Specification points
WJEC A-level Geology A480QS
174 points in 13 topics, with WJEC's codes and titles.
Grade boundaries·WJEC command words
Codes and titles are read by a script from WJEC's published specification and have not been checked by a person. What each point covers is in the specification itself: WJEC’s specification.
F1 Topic F1: Elements, Minerals and Rocks
- F1.1 Key Idea 1: Mineralogy and texture of rocks
- F1.1(a) Goldschmidt classification of elements
- F1.1(b) Bulk composition of the Earth and chondrites
- F1.1(c) Main elements of the Earth's crust
- F1.1(d) Silicate minerals
- F1.1(e) Minerals: composition, structure and properties
- F1.1(f) Composition of rocks
- F1.1(g) Composition and texture of igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks
F2 Topic F2: Surface and Internal Processes of the Rock Cycle
- F2.1 Key Idea 1: Sedimentary rocks and surface processes
- F2.2 Key Idea 2: Igneous and metamorphic rocks and internal energy
- F2.2(a) The Earth's internal energy
- F2.2(b) Formation of igneous rocks
- F2.2(c) Partial melting and the tectonic settings of magma formation
- F2.2(d) Volcanic hazards
- F2.2(e) Magma composition and volcanic hazard
- F2.2(f) Metamorphism of pre-existing rocks
- F2.2(g) Contact and regional metamorphism
- F2.3 Key Idea 3: Rock deformation and geological maps
- F2.3(a) Rock deformation and stress-strain behaviour
- F2.3(b) Evidence of rock deformation
- F2.3(c) Dipping beds
- F2.3(d) Folding
- F2.3(e) Faulting
- F2.3(f) Unconformities
- F2.3(g) Outcrop patterns on geological maps
F3 Topic F3: Time and Change
- F3.1 Key Idea 1: Present-day processes and the geological past
- F3.1(a) Principle of uniformitarianism
- F3.1(b) Modern environments and the sedimentary record
- F3.1(c) Facies
- F3.1(d) Fossils as evidence of former life
- F3.1(e) Fossil morphology and mode of life
- F3.1(f) Fossil preservation
- F3.1(g) Life and death assemblages
- F3.1(h) Bias and incompleteness of the fossil record
- F3.2 Key Idea 2: Relative and absolute geological time
- F3.2(a) Relative dating criteria
- F3.2(b) Radiometric dating
- F3.2(c) Fossils in relative dating
- F3.2(d) Characteristics of good zone fossils
- F3.2(e) The geological column
- F3.2(f) Changing rates of geological processes; mass extinctions
F4 Topic F4: Earth Structure and Global Tectonics
- F4.1 Key Idea 1: The Earth has a concentrically zoned structure and composition
- F4.1(a) Layered structure of the Earth
- F4.1(b) Continental and oceanic crust
- F4.2 Key Idea 2: Internal heat and lithospheric plate motion
- F4.2(a) Lithosphere and asthenosphere
- F4.2(b) Plates and types of plate boundary
- F4.2(c) Forces driving plate motion
- F4.2(d) Remanent magnetism
- F4.2(e) Palaeomagnetism and sea floor spreading
- F4.2(f) The rock cycle and plate tectonics
G1 Topic G1: Rock Forming Processes
- G1.1 Key Idea 1: The generation and evolution of magma involves different processes
- G1.1(a) Igneous rock composition and tectonic setting
- G1.1(b) Element substitution and solid solution in minerals
- G1.1(c) Magma chambers under ocean ridges
- G1.2 Key Idea 2: Metamorphic mineralogy and texture
- G1.2(a) Mineral stability and metamorphic change
- G1.2(b) Parent rock and metamorphic mineralogy
- G1.2(c) Metamorphism of mudstone; index minerals and grade
- G1.2(d) Contact, regional and dynamic metamorphism
- G1.3 Key Idea 3: Sedimentary processes can be understood using scientific modelling
- G1.3(a) Infrequent sedimentary processes and models
- G1.3(b) Walther's law and stratigraphic columns
G2 Topic G2: Rock Deformation
G3 Topic G3: Past Life and Past Climates
- G3.1 Key Idea 1: Fossils and the increasing diversity of life
- G3.1(a) Changes in floras and faunas through geological time
- G3.1(b) Diversity through the Phanerozoic; mass extinctions
- G3.1(c) End-Permian and Cretaceous-Paleogene extinctions
- G3.1(d) Gradualism and punctuated equilibrium
- G3.2 Key Idea 2: Global factors in climate change
- G3.2(a) Long-term changes recorded in the Phanerozoic
- G3.2(b) Greenhouse gases and natural processes
- G3.2(c) Rates of climate change through geological time
