Geography GCSE

Geography GCSE glossary

785 key terms for Geography GCSE, A to Z, each linked to the topic pages that use it.

Find a term in Geography GCSE

785 terms found. Open a term to try a short memory check.

A

Abiotic components: The non-living parts of an ecosystem, including climate (temperature and rainfall), soil type, light levels and water availability.AQA
Abiotic Factors: The non-living physical characteristics of an ecosystem, such as climate, soil, and sunlight.Pearson Edexcel
Abiotic Resource: A resource obtained from the non-living environment, such as minerals, water, and wind.Pearson Edexcel
Abrasion: Rocks embedded in the base and sides of the glacier act like giant sheets of sandpaper, scraping and scouring the bedrock as the heavy mass of ice moves.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Accuracy: How close a measurement is to the true value, and using equipment such as a digital clinometer rather than a manual one reduces human error.AQA
Acidification: The process of soil or water becoming more acidic.Pearson Edexcel
Active layer: The layer above the permafrost that thaws seasonally during short summers, while the permafrost remains permanently frozen.AQA
Adaptation: Unique features of flora and fauna that allow them to survive severe moisture deficits, such as water storage in fleshy stems.AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel
Adaptive Capacity: The ability of a system, society, or individual to adjust to potential damage, take advantage of opportunities, or cope with the consequences of a hazard.Pearson Edexcel
Aeolian processes: Wind processes that blow dry sand inland from the beach to form sand dunes.AQA
Aeroponics: Suspending plant roots in the air and misting them with nutrients, which saves water and space.AQA
Afforestation: Planting trees, which acts as a carbon sink as trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere during photosynthesis.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Agribusiness: The application of corporate business skills to agriculture, treating farming as a large-scale commercial enterprise controlled by large corporations.AQA
Agricultural Drought: When there is insufficient soil moisture to meet the needs of a particular crop at a particular time.Pearson Edexcel
Agricultural Sector: Water used for farming, primarily for irrigating crops and sustaining livestock.Pearson Edexcel
Albedo Effect: The reflectivity of a surface.OCR
Alluvium: The sediment deposited on a flood plain, laid down in successive layers during floods.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Altitudinal Zonation: The change in ecosystems and biomes at different elevations on a mountain due to decreasing temperatures.Pearson Edexcel
Annotation: An annotation goes further by adding explanatory text to the label, explaining how or why the feature formed, or its significance.AQA
Anthropogenic emissions: Human emissions of carbon dioxide and methane that drive the enhanced greenhouse effect.AQA
Anthropogenic impacts: Human activities are identified as the primary driver of recent, rapid global warming.AQA
Appropriate technology: Small-scale, sustainable and affordable solutions suited to local communities, such as solar-powered pumps or sand dams in low-income countries.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Aquifer: An underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock, rock fractures, or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt).Pearson Edexcel
Area: The size of a feature, often estimated on an Ordnance Survey map using grid squares, where one grid square typically represents 1 km².AQA
Arête: A knife-edged ridge formed when two corries erode back-to-back.AQA
Aridity: Extreme dryness with under 250 mm of annual rainfall, acting as the primary abiotic driver of the ecosystem.AQA
Atmospheric circulation: The general atmospheric circulation model explains how thermal energy is redistributed across the Earth through three distinct convection cells in each…AQA
Atmospheric pressure: Rising air creates low pressure, often bringing rain, while sinking air creates high pressure, bringing dry conditions.AQA
Attrition: Rocks and pebbles carried by the waves smash into each other, breaking into smaller, smoother and rounder particles over time.AQA

B

Backwash: The movement that carries sediment straight down the beach at a right angle to the shoreline under the influence of gravity.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Bankfull Discharge: The maximum amount of water a river channel can hold before it overflows its banks and floods.Pearson Edexcel
Beach nourishment: Adding sand or shingle to a beach to make it wider and higher, increasing friction and absorbing wave energy.AQA
Bilateral aid: Aid given from one country directly to another country.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Biodiversity: The immense range of species found in tropical rainforests, which contain millions of species but make the ecosystem vulnerable to human disruption.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Biodiversity and ecosystems: Rainforests are vital for biodiversity, housing over half of the world's plant and animal species.AQA
Biodiversity loss: The loss of a single species, such as krill in the Southern Ocean, which can cause a catastrophic collapse of the entire ecosystem because species are highly…AQA
Biological adaptation: A feature of plants or animals that helps them survive the physical conditions of their environment.AQA
Biomass: Renewable organic materials, such as wood, agricultural crops or wastes, used as a source of fuel.Pearson Edexcel
Biomass fuels: Fuels whose use causes indoor air pollution.AQA
Biome: A large-scale global ecosystem characterised by its climate and the dominant vegetation and animal life.Pearson Edexcel
Biosphere: The living layer of the Earth, including all plants, animals, and microorganisms, and the environments they inhabit.Pearson Edexcel
Biotechnology: Altering living organisms, such as genetically modifying crops designed to resist pests or drought.AQA
Biotic components: The living parts of an ecosystem, including flora (plants), fauna (animals) and bacteria.AQA
Biotic Factors: The living components of an ecosystem, including plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria.Pearson Edexcel
Biotic Resource: A resource obtained from the biosphere (living things), such as forests, fish, and fossil fuels.Pearson Edexcel
Bottom-Up Approach: Small-scale, community-led development projects that involve local people directly in the decision-making and improvement of their area.Pearson Edexcel
Bottom-up development: Small-scale, community-led development projects usually funded by NGOs, focusing on sustainable local improvements.Pearson Edexcel
Brandt Line: An imaginary line drawn in 1980 separating the richer 'Global North' from the poorer 'Global South'.Pearson Edexcel
Brownfield Site: An area of land that has been previously built on and is now derelict or unused, often former industrial sites.Pearson Edexcel
Brownfield sites: Previously developed land requiring costly decontamination but preserving the countryside.AQA
Buffer strips: An improved agricultural practice that helps manage and reduce pollution at its source.AQA
Bulldozing: Process where the snout of an advancing glacier pushes loose rock and debris forward, much like a mechanical bulldozer.AQA
Business parks: Clusters of commercial offices and light industry that provide purpose-built office spaces on the edge of towns.AQA
Buttress roots: Roots that provide stability for tall emergent trees in shallow, nutrient-poor soils.AQA

C

Cap rock: A layer of hard, resistant rock overlying softer rock.Pearson Edexcel
Capacity to Cope: The ability of a country, community, or organization to use available resources to manage and recover from a disaster.Pearson Edexcel
Carbon capture and storage: Traps carbon dioxide produced by power plants and stores it deep underground in geological formations.AQA
Carbon footprint: A measure of the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, event, organisation, or product.AQA
Carbon Sink: Trees act as a vital store of carbon, which is released into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide when they are felled and burned.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Carbon sinks: Trees act as these, absorbing carbon dioxide through photosynthesis.AQA
Cartographic interpretation: Identifying specific physical or human features using the map key and interpreting the spatial relationships between them across various geographical contexts.AQA
Cartographic methods: Methods that use maps to present spatial data, including choropleth maps for regional variations, flow-line maps for traffic movement and proportional symbols…AQA
Cartographic skills: Skills used to identify and describe physical features as they are shown on large scale maps, using map evidence such as grid references, contour lines and…AQA
Cartographical presentation: Selecting the most suitable map-based technique, such as proportional symbols or choropleth maps, which are ideal for showing spatial variations.AQA
Case study application: Naming a specific UK upland area and its named landforms, rather than listing landforms without linking them to the chosen example.AQA
CBD (Central Business District): The commercial and administrative heart of a city, characterised by high land values and tall buildings.Pearson Edexcel
Central Business District (CBD): The commercial and economic core of a city, characterised by high land values, high-rise buildings, and excellent transport links.Pearson Edexcel
Central tendency: Measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) summarise data.AQA
Channel straightening: A method to increase water velocity and clear water quickly, which can increase flood risk downstream and destroy habitats.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Channelisation: The artificial straightening or altering of a river channel by humans.Pearson Edexcel
Chemical weathering: The breakdown of rock through chemical reactions that alter the rock's composition, such as carbonation.AQA
Choropleth map: A map that uses shading to show average values in areas, like population density per square kilometre.AQA
Choropleth maps: Maps that use shading to represent data density, such as population per km², requiring careful reading of the key to match colours to values.AQA
Classification systems: Different ways of classifying parts of the world according to their level of economic development and quality of life.AQA
Cliff profiles: The shape and steepness of a cliff face, influenced by the dip of rock strata, with seaward dips creating unstable slopes and landward dips forming steep,…AQA
Climate: Precipitation is exceptionally low, typically falling below 250 mm annually, and is highly unpredictable, while the lack of cloud cover creates a diurnal…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Climate and weather: A hot, wet equatorial climate with high annual rainfall and consistent high temperatures throughout the year, with no distinct dry season.AQA
Climate change: Exacerbated because felled and burned trees release stored carbon dioxide and fewer trees absorb it during photosynthesis.AQA
Climate change adaptation: Actions taken to adjust to natural events such as climate change, to reduce potential damage or cope with the consequences.AQA
Climate change impacts: The melting of permafrost and alteration of habitats, which threatens species such as polar bears and Arctic foxes.AQA
Climate change mitigation: Actions taken to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk and hazards of climate change, usually by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.AQA
Climate regulation: Rainforests play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle by absorbing carbon dioxide, thus helping to mitigate climate change.AQA
Climate trends: Temperature records show a clear warming trend, with the UK's ten warmest years all occurring since 2002.AQA
Climate zones: Regional temperature and precipitation patterns are dictated by the transfer of heat from the equator to the poles.AQA
Coastal deposition: Occurs when waves lose energy, dropping their sediment load to form various landforms.AQA
Coastal erosion: The wearing away and removal of rock by the sea, driven by wave energy.AQA
Coastal landscapes: Distinct landforms and landscapes created by interacting physical processes, constantly modifying the boundary between land and sea over time.AQA
Coastal management: Strategies that can be used to protect coastlines from the effects of physical processes.AQA
Coastal processes: Dynamic natural forces that shape and modify the coastline over time, operating continuously.AQA
Coastal realignment: Another name for managed retreat, in which the sea is allowed to flood a designated area of previously protected land.AQA
Coastal Recession: The long-term retreat or moving back of the coastline due to the processes of erosion.Pearson Edexcel
Cold deserts: Polar regions with very low precipitation, classified as deserts because of this.AQA
Commercial Exploitation: The use of natural resources for financial gain, often on a large scale.Pearson Edexcel
Commercial farming: Large-scale clearance of vast tracts for cattle ranching or plantations like palm oil.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Commonwealth: An association of 56 countries promoting democracy, development, and cultural exchange, with which the UK retains political and economic links.AQA
Commuter settlements: Also called dormitory towns, these grow when people move to surrounding villages but continue working in the city.AQA
Conflict management: Zoning strategies on lakes that separate conflicting recreational activities, such as high-speed powerboats from quiet areas reserved for kayaking.AQA
Congestion charges: Financial disincentives that deter drivers and have reduced traffic volumes in the city centre.AQA
Connectivity: The way a city is linked to other places via transport and communication networks at local, national, and global scales.Pearson Edexcel
Conservation: Water conservation is achieved through dual-flush toilets, rainwater harvesting, and fixing leaks, while energy conservation involves using renewable sources…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Conservation groups: Groups like the WWF that advocate for sustainable practices, monitor ecosystems and pressure governments to protect fragile habitats.AQA
Conservative margin: A type of plate margin where plates slide past each other, causing friction to lock them until pressure is suddenly released as a powerful earthquake, with no…AQA
Constructive margin: A type of plate margin where plates move apart, allowing magma to rise and form shield volcanoes, while minor earthquakes occur as the crust fractures.AQA
Constructive Wave: A low, gently sloping wave with a strong swash and weak backwash that deposits material on a beach.Pearson Edexcel
Constructive waves: Waves with a low wave height and long wavelength, a strong swash that deposits sediment and a weak backwash.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Consumers: Organisms that eat producers or other consumers to gain energy.AQA
Consumption: The using up of a resource by human activity.Pearson Edexcel
Continentality: The effect of distance from the sea on climate; inland areas have greater temperature ranges and lower rainfall.Pearson Edexcel
Continuous data: A type of data to analyse when asked to suggest a graph, tracked as continuous change over time and best shown by a line chart.AQA
Contour interpretation: A plateau appears as an area with few contour lines surrounded by closely spaced contours indicating steep edges.AQA
Contour interval: The difference in value between adjacent lines on an isoline map.AQA
Contour lines: Lines on a topographical map that show relief, each representing a specific altitude value above sea level.AQA
Contour patterns: Lines that form shapes such as a 'V' pointing towards higher ground, used with map symbols to identify basic landscape features.AQA
Control group: A baseline for comparison, such as measuring infiltration rates on an untrampled area to compare against a heavily trampled footpath, isolating the human…AQA
Conurbation: A large continuous urban area formed by the merging of several previously separate towns and cities.Pearson Edexcel
Convection: The transfer of heat through the movement of a fluid or gas, such as warm air rising.Pearson Edexcel
Convection currents: One of the primary driving forces behind plate movement, occurring within the mantle.AQA
Coordinates: A pair of values read from atlas maps, with latitude always stated first, followed by longitude.AQA
Coppicing: A traditional sustainable management technique where trees are cut to their base to encourage new, multiple shoots to grow.Pearson Edexcel
Core and Periphery: The concept that development is uneven.Pearson Edexcel
Core-Periphery Model: A model showing how development is uneven within a country, with wealth concentrated in a 'core' region while the 'periphery' remains underdeveloped.Pearson Edexcel
Coriolis Effect: Causes the rising air to spin, and is strong enough between 5° and 30° latitude to create the necessary rotation.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Corrie: An armchair-shaped hollow with a steep back wall and rock lip, formed by nivation and rotational slip.AQA
Counter-urbanisation: A trend primarily observed in HICs, where some High Income Countries experience it as their rate of urbanisation is very slow.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Critical evaluation: Judging the reliability of a conclusion based on selectively presented statistics, considering what alternative presentation methods might show the data more…AQA
Cross-sections: A drawing that plots the height of contour lines along a straight line between two points.AQA
Cultural context: The diversity of ethnicities, languages, religions, and global cultural exports like music or film.AQA
Cultural globalisation: Exposure to global media and shifting work patterns can erode traditional family structures, alter local diets, and introduce westernised consumer habits.AQA
Cultural Landscape: A landscape that has been significantly altered or shaped by human activity over time.Pearson Edexcel
Cultural mix: A diverse population brings varied food, festivals, and arts that enrich city life.AQA
Cumulative frequency: A running total of frequencies, allowing you to find quartiles.AQA
Curved line distance: A distance along a meandering river or winding road, measured by pivoting the straight edge of a piece of paper along the route and marking each twist and…AQA
Cyclones: The regional name for tropical storms in the Indian Ocean.AQA

