Lesson Y9-U04-L07

Y9-U04-L07 Glacial Erosion Landforms Quiz: KS3 Geography, Unit 16

20 questions

Written by Revision Ninja · Last reviewed 11 October 2026

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Lesson Y9-U04-L07, Glacial Erosion Landforms: 20 multiple choice questions for the KS3 Geography (National Curriculum), Unit 16: Year 9: Dynamic Landscapes: Tectonics and Ice, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. What is an arete?

    • A wide, flat plain at the base of a valley.
    • A narrow, knife-edged ridge between two corries.
    • A long, thin lake on a valley floor.
    • A deep, rounded hollow high on a mountain.

  2. What landform forms when two corries erode back-to-back?

    • A delta.
    • A pyramidal peak.
    • A ribbon lake.
    • An arete.

  3. How many corries must meet to form a pyramidal peak?

    • Ten corries, which always leave a flat summit.
    • One corrie, which on its own only hollows a bowl.
    • Three or more.
    • Two corries, which together form only a sharp ridge.

  4. What is a pyramidal peak?

    • A sharp, pointed summit where three or more corries meet.
    • A flat-topped mountain with no slopes at all, formed where two ridges of hard rock meet.
    • A long lake at the bottom of a river valley, usually fed by a stream flowing down the slope.
    • A pile of rocks left behind by a river.

  5. What is a truncated spur?

    • A waterfall that flows over a flat plain.
    • A pointed ridge built up from river deposits.
    • A narrow lake at the edge of the sea.
    • The blunt end of a ridge sliced off by a glacier.

  6. What is a ribbon lake?

    • A long, thin lake on the floor of a glaciated valley.
    • A lake formed when a river meander is cut off from the river.
    • A small round lake in a corrie high on a mountain.
    • A lake created by a dam built by people.

  7. What is a tarn?

    • A small mountain lake, often found in a corrie.
    • A long, thin lake on a valley floor.
    • A lake formed behind a sand bar at the coast.
    • A pool left in a rock pool on the beach.

  8. Which two processes erode rock beneath a moving glacier?

    • Longshore drift and attrition.
    • Weathering and deposition.
    • Plucking and abrasion.
    • Hydraulic action and solution.

  9. Which glacial process pulls chunks of rock away from the surface?

    • Solution.
    • Abrasion.
    • Attrition.
    • Plucking.

  10. Which shape of valley is left behind by a glacier?

    • A zigzag.
    • A perfect circle.
    • A U-shape.
    • A V-shape.

  11. What do very closely spaced contour lines show on an OS map?

    • The mouth of a river.
    • A wood.
    • Steep ground.
    • Flat ground.

  12. On an OS map, what does a long blue strip along a flat valley floor suggest?

    • A ribbon lake.
    • A tidal estuary.
    • A reservoir built for drinking water only.
    • A dry riverbed.

  13. Which feature of a glaciated valley shows that ice once filled it?

    • Meanders across a flat plain.
    • Truncated spurs with blunt ends.
    • Interlocking spurs in a V-shaped valley.
    • Deltas where a river meets the sea.

  14. A corrie holds a small tarn in a steep, curved hollow. What is the best explanation for its shape?

    • A river cut the hollow into a V-shape while flowing fast.
    • Waves from the sea carved the hollow high on the mountain.
    • Snow collected there, and plucking and abrasion hollowed it out.
    • A volcano blew the hollow out in one eruption.

  15. Which map clue would best identify a U-shaped valley?

    • Evenly spaced contours all the way across the valley, which shows the whole valley as one steady slope.
    • Widely spaced contours on the valley floor and very close contours on the steep sides.
    • A single contour line drawn across the valley floor, which marks the exact top of the ice sheet.
    • No contours at all, only symbols for roads.

  16. Which order correctly describes how the upland landforms develop?

    • Pyramidal peak, then corrie, then arete.
    • Corrie, then arete, then pyramidal peak.
    • Corrie, then pyramidal peak, then arete.
    • Arete, then pyramidal peak, then corrie.

  17. Which evidence would most strongly show that a valley was once glaciated?

    • A row of sand dunes close to the sea.
    • A U-shaped valley with truncated spurs and a ribbon lake.
    • A flat coastal plain with a river delta, built up over many years by sediment from upstream.
    • A V-shaped gorge with interlocking spurs, carved steadily by a fast river over millions of years.

  18. A pupil says a river carved the flat floor of a glaciated valley. What is the best correction?

    • A river always makes a flat floor, so the pupil is right, and the steep sides are just a coincidence.
    • The floor is flat because plants grew on it over time.
    • The floor was flattened by wind, not by water or ice at all, as dust settled across the valley over time.
    • Flat floors and steep sides are the signature of ice, whereas a river would cut a narrow V.

  19. Why is it useful to see corries, aretes and pyramidal peaks together on the same map?

    • They prove the mountain was built by volcanoes.
    • They show only the location of roads, villages and car parks that visitors use in the summer months.
    • They form a sequence of stages, so together they show a glacier once eroded a whole upland.
    • They show that only one corrie ever existed in that place, so the valley below was never shaped by ice.

  20. Which judgement best evaluates contour patterns against water symbols as evidence of past glaciation?

    • Only grid references are useful, not contours or symbols, because they give the exact position of each valley.
    • Contour patterns are usually stronger, since they show the land's shape, while water symbols add supporting clues.
    • Neither is useful, because maps cannot show any glacial evidence at all.
    • Water symbols are always stronger, because lakes never change their shape, size or position over time.

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