GCSE Revision

A glaciated upland: the Lake District

The Lake District

The Lake District is an upland area in Cumbria, north-west England. It has England's highest mountain, Scafell Pike (978 m), and its largest natural lake, Windermere. It became a in 1951, and a in 2017.

In the ice age, ice covered the whole area. Glaciers flowed outwards from the high central fells, like the spokes of a wheel, carving deep valleys. Today, many of these valleys hold long lakes.

Key terms

Helvellyn: corries and arêtes

Helvellyn (950 m) is one of the highest mountains in the Lake District:

  • is a tarn in a on Helvellyn's east side, held in by its rock lip. The steep back wall rises from the tarn to the summit.
  • Striding Edge is an , a narrow, rocky ridge on the south side of Red Tarn. It formed as the Red Tarn corrie and the corrie of the next valley were eroded back towards each other.
  • Swirral Edge, on the north side of Red Tarn, is another arête.

Striding Edge is a famous scramble for walkers, and is dangerous in bad weather.

Key terms

Troughs, lakes and deposits

  • valleys such as Great Langdale and Borrowdale are wide, steep-sided and flat-floored, with along their sides.
  • Windermere, England's largest natural lake, fills a long, deep glacial trough. Ullswater, Coniston Water and Wastwater are others.
  • side valleys left high above the troughs, with streams falling into them as waterfalls.
  • Deposits: lies in many valley floors, and the lowlands around the fells are covered in , with in places.

Exam tip

Name a Lake District example for each landform: "Red Tarn, a corrie lake below Helvellyn."

Key terms

Exam practice

Plan your own answer first, then open the model answers to see what each level looks like.

6 marks · about 6 minutes

Using an example, explain the landforms of glacial erosion in a UK upland area.

Explain means: Give the reasons why something happens, developing each point with "because" or "so".

Link it

Use the facts from:

Level 1 (Basic)· 2/6 marks (band 1–2)
The Lake District has corries and arêtes. Windermere is a lake.

Why this level: Landforms named, but none explained or located precisely. To reach Level 2: name specific examples and explain how glacial erosion formed them.

Level 2 (Clear)· 4/6 marks (band 3–4)
In the Lake District, Red Tarn lies in a corrie on the east side of Helvellyn, held in by a rock lip. Striding Edge is an arête that formed between two corries. Glaciers also carved U-shaped valleys such as Great Langdale.

Why this level: Clear, named examples with some explanation. To reach Level 3: explain more fully how each formed, and include ribbon lakes such as Windermere.

Level 3 (Detailed)· 6/6 marks (band 5–6)
In the Lake District, glaciers flowed outwards from the high central fells like the spokes of a wheel. Red Tarn lies in a corrie on Helvellyn's east side: plucking steepened its back wall and rotational slip deepened the hollow, leaving a rock lip that now holds in the tarn. Striding Edge and Swirral Edge are arêtes, knife-edged ridges that formed as Red Tarn's corrie and neighbouring corries were eroded back towards each other. Glaciers flowing down valleys such as Great Langdale and Borrowdale carved U-shaped glacial troughs, cutting off spurs to leave truncated spurs. Windermere fills a deepened section of one trough as a ribbon lake.

Why this level: Detailed, accurate use of the Lake District with several named landforms, each formation explained. This is Level 3.

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