D

Dams and reservoirs: Structures that regulate flow and store water, offering benefits like hydroelectric power and recreation but with high economic costs and large areas of land…AQA
Data analysis: Critically analysing results by comparing primary data against the theoretical model to see if it holds true in reality.AQA
Data dispersion: Measures of dispersion (range, interquartile range) show data spread.AQA
Data evaluation: Recognising the flaws in how information was gathered, allowing geographers to understand the boundaries of their findings and explain why anomalies might…AQA
Data interpretation: Interpreting statistical information to identify geographical trends or anomalies and to draw valid conclusions.AQA
Data layers: Different types of data layered over a base map to identify patterns, relationships, and trends.AQA
Data presentation: Showing data through graphs and charts such as line charts, bar charts, pie charts, pictograms, histograms with equal class intervals, divided bar,…AQA
Data processing techniques: Calculating averages, percentages, or statistical tests to make raw data meaningful.AQA
Data reliability: Data collection in Low Income Countries can be unreliable, incomplete, or difficult to gather in remote areas, and data can become quickly outdated or be…AQA
De-industrialisation: The decline of the traditional industrial base, such as coal mining and steel manufacturing, often due to resource exhaustion or cheaper overseas competition.AQA
Debt relief: Cancels historical loans, allowing LICs to spend on development and free up capital for public services.AQA
Decentralisation: The movement of population and industry from the urban centre to outlying areas.Pearson Edexcel
Deciduous: Trees that shed their leaves annually, usually in autumn, to survive cold and dark winter conditions.Pearson Edexcel
Decomposers: Organisms that break down dead organic matter, returning essential nutrients to the soil or water.AQA
Deforestation: Felling and burning or leaving trees to rot releases stored carbon back as carbon dioxide and permanently loses future capacity to absorb carbon dioxide…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Degree of urbanisation: The percentage of the total population that currently lives in urban areas.Pearson Edexcel
Deindustrialisation: The historical decline of heavy manufacturing industries in the North, which contributed to regional economic disparities.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Deindustrialisation and economic shift: A shift to service and quaternary industries that provides high-tech jobs yet leaves behind those lacking new skills, leading to unemployment in deprived areas.AQA
Demand-side Management: Strategies designed to reduce the amount of water being used by consumers and industry.Pearson Edexcel
Demographic Dividend: The economic growth potential that can result from shifts in a population's age structure, mainly when the share of the working-age population is larger than…Pearson Edexcel
Demographic growth: More people to feed, as the global population has surpassed eight billion, with the fastest growth occurring in LICs and NEEs.AQA
Dendrochronology: The scientific method of dating tree rings to analyze past climate conditions.Pearson Edexcel
Dependency: When a country relies heavily on foreign aid or loans, hindering its own independent economic growth.Pearson Edexcel
Deposition: The primary process by the time the river reaches the lower course, where the valley becomes very wide and flat.AQA
Deprivation: The degree to which a person or community lacks the things that are essential for a decent life, including work, money, housing, and services.Pearson Edexcel
Desalination: A technological process that removes salt from seawater to produce freshwater, typically using reverse osmosis.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Desertification: The risk of which is reduced by strategies including water and soil management, tree planting and use of appropriate technology.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Desire lines: Straight lines drawn between origins and destinations to show movement, such as commuter routes, without following exact paths.AQA
Destructive margin: A type of plate margin where a dense oceanic plate subducts beneath a lighter continental plate, causing friction, severe earthquakes and explosive composite…AQA
Destructive waves: Waves with a high wave height and short wavelength, a weak swash and a powerful backwash that erodes sediment and pulls it out to sea.AQA
Development: The progress of a country in terms of economic growth, the use of technology, and human welfare.Pearson Edexcel
Devolution: The transfer of power and funding from national government to local or regional authorities.Pearson Edexcel
Dietary transition: Diets shifting from basic staple carbohydrates to resource-intensive products like meat and dairy as incomes rise.AQA
Differential erosion: Erosion that occurs at different rates, forming headlands and bays on discordant coastlines where alternating bands of hard and soft rock lie perpendicular to…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Digital Divide: The gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and communications technology, and those that don't.Pearson Edexcel
Direct employment: Working in the factory itself, offering regular wages that increase local disposable income.AQA
Direction: Determined using the eight points of the compass, always aligning the map's north with true north to describe the spatial relationship between two…AQA
Discharge: The volume of water flowing through a river channel at a given point, measured in cubic metres per second (cumecs).Pearson Edexcel
Discordant Coastline: A coastline where bands of alternating hard and soft rock run at right angles (perpendicular) to the sea.Pearson Edexcel
Discordant coastlines: Coastlines where alternating bands of hard and soft rock meet the sea, so soft rock erodes faster to form bays while hard rock protrudes as headlands.AQA
Discrete data: A type of data to analyse when asked to suggest a graph, representing independent categories rather than proportions of a total.AQA
Dispersion graphs: Graphs that display the spread of a data set, allowing you to identify the range, median, and any anomalies.AQA
Distribution: The geographical spread or location of a resource across the Earth's surface.Pearson Edexcel
Diverting supplies: Redirecting water from rivers to areas of need, often increasing storage in natural aquifers or artificial basins.AQA
Domestic Sector: Water used in households for drinking, cooking, washing, and sanitation.Pearson Edexcel
Dot map: A map that uses identical dots to represent a specific quantity, showing spatial distribution and clustering of features like farms.AQA
Drip tips: Leaf features that allow heavy rain to run off quickly, preventing fungal growth.AQA
Drought: A prolonged period of abnormally low rainfall leading to a shortage of water.Pearson Edexcel
Drumlins: Smooth, egg-shaped hills of glacial till formed when overloaded ice deposits material, with a steep stoss end facing up-valley and a gentle lee slope.AQA
Dune regeneration: Restoring sand dunes, which act as natural barriers, by planting marram grass to stabilise the sand and installing fencing to trap sand and restrict…AQA
Dynamic environments: Environments continuously shaped by a variety of physical processes, changing over time.AQA

