Glacial Landscapes in the UKExam Focus
Exam Connection — OCR B (J384) and AQA (8035)
This exam focus covers Exam Connection — OCR B (J384) and AQA (8035) within Glacial Landforms for GCSE Geography. Revise Glacial Landforms in Glacial Landscapes in the UK for GCSE Geography with 17 exam-style questions and 20 flashcards. This topic appears regularly enough that it should still be part of a steady revision cycle. It is section 14 of 16 in this topic. Treat this as a marking guide for what examiners are looking for, not just a fact list.
Topic position
Section 14 of 16
Practice
17 questions
Recall
20 flashcards
🎯 Exam Connection — OCR B (J384) and AQA (8035)
OCR B Paper: Paper 1 — Our Natural World, Distinctive Landscapes section (glacial landscapes).
AQA Paper: Paper 1 — Living with the Physical Environment, Section B (Physical Landscapes in the UK) — Glacial Landscapes option.
Exam frequency: Very high — formation of specific landforms (corrie, U-shaped valley, drumlin) appears in almost every sitting. Named UK examples are required in higher-mark questions.
Typical Question Types:
- "Describe the formation of a corrie." [4–6 marks] — Process answer in sequence. Rotational flow → plucking of back wall → abrasion of floor → over-deepened hollow → tarn. Name Red Tarn (Helvellyn) or Glaslyn (Snowdon).
- "Using a named example, explain how a U-shaped valley was formed." [4–6 marks] — Must name the example (e.g. Nant Ffrancon, Snowdonia). Explain the transformation from V-valley by abrasion + lateral erosion + plucking of interlocking spurs.
- "Explain how drumlins provide evidence of past ice movement." [3–4 marks] — The stoss face is blunt and steep and faces the direction from which the ice came; the lee face is tapered and points in the direction of travel. Eden Valley drumlins are aligned NNW–SSE, showing former ice flow direction.
- "What is the difference between an erosional and a depositional glacial landform? Use named examples." [4 marks] — Erosional = carved by the glacier (corrie, arête, U-valley); depositional = built by material dropped by the glacier (drumlin, moraine, erratic). Named examples required for both.
- "Describe the features of a glaciated upland landscape." [4 marks] — Describe the visual appearance (not the formation): U-shaped valleys, corries on mountainsides, arêtes, ribbon lakes on valley floors, waterfalls from hanging valleys, truncated spurs visible as triangular cliff faces.
Level 1 → Level 2 → Level 3: Corrie Formation
Level 1 — Descriptive only (low marks):
"Corries are formed by glaciers. They have a steep back wall and a hollow shape." — This describes the feature but gives no process or mechanism. It will score 1 mark at most.
"Corries are formed by glaciers. They have a steep back wall and a hollow shape." — This describes the feature but gives no process or mechanism. It will score 1 mark at most.
Level 2 — Mechanism explained (medium marks):
"Corries form in sheltered hollows where snow accumulates. Rotational flow within the corrie allows ice to erode deeply by abrasion on the floor and plucking on the back wall, steepening the sides and deepening the hollow. When the ice melts, the over-deepened hollow fills with meltwater to form a tarn." — The mechanism is present and processes are named. This earns mid-range marks.
"Corries form in sheltered hollows where snow accumulates. Rotational flow within the corrie allows ice to erode deeply by abrasion on the floor and plucking on the back wall, steepening the sides and deepening the hollow. When the ice melts, the over-deepened hollow fills with meltwater to form a tarn." — The mechanism is present and processes are named. This earns mid-range marks.
Level 3 — Mechanism + feedback + named example (full marks):
"Corrie formation involves a positive feedback loop: the more the back wall is steepened by plucking and freeze-thaw weathering, the greater the rotational velocity of the ice, which increases the rate of abrasion on the floor, deepening the hollow further. The asymmetric result — a very deep floor, a near-vertical back wall, and a shallower lip at the front — is diagnostic of rotational flow rather than simple downslope movement. Multiple corries eroding simultaneously from different aspects of the same mountain create arêtes (between two corries) and pyramidal peaks (between three or more), as at Snowdon in Wales, where Glaslyn and other corries have together carved the pyramidal summit at 1,085 m. This illustrates how individual glacial processes at the hollow scale operate to shape landscape features at the mountain scale." — Feedback mechanism explained, formation of related features explained, named example with statistics, spatial scale addressed. Full marks.
"Corrie formation involves a positive feedback loop: the more the back wall is steepened by plucking and freeze-thaw weathering, the greater the rotational velocity of the ice, which increases the rate of abrasion on the floor, deepening the hollow further. The asymmetric result — a very deep floor, a near-vertical back wall, and a shallower lip at the front — is diagnostic of rotational flow rather than simple downslope movement. Multiple corries eroding simultaneously from different aspects of the same mountain create arêtes (between two corries) and pyramidal peaks (between three or more), as at Snowdon in Wales, where Glaslyn and other corries have together carved the pyramidal summit at 1,085 m. This illustrates how individual glacial processes at the hollow scale operate to shape landscape features at the mountain scale." — Feedback mechanism explained, formation of related features explained, named example with statistics, spatial scale addressed. Full marks.
OCR and AQA Command Words for This Topic:
- Describe: State the appearance and characteristics of the landform — its shape, dimensions, typical location, visible features. Do not explain formation unless asked.
- Explain / Explain the formation of: Give the process in sequence, with cause-and-effect links. "Because" and "which means that" are essential words. Name the processes (abrasion, plucking, rotational flow).
- Using a named example: A named UK location is required — not just "a glacial valley in the Lake District" but the specific name (e.g., Nant Ffrancon, Snowdonia). The exam specifically awards marks for named examples.
- Suggest why: Requires a reasoned hypothesis — often used for unfamiliar data or unusual situations. Use your process knowledge as the basis for your suggestion.