Chapter 4 - Rivers

Question 1

Source

Answer 1

Where a river begins

Question 2

Course

Answer 2

The route a river takes as it flows from an upland area down through its valley until it enters the sea

Question 3

Tributary

Answer 3

A stream or river which joins a larger river

Question 4

Mouth

Answer 4

The place where a river enters the sea or a lake

Question 5

Estuary

Answer 5

Where a river mouth is tidal

Question 6

River basin

Answer 6

The entire area which is drained by a river and its tributaries

Question 7

Watershed

Answer 7

The high ground that separates two river basins

Question 8

What are the three ways a river changes the landscape?

Answer 8

1. Erosion
2. Transportation
3. Deposition

Question 9

Hydrolic action

Answer 9

The force of moving water erodes pieces of rock from the banks and bed of the river

Question 10

How do humans interact with rivers

Answer 10

• Hydroelectric Power (HEP) stations
• Settlement
• Transport
• Industry
• Tourism and Leisure
• Flooding and Pollution

Question 11

Positives of dams

Answer 11

• HEP stations
• Resevoirs
• Leisure activities

Question 12

Negatives of dams

Answer 12

• Affects spawning grounds of fish and fish farming
• Movement of people from homes
• Loss of good agricultural land due to flooding
• Property destroyed

Question 13

What are some other positive uses of rivers?

Answer 13

• Excellent sites for settlement
• Natural route way for the transportation of goods
• Rich agricultural land
• Leisure pursuits

Question 14

Other negative uses of rivers?

Answer 14

• Pollution

* Flood

Question 15

Abrasion

Answer 15

The load erodes and wears away the banks and bed of the river

Question 16

Solution

Answer 16

Rainwater dissolves rock particles such as limestone

Question 17

Attrition

Answer 17

Pebbles and stones rub against one another and are worn down and smoothened

Question 18

The rate of erosion depends on…

Answer 18

The size of a river
The speed of the river
The hardness of the rock

Question 19

What four ways can load be transported downstream?

Answer 19

Solution
Suspension
Saltation
Traction

Question 20

When do rivers deposit their load?

Answer 20

• When the river loses speed
• When there is a reduction in water in the river channel
• When the river flows into the sea or a lake
• When the gradient of the river is reduced

Question 21

Describe V-shaped valleys

Answer 21

-Found at the youthful stage of a river
•They have steep sides and narrow floors
•Made due to vertical erosion
•The steep sides are then weathered and mass movement causes the sides of the valley to move downslope into the river
•This gives the valley it's 'V' shape

Question 22

Describe interlocking spurs

Answer 22

-Found at the youthful stage of a river
•They are areas of high ground that jut out from each side of the river
•If a river meets a hard area of rock that it can’t cut through it flows around it while still eroding downwards
•This makes interlocking spurs

Question 23

Described waterfalls

Answer 23

-Found at the youthful stage of a river
•Created where a layer of hard rock lies over a layer of soft rock
•The river erodes the soft rock but can’t erode the hard rock
•This creates a step that water starts to fall over
•The falling water erodes deeper into the bed creating a plunge pool

Question 24

Describe meanders

Answer 24

-Found in the mature stage of a river
•They are bends or curves along the river
•They are formed by erosion and deposition
•Erosion occurs on the outside bend well deposition occurs on the inside bend making the bend sharper

Question 25

Describe flood plains

Answer 25

-Found in the mature stage of a river

•They are the flat areas of land on either side of the river

Question 26

Describe oxbow lakes

Answer 26

-Found in the old stage of a river
•They are horseshoe shaped lakes found beside a river
•Formed when continued erosion and deposition create
•Eventually the river cuts through the neck of the meander
•Deposition occurs leaving the oxbow lake separated from the river

Question 27

Describe levees

Answer 27

Found in the old stage of a river
They are raised banks of deposited material found along the banks of the river
When a river floods and spreads out over the flood plain the heaviest material is deposited close to the river

Question 28

Describe deltas

Answer 28

-Found in the mature stage of a river
•They are triangular pieces of land formed at the mouth of a river
•As the river enters the sea it drops off all its remaining material
•This material builds up to form new land