E

Earth's internal energy: These physical processes are driven by geothermal heat and convection currents or slab pull in the mantle.AQA
Ecological footprint: The overall goal of these features is to reduce the city's ecological footprint.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Economic causes: Global trade imbalances in which Low Income Countries often export low-value primary products while importing expensive manufactured goods, leading to debt…AQA
Economic consequences: Financial effects such as estimated costs exceeding £80 million, local businesses losing trade and agricultural land submerged for months, destroying crops…AQA
Economic development: A driver of increasing energy consumption in which industrialisation and improved living standards raise demand for energy to power factories, transport and…AQA
Economic disruption: High insurance claims and costly repairs resulting from flooding that damages homes and businesses.AQA
Economic growth: What the UK government aims to stimulate by investing heavily in transport infrastructure.AQA
Economic impacts: Reduced workforce productivity from waterborne disease, crop failure and restricted industrial output, which together negatively affect a country's overall…AQA
Economic impacts of hazards: Risks to property involve the destruction of homes, infrastructure such as roads, and businesses, leading to severe economic losses.AQA
Economic indicators: Measures of development based on wealth, such as Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, which ignore social well-being.AQA
Economic inequality: Inequalities related to employment and income in cities.AQA
Economic insecurity: When the formal job market cannot absorb the workforce, forcing many into the informal economy and leading to high unemployment.AQA
Economic opportunities: Benefits such as highly fertile soils from weathered ash supporting lucrative agriculture, geothermal energy as a cheap, renewable power source, and tourism…AQA
Economic viability: Whether extraction is worth doing, since remaining reserves are harder and more costly to extract and importing coal became cheaper.AQA
Economic Water Scarcity: When water is available in nature, but a lack of money and infrastructure means people cannot access it safely.Pearson Edexcel
Economic well-being: Wealth and employment, which energy supports by powering factories, running transport and supporting agriculture to create jobs and generate income.AQA
Ecosystem: A community of plants and animals (biotic) interacting with their physical environment (abiotic).Pearson Edexcel
Ecosystem degradation: Harm to fragile ecosystems, for example when oil spills introduce pollution risks in cold environments.AQA
Ecosystem fragility: The state of being highly fragile and vulnerable to disruption, caused by naturally low biodiversity due to extreme cold, low precipitation and short growing…AQA
Ecosystem resilience: The natural ability of ecosystems to recover from small-scale changes over time, though severe impacts may cause permanent damage.AQA
Ecosystem scales: Ecosystems exist at a range of scales, from a local scale such as a small pond or a single oak tree to a global scale biome covering vast areas.AQA
Ecosystem Services: The benefits that humans obtain from ecosystems (e.g., food, flood regulation, recreation).Pearson Edexcel
Ecosystem structure: The components of the rainforest ecosystem, namely climate, water, soils, plants and animals, which interact through complex interdependence.AQA
Ecotourism: Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment, sustains the well-being of the local people, and involves interpretation and education.Pearson Edexcel
Electronic communication: Links, particularly via submarine internet cables, that integrate the UK into the global digital economy.AQA
Embankments: Raised banks that increase the cross-sectional area of the river, protecting adjacent land but able to fail catastrophically if overtopped.AQA
Emerging Country (NEE): A country that has begun to experience high rates of economic growth, usually driven by rapid industrialisation.Pearson Edexcel
Emerging Economy: A country that has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not yet meet standards to be a developed economy.Pearson Edexcel
Employment: Urban change stimulates this by attracting new businesses, particularly in service and high-tech sectors, replacing declining manufacturing.AQA
Employment structures: The balance between the primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary sectors, shown as the proportion of a country's workforce employed in each.AQA
Energy: Renewable sources like solar farms taking advantage of high insolation, and non-renewable extraction like coal.AQA
Energy conservation: Reducing the use of fossil fuels and increasing energy efficiency in homes and businesses, for example through insulation, double or triple glazing,…AQA
Energy deficit: A region where energy consumption exceeds supply, such as Western Europe or parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.AQA
Energy Demand: The total amount of energy required by a country or population.Pearson Edexcel
Energy development: An opportunity where some regions use locally mined coal or explore geothermal power.AQA
Energy Infrastructure: The physical framework (power stations, grids, pipelines) required for the generation and distribution of energy.Pearson Edexcel
Energy insecurity: A situation where a region must rely on imports to meet its needs, making it vulnerable to price fluctuations and political instability in exporting countries.AQA
Energy Mix: The combination of different energy sources (renewable and non-renewable) used to meet a country's energy demand.Pearson Edexcel
Energy Security: The ability to meet energy demands, which is directly impacted when a country relies heavily on imported fossil fuels.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Energy surplus: A region where energy supply exceeds consumption, such as the Middle East or Russia.AQA
Enhanced greenhouse effect: Human factors primarily involve this, driven by burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and agriculture, which release carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Enterprise Zones: Areas offering tax breaks and superfast broadband to encourage businesses to locate in disadvantaged areas.AQA
Environmental change: A change to an ecosystem that can be natural, such as extreme weather events or disease outbreaks, or human-induced.AQA
Environmental conservation: Protecting fragile vegetation and wildlife habitats, for example by pitching paths with local stone or reserving quiet areas for wildlife.AQA
Environmental context: Knowledge of the country's climate, biomes, and natural hazards, which can both hinder and support economic growth.AQA
Environmental degradation: Unregulated industrial expansion often leads to severe air and water pollution, alongside deforestation for infrastructure, and rapid development usually…AQA
Environmental fragility: The vulnerability of cold environments, which are highly fragile ecosystems at risk from economic development.AQA
Environmental impact: Environmental consequences such as hedgerow removal, reduced biodiversity, habitat destruction and water pollution from agricultural runoff.AQA
Environmental impacts: Heavy footfall leads to footpath erosion and habitat disturbance, while vehicles increase air and noise pollution, and littering and the visual intrusion of…AQA
Environmental policy: Policies and commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that have accelerated the phase-out of domestic coal extraction.AQA
Environmental sustainability: Using practices such as renewable energy, closed-loop water recycling and restoring quarried landscapes so that modern industrial development reduces harm to…AQA
Erosion: The wearing away of rock and soil by the river's energy.AQA
Erratics: Large boulders transported by ice and deposited in areas of different rock types.AQA
Estuaries: Transitional zones where the river meets the sea, and tidal currents slow the river's flow, causing extensive deposition of fine silt and mud.AQA
European Union (EU): A European political and economic union with which the UK retains vital ties through trade agreements.AQA
Eutrophication: The process in which fertilisers from agricultural runoff enter watercourses, depleting oxygen and harming aquatic life.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Evaluation of methods: Assessing the reliability and success of the methods used, which cannot be done before the data has been gathered in the field.AQA
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): The area of sea over which a country has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources.Pearson Edexcel
Extreme climates: Harsh physical conditions such as extreme cold, strong winds, and limited sunlight.AQA
Extreme temperatures: Conditions that are often very high during the day and drop below freezing at night, making physical labour difficult and limiting the hours when construction…AQA
Extreme weather: Distinct types of extreme conditions experienced in the UK, such as heavy rainfall, strong winds and gales, extreme cold and heavy snowfall, and heatwaves and…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Eye: The roughly circular centre of a tropical storm, where air descends and conditions are calm and clear with extremely low pressure.AQA
Eyewall: A towering ring of cumulonimbus clouds surrounding the eye, where the most intense, destructive winds and torrential rainfall occur.AQA

F

Fairtrade: Guarantees farmers a fair price and a social premium for community projects, protecting them from market fluctuations.AQA
Famine: An extreme and widespread scarcity of food leading to starvation and increased mortality rates.AQA
Farming: Cultivating crops like wheat or cotton in arid regions, relying heavily on irrigation systems such as the Indira Gandhi Canal.AQA
Feed-in Tariff: A policy mechanism designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies by offering long-term contracts to renewable energy producers.Pearson Edexcel
Feed-in Tariffs: A policy mechanism designed to accelerate investment in renewable energy technologies by offering long-term contracts to renewable energy producers.Pearson Edexcel
Fetch: The distance of open water over which the wind blows.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Fieldwork evaluation: Using results that did not match the theory as an opportunity to evaluate the limitations of the study or the model itself.AQA
Fieldwork improvement: Recommending new primary measurements or secondary sources that would make conclusions more robust.AQA
Fieldwork methodology: The way information is gathered in the field, whose specific weaknesses can reduce the accuracy or reliability of the data collected.AQA
Financial Inclusion: The availability and equality of opportunities to access financial services.Pearson Edexcel
Fishing: A major industry, with cold waters like the Barents Sea supporting vast fish stocks such as cod.AQA
Flashy hydrograph: A hydrograph with a short lag time and a high, steep peak discharge, indicating rapid surface runoff often caused by impermeable geology, steep relief, or…AQA
Flood management: Strategies that can be used to protect river landscapes from the effects of flooding.AQA
Flood plain: The wide, flat area of land either side of a river, built up by successive layers of deposited alluvium during floods and widened by meander migration.AQA
Flood plain zoning: Restricts high-value land uses, like housing, from being built in flood-prone areas, leaving them for pasture or parks.AQA
Flood risk: The chance of flooding that is increased by physical factors such as heavy rainfall, impermeable geology or steep relief, alongside human factors like…AQA
Flood risk management: Managing flood risk through methods such as flood warnings and preparation, flood plain zoning, planting trees and river restoration.AQA
Flooding: The UK has experienced its wettest winters on record recently, leading to severe flooding events.AQA
Floodplain: An extensive feature of the very wide and flat valley in the lower course.AQA
Floodplain Zoning: Restricting the type of development allowed on floodplains to reduce the impact of flooding.Pearson Edexcel
Flow-line maps: Maps that indicate movement, like migration or trade, where the thickness of the line represents the volume of flow.AQA
Fluvial landscapes: One of the landscapes that can be described from large scale maps, featuring meanders, oxbow lakes and floodplains, identifiable by flat land with widely…AQA
Fluvial processes: The physical mechanisms by which a river shapes its surrounding landscape, operating continuously as water flows from the source to the mouth.AQA
Food deficit: A situation where the demand for food exceeds the available supply, so areas suffer from food insecurity.AQA
Food Insecurity: The state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.Pearson Edexcel
Food miles: The distance food travels to reach consumers, which increases when the UK relies on imports for out-of-season food and so raises the carbon footprint.AQA
Food security: A situation where people have reliable access to sufficient, affordable, and nutritious food.AQA
Food surplus: A situation where food supply exceeds the demand of the population, so areas experience food security because they produce or can afford to import more food…AQA
Footpath erosion: The wearing away of soil and rock on paths by the repeated trampling of hikers' boots.Pearson Edexcel
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): An investment made by a firm or individual in one country into business interests located in another country.Pearson Edexcel
Fossil fuels: A non-renewable source of energy consisting of coal, oil and natural gas.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Fracking (Hydraulic Fracturing): The process of injecting liquid at high pressure into subterranean rocks to force open existing fissures and extract oil or gas.Pearson Edexcel
Freeze-thaw weathering: Repeated cycles of freezing and thawing, where water enters cracks, freezes and expands, eventually causing fragments of rock to break off.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Frequency: Describes how often an event occurs within a given time period, such as a flood having a 1-in-50 year return period.AQA

