All 12 Geography topics for Cambridge International AS & A Level, grouped the way the exam is. Each topic has a few flashcards to test yourself; the full sets are free in Socrates AI.
AS
What is a drainage basin?
The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries.
What is a watershed?
The boundary between two drainage basins, usually high ground.
Name four inputs, stores or outputs of the drainage basin system.
Input: precipitation. Stores: interception, surface, soil and groundwater. Outputs: evapotranspiration and channel runoff.
Revise all 20 Hydrology and fluvial geomorphology flashcards free →
What is the difference between weather and climate?
Weather is day-to-day atmospheric conditions; climate is the average weather over a long period, usually 30 years.
What is insolation?
Incoming solar radiation reaching the Earth.
What is the albedo effect?
The proportion of incoming radiation reflected by a surface; snow has high albedo, forests low.
What is weathering?
The breakdown of rocks in situ, without movement.
What is the difference between weathering and erosion?
Weathering breaks rock down in place; erosion removes and transports material.
What is freeze–thaw weathering?
Water enters cracks, freezes and expands by about 9%, widening the crack over repeated cycles.
What is the greenhouse effect?
Gases in the atmosphere trap heat radiated from the Earth, keeping the planet warm.
What is the enhanced greenhouse effect?
Human activities increase greenhouse gas concentrations, trapping more heat and warming the planet.
Name three greenhouse gases.
Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and water vapour.
AS
What is the birth rate?
The number of live births per 1,000 people per year.
What is the death rate?
The number of deaths per 1,000 people per year.
What is natural increase?
Birth rate minus death rate.
What is migration?
The movement of people from one place to another to live, temporarily or permanently.
What is the difference between internal and international migration?
Internal migration is within a country; international migration crosses national borders.
What is the difference between voluntary and forced migration?
Voluntary migrants choose to move; forced migrants have to move, e.g. because of war or disaster.
What is urbanisation?
An increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas.
What is urban growth?
An increase in the total number of people living in urban areas.
What is a megacity?
A city with more than 10 million people.
Revise all 20 Settlement dynamics and urban change flashcards free →
A Level
What are constructive and destructive waves?
Constructive waves have a strong swash and deposit material; destructive waves have a strong backwash and erode beaches.
What is fetch?
The distance of open water over which the wind blows, affecting wave size.
What is longshore drift?
The movement of sediment along the coast when waves approach at an angle, with swash moving up and backwash moving straight down.
What are tectonic plates?
Large rigid sections of the Earth's lithosphere that move slowly over the asthenosphere.
What happens at a destructive (convergent) plate margin?
Plates move together; denser oceanic crust subducts beneath continental crust, causing earthquakes and explosive volcanoes.
What happens at a constructive (divergent) plate margin?
Plates move apart and magma rises to form new crust, e.g. the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.
What is a desert?
An area receiving less than 250 mm of rainfall a year.
What is the aridity index?
A measure comparing precipitation with potential evapotranspiration to classify dryness.
Why are many hot deserts found around 30° north and south?
Descending air of the Hadley cell creates high pressure, which prevents cloud and rain.
Revise all 20 Hot arid and semi-arid environments flashcards free →
A Level
What is water security?
Having reliable access to enough safe water for health, livelihoods and production.
What is water stress?
When annual water supply falls below 1,700 m³ per person.
What is water scarcity?
When annual supply falls below 1,000 m³ per person.
What is globalisation?
The increasing connection and interdependence of the world's economies, cultures and populations.
Name three factors that have accelerated globalisation.
Container shipping, the internet and communications technology, trade liberalisation and TNCs.
What is a transnational corporation (TNC)?
A company operating in several countries, often with headquarters in a developed country.
Revise all 20 Globalisation, trade and development flashcards free →
Pick a paper and go through every topic's flashcards in Socrates AI, with a tutor that explains any card you get wrong. Free to start.
Start revising free