GCE Geography 1989 past questions and answers

The seasons are caused by the tilt of the earth's axis and its revolution, not by its shape.

Meridians (lines of longitude) are imaginary lines drawn from the North Pole to the South Pole.

Seoul is 90° further east: 90 ÷ 15 = 6 hours ahead, so 4 p.m. + 6 h = 10 p.m. Friday.

Igneous rocks form from molten magma, so they are not layered and never contain fossils.

Residual mountains are what remains of old highlands after long wearing down (denudation).

Impermeable rocks (such as clay or granite) do not let water pass through.

A mesa is a broad flat-topped hill capped by hard rock; a butte is a smaller remnant of a mesa.

Stalactites hang from cave roofs; stalagmites grow up from the floor.

Little rain and high evaporation leave loose, dry, unvegetated particles the wind can pick up.

A strong current would carry the river's sediment away instead of letting it build a delta.

Prevailing winds push surface water and the earth's rotation deflects it.

Land and sea breezes come from unequal heating causing rising and sinking air and pressure differences; air need not be saturated.

Pressure is measured with a barometer; an anemometer measures wind speed.

At sea level there is a thicker column of air above, so it presses with greater weight.

Diurnal means daily: the gap between the day's highest and lowest temperatures.

The tropical continental (savanna) climate has a hot rainy season and a cool, dry harmattan season.

Koppen used mean temperature and precipitation values linked to vegetation.

Strips of different crops slow run-off and reduce erosion.

Kano lies in the Sudan savanna, a tropical grassland; Buenos Aires and Winnipeg are in temperate grasslands.

The thick canopy blocks sunlight, so few plants can grow on the dark forest floor.

Groundnut grows in the savanna with moderate rain over a short season and light, well-drained sandy soil.

An ecosystem covers living things, including man, and their whole environment.

Each element depends on and affects the others.

Flooding, earthquakes, deforestation and pollution are hazards; sedimentation is a normal process of deposition.

Digging and straightening channels drains excess water quickly from low-lying land.

Buildings are man-made, not natural resources.

Deposited sediment usually adds new fertile land (e.g. flood plains) rather than destroying it.

Fast population growth is found in poor, less developed countries that often cannot feed themselves.

Relative location (situation) describes where a settlement is compared with other places.

Waterfalls, weeds, seasonal low water and gorges hinder boats; wide valleys do not.

Nigeria's kaolin is used at home (ceramics, paper); cocoa, columbite, coffee and oil were exported.

The Udi-Nsukka scarplands lie just west of the Cross River basin.

The Benue is navigable for a long distance, from Lokoja up to Yola and beyond in the wet season.

Low rainfall and the advancing Sahara destroy farmland in the north-east.

Temperature falls with height, and Jos stands on a plateau over 1,200 m high.

Cotton, the raw material, is grown widely in the north.

The large Niger and Benue rivers (Kainji, Jebba, Shiroro) give the greatest potential.

Leaving land to rest under bush lets it recover its fertility naturally.

Olives are drought-resistant trees suited to the Mediterranean climate of mild wet winters and dry summers.

ECOWAS does not expel members for failing to pay their dues.

High birth rates: early marriage; polygamy; children seen as wealth, farm labour and old-age security; religious and cultural opposition to birth control; low female education
Falling death rates: better medical care and vaccination; lower infant mortality; better food supply; improved sanitation and water; fewer wars and famines
Birth rate stays high while death rate falls, so natural increase is rapid

Population grows fast when birth rates stay high but death rates fall.

(a) Rural: farming (crops and livestock); fishing; lumbering; mining in some; small-scale crafts and periodic markets; residence of farmers
Urban: industrial/manufacturing; commercial and banking; administrative; educational, medical and cultural services; transport nodes; residential
(b) Rural areas supply food and raw materials to towns; towns supply manufactured goods and services (schools, hospitals, banks) to rural areas; rural people migrate to towns for jobs and send money back; towns are markets for rural produce; towns provide administration for surrounding villages

Show what each side gives and gets in (b).