G

Gentrification: The process by which wealthier people move into, renovate, and restore housing and sometimes businesses in inner cities or other deteriorated areas.Pearson Edexcel
Geo-spatial data: Information tied to a specific location on the Earth's surface, often using coordinates like latitude and longitude.AQA
Geographical enquiry: An investigation that geographers strengthen by proposing additional information to address gaps in their original methodology.AQA
Geographical enquiry process: Selecting suitable questions or hypotheses, considering factors such as whether the question is specific and measurable and whether primary data can be…AQA
Geographical Information System (GIS): A computer-based framework used to gather, manage, analyse, and present spatial data.AQA
Geographical Information Systems: A digital source that allows multiple data sets to be overlaid.AQA
Geographical investigations: A logical process following stages from establishing an enquiry question through planning methodology, collecting and presenting data, analysing results,…AQA
Geographical location: Where the city is, described using specific geographical terms, compass directions and reference points, such as the south-east coast of Brazil.AQA
Geographical models: Simplified models that set expectations for fieldwork results, which real-world data may deviate from due to local anomalies.AQA
Geological structure: The arrangement of rock layers and weaknesses like joints, which controls the shape of coastal forms.AQA
Geology: Impermeable rocks like clay prevent infiltration, forcing water overland and increasing the volume reaching the river channel quickly.AQA
Geopolitical conflict: Political tension, diplomatic disputes or legal battles over water rights where competing demands for a shared water source exist, such as disputes over river…AQA
Geopolitics: The influence of geography, economics, and demography on the politics and foreign policy of a state.Pearson Edexcel
Geopolitics and conflict: Tensions that often occur in the Middle East due to its vast oil reserves, affecting global supply.AQA
Gersmehl Model: A model showing the cycling of nutrients between three stores: biomass, litter, and soil.Pearson Edexcel
Gini Coefficient: A statistical measure of economic inequality in a population, where 0 represents perfect equality and 1 represents absolute inequality.Pearson Edexcel
Glacial and interglacial episodes: The alternating cold and warm phases that characterise the Quaternary period.AQA
Glacial deposition: When the glacier loses energy and melts, it deposits unsorted material as glacial till, forming distinct depositional landforms such as moraines across the…AQA
Glacial erosion: Glaciers wear away bedrock primarily through plucking, where meltwater freezes onto bedrock and rips pieces away as the ice moves, and abrasion, where rocks…AQA
Glacial landforms: Features such as ribbon lakes, arêtes and corries that form the rugged terrain of glaciated upland areas and draw visitors for sightseeing.AQA
Glacial landscapes: One of the landscapes that can be described from large scale maps, including U-shaped valleys with steep sides and flat bottoms, corries shown by…AQA
Glacial Period: A colder period during the Quaternary when ice sheets expand globally (commonly called an ice age).Pearson Edexcel
Glacial transportation: Glaciers move via basal slip and internal deformation, transporting immense amounts of rock debris and often bulldozing it forward.AQA
Glacial trough: A wide, flat-bottomed valley formed as a glacier moves down a V-shaped river valley, plucking and abrading interlocking spurs.AQA
Global Atmospheric Circulation: The process that primarily controls the distribution of biomes by dictating temperature and precipitation.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Global climate zones: High-pressure belts at approximately 30° north and south are characterised by dry, settled conditions.AQA
Global development gap: The stark gap created globally because economic development and quality of life vary significantly.AQA
Global distribution: Restricted to latitudes between 5° and 30° north and south of the equator, where the Coriolis effect is strong enough and ocean temperatures are sufficiently…AQA
Global inequalities: Differences between development categories, with LICs, NEEs and HICs correlating with different stages of the Demographic Transition Model.AQA
Global inequality: Stark disparities in wealth and health between countries, with HICs dominating global trade and LICs left with limited economic growth.AQA
Globalisation: A cause of economic change in the UK that, alongside de-industrialisation and evolving government policies, has driven the transition from secondary…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
GNI per head: A country's total income divided by its population, used as an economic measure of development.AQA
Goods: Physical, tangible products obtained from the ecosystem that have economic or subsistence value.Pearson Edexcel
Government policies: Play a crucial role, for example the privatisation of state-owned industries in the 1980s led to widespread closures of unprofitable coal mines.AQA
Gradient: The steepness of a slope expressed numerically as a ratio, such as 1:20, meaning one unit of vertical rise for every 20 units of horizontal distance.AQA
Graphical interpretation: Examining the axes, scales and data selection of a graph, as even neat graphs can be misleading.AQA
Graphical methods: Methods including charts and graphs, for example scatter graphs showing relationships between pebble size and distance and pie charts displaying land use…AQA
Graphical presentation: Selecting the most suitable graphical technique for the data type, such as a line graph for continuous data or a bar chart for discrete data.AQA
Graphical representation: A form of graph suggested as appropriate for the data provided, chosen by linking the graph's specific function to the data's characteristics.AQA
Graphical skills: Selecting and constructing appropriate graphs and charts to present data, using appropriate scales.AQA
Graphical sources: Sources such as bar charts, line graphs, pie charts and scatter graphs that provide quantitative data revealing trends, patterns and anomalies.AQA
Green infrastructure: Parks, green roofs, and urban wetlands provide habitats for wildlife and improve air quality, while also offering recreational areas that enhance the physical…AQA
Green space: Deliberately created or maintained natural areas within a city, such as parks, green roofs, tree-lined streets and small community gardens.AQA
Greenfield Site: An area of land that has not been developed previously, often agricultural land or countryside.Pearson Edexcel
Greenfield sites: Undeveloped land, usually on the rural-urban fringe, which is cheaper to build on but leads to urban sprawl and habitat loss.AQA
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita: The total value of goods and services produced by a country in a year, divided by its total population.Pearson Edexcel
Groundwater management: Ensuring aquifers are not depleted faster than they recharge, often by monitoring extraction rates and preventing pollution from agriculture or industry.AQA
Groynes: Timber or rock barriers built at right angles to the coast to trap sediment moved by longshore drift, creating wider beaches that absorb wave energy.AQA

H

Habitat creation: The process by which managed retreat creates new intertidal habitats, such as salt marshes and mudflats, which act as natural buffers to absorb wave energy.AQA
Habitat fragmentation: The process by which habitat loss results in the division of large, continuous habitats into smaller, more isolated remnants.Pearson Edexcel
Hard engineering: A category of coastal management strategy that uses artificial structures, such as sea walls to deflect wave energy or groynes to trap sediment and interrupt…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Hazard classification: The grouping of natural hazards by their physical processes, such as tectonic hazards and atmospheric hazards.AQA
Hazard identification: Stating the exact hazard, such as slipping on wet rocks or sunburn, rather than a generic risk like getting hurt.AQA
Hazard impacts: The effects of weather hazards, including flooding damaging homes and businesses, trees brought down and power supplies disrupted, travel disruption and…AQA
Hazard mitigation: Understanding these major risks is crucial for developing effective mitigation strategies to reduce vulnerability in affected communities.AQA
Hazard risk: The probability that a natural hazard will cause damage or loss of life.AQA
Health and disease: Increased risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid as a direct consequence of consuming polluted water.AQA
Heat transfer: Large-scale movement of air distributes heat across the Earth by transferring it from the equator to the poles.AQA
HICs: High Income Countries, where urbanisation occurred earlier during the Industrial Revolution and the current rate is very slow.AQA
Historical causes: Colonialism, where wealth and resources were extracted from colonies to benefit ruling nations, leaving a legacy of poor infrastructure and political…AQA
Honeypot Site: A location that attracts a very large number of tourists, often leading to overcrowding and environmental damage.Pearson Edexcel
Human data: Data relating to people and their activities, such as pedestrian counts, environmental quality surveys, questionnaire responses or traffic counts.AQA
Human development: Relies on a secure supply of food, water and energy to improve quality of life and standard of living.AQA
Human Development Index (HDI): A composite measure used by the United Nations, combining GNI per capita, life expectancy and expected years of schooling to give a holistic view of…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Human exploitation: Activities such as oil extraction, mining and overfishing that further degrade these delicate food webs.AQA
Human impact: The disruption of human activity, including transport disruption, health emergencies, droughts reducing agricultural crop yields, and damage to homes and…AQA
Human impacts of hazards: Risks to people include injury, death, displacement, and the spread of diseases following events like floods.AQA
Human intervention: Actions such as strict government policies that can reduce deforestation rates, as in Brazil during specific policy periods.AQA
Human landscapes: The features people have created, including settlement, communication and land-use, which can be inferred by linking map symbols to the underlying physical…AQA
Human-environment conflict: The conflict between economic gain and environmental preservation, shown when roads and pipelines disrupt animal migration routes.AQA
Human-environment interaction: Human actions such as a lack of river dredging or land-use changes that worsened the event by reducing river capacity and increasing surface runoff.AQA
Hurricanes: The regional name for tropical storms in the Atlantic.AQA
Hydraulic action: The sheer force of the water traps air in cracks, weakening the banks.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Hydraulic power: Waves crashing against a cliff force air into cracks, and as the wave retreats the air expands explosively, widening the cracks and breaking the rock.AQA
Hydrograph: A graph that shows the relationship between precipitation and discharge, with rainfall as a bar chart and discharge as a line graph.AQA
Hydrological Drought: Reduced streamflow and groundwater levels due to reduced precipitation.Pearson Edexcel
Hydrology: Surface water is rare, mostly appearing in temporary, ephemeral channels following flash floods.AQA
Hydroponics: Growing plants in nutrient-rich water rather than soil, which saves water and space.AQA
Hypothesis: A testable statement or specific question, such as river discharge increasing with distance downstream, that is measurable and rooted in a recognised…AQA

I

Ice cores: Cores extracted from Antarctica and Greenland that trap ancient air bubbles, allowing researchers to measure historical carbon dioxide levels and estimate…AQA
Ice distribution: The maximum extent of ice cover across the UK during the last ice age reached as far south as a line from the Bristol Channel to the Wash.AQA
Igneous Rock: Rock formed by the cooling and solidifying of molten magma or lava.Pearson Edexcel
Immediate responses: Actions that occur in the hours and days following a tectonic hazard, focusing on saving lives and providing basic needs.AQA
Impermeable: A surface or rock type that does not allow water to pass through it.Pearson Edexcel
Inaccessibility: A hindrance to development because vast expanses of sand and rugged terrain make building and maintaining transport networks costly and difficult.AQA
Indirect employment: Working in services that support the factory or its workers, such as local shops and transport services.AQA
Industrial development: The growth of industry, which can harm the physical environment through air and water pollution, soil degradation and habitat destruction during raw material…AQA
Industrial Sector: Water used in manufacturing processes, chemical plants, and for cooling in power stations.Pearson Edexcel
Industrialisation: The growth of manufacturing and energy consumption as countries develop, which can cause severe pollution and habitat destruction.AQA
Infant mortality: Deaths under one year per 1000 live births, used as a social measure of development.AQA
Infiltration: The process by which water on the ground surface enters the soil.Pearson Edexcel
Informal Economy: Employment outside the official knowledge of the government.Pearson Edexcel
Informal Settlement: Areas of housing built on land not owned by the residents, usually without legal permission and lacking basic infrastructure (also known as slums or squatter…Pearson Edexcel
Informal Settlement (Favela/Slum): An area of poor-quality housing, lacking in amenities such as water supply, sewerage and electricity, which often develops illegally in a city.Pearson Edexcel
Informal settlements: Rapidly expanding squatter settlements that city authorities struggle to connect to the mains water supply.AQA
Information technology: The foundational infrastructure that allows modern finance, research and services to operate globally.AQA
Infrastructure: Physical defences such as flood embankments or temporary barriers that defend against rising water.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Infrastructure adaptation: Raising buildings on piles or insulating pipes so that heat does not melt the permafrost, which significantly increases development costs.AQA
Infrastructure deficit: When infrastructure fails to keep pace with expanding populations, resulting in inadequate access to clean water and sanitation.AQA
Infrastructure development: Requires expensive works such as pipelines or deep boreholes for water and transport networks, whose high cost is linked to the harsh physical conditions of…AQA
Insolation: Incoming solar radiation (heat energy from the sun).Pearson Edexcel
Integrated Transport System: A transport network where different modes of transport (e.g., buses, trains, trams) are linked together efficiently, often with a single ticketing system.Pearson Edexcel
Integrated transport systems: Combined tram, bus, and rail networks improve connectivity, reduce congestion, and support wider economic growth.AQA
Inter-quartile range: The difference between the upper and lower quartiles, showing the spread of the middle 50% of data, which ignores extreme anomalies.AQA
Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ): A low-pressure belt near the equator where trade winds meet, characterised by rising air and heavy rain.Pearson Edexcel
Interdependence: The tightly linked relationship between living and non-living elements, which is fragile because a slight change in moisture can trigger rapid blooming or…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Interglacial Period: A warmer period between glacials when ice sheets retreat and sea levels rise.Pearson Edexcel
Intermediate technology: Simple, sustainable tools suited to local skills that local people can build and maintain, such as solar cookers.AQA
Intermittency: The characteristic of certain renewable energy sources (like wind and solar) that do not produce energy continuously.Pearson Edexcel
International agreements: Agreements between countries that are vital for preventing economic exploitation, such as the Antarctic Treaty and the 1991 Protocol on Environmental…AQA
International aid: The transfer of resources from one country to another to assist with development or provide relief.AQA
International cooperation: Global agreements and debt-reduction schemes that encourage countries to protect their valuable rainforest ecosystems for the long term.AQA
International importance: The city's role at the global scale, such as hosting global events, attracting international tourism and serving as a major port for global trade.AQA
Irrigation: The artificial application of water to land to assist in the production of crops.Pearson Edexcel
Isoline map: A map that connects points of equal value, such as contour lines for altitude or isobars for atmospheric pressure.AQA
Isoline maps: Maps that display continuous data by connecting points of equal value.AQA
ITCZ (Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone): A low-pressure belt around the equator where the Trade Winds meet and warm air rises.Pearson Edexcel

