Drainage Basin, Fluvial Processes, Landforms

Question 1

Hydrological Cycle

Answer 1

Sequence of conditions through which water passes from vapour in the atmosphere through precipitation upon land or water surface and ultimately back into the atmosphere

Question 2

Permeable vs Impermeable

Answer 2

Permeable surface are porrus and allow water to go through them
Impermeable doesn’t allow water to go through them, forcing it to run off

Question 3

Tributaries

Answer 3

River or stream flowing into a larger river or lake

Question 4

Watersheds

Answer 4

An area of ridge of land that separates waters flowing into different rivers, basins or seas

Question 5

River basin

Answer 5

The land water flows across or under on its way to a river (think like a bathtub catches all the water that runs down its sides)

Question 6

River mouth

Answer 6

The part of the river that flows into a lake, reservoir or ocean

Question 7

Estuary

Answer 7

Tidal mouth of a river that flows into the ocean

Question 8

Attrition

Answer 8

Boulders collide with other materials and the impact may breakdown both rocks into smaller pieces

Question 9

Abrasion/Corasion

Answer 9

River pickes up rock and materials and rubs them along the river bed, breaking them down into smaller pieces through abrasion

Question 10

Hydraulic Action

Answer 10

Sheer force of the water hits cracks in the river banks and pushes compressed air into cracks. Overtime the pressure splits apart the river banj

Question 11

Solution

Answer 11

Independent of river discharge or velocity
Chemical composition in the water breaks down rocks like limestone
Water has carbonic and humic acid

Question 12

Types of erosion

Answer 12

Attrition
Abrasion
Hydraulic action
Solution

Question 13

Types of transportation

Answer 13

Traction, saltation, suspension, solution

Question 14

Traction

Answer 14

Occurs when the largest cobbles and boulders roll or slide along the bed

Question 15

Saltation

Answer 15

Occurs when pebbles, sand and gravel are temporarily lifted up by the current and bounced along the bed

Question 16

Suspended

Answer 16

Very fine particles of clay and silt are dislodged and carried by turbulence in a fast-flowing river. The greater the turbulence and velocity the greater the quantity and size of the particles that can be lifted up

Question 17

Solution

Answer 17

Water flowing within a river channel contains acids.

If the bedrock is readily soluble, like limestone, it is constantly dissolved in running water and removed in solution

Question 18

Velocity

Answer 18

The speed of something in a given direction

Question 19

Capacity

Answer 19

What the river is carrying

Question 20

Competency

Answer 20

Maximum amount of load the river COULD carry

Question 21

Load

Answer 21

what material the river is carrying

Question 22

Bradshaw model

Answer 22

A geographical model which describes how a rivers characteristics vary between the upper and lower course of the river

Question 23

Cross profile

Answer 23

The result of interaction with fluvial, weathering and slope movement processes

Question 24

Landforms associated with rivers

Answer 24

V shaped valleys, waterfalls, meanders, rapids, oxbow lakes, braided channels, floodplains, levees, deltas

Question 25

Flooding: Causes

Answer 25

Heavy rainfall
urbanisation
Overflow of river
Coastal flooding

Question 26

Flooding: Effects

Answer 26

Can distribute large amounts of sediment and water over a large space
Erodes banks
Flood populated areas

Question 27

Hydrographs

Answer 27

Means of showing the discharge of a river at a given point over a short period of time

Question 28

Bifurcation Ratio

Answer 28

Shows the risk of flooding in a certain area

As the ratio is reduced, the risk of flooding within the basin increases

Question 29

Drainage Density

Answer 29

Total length of all the streams divided by the area of the whole basin
Highest in areas where land surface is impermeable
Greater in areas with little vegetation cover
More precipitation = higher drainage density

Question 30

Hydraulic Radius

Answer 30

The ratio between the area of the cross-section of a river channel and the length of its wetted perimeter
A larger ratio = the more effective the stream is at moving water. The use of the hydraulic radius helps to give an idea of velocity and friction in the water

Question 31

Drainage Patterns

Answer 31

Dendritic
Parallel
Trellised
Radial