Drainage Basin Flashcards
What is the drainage basin?
The area of land drained by a river
Rain water collects and runs into a main river it is often bowl shaped
What is watershed?
The edge of highland surrounding a drainage basin
Marks the boundary between two drainage basins
What is the source?
The beginning or start of a river
What is a confluence?
The point at which two rivers or streams join
What is a tributary?
A stream or smaller river which joins a larger stream or river
What is the mouth?
The point where the river comes to an end
Usually entering the sea
What is the channel?
The landform which the river flows through
What are inter locking spurs?
Hard rock that the river doesn’t have the energy to erode
What is weathering?
Weathering wears away the valley side and the stream removes the debris
How are interlocking spurs created?
As river flows through valley it’s forced side to side around more resistant rock (spurs)
Little energy for lateral erosion river cuts down vertically between spurs of higher land creating interlocking spurs