J

Justification: Explaining how the chosen graph suits the data, such as showing a trend over time, to support the suggestion made.AQA

K

Knowledge Economy: An economy based on specialized knowledge and skill, such as finance, media, and tech.Pearson Edexcel

L

Label: A label simply identifies a feature, such as pointing to a 'plunge pool' on a waterfall diagram or a 'peak' on a line graph.AQA
Lag Time: The delay between peak rainfall and peak discharge.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Land use: Urbanisation replaces permeable soil with impermeable surfaces like tarmac and concrete, while deforestation removes trees that intercept rainfall and absorb…AQA
Land use conflict: Controversy caused because managed retreat results in the loss of agricultural land or property, requiring compensation for affected landowners.AQA
Land use interpretation: Moving beyond merely identifying symbols to explaining what they indicate about how people use the landscape, combining multiple pieces of map evidence.AQA
Landform creation: Deposition of sediment when glaciers lose energy creates distinct landforms.AQA
Latent Heat: Released when rising air cools and condenses to form towering cumulonimbus clouds, powering the storm.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Lateral erosion: Erosion that, together with deposition, drives the shift from vertical erosion as the river flows downstream, widening and deepening the channel and…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Lateral moraine: A ridge of deposited till that forms along the glacier's edges.AQA
Latitude: Lines that run parallel to the Equator, measuring distance north or south from 0° to 90°.AQA
Latosol: The specific type of red, iron-rich, but nutrient-poor and acidic soil found in tropical rainforests.Pearson Edexcel
Leaching: The process where heavy rainfall dissolves and washes nutrients downward through the soil, out of reach of plant roots.Pearson Edexcel
Legal land tenure: Granting legal land rights to residents, which encourages them to invest in improving their own homes.AQA
Legislation and policy: Strict laws and monitoring by the Environment Agency that are used to manage water pollution.AQA
Levées: Natural embankments along the river banks, built up over time when a flooding river loses energy and drops its heaviest, coarsest material first, closest to…AQA
Lianas: Plants that climb tree trunks to reach sunlight in the canopy.AQA
LIC and NEE development: A local renewable energy scheme in a Low Income Country or Newly Emerging Economy improves living standards by powering lights for education and machinery for…AQA
LICs: Low Income Countries, which are experiencing rapid urbanisation driven by rural-to-urban migration and natural increase.AQA
Limitations: Weaknesses such as the subjective framing of a photograph or misleading scales on a graph, which students must recognise when interpreting sources.AQA
Literacy rates: The percentage of adults who can read and write, used as a social measure of development.AQA
Lithology: Rock type, which determines erosion resistance, with hard rocks like limestone forming steep cliffs and soft rocks like clay creating gently sloping cliffs.AQA
Local community projects: Small-scale, community-led schemes such as micro-hydro or biogas digesters, managed by the local community rather than being large-scale national projects.AQA
Local sourcing: Buying food produced nearby, such as from farm shops or farmers' markets, which reduces food miles and carbon emissions.AQA
Logging: The removal of valuable timber from the forest.AQA
Long profile: The changing gradient of the river bed from source to mouth, typically forming a concave shape that starts steep in the upper course and gradually flattens…AQA
Long-term responses: Actions that take place in the months and years after the event, aiming to rebuild communities and improve future resilience.AQA
Long-term versus short-term changes: Natural causes have been responsible for significant, long-term shifts in the global climate, whereas the rapid global warming observed since the Industrial…AQA
Longitude: Lines (meridians) that run from pole to pole, measuring distance east or west of the Prime Meridian from 0° to 180°.AQA
Longshore Drift: The primary process of transportation along a coastline, moving sediment in a zig-zag pattern driven by the prevailing wind.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Longwave Infrared Radiation: Heat energy emitted by the Earth's surface back into the atmosphere.Pearson Edexcel
Low pressure: Created at the surface when warm, moist air rises rapidly, drawing in more air which also warms and rises.AQA
Lowland landscapes: Areas such as the Fens and the London Basin, formed from softer sedimentary rocks.AQA

M

Magnitude: Refers to the size or scale of an event, such as a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on the moment magnitude scale, indicating immense energy release.AQA
Managed Retreat: A sustainable strategy where existing coastal defences are deliberately breached or removed, allowing the sea to flood a designated area of previously…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Map interpretation: Combining contour patterns with map symbols to identify basic landscape features and describe their characteristics from map evidence.AQA
Map scale and distance: Using the scale line or ratio on a map to measure straight-line and curved distances and convert map measurements to real-world distances.AQA
Map skills: Matching the changing gradients on the map to the profile's shape to relate a cross-sectional drawing to map features.AQA
Marine processes: Processes such as wave action, erosion, transportation, and deposition that operate at the coastline itself, driven by the energy of waves and tides.AQA
Mass movement: The downhill movement of weathered material under the force of gravity, significantly shaping coastal landscapes.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Mean: The sum of all values divided by the total count.AQA
Meander: A pronounced bend in a river's middle and lower courses, formed by both erosion and deposition.AQA
Mechanical weathering: The physical breakdown of rock without altering its chemical composition, such as freeze-thaw action.AQA
Megacities: Their rapid expansion is a key feature of the global pattern of urban change, particularly in Asia and Africa.AQA
Megacity: An urban area with a population exceeding 10 million people.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Meltwater processes: Streams flowing away from the glacier snout sort sediment as the water's energy decreases, depositing larger rocks first and carrying finer particles further.AQA
Metamorphic Rock: Rock formed when existing rocks are altered by intense heat and pressure without melting.Pearson Edexcel
Meteorological Drought: A prolonged period where an area receives significantly less precipitation than the historical average.Pearson Edexcel
Meteorological records: Documented anomalies, such as broken historical records, provide robust evidence of a shift towards more extreme weather.AQA
Microfinance loans: Small amounts of capital offered to individuals, often women, to start businesses, empowering women and local communities.AQA
Migration: Rural-to-urban movement of people, explained by the push-pull theory.AQA
Milankovitch cycles: Orbital changes involving variations in Earth's eccentricity (orbit shape), axial tilt, and precession (wobble), which alter the solar energy received and…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Mineral extraction: Mining valuable resources, such as gypsum or limestone, which generates income in a hot desert.AQA
Mitigation: Strategies that reduce the impacts of extreme weather, lowering economic loss and protecting lives.AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel
Mitigation and justification: The financial investment in a management scheme, justified by the impacts of past floods such as homes inundated, damage costs and transport disruption.AQA
Mitigation strategies: Practical actions the researcher can take, such as using pedestrian crossings, establishing clear meeting points, and withdrawing from confrontational…AQA
Monitoring: Using equipment to detect warning signs, such as seismometers measuring tremors or tiltmeters detecting magma movement.AQA
Moraine: Transported material moved along the valley floor, sides, or within the ice itself, shaping the glacial landscape.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Multidimensional development: Single indicators fail to capture the multidimensional nature of development, such as political freedom or environmental sustainability, which even HDI ignores.AQA
Multidimensional Poverty: A measure of poverty that considers multiple deprivations at the household level, such as poor health, lack of education, and inadequate living standards.Pearson Edexcel
Multilateral aid: Aid given via international organisations like the World Bank.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Multiplier Effect: One economic activity leads to further economic growth, as factories provide direct formal employment and wages that stimulate secondary businesses and…AQA, Pearson Edexcel

N

National importance: The city's role at the scale of the whole country, such as being a major centre for banking, finance and export industries.AQA
Natural climate forcing: Natural causes include orbital changes, volcanic activity releasing ash and aerosols that reflect sunlight, and variations in solar output.AQA
Natural hazard: A naturally occurring event that has the potential to cause loss of life, injury, property damage, or environmental degradation.AQA
Natural increase: Occurs when the birth rate exceeds the death rate, often seen in cities with youthful populations and improving healthcare that lowers mortality.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Natural Resource: Any feature or part of the environment that can be used to meet human needs.Pearson Edexcel
Natural versus human causes: Climate change is driven by a combination of natural and human factors, and understanding the distinction between these categories is crucial.AQA
Net Migration: The difference between the number of immigrants entering a country and the number of emigrants leaving it over a specific period.Pearson Edexcel
Net Zero: Achieving a balance between the carbon emitted into the atmosphere, and the carbon removed from it.Pearson Edexcel
NIMBY-ism: Not In My Back Yard; opposition by residents to a proposed development in their local area.Pearson Edexcel
Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO): A non-profit, citizen-based group that functions independently of government (e.g., Oxfam, Red Cross).Pearson Edexcel
Non-renewable: Sources of energy that are finite and will eventually deplete, consisting of fossil fuels and nuclear power.AQA
Non-Renewable Energy: Energy from finite resources that will eventually run out and cannot be replaced at the speed they are consumed (e.g., coal, oil).Pearson Edexcel
Non-Renewable Resource: A resource that exists in a finite amount and cannot be replaced once used (e.g., coal, oil).Pearson Edexcel
Northern Powerhouse: A government policy aimed at boosting the economic growth of northern cities by attracting investment and improving transport links to rival London's economy.AQA
Nuclear power: A non-renewable source of energy from uranium fission.AQA
Nutrient cycling: Most nutrients are stored in the biomass rather than the soil, and a rapid nutrient cycle is maintained by the fast decomposition of leaf litter in the hot,…AQA

O

Observer Bias: When the researcher's own opinions or subjectivity influence the data collected.Pearson Edexcel
Ocean temperatures: Sufficiently high between 5° and 30° north and south of the equator, allowing tropical storms to develop over warm oceans above 27°C.AQA
Opportunity Cost: The loss of other alternatives when one alternative is chosen.Pearson Edexcel
Organic farming: A method that avoids artificial chemicals, using natural fertilisers to maintain soil health.AQA
Orogeny: A period of mountain building caused by tectonic plate collisions.Pearson Edexcel
Outwash: Sediment deposited by meltwater streams flowing away from the glacier snout, which is sorted, stratified and features rounded rocks due to water attrition.AQA
Over-abstraction: When water is being used or extracted from an aquifer or river faster than it can be naturally replenished.Pearson Edexcel
Overgrazing: When too many animals graze on a piece of land, removing the vegetation cover and exposing the soil.Pearson Edexcel
Ox-bow lake: A horseshoe-shaped lake left when deposition seals off the old meander after the river cuts through the neck.AQA

