TASK 1: Compare and contrast the climate of the two places below. Include data in your answer.

 

CLIMATE AND RELIEF OF EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS

TASK 2: Use the following resources to research and summarise the climate and relief of different extreme environments:

 
 

MYSTERY IMAGE

TASK 3: What has happened to the vehicle in the photo below?

car flash flood.jpg
 

FLASH FLOODS

 

An arid area receives less than 250 mm of rain per year.

Most deserts get what little precipitation they do receive in a few, heavy rainfalls, rather than many light rains spread out over the course of the year. This leads to seasonal lakes and rivers which may last a few months, or even only a few days. Dry river beds are a common sight in many deserts, and are called wadis in some African and Middle Eastern deserts.

In order to understand how a flash flood like the one above can happen in hot, arid areas, we must first understand how drainage basins work.

drainage basin system.jpg

TASK 3: Study the diagram. Identify the processes which would be affected by:

  • extreme high temperatures

  • lack of vegetation cover

 

CAUSES OF FLASH FLOODS IN ARID AREAS

TASK 4: Draw a labelled diagram including all of the information below

Flooding occurs when rainfall intensity exceeds infiltration capacity generating surface runoff/overland flow leading to flooding.

Causes of flooding in deserts:

convection.png
  1. summer convection rainfall bringing high amounts of precipitation

  2. unvegetated desert surfaces reduce interception and infiltration, increasing overland flow

  3. high concentrations of water in wadis, gullies or channels

  4. presence of desert crusts (duricrusts) and other barriers to infiltration (rocks in desert pavement etc).

 

practice exam question

Describe the climatic characteristics of either periglacial or glacial environments. [4 marks]

 

Mark Scheme

Key aspects will be temperature, temperature range, seasonality, precipitation.

Award 1 mark for each valid statement, supported by some quantification or development.