physical geography fieldwork

Question 1

what was the title of your enquiry?

Answer 1

investigating how the river tillingbourne changes downstream

Question 2

aims of your fieldwork?

Answer 2

to see the changes that occur within a river such as change in velocity, change in sediment etc. from the upper course to the lower course

Question 3

what method did you use to collect data concerning the width of the river? why? limitations?

Answer 3

• used a tape measure from one side of the bank to the other
• most efficient way time-wise and easy to do
• tape had to be held taut otherwise inaccurate measurement; ensure multiple people holding tape in position
• tape could get moved along by the current of the water; hold tape far enough above water so it is not affected

Question 4

what method did you use to collect data concerning the depth of the river? why? limitations?

Answer 4

• used a ruler at different points of the river
• easy method, didn’t require a long time
• human error more likely to occur due to the flowing water; have more than one person looking at the measurements, clear space around ruler so water levels not disturbed

Question 5

what method did you use to collect data concerning the roundness of the bedload? why? limitations?

Answer 5

• choosing 11 different rocks randomly and ordering them into classes (power’s scale of roundness)
• easy, quick
• very subjective, not extremely accurate; only have one person deciding throughout so judgement is equal
• human interference with bedload is possible; collect a range of data to balance it out

Question 6

what method did you use to collect data concerning the bedload axis? why? limitations?

Answer 6

• measured with a ruler
• easy, quick
• human error is possible

Question 7

what method did you use to collect data concerning the velocity? why? limitations?

Answer 7

• flow meter - accurate
• floating dog biscuits down the river w/ stop watch to time it - doesn’t require technology, easy, quick, safe for environment (dog biscuits biodegradable!!)
• with flow meter other ppl standing in river affects data; should limit the amount of ppl to ensure it is more accurate
• easy to make human error with dog biscuits and stopwatch; have more than one person timing to make an average and ensure accuracy

Question 8

results and key trends for depth and width?

Answer 8

• as river goes downstream, width and depth increases which is shown by the results
• expected results

Question 9

results and key trends for bedload size?

long axis

Answer 9

• the upper course and middle course had larger bedload sizes, lower course had smaller bedload sizes - expected results BUT some larger bedload sizes were found in the lower course as well
• was expected apart from larger bedload sizes in lower course
• dispersion graph

Question 10

results and key trends for bedload roundness?

Answer 10

• most bedload in upper course were put in the very angular category with some falling in the angular category
• middle course and lower course were mainly sub-rounded or rounder however there were also angular pieces of bedload in these parts of the river
• upper course expected, middle course and lower course slightly expected? but not the angular bedload
• powers’ roundness scale

Question 11

results and key trends for velocity?

Answer 11

• the results were unexpected as the lower course had the fastest velocity and the middle course and the slowest velocity

Question 12

how reliable are ur results?

Answer 12

• reliable to a certain extent
• all collecting methods had at least one flaw
• data could easily by affected by human error
• evaluating results and methods + attempting to fix these will make results more reliable
• most results were predicted - some weren’t; could be due to human management/interference