Wednesday 18 February 2009

Arete and pyramidal peak











Aretes and pyramidal peaks are important features of glacial erosion. Make sure you know how they are formed adn can draw a diagram to show this. If you don't read this note and check out scalloway revision for diagrams.

Aretes form when 2 corries meet and erode back to back on a mountain. When this happens a a very steep narrow piece of land is all that is left between the corries. This piece of land is called a ridge and when it is in between two corries it is called an arĂȘte. Look at the photo of the arĂȘte and make sure you can see the two corries back to back and the sharp piece of land in between.


It is not too difficult to imagine what would happen if another corrie formed on another part of the mountain. The mountain would be worn away on at least three sides, and only a large peak shaped like a pyramid would be left. This is called a pyramidal peak.

Corrie


Corrie Formation


Corries form when snow gathers in a small hole or hollow in the ground high up on a mountain. The snow does not melt but gets thicker and thicker each year and after hundreds of years it turns to ice. This is a glacier. The glacier will become too big for the hollow and will start to move down the hill. When this happens, it sticks to the back of the hollow and plucking takes place. This makes the back of the hollow very steep.

The rocks under the ice wear away the rocks on the bottom of the hollow. This is abrasion. This means that the hollow becomes deeper. When the ice melts, a very deep hollow with three steep sides is left.

Sometimes the hollow fills with water and makes a lake. This deep hollow is called a corrie, and the lake is called a tarn.


Formation of a corrie - simplified (you will need diagrams to accompany this note)


1. Snow gathers in a hollow and does not melt. This is the start of a glacier.
3. At the back of the hollow the ice sticks to the rocks and plucking occurs.
2. The glacier gets too big for the hollow and starts to move down the mountain.
4. At the bottom of the hollow the rocks in the ice rub against the rocks in the hollow. This is abrasion.
5. When the ice melts, a deep hollow called a corrie is left behind. It often fills with water and a tarn is made.


http://www.scalloway.org.uk/phyl13.htm - has good diagrams to show what a corrie looks like.

Type corrie into google images to see actual pictures.

Processes of Erosion

How ice erodes
Remember, ice erodes by:
Plucking - glacier ice freezes into cracks in rocks and when the glacier moves it pulls out chunks to leave a jagged surface
Abrasion - rocks stuck in the ice grind away the bedrock under the glacier
Freeze Thaw - water in cracks in the rock freezes and expands forcing open the gap. When the ice melts more water can get into the crack and freeze again. After many cycles of freezing and thawing lumps of rock are broken off the surface.

You must be able to dsecribe these processes in the credit exam eg do not simply say that corries are formed by plucking and abrasion - tell me what the processes actually do!

Glaciation Revision

Glaciation can be a difficult topic to remember . Check your revision checklists and use traffic lights to work out where you are struggling.
Remember you need to be able to draw diagrams for all the features we have covered so far.
*Corrie
*U-Shaped Valley
*Pyramidal Peak
* Arete
*Drumlin

You also need to know about the processes of erosion and be able to describe each process (Plucking, Abrasion, Freeze/Thaw)

You must be able to descrieb landuse and potential conflicts and should also be able to identify the featurse from a map.

There are some notes on this site and some links to other websites to help with revision of this topic.

Monday 26 January 2009

Street Patterns


Go to this website to see more street patterns - Great to help you understand what the grid iron pattern we talked about in class really looks like.

Learning Intentions


Here are the Learning Intentions for the Settlement topic. These allow you to understand what we will be looking at in class, and also to keep track of your progress.

Learning Intentions – Settlement

What you will learn:


· Introduction to Settlement.
· What are the different types of settlement?


Settlement Hierarchy
· What is settlement hierarchy?


Settlement Function
· What are the main settlement functions?
· How to identify settlement function from a map
· How to identify and explain settlement distribution from a map

Sphere of influence
· What is sphere of influence?
· How can sphere of influence be identified?

Landuse
· What are the different types of landuse?
· What features do different zones have?
· How can the different zones be identified on a map?

Site and Situation
· How does a settlement grow?

Urban Decay
· What is urban decay?

Housing
· What were the housing problems in Glasgow?
· What redevelopment took place?
· What were the solutions to Glasgow’s housing problems?
· What were council estates?
· What were the problems with council estates?
· Were high rise flats a successful alternative?
· What were new towns?
· What happened during tenement renovation?
· Was tenement renovation a success?

Traffic Congestion
· What is traffic congestion?
· What problems does it cause?
· What are the solutions to traffic congestion?

Out of town shopping
· What are out of town shopping centres?
· Why are they so popular?
· What effect do they have on the CBD?

· Urban Regeneration

What is Urban Regeneration?
· What regeneration projects are happening in Glasgow?

Urban Sprawl
· What is Urban Sprawl?
· What problems does it cause?
· What can be done to prevent the problems?

Settlement Introduction


Our new topic is Settlement - we will be starting this topic on Thursday and you will need to bring your booklets with you. I will be posting answers, links and information on this site so try and check often.