P

Park and ride schemes: Schemes on the urban fringe that reduce cars entering the city centre.AQA
Peak Discharge: The maximum volume of water flowing in a river channel at a given time during a storm event.Pearson Edexcel
Peat: A type of soil formed from partially decomposed plant material in waterlogged, acidic conditions.Pearson Edexcel
Percentage increase or decrease: Find the absolute difference between the original and new values, divide by the original value, and multiply by 100.AQA
Percentiles: Divide a dataset into 100 equal parts, showing a value's relative position.AQA
Permaculture: Designs agricultural systems that mimic natural ecosystems.AQA
Permafrost: A layer of permanently frozen ground, whose active surface layer thaws in summer, creating waterlogged conditions because it prevents drainage.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Phenological Mismatch: When the timing of interacting seasonal events (like leaf emergence and insect hatching) fall out of sync due to climate change.Pearson Edexcel
Physical and human causes: The factors that increase flood risk, including heavy rainfall, impermeable geology or steep relief, and human factors such as urbanisation.AQA
Physical causes: Factors such as a landlocked location, which restricts trade, or extreme climates and frequent natural hazards that destroy infrastructure and deter investment.AQA
Physical data: Data relating to natural processes, such as river depth, river velocity, pebble size or beach gradient.AQA
Physical geography: Features such as climate and relief that heavily influence the natural supply of resources like water.AQA
Physical geography influences: Flat, low-lying areas with milder climates attract denser settlement, whereas mountainous regions remain sparsely populated.AQA
Physical landscapes: The dramatic scenery of glaciated upland areas, including ribbon lakes, arêtes and corries, which provides a spectacular backdrop for sightseeing and…AQA
Physical processes: Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are the result of processes driven by geothermal heat and convection currents or slab pull in the mantle.AQA
Physical Water Scarcity: When there is simply not enough water available to meet demand due to climatic conditions (low rainfall).Pearson Edexcel
Planning: Preparing communities by creating exclusion zones, mapping evacuation routes, and conducting emergency drills.AQA
Plant and animal adaptation: Features that allow plants and animals to cope with environmental conditions, such as drip tips shedding heavy rain, buttress roots providing stability, and…AQA
Plucking: Meltwater at the base of the glacier freezes onto the underlying bedrock, and as the glacier moves downhill under gravity it rips pieces of rock away from the…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Polar environments: Environments with permanent ice cover and extremely low temperatures, often dropping below -50°C, and very low precipitation, making them cold deserts.AQA
Political context: The history of governance, colonial past, and current political stability or trading relationships of the country.AQA
Pollution: Air and water pollution are environmental issues that cities must manage, with air pollution arising from unregulated factory emissions and older vehicles,…AQA
Pollution and degradation: Harm to the physical environment including air and water pollution, soil degradation and habitat destruction, such as heavy metal runoff contaminating local…AQA
Population density: The concentration of people in a region, which can create water deficits even where rainfall is moderate.AQA
Population dynamics: How birth and death rates change, as illustrated by the Demographic Transition Model, explaining global population patterns.AQA
Population growth: A growing population means more individuals require water for domestic use, making it a primary driver for increased water demand in the UK.AQA
Population movement: International migration driven by economic and social disparities acting as push and pull factors, as people move from LICs or Newly Emerging Economies to HICs.AQA
Population pyramids: Graphs showing demographic structures, with the x-axis displaying population size or percentage and the y-axis showing age cohorts.AQA
Post-industrial economy: An economy to which government policies have influenced the transition, marked by a dominance of tertiary and quaternary sectors and altered employment…AQA
Poverty: A critical factor in which poorer populations often live in precarious locations, such as steep slopes prone to landslides, and lack resources for resilient…AQA
Precipitation: Prolonged or heavy rainfall saturates the soil, increasing surface runoff and so raising flood risk.AQA
Prediction: Feeding monitoring data into computer models to forecast the storm's path, enabling authorities to issue timely warnings.AQA
Preparedness: Planning that includes educating communities on emergency procedures and preparing community emergency plans.AQA
Pressure systems: Rising air creates a global band of low pressure, while sinking air forms high-pressure belts characterised by dry, settled conditions.AQA
Prevailing wind: The wind that causes waves to approach the beach at an angle, determining the direction of longshore drift.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Primary Data: Information collected first-hand by the researcher specifically for their current investigation.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Primary data collection: Gathering data within a realistic timeframe, which a specific and measurable question must allow for when selecting a suitable question or hypothesis.AQA
Primary effects: The direct, immediate results of the storm's physical forces, such as high winds destroying buildings, storm surges flooding coasts, and torrential rain…AQA
Primary evidence: Data you collect firsthand, such as measuring river velocity or conducting pedestrian counts in an urban centre.AQA
Producers: Organisms that create their own food using sunlight.AQA
Proportion: Expresses a part of a whole, such as stating that 0.25 or 25% of a town's energy comes from renewables.AQA
Protection: Designing physical structures to withstand hazards, such as earthquake-resistant buildings with shock absorbers or embankments to divert lava.AQA
Proxy data: Indirect evidence of past climates, such as ice cores or ocean sediments, used to reconstruct historical climate change.AQA
Pull factors: Positive conditions attracting people to urban areas, such as better employment opportunities, improved healthcare, and access to services.AQA
Push factors: Negative conditions forcing people to leave rural areas, such as drought, famine, lack of jobs, or poor education.AQA
Pyramidal peak: A sharp peak created when three or more corries erode back-to-back.AQA

Q

Qualitative Data: Data such as opinions in a blog, involving words, descriptions and opinions rather than numbers.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Quality of life: Improved for residents by green spaces offering areas for recreation and relaxation, which improves physical and mental health.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Quantitative Data: Data such as census statistics, involving numbers and statistics rather than words and opinions.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Quantitative data analysis: The use of numerical and statistical information, interpreting, analysing and manipulating raw numbers and processed data to identify patterns and anomalies.AQA
Quantitative relationships: The relationships between units, such as converting metres to kilometres, which students must understand to ensure accuracy in data interpretation.AQA
Quaternary Period: The geological time period from about 2.6 million years ago to the present, characterised by alternating glacial and interglacial episodes.AQA, OCR, Pearson Edexcel
Quaternary Sector: The knowledge-based part of the economy, including information technology, research and development, and financial consultation.Pearson Edexcel

R

Rain Shadow: A dry area on the leeward (downwind) side of a mountainous area, where the air has already lost its moisture.Pearson Edexcel
Random sampling: Selects sites or people using a random number generator, giving equal selection chance.AQA
Rapid Development: A period of fast economic growth and improving living standards, usually transitioning a country from low-income to middle-income status.Pearson Edexcel
Rapid Urbanisation: The fast increase in the proportion of people living in towns and cities, occurring at a pace that outstrips the provision of housing and services.Pearson Edexcel
Rate of urbanisation: The speed at which the urban population is growing.Pearson Edexcel
Ratio: Compares two distinct quantities, like a 1:4 ratio of independent shops to chain stores on a high street.AQA
Recreation and entertainment: Demand for these leads to new sports arenas, shopping centres, and cultural venues.AQA
Recreation and leisure: Active outdoor pursuits such as hiking, rock climbing and mountain biking, plus water bodies like Windermere offering sailing, kayaking and boat cruises.AQA
REDD+: Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation; an international scheme that financially rewards developing countries for protecting their…Pearson Edexcel
Regeneration: Improving an area that has been experiencing a period of decline through investment and redevelopment.Pearson Edexcel
Regional disparities: National figures hide regional disparities, such as the development gap between urban centres and rural peripheries, which even composite measures like HDI do…AQA
Regional importance: The city's role at the scale of the local area or state, such as providing employment and services to the surrounding state.AQA
Regional inequality: The uneven impact of economic restructuring on regional growth, often exacerbating the North-South divide, with rapid expansion in the South East and London…AQA
Regional influence: The country's role within its continent, such as being an economic hub, political leader, or trading partner.AQA
Regional terminology: Hurricanes in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific, typhoons in the Western North Pacific, and cyclones in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific.AQA
Reliability: Getting consistent results upon repetition, so that results can be consistently reproduced, and a larger sample size improves it.AQA
Reliability and accuracy: Accuracy concerns equipment precision, such as a flow meter versus a float, while reliability concerns consistency, such as repeating measurements.AQA
Relict landscape: A landscape created by processes that are no longer operating, such as a UK valley carved by a glacier that has since melted.Pearson Edexcel
Relict landscapes: Landscapes that are relict features from the last ice age, rather than the result of glaciation as a current process in the UK.AQA
Relief: Steep slopes cause rapid runoff into river channels, reducing lag time and making river levels rise rapidly.AQA
Relief (Orographic) Rainfall: Rainfall that occurs when moist air is forced to rise over mountains or hills, causing it to cool, condense, and precipitate.Pearson Edexcel
Relief and topography: Major relief features, such as mountains, plateaus, and escarpments, are identified on maps using contour lines and spot heights.AQA
Renewable: Sources of energy that can be replenished naturally and will not run out, including biomass, wind, hydro, tidal, geothermal, wave and solar.AQA
Renewable Energy: Energy that relies on a renewable resource, such as water, so that a local scheme can provide a sustainable supply of energy.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Renewable Resource: A resource that can be naturally replenished on a human timescale (e.g., solar, wind).Pearson Edexcel
Representative: How accurately a sample reflects the entire population or area being studied.Pearson Edexcel
Reprofiling: Reshaping the beach, often moving material from the lower beach to the upper beach to create a steeper profile that better dissipates wave energy.AQA
Resistant: The ability of a rock to withstand erosion.Pearson Edexcel
Resource conservation: Conserving natural resources by recycling waste, which also reduces greenhouse gas emissions and decreases pollution.AQA
Resource deficit: A situation where the demand for a resource exceeds the available supply, leading to shortages.AQA
Resource demand: The requirement for energy that grows as countries develop economically, populations rise and technology advances.AQA
Resource depletion: The physical exhaustion of easily accessible reserves, as seen when the most accessible oil and gas reserves have been depleted.AQA
Resource extraction: Economic development such as mineral extraction and oil exploration that threatens pristine cold areas.AQA
Resource interdependence: The way the three resources are interconnected, for example energy is needed to pump and treat water.AQA
Resource management: Planning for effective use of resources and future water infrastructure, which requires understanding changing patterns of demand.AQA
Resource security: A key indicator of a country's overall development level, based on secure supply of food, water and energy.AQA
Resource surplus: A situation where the supply of a resource is greater than the demand for it, meaning an area has more than enough to meet its needs.AQA
Resource-intensive products: Products such as meat and dairy, where producing one kilogram of beef requires significantly more grain and water than a kilogram of wheat.AQA
Ridge push: A mechanism driving plate movement that operates at constructive margins.AQA
Rising affluence: People in wealthier nations consume more water domestically through appliances like washing machines, dishwashers, and power showers, as well as eating more…AQA
Rising population: The sheer increase in the number of people on the planet means a greater baseline demand for drinking, cooking, and basic sanitation.AQA
Risk and vulnerability: What geographers assess, since the severity of a hazard depends on both the physical event and the human context it affects.AQA
Risk assessment: A process that identifies the hazard, evaluates the likelihood and severity, and outlines specific precautions to minimise harm.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Risk perception: How people weigh the risks of a tectonic hazard against the benefits of living in an area, with confidence in modern management strategies reducing the…AQA
River cliff: A steep feature on the outside bend, formed by lateral erosion that undercuts the bank.AQA
River restoration: Returns a modified river to its natural state, for example by removing concrete channels or restoring meanders, which slows the flow.AQA
River systems: Major UK rivers, including the River Severn, River Thames, River Trent and River Clyde, which flow from upland sources to coastal mouths.AQA
Rock armour: Large boulders placed at the cliff base to absorb and dissipate wave energy as water flows through the gaps between them; cheaper but can be moved by storms.AQA
Rock falls: Fragments of rock breaking away from a steep cliff face, usually due to freeze-thaw weathering, and falling freely to the base to form scree.AQA
Rock flour: A fine powder produced when abrasion grinds the bedrock, creating smooth, polished rock surfaces.AQA
Rotational slip: Circular movement of ice within a corrie hollow, pivoting about a central point, with basal meltwater reducing friction so the glacier slides and erodes deeply.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Rural infrastructure: Improving public transport networks and introducing park-and-ride schemes to mitigate traffic congestion on narrow rural roads.AQA
Rural-to-urban migration: Movement from the countryside to cities, driven by push factors like agricultural decline and pull factors like employment.AQA
Rural-urban fringe: The transition zone where city meets countryside, a mixed-use zone containing golf courses, retail parks, and housing alongside farmland.AQA
Rural-Urban Migration: The movement of people from the countryside to towns and cities.Pearson Edexcel