For Nigeria (or any named country): trunk roads (e.g. Lagos-Ibadan-Kano, East-West road) link regions and ethnic groups; easy movement of people encourages inter-marriage, travel, schooling and understanding; carries goods from one region to another, so regions specialise and depend on each other; opens remote areas, bringing development and government presence; spreads trade and markets; helps national events, sports and youth service (NYSC); movement of security forces for defence and unity

Name the country and real roads.

Inadequate capital and savings; shortage of skilled labour and technology; small home market and low purchasing power; poor infrastructure – unreliable power (e.g. NEPA outages), poor roads and communication; shortage of some raw materials and dependence on imports; competition from cheaper foreign goods; political instability and poor policies; corruption and poor management; examples from named countries (e.g. Nigeria, Ghana, Zaire)

Support each factor with a named country.

(a) e.g. United States, Britain, Japan (also Germany, France, Netherlands)
(b) e.g. Britain – exports: petroleum, cocoa, palm kernel/rubber; imports: machinery, motor vehicles, chemicals/pharmaceuticals
(c) Differences in resources – Nigeria produces raw materials and Britain manufactured goods; differences in technology and industrialisation; historical colonial ties and shared language; trade agreements, shipping links
(d) Earns foreign exchange; supplies goods Nigeria cannot make; but dependence on one product (oil) and unfavourable terms of trade; hinders local industry; foreign debts

Exports are raw materials; imports are manufactured goods.

(a) Map showing the five rivers in correct positions; Lake Chad (natural) and Kainji Lake (artificial); Jos Plateau, Udi Hills, Western Highlands, Obudu Plateau; northern lowland e.g. Sokoto plains or Chad basin; southern lowland e.g. coastal lowlands/Niger delta
(b) Hydro-electric power (Kainji, Jebba); inland water transport; water for irrigation and farming (e.g. fadama); fishing; water for domestic and industrial use; tourism; fertile flood plains for rice; employment

Use a key for lakes, highlands and lowlands.

Sketch maps of rainfall distribution and vegetation belts
Rainfall decreases from over 3,000 mm in the south-east to under 500 mm in the far north; dry season lengthens northwards
Vegetation follows rainfall: mangrove and fresh-water swamp forest on the wet coast; rain forest in the south; Guinea savanna in the middle belt; Sudan savanna; Sahel savanna in the far north-east
High temperatures everywhere allow growth all year where water is available; the long dry season and harmattan in the north give grassland with drought-resistant trees; on high plateaus (Jos, Mambilla) cooler climate gives montane grassland

The heavier the rainfall, the denser the vegetation.

Any three:
Kaduna textiles: cotton grown nearby; large market in the north; abundant labour; power and water from River Kaduna; rail and road links; capital and government support
Warri refinery: crude oil from the nearby Niger Delta fields; port for shipping products; water; market in the south; pipelines
Oku Iboku paper mill: softwood/forest raw materials nearby; plenty of water from the Cross River; river transport; power; labour
Ewekoro cement: large limestone deposits; nearness to the Lagos market; rail and road; power; labour and capital

Give location factors that are specific to each named place.

Western Highlands (Yoruba uplands):
(a) Undulating upland 300-600 m with inselbergs (Idanre, Ado, Olumo rock); highest around Ekiti/Okeimesi; slopes south to the coast and north to the Niger
(b) Main watershed: rivers flow south to the lagoons (Ogun, Osun, Oshun, Owena, Oni) and north to the Niger (Oyan, Moshi, Awun); radial patterns
(c) Ferruginous tropical soils from basement complex rocks; fertile loams in the forest belt; laterite and sandy soils in the north
(d) Rain forest (mostly secondary forest and cocoa farms) in the south; derived savanna and Guinea savanna in the north
(e) Cocoa, kola, oil palm farming; food crops (yam, cassava, maize); lumbering; quarrying; many large towns (Ibadan, Oyo, Akure) with trading and crafts

Choose one region and keep all headings to it.

