Human activities can lead to changes in glaciated upland landscapes — Edexcel GCSE Geography A
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Human activities can lead to changes in glaciated upland landscapes explained
Human activities can lead to changes in glaciated upland landscapes covers 2 specification points, including A.
Read the full explanation
How human activity (farming, forestry,… and B. Advantages and disadvantages of development…. Open a point below for its explanation and revision guidance.
a. How human activity (farming, forestry, settlement) has impacted on physical processes in glaciated upland landscapes.
This statement asks you to explain how farming, forestry and settlement have changed physical processes in glaciated upland landscapes. Name the process first, then the activity that alters it. Farming, such as overgrazing and trampling, can strip vegetation and expose soil, increasing surface runoff and erosion. Forestry, such as clear felling, removes canopy and root cover, so slopes can become more prone to erosion and mass movement. Settlement, through roads, paths and buildings, creates impermeable surfaces that speed runoff and cause footpath erosion. Use terms such as infiltration and mass movement, linking each activity to a specific process change.
b. Advantages and disadvantages of development (water storage and supply, renewable energy, recreation and tourism, conservation) and how they can lead to change in glaciated upland landscapes.
Development in glaciated upland areas brings benefits and costs, and both can alter the landscape. Water storage and supply involves damming valleys to create reservoirs, which can flood glacial valley floors and change drainage. Renewable energy, such as wind farms and hydroelectric schemes, brings income but adds turbines and access tracks that alter skylines and disturb slopes. Recreation and tourism bring jobs and funding, yet heavy footfall widens footpaths and erodes peat. Conservation protects habitats and features, but restricting grazing can allow vegetation change. For each development type, identify one advantage and one disadvantage, then explain the specific landscape change that results.
Your focus
- Name one physical process altered by farming, forestry and settlement in glaciated upland landscapes.
- Explain the mechanism by which clear felling affects slope stability.
- Compare the process changes caused by farming and settlement in a short written response.
Show all 6 objectives
- Explains one advantage and one disadvantage of reservoir development in a glaciated upland.
- Describes how renewable energy, recreation and conservation each lead to a specific change in an upland landscape.
- Links a named development type to a named physical process that changes the glaciated landscape.
Human activities can lead to changes in glaciated upland landscapes exam tips
Marking Points
- Identifies the physical process changed by each activity, such as infiltration, runoff, soil erosion or mass movement.
- Explains the farming impact, for example overgrazing and trampling removing vegetation and exposing soil.
- Explains the forestry impact, for example clear felling removing canopy and root cover and increasing slope vulnerability.
- Explains the settlement impact, for example impermeable surfaces increasing the speed of runoff and causing footpath erosion.
- Links each human activity to a specific process change rather than listing the activities alone.
- Identifies a specific advantage and a specific disadvantage for each named development type.
- Explains how reservoir construction floods valley floors and alters drainage patterns in glaciated uplands.
- Explains how wind turbines and access tracks change skylines and disturb upland slopes.
- Explains how visitor footfall widens footpaths, removes vegetation and exposes soil to erosion.
- Links conservation measures, such as restricted grazing, to a named change in vegetation or habitat.
- Connects each landscape change to a named physical process such as erosion, deposition or vegetation succession.
Examiner Tips
- 💡Use a cause, process, effect structure for each activity, for example overgrazing removes vegetation, which increases runoff.
- 💡Select one clear example per activity and explain it fully rather than giving brief points for all three.
- 💡Use precise process terms such as infiltration and mass movement, and check that each term matches the activity described.
- 💡Use a simple structure for each development: advantage, disadvantage, resulting landscape change, so no part of the question is missed.
- 💡Use precise upland examples such as reservoirs, wind farms or footpath erosion rather than general statements about development.
- 💡Check that every landscape change you describe is explained by a process, not just stated as an effect.
Common Mistakes
- Lists farming, forestry and settlement without naming any physical process; correct this by naming the process each activity changes.
- Assumes every activity increases erosion; correct this by explaining the specific mechanism for each activity.
- Describes the glacial origin of upland landforms as a human impact; correct this by keeping glacial processes separate from human changes.
- Writes that an activity causes erosion without a mechanism; correct this by stating the cause, the process changed and the effect.
- Lists development types without explaining how each produces a landscape change; add a causal link for every type named.
- Describes only advantages or only disadvantages; give both for each development type.
- Treats conservation as having no cost; state a possible disadvantage, such as restricted land use, and explain its effect on the landscape.
- Names a change such as flooding without naming the process involved; state the mechanism, for example blocked drainage or waterlogging.