The UK's Physical Landscape (AQA GCSE Geography)

The UK's Physical Landscape

• A landscape is defined as:

The character of an area, resulting from the action and interaction of natural and human elements

• A landscape's character will depend on its initial geology, which gives a landscape its relief, which in turn attracts human action/interaction, for example:

  • Slate, (a type of resistant rock) found in the mountains of North Wales, attracted people to quarry for roofing material and generated over four-fifths of all British slate during the Industrial Revolution

• The UK has a varied landscape with uplands, lowlands and important rivers 

• The uplands are found mostly in the north and west of the country: Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and north England (e.g. Lake District, Grampian Mountains and Snowdonia etc.)

• The lowlands are in the south and east of the UK: Central and southern England (e.g. Cotswolds, Norfolk and South Downs)

• Most cities are in lowland areas and often on main river courses such as Liverpool on the Mersey, Bristol on the Severn estuary and River Avon etc.

• There are three types of rock, and the type depends on how the rock was formed: 

  • Igneous rock

    • Form when magma from the mantle cools down and hardens

    • As it cools, crystals form in the rock

    • Igneous rocks are hard and more resistant to erosion e.g. granite and basalt

  • Sedimentary rock

    • Layers of sediment is compacted together until they become solid rock

    • There are two main types in the UK:

      • Limestone and chalk come from the tiny shells and skeletons of dead sea creatures

      • Limestone is harder than chalk, but both are less resistant to erosion 

      • Clays and shales are made from mud and clay minerals, and are much softer than limestone and chalk

  • Metamorphic rock

    • When rock (igneous, sedimentary or older metamorphic rock) is put under pressure and heat (but not melted), the original rock becomes a new type of rock

    • This new rock becomes harder and more compact e.g. shale becomes slate and with more pressure and heat, slate becomes schist

• In the UK, the uplands are mostly igneous and metamorphic rock, with the softer sedimentary rock found in the lowlands of the south, southeast and central UK

• Past tectonic activity has shaped the UK's landscape:

  • Plate movement has moved the UK from the tropics, where it was partially submerged in warm shallow water which formed the limestones of the Peak District, parts of south Wales and south-west England

  • The chalks and clays of England are the youngest rocks of the UK

  • These formed in the swamps and shallow seas before the tectonic plates moved the UK to its present position

• When the plates collided, it forced the rocks to fold and uplift creating the mountain ranges of the uplands: Scottish Highlands, Snowdonia, and the Lake district etc. 

• The pressure and heat created the slate, shale and schist of the uplands

• The UK used to be much closer to a plate boundary than it is now, and volcanic activity formed the granite (igneous rock) of the upper landscape: The Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland is made of huge hexagonal columns of basalt