AQA GCSE Geography · 8035
Specification 3.1.1.2 · Paper 1
Revise: Plate Tectonics and Plate MarginsPlate tectonics explains how this movement changes Earth’s surface and produces earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Loading…
Loading…
Loading…
GCSE Geography · key term
Sudden ground shaking caused by the release of stored energy when rocks slip along a fault.
Used by AQA, Edexcel and OCR
Specification 3.1.1.2 · Paper 1
Revise: Plate Tectonics and Plate MarginsPlate tectonics explains how this movement changes Earth’s surface and produces earthquakes and volcanic activity.
Paper 1
Sudden shaking of the ground caused by the release of stored energy as rocks slip along a fault.
Explain a plate-margin process as a linked sequence: plate movement → physical process → earthquake or volcanic eruption.
At destructive margins, friction helps explain earthquakes; water released from the subducting plate helps explain magma formation. Do not explain melting simply as friction heating the plates.
Use ‘most’ rather than ‘all’ when linking earthquakes and volcanoes to plate margins.
Create a free account to read GCSE Geography revision notes for your exam board and track your progress.
An earthquake occurs when rocks suddenly slip along a fault, releasing stored energy. A fault is a fracture in rock along which movement occurs. Most earthquakes happen near plate boundaries, where moving plates deform the rocks.
Specification 1.2a · Paper 1, Paper 3
Shaking of the ground caused by the sudden release of stored energy when rocks move along a fault within the Earth.
Revise: Tectonic Plate Movement: EarthquakesTectonic plates move only a few centimetres each year, yet their movement can produce an earthquake lasting seconds or minutes. The connection is the gradual storage of energy in rocks, followed by its sudden release.