Tectonic Hazards | AQA GCSE Geography (8035)

Tectonic Hazards

  • 48 questions
  • 4 subtopics
  • Paper 1
  • Paper 1

Tectonic Hazards is examined in Paper 1, Living with the physical environment.

It covers plate tectonics, plate margins and where earthquakes and volcanoes occur, the effects of and responses to a tectonic hazard and living with tectonic risk: monitoring, prediction, protection and planning.

Sample questions from Tectonic Hazards

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

  1. Plate tectonics, plate margins and where earthquakes and volcanoes occur

    Describe the worldwide pattern of volcanoes.

    Show the answer
    Almost all volcanoes lie in narrow lines that follow the edges of the plates, especially around the rim of the Pacific Ocean and along the mid-ocean ridges.
  2. Plate tectonics, plate margins and where earthquakes and volcanoes occur

    What happens to the plates at a destructive margin?

    Show the answer
    The denser oceanic plate is forced down beneath the lighter continental plate in a process called subduction, and melts as it sinks into the mantle.
  3. The effects of and responses to a tectonic hazard

    Why are fires often listed as a secondary effect of an earthquake?

    Show the answer
    Because the shaking first fractures gas pipes and electricity cables, and the fires those broken services start then spread through the wreckage.
  4. The effects of and responses to a tectonic hazard

    Why is the death toll usually far higher in the poorer of the two contrasting areas you studied?

    Show the answer
    Because homes are built cheaply and are not designed to resist shaking, and hospitals, rescue teams and equipment are too few to reach everyone in time.
  5. Contrasting earthquakes: Chile 2010 and Nepal 2015

    How did Chile respond in the days after its 2010 earthquake?

    Show the answer
    Emergency services acted within hours, the main north–south highway was temporarily repaired within a day so aid could reach the south, and power and water were restored to most homes within about ten days.
  6. Contrasting earthquakes: Chile 2010 and Nepal 2015

    How did the responses to the 2015 Nepal earthquake differ from those in Chile in 2010?

    Show the answer
    Nepal depended heavily on international search teams, helicopters and foreign aid, especially from India and China, and remote mountain villages waited days or weeks for help because landslides had cut the roads.
  7. Living with tectonic risk: monitoring, prediction, protection and planning

    How can a volcano bring money into the local economy?

    Show the answer
    It draws tourists to see the crater, hot springs and lava landscape, which creates jobs in guiding, transport, hotels and shops.
  8. Living with tectonic risk: monitoring, prediction, protection and planning

    Why can an eruption often be predicted when an earthquake cannot?

    Show the answer
    Because a volcano gives measurable warning signs for days or weeks beforehand, whereas an earthquake strikes with no reliable signal, so only the places likely to be hit can be identified.

The 4 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic What it covers Questions
Plate tectonics, plate margins and where earthquakes and volcanoes occur Plate tectonics theory, what drives plate movement, continental and oceanic crust, the global pattern of earthquakes and volcanoes and the Ring of Fire, and what happens at constructive, destructive and conservative margins. 13
The effects of and responses to a tectonic hazard Primary and secondary effects of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, immediate and long-term responses, and why death tolls, costs and responses differ between wealthy and poorer areas. 11
Contrasting earthquakes: Chile 2010 and Nepal 2015 The 2010 Chile and 2015 Nepal earthquakes compared: their plate settings, deaths, damage, tsunami, landslides and avalanches, immediate and long-term responses, and why the wealthier country lost fewer lives but more money. 14
Living with tectonic risk: monitoring, prediction, protection and planning Why people stay near volcanoes and fault lines, from family to fertile soil, geothermal energy and tourism, and how monitoring, prediction, protective building and planning reduce the risk. 10
Tectonic Hazards is 48 of the 1,429 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £7

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

  1. Step 1 · Closed book

    Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.

  2. Step 2 · Open book

    Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.

  3. Step 3 · Closed book again

    Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.

Nearby topics

All 20 topics Guide overview

AQA GCSE Geography Active Recall Guide

Every topic, not just this one. 1,429 questions with their answers.

£7 GBP
Get the guide

Digital PDF, sent to the email address on your order.