- G3.2(d) The Anthropocene
- G3.3 Key Idea 3: Geological evidence for climate change
- G3.3(a) Geological and isotopic evidence for climate change
- G3.3(b) Fossil evidence of climatic zones
- G3.3(c) Sedimentary evidence of palaeoclimates
- G3.3(d) Oxygen isotope ratios and ocean temperature
- G3.3(e) Snowball Earth hypothesis
G4 Topic G4: Earth Materials and Natural Resources
- G4.1 Key Idea 1: Formation of natural resource deposits
- G4.1(a) Formation of metalliferous ores
- G4.1(b) Processes of formation of non-metallic minerals of economic importance: china clay
- G4.1(c) Sand and gravel aggregate deposits
- G4.1(d) Origin of hydrocarbons and coal
- G4.2 Key Idea 2: Fluid migration and natural reservoirs
- G4.2(a) Porosity, permeability and fluid distribution
- G4.2(b) Darcy's Law
- G4.2(c) Oil and gas migration and traps
- G4.2(d) Hydrogeology: aquifers and groundwater flow
- G4.3 Key Idea 3: Prospecting techniques
- G4.3(a) Techniques for prospecting mineral resources
- G4.3(b) Microfossils in oil and gas prospecting
T1 Topic T1: Geohazards
- T1.1 Key Idea 1: Natural geohazards and their impact
- T1.1(a) Seismic hazards
- T1.1(b) Mass movement hazards
- T1.1(c) Geohazards in the British Isles
- T1.1(d) Tsunamis on the British coast
- T1.2 Key Idea 2: Predicting and managing geohazards
- T1.2(a) Geohazard and risk
- T1.2(b) Risk assessment of geohazards
- T1.2(c) Earthquake prediction
- T1.2(d) Monitoring potential slope failure
- T1.2(e) Engineering responses to earthquakes and mass movement
- T1.3 Key Idea 3: Engineering impact on the environment
- T1.3(a) Extracting raw materials and storing waste: environmental effects
- T1.3(b) Geological factors in civil engineering
- T1.3(c) Geological factors in major structures
T2 Topic T2: Geological Map Applications
T3 Option T3: Quaternary Geology
- T3.1 Key Idea 1: Global factors in climate change
- T3.1(a) Milankovitch cycles
- T3.1(b) Continents, mountain belts and climate
- T3.1(c) Greenhouse to icehouse transitions
- T3.2 Key Idea 2: Quaternary deposits and landforms in Britain
- T3.2(a) Glacial and interglacial deposits in Britain
- T3.2(b) Evidence for glacial and interglacial stages
- T3.2(c) Ice sheets, sea level and isostasy
- T3.2(d) Terrestrial and oceanic records of climate change
- T3.2(e) Ice core evidence for atmospheric change
- T3.3 Key Idea 3: Quaternary fossils and dating
- T3.3(a) Fossil evidence of Quaternary climate in Britain
- T3.3(b) Climate change and human evolution
- T3.3(c) Dating Quaternary events
T4 Option T4: Geological Evolution of Britain
- T4.1 Key Idea 1: British stratigraphy and terrane assembly
- T4.1(a) Geological time periods in Britain
- T4.1(b) Remote sensing in British geology
- T4.1(c) Orogenic events in the British area
- T4.1(d) Orogenic belts and plate tectonic reconstruction
- T4.1(e) The Palaeogene Igneous Province and the North Atlantic
- T4.2 Key Idea 2: Northward drift of the British area
- T4.2(a) Palaeomagnetic evidence of past latitude
- T4.2(b) Climatic change from Britain's northward drift
- T4.3 Key Idea 3: Plate motion and British sedimentary rocks
- T4.3(a) Plate tectonics, climate and British sedimentary rocks
T5 Option T5: Geology of the Lithosphere
- T5.1 Key Idea 1: Heat loss, lithosphere and asthenosphere
- T5.1(a) Heat loss and the rigid lithosphere
- T5.1(b) Base and thickness of the lithosphere
- T5.1(c) Seismic evidence for lithosphere and asthenosphere
- T5.1(d) The crust and the Moho
- T5.1(e) Magma generation and igneous bodies in different settings
- T5.2 Key Idea 2: Formation and subduction of oceanic lithosphere
- T5.2(a) Layered structure of oceanic crust
- T5.2(b) Ophiolites and ocean drilling
- T5.2(c) Ocean basin evolution: the Wilson cycle
- T5.2(d) Rates and directions of seafloor spreading
- T5.3 Key Idea 3: Formation of continental crust
- T5.3(a) Supercontinent cycles
- T5.3(b) Survival of continental lithosphere
- T5.3(c) Orogenic belts and lithospheric thickening
- T5.3(d) Forces and tectonic stresses on continental crust
- T5.3(e) Regional structures: fold and thrust belts, nappes
- T5.3(f) Extensional and foreland sedimentary basins