(a)(i) Niger-Benue: seasonal changes in water level (shallow in the dry season); sandbanks and silting; rapids and rocks (e.g. near Jebba before Kainji locks); water hyacinth; few modern river ports and boats; slow
(ii) Lagos-Kano railway: old narrow-gauge single track; old locomotives and wagons; frequent derailments and breakdowns; poor maintenance and management; slow; competition from road transport; vandalism
(b) Dredging and river training; locks and dams; clearing weeds; modern river ports and vessels; standard-gauge double tracks; new rolling stock; better funding and management; privatisation/concessions

Match each solution to a problem.

Nile valley:
(a) Basin (flood) irrigation – flood water held in embanked basins; perennial irrigation – dams/barrages (Aswan High Dam, Sennar) store water fed through canals all year; shaduf, sakia (water wheel), Archimedean screw; diesel pumps
(b) Desert climate with little rain; high evaporation; rich alluvial soils; large population needing food; cash crops (cotton) for export; reliable river water
(c) Salinisation and waterlogging; loss of silt behind dams so fertilisers are needed; water-borne diseases (bilharzia, malaria); high cost of dams and canals; silting of reservoirs; seepage and evaporation losses; disputes over Nile water

Choose one valley and keep (a)-(c) to it.

(a) Farmer clears and burns bush, cultivates a plot for 2-4 years, then leaves it to rest (fallow) and moves to another plot in the same area, returning later; simple tools (hoe, cutlass); mixed cropping of food crops; small farms; family labour; mainly subsistence
(b) Availability of land (low population density); communal land tenure; low soil fertility and lack of fertilisers; poverty and lack of capital; traditional knowledge; climate/vegetation regrowth
(c) Wasteful of land; low yields; fallow period shortened as population grows so soil fertility falls; bush burning destroys organic matter and causes erosion; difficult to mechanise; little surplus for sale

Bush fallowing rotates the land, not the crops.

(a) Map: Kariba on the Zambezi (Zambia/Zimbabwe); Aswan on the Nile (Egypt); Cabora Bassa on the Zambezi (Mozambique); Akosombo on the Volta (Ghana); Owen Falls on the Nile at Jinja (Uganda)
(b) Power for industries (e.g. Valco aluminium smelter from Akosombo, Zambian copper mines from Kariba); electricity for homes and towns; irrigation (Aswan); fishing in lakes; water transport on lakes; flood control; export of power; tourism; employment
(c) Very high capital cost; seasonal river flow and low water in dry years; silting of reservoirs; displacement of people and flooding of farmland; water-borne diseases; lack of skilled personnel; small industrial market; political instability

Name the dam and the country it serves in (b).

(a) Nigeria: concessions surveyed for valuable trees; undergrowth cleared; trees felled with power saws/axes above the buttresses; logs trimmed and hauled by tractors to roads; carried by lorries or floated down rivers (e.g. through the lagoons to Sapele and Lagos); sawn at sawmills
(b) Valuable trees scattered among others; buttresses and very hard wood; thick undergrowth and swampy ground; poor roads; heavy rains; rapids on rivers; high cost; deforestation and lack of regeneration
(c) Foreign exchange from timber exports (Gabon, Cameroun, Zaire, Côte d'Ivoire); employment; raw materials for sawmills, plywood, furniture and paper industries; building materials; fuel; government revenue; opening up of remote areas

Give named examples of countries, towns and timbers.

(a) Formed 1975 (Treaty of Lagos) to promote economic co-operation and integration; remove trade barriers and tariffs; free movement of people, goods and services; common external tariff; joint development of transport, communications, agriculture and industry; raise living standards
(b) Sixteen West African states, e.g. Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mauritania
(c) Different languages and currencies (French/English); members produce similar goods; poor transport links; political instability and border closures; unpaid contributions; loyalty to former colonial powers and other blocs; smuggling
(d) Common currency; better road/rail links (Trans-West African highway); political stability and democracy; members paying dues; diversifying production

Name real member countries.

