Level:
Correct: 0
Incorrect: 0
Marks: 0/0
Exam Practice
Subject:
Topics:
AQA GCSE Geography (Paper 1) Smart practice A mixed round aimed at your weak spots
Unit 1
The challenge of natural hazards
Natural hazards
Natural hazards and hazard risk
0%
Tectonic hazards
Plate tectonics and plate margins
0%
Effects of and responses to tectonic hazards
0%
Reducing the risk from tectonic hazards
0%
Weather hazards
Global atmospheric circulation
0%
Tropical storms: distribution, formation and structure
0%
Effects of and responses to tropical storms
0%
Weather hazards in the UK
0%
Climate change
Climate change: evidence, causes and effects
0%
Managing climate change
0%
Unit 2
The living world
Ecosystems
Ecosystems
0%
Tropical rainforests
Tropical rainforest ecosystems
0%
Deforestation
0%
Sustainable management of tropical rainforests
0%
Hot deserts (option)
Hot desert ecosystems
0%
Developing hot deserts: opportunities and challenges
0%
Desertification
0%
Cold environments (option)
Cold environment ecosystems
0%
Developing cold environments: opportunities and challenges
0%
Protecting cold environments
0%
Unit 3
Physical landscapes in the UK
The UK's physical landscapes
The UK's physical landscapes
0%
Coastal landscapes (option)
Coastal processes
0%
Coastal landforms
0%
Coastal management
0%
River landscapes (option)
River valleys and fluvial processes
0%
River landforms
0%
Flooding, hydrographs and flood management
0%
Glacial landscapes (option)
Glacial processes
0%
Glacial landforms
0%
Glaciated uplands: land use and tourism
0%
Unit 4
Geographical skills: OS maps
Ordnance Survey maps
OS maps: grid references, scale, distance and direction
0%
OS maps: relief, contours, gradient and landscape features
0%
Avg
score:
–
Topics
done:
0/32

River landforms

Practise 32 exam-style questions on River landforms for AQA GCSE Geography (Paper 1). Write your answer as you would in the exam and get it marked in seconds against the mark scheme, point by point, with an AI tutor on hand if you get stuck.

  • 32 questions
  • 1–12 marks each
  • Instant marking
  • No sign-up needed
20 questions, marked as you go

Sample questions with model answers

Here are 4 of the questions in this topic, each with a model answer, an explanation of why it earns the marks and the mark scheme an examiner would use.

Question 1

1 mark

Figure 1 is part of a 1:25 000 Ordnance Survey (OS) map showing the valley of the River Wend.

Identify the landform at A.

Figure 1: part of a 1:25 000 OS map. Ordnance Survey map extract at a scale of 1:25 000. Blue grid lines divide it into 5 by 4 squares, each 1 km across; the eastings 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47 are printed along the top and bottom (increasing to the east) and the northings 61, 62, 63, 64, 65 up both sides (increasing to the north). Brown contour lines show the height of the land every 5 m, with every 50 m line drawn thicker; heights printed on contour lines: 15 m, 20 m, 25 m. Spot heights (a dot with the height in metres): 16 in the south of the map; 16 in the east of the map. Water (blue): a river runs between the west edge and the east edge; a lake in the east of the map. Roads and paths: the B4192 (B road) runs between the west edge and the south edge; a minor road runs between the north-west of the map and the north of the map; a footpath (green dashed lines). Land use: a built-up area (shaded orange) in the north-west of the map; 4 separate buildings (small black squares); non-coniferous woodland (green with tree symbols) in the south-east of the map. Symbols: place of worship with tower in the north-west of the map; "Sch" (school) in the north-west of the map. Names printed: "Wendbury" in the north-west of the map; "River Wend" in the west of the map; "Ings Fm" in the south of the map; "Holme Fm" in the north-east of the map. Letters in circles mark places: A in the east of the map (a dot marks the exact place). A key beside the map explains: B road, minor road, footpath, river or stream, lake, built-up area, building, non-coniferous wood, contour (5 m interval), spot height in metres, place of worship with tower, Sch = school. Below the map: a scale bar marked 0, 1 and 2 km (1 km is the width of one grid square) and a north arrow pointing to the top of the map.

Model answer

An ox-bow lake.

Explanation

The lake at A is horseshoe-shaped, lies on the flat flood plain right beside the meandering River Wend and has no river flowing through it - the shape of an old meander loop that has been cut off. Just writing 'lake' does not identify the landform.

Mark scheme
  1. 1 mark

    Ox-bow lake

    Accept oxbow lake / cut-off meander (loop) / horseshoe lake / mortlake. Do not accept 'lake', 'pond' or 'meander' on their own.

Question 2

2 marks

Define the term 'estuary'.

Model answer

An estuary is the mouth of a river where it meets the sea. It is tidal, so fresh river water mixes with salt sea water as the tide comes in and goes out.

Explanation

The key ideas are location (the river mouth, meeting the sea) and the influence of the tide. 'Where a river meets the sea' on its own earns only one mark; the second mark needs the tidal or fresh-and-salt-water idea, or its funnel shape.

