AQA GCSE Geography key terms

The percentage of people who have access to drinking water that is safe to consume.

How close a measurement or record is to the true value.

The surface layer of ground above permafrost that thaws in summer and freezes again in winter.

A characteristic or behaviour that helps an organism survive and reproduce in its environment.

A photograph taken from above the ground, usually from an aircraft or drone. It may look vertically down or obliquely across the landscape.

Growing plants without soil, with their roots suspended in air and sprayed with nutrient-rich mist.

Planting trees to establish a forest on land that was not recently forested.

An earthquake that follows the main earthquake in the same area and can cause further damage.

A group of people within a particular age range, such as those aged 0–4.

A population in which older people form an increasing proportion of the total.

Large-scale commercial farming run as a business, often using intensive methods and linking farming with food processing, transport and sales.

Growing trees alongside crops or livestock on the same land.

Money, goods, technology or expertise provided to help people meet immediate needs or support longer-term development.

A possible course of action that can be compared with other ways of addressing an issue.

Examining information to identify patterns, trends, differences, anomalies and relationships.

Writing that examines patterns or relationships and develops explanations of how or why they occur.

A note attached to a particular feature that describes it or explains its geographical significance.

A result that differs from the general pattern in a set of data.

Aid designed to match local needs, skills and resources so that people can use and maintain it.

Technology suited to local needs, resources and skills, which people can afford, use and maintain.

A layer of permeable rock that stores and allows the movement of groundwater.

An opening through a headland with a roof of rock above it.

A narrow, sharp ridge formed by glacial erosion on either side.

A connected line of reasoning that uses evidence to support an answer or judgement about a question.

A relationship in which two features vary together; this does not by itself show that one causes the other.

The force exerted by the weight of air on an area of the Earth's surface.

The wearing down of rocks carried by a river as they collide, becoming smaller and smoother.