S

Saltation: The bouncing of smaller particles, like pebbles and gravel, along the riverbed in a leap-frog motion.AQA
Sanitation systems: Systems for the safe disposal and treatment of human urine and faeces, which are often inadequate in informal settlements.AQA
Scale: Converting map distances to real-world distances using ratios, for example a 1:50,000 scale means 1 cm on the map is 0.5 km in reality.AQA
Scattergraphs: Graphs that plot two variables to identify relationships.AQA
Science parks: Places that focus on research and development, often in partnership with universities, for high-tech research.AQA
Scree: Jagged rock fragments that accumulate at the base of slopes and provide the abrasive tools glaciers use to erode the landscape.AQA
Sea walls: Concrete barriers built parallel to the shore that reflect wave energy back out to sea, offering strong protection at a high financial cost.AQA
Seasonal food consumption: Eating food that reduces the energy needed for artificial heating or international transport.AQA
Seasonal variations: The difference between winter hazards, such as extreme cold and heavy snowfall, and summer hazards, such as heatwaves and droughts caused by prolonged high…AQA
Secondary Data: Information that has already been collected by someone else for another purpose but is used to support the current study.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Secondary effects: Subsequent impacts that happen later as a consequence of the primary effects, such as tsunamis, fires, landslides and disease outbreaks.AQA
Secondary evidence: Data collected by others used to support your investigation, such as historical maps, census data, or Environment Agency flood risk maps.AQA
Sediment deposition: A selective process in which the heaviest material such as boulders is deposited first, while finer sediments like silt are carried further and deposited last.AQA
Sedimentary Rock: Rock formed from the accumulation and compaction of sediment (sand, mud, shells) over millions of years.Pearson Edexcel
Seismic activity: Frequent earthquake activity, which occurs at all types of plate margins due to the build-up and sudden release of friction.AQA
Self-help schemes: Schemes implemented with the role of non-governmental organisations and local communities, relying on self-help from residents.AQA
Services: The benefits provided by the ecosystem, such as climate regulation, water purification, and supporting biodiversity.Pearson Edexcel
Site: The actual physical land on which a settlement is built, including its topography, water sources, and geology.Pearson Edexcel
Site and Service Scheme: A bottom-up approach where the government provides a plot of land with basic services (water, electricity), and residents build their own homes.Pearson Edexcel
Site and service schemes: A method where authorities provide land with basic infrastructure like water and electricity, allowing residents to build their own homes.AQA
Site and Situation: Site is the actual land a settlement is built on; Situation is the location of a settlement in relation to its surrounding features.Pearson Edexcel
Site selection: Choosing the right location involves ensuring the site allows you to answer your enquiry question safely and accessibly.AQA
Situation: The location of a settlement in relation to its surrounding environment, including other settlements, transport routes, and physical features.Pearson Edexcel
Slab pull: A mechanism driving plate movement that operates at destructive margins.AQA
Sliding: Rapid movement of material down a straight slip plane, often triggered by heavy rainfall lubricating the rock layers.AQA
Slip-off slope: A gently sloping feature on the inside bend, created by deposition where the flow is slower.AQA
Slum upgrading: A strategy that improves existing conditions by paving roads, installing sanitation, and granting legal land rights.AQA
Slumping: Downward movement of material along a curved slip plane, creating a terraced appearance on cliffs, typical in softer rocks like clay.AQA
Social and economic impacts: The effects of past floods, such as the number of homes inundated, the financial cost of the damage, and the disruption to transport.AQA
Social and economic inequality: A widening gap arising from urban change, alongside challenges such as housing shortages.AQA
Social attachment: Strong family ties and cultural connections that lead people to remain in tectonically active areas.AQA
Social changes: Changes such as improved contraception access and women's education that cause birth rates to decline in Stage 3.AQA
Social context: The population dynamics, education, and health of the country.AQA
Social disruption: Effects on people such as houses being flooded, farms evacuated, distress and daily life disrupted as villages were cut off.AQA
Social impacts: The influx of people can sustain local services like buses and shops, but it also causes severe traffic congestion, overcrowding, and drives up housing prices…AQA
Social indicators: Measures of well-being such as life expectancy and expected years of schooling, included alongside economic wealth in the Human Development Index.AQA
Social inequality: Rapid rural-urban migration can create severe urban inequality and slum settlements, and rapid growth often widens the wealth gap and creates urban poverty.AQA
Social unrest: Includes protests and riots over food availability and costs, triggered by desperation and economic strain.AQA
Social vulnerability: How vulnerable UK communities are to extreme weather, which understanding these diverse impacts is crucial for evaluating.AQA
Social well-being: The health, happiness and education of a population, which access to nutritious food and clean water helps to support.AQA
Socio-economic impacts: Human impacts involve reduced crop yields, loss of habitable land, and the spread of tropical diseases.AQA
Soft engineering: Works with natural processes and may include afforestation in the upper catchment to increase interception, or floodplain zoning to restrict development near…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Soil and vegetation: Soils are poorly developed due to sparse vegetation and slow decomposition in freezing temperatures.AQA
Soil characteristics: Latosols are surprisingly infertile and acidic, as heavy rainfall causes rapid leaching of nutrients.AQA
Soil erosion: Occurs when the protective canopy is removed, so heavy rainfall strikes exposed nutrient-poor latosol soils and washes them away.AQA
Soils: Generally shallow, coarse, and rocky or sandy, draining rapidly and containing very little organic matter due to sparse plant life.AQA
Solar variations: Solar output fluctuates in cycles, often tracked by sunspot activity, with more sunspots indicating higher solar energy emission and fewer sunspots leading to…AQA
Solution: The transport of dissolved minerals, such as calcium carbonate from limestone, invisibly within the water regardless of the river's velocity.AQA
Source evaluation: Checking a source for bias, reliability and currency, as written opinions may be subjective and digital data can become outdated or be manipulated.AQA
Spatial data: Data suited for maps, as distinguished from numerical data suited for graphs.AQA
Spatial description: Using scale to measure the length or width of a feature and noting its orientation using compass directions.AQA
Spatial distribution: The pattern of where large-scale natural global ecosystems are found, controlled by global atmospheric circulation.AQA
Spatial imbalance: A mismatch between areas of high rainfall and areas of high population density, with high demand in the drier South East and high supply in the wetter North…AQA
Spatial patterns: Patterns in population distribution, such as clustering near water sources or avoiding high relief areas, looked for on maps.AQA
Spatial relationships: The links between physical and human features, such as settlement restricted to valley floors by steep relief and dense drainage networks.AQA
Spatial Scale: The different levels at which geographical phenomena operate, from local to global.Pearson Edexcel
Spatial variations: Differences in deforestation rates between different global regions, with some countries reducing rates while others increase them.AQA
Species survival: Ensuring survival despite the harsh physical conditions, through physical and behavioural adaptations.AQA
Spiral rainbands: Bands that radiate outwards from the eyewall, bringing heavy rain and strong, gusty winds that gradually decrease in intensity towards the storm's outer edges.AQA
Spit: A long, narrow ridge of sand or shingle extending out from the coast into the sea, formed by longshore drift.Pearson Edexcel
Spot heights: Exact elevations marked on the map, often alongside a black dot, providing precise altitude data for specific locations.AQA
Stack: An isolated pillar of rock created when the roof of an arch collapses due to sub-aerial weathering and a lack of basal support.AQA
Stakeholder: An individual, group, or organisation with an interest in, or affected by, a particular decision or project.Pearson Edexcel
Standard of living: The material wealth of a population, which is distinct from broader well-being factors.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Statistical manipulation: Selective presentation of data, such as cherry-picking it to support a specific argument and hiding the full geographical picture.AQA
Statistical measures: Measures of central tendency (mean, median, mode) and dispersion (range) used to summarise data sets.AQA
Storm formation: Tropical storms develop in areas of intense low pressure corresponding to the rising limbs of the Hadley cells, where warm, moist air rises rapidly.AQA
Storm Surge: A rapid rise in sea level caused by the low pressure of the storm and strong winds pushing water onshore.Pearson Edexcel
Straight-line distance: A distance between two points measured with a ruler and converted using the map's scale bar.AQA
Stratification: The arrangement of the rainforest vegetation into distinct vertical layers (Emergent, Canopy, Understory, Forest Floor).Pearson Edexcel
Stratified sampling: Divides the population into subgroups and samples proportionally, like ensuring a survey reflects a town's age demographics.AQA
Striations: Deep scratches left in the bedrock by the rocks embedded in the glacier scraping and scouring it during abrasion.AQA
Sub-aerial processes: Processes including weathering and mass movement that operate on the cliff face above the high-water mark, weakening the rock and causing it to fall or slide…AQA
Subduction: The process at a destructive margin where a dense oceanic plate moves beneath a lighter continental plate, with friction causing severe earthquakes and the…AQA
Subdued hydrograph: A hydrograph with a longer lag time and a lower peak, reflecting slower water transfer through infiltration and throughflow, typical of forested areas or…AQA
Subsistence farming: Locals clear small areas of forest to grow food for personal survival.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Suburbanisation: The outward growth of towns and cities to engulf surrounding villages and rural areas.Pearson Edexcel
SUDS (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems): Systems designed to efficiently manage the drainage of surface water in the urban environment, mimicking natural drainage.Pearson Edexcel
Sunspots: Dark patches on the Sun's surface that indicate increased solar activity and energy output.Pearson Edexcel
Supply-side Management: Strategies designed to increase the amount of water available for use.Pearson Edexcel
Surface Runoff: Water that flows over the surface of the land when the ground is saturated or impermeable.Pearson Edexcel
Surface water runoff: Runoff managed by urban greening to lower flood risks.AQA
Suspension: The carrying of fine, light material such as silt and clay within the water column, often giving rivers a muddy appearance.AQA
Sustainability: A sustainable supply of energy has low environmental impact and is managed by the local community, protecting local forests and improving indoor air quality.AQA
Sustainable design: Designing homes, workplaces and transport for sustainability and demand reduction.AQA
Sustainable development: Using resources without compromising future generations, so that strategies manage the rainforest sustainably.AQA
Sustainable Energy Management: Meeting the energy needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.Pearson Edexcel
Sustainable Management: Strategies implemented by city authorities to manage and mitigate environmental issues include recycling schemes, energy-from-waste plants, stricter emissions…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Sustainable tourism: Management that aims for sustainability, balancing economic income with environmental protection rather than stopping tourism entirely.AQA
Sustainable urban living: Making urban living more sustainable, with water and energy conservation as essential strategies that reduce the ecological footprint of cities and ensure…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Swash: The movement that carries sediment up the beach at the same angle at which waves approach the beach.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Systematic sampling: Collects data at regular intervals, such as measuring river depth every two metres or surveying every tenth person.AQA, Pearson Edexcel

