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This is Hounds Tor, Dartmoor

Rock Types and the Landscape

Different rock types shape the landscape, from steep moors to fertile lowlands. This GCSE Geography quiz explores how rocks influence landforms, soils, and human land use.

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Fascinating Fact:

Rock type affects soils, vegetation, and land use, for example thin acidic soils on granite support rough grazing, while fertile alluvial soils in soft rock lowlands support intensive farming.

In GCSE Geography, you study how geology and rock structure influence relief, drainage, and land use. Hard and soft rocks erode at different rates, creating contrasting landscapes such as craggy uplands and wider, gentler lowland valleys.

Key Terms

Igneous rock: Rock formed when molten magma or lava cools and solidifies, often creating hard, resistant landscapes.
Sedimentary rock: Rock made from layers of compacted sediments, such as sandstone or limestone, which can be more easily eroded.
Metamorphic rock: Rock that has been changed by heat and pressure, for example slate or schist, often forming tough, folded landscapes.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

How do different rock types affect the landscape in GCSE Geography?

Different rock types erode and weather at different rates. Hard rocks tend to form steep slopes, cliffs, and high land, while softer rocks form gentler hills, wider valleys, and lowlands.

What is the difference between hard and soft rock landscapes?

Hard rock landscapes are usually rugged, with crags, narrow valleys, and resistant headlands. Soft rock landscapes are smoother and more open, with wider valleys, floodplains, and low, rolling hills.

Why is rock type important when studying land use in Geography?

Rock type controls soil depth and fertility, drainage, and slope. These factors influence where farming, forestry, settlement, and quarrying take place, so geologists and planners must consider the underlying rock.

Try These Related Quizzes

1 .

Why do chalk downs have a low drainage density?

Chalk is porous and permeable

Chalk is neither porous nor permeable

Farmers have created underground channels to prevent water contamination

Chalk is only found in deserts

Any rain falling on to a chalk landscape will be absorbed into the ground

2 .

Why does a granite landscape have a high drainage density?

Granite is criss-crossed with underground aquifers

Granite is highly porous

Granite is an impermeable rock

The soil is very thin

Granite forms upland areas where rainfall tends to be high. Since granite is impermeable, the rain forms many streams and rivers

3 .

A geographer on a field trip noticed that the fields of barley around the study centre were waterlogged even though it hadn't rained for over a week. What might she guess about the underlying rocks?

It is probably chalk

It is probably limestone

It is probably granite

It is probably clay

There are two clues in the question. Firstly, waterlogging that lasts more than a few days suggests that the rock underneath is impermeable so that makes limestone and chalk less likely. Secondly, the fact that she was looking at fields of barley means it is not likely to be granite as that is not suitable for arable farming (nor are limestone and chalk so that also backs up her guess). That leaves clay

4 .

Which of the following is the least likely to be found in a granite landscape?

Underground caverns

High drainage density

Peat bog

Areas of standing water

Granite is impermeable

5 .

Limestone pavement is created by which of the following processes?

Attrition

Solution

Saltation

Hydraulic action

Carbon dioxide (and pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from burning fossil fuels) make rainwater slightly acidic. This reacts chemically with the limestone, dissolving it away along lines of weaknesses like joints and bedding planes

6 .

Which of the following statements about a chalk landscape is untrue?

It is most often located in the upland areas of Britain

Chalk forms white cliffs on the south coast

Chalk soils are thin and poor

Acid rain can dissolve chalk

Layers of chalk that are underground form good aquifers (areas underground that allow the storage of water because the rock is porous)

7 .

Granite forms which of the following types of landscape?

Plains

A dust bowl

Moorland

Fens

It is an impermeable rock that weathers only slowly, forming poor soils. As it is resistant to weathering, it usually forms areas of high land or even mountains

8 .

Clay is:

a hard and porous rock

a hard and impermeable rock

a soft and porous rock

a soft and impermeable rock

Layers of clay in porous or permeable rocks can trap liquids like oil and water underground

9 .

Which of the following is likely to be found in a limestone landscape.

Dry valleys

Swallow holes

Gorges

All of the above

Carboniferous limestone is permeable so water will often end up underground by going down swallow holes, leaving dry valleys. Gorges form when the roof of an underground watercourse or cave collapses

10 .

Which of the following features is most associated with granite landscapes in the south-west peninsula of England?

Stalactites and stalagmites

Tors

White cliffs

Underground streams

On the granite moorland of Dartmoor, there are at least 150 tors. These are rock outcrops formed by a combination of freeze-thaw weathering and hydrolysis that have not become covered in vegetation

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