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Mount Vesuvius.

Landform Use and Tectonic Plates

Tectonic plates shape our planet, building mountains, trenches, and valleys. This GCSE Geography quiz links plate movements to landforms and how people use these dramatic landscapes.

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Fascinating Fact:

Tectonic plates move slowly over the mantle and their interactions create many major landforms, such as mountains, ocean trenches, and rift valleys.

In GCSE Geography, landforms and tectonic plates are studied together to explain how the Earth’s surface is built and reshaped. Pupils learn how plate boundaries create mountains, volcanoes, trenches, and rift valleys, and how these landscapes influence settlement, hazards, and economic activity.

Key Terms

Tectonic plate: A large, rigid slab of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle that slowly moves over the mantle.
Mantle: The hot, semi-solid layer of rock beneath the crust that allows plates to move.
Rift valley: A long, steep-sided valley formed when the Earth’s crust pulls apart along a fault or plate boundary.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What are tectonic plates in GCSE Geography?

In GCSE Geography, tectonic plates are huge slabs of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle that move slowly over the mantle. Their movement creates landforms and causes earthquakes and volcanoes.

How do tectonic plates create landforms like mountains and trenches?

When plates collide, rocks are pushed upwards to form fold mountains. When one plate sinks beneath another, deep ocean trenches form. At diverging boundaries, rifting creates valleys and mid-ocean ridges.

How do people use landforms created by tectonic plates?

People farm on volcanic soils, build reservoirs in rift valleys, use mountain areas for tourism and hydroelectric power, and exploit minerals found in tectonic zones, despite the natural hazard risks.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Iceland is right on the constructive plate boundary between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate. Which of the following statements is correct?

Many Icelanders are killed each year by volcanic eruptions

Iceland can use geothermal energy to generate electricity

Iceland is an uninhabited island because of the volcanoes

It is not possible to farm on Iceland

The magma that comes out of the volcanoes in Iceland heats up the ground sufficiently hot to be used for geothermal power stations

2 .

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

Tourism in fold mountains occurs all year round

Volcanic soils are often very fertile

Road and rail communications in fold mountains can be difficult

Tourists are not allowed to visit volcanoes

Many volcanoes, including some which are dormant or still active attract tourists. This is possible because they are closely monitored so that volcanologists can say whether there is about to be an eruption

3 .

Why do people live near to active volcanoes?

The soils can be very fertile

The heat from the volcano creates a warm climate

To save money on heating bills

Houses near volcanoes are all a lot cheaper than other houses

The fertile soils mean that farming will be more productive. There are long periods of time between eruptions so most of the time, the people living there are in no danger from the volcano. Volcanologists can usually give several days warning before an eruption

4 .

The three types of plate boundary are:

destructive, constructive and conservative

sideways, upwards and downwards

always passing each other on the left

locked in place

Each produces unique landform features

5 .

The management of coniferous forests is an important use of fold mountains. Which of the following is NOT a use of these forests?

Generating electricity on a large scale

Fuel for heating homes

Providing timber for building

Providing an area for leisure activities

It is important to manage forests sustainably to ensure this renewable resource will continue to be available to future generations of humans

6 .

Which of the following features is created at a destructive plate boundary?

A crater

Fold mountains

Pillow lava

A rift valley

Rift valleys are created where the Earth's crust is being pulled apart by tectonic movements, pillow lava is created at undersea constructive plate margins

7 .

Which of the following methods of generating electricity is MOST likely to be developed in a mountainous area?

Biogas

Hydroelectric

Nuclear

Geothermal

For the GCSE, you should associate geothermal energy generation with volcanic landforms. Fold mountains often have deep, steep-sided valleys which can easily be dammed to provide lakes for hydroelectric power schemes

8 .

On which slopes of fold mountains in the SOUTHERN hemisphere would agriculture be most likely to take place?

East

South

West

North

In the southern hemisphere, the northern slopes are facing the Sun - it is the opposite to the northern hemisphere where the southern slopes are the sunniest

9 .

In fold mountains, roads usually follow the line of which of the following features?

Pyramidal peaks

Aretes

Valleys

Scree slopes

Roads in valleys are less exposed to the weather and are easier to construct

10 .

Which of the following is NOT a direct human use of fold mountains?

Winter sports

Agriculture

Mobile telephone manufacture

Electricity production

Tourism, agriculture and hydroelectric power generation are important uses of this landform. There could be mobile telephone manufacturing in urban areas that have developed in fold mountains, but they are not there because of the mountains

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Plate tectonics

Author: Kev Woodward (PGCE, Science & Chemistry Teacher, Quiz Writer)