This document provides guidance for creating maps and summaries of the Amazonia region. It outlines aspects to focus on such as the environment, how elements interact over time, and how people interact with and perceive the environment. It provides specifics to include on maps of soils, vegetation, climate, and landforms for the Amazonia region, and details on locations, landforms, soils, and rainfall patterns. It describes how to summarize each map's patterns without using "because" and to explain the characteristics with reasons relating to geological processes and environmental elements that shaped the current landscape.

1. 2.1 – Amazonia Revision

2. Aspects are selected from:
• • the characteristics of a large natural
environment
• • how the elements and processes of the large
natural environment interact
• • how a large natural environment is formed and
changes over time
• • how people interact with a large natural
environment
• • how people's perceptions of a large natural
environment change over time.

3. 3000km

4. Maps
• Draw 4 maps
• On each map draw
– frame, outline of South America and Amazonia.
– North arrow
– Scale (3000km from mouth to Andes)
• Maps to draw are –
–
–
–
–
Soils
Vegetation
Climate
landforms

5. Specifics
• Iquitos, Manaus, Belem
• Guiana Highlands, Brazilian Highlands,
Amazon Basin, Andes mountains
• Alluvial Soils, Latosols
• Savannah, Evergreen, Seasonal
• Convectional rainfall, Orographic rainfall,
Coastal Rainfall
• 3000km from mouth of River (Belem) to
Andes
• ITCZ

6. Describe the characteristics
•
•
•
•
For each map –
Say what the map shows you
Do Not use the word ‘because’
Each description should say what the pattern
is. Eg around the river is found an area of
alluvial soils this area is known as the varzea
or floodplain. These soils are fertile and well
drained they are high in nutrients.

7. Explain the characteristics
• You now need to give reasons (processes and
elements) WHY the patterns exist.
• This question asks to show the marker that
you know why the landscape is like it is now.
• Elements = soils,rainfall, wind, trees, rock type
• Processes = volcanism, orographic rainfall,
fluvial erosion

8. Reasons for Landforms
• Gondwanaland broke up 250mya
• Continents drifted on Subduction currents to current
location
• Subduction occurs to form Andes (Nazca and Sth
American) 90mya
• Andes make river flow to the East and erodes the
central area to form the Amazon River basin
• The Areas of the Brazilian and Guiana highlands are
hard rock so not eroded by the river.
• River slows at the mouth so deposits material to form a
delta 300 km wide.