2.2 - Rivers Flashcards
Closed system
A system without inputs or outputs
Open system
A system with both inputs and outputs
Water stores (4 examples)
- Interception: percipitation that is caught (blocked) by plants
- Surface storage: water that is held on the surface of the ground
- Soil moisture: water that is stored in the soil
- Groundwater: water that is stored undergound
- Aquifers: permeable rocks such as limestone and sandstone which can hold water
Water stores (definition)
Stores are those places where water is held for a period of time.
Water Flows/Transfers
The ways in which water is moved around the hydrological cycle
Evaporation
The change of water from a liquid to a gas (water vapour) due to the heat from the sun
Condensation
The opposite of evaporation; when water vapour turns into liquid
* seen in the formation of clouds
Transpiration
The process of water loss through water vapour from plants through their leaves
Evapotranspiration
The combined transfer of water vapour from the Earth’s surface and from plants
Percipitation
The transfer of water from the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface in the form of hail, sleet, snow or rain
Overland flow
Water flowing across the Earth’s surface
Infiltration
When the water moves down from the surface into the soil
Percolation
The transfer of water down into the rocks and aquifers
Through flow
The movement of water through the soil between the groundwater store (water table) and the surface
Groundwater flow
The flow of water through rock
Tributaries
A smaller river that joins a larger one.
Channel
The river course or the deepest part of the river.
Confluence
The point at which rivers meet.
Watershed
The boundary of a drainage basin. The highland separating one river basin from another. Also called divide.
Drainage Basin
The area of land drained by a river and its tributaries. Or called a catchment.
Source
Where a river starts, usually in the mountains.
Mouth
Where a river ends, at a lake or the sea.
Open system
A system which has both inputs and outputs
Drainage density
The total length of a channel divided by the total area of the drainge basin
* Drainage basins with lots of tributaries have a high drainage density
* Drainage basins with few tributaries have a low drainage density
River bed
The bottom of the river
* made of sand, rocks or mud
River bank
The land along the edge of a river