Paper 1: River processes Flashcards
tributery
small river that flows into a main river
vertical erosion
-downwards erosion of the river bed
drainage basin
land drained by a river and its tributaries
river channel
slot of land that a river flow in
confluence
place where 2 rivers meet
load
material carried by river
lateral erosion
sideways erosion of river
watershed
high land around edge of river basin
source
start of river
mouth
end of river
long profile
journey river makes to sea
upper course long profile
-high
-steep
concave shaped
middle course long profile
-flatter relief
-gentle lope
lower course long profile
-below/very close to sea level
-flat
erosion
-wearing away of river bed/banks
-breaking rocks carried by river
transport
-movement of material along river course
deposition
-dropping of river load when river lacks energy to transport it
cross profile
-taken sideways across river channel/valley
channel cross-profile
-includes river only
valley cross profile
-includes channel
-valley floor
-slopes at the sides of valley
velocity
speed of river flow
discharge
-volume of water passing through a given point on a river
-cumecs
river channel cross section - upper
narrow channel
-shallow
-little discharge
river channel cross section - lower
-becomes deeper
-wider
-more discharge
what happens to velocity downstream
-increases
-as discharge increases
velocity upstream
-low
-little water in river crashes against rocks
-lots of friction
slows speed
bedload size of upper course
-large boulders
valley of upper course
-steep
-v-shaped
valley of lower course
-u -shaped
-wider
scree
deposited material from valley in channel
v shaped valley
-wide at the top
-narrower towards base
-
interlocking spurs
-ridges of hard rock that project on alternate sides of river valley where river flows
-only in upper course
why do interlocking spurs only exist in the upper course
-rock is hard
-slow to erode as less energy of river
erosion in upper course
-vertical erosion
-little energy so it is focused here
why do v shaped valleys occur
-freeze-thaw weathering occurs on upper sides of valley
-widens top of valley but base is narrow
freeze-thaw weathering
-water gets into cracks of rock
-freeze at night = expands crack
-melt during the day
-shatter rock
