popular with tourists who visit the coast to enjoy the beautiful landscapes, taking boat trips and hiking or cycling along and lanes and paths.
      - The varied and undamaged coastal habitats, such as the salt marshes and sun dunes, are particularly popular with visitors.
      - A number of coastal defense schemes have been introduce to address the issues:
        
        At Holkham, the local landowner (the Holkham Estate) has planted pine trees to help stabilise the sand dunes. The Estate has also constructed boardwalks to enable visitors to access the dunes without damaging the vegetation or disturbing the wildlife.
        
        At Well-next-the-Sea, groynes (barriers constructed perpendicular to the coast) have been constructed to protect the beach hunts; gabions (metal cages filled with rocks) have been use to help protect the National Coastwatch Institution lookout station. These forms of hard engineering trap sediment, building up the beach to protect the coastline from powerful waves. By interfering with sediment transfer, such measures can have harmful knock-on effects further along the coast where beaches can become starved of sediment.
        
        Several hard engineering measures have been adopted in Cromer, Sheringham and Overstand to protect the coastline, including sea walls, and rock armour (piles of massive boulders).
        
        Coastal defences - particularly hard engineering schemes - have an impact on natural processes. Groynes interrupt the movement of sediment by longshore drift, and sea walls can deflect high-energy waves along the coast. It is often the case than coastal defences protect one area cause increased problems elsewhere along the coast. Some people consider these artificial structures to be ugly, ruining the natural landscape.
- - - - V-shaped valleys
      - Salmon fishing
    - - V-shaped valleys
      - Habitats for wildlife, including as SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) for research.
  - - - Natural waterfalls have been tuned to rapids by humans building a bridge.
      - Used by canoeists
  - - - Broad floodplains and meanders.
      - Used for farming as flat, fertile land.
      - Mixed woodland
      - Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
      - Few settlements as it is a flood risk.