T

Technological advancement: A driver of increasing energy consumption in which a proliferation of electronic devices and energy-intensive systems raises per capita energy demand.AQA
Technological efficiency: Using technology to increase efficiency in the use of fossil fuels.AQA
Technological mitigation: Use of technology to reduce the damage caused by economic development in cold environments, such as raising pipelines on insulated supports to prevent…AQA
Tectonic hazard: An event including earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that produces both primary and secondary effects.AQA
Tectonic hazards: Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are natural hazards driven by immense physical processes deep within the Earth.AQA
Tectonic plates: Massive, irregularly shaped slabs of solid rock that make up the Earth's lithosphere and float on the semi-molten asthenosphere.AQA
Temperate Maritime: A climate characterized by moderate temperatures (temperate) and heavy influence from the ocean (maritime), resulting in mild winters, cool summers, and…Pearson Edexcel
Temporal trends: Changes in deforestation rates over time, which fluctuate rather than uniformly increasing or decreasing.AQA
Terminal Groyne Syndrome: The accelerated erosion experienced on the downdrift side of the last groyne in a series, caused by sediment starvation.Pearson Edexcel
Terminal moraine: A ridge of deposited till that marks the maximum advance of the glacier.AQA
The enhanced greenhouse effect: Human causes are linked to this effect, driven by the combustion of fossil fuels, deforestation, and agricultural practices.AQA
The multiplier effect: The process by which manufacturing stimulates economic development, creating indirect jobs in supply industries and services, boosting retail as workers spend…AQA
Theory application: Basing every fieldwork enquiry on an established geographical theory or concept that provides a framework for the investigation.AQA
Thermal Capacity: The ability of a substance to store heat.Pearson Edexcel
Thermal Expansion: The tendency of matter to expand in volume in response to an increase in temperature.OCR, Pearson Edexcel
Thermoelectric Power: Electricity generation that uses heat to produce steam, requiring massive amounts of water for cooling.Pearson Edexcel
Thermohaline Circulation: Deep-ocean currents driven by differences in water density, which is controlled by temperature and salinity.Pearson Edexcel
Tied aid: Aid with restrictive conditions that benefit the donor more than the receiver, forcing the receiving country to buy goods from the donor.AQA
Till: Sediment deposited directly by the melting ice, consisting of unsorted, unstratified angular rock fragments of varying sizes because the ice drops everything…AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Till (Boulder Clay): An unsorted, unstratified mixture of sand, clay, and boulders deposited directly by a melting glacier.Pearson Edexcel
Timescales of climate change: Natural factors operate on different timescales: volcanic changes are short-term, solar variations are medium-term, and orbital changes are long-term.AQA
Top-Down Approach: Large-scale development projects planned, funded, and managed by governments or international organisations.Pearson Edexcel
Top-down development: Large-scale, expensive projects driven by national governments or international organisations, often with little consultation with local people.Pearson Edexcel
Top-Down Strategy: Large-scale management initiatives led by governments or large organisations.Pearson Edexcel
Tourism: A rapidly growing sector drawn to extreme environments for unique wildlife and natural phenomena, creating vital employment in hospitality and transport.AQA
Tourism and recreation: Human activity inferred by locating specific Ordnance Survey symbols such as camp sites, viewpoints, parking areas, information centres and heritage sites.AQA
Traction: The rolling of large rocks and boulders along the riverbed, requiring the highest energy, typically during floods.AQA
Transnational Corporation (TNC): A large company that operates in several countries, usually with its headquarters in an HIC and production in LICs or NEEs.Pearson Edexcel
Transpiration: The process by which moisture is carried through plants from roots to small pores on the underside of leaves, where it changes to vapor and is released to the…Pearson Edexcel
Transport: Links including major international hubs like Heathrow Airport, facilitating global movement.AQA
Transport infrastructure: Road and rail improvements and new developments, plus port and airport capacity, in which the UK government invests heavily.AQA
Transport strategies: Strategies including integrated public transport systems, park and ride schemes, and dedicated cycle lanes.AQA
Transportation: The movement of eroded material downstream.AQA
Tree planting: Provides shade, reduces wind erosion, and binds the soil with roots while adding nutrients through leaf fall.AQA
Tropical Cyclone: A large, rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, strong winds, and heavy rain, forming over warm tropical waters.Pearson Edexcel
Tropical storms: Powerful weather systems, known regionally as hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons, that develop as a result of particular physical conditions.AQA
Truncated Spur: A blunt, steep cliff face on the side of a glacial trough, formed when a glacier cuts straight through interlocking river spurs.Pearson Edexcel
Tundra environments: Environments with slightly milder climates where brief summers allow the active layer above the permafrost to thaw, supporting low-growing vegetation like…AQA
Two-Speed Economy: The concept that the UK economy is divided into two distinct tiers: the rapidly growing, prosperous South East and the slower-growing regions like the North.Pearson Edexcel
Typhoons: The regional name for tropical storms in the Pacific.AQA

U

UK physical landscapes: The distribution of these is explained by the boundary of the ice sheet, with glacial landforms found in northern and western uplands but absent from southern…AQA
Undernutrition: Occurs when diet does not provide enough calories or nutrients, affecting health and development.AQA
Unit conversion: Changing a measurement from one unit to another, such as millimetres to centimetres or metres to kilometres, ensuring accuracy in data interpretation.AQA
Upland landscapes: Areas such as the Scottish Highlands, the Pennines, the Lake District and Snowdonia, typically formed from harder, more resistant igneous and metamorphic rocks.AQA
Urban biodiversity: Enhanced by green spaces providing habitats for wildlife.AQA
Urban change and regeneration: Changes in cities in the UK that lead to a variety of social, economic and environmental opportunities and challenges.AQA
Urban deprivation: A standard of living below that of the majority in a society, often concentrated in specific city areas.AQA
Urban dereliction: The abandonment and decay of buildings and land in urban areas, often due to deindustrialisation, which creates visual pollution and attracts crime.AQA
Urban farming initiatives: Schemes such as rooftop gardens that reduce food miles and provide local produce.AQA
Urban greening: An environmental strategy aimed at increasing the proportion of green spaces within a city, involving public parks, street trees, green roofs and preserved…AQA
Urban Growth: The increase in the total population size of an urban area.Pearson Edexcel
Urban heat island effect: A problem reduced by green spaces providing shade, alongside absorbing carbon dioxide as 'green lungs'.AQA
Urban Inequality: Differences in quality of life, wealth, and access to services between different areas within the same city.Pearson Edexcel
Urban infrastructure: Poor infrastructure contributes to traffic congestion, and managing environmental issues involves strategies such as building sewage treatment plants and…AQA
Urban sprawl: The outward expansion of built-up areas into the rural-urban fringe, the transition zone where city meets countryside.AQA
Urban sustainability: Running a city to meet current needs without compromising future generations.AQA
Urban transport strategies: Methods used to reduce traffic congestion, encouraging public transport and discouraging private car reliance.AQA
Urban-Rural Fringe: The transition zone at the edge of a city where urban land uses mix with agricultural and rural land uses.Pearson Edexcel
Urbanisation: A factor that increases risk because densely populated cities concentrate people and infrastructure, amplifying exposure to earthquakes.AQA, Pearson Edexcel

V

Vegetation structure: The vegetation is highly stratified into distinct layers: the emergent layer, canopy, under canopy, and shrub layer.AQA
Vertical erosion: Erosion that dominates in the upper course, where the channel is narrow and shallow within a steep V-shaped valley.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Virtual Water: The volume of fresh water used to produce a product, measured at the place where the product was actually produced.Pearson Edexcel
Visual intrusion: When a man-made structure negatively impacts the natural beauty of a landscape.Pearson Edexcel
Visual methods: Methods such as annotated field sketches and photographs that capture qualitative observations like coastal erosion features.AQA
Visual sources: Sources such as photographs, satellite images and sketches that offer qualitative insights into landscapes and environmental changes.AQA
Volcanic cooling: Volcanic activity ejects ash and sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, and these aerosols reflect incoming solar radiation back into space, causing a…AQA
Volcanism: Volcanic eruptions, which are primarily found at constructive and destructive margins where magma reaches the surface.AQA
Vulnerability: The susceptibility of a population to the damaging effects of a hazard.Pearson Edexcel
Vulnerability and poverty: Lacking the financial means to relocate, which traps many people in high-risk areas.AQA
Vulnerability and risk: The severity of risk depends on the vulnerability and capacity of the population to cope.AQA

W

Waste disposal: A major environmental issue as urban populations grow, requiring sustainable solutions like recycling and energy recovery rather than relying on unsustainable…AQA
Waste management: Effective management that is vital as urban populations grow and waste generation increases, reducing the volume of waste sent to landfill sites.AQA
Waste recycling: Processing used materials into new products, such as separating paper, glass, plastics and metals at the household level for kerbside collection.AQA
Water and soil management: Techniques such as building stone lines (bunds) along contours, which trap water and prevent topsoil from washing away.AQA
Water conservation: Reducing demand and managing supply efficiently, for example through dual-flush toilets, rainwater harvesting for gardens and water meters to encourage…AQA
Water deficit: A condition where rainfall is suppressed by high-pressure systems or demand outpaces supply, typically around 30 degrees north and south of the equator.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Water insecurity: A situation in which demand exceeds supply, so clean water is scarce and people often rely on polluted sources.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Water recycling: Treating wastewater so it can be reused for industrial processes or agriculture, reducing the demand for fresh water.AQA
Water Scarcity: A severe lack of water, defined as annual supplies dropping below 1,000m³ per person per year.Pearson Edexcel
Water security: Having a reliable, accessible, and affordable supply of clean water to meet the needs of a population and economy.AQA
Water Stress: The demand for water exceeding the available amount during a certain period, which can be caused by over-extraction as well as low rainfall.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Water supply: A critical challenge because low and unreliable rainfall means water must be carefully managed, often requiring expensive infrastructure like pipelines or…AQA
Water surplus: A condition where precipitation exceeds evaporation, generally found near the equator and in high latitudes.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Water transfer: Moving water through canals or pipes from regions with a water surplus to those with a water deficit.AQA
Water Transfer Scheme: Large-scale engineering projects that move water from areas of surplus to areas of deficit via pipes and canals.Pearson Edexcel
Water treatment: The use of filtration and chemical purification in plants to ensure water is safe for consumption.AQA
Wave energy: Reduced in sheltered areas such as bays by headlands, and by friction with the seabed in shallow water.AQA
Wave formation: Waves are generated by wind blowing over the sea surface, and their size depends on wind speed, duration and fetch.AQA
Wave-cut notch: A notch formed at the base of a cliff by wave action undercutting it, eventually leading to cliff collapse.AQA
Wave-cut platform: A rocky, gently sloping platform left behind by the continuous retreat of a cliff, typically exposed at low tide.AQA
Wealth inequality: Averages like GNI per head mask extreme wealth inequalities within a population, as a country might have a high GNI due to a few extremely wealthy individuals…AQA
Weather hazards: Tropical storms, known regionally as hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons, are intense low-pressure systems developing over warm oceans above 27°C.AQA
Weathering: The breakdown of rock in situ, in its original place, by the action of the weather, plants, and animals.AQA, Pearson Edexcel
Weathering processes: Break down exposed rock above the glacier, particularly through freeze-thaw action, which provides the angular rock fragments enabling erosion.AQA
Wind patterns: Surface winds blow from high-pressure areas towards low-pressure zones to balance the atmosphere, and the Earth's rotation deflects these winds due to the…AQA
Wind Shear: A change in wind speed or direction with altitude.Pearson Edexcel

X

Xerophyte: A plant adapted to survive in an environment with very little liquid water, such as a desert.Pearson Edexcel

Other terms

'Grey' water: Gently used water from sinks, showers, and washing machines (excluding toilet waste) that is collected and reused for purposes like flushing toilets or…AQA
90th percentile: Means 90% of the data falls below this value.AQA

Where these terms come from

Each definition is one we publish on a Geography GCSE topic page or study guide. Open a term to see how each exam board words it and which topic it belongs to. For the full course, go to Geography revision or the glossary for every subject.

Revise Geography with these terms

Create a free account to practise exam questions and get feedback on your answers.

Start free

A week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge

Geography topics

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Other terms

Where these terms come from

Revise Geography with these terms

Cookies on MasteryMind