(a) Diagram: sun at centre, earth at four positions with axis tilted the same way: 21 March (vernal/spring equinox), 21 June (summer solstice, sun overhead at Tropic of Cancer), 23 September (autumnal equinox), 22 December (winter solstice, sun overhead at Tropic of Capricorn); show lit and dark halves
(b) Causes the four seasons; varies the length of day and night through the year (equal at equinoxes); changes the altitude of the midday sun (apparent movement of the overhead sun between the tropics); midnight sun and polar night within the polar circles; shifting of pressure and wind belts; the calendar year (365¼ days, leap year)

Keep the axis tilted in the same direction at every position.

(a) Source of minerals (gold, tin in igneous rocks; coal, petroleum in sedimentary rocks); building and road materials (granite, gravel, sandstone, marble); limestone for cement; clay for bricks and pottery; weather into soils for farming; store underground water; landscapes for tourism
(b) Characteristics: crystalline; hard and resistant; no layers (strata); no fossils; mostly impermeable; acid (granite) or basic (basalt)
Formation: magma from inside the earth rises and cools; intrusive/plutonic rocks cool slowly underground with large crystals (granite); extrusive/volcanic rocks cool quickly at the surface with small crystals (basalt)

Link crystal size to the speed of cooling.

Two pairs, each with labelled diagrams and three differences, e.g.
Zeugen vs yardang: zeugen – hard and soft rock in horizontal layers, ridges with flat hard caps; yardang – bands of hard and soft rock in vertical layers parallel to the wind; zeugen form along joints worn by abrasion, yardangs along soft bands; yardangs are elongated in the wind direction
Ria vs fiord: fiord – drowned glaciated U-shaped valley, steep high sides, shallow threshold at the mouth, deepest inland; ria – drowned river (V-shaped) valley, gentler sides, deepens towards the sea, funnel-shaped; fiords in high latitudes (Norway), rias in lower latitudes (SW Ireland, Spain)
Waterfall vs gorge: waterfall – sudden fall of water over hard rock/step; gorge – steep-sided narrow valley often formed as a waterfall retreats
Levee vs delta: levee – raised bank along a river channel on the flood plain; delta – low fan of deposits at the river mouth with distributaries

Each pair needs a diagram and three clear contrasts.

Cool temperate western margin (e.g. British Isles, NW Europe, British Columbia):
(a) Mild winters (2-7°C) and cool summers (13-17°C); small annual range; rain all year (about 600-2,500 mm) from westerlies and depressions, more in winter; cloudy and changeable weather
(b) Deciduous broad-leaved forest (oak, beech, ash, elm) shedding leaves in winter; coniferous trees on higher ground; much cleared for farms
(c) Mixed farming and dairying; market gardening near cities; fishing; lumbering; mining and manufacturing industries; trade and tourism
(Or tropical monsoon, e.g. India: hot wet summer monsoon, cool dry winter; monsoon deciduous forest – teak, sal, bamboo; wet rice, tea, jute, sugar cane farming, lumbering)

Choose one region and give real figures and examples.

Tropical rain forest:
(i) Within about 5-10° of the equator: Amazon basin, Zaire (Congo) basin and Guinea coast of West Africa, Malaysia and Indonesia
(ii) Evergreen; tall trees (up to 60 m) in three layers with a dense canopy; many species mixed together; hardwoods; broad leaves with drip tips; buttress roots; climbers (lianas) and epiphytes; little undergrowth under thick canopy
(iii) Hardwood timber (mahogany, iroko, obeche); tree crops (cocoa, oil palm, rubber); food, medicine, fuel; game and tourism; protects soils and water supply
(Temperate grassland – prairies, pampas, steppes, veld: short grass, treeless, wheat and cattle; Laurentian – mixed forest in NE USA/Canada/Manchuria)

Pick one vegetation type and stay with it.

Any four, each explained: deforestation for farming, lumbering and fuel (soil erosion, loss of wildlife); farming and overgrazing (soil exhaustion, desertification); mining and quarrying (pits, spoil heaps, pollution, e.g. Jos tin fields, oil spills); urbanisation and building (loss of land, flooding, heat); industry and vehicles (air, water and land pollution, gas flaring); dams and irrigation (change river regimes, flood land); positive interference – afforestation, land reclamation, irrigation and fertilisers

Explain the effect of each human activity on the environment.