Mark scheme
  1. 1 mark

    The mouth of a river, where it meets the sea

  2. 1 mark

    which is tidal (the water rises and falls with the tides) / where fresh river water mixes with salt sea water / which widens into a funnel shape towards the sea

    Development of the first point.

Question 3

4 marks

Explain how a flood plain is formed.

Model answer

A flood plain is formed by both erosion and deposition. Meanders erode laterally on the outside of their bends, and over time they migrate across the valley and downstream. This widens the valley floor and wears away any interlocking spurs, while sediment is deposited on the inside of the bends as the meanders move. When the river floods, water spreads out over this wide valley floor, slows down and loses energy, so it deposits fine silt called alluvium. After many floods, layers of alluvium build up, creating a wide, flat and fertile flood plain.

Explanation

Many students mention only flooding and deposition, but the flood plain also needs lateral erosion by migrating meanders to widen the valley floor in the first place. Linking both processes together is what reaches Level 2.

Mark scheme
  1. 4 marks

    Levels of response (4 marks).
    Level 2 (3-4 marks): clear explanation showing that both erosion (lateral erosion by migrating meanders widening the valley floor) and deposition (alluvium deposited during floods) form the flood plain; points are linked and developed; accurate terminology.
    Level 1 (1-2 marks): basic explanation with simple, unlinked points, e.g. 'the river floods and leaves silt'; may cover only erosion or only deposition.
    0 marks: nothing worthy of credit.

    Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): a flood plain is the wide, flat land either side of a river in its lower course; erosion: meanders erode laterally on the outside of their bends; meanders migrate across the valley and downstream, widening the valley floor and removing interlocking spurs; deposition on the inside of bends (slip-off slopes) leaves sediment behind as the meanders move; deposition: when the river floods it spreads over the land, slows down and loses energy; it deposits fine sediment (alluvium / silt); repeated flooding builds up layers of alluvium, making the flood plain flat and fertile; coarser material forms levées beside the channel.

Question 4

6 marks

For a UK river valley you have studied, describe the major landforms of erosion and deposition found along the valley.

Model answer

The River Tees rises on the slopes of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows east to the North Sea.

In its upper course the Tees flows in a narrow, steep-sided V-shaped valley with interlocking spurs. The most famous landform of erosion is High Force, a waterfall about 21 m high, where the river drops over a band of hard dolerite rock called the Whin Sill, which lies on top of softer limestone and shale. Below High Force is a steep-sided gorge about 700 m long, showing how far the waterfall has retreated upstream. Low Force is a smaller waterfall further downstream.

In its middle and lower course the valley becomes much wider. The river forms large meanders, with river cliffs on the outside of the bends and slip-off slopes on the inside, for example around Yarm and Stockton-on-Tees, where there are also ox-bow lakes. The river flows across a wide flood plain with levées, some of which have been raised artificially.

At its mouth the Tees forms an estuary at Teesmouth, near Middlesbrough. Here landforms of deposition dominate: wide mudflats such as Seal Sands, which are exposed at low tide, and salt marshes along their edges.

Explanation

This question rewards accurate, located detail: name the landforms and say where they are along the valley, from source to mouth. A balanced answer covers erosional landforms (waterfall, gorge, interlocking spurs) and depositional ones (flood plain, levées, estuary mudflats), with meanders and ox-bow lakes in between.

Mark scheme
  1. 6 marks

    Levels of response (6 marks).
    Level 3 (5-6 marks): detailed description of several landforms of both erosion and deposition, located accurately along the named valley (upper, middle and lower course); detailed place-specific knowledge (named places, features or figures); accurate terminology.
    Level 2 (3-4 marks): clear description of some landforms of erosion and deposition with some place-specific detail; may be unbalanced, e.g. mainly erosion, or locations may be vague.
    Level 1 (1-2 marks): basic description of landforms with little or no place-specific detail; could apply to any river.
    0 marks: nothing worthy of credit.

    Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): River Tees: source on the slopes of Cross Fell in the North Pennines; upper course: narrow, steep-sided V-shaped valley with interlocking spurs; Cauldron Snout cascade; High Force waterfall, about 21 m high, where the river flows over the hard dolerite of the Whin Sill on top of softer limestone and shale; a gorge about 700 m long downstream of High Force; Low Force, a smaller waterfall further downstream; middle and lower course: the valley widens with meanders, river cliffs and slip-off slopes; large meanders and ox-bow lakes on the flood plain near Yarm and Stockton-on-Tees; wide flood plain with levées (some raised artificially); estuary at Teesmouth/Middlesbrough with mudflats (Seal Sands) and salt marsh. River Severn: source on Plynlimon in the Cambrian Mountains; V-shaped valley in the upper course; meander almost encircling Shrewsbury; wide flood plain near Tewkesbury and Gloucester; estuary with one of the largest tidal ranges in the world and extensive mudflats. Credit any appropriate named example.

Ready to try the rest? Every answer you write is marked against the mark scheme, so you can see exactly where the marks are.

AI Tutor Hints first, answers after you try

Hi! Stuck? Ask me for a hint and I’ll help you work it out. Once you’ve checked your answer I can explain exactly where the marks are.