Lesson 3.1.3.5

3.1.3.5 Coasts: quantitative and qualitative skills Quiz: AQA Geography, Unit 1

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson 3.1.3.5, Coasts: quantitative and qualitative skills: 20 multiple choice questions for the AQA Geography (7037), Unit 1: Physical geography, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. A beach profile survey records heights at 5 m intervals along a transect. Which field instrument is most appropriate?

    • A hand-held anemometer, which measures the speed of the wind at the surface of the beach
    • A clinometer used with a ranging pole or a level and staff
    • A pH meter, which measures the acidity of the seawater at the point of sampling
    • A Secchi disc, which measures the transparency of the water column in a lake or the sea

  2. Which statistic best describes the central tendency of beach gradient values with one very steep outlier?

    • The median gradient
    • The mean gradient, which is unaffected by outliers because every value contributes equally to it
    • The sum of all gradient values, which gives the total slope along the whole surveyed transect
    • The range of gradients, which summarises the spread between the lowest and highest values

  3. Spearman's rank correlation between beach slope and grain size gives rs = -0.72. Which interpretation is most appropriate?

    • A perfect linear relationship with a slope of -0.72 between the two measured variables
    • No association, because a negative coefficient means the two variables are unrelated
    • A strong negative rank association, where steeper beaches tend to have coarser sediment
    • A weak positive association, where steeper beaches have finer sediment on their surface

  4. Which map skill is most important for analysing coastal change between two dates?

    • Measuring the colour of cliffs on a single photograph, which shows the rock type only
    • Estimating coastal change from a single map of the seabed, which shows the depth of the water
    • Counting the number of boats moored along the shore at a single point in the year
    • Overlaying dated coastline maps or images to measure shoreline movement

  5. A cliff retreats by 1.2 m per year. How far will it retreat in 25 years?

    • 300 m, which is obtained by multiplying the rate by 250 rather than by the 25 years
    • 20.8 m, which is obtained by dividing the 25 years by the rate of 1.2 m per year
    • 30 m
    • 1.2 m, which is the retreat in a single year and not the total over 25 years

  6. Which sampling approach best captures variation in wave energy along a bay?

    • Measuring only at the bay entrance on one calm day, which gives a single reading for the whole bay
    • Measuring at systematically spaced sites across the bay and at different tide states
    • Measuring only at the highest point of the cliff, where the waves are least able to reach
    • Measuring only where people go swimming, which is the most convenient location for the survey

  7. Which graphical method best represents the frequency distribution of pebble sizes on a beach?

    • A pie chart of pebble colours only, which shows the proportion of each colour in the sample
    • A histogram with pebble size classes on the horizontal axis
    • A line graph of pebble size against time, which shows how the sizes change through the year
    • A scatter plot of pebble mass against tide height, which shows the mass for each tide level

  8. Which error is most likely when a beach profile survey is conducted by different observers using different methods?

    • Systematic error arising from inconsistent measurement technique between surveys
    • Error caused by the colour of the survey pole, which affects the visibility of the markings
    • Error caused only by weather conditions on the day, which affects every method in the same way
    • Random error that is always eliminated by averaging the readings from all of the observers

  9. Which result from a coastal field survey would best support a claim of rapid recent erosion?

    • A local resident's opinion that the cliff has changed, which has not been measured or recorded
    • An observation that the beach looked wide on one day, which is a single impression
    • Repeated surveys showing a consistent landward retreat of the cliff top over several years
    • A single photograph of the cliff taken at high tide, which shows the state of the base only

  10. A chi-squared test compares observed and expected counts of beach sediment types. What does a large chi-squared value indicate?

    • The sediment types are all of the same size, which removes the need for any statistical test
    • The observed counts are identical to the expected counts, so the test shows no difference at all
    • The sample size is too small to analyse, so the result of the test cannot be used
    • The observed counts differ substantially from the expected counts

  11. Which quantitative method best estimates the volume of sand gained by a beach between two surveys?

    • Counting the number of tourists on the beach each day and multiplying by the average sand depth
    • Calculating the cross-sectional area at each survey and integrating the change along the beach length
    • Measuring the average wave colour across the bay and converting it into a volume of sand
    • Estimating the beach mass from its visual brightness in a photograph taken at midday

  12. Which qualitative skill is most important when evaluating a coastal management scheme?

    • Ignoring the views of local communities, which are seen as less reliable than measured data
    • Judging the scheme only by its cost, which is the simplest measure to obtain from the accounts
    • Relying solely on the scheme's own promotional material, which describes its intended benefits
    • Considering stakeholder views alongside measured outcomes such as erosion rates

  13. Which measure of spread is most suitable for a set of beach slope values that is not normally distributed?

    • The mean deviation calculated from a normal curve fitted to the slope values in the sample
    • The sum of all the slope values, which gives the total slope across the survey transects
    • The interquartile range
    • The number of values measured, which indicates how many transects were surveyed in total

  14. What is the main purpose of recording a fetch value in a coastal study?

    • It measures the depth of the beach sand, which is used to calculate the volume of the beach
    • It identifies the type of rock in the cliff, which is used to classify the coastal landform
    • It records the height of the tide at high water, which is used to set the survey datum
    • It quantifies the distance over which wind acts on the water, a key control on wave energy

  15. A beach has an average slope of 1:20. What is the gradient expressed as a percentage?

    • 2 per cent, which is obtained by dividing the run of twenty by one hundred and then doubling it
    • 20 per cent, which is the run divided by the rise and then expressed as a percentage
    • 5 per cent
    • 0.5 per cent, which is obtained by dividing the rise of one by two hundred

  16. Which data-analysis step is most important when comparing the beach profile at two dates?

    • Discarding all measurements taken during storms, which removes the most informative data
    • Using a different instrument for each survey date, so that each survey is independent of the others
    • Standardising the survey locations so the profiles are comparable
    • Changing the vertical scale only for one of the surveys, so that the profiles look more similar

  17. Which conclusion is best supported by a scatter graph showing that sediment size decreases with distance from a cliff?

    • Sediment size is entirely caused by distance from the cliff, with no other factor having any influence
    • There is no pattern because the points are scattered, which shows that size and distance are unrelated
    • The relationship is proven to be perfectly linear, so every point lies exactly on the line
    • There is a negative relationship between sediment size and distance from the cliff, which should be tested statistically

  18. Which factor is most likely to limit the reliability of a single-day beach survey?

    • The colour of the survey equipment, which can make the markings harder to read in the sun
    • The time of day the survey began, as long as it was in daylight and the tide was out
    • Short-term tidal and wave conditions that may not represent typical conditions
    • The number of observers present, which has no effect on the reliability of the readings

  19. Which result best illustrates a positive sediment budget for a beach?

    • The beach receives no sediment but still grows, because waves build it up from the sea floor
    • Sediment losses exceed gains, so the beach shrinks over the period of the survey
    • Sediment is neither gained nor lost over the year, so the beach stays exactly the same
    • Sediment gains from longshore drift and cliff erosion exceed losses, so the beach grows

  20. Which measure would best summarise the variability of wave heights in a survey?

    • The colour of the sea surface, which reflects the amount of sediment in the water column
    • The standard deviation of the measured wave heights
    • The number of waves observed, which counts the waves that passed the survey point
    • The highest wave height recorded only, which shows the most extreme value in the survey

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